By DjackHorrible news for the Bulls tonight in game 3, not only are they playing on ESPN, they're also going to be playing without point guard Rajon Rondo. Boston has now found a way back into the series without having to do anything. The Bulls have been playing on a whole new level, mostly in part to Rajon Rondo, the man the makes the team go. Without him the Bulls offense is without their conductor and that could potentially disrupt this amazing offensive tempo they've had going. Also, Rondo was doing a great job defending Isaiah Thomas because he has great length. Bad bad news for the Bulls as this series has taken on a whole new light.
The Celtics are playing in a must win game 3 tonight in Chicago. If the first two games told us anything, it's that the Celtics are not the better team in this series, however with the subtraction of Rondo from the Bulls, they are now. Isaiah Thomas is going to have a huge night offensively in game 3, the Celtics are going to get their mojo back, and win this series. All because Rondo is missing game 3 with a broken thumb. If Rondo can come back to the Bulls in game 4 that'll be great news, although it may be too late. The last thing you want to give a team a chance when you have the chance to step on their throat. The Celtics get a win tonight the momentum swings right back to them and the whole series can change in the blink of an eye. This is the break the Celtics needed and it couldn't have come at a more perfect time. If Rondo is out for the entire series no chance the Bulls get out of the first round. Will Jimmy Butler and Dwayne Wade be able to elevate their game to make up for the loss of Rondo. A ton is on the line tonight in game 3, this could be the turning point in the series, or the end of the end of the series.
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By DjackOnce again, Lebron James, proves to the world he's not a regular person. Last night, the Cavaliers were down by 25 at halftime, the Cavalier and Lebron doubters were foaming at the mouth, and then Lebron decided to take over the game like he's done so many times before. Cavs ended up winning 119-114 erasing the biggest halftime deficit in NBA playoff history. Just the fact people were up in arms ready to hit the panic mode on the Cavs season for the 5th time this year is what grinds my gears. How many times can you watch this guy prove you wrong, Lebron James is always the favorite to win, in any situation, get that through your head. The Cavs had a down year in the regular season is all I've heard, yet they end up with the #2 seed because they don't care who or where they play in the East, it's too easy for them. Lebron saves his energy for games like last night when he needs to go full super-saiyan.
Since everyone wants to talk triple doubles, here's one for ya, 41 points, 13 rebounds, 12 assists, and he shot 52% from the field, now that's a MVP type game. Lebron steps up when it matters most, it's the playoffs, style points don't earn you shit, only thing you need to worry about is W's, and he only needs 13 more for his 4th championship. While everyone is freaking out about the Cavs struggling to beat the Pacers, the King is already looking forward to the Finals, the only series where he'll have to give 110% at all times. That's just the way the league is laid out nowadays, if you don't like I totally agree with you, but that's the nature of today's NBA, so accept the reality of it. Stop being shocked when Lebron has an unbelievable performance like last night. This happens every season, y'all just tend to forget what he's capable of for too often. Enjoy the greatness of the king, continue to witness the greatest basketball player you'll ever see, and definitley stop trying to minimize his greatness or talents because you'll just end up embarrassing yourself. He's the King for a reason, c'mon now. 4/20/2017 Russell Westbrook's Terrible 4th Quarter Play Last Night is the Reason for the Thunder's LossRead NowBy DjackRussell Westbrook, the triple double, and his record breaking season took a huge blow last night. The performance of Russell Westbrook in last night's 4th quarter was pathetic, embarrassing, and ultimately lost his team the game. Westbrook scored 51 points, dished out 13 assists, and brought down 10 rebounds, sounds like an unbelievable night, right? Well, like I said he cost his team the game. Thunder led by 2 heading into the 4th quarter, then Russell Westbrook had one of the greatest collapses of all time.
Watching Westbrook last night in the 4th quarter was painful, he was chucking up shots like never before, playing with absolutely zero control. He usually plays like this, but not to the extent where he was air balling shots and bricking shots regularly. Westbrook had 15 points in the 4th quarter though, that's really good. No, I could score 15 points if you give me 18 shots and 8 free throw attempts. Westbrook shot 4-18 from the field in the 4th quarter, 1-7 from behind the 3 point line, and 6 of his 15 points came from the free throw line, quite pathetic for the so called MVP. Well, he has no help, right? No, this is where his obsession with the triple double blew up in his face. In his quest for the triple double and creating this I'm a superhuman image for himself, Russell Westbrook lost his team. No one on the Thunder had any confidence whatsoever to shot in the 4th, every time someone other than Russ had the ball they just looked to pass it right back to him, I wonder why. Two games into the playoffs and Russell Westbrook is showing signs of completely imploding. After the game he showed pure frustration when asked about the stat line, saying "I don't give a fuck about the line, we lost." Hey Russ, maybe if you didn't shoot 22% in the 4th quarter, you wouldn't have lost. Hey Russ, maybe if you didn't shoot 18% from 3-pt range in the game, you wouldn't have lost. What do I know though, those triple double and huge numbers really have been resulting in a lot of success. Westbrook needs to play under control, trust his teammates more even if they are horrible, and try a new approach. If he keeps going out there trying to do the same thing that's just textbook insanity, it's not working, so stop trying. Allen Iverson had less help when he led the 76ers to the NBA Finals in 2001, but we just love to make excuses for Westbrook. I'm the furthest thing from a Russ hater, he used to be one of my favorite players in the league actually, then he got obsessed with the stats. Win games, be the legend you're supposed to be, not some stat boy. By DjackShaq diesel's son, Shareef diesel, has committed to the Arizona Wildcats to play basketball. He's currently a junior in high school, he's also a 5-star recruit. Wouldn't have expected that, usually the son of a basketball god isn't all that, although they do seem to have different make ups. Shaq wasn't always fat, at one point he was really skinny, this was way back in the Orlando days. Still he was all about power inside and finishing next to the rim. It seems his son plays a totally different game. Shareef is only 6'8" leaving him 5 inches shorter than his father. Shareef is also a lot skinnier than skinny Shaq was too, I mean he's only a junior in high school, maybe he'll pack on a few pounds and grow a couple more inches. If not, don't expect to see even the smallest resemblance between the two on the court.
Arizona Wildcats with the commitment of Shareef O'Neal now have two 5-star recruits in their 2018 class, helluva job by Sean Miller. It'll be interesting to see if Shareef can live up to the 5-star ranking, or if that's just mostly based off his last name. My guess, he'll be a mediocre player at best. As a freshman, I think he'll be a starter since he was probably promised that with all the offers he got from other schools. I really have no clue though, never seen the kid play, won't see the kid play until the 2018-19 season. Just thought it was cool that Shaq's son will be playing D1 basketball soon, especially since it'll be on one of the top team's in the nation. Guess we'll be seeing a lot more of Shareef in the future, hopefully some of his dad's talents and charisma rubbed off on him. By DjackESPN- "Following Indiana's 117-111 loss Monday to fall down 0-2 in the first-round series with the Cavs, George aimed at both Lance Stephenson and Myles Turner. Stephenson -- signed to a three-year deal late in the regular season and a major reason Indiana is in the postseason in the first place, with the Pacers going 6-1 after he was added to the team -- had a plus/minus of minus-7 in five minutes in the third quarter when Cleveland took control of the game. "He's got to learn to control himself and be in the moment," George said. "Lance, in our locker room, is looked upon as a leader. His body language has to improve -- just for the team. We all know that Lance is an emotional guy. A lot of it is his heart and his competitiveness. That emotion comes out of him. He's got to channel that toward making effort plays on the court and doing whatever he needs for us to succeed..." George also wanted to see more out of Turner, the Pacers' second-year center, who finished with six points on 3-for-10 shooting, five rebounds and three blocks in Game 2 after averaging 14.5 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game in the regular season. "We just need him to challenge Tristan [Thompson], keep him off the boards," George said of the 21-year-old Turner. "He needs to make himself available down low in the post. He needs to know at this point he has to take it to the next level. We'll continue to work with him. "I've been in his ear all the way up until this point -- you know, that next step. And growth for him. In this league, you've got to find it. He's still young. He's still learning, so it's a good thing. We're going to work with him." I really didn't want to say this because Paul George is going to be a Laker within the next 2 years, but boy is this guy a loser. As if what he said after game one wasn't unfair enough, now he decides to continue to publicly come after his teammates. If he wants to rip his guys in the locker room that's fine and I encourage that, after all his teammates do suck. With that being said he can't just openly rip his teammates to the media, those are your boys that you go to war with, to throw them to the dogs to eviscerate, is a cowardly move. You call yourself a leader, that's hilarious, leaders don't criticize and blame teammates after every game they lose in the playoffs. Blaming guys like Lance Stephenson who has been on the team for like two weeks, how ridiculous is that, what kind of expectations do you have for the guy he was unsigned for a reason. Blame management for putting together a trash roster, not the trash roster for being trash. His criticisms were fair, however public humiliation was not the right move.
The team on the other side of the court has there fair share of problems as well. The Cavaliers are playing pretty pathetic right now. Once again they have a huge lead going into the fourth quarter and almost blow it. No idea why Kyrie, K Love, and Lebron can't close out games anymore, but it's unacceptable, and needs to be addressed immediately. With all that being said you don't see Lebron coming out and saying Kyle Korver needs to stop missing every shot he takes and JR Smith can't play defense. No, he address the issues the TEAM are having, doesn't throw individuals to the wolves, and then tries to fix in-house. That's what real leaders do. Pacers are a seven seed and are in competitive games against the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers, that's not something you should be ashamed of. If anything the Pacers are exceeding expectations from fans in this first round matchup. It's hard to win road playoff games, especially when the other team has Lebron James. Take a chill pill Paul, it's not your time and if you're upset with your team you talk to Larry Bird about it. If Larry Bird doesn't give you what you want just leave when your contract is up. Don't ruin relationships with your teammates and create this image for yourself that you're just a bad guy to have leading a franchise. Paul George needs to pull it together, continue to ball the fuck out, and just let the cards fall where they may. By MukJames Harden's most feared opponent has issued a stern warning, as Lil B has threatened to once again curse Harden and the Rockets over his "cooking dance" celebration.
The rivalry between these two has gone on for a few years now, with Lil B cursing James Harden from time to time for using the celebration he claims that he invented, and whether or not it has been coincidence or the "curse", Harden has struggled in games following Lil B's public warnings. We are well-aware that James Harden could not care less about Lil B's warnings, as he has continued to use the cooking motion celebration for years since Lil B originally spoke out against it, but it always something that will grab headlines. Lil B is a known supporter of the Warriors, and although KD was once a former victim of the curse himself, those days are behind the two. It'll be worth a watch to see if Harden responds publicly like he has before, or if he slips up in Game 2 if Lil B pounces on the opportunity to take credit for it. Basketball and HipHop have always been synonymous with one another, and adding Twitter and the playoffs into the mix only further guarantees that there will be drama. By MukChris Bosh has not played a game of professional basketball in over a year, and with almost all of the NBA aware of the black-cloud following his health, it will be shocking if he ever plays again. However, that hasn't stopped him from keeping hope. Bosh was recently a guest on "Larry King Now", and expressed not only his desire, but his optimism of still being able to play in the NBA.
The Heat Forward/Center is still under contract to Miami through 2018-2019, and is owed $52.12 million over that time, but it is expected that the Heat will ask the league to remove his owed money from the salary cap. Bosh understands this move, and understands the business side of the league, so he said he knows Pat Riley has to do what he has to do, and holds nothing against the Heat. Bosh has not played since February of 2016, with lingering blood clot related health issues, and while he has had outside doctors clear him for play, the Heat have not, and have stated that they likely will not ever clear him. And it's understandable. We're not talking about a knee injury, or a wrist injury, we're not even talking about a back injury - blood clot's are not something that any team want to take a chance on. There is a far greater risk to a players long-term health when their issue is something of this capacity and not just a "injury". Chris Bosh is a future Hall of Famer, regardless if you like him or not or think he's just a werid dinosaur, the dude has had an awesome career. Thirteen seasons, two rings, 19.2 points a game, 8.5 rebounds a game, an 11-time All-Star, top 100 All-Time in points/rebounds/blocks/win shares, Bosh will be enshrined in the Hall-of-Fame, it all just depends on when he decides to officially throw in the towel on the comeback. By MukGame 1 of the Thunder-Rockets matchup went the way that many people expected it to, with the Rockets offense being too much for the Thunder D. The 118-87 win in Houston certainly has the Rockets feeling confident, and for good reason, because the Thunder proved once again that they really are a one-man show.
Russell Westbrook and the Thunder struggled last night, and we saw once again that when Westbrook needs help, there is no one there to help him. Westbrook scored 22 points last night, adding 11 rebounds and 7 assists, but he struggled possessing the ball and did not shoot for a high %, and that proved costly for the Thunder. Even worse, Victor Oladipo, who is supposed to be the #2 guy for the Thunder, was virtually non-existent last night. Oladipo shot 1 for 12, totaling 6 points and pretty much nothing else. In a series where the Thunder will have to be scoring more than ever, having only 1 player score over 20 points and only 3 break double-digits is not a good start. The Rockets on the other hand looked real strong, with James Harden performing great as usual, exploding for 37-points, 9 assists and 7 rebounds. However, the Rockets' biggest key to victory last night was Patrick Beverly, who went off for 21 points, 10 rebounds, while shooting an awesome 8-13 from the field and 4-6 from 3PT. The Rockets' had 5 players go off for double-digit scoring, and had no one turn the ball over more than 2 times, and that was really the key for them. The Thunder will need to take better care of the basketball, and someone on this team needs to step up and held Brodie otherwise they will be headed home in what could be a clean-sweep. Westbrook isn't innocent in all of this and I'm well aware of that, but he will need help regardless. By DjackLast night was the first playoff game for the #1 seed Boston Celtics. They were taking on the wishy washy Chicago Bulls and it seemed like your ordinary series between a 1 and 8 seed, where the 1 seed is expected dominate. Well, about 24 hours prior to the game some horrible news was received. Chyna Thomas, the younger sister of star point guard Isaiah Thomas, was killed in a car accident. Devastating, the worst possible news a person on planet earth can get is that someone in their immediate family has died, especially when it's in such a tragic way. Many questioned if Thomas would play or not, and head coach Brad Stevens left the decision up to Thomas to make.
Game one rolled around and there Thomas was on the floor in pregames. He was going to give it his best shot, no one truly knew if he'd be able to play the whole game, or how well he could play with this fresh wound weighing on his mind so heavily. The cameras were on him throughout the entire pregame, showing his blank face that was filled with sadness, rage, and God knows what other emotions were running through his body at that time. All I know was I could feel his pain through the television, I think everybody could, and this was one of those moments in sports where the one person was bigger than the game. Isaiah Thomas put on a performance of a lifetime last night. He dropped 33 points, scoring from spots all over the court, hitting circus shots, hitting deep 3's, and he keeping the Celtics chances of winning alive. Thomas shot 55% from the floor, carrying the Celtics while carrying a heavy heart, something almost no one on this planet could do and for that I respect him. I'm sure playing wasn't easy for Thomas, although it may have helped his mind wander away from the tragedy that had consumed his thoughts for a couple hours. The Celtics ended losing game one and it was tough loss at that, but Isaiah Thomas is a winner and a warrior. A warrior that everyone needs to respect and honor, truly one of the gutsiest performances I have ever witnessed. I hate the Celtics and everything Boston, however for the sake of IT, I hope he can pull off some miracles and have the fairy tale ending he deserves this postseason. RIP Chyna Thomas, my prayers are with the Thomas family. By DjackRudy Gobert went down with a knee injury in the first minute of last night's game one playoff matchup with the Clippers. Immediately, fans panicked, and figured their season would be coming to the most disappointing of ends with one of their key pieces going down so early into their postseason run. Well, the Jazz ended up winning without having Gobert the entire game on a Joe Johnson buzzer beater, shows just how bad the Clippers are come playoff time, and then following the game it was announced he didn't have a torn ACL. Fans were elated, they won and their best player isn't going to miss an entire year due to one of the most gruesome injuries in all of sports, what a night. Not so fast, Gobert's x-rays may have come back negative, however that does not mean he's going to be able to come back and play in game 2, or even in this series at all for that matter.
Hyper-extension of the knee and a bone contusion is the official diagnosis given to Rudy Gobert. If it's as serious as the Kevin Durant case, he'll be out the entire playoffs. If it's more of a minor case he'll still have to miss 2 weeks time, meaning at minimum he'll the rest of this series. They're going to reevaluate the knee at some point today and maybe just maybe it'll somehow not be nearly as bad as they thought, and he'll be right back on the court for game 2. I see that as being the least likely of the the scenarios, though. It's either he's out for good, he comes right back, or he misses basically the entire series against the Clippers. If he misses the entire series against the Clippers, he'll be missing the entire playoffs because there's noway the Jazz are beating the Clippers 3 more times without Gobert. I know they miraculously pulled off game 1 without Gobert, but if they know he's not going to be able to play they'll just gameplan to attack the paint, and absolutely dominate the Jazz. Jazz fans say your prayers, if Gobert isn't back for this series you can kiss this series goodbye. Clippers fans say your prayers, if Gobert does come back you're screwed because you couldn't even beat the Jazz without him. The injury status of Rudy Gobert will decide the fate of this series |
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AuthorDjack- Chief editor Archives
March 2018
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