Slow day up in da club, but here are a few nuggets to chew on. They're wild, for different reasons.
Up first:
Safe to say Bron might just be turning the corner on all the naysayers. Small sample size, sure. But completely absurd numbers. Near impossible to play better basketball.
And then, in a tweet sure to drive Chuck to the brink of insanity...
Just something else to further the Westbrook/Durant cohabitation talk. Regardless of how good Westbrook is, he should not be taking more shots per game than Durant. Sure there will be nights RussRuss is the hot hand, but over a season? Unacceptable. It also speaks to the shooting efficiency of the OKC duo. For example, last night in a loss to the Spurs, KSmoov shot 9/13, while RussRuss clocked in at 11/27. TWICE AS MANY SHOTS?! That just flat-out does not make sense. That is the type of performance that can derail Title hopes in the postseason. If the Thunder want any chance of even reaching the Finals, Ksmoov needs to be in the drivers seat, and Scott Brooks needs to make that clear. But I don't know if a) he can muster the cajones to tell Russ that, and b) what kind of tantrum Russ would throw at hearing it. Should OKC flame out before the Finals, there's going to be a lot of speculation about RussRuss, and whether the Harden trade was a move they'll live to regret.
It's a known fact that Club postings grind to a halt on the weekend. Ya bois have to take care of the VIPs, and there's simply no time for updates. Especially when Club mainstay Kyrie Irving needs to throw a banger after playing one of the most absurd games of the season. On Saturday night, the Thunder came to Cleveland for what figured to be a big win. OKC sporting the second-best record in the L, and the Cavs coming off a loss to the Pistons in which Kyrie claimed he was "disinterested" and didn't play hard. Instead of admitting defeat, Kyrie acted like the whole Thunder team was just a bunch of Joeys from the park:
35 points (12-23, 3-5 from three), including 13 in the LAST 3 MINUTES. He showed it all: crafty bank shots, twisting layups, the best handle in basketball (those hesitation moves are sick), and balls of steel nailing another deep three, this time over RussRuss. Beating the Thunder is tough when KD and Russ combine for 60/13/8/4, but to do it as a second-year player? God DAMN. I'll fan out on Kyire every chance I get. That's just silly.
Also, I'm really glad my opinions about him getting taken with the 1st pick having played like 5 games are not in writing.
There's a celebration brewing up in Da Club! Sources close to the situation have confirmed your 2013 All-Star Game Reserves. Let's begin with the Eastern Conference:
East:
Front Court: BOSH, Brook Lopez, Joakim Noah
Back Court: Paul George, JRUE MOTHAFUCKIN HOLIDAY
Wild Cards: Carlos Boozer, Kyrie Irving
West:
Front Court: Tim Duncan, David Lee, Serge Ibaka
Back Court: Tag-teamin duo of RussRuss Westbrook & James Harden
Wild Cards: Tony Parker, Seth Curry
Narrow misses include Tyson Chandler, Luol Deng, Brandon Jennings, Deron Williams, ZBO & Marc Gasol, LaMarcus Aldridge, Al Jefferson
Notes on the selections and non-selections:
JRUE HOLIDAY! So well-deserved. Philly is underachieving as a team this year, which you might expect when your franchise player/best center in the conference hasn't played a single game. But they're afloat because Jrue is having a career year, putting up 19 & 9. Sure the turnovers are high, but that's expected for a young guard suddenly getting the keys to the offense. His game is growing by leaps and bounds this year, and Da Club couldn't be happier to see him get some recognition.
Bosh/Lopez/Noah - Pretty solid, but you could have probably put Tyson Chandler in there instead of Bosh. Hate to trash the namesake of Da Club, but Chandler is such a huge reason the Knicks are good, and he deserves to be noticed.
Paul George and Carlos Boozer have come on real strong lately, equally vital to their teams keeping pace in the East.
KYRIE and STEPH CURRY. Can't overstate how much I like these two. Two of the best young guards in the league, and it will be awesome to watch them go at each other. Even with some injuries, I support Kyrie over Paul Pierce/DWill/Brandon Jennings 100%.
Real, real tough to leave out both ZBo and M.Gasol. Would like to see one of them above Tony Parker.
Tim Duncan, David Lee, Ibaka, RussRuss, Harden - Can't argue there.
All in all, I think things are shaping up nicely for the ASG. Still think most of the fans are big dumb idiots for their voting records, but as usual the coaches managed to fix those errors for the most part. If you haven't already, reserve your tickets now for the Club Bosh VIP Pussy Poppin Pregame Party!
BronBron over KD in the Christmas Day showcase game, which lived up to all the Finals rematch hype. Miami got out to a quick double-digit lead, which everyone knew wouldn't last. The teams played a high level of basketball the entire game, providing some great highlights as seen above. Brons putback is viscious, and KD's pump fake to bank shot is just bonkers. The game got chippy, as you would expect, with RussRuss getting heated over a tough foul during the midst of his wild layup clinic. I don't think there was as much to that as Russ made it seem; even small fouls will send you falling down when you're playing at 10,000mph. It wasn't malicious, Battier got ball on the way up. He also earned a stupid tech late for complaining about a missed foul call. But they didn't lose because of him. Miami (led by lots of surprise Chalmers baskets) stayed in control for the late portions of the game, wrapping things up with a Bron dime to our boy Bosh, while the Thunder missed a bunch of shots in the late goings. Outside of maybe the Clippers, I don't think there's any doubt these are the best two teams in basketball, led by the best two plays in KD and Bron. Hopefully there's another rematch in June.
In other notes:
Boston bushwacked BKNY, complimented by the usual Garnett-Wallace scrum. I don't know where their rivalry came from but it's great. Would make a fantastic playoff series.
Deron Williams, where are you?
Lakers over Knicks, with a near-triple double from Nash. Surprise surprise, they play better with him there. I'm not really sure what this says about either team, but the Lakers look like they could be rounding into form. Hopefully not, but they might be.
Rockets over Bulls in a game that was over in the first quarter (20-18 from Asik?!). Didn't watch.
Clips with win #13 on the hop. Magic called them Showtime, and they have the best record in the L. They are not to be taken lightly. As I said, probably the only team challenging the Thunder and Heat for the top 2 spots.
Whelp, since today is the end of the world and whatnot, K. Smooth decided to go out on top last night with 33 points on 12/21 from the field, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals and this insane trick shot:
Pity that Russ Russ was 9/28 from the field with 8 (!) Turnovers. Dude just does not get it sometimes. You're playing with the best scorer in the game. You don't need to force everything and you certainly don't need to be taking 7 more shots in a game. K. Love and JJ Fresh ended the Thunder's 12 game win streak with a smooth 99-93 win.
The Thunder laid an egg last night (with the exception of Kevin Martin, who was brilliant, finishing with 28 points on 8-11 shooting including 6-8 from 3). 21 turnovers leading to 31 Atlanta points to go along nicely with giving up 12 offensive boards leading to 16 points. The sloppy play needs to be fixed like yesterday if the Thunder want to get anywhere close to their 2011 campaign.
Without getting too deep on another Westbrook needs to shoot less and pass more rant, Westbrook needs to shoot less and pass more. My reasoning: K. Smoove finished with an impressive line of 22 points on 7-17 from the field with 12 boards, 8 assist, 3 steals and 2 blocks. Full disclosure: he also had 6 turnovers. You're thinking, what does that have to do with Westbrook, right? Well Russ Russ finished with 14 points on an abysmal 5-18 from the field with a season high 9 assists and a season low 3 turnovers. There were at least 4 shot opportunities that Durant passed up to try to play facilitator to get the rest of the team involved. Durant is the best scorer in the world. He should NEVER pass a shot up to facilitate. Westbrook should be the one focusing on facilitating, not taking 18 shots and shooting 27%. Obviously, finishing with 9 assists, Russ Russ did do his share of facilitating, but if he took 5 less shots and fed the hot hand of Kevin Martin or Smoove, the result of this game could have been drastically different. My point is that Russ Russ needs to pick up earlier in the night if his shot is off and use his explosive speed to draw help defense and dish the ball to the open man. Instead of doing that, right now he ends up throwing up wild layups or off balance shots. It's not working and its becoming more evident now that Smooth J is out of town and Westbrook is handling the point even more.
Another issue that is starting to bubble to the surface in OKC is internal conflict. For the second game in a row Sefolosha and Russ Russ had to be separated. Ibaka took some heat from Smoove on the way into the locker room at half about a board he didn't grab and also from Poppa Perk every time they didn't come away with a rebound. The role players on this team need to fall in line. Everyone should be looking to Smoove as the first in line and Russ Russ as his Secretary (until he ups his play, I'm not referring to him as the Vice President). No one else on this team should be talking. Period.
Oh and Jeff Teague has been bringing the hammer dunks this year. Smoove fell victim last night after Teague blew by a flat footed Westbrook on the perimeter. Sorry, Smoove:
LOVE the description of that video. "Teague baptizes Durant."
Bunch of games last night so we'll go quick hits here.
Bobcats over the Pacers, with 30 from Kemba to snap a 23-game losing streak?! I really hope he discovers his UConn form, he is such an exciting player to watch.
"Don't call me big baby" Davis puts up 29 & 10 to get a win over the now 0-2 Nuggets. Maybe need some time to gel up there in the Mile High City. Also, Hedo breaks his hand. Magic should have an interesting season.
Bucks over Beantown! Brandon Jennings getting his casting room couch game on. Rondo with a usual but still great 14 & 11, but not enough when you can't get more than 15 points from anyone on the team.
Looks like Smooth J is out to show the ol gun slinger Presti what he's missing. 45 points?! And I said GOD DAMN. 82 points in 2 games for a non-rookie on a new team - that's an NBA record, folks. Life couldn't be off to a better start for him and Jeremiah.
Bulls beat up on the Cavs with a well-rounded effort. 15 & 4 ain't going to push your team towards that 8-seed, Kyrie. Needs to be better.
Well, the Knicks certainly came out to prove something to the city after the disaster, huh? I had a feeling this was how the game would go. The whole Knicks team (especially Melo - he is a treat to watch when he's shooting like that) was unconscious in the first quarter, and aside from a little second quarter burst, the Heat could never get back into it. Ever think you would see another game where Rashard Lewis outscored DWade? Also, nice to see the main man himself upping his rebounding game so far. He's looked real sharp so far this season. Plus, SHEED GOT MINUTES!
Hornets pull out a last-second win over the Mormons. Unfortunately Anthony Davis got a concussion from an accidental 'bow from Austin Rivers. Doesn't seem like anything serious, and hopefully not. I really think Davis is going to end up as an MVP and legit star, so you never like to see concussions early in a career.
RussRuss avenges his subpar game 1 to put up 32 on the Blazers, with the help of 23 & 17 from Smoove. They also got a nice 19 from KMart. Damian Lillard put up another nice game. He'll probably challenge Davis for ROY (unsuccessfully though).
No Love, No Rubes, still picking up a win over the Kings, led by Barea with 21. This is a rant for another day, but the Kings need to blow things up and start over. Blow it all up. There's no way you should be such a bottom feeder with a duo like DeMarcus and Tyreke. I know part of it falls on those guys, but, like Washington last year, there's just a terrible locker room culture and that will cripple you. I don't want to see it ruin Thomas Robinson.
The Polish Hammer puts up 16 & 16 to secure a win over the lowly Pistons. Not exactly a high-profile game, but the Suns had 5 players with over 13 points, so nice all-around game.
Grizz over the Warriors. ZBo tried to block Brandon Rush, instead knocking him off balance and ending up with what looks to be a nasty knee injury. Really was unintentional, and Bo seemed pretty shaken up by all of it. Golden State couldn't keep it together after that and came away with an L.
Finally, the battle of Los Angeles. So much to say! First things first, Chris Paul is a fucking BOSS. 18 & 15, all around awesome game by one of the top players in the league. He has a serious chance to be MVP this year, and I hope he does. His game is unreal (Sidenote: he has led the league in steals in 4 out of his first 6 seasons. That is stupid). So, onto the scene in LA. First, they lose with Gasol going for 23 & 13. Then with Howard at 33 & 14. Then with Kobe gunning (for 43 minutes? Really Mike Brown?) for 40. Safe to say they have some things to finger out, mainly letting up 107ppg. But I will get great joy in watching them lose while they do.
