NBA News 2012: Clippers advance, knock out Grizzlies

Los Angeles Clippers Blake Griffin during a game against the Washington Wizards at the Verizon Center in Washington on March 12, 2011. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Chris Paul played with an aching right hip and Blake Griffin's sprained left knee stiffened up during the game. If the Clippers were truly a two-man team, then they would have been in trouble facing elimination by the Memphis Grizzlies.

Good thing the guys on the Clippers' bench want to keep playing.

Kenyon Martin's 23-footer put the Clippers ahead to start a fourth quarter in which backups scored 25 of their 27 points, helping Los Angeles' other NBA team beat Memphis 82-72 Sunday and advance to the Western Conference semifinals.

''Our bench was our MVP,'' Clippers guard Randy Foye said. ''They realized what they had to do. We had a lot of guys hurt, so we just continued to grind.''

The Clippers reserves outscored Memphis' bench 41-11 to help Los Angeles clinch its first playoff series since 2006 and only the franchise's third overall. They also helped the Clippers avoid becoming the ninth NBA team to blow a 3-1 lead in a best-of-seven series and now they head to San Antonio for a second round starting Tuesday night.

Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro said they will regroup Monday and focus on the Spurs then. He wanted his team to enjoy the series win for a little bit.

''But obviously another big challenge for us,'' Del Negro said.

Chris Paul scored 19 points despite his strained right hip flexor, and he was the only starter to score in the fourth quarter. Paul was so confident of victory he bought plane tickets for his wife and son to San Antonio on Saturday.

''I felt like we should have won earlier,'' Paul said. ''But it doesn't matter. As long as you win, I think it is a step in the right direction for our franchise.''

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/clippers-advance-knock-grizzlies-82-093909995--nba.html;_ylt=AoarG_rP9qkn_bUN_8zN.ww5nYcB

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NBA News 2011: Fantasy Basketball: Marcus Thornton Is King of Fantasy

Image via Wikipedia
Marcus Thornton, SG, Sacramento Kings (51 percent)

Wes Johnson, G/F, Minnesota Timberwolves (55 percent)

Austin Daye, F, Detroit Pistons (92 percent)

Samardo Samuels, F, Cleveland Cavaliers (92 percent)

Kenyon Martin, PF, Denver Nuggets (79 percent)

Anthony Randolph, F/C, Minnesota Timberwolves (61 percent)

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/625957-week-19-fantasy-basketball-waiver-wire-gems-marcus-thornton-is-king-of-fantasy

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NBA News 2010: Fantasy Basketball: Preseason Prep

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There are roughly three weeks remaining before NBA camps open and we get our first looks at teams as they prepare for the 2010-11 season. Let's get a refresh on where we stand with the off-season about to officially end - we've taken the kitchen sink approach here, trying to at least touch on every storyline possible.

Notables in New Places - off-season player movement

• LeBron James (from CLE to MIA) - precisely how far his numbers will drop off is a hotly-debated subject, but he's not likely to fall to the middle of the first round in many drafts

• David Lee (from NYK to GSW) - brings his fantasy-friendly game to yet another fantasy-friendly system, but he's looking at a bit more competition for usage and rebounds

• Amar'e Stoudemire (from PHO to NYK) - will certainly have a massive season if he stays healthy, but you can't help but wonder what life will be like for Amar'e without Steve Nash regardless of the system

• Al Jefferson (from MIN to UTH) - now 1.5 years removed from knee surgery; may not reach his MIN usage peaks, but a career-high FG% and 20/10/1.5 are reasonable expectations

• Chris Bosh (from TOR to MIA) - while he'll certainly see a substantial drop in usage, easy looks via LeBron James and Dwyane Wade could mean he makes a run at the FG% crown

• Troy Murphy (from IND to NJN) - the team setup, including that he'll be playing close to his hometown, seems fairly ideal

• Carlos Boozer (from UTH to CHI) - there are no problems envisioning a solid Boozer/Derrick Rosedynamic, but the games played total will be what decides Boozer's ultimate impact

• Darren Collison (from NOR to IND) - in an ideal situation for significant production, but he's not going to come with any draft-day discount

• Raymond Felton (from CHA to NYK) - competent PGs tend to do pretty well for D'Antoni, but Felton's shot selection (and subsequent FG%) will be the differentiator for his overall fantasy impact

• Trevor Ariza (from HOU to NOR) - ideally he's featured on defense and a complementary player on offense, and that's exactly what he'll be for the Hornets

• Hedo Turkoglu (from TOR to PHO) - an intriguing roll of the dice here; can take some of the pressure off Steve Nash with his drive-dish abilities, but last season is still a very fresh memory

• Anthony Randolph (from GSW to NYK) - produced when he got the minutes last season, and now he's free of Nellie's whims; keep in mind that he's still only 21 years old

• Mike Miller (from WAS to MIA) - will be a rotation mainstay from the outset, and think about how much usage will be available if Wade or James were to miss any time

• Anthony Morrow (from GSW to NJN) - career 47/46/88 percentages mean he'll get his minutes, although the specifics have yet to be determined

• Samuel Dalembert (from PHI to SAC) - the Kings appear to have significant plans for him and his career averages (8/8/2 in 26 minutes) show he's never needed starters' minutes to produce

• Al Harrington (from NYK to DEN) - suddenly looking at a major role, given Kenyon Martin and Chris Andersen's injury woes

• Corey Maggette (from GSW to MIL) - little reason to expect major changes to his typical role of "30 minutes of instant offense", but whose numbers he squeezes most has yet to be determined

• Drew Gooden (from LAC to MIL) - will see plenty of minutes as the team's starting PF and will get even more run if Andrew Bogut's elbow issues carry into the regular season

• Leandro Barbosa (from PHO to TOR) - the extent of his role remains to be seen, but his unique skills stand out on this roster

• Travis Outlaw (from LAC to NJN) - will emerge with serious late-round return on investment if he can win (and hold down) the starting small forward spot

• Dorell Wright (from MIA to GSW) - could end up as Nellie's starting small forward and will be in the mix for minutes on the wing either way

• Michael Beasley (from MIA to MIN) - immediately becomes one of the most skilled offensive players on the roster, but where does he get regular minutes and how does he fit into Kurt Rambis' quasi-triangle?

http://sports.yahoo.com/fantasy/blog/roto_arcade/post/Court-Report-Preseason-Prep?urn=fantasy-267403

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NBA News 2010: The all-things-Melo week in review...

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeEarly Tuesday, CBS Sports' Ken Berger already had Melo leaving Denver and by Tuesday afternoon Berger's colleague (and my Blogs with Balls conference buddy) Matt Moore had Melo wearing a Knicks jersey.  Not wanting to be left out in all the fun, ESPN's Ric Bucher - who confidently boasted that "Kobe Bryant has played his last game in a Lakers uniform" prior to the 2007-08 season - regurgitated what everyone else already knew, and had already reported, when citing Chris Paul's infamous toast at Melo's wedding as "proof" that Melo and the Nuggets will be parting ways.
And then on Thursday, the Post's Benjamin Hochman finally got some current Nuggets to go on the record regarding the ordeal.  As reported by Hochman, head coach George Karl said he hopes this Melo stuff is just "summer talk", while Nuggets power forward Kenyon Martin made a startling statement by saying: "Personally, my thinking is — I can't see where we got better this summer. Al (Harrington) is cool...but I can't see how we got better. You know, I'm going to be out and (Andersen) is going to be out...so did we get better? I can't say that we did."  Gee, thanks for the confidence boost, K-Mart - it's a good thing you're not in charge of Nuggets season ticket sales.
Meanwhile, throughout the week each of the Post's three columnists offered three separate opinions.  Mark Kiszla reported that Nuggets management won't get "LeBron'd" as Cleveland did in early July.  Dave Krieger suggested that it's Melo himself who holds all the cards here (which I respectfully disagree with).  And Woody Paige advised the Nuggets to stand pat and see how the season plays out, considering that this team is just two years removed from almost making the NBA Finals.
Boy, what a week.
So where do we go from here?
As I see it, the Nuggets essentially have three options:
1) Treat Melo like the Lakers treated Kobe Bryant in the summer of 2007.  This means that the Nuggets would essentially entertain trade offers while secretly refusing to budge on any deal whatsoever while hoping that the team gets off to a good start, hoping that a Pau Gasol-esque miracle deal becomes available in exchange for K-Mart's expiring contract before the trade deadline, hoping that the team has a deep playoff run and hoping Melo ultimately stays in town because of all the good things happening here.  The problem, of course, is that that's a lot of hope and the franchise would be saddled with the salaries stemming from any possible K-Mart deal whether Melo stays or not.  In other words, a huge gamble.
2) Trade Melo to the highest bidder.  If it's in fact true that Melo and his management team have served up four to five possible cities/franchises to Nuggets management for relocation, the Nuggets actually find themselves in an advantageous position.  Simply put, in this scenario the Nuggets can take whatever the best deal is for their lone superstar player and start rebuilding for the future.
3) Trade Melo regardless of how many teams are bidding.  This might sound insane on the face of it, but the Nuggets could elect to avoid the looming distraction and trade Melo for whatever they can get however paltry the return value might be.
After giving this much thought and allowing the dust to settle a bit, I'm standing by what I said on Monday which is consistent with the second scenario above: IF Melo indeed has no intention of staying in Denver (which, to be clear, no one knows for certain yet), it behooves the Nuggets to trade him now while they actually have some leverage.  But, it doesn't mean they have to trade Melo no matter what.  As has been reported by the New York Daily News' Frank Isola, the Knicks probably don't have enough to coax the Nuggets into a deal, meaning the Nuggets are better off waiting things out than panicking with a Knicks deal.  I agree with this strategy wholeheartedly.
http://www.denverstiffs.com/2010/8/20/1632421/the-all-things-melo-week-in-review

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NBA News 2010: Little Ways To Get A Big Man

Image via WikipediaWith all the big free agent wrangling, the contenders without cap space of the past few years have been sidelined, at least by the media. These are teams that are a minor roster tweak or two from finally getting over that hump. One such team is the Denver Nuggets.
Dangerous is a perfect word to describe the Nuggets. They have a legitimate superstar and pure scorer in Carmelo Anthony, a still excellent veteran point guard in Billups, an absolute low post beast in Nene, a multi-dimensional defender in Kenyon Martin, as well as a instant offense scorer off the bench in J.R. Smith.
The arrival of Chauncey Billups in 2008 effectively ended the streak of four consecutive first round exits, as the Nuggets bulldozed their way into the Conference Finals, facing little resistance from the New Orleans Hornets and the Dallas Mavericks.
Even with their loss in Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals, the Nuggets figured to be perennial contenders deep into the playoffs.
One season, a temporary coaching change due to George Karl’s illness, and a first round exit later, Denver has become a largely forgotten team. If the Nuggets were to enter the 10-11 season with the same roster as last year, they are still likely to be one of the top teams in the Western Conference, and be considered a fringe contender. However, one or two moves via trade, or smaller free agent signings could catapult this team to serious challenge the Lakers for supremacy.
The main area of need for the Nuggets is frontcourt depth. While Nene and Martin are a formidable starting duo, their replacements off the bench are the energetic but limited Chris Andersen, the aging Malik Allen, and Johan Petro. In other words, when Nene and/or K-Mart get into foul trouble, or miss games due to injury, the Nuggets get significantly worse. This is especially concerning, considering that Martin is coming off of yet another knee operation, with no timetable for his return in place.
The Nuggets could also take a chance on Kwame Brown, who has legitimate center size, but has been considered an underachiever since being selected first overall in the 2001 draft.
Perhaps the most intriguing option for the Nuggets would be to monitor what happens with Erick Dampier. Currently, Dampier’s $13 million, fully non-guaranteed contract is the best trade asset of Dallas.
If this scenario were to occur, Martin wouldn’t have to rush back from injury. Also, it might even be a possibility that upon his return, Kenyon might assume the role of first big man off the bench, adding more of a scoring punch with the second unit, while allowing Nene to play his natural position at the four, where he would be able to impose his will on opposing power forwards night in and night out.
Ultimately, the Nuggets boast one of the best starting fives in the league and then have Smith, and a lightening quick point guard off the bench in Ty Lawson. The one thing that they lack is depth at the big man positions. Even so, the team is so talented that with their current roster, should be a top four team in their conference. However, if they are able to add even a single big man, who doesn’t have to be dominant, but merely serviceable in a specific role, don’t be surprised if you see the Nuggets playing into late May, and possibly June.
http://nuggets.realgm.com/articles/59/20100707/little_ways_to_get_a_big_man/

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