(via Andy Gray's SI Vault)
Well, some breaking news to start your Halloween weekend: Delonte West has gotten into an "altercation" with one of his teammates. Anyone who didn't see that one coming a mile away, say "aye."
Thought so. So what happened? Only a fight. At least Delonte didn't go all Mad Max this time on his motorcycle packed with loaded weapons.
Less than one week after tempers flared during a two-on-two game in practice, Delonte West and Von Wafer had another altercation earlier this afternoon.The Celtics say this appears to be a issue dealing only with West and Wafer, and nobody else on the team. Sadly, that means they're less likely to cut him, and even less likely to resign Mario West to fill their quota of players-named-West on their team. I, naturally, only have one response:
During a three-on-three game with Avery Bradley, Luke Harangody, Semih Erden and assistant coach Tyronn Lue, West began fouling Wafer each time the reserve guard touched the ball. West was increasingly physical to the point that Wafer exited to the locker room midway through the game. As he walked away, West barked obscenities and taunted Wafer.
After Wafer had showered and sat down at his locker, West approached from behind and threw a punch. Wafer didn't see the punch coming but quickly got off of the ground and connected on two punches of his own. He then wrestled West to the ground before being separated by the team's veterans.
:(
Well, it's hard to top that action, but here's something that isn't basketball-related, but I know this will definitely be worth watching for quite a few of us: Crispin Glover's Back to the Future screen tests. (h/t Jonah Keri)
Worst of the Night in Pictures:
Nationally Televised Friday Games:
Magic at Heat, ESPN, 8pm: These two teams hate each other's guts right now. Even Marcin Gortat(!) is running smack. And yet tickets are still available! Per ESPN's Rachel Nichols, "Perhaps city of Miami already nonchalant about LeBron, Wade and Bosh being here together - tickets still available for 2night's home opener."
Lakers at Suns, ESPN, 10:30pm: AccuScore has this game dead even -- each team has a 50% chance of victory. Okay, yes, Phoenix has home court advantage, but serious question here: how are they going to do anything to control the paint? This could be a game worth watching to see a true evaluation of where the Suns are with their new "all small ball, all the time" format.
All The Other Friday Games:
Kings at Nets, 7pm: The Nets are in a tie for first place right now! The Prokhorov smiles.
Hawks at 76ers, 7pm: Huzzah! Another chance to see Doug Collins not play his best players as much as possible!
Cavaliers at Craptors, 7pm: Per ESPN's Chris Sheridan, the 2010-2011 Craptors media guide has a section (under Miscellaneous on page 3, for those five folks who have a copy of the media guide) that states: "Any media member wishing to "take my talents to South Beach" will have their credentials confiscated and be escorted from the building." All right, Toronto, I'll give you that one. But it's right back to making fun of your team next week!
Pacers at Bobcats, 7pm: I'm sure it's possible to care even less about a game than I do about this one, but I'd have to try really hard to do that. And trying hard to not care about something is such an oxymoron that I just broke my brain.
Knicks at Celtics, 7:30pm: The Celtics have won 20 of their last 25 games against the Bricks. I doubt that you need to know much more than that about this game.
Nuggets at Hornets, 8pm: No joke here -- I just wanted to say it's fantastic to see George Karl back on the sidelines coaching the Nuggets after all his health troubles last year.
Thunder at Pistons, 8pm: The Pistons are going to lose this game. How do I know? Because of this.
Bucks at Timberwolves, 8pm: There have been rumors of the NBA discussing contracting a team or two. Even though I don't foresee that happening any time soon (we all know how David Stern would consider that a last-gasp kind of move), it's still a possibility. However! "I can say that Minnesota is not one of the teams that would be contracted, nor do we expect that in the future," said owner Glen Taylor, the chairman of the NBA's board of governors. So Minnesota fans have that going for them, which is nice.
Grizzlies at Mavericks, 8:30pm: Let's break this down: the Mavs have two 7-footers, and the Grizzlies are missing Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph due to injuries. This could get uglier than even the Grizzlies' last 9 games against the Mavericks, which they have also lost.
clippers at Warriors, 10:30pm: The Warriors had a decidedly run-and-gun style under the leadership of Don Nelson, but new head coach Keith Smart said we could expect that to change as the team planned on focusing more on defense and rebounding. Nice to see that the players apparently didn't get that memo and are still running and gunning anyway.
* * *
Nationally Televised Saturday Games:
Nuggets at Rockets, NBA TV, 8:30pm: Ah, another chance to be entertained by Yao Ming. He's already delivered so much material for this blog in just a couple games!
All The Other Saturday Games:
Kings at Cavaliers, 7:30pm: Just a gut feeling, but for some odd reason, this game might actually be interesting. (Of course, now that I've said that, watch it be a 128-87 blowout...)
Trail Blazers at Knicks, 7:30pm: Well, the Knicks are on a one-game winning streak! That's... something.
Pistons at Bulls, 8pm: You know, I doubt it will really matter if Rose continues his shot-jackery or not in this game... (Did the Pistons seriously win a title only a few years ago?? Hard to believe.)
76ers at Pacers, 8pm: I have absolutely nothing of interest to say about this game. So instead, I'm just going to link you to this video of a gigantic fight in a McDonald's after Game 1 of the World Series. You're welcome.
Timberwolves at Grizzlies, 8pm: According to the ESPN.com schedule, this game is not being televised at all. And the world breathes a sigh of relief...
Bobcats at Bucks, 8:30pm: Both teams on the second night of back-to-backs? No thank you.
Hornets at Spurs, 8:30pm: The Hornets are on a back-to-back here, but the Spurs should have fresh legs. Unfortunately for the Spurs, "fresh legs" for them is a relative term since the average age on that team feels like it's close to 47.
* * *
Nationally Televised Sunday Games:
Jazz at Thunder, NBA TV, 7pm: Dejected Deron Williams is dejected: "If we play like this against Oklahoma City we’ll lose by 50." SAD FACE.
All The Other Sunday Games:
Heat at Nets, 1pm: I have a feeling we can safely refer to them as the Nyets again after this game...
Mavericks at Clippers, 3:30pm: Well, for something more exciting in Dallas sports, go watch this video of Brad Richards hitting a hockey puck through the glass.
Warriors at Lakers, 9:30pm: And yet another one-sided battle of California teams.
Labels: Bawful After Dark, Delonte West, fights
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As for the Lakers-Suns, again, once Robin Lopez and Frye foul out, the game will become a mere 3pt contest in hilarity to watch.
clever. you poked fun at the Spurs' age. makes sense, because yanno, they have 3 players over 30 and 7 players 26 or younger.
and it should be said, i love the shit outta this site and my initial comment is not representative of my high regards of it.
News from the future
----------------------
April 1st, 2022
BROOKLYN, NY (AP) - And the Nets won again ...
...
NOTES: This win marks the first time the Nets find themselves one win above .500 since October 29th, 2010.
Brook Lopez is good, I'm not surprised the Nets look okay, I have them with a better record than NY.
Czernobog -- Seriously? That bad? I'm starting to wish NBA League Pass wasn't so friggin' expensive. That sounds like something I need to see.
0 points (0-6 FG, 0-4 3pts), 3 reb, 0 ast, 0 stl, 0 blk, 2 TO, 1 BA, 5 PF, +/- -29.
Oklahoma City Tickytacker through first 2 games: 91 free throws attempts, 75 made. Uhm. They're on pace for 3731 attempted and 3075 made. Uhm, uhm. That would smash all records. http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/tiny.cgi?id=lseX7
J.J. Hickson not exactly worst player of the night ... but deserves honorable mention.
Owned: DeMarcus Cousins. By Brooke Lopez.
Other than Dwight Howard and Ryan Anderson, the rest of the Magic shot 8-46 from the field, including 2-20 from 3. Five guys tied for the team lead with one assist each (math protip: that means the team had 5 total assists.) Dwight Howard and Rashard Lewis both fouled out, neither with more than 30 minutes of PT, while the rest of the team accumulated only 8 total fouls (strategy protip: when your best player's in foul trouble, if you're on the court with him, you should be using your fouls to protect him.)
And this team that couldn't put the ball in the hoop also couldn't get to the ball when it missed the hoop; they were outrebounded 51-40. And they missed ten free throws. OK, so they played last night, but they had a 30 point lead going into the fourth quarter, so it's not like they shoulda been all that tired.
But hey, maybe they all caught a case of tired legs from Vince's third cousin Tracy...
If Bawful had an anthem, I would've been singing it athalftime.
And since Silvio already mentioned his statline, R.Lewis makes me wonder how Carter can draw so much flak while the league's second highest paid player can keep lacking it up on the same team.
*belly laugh*
Oh, Chris, you poor bastard. And this is coming from a Craptors fan.
I must add that it was mainly a running hook shot and not much else. Also, Darnell "Lacktion" Jackson in the Kings - Nets highlights? Really?
First, I hope you know I was giving you a hard time yesterday, "Mild Spams."
As for the Heat-Magic, I'll tell you what happened: Vince Carter (4 points, 1-for-5) and Rashard Lewis (0-for-9) are their second and third best players. That was a problem in the playoffs last year, and it's going to be an even bigger problem this year, becuause nothing's changed with those bums other than that they're a year older. What, people thought Lewis would suddenly start hitting shots in big games, or that Vince would become clutch? Pfffffft.
As for their best player, he was dominant in the first half (19 points) and then, predictably, got shut down in the second (0 points before fouling out in the fourth). I do like Dwight, but he's the most stoppable of superstars in the league right now.
Bottom line: The Heat may not be as good as some people thought they'd be, but they're still pros and they were pissed, 'cause nobody talked as much shit about them in the offseason as the Magic. As always, payback can be a bitch.
vs Rockets
M. Ellis 39:45 46
S. Curry 39:04 25
vs Clippers
M. Ellis 32:49 15
S. Curry 26:53 16
Yeah, I know Curry got injured, but still they get rid of Clippers much easier. And Rockets are not some world beaters, most people see them on the bubble of the playoffs. I see them in the playoffs for sure - cause when you watch Rockets, their game actually makes sense, both in offense and defense. Sadly enough, that's enough to reach playoffs nowadays even in Bestern conference, as most of other teams game does not make lot of sense. It doesn't matter Yao is probably going to play 1500- minutes only this season, Scola is beast, it just took some time for him to get used to NBA and for Adelman to get trust in him.
Rashard Lewis: 2 pts (0-9 FG, 0-5 3Pt, 2-2 FT) in 24:43 min , 3 reb, 0 ast, 1 stl, 0 blk, 3 TO, 6 PF, (+/-) -25. No comment.
Vince Carter: 4 pts (1-5 FG, 0-1 3Pt, 2-3 FT) in 13:37 min , 1 reb, 0 ast, 0 stl, 0 blk, 0 TO, 2 PF, (+/-) -26. Carter actually went down with back injury. And it is most funny part. While he was lying down like a soccer player game continued ... but no teammate cared to make foul to stop the clock and allow trainer to come in ... they all thought it's better to play 4-on-5 than w/ VC.
Terrence Williams: 3 pts (1-4 FG, 1-2 FT) in 11:14 min , 3 reb, 1 ast, 0 stl, 0 blk, 5 TO, 1 PF. (+/-) of -18 in only 11 minutes. In a game his team actually won. C'mon man.
J.J. Hickson: 6 pts (3-8 FG) in 18:31 min, 6 reb, 0 ast, 0 stl, 0 blk, 4 TO, 4 PF, (+/-) -20. Breakout candidate finds himself first in foul trouble, then in blowout loss. Well, if with King Crab, Shaq and Zed out of town, Jamison for some reason not starter and Varejao out for this game Hickson couldn't score more than 6 pts vs Craptors defense, then there's only one way to describe it: fail.
Honorable mention (in disorder):
Steve Nash: 8 pts (3-9 FG, 1-2 3Pt, 1-2 FT) in 29:24 min , 2 reb, 9 ast, 1 stl, 0 blk, 3 TO, 0 PF, (+/-) 2. Old man playing back-to-back games. There should be some law against it.
Donta Greene: 3 pts (1-1 FG, 1-2 FT) in 3:33 min , 1 reb, 0 ast, 0 stl, 0 blk, 0 TO, 0 PF, (+/-) +10. From a starter to near-Voskuhl in first 2 games of a season.
Omri Casspi: 7 pts (2-9 FG, 0-5 3Pt, 3-3 FT) in 20:06 min , 2 reb, 1 ast, 0 stl, 0 blk, 2 TO, 3 PF, (+/-) -16. Not that Casspi made difference replacing Donta.
Ersan Ilyasova: 0 pts (0-4 FG, 0-1 3Pt) in 8:08 min , 3 reb, 0 ast, 0 stl, 0 blk, 0 TO, 4 PF, (+/-) -2 . Bucks are deep, hence 8 minutes only, but Skiles doesn't bench player in favor of Sanders and Brockman for no reason.
Dario Gallinari: 2 pts (0-6 FG, 0-3 3Pt, 2-2 FT) in 11:53 min , 3 reb, 1 ast, 0 stl, 0 blk, 1 TO, 3 PF, (+/-) -3. Supposedly he's playing hurt. Still bawful.
Mickael Pietrus: 5 pts (2-6 FG, 1-4 3Pt, 0-2 FT) in 23:34 min , 1 reb, 0 ast, 0 stl, 0 blk, 3 TO, 0 PF, (+/-) -15.
Channing Frye: 2 pts (1-4 FG, 0-3 3Pt) in 15:31 min , 1 reb, 0 ast, 0 stl, 1 blk, 0 TO, 1 PF, (+/-) -2
Chris Duhon: 1 pts (0-1 FG, 0-1 3Pt, 1-2 FT) in 23:11 min , 2 reb, 1 ast, 0 stl, 0 blk, 2 TO, 2 PF, (+/-) -13 .
Ramon Sessions: 4 pts (1-10 FG, 2-3 FT) in 24:08 min , 1 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl, 0 blk, 5 TO, 1 PF, (+/-) -12.
John Salmons: 7 pts (3-8 FG, 0-2 3Pt, 1-2 FT) in 21:41 min , 1 reb, 2 ast, 0 stl, 1 blk, 3 TO, 0 PF, (+/-) -4.
Trillions and other stuff I actually do not know how to calculate:
Mario Chalmers: 0 pts (0-0 FG) in 3:40 min , 0 reb, 0 ast, 0 stl, 0 blk, 0 TO, 0 PF, (+/-) +3. So much about time share with Arroyo (25 minutes, 7+4+4).
Jason Kapono: 0 pts (0-1 FG) in 7:54 min , 1 reb, 0 ast, 0 stl, 0 blk, 0 TO, 0 PF, (+/-) -2. He is actually starter for Sixers. At least he was for a game and half (didn't play after Q1 yesterday).
Von Wafer: 0 pts (0-1 FG, 0-1 3Pt) in 2:36 min , 0 reb, 0 ast, 0 stl, 0 blk, 0 TO, 1 PF, (+/-) -3 . Perhaps he should try his luck in MMA "sport".
Joel Anthony: 0 pts (0-0 FG) in 22:35 min , 4 reb, 0 ast, 0 stl, 0 blk, 1 TO, 5 PF, (+/-) 23. Over(under) on scoreless games for Heat (so called) starting center should be something like 60.5.
Hasheem Thabeet: 1 pts (0-0 FG, 1-2 FT) in 11:45 min , 2 reb, 0 ast, 0 stl, 0 blk, 0 TO, 0 PF, (+/-) -11. This supposed to be his night with M.Gasol and Z-Bo both injured ... but Marc miraculously healed ... and saved Hasheem from even bigger embarrassment.
I mean, I think anyone would get fired up after hearing this very offensive artistic interpretation of what Gortat said before the game:
"If Heat want win, Heat need shut mouth and win. In mother Poland, people ask Polish Hammer what Heat can make this season. I not care what Heat make this season. Heat can go make fucks to their mother! I Polish Hammmer make baskets with basketsballs. Into your face!"
-Marcin Gortat
Yeah, something is wrong in Denmark...er...Natomas.
To be perfectly honest, I hope the refs keep giving out T's for whiney stuff and the players learn to stop complaining so darn much.
There are a lot of players I'd respect a whole lot more if they weren't trying being such freaking drama queens out there. I'd much rather a guy get his butt back on defense to make a play there rather than yelling at the ref the whole way back down the court.
I honestly believe that the refs are generally trying to call the game as they see it, especially since we're finally getting some new blood into the ranks.
Sure the Tech is a blunt tool to change it, but one thing I actually liked about FIBA ball was that guys just didn't whine and pout as much as in the NBA. I'd see guys get frustrated, but it just wasn't accepted that guys would get away with going out of their ways to show up a ref just because the call went against them. It's like it doesn't even matter who's right; guys are just bitching because they think it'll influence the game in their favor.
The specific rules may need tweaking, but I'm actually surprised how happy I was to see Dwight Howard not running around with waving arms and crazy eyes because he got called for a personal.
Sure some calls are going to be frustrating, but it's a men's league and I'd actually be happier watching the games if they'd act a little more like men at times.
My guess is that the Heat shut down the Magic because VC went down and they had no one to create shots in the half-court and the Magic shot abnormally badly from outside (missing tons of makeable shots) because they were coming out on the 2nd night of a back to back away game.
the Magic kept the game close for the first half, but then ran out of steam in the 3rd quarter - classic back-to-back 2nd game loss material.
loved watching the heat, but i doubt Gortat made much different in the Heat's motivation level :D
Alls I'm sayin' is: if MC "(Polish) Hammer" Gortat was talking smack to me with a polish accent, I'd be motivated!
I'd also give credit to Arroyo, he was all over Jameer Nelson with his goofy, star fish, arm waving defense. He'll probably have trouble with warp speed guards like Paul, Wall, etc, but all the fastest guards play for crappy teams that the Big Three can handle. Deron Williams will give him fits though, but since he's slower they'll probably have James or Wade guard him.
As for Howard, he had some nice new moves that he should have picked up years ago, but he had a huge advantage size-wise and still didn't dominate both sides of the court. 19 points and TWO rebounds. In-his-prime Shaq would have dropped 30+ points and 10+ rebounds against the Heat's not-so-big men.
There's a reason they were letting Howard have the ball and you still haven't heard of Hack-a-Dwight defense.
"Dorell Wright added 18 points for Golden State, which won five straight back in 1994."
There was no context for it, just "Hey, the Warriors went on a five-game win streak in 1994." I know, I know, editing and deadlines and all that for writers, but I thought it was funny.
oh and uh...my man CP3 is back in business!
Also, these are Gortat's comments to the media on Miami:
"They are a great team, they have three big superstars, they have a couple good role players on their team. They looking good on the paper, but they gotta start winning,"
"Honestly, I'm sick of listening every hour about Miami, Miami, Miami that. How great they are, how big they are, what record they going to have, we going to try to play 110% and win it."
Hardly incendiary.
Word verification: chump
"If Orlando wants to have any chance at winning a difficult Eastern Conference, they’re going to need Vince Carter to be – well – Vince Carter.
“I accept that, and I understand that,” Carter said. “It’s something that's been pretty much in my mind all summer. I know it’s time to be me and I don't have a problem with that. Just play my game. Just do what I’ve been blessed to do for many years, and that's put the ball in the basket and make plays for other guys.”"
So yeah. That play where Vinsanity was injured was confusing too. He hit his head on the fall, grabbed that first then, his back before laying McGrady-like under the basket. After the Heat converted at the other end he was helped up and then was limping.
Obviously a wrist injury.