NBA Daily: 12-28-09

What a night in the NBA. Scoring galore and much, much more.

• Kevin Durant went for 40 points as the Thunder improve to 16-14 on the season. Yi Jianlian scored an NBA career tying 29 points in the loss for the Nets.
• Gilbert Arenas was a gunner tonight (pun intended) as he scored 30 points for the Washington Wizards. Zach Randolph had 23 points and 19 rebounds in the winning effort for the Grizzlies.
• Brandon Jennings broke out of his slump with 24 points and 7 assists. However it wasn’t enough to beat the Bobcats as Gerald Wallace scored 21 points with 14 rebounds and 4 assists.
• Tracy McGrady was given a leave of absence by the Houston Rockets as they try to figure out a team to trade him to. I like Houston and I like McGrady, I hope they can figure out a situation that works for both of them.
• Amare Stoudemire had 26 points, Steve Nash had 13 assists and the Suns beat the Lakers who were lead by Kobe Bryant and his 34 points.
• Monta Ellis scored 37 points as the Warriors upset the Celtics who were lead by Rajon Rondo and his 30 points and 15 assists.
• Jason Thompson had 15 points and 11 rebounds as the Kings beat the Nuggets and Carmelo Anthony who had 34 points.
• Allen Iverson had 19 points on only 11 shots for the 76ers. Brandon Roy had 24 points in a losing effort for the Blazers.

Only three more days until Miami at San Antonio and Philadelphia at the Lakers on the NBA on TNT.

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NBA Player Profile: Marc Gasol

Marc Gasol of the Memphis Grizzlies is a very solid NBA center. His brother Pau is the Lakers star power forward. The two were traded for each other in the blockbuster deal that brought Pau to the Lakers where he won an NBA championship. This year he is averaging over 14 points and 10 rebounds per game.

Strengths: Good low post moves. Physically strong for a seven footer. Great passer for a center. Plays for wins, not for personal stats. Average FT% for a center. Average NBA shot blocker.

Weakness: Long range jumpers. Can get in foul trouble against offensive minded NBA centers.

Our Opinions

James: Second teer NBA center along with the likes of Chris Kaman. Should be a border line All-Star player for the next few years. Has lost some weight and is in the best shape of his life.

George: Looks like a really tall homeless guy knocked up a Spanish prostitute. His brother Pau is an NBA superstar, Marc will never get to that level. He’s big, but has very little natural skill.

Watch Marc play on the NBA on TNT on Monday January 18th against the Phoenix Suns.

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Three NBA Teams That Will Improve in New Year

It’s almost a new year. Time for reflection of the past year. Time to move on and start anew. Unfortunately for NBA teams that are more than six or seven games out of the final playoff spots, it is probably too late to salvage their season.

However this is the perfect opportunity for some of the close teams to make it into the NBA playoffs. For teams that are too far out, it is the time to figure their team out. Some teams need to decide who will be on their roster next year. Others need to decide what they need in the NBA draft.

Here are three NBA teams that I see having an improved 2010. Hopefully the basketball games we see this new year are as fun as the ones so far this season.

Los Angeles Clippers- Eric Gordon, Baron Davis, Chris Kaman, Marcus Camby, Blake Griffin, Al Thornton. There is one guy who doesn’t quite fit in there. Unfortunately Camby is heading toward the end of his NBA career. The rest of the team are up and comers.

Once Griffen starts playing, this a team that could be really scary. It all depends on how they use him. It probably would be a good idea to begin with him on the bench. The rest of the guys seem to be building chemistry and the rookie forward would be great coming in with the second unit.

I do not know if the Clippers can catch the teams ahead of them and make the NBA playoffs this year. However by the end of the year they should know their identity and be able to move into next season with a playoff goal.

San Antonio Spurs- If Manu Ginobili can stay of the injured list, then this team has as much talent as any in the NBA. Tim Duncan has continued to play like Timmy. Tony Parker is playing solid (though they need for him to play a little better).

The two keys to this season are Manu and Richard Jefferson. Manu needs to be healthy. When he isn’t injured he is the third best two guard in the NBA, maybe the most clutch (sorry Kobe).

Jefferson needs to find his place on the team. His stats are the worst of his career (other than his rookie season). Spurs coach Popovich is limiting his minutes. That is common for San Antonio. It will be interesting to see how the team plays once the starters minutes increase.

New Jersey Nets- They can’t get much worse. They are a young team with a lot of promise. At the start of the season I really thought they would be an NBA playoff team. Brooke Lopez is a star in the making. Devin Harris is a solid point guard.

The guy they have been missing is Yi Jianlian. The seven weeks he was out were crucial for the team to grow together. With young teams chemistry is even more important than some of the older teams. Yi missed a lot of time and though his stats are the best of his career, he hasn’t been with the team to live through the worst start in NBA history. Had he been there they would have won a couple more games.

The Nets have 6 players averaging double figure points. They just need to learn to play together as a team. They will improve and will avoid the worst season in NBA history. Hopefully they don’t improve too much though, John Wall is looming and would be a nice piece to add to their team.

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NBA Daily Notes: 12-26-09

Lakers in double  OT and the Suns taking on the Warriors. Here are some fun notes from the day in the NBA.

• Minnesota won again tonight, beating the Washington Wizards. That makes them 4-3 in the last seven games. If you haven’t noticed this streak coincides with Kevin Love getting back in the flow. He has had a double double in each of those seven games and is averaging 14.4 points and 13.2 rebounds since returning from injury.
• Corey Magette and Monta Ellis each scored 33 points in the Warriors 132-127 win over the Suns. Grant Hill who wears number 33 only scored 8 points.
• Dirk Nowitzki has averaged 23.5 points per game since Rockets forward Carl Landry bit him. Hopefully he got his rabies shot.
• Josh Smith of the Hawks had 22 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 5 blocks and 4 steals. That left him one steal away from a 5X5 (last time done by Andre Kirilenko)
• Manu Ginobili had 13 points and 8 assists for the Spurs who have won 4 of the last 5 games.
• Gerald Wallace of the Bobcats only had 13 points and 6 rebounds against the Thunder. Kevin Durant had 30 points 6 rebounds and 4 assists against the Bobcats.

One last note: Allen Iverson scored exactly 0 points for both the Sixers and the Grizzlies tonight.

Stats from ESPN

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