Noteworthy: 11/24/2013

Tough Loss, Guys: Joe Johnson had his best game of the season scoring 34 points on 12 of 18 shooting and knocking down  8 threes.  Sad to say that all those swishes were not enough as the Nets were beat by the Pistons who got 27 points from Rodney Stuckey.

The Bulls got whooped at Staples as they played their first game without Derrick Rose.  They didnt lead once and put up a grand total of 9 points in the fourth quarter.  Tom Thibideau got a lot of fight out of these Bulls last season when they expected Drose to be out, but the team that got walloped by the Clippers yesterday afternoon definitely looked like one that hadn't quite yet recuperated from learning that their best player was done for the season.

Is this really fair?



In case the timing and pass looked too perfect than my answer is thats cuz the pass was thrown by one identical  twin (Marcus) to another identical twin (Markieff). Almost want to say that this is biologically too dominant of a tandem but the Suns are 7 and 7, so maybe its not all about genetics.

Gettin' Kind of Old?

Not for me, but I feel like I've seen Gerald Green do about one of these every other game.

A super rare behind-the-back-through-the-leg-of-your-own-teammate assist

Impressive but as a fan of the solid chest pass, I have to ask for what reason was Jared Dudley trying that pass on the baseline and how come Deandre Jordan who is so good at catching lob passes while running at a gazillion miles an hour could not grab a silly pass while standing still.  Good thing JJ Redick is really good at that jump shooting thing or else this would have just been a wacky turnover. 

Restin':  Russ Westbrook had the night off and Durant and Serge Ibaka both rested for most of the 4th quarter against the Jazz. There must have been some disappointed Thunder fans, but they chose to go to the game where the Thunder was playing a 1-13 team, so they reallt couldn't have expected the Thunder dudes to have to sweat this one out too much.

Not a Happy Weekend: After losing a close one to the Clippers on Saturday afternoon, the Kings got beat on the same court to the Lakers on Sunday night.  This one wasn't as close as the Clippers game, but some similarities included: Demarcus Cousins getting another technical foul and the other' team's starting point guard playing really well.  Example, Steve Blake with 12 assists, including this clever dish.

Other: A new Beats commercial starring KG which seems kind of realistic for all the bad reasons...Andray Blatch scoring on his own basket...Cam Newton did Lebron James' stompstomp dance.

The Battle for the Belt: Will the Spurs Keep Their Streak Going Against the Pelicans?

image from liquidstuff

image via Reddit

NEXT BATTLE FOR THE BELT

 SAS @  NOP

Monday, 2013-11-25 5:30 PDT

h/t 
*kudos to Timothy Lee for the "Keep or Weep" Slogan

Noteworthy: 11/23/2013

A Recap:

After the first quarter, the Kings outscored the Clippers by 15 points for the rest of the game. Unfortunately for the team from Sacramento, they were outscored by 16 in the first quarter and the Clippers ended up winning by one, 103-102.

Just based on the fact that the Kings couldn't overcome that first quarter margin despite how well they generally played the rest of the  game, you could understand the angst that one Demarcus Cousins might feel after yet another loss.  Also, starting out the season 4 and 9 despite the additions of key playmakers in Greivis Vasquez and Carl Landry, is probably not what Cousins had anticipated after choosing to resign with the Kings this past offseason.

Demarcus had a beast of game with his 23-19-7 line (pts, reb, ast), but his technical at around the 2 minute mark was costly and you could argue his big night was all but wasted since the Kings couldn't pull out what would have been their biggest win of the season had they beaten the Pacific-leading Clippers at home.

With that in mind, you can kind of see why Cousins was a bit salty and wouldn't let his buddy, Isaiah Thomas shake handsies.

Some Defense:

Killer chasedown blocks last night featuring

Shumpert gettin' Wall-ed (too easy?)


Kent "no wayz, mo williams" Bazemore

Dang:
In terms of basketball things, it must be really scary finding yourself on an island trying to guard Lebron one on one at the end of the game.

In terms of basketball injuries, an egg on the forehead like Jeremy Lin got from one of Kevin Love's elbows is pretty bad, but I find it most hilarious cause it resembles the head bumps in the cartoons we grew up watching.

Another Recap: Spurs beat up on the Cavs and had a lot of fun in the process.

First, Matt Bonner playin the point on a possession (via poundingtherock)

and then the big three being silly on the bench (thanks, Dime)

Good Stats:

Kenneth Faried was puhfect shooting from the field (8-8) for 18 points along with 14 rebounds as the Nugs are now at .500.

Andrew Bogut tried to fight again, but he probabbly should have focused on helping stop Lamarcus Aldridge who was doing everything on way to a career night of 30 points, 21 rebounds, 3 blocks and 3 steals.

Best for Last:



So much to like here, from Al Horford's shotput pass to Vitor Favrani obviously not closing out properly to Jared Sullinger barely gettin' off the ground on that honorable block attempt.

Other: Steph Curry with kind of a mask on...my fave nba team colors will be back next season as Charlotte will be wearing the purple and teal once again...whether or not you care for Woody Allen, doesn't James Dolan sound kind of like a spoiled bum?

Homan League: Week in Review 11/17 - 11/23

Credit: Matthew Emmons - USA TODAY Sports

A review of action in the fantasy basketball league dubbed "Homan League".   May include free agent pick-ups, trades, DNP's because someone forgot to set their lineup for the early morning Pacific time game.  Also other shenanigans worth mentioning in the fantasy league.  All opinions are exactly that, opinions. So don't take them too personally, and they are mostly mine.

At a glance:
Very different weeks for the two Los Angeles teams as the Clippers played a league high five games while the Lakers only played two.  The Lakers play a two-game-week again starting the 2nd of December, so in terms of fantasy numbers, owners with Laker players will have to take into account the lessened impact for guys like Pau, Steve Blake, Jordan Hill, and Jodie Meeks (TEAM(s): kobeking, Adam Silver).

The Trailblazers have been on a hot streak and specifically guys like Wes Matthews, Damian Lillard and Nic Batum have been producing great in terms of 3PTM, FT%, and points (TEAM(s): League Champion, Sasquatch, kobeking).

Point guard play has been phenomenal this week as John Wall, Mike Conley, Kyle Lowry and Kyrie Irving have all had big weeks.  The most pleasant surprise if you're a fantasy owner or a Mav's fan has got to be Monta Ellis doing his best '03 -Steph Marbury impression averaging 32 pts and 8 assists on the week. (TEAM(s): League Champion, kobeking, Swagger).

Still keeping up their MVP-type numbers for the season are Chris Paul, Anthony Davis, and the White Dwight, Spencer Hawes.  As covered in the Noteworthy posts, Anthony Davis has been blocking everything in sight, averaging over 6 blocks in this past week.  It's true that his steals  haven't been as great as the start of the season, but if you just peruse over his game logs, you'll be shocked at how high his FG%, FT% are and how ridiculous it is that he's only turning the ball over about once a game (TEAM(s): Just Jrue It, Pres(i)ton, S7venbyVII).

Neat Pickups:

Caron Butler (TEAM: League Champion):  Took a couple days after Butler was picked up (15th) to finally get some stats for him (22nd), but boy was it worth it.  In Friday night's overtime game against the Sixers, Butler put up 38 points with 4 threes made and 8 rebounds and 6 assists.

Martell Webster (TEAM: Sasquatch): Webster has continued playing well with Trevor Ariza injury's, regularly logging 40+ minutes in the Wizard's last five games.  Since he has been picked up, Webster has been reliable for a couple threes per game, great FT%, about half a dozen rebounds and a really low turnover rate.

You Must Not Be Happy:

Those Veteran Brooklyn Nets (TEAM(s): S7venbyVII, Jae's Dazzling Squad, Adam Silver, David Stern):  

Deron Williams playing 16 minutes the last two games after going down with an ankle injury once again to the T'Wolves.  He had glimpses of impact 2 weeks ago, but something is really wrong with Williams physically, whether it be the ankle or just his conditioning.

Paul Pierce's shooting has been terrible.  He's shooting 21% from the field for the week and turning the ball over as much as he's grabbing rebounds or assists (3 per/game).

Kevin Garnett is still grabbing 8 boards, and making a couple baskets per game.  Some concerns would be that he hasn't shot a free throw in over a week (he's only shot 5 for the season) so there goes the FTM category.  Plus his numbers have been getting cut and its clear he and coach J.Kidd aren't seeing eye to eye, so things aren't looking bright if you're counting on KG for fantasy impact.

Brook Lopez hasn't played the whole week with his ankle injury.  Really bad times if you're a fan of the talented scoring Lopez, as he was having himself a nice year until the injury.

Joe Johnson is still doing what he does best and that's make shots.  With everyone else either injured or playing like they are ready to retire, Johnson should have all the shots he wants to produce.  Currently, you can count on him for a couple threes and around 13 pts/game which is about the same production as a Gary Neal who is sitting pretty in free agency. 

Omer Asik (TEAM: League Champion) In case you forgot, the top rebounders last season were Nikola Vucevic (917), Dwight Howard (945) and Asik (956).  WIth Dwight joining the Rockets this season, Asik has been bumped to second-string  and although Asik is rebounding at a much lower clip than he was last season,Asik has all the skills and instincts to be leading the league in that category if he was just given more minutes.

Although, Kevin Mchale tried starting Asik/Howard together last week, that experiment was short-lived. Omer has since demanded a trade and in order to drive his market value down, the Rockets have decided to play their project big-man, Donatas Motiejunas, more minutes than the league's rebounding leader from a season ago.

If you enjoy watching the Turkish big man grab those rebounds and play really good post defense, you'll be pulling for the Rockets to trade Asik to a team where he can start devouring rebounds once again.