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BasslineSpin.com December 4, 2007 ...The
Kings played extremely well in their Saturday home win over Houston. Five
turnovers for a 48 minute game will almost always produce a positive result.
...Houston needs Shane Battier to
quit turning down shots. The Rockets also need to be better than Rafer Alston at the point to win the West. …On the
college front—the Pac-10 vs. Big 12 deal was a huge success in my eyes. I
watched some quality hoop in Cal vs. Missouri, UCLA vs. Texas, Washington
State vs. Baylor, and USC vs. Kansas. I am becoming a fan of Kansas guard Mario Chalmers. He defends, and he has a pure deep
shot. ...Cal looked good to me. I am not as sold on DeVon Hardin as an NBA player as some others seem
to be but Ryan Anderson is
nice. Freshman forward Harper Kamp’s play
has been impressive too. ...Missouri’s senior guard Stefhon Hannah may be the most impressive ball
handler I’ve seen this season. He shakes like a dude from the And One Tour.
...Those playing at a NBA All-Star level right now (by BasslineSpin.com
Efficiency Rating) are… EAST: Guards - Caron Butler, Jose Calderon, Chauncey
Billups, Jason Kidd, Michael Redd. Forwards: LeBron James, Kevin Garnett,
Chris Bosh, Antawn Jamison, Paul Pierce. Centers: Dwight Howard, and
Shaquille O’Neal. WEST: Guards: Manu
Ginobili, Steve Nash, Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant, Baron Davis. Forwards: Carlos
Boozer, Tim Duncan, Dirk Nowitzki, Shawn Marion. Centers: Marcus Camby, Yao
Ming, and Amare Stoudemire. November 29, 2007 ...I
have been there from the beginning. 1985 was the year the Kings moved to
Sacramento. Our family has season tickets. In what is now the 23rd season of
Kings hoop in Sacramento—I have never witnessed what I saw last night. I saw
an opponent’s fans ‘out-cheer’ the home team. The Golden State Warriors were
the opposition last night and their hyphy fans hit the loud button when Stephen Jackson nailed a three pointer to give the
W’s a two point lead with under a minute to play. I was shocked at the
audible explosion. Like, ‘Is this really ARCO Arena?’ Chants throughout the
game of ‘let’s GO WARR—I—ORS’ went unchecked by the Kings faithful. ...The
game itself was one of those nights were Ron Artest’s unshakable
confidence created a problem for the Kings. Ron Ron simply shot too much
without moving the ball. Kevin Martin was
torching Monta Ellis in the
first half but in the second half - Martin only put up seven field goal
attempts. ...I wish Reggie Theus was a
bit more aggressive in with substitutions in obvious late game
‘offensive-defense’ possessions. As an example, I wanted Justin Williams in the contest for a crucial late
Warriors possession following a dead ball. The sub was not made and Golden
State got an offensive rebound (that in my mind would have been gobbled up by
Williams). In fairness to Theus - he may not have gone that route due to the
Warriors being in the penalty - which meant Williams poor free throw shooting
could have been a factor if he were fouled while grabbing a board.
…Sacramento’s offensive execution with less than five seconds in a given
quarter has been atrocious. ...What
happened to the ARCO main center court scoreboard? The thing looked like it
was shot up with patches of blue light in weird places. ...Hopefully the
Kings Dance Team never again does the hip hop inspired, painter hat, bandana,
break dance clothed, routine that they tried last night. Can I choose some
beats for you all? November 25, 2007 ...I
watched soooo much basketball this holiday weekend it is ridiculous.
Saturday—it was a quadruple header; Tennessee vs. Texas, Indiana vs. Xavier,
BYU vs. North Carolina, Texas Tech vs. Butler. Friday - I peeped Indiana vs.
Illinois State, George Mason vs. Villanova, and some NBA with Sacramento
losing in Portland. Thanksgiving night—I caught USC vs. San Diego. I also watched Southern Illinois vs. Mississippi
State (whenever that was). Today - it was N.C. State vs. Villanova, and parts
of Kansas hosting Arizona. The capper was USC vs. Southern Illinois. ...O.J. Mayo is pretty impressive. He is decisive,
strong, and skilled. He forced some passes but nailed deep shots with ease.
...Eric Gordon (Indiana)
has great hands and scores in bunches. He is a strong guard that seemed
mature beyond his years. ...Chase Buddinger (Arizona)
has an all around game with an emphasis on scoring. Jerryd Bayliss (Arizona) excited me with his ability
to finish at the rim as a small guard. ...Jarvis Varnardo (Miss.
St.) is the best kept secret in college hoops. He blocks shots and rebounds at a high
rate. ...Tyler Hansbrough (North
Carolina) plays exceptionally hard. He has a toughness not often found in
skilled power forwards. ...Jamont Gordon (Miss.
St.) reminded me of Mitch Richmond when
he bullied his way to the hoop. November 24, 2007 ...My
first
peek at the 2008 NBA Draft is here. November 20, 2007 ...Those
worthy of All-Star status based on efficiency through the first three weeks
of the NBA season are… WEST: Guards - Manu Ginobili, Chris Paul, Steve Nash,
Kobe Bryant. Forwards: Carlos Boozer, Josh Howard, Shawn Marion, Dirk
Nowitzki. Centers: Marcus Camby, Andrew Bynum, Amare Stoudemire, and Chris
Kamen. East: Guards - Jose Calderon, T.J. Ford, Jason Kidd, Chauncey Billups,
Michael Redd. Forwards: Lebron James, Josh Smith, Paul Pierce, David Lee.
Centers: Kevin Garnett, Dwight Howard, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas. November 18, 2007 ...Last
night I hit ARCO to see the Kings beat the mighty Detroit Pistons. It was far
and away the best Kings performance I’ve seen in quite some time. Geoff Petrie and his basketball operations staff
deserve huge kudos for their addition of Beno Udrih to the
Kings roster. Udrih stabilizes Sacramento. Their spacing is better. ...I was
disappointed in John Salmons’ reaction
to his reduced role when Ron Artest returned.
Salmons was fined $5,000 for leaving the locker room before coach Reggie
Theus was done addressing the team following a loss last week in Minnesota. …Jason Maxiell is shorter than I thought he was.
...For as much hype as Amir Johnson gets—he
didn’t look special at all last night. ...Coaches want enthusiasm and Nazr Mohammed doesn’t have it. That is the only
reason I can think of why a guy as talented and big as he is doesn’t get more
PT. ...I am a Shane Battier fan
but he HAS to shoot more often and be more of an offensive threat or the
Rockets have no shot at the NBA championship. Mr. Battier has only been to
the free throw line 15 times this season (381 minutes). November 14, 2007 ...Watched
Texas A&M beat down Oral Roberts tonight on ESPN-U. The Aggies did not
play well but they won easily due to the triple threat of Joseph Jones, Josh Carter, and DeAndre Jordan. ...Jones is a future NBA player. He
has shooting touch that you might not expect from a man voted as Strongest
Player in the Big 12. He rebounds well and has no problem moving the ball.
...Carter led the NCAA last year in three-point field goal percentage. As
advertised - dude can knock down shots off of screens with precision.
...Jordan was the prime recruit in the state of Texas last year. He is a
Freshman Center that dunks everything. |