karma
Does anybody else hear John Lennon singing when they look at this picture...?

The Toronto Craptors: Status check: The Extinction Lizards have dropped 16 of their last 21 games, with the five wins coming against the Pistons (13-26), Nyets (10-30), Mavericks (minus Dirk Nowitzki), Cavaliers (8-32) and Kings (9-29).

Back-to-back games against the Pistons and Wizards Generals (11-27) provided the Craptosaurs with the chance to get a rare win before an ugly four-game stretch in which they play the Hornets, Spurs, Magic and Heat...all on the road.

First up: A home game versus the Pistons...who were a mere 3-17 outside Detroit. Those three road wins came against the Clippers (during their 1-13 start), Kings and Craptors (uh oh). And...


Second up: A roadie against the Generals...who had lost 15 of their last 19. Their most recent loss was to the Timberwolves (10-31) and their three wins were against the Bobcraps (15-23), Pacers (16-21), Nyets and Kings (in OT). And...


Now, in all fairness, Leandro Barbosa injured his right hammy against the Pistons. Jerryd Bayless missed the Generals game with a sore left ankle. And of course Sonny Weems, Peja Stojakovic and Reggie Evans were all out.

Said Jose Calderon: "We knew it was only going to be, like, seven or eight players we had out there. We knew we'd have to play a lot of minutes. We played good for a long time. Maybe at the end the legs didn't respond as well as we needed to."

Still, missing players doesn't explain giving up a season-high 22 points to Knee Mac or letting Nick Young light you up for 18 third quarter points, Jose.

Added Toronto coach Jay Triano: "In a back-to-back where we have so many guys hurt, our margin for error isn't very good."

Everything about your team isn't very good, Jay.

The Milwaukee Bucks: That whole "Fear the Deer" campaign keeps feeling further and further away, doesn't it?

The Bucks actually managed to shoot better than 39 percent and scored over 90 points for a change. And they kept it close against a Sixers team that began the night 0-7 in games decided by four points or less. Oh, and Philly was coming off back-to-back losses against the sub-.500 Pistons and Pacers.

Unfortunately, Milwaukee -- currently ranked 6th in Defensive Rating at 102.7 and 11th in Opponents eFG% (48.8) -- let the Sixers finish with an O-Rating of 113.6 and an eFG% of 62.7. If you want the raw stats, Philly shot 57 percent from the field and 7-for-14 from downtown.

Said Bucks coach Scott Skiles: "We played pretty good offensively, but couldn't get anything going defensively."

Like the Craptors, the Roadkill Deer are understaffed, missing Michael Redd (left knee injury), Brandon Jennings (left foot surgery) and Carlos Delfino (concussion). But that doesn't change the fact that they're 14-23 and 11.5 games back in a division that a lot of people thought they were going to win.

The New Jersey Nyets: After their winless weekend -- including their 100-88 defeat by the Lakers in L.A. and a 96-89 come-from-ahead loss to the Frail Blazers in Portland -- the Nyets have lost five in a row and 10 of their last 11.

After choking up a 13-point lead in Portland, New Jersey coach Avery Johnson screamed: "WE HAD A PRETTY GOOD FLOW FOR 3 1/2 QUARTERS OF THE GAME, BUT WE'VE GOT TO FIGHT THROUGH THE MENTAL AND PHYSICAL FATIGUE ON THE ROAD IF WE WANT TO BE A GOOD TEAM."

A "good" team, Avery? Your squad would have to make some serious strides to work their way up to "just below average."

A quick status check (at Basketball-Reference) shows us they rank 29th in PPG (92.2), 28th in Offensive Rating (101.2), 27th in Pace (89.7), 21st in Defensive Rating (108.7). More telling, they rank 29th in Expected W-L (11-29) and 30th in attendance (224,768).

The Charlotte Bobcraps: Speaking of winless weekends, the Bobcraps -- who entered the weekend 6-2 since Larry Brown was sacked by Michael Jordan -- saw their dead coach bounce get bounced. First came a loss to the Celtics, who were sans Kevin Garnett, Jermaine O'Neal and Kendrick Perkins. And with Paul Pierce limited to 25 minutes due to foul trouble, Doc Rivers turned to...Shaq.

The Big Creaky responded with 23 points on 10-for-12 shooting as Charlotte "held" Boston to 52 percent shooting and an Offensive Rating of 116.7.

The symbolic play of the game: Big Baby stuffing Tyrus Thomas on a dunk attempt:


Said Bobcraps coach Paul Silas: "Mentally we've got to come with it a little bit more. It's a mental game. That's what I told those guys -- 90 percent of it is mental and we are just not there yet."

They weren't there on Saturday night, either. Despite playing at home against a Hornets team that played an overtime game in Houston the night before and didn't arrive in Charlotte until around 6 a.m. EST, the Bobkittens found themselves in a dogfight that got a little too dogfighty when Tyrus Thomas tried to force-feed Emeka Okafor an elbow sammich:


Said Silas: "He hit him. ... What they saw was correct. We just can't have that at the time, we just can't. We're right in the ballgame."

Thomas was ejected. The Hornets got two shots and the ball. Okafor hit both freebies and then David West drew a foul and converted both 'throws. Suddenly an 81-77 Hornets lead was 85-77 with just over two minutes to go. Game, set, match.

Even tho' Tirade Thomas' hijinx killed any hopes of a comeback, it didn't help that Stephen Jackson (5-for-15 and 2-for-7 on threes) and Gerald Wallace (5-for-13 and only 3 boards) spent most of the night bitching at the officials instead of, you know, playing basketball.

Said Silas: "There's just too much nonsense going on out there as far as going after the referees and all that kind of thing. It's like I told the players, 'You didn't see [New Orleans] going after the referees.' Why? Because they understand, 'My job is to go out and play the game and concentrate on those particular things.' We just aren't there yet."

Sepaking of "not there yet"...or ever...

Kwame Brown: From Basketbawful reader Fishy:


The Dallas Mavericks: We're not done talking about winless weekends yet. Now, I can understand a Dirk-less Dallas team falling behind by 24 points and losing 101-89 to the Spurs in San Antonio. I get that. It makes sense...in addition to dropping the Mavs to 2-7 minus Nowitzki. Still, the fact that the Dallas starters notched only 34 points in defeat was a little ominous.

Sure, enough, the Mavericks' starting five accounted for only 26 points in an 89-70 loss the the Grizzlies in Memphis. The Care Bears lead by as many as 23 in this one...despite the return of Nowitzki. The Mavs shot 32 percent and Dirk finished with as many technical fouls as field goals (2). His ejection happened during Dallas' 12-point third quarter. Which basically ended the game.

Sad fact: Ian Mahinmi scored more points off the bench (17) than Dirk, Brendan Haywood, Jason Kidd and DeShawn Stevenson combined (15).

The Cleveland Cavaliers: And now comes the saddest winless weekend of them all. The Cavaliers -- many of whom were put on suicide watch after last week's 55-point loss to the Lakers -- suffered their 18th and 19th straight road losses in Utah and Denver, respectively.

Cleveland gave up 70 points in the first half of a 22-point loss to the Jazz. Utah shot 53 percent, registered 32 assists on 47 field goals, and, at times, looked like the freaking Globetrotters out there:


Things got even worse the next night in Denver. The Nuggets scored a season-high 80 points in the first half and built a 39-point lead before settling for a 127-99 win. Cleveland lost Mo Williams in the first quarter due to a left hip flexor strain...and they were already without Boobie Gibson (ankle), Anthony Parker (lower back), Anderson Varejao (ankle/foot), Joey Graham (quad), Leon Powe (knee) and Christian Eyenga (ankle).

So make it 23 losses in their last 24 games. But at least seven of the eight players they had available scored in double figures! Yeah!

Bonus giggles from stephanie g.:

nug-cavs

The New York Knicks: Sure, they went .500 on their four-game Western Conference road trip, dropping a 109-87 decision to the Lakers and then losing 131-125 in Utah. But they were coming home to play an 8-28 Kings squad...

...that left New York with a 9-28 record.

It was an ugly loss, too, with New York's high-powered offense managing only 83 points on 31 percent shooting. STAT had sizable double-double(25 and 13) but went 6-for-22 from the field. Raymond Felton went 2-for-15 and Wilson Chandler was 4-for-14. The Knicks missed 10 shots at the rim, went 5-for-22 from inside 10 feet, 1-for-6 from 10-15 feet and 1-for-13 from 16-23 feet.

Did I mention Beno Udrih lit the 'Bockers up for 29 points on 11-for-14 shooting? And, yep, the New York crowd booed their team.

Said Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni: "We just didn't have it -- everybody."

The Miami Heat: LeBron was out with a sprained ankle. Bosh sprained an ankle during the game and had to miss the entire fourth quarter. Dwyane Wade went into Beast Mode but got out-Beasted by Derrick Rose and then cock-blocked by Kyle Korver's crazy triple. Watch for yourself:


Now the Heat have lost three in a row and would have to win their next 40 straight to reach 70 wins. During their recent three-game slide, Miami has given up 113.3 PPG while letting their opponents shoot 50 percent from the field and 42 percent from downtown (according to ESPN Stats and Information).

Karma. It's a bitch, huh?

Now, I want you to watch Bosh get injured:


Would you believe that Bosh actually got all bitchy about Omer Asik diving for that loose ball? Showing hustle and desire to win? The RuPaul of Big Men does not understand such things.

Said Bosh: "C'mon, that is how guys get hurt, that is how serious injuries happen. You've got to watch people's legs. I know guys want to hustle and everything but we all want to play and provide for our families and have a job. We all want to be healthy and that is very important. If it is by somebody's leg, don't dive for the ball, it's too close."

Oh. My. God. I knew Bosh was a huge flapping vajayjay, but I had no idea just how much that vajayjay did flap. I believe that kind of flapping is usually reserved for creatures that can take flight.

The Los Angeles Lakers: What a Sunday. Bears win. Tom Brady and the Patriots get their asses handed to them. And the Clippers beat the Lakers.


And because AnacondaHL kinda demanded it:


Good times.

As if the loss wasn't humiliating enough, Lamar Odom got his pink princess ballet panties in a bunch and tried to take Blake Griffin's shirt off:


Said Odom: "Maybe I overreacted, but I just feel like if you're up 9, a ram in the back at that point? Any other time, I get it. You play hard, you're strong, whatever, but the ram in the back [while] up 9? I don't get it, so I'm just going to have to react."

Replied Griffin: "Whatever happened, I didn't say anything, I didn't take a swing at anybody, I didn't push anybody. When Baron came in, I grabbed him. ... There's never a situation where I'm not going to go to the glass. I would think of all people, [Odom] would know that."

B-Dizzle thinks the Candy Man was just, well, being a bit of a bitch.

Said Davis: "He plays with a chip, and at the same time he plays with a tenacity that a lot of times people, they misread that -- especially veteran guys. Veteran guys don't like being shown up, so like tonight I think Odom got a little frustrated because Blake wouldn't stop competing and pushing him, so he kind of lost his composure. That's what a lot of veteran guys do. They try and ground him. They try and frustrate him, but he continues to bring it."

If anything, Kobe was on Griffin's side.

Said Mamba: "[Going for the rebound with a nine-point lead] is just the right thing to do. You've got to play all the way through. You play until the final buzzer sounds. It's as simple as that. That's the way I grew up playing. That's the right way to play."

Then the shot at Pau Gasoft.

Said Bryant: "I think Lamar just had to make a stand, because up to that point, Blake ran through Pau. It wasn't nothing personal. Blake just ran through us, and we didn't have anybody who was going to put up a stand. I think that kind of turned the tide. ... We just didn't put up much of a fight."

As for the officiating...well, look, I understand why Odom got the boot, and I even understand why Davis got the early exit. But Griffin and Artest? For what exactly?

Said Phil Jackson: "I have no idea how they make their decisions -- whimsically, I think."

Chris's Weekend Lacktion Ledger:

Bobcats-Celtics: Semih Erden earned five fouls alongside one missed shot in 8:24 for a +6 and a 5:0 Voskuhl, while Von Wafer crunched out one brick from Fanueil Hall with a foul and giveaway for a +3 in 7:42.

Mavs-Spurs: Dallas's Alexis Ajinca added two fouls and a turnover to a field goal and steal in 11:33 for a 3:2 Voskuhl.

Cavs-Jazz: Kyrylo Fesenko improvised a foul and two lost rocks despite hitting a pair of boards in 3:09 for a 3:2 Voskuhl.

Frail Blazers-Suns: Armon Johnson hammered out a 17 second Mario, while Zabian Dowdell delivered the Suns an assist and steal in 34 seconds...not long enough to remove his Game and Watch and avoid earning his own Mario!

Clippers-Warriors: Jarron Collins jacked up a foul in 2:14 for a +1 and a 1:0 Madsen-level Voskuhl, the same statline East Oakland's Ekpe Udoh managed in 4:02.

Nyets-Lakers: New Jersey's Ben Uzoh undid the lock card that prevented him from playing Robodemons on his Famicom, activating his Game Genie after 37 seconds for a Mario. Los Angeles's Derrick Caracter also did some repair work on his NES, despite a board, by blowing on his cartridge slot 33 seconds for his own Mario.

Craptors-Generals: Cartier Martin unpacked his Game Boy in just 21 seconds for a Mario.

Mavs-Grizzlies: Hasheem "The Second Overall Dream" Thabeet assisted on one bucket in 4:15, only to foul thricely and brick once for a 3:0 Voskuhl.

Magic-Wolves: Earl Clark used sleight of hand to make 1.35 trillion (1:21) appear!

Cavs-Nuggets: Melvin Ely elicited a field goal and three boards in 28:43, but lost the rock twice and nearly fouled out for a 7:5 Voskuhl.

Nyets-Blazers: Quinton Ross got lost on his Paperboy route after 42 seconds of biking to earn a Mario.

Labels:

72 Comments:
Anonymous Anonymous said...
Griffin and Artest ought to sue that referee team for defamation of character. I can see Ron's brain going "But I was being the GOOD GUY! C'mon guys! C'moooon!"

Anonymous JR said...
This may be unpopular but I kind of agree with Bosh's point, although not in this context because I don't think the Bulls players really saw him there.

Seriously, regular season game, noone wants to get seriously injured right? I've got no problem with players adjusting the way they play to look out for other players welfare.

Again though that is just Bosh's general point, Bosh moved into that space whilst Asik was diving so it's really him that has to be more careful in that situation imo...

Blogger Fishy said...
More weekend Bawful brought to you by our good ol' friend Kwame Brown

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueqGQIf9XLk

Blogger Fishy said...
And to add to that bawfulness, it even was featured on NBA.com's videos as a "highlight" ... oof.

Anonymous Mladen said...
Awesome! I sincerely did not expect a Worst of the Weekend post to be up this quick. This really made my morning, especially because I got my wish, and the Clippers beat the Lakers.
Now, I don't want to go into crazy predictions territory (also known as "Jeff Van Gundy territory"), but I think the Clips might just be good in the near future. I mean, making the playoffs this year might still be unrealistic, but next year, I can see them being a No. 8 or 7 seed in the west. As a matter of fact, I was wondering from the beginning of the season, how a line-up of Beast Griffin, Eric Gordon, Fat B-Dizzle (still better than no B-Dizzle), and whoever else they're throwing in there, isn't good enough to at least be mediocre. I mean, even DeAndre Jordan doesn't suck donkey balls, and they're yet to get Kaveman back (what's up with him, anyway?). Plus, Eric Bledsoe seems like an awesome rookie addition, and they also have that other rookie with an interesting name. Hel, I'm a Miami fan, but I was glad to see the Clips beat them.
Oh, and I just love Phil Jackson's quote, and Kobe's "subtle" jab at the Spanish Marshmallow.
P.S.: Is it just me, or does Griffin just really seem like a nice, modest guy (despite being a human highlight reel on the court)? I mean, his reaction to Odom's shithead move was probably the best way to react, and it didn't seem like he was suppressing any anger.

Anonymous AnBe said...
well i get why you guys don't like Bosh, but he kind of has a point.. he's lucky Asik didn't blow out his knee

Anonymous Angry Canuck said...
Oh Craps, oh Craps...like Sonny Weems being out is any excuse. But we can put all this shit to rest about Calderon. He may not be the most talented, but he's got a lot of heart and the team would be 0 and whatever without him. I hope he gets to be on a good team someday.

Bosh is what I thought he was...Vag part II.

Blogger winnetou said...
Another article on the Bosh comments: Chris Bosh sprains ankle, worsens health by shoving foot in mouth, remarkably at the nba.com "all ball" blog, not the onion.

Blogger AnacondaHL said...

Anonymous Shrugz said...
Wow
Bosh is more of a weeny than I thought.
OMG someone hussled for the BALL!! HOW DARE YOU MAKE ME LOOK BAD while I bend over to try to pick up the ball (crawling on all fours)

Blogger Cortez said...
"...well i get why you guys don't like Bosh, but he kind of has a point.. he's lucky Asik didn't blow out his knee"

That pussy bitch does not have a "point".

He isn't playing at the local YMCA or in a recreational church league. He's in the premiere professional basketball league in the entire world. If his knee had gotten blown out, it would not have been due to any malfeasance on Asik part.

"Seriously, regular season game, no one wants to get seriously injured right?"

If he doesn't want to get injured then maybe he should play pop-a-shot professionally or maybe stick to his usual half-assed pursuit of loose balls, actively avoiding all contact.

...and for the record, Omar Asik, IS playing for his professional career. He doesn't have a gazillion dollar guaranteed contact. He can't afford (literally and figuratively) to take plays off because he would find himself toiling along in various European leagues for relative peanuts.

Blogger Cortez said...
"I mean, his reaction to Odom's shithead move was probably the best way to react, and it didn't seem like he was suppressing any anger."

Odom and Bosh: Life Partners

...not that there's anything wrong with that!

Blogger Lord Kerrance said...
@Anbe and JR: I would agree with Bosh if he were talking about a play that is NOT part of the game, i.e. Bruce Bowen putting his foot underneath jump shooters or hurricane kicking someone in the face.

Asik's play was well within the accepted boundaries of competition within the game. Basketball is a high-speed occasional contact sport: people are going to get hurt even if they play by the rules. By Bosh's logic, guys shouldn't try to:

-- Block layups/dunks (too much chance of a hard foul)
-- Take charges
-- Jump for the opening tip (Ben Wallace only)

Anonymous JJ said...
Go Griffin! I take this as a good sign for Griffin and Co. in regards to their upcoming road games since this one didn't give them a true homecourt advantage and yet they beat the reigning champs (almost twice if it wasn't for Fisher). B. Diddy finally seems to be realizing that although Elton jumped ship, he got an even better replacement in Griffin.

Anonymous Marc d. said...
That Bosh comment has shades of Spree's infamous "gotta feed my family" quote.

Dude, your making millions, stfu and play the damn game! "Danger Pay" is a big part of the reason professional athletes do get paid so much.

What a pansy ... yet another reason to hate the cHeat

Blogger David Landon said...
So at this point Ron Artest is automatically ejected if he happens to be in the same ZIP code as an altercation, right? Is that how the refs are operating? Because it sure looks like it.

Heck, Pau Gasol should've been ejected for impersonating a male basketball player and sent down to LA's WNBA team.

Anonymous Shrugz said...
I think Bosh actually ran into him and not the other way around....not too sure though

Blogger Michael Hsu said...
Yeah Bosh is a little girl. OMG practice is too much. A lot of teams don't have the luxury of playing just regular season games. Bulls are fighting for a top seed in the East and that's not easy looking at MIA, BOS, ORL, ATL, and maybe NY.

The game went down to the wire and what if Bosh got the ball, scored, and Chicago lost it would have been that one possession.

Blogger Leland said...
Bosh's comment sounded like a comment I hear in my pickup league after a hard foul or loose ball, "Guy, guys, let's just take it easy here, okay? We're here to have fun and get some exercise. Nobody needs to get hurt."

Bawful, can you refer to him as Kris Bosh until he man's up and earns his right to be called a man's name???

Anonymous AK Dave said...
"Dat baaad foreign man dove for a woose bawl and could have hurted my kneesy-weesy! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH"

Fuck you, Bosh. He didn't even see your ass because you weren't in the play when he dove for the ball. You were, as Cortez put it, "actively avoiding contact." And you couldn't even do that right.

Speaking of Bosh- I sincerely hope he doesn't make the all-star game this year. That would make his humiliation/relegation to 3rd banana complete.

Also, speaking of the Clippers, Chris Kaman comes back in February. What the hell do you do with him now that the Clippers are running more with their offense? He stumbled out of the gate bad before getting injured this season, but he's probably still capable of 20-10 and a good post presence.

What do you do with him? Keep him and try to integrate him into what is now clearly Griffin's team? Trade him and risk seeing him in the playoffs when the game becomes more 1/2-court oriented? Wait wait wait. Playoffs? Forget that part. I'm fucking crazy. Anyway, Kaman. WTF is going to happen with him? Thoughts?

Anonymous AK Dave said...
@Leland: "Chrissy Bosh" :D

Blogger Passives Abseits said...
"but we all want to play and provide for our families and have a job."
that is seriously as ignorant as the legendary Spreewell quote... i mean, does he even realize, how much money he gets to play ball? Give me one year of his contract and i could probably feed my family for the rest of my life... he never ever has to bother with things like "providing for his family"... or he is just so damn stupid, that he spends all his money on Lehmann Brothers...

Anonymous JJ said...
Leland, I don't know if I'll go as far as to say "let's take it easy", but I do agree with that mentality in a pickup setting though. You want to play hard because being competitive is fun. Still, we're not getting paid to play and no one should get hurt if possible.

Bosh, on the other hand, is supposed to be a pro. He really shouldn't be whining like that unless the other guy was obviously trying to hurt him. Kris Bosh sounds good. Or maybe Christine Bosh?

Blogger Leland said...
@ AK Dave

Chrissy is definitely good, however the letter "k" in the english language is often described as to be pronounced as a soft "c". Me likes Kris

Blogger Wild Yams said...
The way Gasol has been playing for the last month or more, and with the way Bynum has come on along with how well Odom has played all year, I'm actually thinking the Lakers' best lineup right now does not feature Gasol on the floor, and I'm not being hyperbolic. Odom and Bynum are both playing with intensity at both ends of the floor while Gasol is not at all. Gasol at his best is far better than either Bynum or Odom, but what we've seen from him for weeks and weeks now is a far, far cry from his best. This is definitely the worst I've seen Gasol play in a Laker uniform. By showing no intensity out there he is letting himself get pushed around on both ends of the floor, causing him to turn the ball over repeatedly on offense when it goes into him on the post, and causing him to give up offensive rebounds on defense. Yesterday here is what Gasol did in the 4th quarter: 2 rebounds, 0 points, 1 turnover, 1 block and 4 fouls. Pathetic.

Anonymous Tree said...
Love the Bosh-Odom parallels: vets get out-hustled by rookies, and are pissed and claim there was no need for the rooks to ... PLAY FUCKING BASKETBALL!

Sorry - I momentarily lost my shit, I'm good now.

Sorry folks: there's no defending Bosh on this junk. Asik did what 10 of of 10 coaches would tell him to do: make a play for a loose ball. And really, I'd love Cristina Bosh to explain to everyone how you're supposed to get loose balls rolling on the ground while managing to stay away from people's legs. Huh?!? It seems like he thinks they should have just let if roll to him - less contact that way.

As a Raps fan, I find myself hating myslef and my basketball acumen for cheering for this guy for 7 years. The comments coming out of his mouth this year reveal him to be just as big a narcissist as James ... no one is talking about it because no one cares about the guy (hmmm - guess his move to Miami to be 'recognized' hasn't worked out the way he wanted. People recognize him alright - as an all-star fraud that's softer than cotton-wrapped fleece floating on a cloud).

Anonymous JJ said...
Not sure what happened to my original post, but @Leland and AK Dave: Christine Bosh.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
This is definitely the worst I've seen Gasol play in a Laker uniform.

Agreed. Besides getting rebounds, it seems like he's not even trying anymore.

Blogger Leland said...
Christine, Kristina, Kris....I don't give a damn. They are all emasculating and appropriate for the over ripe bruised soft 3rd banana that bosh is.

Blogger Basketbawful said...
Yams -- Bottom line, Gasol played too many minutes and took too much of a beating early in the season. He helped keep the Lakers afloat while Bynum was out, but you're seeing the effects of it now.

Some big men are built to take on that kind of load, particularly the physical pounding. Shaq, in his prime, could do it. But Pau's more of a finesse player. We all know it. But he was forced to play center for two months and now he's in recovery mode.

He'll have it back by the playoffs, which is all that matters.

Anonymous Bryan said...
Not sure if any of you actually "watched" yesterdays clips-lakers game since football was on but griffin was 1-10 and had 4 pts with a few minutes left in the 3rd quarter with Odom primarily guarding him. He got it going in the 4th against Gasoft. And 20 seconds before the altercation griffin took offense to artest fighting hard for a rebound off a Kobe missed ft. Not sure Odom was mad because he was getting shown up or that Blake was an innocent bystander in all this.

Blogger Evan Sather said...
Did any of you catch this ultimate WTF poster at the United Center? http://cdn1.sbnation.com/imported_assets/634974/sca.jpg

Blogger AnacondaHL said...
Oh, Basketbawful, do I have a treat for you.

Rudy Gay for 2011 ASG: The Most Interesting Man in the NBA.

Blogger winnetou said...
The people at TBJ played around with the google search autocompletion and the suggestions for chris bosh weren't particularly favourable.

Blogger Evan Sather said...
Rudy Gay had no chance of making the All-Star team before and has less votes than Caron Butler right now. He should have consulted Steve Nash before trying his hand at the Dos Equis commercial parody. Even then, that video is still going to have no effect.

Anonymous Barry said...
"Surging Clippers?"

Well I never...

Anonymous kazam92 said...
The vitriol here is astounding.

Blogger The Dude Abides said...
@Bryan, but Gasol also guarded Griffin for a significant portion of those first three quarters. The Lakers did spend a lot of manpower sending extra defenders into Griffin's area when he had the ball, but in the game's final 15 minutes, from the point where the Lakers had a 12-pt lead, the Clips really started to take advantage of the extra attention on Griffin and started moving the ball better. Gordon and Randy Foye(?!) both lit up the Lakers during this stretch, and then Griffin got going when he started getting more single coverage.

The Clippers will be a real tough out for the rest of the season. Griffin has reanimated the corpse of Baron Davis, Gordon has been filling it up, Jordan provides shotblocking, rebounding, and garbage plays, and Ike Diogu(?!) is finally healthy and providing solid post play. They should trade Kaman once he show's that he's healthy enough to play again. I'm sure there are some halfway decent small forwards around the league who are on the trading block.

Anonymous Angry Canuck said...
Andrea Bargnani is the laziest mothertrucker who ever was born...what a stiff.

Blogger Wild Yams said...
Mr. Bawful - I'm not sure I buy that. I mean, yes, Gasol took a beating during the first 2 months of the season (but at least Andrew Bynum got to see the World Cup, which is all that matters), but it's been about a month since Gasol was asked to shoulder that many minutes and play all the time at center. Shouldn't he have, you know, recovered his breath/sleep/mojo/whatever by now? I'm guessing he didn't pick up an injury during that stretch, since as he showed last year, he'll be the first to let anyone know when he's got an injury and will sit out if he feels there's any risk. He's playing like he's got mono or something.

If he's really still so exhausted, then he should take a week or two off or something. With Bynum and Odom the Lakers can cover his spot (with Joe Smith and Artest filling in, and Theo Ratliff if they can resurrect his corpse). Or maybe Phil should have him come off the bench and only play like 20 minutes a game or something. All I know is that Laker fans (myself included) have come to dread it when Phil subs out either Odom or Bynum late in games to put Gasol back in there. Blake Griffin flat out abused Gasol in yesterday's 4th quarter and that was after being held in check for most of the game.

kazam92 - The cHeat hate ain't going away, so you might as well get used to it and stop complaining all the time. Even I take a break from whining about how everyone makes fun of the Lakers every now and then. It's rare, but it does happen.

Anonymous Patrick said...
It looks like Asik has his back to Bosh when he originally dives: in other words, he didn't even know the ball was going close to Bosh's legs. You can hardly fault a guy for that...

Anonymous Marc d. said...
Google autocomplete is good fun! Apparently, a lot of NBA superstars are gay. Who'd a thunk it?

My favourite: Scalabrine's first suggested search is: "is he married"

Sorry ladies, he's taken.

Blogger Michael Hsu said...
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/4561/photos;_ylt=AkO2929WNCe_pLCFO543M7ykvLYF?slug=ap-d19144113dbc4d0e85dd15e53b7c4181

sad kobe picture!

Blogger Michael Hsu said...
Mine was Scalabrine is "a joke"

Anonymous Bryan said...
@The Dude - Agreed. Griffin had a nice 4th and Foye hit 2 clutch 3 pointers at the end of the shot clock. Clippers played very well after surviving the short lived kobe onslaught that opened up the lakers lead in the 3rd.

All I'm saying is the comments about Odom being a vag or being bitter about being shown up is a little overblown. Dude was playing very well against griffin. And it was getting pretty chippy for most of that 4th quarter. I think frustrations just boiled over at the end. Thats all i was trying to point out.

Anonymous Stockton said...
Minnesota needs to sign Rudy Gay.
The Gay-Love connection is unstoppable!!

Blogger Wild Yams said...
Jesus, Blake Griffin just put up 47 & 14 on Mr. Bawful's beloved Pacers, and the dude did it shooting 19-24 from the field. That's crazy, especially for a rookie.

Blogger chris said...
Hey, the Kings just choked again!

:facepalm:

Anonymous AK Dave said...
Dirk's 32 5&5 not enough to beat even the lowly Pissed-on's.

Insert "ship be sinkin'" quip here.

Dallas looked like the best team in the NBA. Now they look like they might not make the playoffs.

Karma is a B-! oh wait, nevermind. Wrong team.

Blogger Wild Yams said...
Did anyone else see this video of the Jazz mascot getting into a fight with a Cavs fan from the game the other day? It was almost surely staged, but funny nonetheless.

Blogger Basketbawful said...
All I can say is that I don't even mind the Pacers losing because watching Blake Griffin play is that amazing. Holy fuck.

Blogger Wormboy said...
Wow, Griffin really got jobbed with that ejection. That kind of BS call validates Odom's shenanigans. As far as I could tell from the video (admittedly couldn't see much in the scrum), Odom is the only one who really deserves an ejection, and even that should probably just be a tech. OK, from reading lips Baron as well. But Griffin? Artest? Wait, what did these guys do wrong? The NBA has gotten FAR too wimpy. Except...

@ Bryan: Yeah, you're probably right. Since Griffin had just been involved in an altercation, not too surprising he'd get the boot for another right afterwards. Still, seems like the officials over-reacted. Be we all know that the officials want to avoid the Stern Nightmare.

@ Cortez: "and for the record, Omar Asik, IS playing for his professional career."

Yes, exactly. What the hell was Bosh thinking with that comment? Yeah, ASik's body was a little out of control. But maybe if Bosh had been hitting the floor rather than trying to screen the ball with his precious knee, that wouldn't have happened.

Well, we'll see. I still think Bosh is the weak link in the super friends. In my book he hasn't proved himself yet. This little flash of whininess bodes poorly for the Heat.

Blogger lordhenry said...
Damn, nice find, Anaconda--that video is hilarious. Ironic, that the same day Chrissy Bosh shows how wussy he is, Rudy Gay puts out an All-Star game ad that puts Bosh's old youtube campaign to shame? Sad, too, that vid was one of the last cool things Bosh ever did.

And Yams, I agree, Gasoft is sucking spanish a$$.

The Dark Lord Informed me that if this keeps up, I have license to change his name from "Darth Vega" to "Darth Vag."

Agh, that was painful.
But not as painful as being a Pats fan BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Blogger Nick said...
As a Suns fan, I was happy to see the Knicks honor Dr King by showing us their "Passive Resistance" defense and allowing the Suns to score 129 points for a win today.

Anonymous AK Dave said...
I don't want to curse the man because I totally man-crush him, but Ray Allen is playing out of his fucking mind this season. 51% shooting, 47% from 3 halfway through the season. And by the way that is better than he has EVER shot during his career. Oh, oh, yeah... and he's 35 years old. Jesus. (/kneeslap)

Think he's out to prove something after last year's meltdown?

Anonymous Wouter said...
I just read the recap from BOS-ORL last night. In the Game Notes:

"Howard had 18 points at the half, scoring nine of them on seven free throws in the second quarter alone"

How exactly do you get 9 points off 7 free throws? The NBA is rigged, I'm telling you!

Blogger Wild Yams said...
Gasol played great in the 4th quarter today, but I'm sure that's because the Thunder basically don't have a power forward or center (or one that plays with any physicality anyway). Still was great to see him step up, cause the Lakers would have lost that game without him, guaranteed.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
http://www.youtube.com/user/institutionalized22?feature=mhum

guy holds up fuck boston shirt during tnt live

Anonymous Cetti said...
Can we just hand Stephen Jackson the worst of the night today? 1 from 11 from three point range, but nevertheless takes the last shot (a trey) for the potential win while boris diaw got a tripledouble.

Anonymous Mladen said...
@Bawful:
Yep. That's how I feel when I watch the kid. Like you said in one of your posts: Blake Griffin is the fucking man.
Seriously? 47 points on 19-24 shooting? And 14 rebounds? The first player since A.I. to put up two 40+ games in his rookie season? And on top of all that, he makes every damn play look amazing...If I had a wife, I'd let him fuck her.

Also, somebody mentioned that Kaman should probably get traded. Who would you go for? Obviously a SF, but who? I wouldn't be in favor of any trade which would require the Clippers to give up any of the young talent they have. I'm not too good with the technical stuff involving trades, but could they maybe pull off a trade for NY's Wilson Chandler?

Anonymous Anonymous said...
ESPN recap: Lakers continue to roll. No way a team coming off a (technically) home loss to the Clippers should be considered rolling.

Blogger Wild Yams said...
Anon - The Lakers have now won 8 of 9 and 10 of their last 12. They lost on the road to the Clippers (and yes, it was a Clipper home game), but the Clippers have also beaten Miami, San Antonio, Oklahoma City, Chicago, Denver and New Orleans this year, so it's not like the Lakers are their lone upset. Whatever, we're gonna find out real quick what the Lakers are made of. Check out their upcoming schedule. Playtime's over for the Lakers, they don't really have an easy stretch for the whole rest of the season.

Blogger The Dude Abides said...
@Mladen - I was thinking the Clips should try and get someone like Chandler or Marvin Williams (plus filler) for Kaman. Some team that needs a center and has a decent SF to give up. Even someone like Gerald Wallace.

Anonymous Mladen said...
@The Dude Abides:
Interestingly enough, I was considering Wallace myself, but now that you've mentioned Williams, I do think he would be of more use, especially because he has (as far I know) a more reliable outside shot, which could divert opponents' defenses from Griffin.
That being said, I would love to see Chandler on the Clippers. He's young, talented, and a team player. The Knicks could use a real big man, because, let's face it, Mozgov is just a poor man's Shawn Bradley (in the best case scenario), and he's the best center they've got (unless some of you are willing to argue that Eddy Curry could still be of use). Not to mention that the Knicks seemed to be ready to give him up for Melo (and his minutes would go waaay down, even if they kept him in that situation).

Anonymous Marylander said...
@Yams I agree, the size of the Lakers clearly bothered them. I looked at the stat sheet and two teams are almost even re rebounds; both offensive and defensive. (OKC11-29 and LAL11-30) but i guess the Lakers converted most of the offensive boards to points. Going forward with a healthy Andrew Bynum LA is tough team to beat.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
The Lakers size undoubtedly caused OKC a few problems but did anyone notice OKC was 2-22 from 3-point range? I know OKC isn't really a 3-point shooting team, but come on? At some point you gotta either start hitting 'em or just stop taking 'em. Had they hit even a few more threes or simply decided to look for a better shot, who knows what the final score woulda been? Kobe did miss key free throws at the end of the game...

Anonymous Karc said...
@Anonymous - the reason for Bryant's bonked free throws late in the game - point shaving. No, seriously, that's his explanation.

http://blogs.thescore.com/tbj/2011/01/18/kobe-bryant-explains-his-missed-free-throws/

"'I was point shaving,' Bryant deadpanned, drawing strong laughs from reporters."

Anonymous bizarro said...
ok this is worth watching.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJqSDg08LV0

Anonymous Anonymous said...
My point is beating a bunch of crappy teams and then losing to the Clips at what is basically a home game (come on who really considers that a road game) should not be considered rolling in my books. But to each his own shrug.

Blogger Michael Hsu said...
The clippers should go after Carmelo. Outside of Blake their front court sucks. Use Kaman and Foye.

Anyone notice that Joe Johnson is quietly earning his max contract? After being the laughing stock for pretty much the whole season and last season. Look at his January splits

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/3520/splits;_ylt=AlDqzy3kvU8irjO4aAjw7fCTPKB4

Blogger Wild Yams said...
Michael Hsu - Bill Simmons had an article up a few days ago about how Melo should go to the Clippers instead of the Nets. In true Simmons fashion though, his arguments against the Nets were that Melo shouldn't want to go to a major city and play for their #2 team, saying the Nets would always be the little brother to the Knicks; and that he also felt like the Nets didn't offer a chance to compete for championships, and that someone as already rich as Melo is should be caring just about winning titles.

So his suggestion then was for Melo to go to... The Clippers? Cause let's face it, if you want to compete for championships, what better team to play for than one that's made the playoffs only 4 times in the last 30 years and which has never made it out of the 2nd round, right? Also, there's nothing like going to LA and playing for the Clippers to ensure you're not playing for the #2 team in a big market, cause apparently Bill Simmons thinks LA is without question a Clipper town.

Blogger AnacondaHL said...
Yams - Simmons was an all around moron about that article. Blake would obviously have to be involved in that deal (as Favors is now), and now we're seeing it's far too late to buy low on him.

Also thanks for the Utah/Cavs video, that shoulder hit could've passed for authentic WWE faking.