By BobTo put it lightly, the New Orleans Pelicans have had a dismal start to their 2016-2017 season. Starting off with the worst record in the NBA being 2-10 even with super athlete Anthony Davis just shows how noncompetitive this roster really is. Fortunately, there is a small beam of light casting over the shadow that is their season, and that light is Jrue Holiday. This has potential to be the heartfelt story of the season because this is what a true man should be about.
Earlier this summer, it was reported that Jrue would miss the beginning of the season to tend to his pregnant wife who also was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Jrue, being the gentleman that he is took a leave from the game he has given his life to in order to worry about the more important things in his life. The best part is, everything has worked out perfectly and his family seems to be doing great. His wife gave birth to a beautiful baby girl in September, and is slowly recovering from having the tumor only about a month ago. With his wife Lauren feeling better already, the 6'5 point guard thought he was ready to return to the hardwood and support his teammates the way they did for him. Jrue had this to say regrading traveling with his squad and getting back to work “She can take care of herself and my daughter. My absence was really for me to see where my wife was and her recovery. Since she’s doing so well, and my family and her family are there to help out, I felt comfortable being back and comfortable leaving them. Obviously, I’m going to miss them.”He played his first game of the season last night off the bench, and helped boast the team to their best win of the season by defeating the Trail Blazers 113-101. In only 23 minutes, the nimble point guard was able to rack up 21 points and 7 assists giving this dreadful team something besides Davis to finally look forward to. Now, Jrue Holiday is not going to be the saving grace of this team and help them towards a playoff push, that is at least two seasons away. However, it definitely gives the team and the city of New Orleans something to be proud of. Knowing that such a charismatic guy is back doing what he loves and that is family is doing better can bring a smile to anybody's face. Jrue has proven he has all-star potential by making the squad in 2013, so I think this season he deserves to make it back. It may be hard since the season is well under way and the West has a plethora of talented guards, but I have a special feeling about the season this guy is about to have.
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By DjackAt the time when this originally happened in 2004 I was a young sports fan, I hadn't seen much of what the sports world had to offer yet, but I know what I witnessed that November night was not a usual spectacle. At the time I thought it was crazy, now looking back on it, I find it down right insane that it ever happened. What the fuck, a NBA player waltzes up into the stands, and gets into a full blown fist fight with fans. You can't make this shit up, you had fans fighting players just because the Pistons fans hated the Pacers, and they weren't going to stand for Ron Artest and Stephen Jackson throwing haymakers on their peers without getting in a few shots of their own. Rewatching that video all these years later has left me in awe, where is that passion today, obviously the brawl part could never happen in today's world with all the security, but where's that fire that sets players over the edge to the point where they feel the need to go into the stands, and kick some ass. Ron Artest was provoked by a fan throwing beer on him, but still he must've had some serious rage built up if he went running into the stands with the intent to kill like that. Ron Artest, who is now known as Metta World Peace, is still in the NBA today, I believe he's the only one left from that November night in 2004, best part is that he was the face of the whole debacle. I love Metta, he's helped change the culture in the Lakers lockerroom, and he's made a huge impact as a leader on the Lakers despite a very limited playing roll. At that time though Metta was a star in the NBA, he got suspended for a whole year because of that fight, and his tenure with the Pacers didn't last long after that. This is just one of those moments that'll never be forgotten as long as the NBA is around, partially in part to it being a travesty in the eyes on the league, but mostly because the savage Ron Artest was taking soul after soul of cowardly Piston fans as payback for years of shit talking him. Sports needs moments like this, yeah it's probably bad for the NBA because of lawsuits, but I know for a fact every fan would love to see something of this magnitude now, the rivalries just aren't what they used to be. That's why we have to continue to relive 'The Malice at the Palace' once a year.
By DjackI saw this video for the first time yesterday, my original thought was okay hardo trying to get his moment of glory on the Jumbotron. Then, I continued to watch only to realize what a true legend this man is, not only did he put together one of the best freestyle dance routines known to man, he displayed an umatchable level of charisma, and he also united a fan base. When he hugs the nearby black man during the " we gotta hold on to what we got" line, he essientially ended racism. You know this was a special moment because everyone was embracing it, not one person looked creeped out, or even remotely bothered by this dude being a raving lunatic. This is what sports are all about people, of course the games themselves are pretty entertaining, but there's nothing quiet like the atmosphere in the crowd at any sports stadium. You truly never know what you're going to see, sometimes you show up to a Celtics game for a basketball game, and you get to watch a man unite a divided country through the power of song and dance. The fact he's dressed like the kid in 8th grade that everyone worries about shooting up the school is just the cherry on top, that's why we don't judge a book by it's cover, who would've ever guessed this kid is the next Chris Brown. I loved every second of this video, more people need to be like that kid, let loose, fuck what other people think, and have a moment of true bonding with your section at the next sporting event you attend.
By DjackLakers have now played 11 games, winning one more than they've lost, and I couldn't be more optimistic about not only this team's future, but also the present. Lakers went on a 3 game road trip taking on the Kings, Pelicans, and Timberwolves, better known as the bottom feeders of the western conference.
Lakers took on the Sacramento Kings in their first game of the road trip. It wasn't off to a hot start, the Kings jumped out a 14 point lead in the first quarter with Boogie Cousins and Rudy Gay doing the majority of the scoring. The Kings were able to maintain a solid pace on offense, but the Lakers offense began to click as well as the bench sparked a positive reaction on the offensive end, Kings lead 55-45 going into the break. Lakers came out in the second half hot, the Kings would come out cold, and the script was beginning to flip as the Kings lead was down to 3 heading into the fourth quarter. Lakers opened the fourth on a 20-9 run, the Kings couldn't make a basket if their life depended on it, and the Lakers were making it rain as everything seemed to be falling for them. Lakers would take the lead for the first time since the first few minutes of the game and wouldn't look back. LA outscored Sacramento 31-18 in the fourth quarter and 56-36 in the second half to give them a 101-91 win in the first game of the road trip. Lakers had 5 players in double figures, they had 4 players with 15+ points, and every player that got minutes scored. Great comeback victory to start the road trip, if this was last year's Lakers they would've rolled over after going down 14 in the first, and we would've lost by 30. Already a great sign of the huge culture change in the Lakers organization. Game 2 of the road trip was against Anthony Davis and company, realistically that's what they should rename the franchise because frankly, he's the entire team. This game was very important to see where this Laker team stands as of right now in terms of how good we are, see the Pelicans are probably the worst team in basketball, they're the worst team in western conference for sure, so I knew if we couldn't soundly beat them then we probably weren't as good as we've looked. It's so early in the season that it's hard to tell which teams are actually seriously good, which teams are just off to hot starts, and which teams are off to cold starts. Pelicans actually had a 1 point lead in this game going into halftime, but the Lakers are a second half team, they came out proved that as they outscored the Pelicans 71-43 in the second half, going on to win 126-99. Clarkson continued to be a ruthless scorer off the bench scoring 23 points in 25 minutes shooting a great 66%. The bench scored 73 points against the Pelicans as they continue to be the highest scoring bench in the league with Lou Will and Jordan Clarkson leading the way for them, there averaging 51 points per game as a unit this season, clearly the reason we're off to this great start. Lakers had now clinched a winning road trip which was a great feeling going into a tough matchup against Minnesota the next day. Minnesota is a team in the western conference on the rise just like the Lakers, the T-Wolves have better stars in Wiggins and KAT, but the Lakers have a much better bench due to their depth. I had a bad feeling coming into this game, we were playing back to back road games, so they'd been doing a lot of traveling, the players are clearly a little worn, and the Timberwolves were coming off 5 straight losses so they really needed this one before their season started spiraling out of control this early. It was all T-Wolves the entire way, Wiggins had a career night scoring 47 points, more than our entire starting 5 combined, as they went on to destroy us 125-99. They only concerning part about this loss to me was the awful play of our starting 5, they've been pretty inconsistent this year scoring wise, and that falls on D'Angelo Russell. Russell has his games where he looks like next great guard in this league and then he has games where he's a turnover machine, and can't hit a shot to save his life. He's very young, 20 years old, so obviously he's going to experience some growing pains in this league, but the sooner we get him going as a consistent scorer, the sooner we will be playoff bound. Like I said we're only 11 games into the season, so I won't get too carried away with the playoff talk, but if we can just stay relevant throughout the season in the discussion of who's going to get the 8th seed in the west, I'll be ecstatic with how our season went. We got a 4 game home stand coming up, gotta prove we can defend our home floor like all playoff basketball teams do, and then we can get a little more serious about the Lakers being the real deal. By BobJames Harden has self proclaimed himself the NBA's best player. Now, I do not think the beard is actually the most talented man in the league overall, but he has been on a tear so far this season. This year alone with only seven games in, Harden has scored 30+ points and 15+ assists in four of those games. That stat is insane seeing how only three games last year had a player average those type of numbers. Any person who knows the NBA understand Harden will come out every night and score from anywhere on the court. Being under a Mike D'Antoni ran offense will shoot three's for days but it does not fix the Rockets main problem thus far this season. Harden could score 30, 15 and 5 every single night for the entire season but if his team as a whole does not step up they will just be an afterthought in the Wild West. Harden is notoriously bad at playing defense, and if his new teammates Ryan Anderson and Eric Gordon cant step up on that end and be major contributors this team is in trouble. I like James Harden cocky charisma, he knows he is a top ten player in the league but that does not mean anything if your team is not winning games. I would hate to see Hardens historical play go to waste, so the rest of this squad has to get it together and help out their leader.
By DjackCavaliers are off to the best start in the league coming, 6-0 was their record heading into last night, the last team to be undefeated in the league, and they had an improved Atlanta team coming to town. Lebron had an awful first half in this game scoring just 2 points, when Lebron goes the Cavs go, and Lebron is very rarely performing that poorly that's why his team's are usually amazing. Well, tonight was one of those nights, and the Cavs were down by 11 at halftime as a result. The Hawks were playing great basketball last night, they shot 50% from the field, they out rebounded the Cavaliers, and they had three players score over 20 points. That's a recipe for success, what isn't a recipe for success is turning the ball over 19 times, and the Hawks also managed to do that. Cavaliers were playing suffocating defense, Lebron started finding his groove in the second half, the Cavaliers were starting to close the gap down by only 5 heading into the 4th. Unfortunately the Cavaliers would end up losing 110-106, they shot a miserable 37% from the field, so it's more of a testament to how dominate this Cavs team is than it is a bad loss. The Cavaliers played awful, there's no denying that, but they still almost beat one of the better teams in the Eastern conference on their worst night, that speaks volumes about how good they are in relation to their competition. Cavs had 18 more field goal attempts than the Hawks yet made 4 less shots, that's unacceptable. The Hawks gave them plenty of oppurtunities to win this game, anytime you shot more free throws, and have an 18 attempt shot advantage you should win. JR Smith shooting 2-13 and Channing Frye shooting 5-15 just can't happen. Kevin Love and Lebron didn't have good shooting percentages either, but if role players like Frye and Smith are going to shoot a high volume of shots like that they need to knock a higher percentage of them down. If they're clearly cold give those shots to Lebron and Kyrie, I'd even rather Kevin Love be getting some of those shots. Kevin Love actually seems to be finally coming into his own on this Cavaliers team, he's been averaging 22PPG and 9RPG. In the grand scheme of things obviously this lose means nothing for the Cavs, can't win every game, there's going to be bad nights where nothing seems to fall The Cavaliers biggest concern is avoiding any lapse in their team chemistry, which seems to grow with each win they get under their belt, along with making sure they avoid any major injuries to their key players. If they do that the Cavaliers will not only be in the NBA Finals again, they'll be champions again.
By DjackIf you told me that 7 games into the season the Lakers would be 4-3, I'd take that every time, and that's where they stand right now after picking up their third straight win. They took on the Phoenix Suns last night, the Suns are kinda in the same position as the Lakers, lots of young talent, in total rebuild mode, the difference being the Lakers young talent is not only better, it's also not all guards. Phoenix has Brandon Knight, Eric Bledsoe, Devon Booker, Dragan Bender, T.J. Warren, and Tyler Ulis as their young players, of those 6 players 4 of them are guards which is just unnecessary in a league where you can only use two guards at a time. Lakers have D'Angelo Russell, Julius Randle, Brandon Ingram, Jordan Clarkson, Thomas Robinson, Larry Nance Jr., Tarik Black and Ivica Zubac, not all of those players will pan out to be something, but we have a lot more young depth at positions that the Suns don't, therefore setting us up better in the long run. Just wanted to show why Mitch Kupchak is the best in the business real quick. The game last night was not all that competitive which makes me very happy to say the least, the Lakers controlled this game from start to finish, we had the lead at the end of each quarter, and it was nice to prove that we were actually the better team not just a team that played better on that given night. It's a good sign that we beat up on a weak team last night, it shows that we're starting to rise above that level into the level of mediocrity, which for most teams is not a place you generally want to be, but when you win 17 games the year before mediocrity is a huge step in the right direction. D'Angelo Russell struggled in the win last night, he only scored 11, and he shot a miserable 18% from the field, making it all that much more impressive that we were able to win by 9 without him performing up to his usual standards. Didn't matter because Julius Randle continued to do it all while Nick Young and Jordan Clarkson carried the majority of the scoring. Can't say enough about the old heads on the team, everyone ruled them out as washed up players looking for money, that's funny because we got Lou Will putting up 15 points a game off the bench, we got Mozgov averaging about 9 points a game along with 6 boards, and he does a hell of a job protecting the paint, and Luol Deng has also been great defensively while being able to fall just short of double doubles nightly. Nick Young has also stepped up in the starting role, is he shooting a little more than I'd like, probably, but on the nights he scores 20+, he proves to me exactly why he shoots that much, turns out he's a pretty good offensive player. Love the chemistry this Lakers team has, everyone thought their'd be chemistry problems since the Nick Young, D'Angelo Russell incident, but it's like that never even happened, and these guys look thrilled to be out on the court playing together each night. I haven't seen a team play with this much joy in quite sometime, Metta World Peace was a huge contributing factor to the Lakers morale success, I told everyone when he signed back with us that it was a phenomenal signing because he can be like a players coach almost, and that's exactly what he does for this team. Something Metta said has elevated the Lakers play, " I love basketball', he said this while at the free throw line, and it caught like wildfire in the locker room. Now, you can't go a day without hearing that from the Lakers players themselves whether it's in interviews, during the games, or just on social media after a big win, this team loves basketball, and their play is reflecting it. I'm riding high, I mean real high on this Lakers team now, I still understand playoffs are light years away, but if they can be consistent with their efforts to keep improving along with being able to keep this amazing chemistry, the Lakers will be playing meaningful games in the late March and early April which is all I can really ask for as a Laker fan right now. I Love what I see from the LakeShow 2.0, let's keep it moving, and keep the wins coming.
By DjackA classic game of master vs apprentice, Luke Walton took on his former team the Golden State Warriors in a game in which the super team Warriors should've blown the doors off a young Lakers team. Unfortunately for Golden State, they live and die by that 3 ball, shooting 5-32 for 15% ain't going to get you a win against many teams in the NBA. Lakers didn't shoot much better from 3 point land, 8-30 for 26% is marginally below the league average, difference is we don't live and die by that shot. We might have not shot the ball well from deep, but we executed in all other facets of the game, and we blew the Warriors out by 20 points as a result. Lakers shot 19-21 from the free throw line, nothing better than taking advantage of free points when they're given to you which the Lakers did an excellent job of last night, the Warriors could not say the same as they were 14-20 from the line. Lakers out rebounded the Warriors last night, especially on the offensive glass, can't be giving the Lakers more chances to get the ball in the hoop than they already have, that's why the Lakers were able to put up 95 shots last night opposed to the Warriors 86. There was no one key thing the Lakers did that excelled them to this win over the Warriors, it wasn't like anyone went off having a career game or something like that, the Lakers just played great team basketball, and the Warriors weren't able to hit their 3's. D'Angelo Russell only played 22 minutes last night, still scored 17, 9 of those points coming from beyond the arc. Julius Randle also had a big game for the Lake Show 2.0, he put up 20 points dominating a weak Warriors interior, and he brought down 14 boards as he was in full beast mode all night. Lou Will continues to be the impressive veteran scorer for us the last two games, putting up 18 in the win against the Hawks, and 20 in the win against the Warriors. Lakers are now back to a .500 record on the season, I'll go ahead and say it right now, if the Lakers finish 41-41 this season I'll be ecstatic because that means we are just a few wins next year from being back in the playoffs. I mean we did just beat the best team in the west by 20 points, maybe the Lakers should just go ahead and represent the west in the finals this year. Okay, now I'm getting way too far ahead of myself, these deceiving 20 point blowouts early in the season over arguably the best team in basketball are not good for my confidence level, shoots it through the roof, and now when the Lakers don't reach my expectations I'll be all pissed off, even though those thoughts should've never crossed my mind. The NBA Finals thing clearly a joke, 41-41 not so much, so when the Lakers get 30 wins this year, and I'm depressed because this win got me riding high, it'll make me hate the Warriors that much more for giving me false hope. As for the Warriors, they're still the best team in the Western conference without question.
By Djack"It's finally the year", what every Knick fan said prior to the season after adding a few key acquisitions this offseason. Now, I think the highest of goals for the Knicks was make the eastern conference finals, and lose to the Cavs. The more reasonable Knick fans were thinking, okay this season we'll make the playoffs, maybe win a series, before they ultimately ended getting knocked out. Derrick Rose called the Knicks a "Super Team" before the start of the year, when people heard this they laughed, and just played it off as him being optimistic towards the season. Not all Knicks fans took it that way though, for instance our own senior editor Bob, told me the Knicks were going to be a 4 seed in the east, and through 4 games of the season it's looking like he couldn't have been more wrong. The Knicks don't just look bad, they look awful, they're 1-3 to start the season with all three of their losses being blowouts. They did beat the Grizzlies, however the Knicks shot an unusually high 53% from the field while the Grizzlies shot an unusually low 42% from the field, and the Knicks still weren't able to blow the doors off this game which is worrisome. Joakim Noah got a 4yr $72 million contract this offseason, he's averaging 2PPG, 7.5RPG, and 5.5APG, atrocious numbers for someone making that much money. I thought Mozgov was the worst signing of the offseason, clearly Noah takes the throne on that one after clearly proving he's just a shadow of the player he once was. The one good thing I'll say about Noah is his assist numbers, Phil Jackson needs a big man that can pass if they want the triangle offense to work, and Noah has proven he can at least do that. Carmelo needs to step up and be more assertive on the offensive side of the ball, for one of the best pure scorers in the league, he sure hasn't played his part this season, not being able to score more than 20 in half their games, and failing to score over 25 at all. I know it's only 4 games in, but look at the other stars around the league, they're coming out of the gates with huge performances, and Melo has been playing average at best. Derrick Rose has stayed healthy so that's a win for the Knicks, he's shown some flashes of his former self, but ultimately has proven he will never return to his MVP form. Courtney Lee was just never that good of a player so I don't know why everyone was acting like the Knicks got a huge upgrade with him. As for Porzingis, the Knicks need to just feed this kid every night, he had 4 shots in one game, that can't ever happen again, this kid needs to just keep getting reps so he can become the team's superstar faster. Are the Knicks the same old Knicks, I'm not ready to declare that just yet because I have faith that Derrick Rose, Melo, and Porzingis can score enough points to win games, but can the Knicks manage to play the defense, and get the help from their role players to finally sneak their way back into the playoffs. Chemistry will build between them, the system will start clicking, they won't be a "super team", they will be a playoff team barring any major injuries. Don't worry Knick fans it's a long season.
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AuthorDjack- Chief editor Archives
March 2018
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