Awwwwdaaaamn!Here’s the problem with the Cavs: While their #1 is one of the five best players in the world and has playing better than anyone anywhere for the last month or so, 2-through-12 they’ve got a collection of talent that’s subpar at best. Hence the .500 record for most of this season, and hence the wave of horror that went across Cleveland when LeBron hurt his left index finger in Detroit last night and came back from the locker room in his regular clothes. LeBron was driving in the second quarter when Nazr Mohammed went for the block and came down on LeBron’s hand. The good news is that it’s not a break and it’s not on his shooting hand. The bad news is that the Cavs have road games in Toronto and Boston coming up, and LeBron’s status is up in the air … Naturally, Cleveland got smoked without ‘Bron on the floor in the second half, losing by 35. And how sad is it that LeBron only played 19 minutes and still led the team in scoring? … Chris Bosh got hurt early (groin) and didn’t return to Raptors/Grizzlies, but Toronto was able to survive without their star — they were playing the Grizzlies, remember? — getting another great outing from Jose Calderon (13 pts, 10 asts, 0 turnovers). Calderon’s FIBA teammate, Pau Gasol, had 13 points and 7 boards in the loss. Yesterday we put Gasol’s NBA and international resume up for debate in the Hall of Fame Watch. Maybe your first response to “Is Pau Gasol a Hall of Famer?” is a solid “No,” but you really have to take Gasol’s international game into account. He’s put in just as much work as Manu in that regard. And if a lot of people say Manu’s international career alone gets him in the Hall, where does that leave Pau? Let us know what you think … Carlos Boozer was also hurt last night, rolling his ankle against the Sixers, but he got it re-taped and proceeded to drop 26 points in a Jazz win. Even with the injury, 26 was lower than we would have predicted. Who does Philly have to guard Booz: Reggie Evans? Jason Smith? Dalembert? And not that he’s someone we’d put on Boozer, but why isn’t Thaddeus Young getting any PT? … One of the announcers at the end of Rockets/Suns: “He’s not ‘The Franchise’ anymore, but he helped the franchise tonight!” And the man was right; Steve Francis was huge in Houston’s road win. He checked in during the second quarter and went on an 8-minute tear where he put up 7 points and 5 dimes, giving the Rockets a lead they’d never lose. In the fourth quarter Francis was getting crunch-time tick and making multiple big plays on both ends of the floor, including hitting the dagger, a tough runner where he beat Steve Nash to the cup and skied one over Shawn Marion. At the buzzer, Francis grabbed the game ball and ran to the tunnel looking happier than we’ve seen in him years … Between Stevie’s big plays, Yao’s monster stat line (31 pts, 13 rebs) and the usual Nash love (29 pts, 6 asts), no one really talked about the defensive job Grant Hill did on T-Mac down the stretch. One reason Francis had to hit those big shots and Rafer Alston was missing critical shots is because Hill kind of took T-Mac out of the equation … There was one stretch in the first half where the Rockets’ announcers complained about three different no-calls on the same possession. Their team was ahead by 11 at the time … And odds are you could have turned to the game at any time and seen Yao in his usual “doubled over about to puke” stance. Don’t the Rockets have treadmills at their facility? Doesn’t Yao have one at his house? A big part of his job is to run up and down a basketball court — how is he not able to play more than a few minutes without clutching his shorts? … Brandon Roy just signed on to become the official spokesman for Muscle Milk. Someone in the Dime office (we’ll spare them any further clowning) is a big Muscle Milk fan, to the point where he earned the playground nickname “Man Milk” over the summer … B-Roy and the Blazers lost to the Pacers on Wednesday despite Travis Outlaw’s 26 points (maybe his best game ever). It might have been changed by now, but the last time we looked at this box score, the pic on the right didn’t look much like Travis Outlaw … ‘Toine went back to 2002-style ‘Toine against Dirk last night (including the 0-for-5 beyond the arc), one time putting Nowitzki on skates with a crossover before blowing past him for a bucket. Are their two more awkward-looking/effective players in the League than Dirk and ‘Toine? Kevin Martin’s up there on that list … The Mavs, again refusing to play at a high level against a mediocre/bad opponent, let Minnesota hang around until the very end. With 20 seconds left and the Wolves down four, Marko Jaric had a chance to make it a two-point game but missed a too-easy putback. Al Jefferson (31 pts, 14 rebs) also missed a point-blank shot after gathering Jaric’s miss, and it was over for them … Dwight Howard versus the Sonics’ bigs, and Nick Collison sat it out with a broken nose. So how do you think it turned out? Dwight put up 39 points, 16 boards and 5 blocks. We lost count of how many dunks … We’re out like ‘Bron …
November 29th, 2007 at 6:22 am
Alex "Robocop" Murphy says:
F
I
R
S
T
!
The Centaur is unstoppable. 75% FT last night was sexy if not applaudable.
November 29th, 2007 at 6:53 am
Flying-Dutchman says:
I agree with Robocop, The Centaur is unstoppable! Between LeBron, Howard, Wade, Bosh, KG, J-Smith - The Easy are producing a lot of talent. They’re behind the West, but i wouldnt think for much longer. If an East team picks up Rose, Beasly, Mayo or Gordan (even Kobe) in 3 years or so East be winning
November 29th, 2007 at 6:57 am
Guy "Zaken_Na_Yo" says:
Watch out people: “Bo”’s back.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/boxscore;_ylt=Ag.w2sVCJaJCJtmo4OpGW1iQvLYF?gid=2007112822
Charles “Bo” Outlaw scored 26 points in a NBA game and, meanwhile, found a way to change his name to “Travis”.
And I thought he was just destroying people on the boards when nobody cares, during summer leagues…
By the way, where is Tariq Abdul-Wahad ?
November 29th, 2007 at 7:00 am
Flying-Dutchman says:
LOL @ Guy “Zaken_Na_Yo”.. wow he does look like a young Bo Outlaw
November 29th, 2007 at 7:47 am
sam says:
haha wtf? who is the guy they put instead of travis in the box score?
November 29th, 2007 at 8:21 am
jo says:
“and hence the wave of horror that went across Cleveland when LeBron hurt his left index finger in Detroit last night”
Who cares, that team(Cavs) isn’t going anywhere with that roster. How sad that Kobe, Bron are going to rot with asshole rosters…
November 29th, 2007 at 8:38 am
dre in o town says:
Dwight!!! He is in beast mode. If he keeps up the play, everyone else in the league should just quit and go to the D-League.
November 29th, 2007 at 8:39 am
Ben says:
DIME, I love when you call D.Howard “The Centaur”!!! This is his year (as long as he’s healthy)! Who’s gonna stop Dwight Howard and my Orlando Magic!? We are kicking butts and taking names…speaking of the Magic, how the heck does YAHOO get Travis Outlaw confused with Bo Outlaw?? HA!
November 29th, 2007 at 8:50 am
Kobeef says:
The Sonics and Magic owners noticed last night when Rashard went 3-19 with 9 points and Durant had 22 w/ 6 boards. So much for the “remember me” return. Yeah, we remember you. Cough.
What is up with Josh Smith’s shot? He is playing strong D has been stinking up the offensive side of the court.
Other than J. Kidd, J. Calderon is playing as good or better than any PG in the league right now. Yes you Nash. 37 assists w/ 2 turnovers in his past 3 games and the Raps are winning. TJ who?
November 29th, 2007 at 9:26 am
doc says:
Dont sleep on Lebron he can beat any team except the spurs by his damn self.
November 29th, 2007 at 9:50 am
smity says:
Dime touched on it a couple days ago and now its really going to be an interesting situation when TJ comes back.
to the raptors fans- would you all seriously object to having ford come off the bench as your change of pace pg?
how is steve francis now able to get pt when adelman was denying him pt before?
i didnt see the houston game. was yao just scoring over everybody on post ups or did most of his points come in transition?
“Yao in his usual “doubled over about to puke” stance. Don’t the Rockets have treadmills at their facility? Doesn’t Yao have one at his house? A big part of his job is to run up and down a basketball court — how is he not able to play more than a few minutes without clutching his shorts?”
I’m surprised that there was so much smack (4 lines worth) about Yao being tired or seeming to be tired. I just looked at the boxscore and saw that he played more minutes than everybody except shawn marion (and we know how much of a freak he is) why make fun of him for being tired when he probably should be from 40 minutes. Its not like he eats on a treadmill, sleeps on a treadmill, reads war and peace on a treadmill…i’m just being a bit argumentative.n but wow- 40 minutes…
one last point- drew gooden has to be one of the most dissapointing players to watch on a consistent basis. He seems lazy in that i remember when he was killing even when he was at memphis cause his body language suggested that he wanted to be a beast. his talent was there and still is but he comes across as not wanting to maximize his full potential (while time keeps ticking)….
November 29th, 2007 at 9:50 am
the_don_mega says:
ei, doc… that’s a wrap!
November 29th, 2007 at 9:50 am
Bron42 says:
don’t get too crazy doc, lebron can’t beat most teams by himself in important games. His jumpshot is way to streaky to make that comment.
the sonics didn’t have to remember rashard, they were too busy gettin a tramatic experience from dwight.
is it just me or are people doin the first thing more and more often now? whats next, guys wearin pink shirts? o…wait…
November 29th, 2007 at 10:36 am
SWAT says:
Real talk-dime y’all are talking big shit about Yao but damn like Smitty said he played 40 damn mins. I’ve said it before but there was a point where Yap could only play 20-25 mins and be dead tired but he was able to play 40 mins and kill the suns. What’s funny is that Amare doesn’t get ripped when a point guard blocks his shot but let it be YAO and y’all crucify the cat. Franchise blocks a crucial Amare shot that would have brought the suns within 2 and we get no print on that. WTF? And YAO’s points came off of a couple of “fast” break buckets, putbacks, and turnaround j’s. He was just being aggressive…finally. Yes, Grant did lock up Tmac down the stretch but he still dropped 18, 8, and 6 dimes. It’s good to see someone pick up the slack. And damn Skip is killing me with his bricks, he plays his heart out but his shot just isn’t dropping. Stevie wasn’t getting PT because of Skip,James,and brooks being in better shape but now that Skip’s shot isn’t falling Adelman had to try something new. Plus, when Tmac got hurt he figured now would be a good as time as any. I don’t understand why he hasn’t let Brooks get a little PT. Why pick up someone and not play them at all?
And yes Bron i think they are doing that first shit with every blog now. But i do wear pink shirts on occassion too, the ladies seem to like it. Until they say otherwise, i will keep the pink button ups.
November 29th, 2007 at 10:38 am
Str8baller says:
14th
November 29th, 2007 at 10:49 am
Captain America says:
LeBron is the single most dominant player in professional basketball today (and tomorrow). This year he has added a solid jumper and 3 to his arsenal. He is unstoppable (unless injured by inferior players).
November 29th, 2007 at 10:59 am
hatinonmanu says:
Cap Amurica:
LeBron called, he wants you to get the fuck off his jock.
November 29th, 2007 at 11:16 am
Bron42 says:
swat:
1. Yao got dunked on once again
2. Francis blocked amares show when it was still down around his waist, its not like he pinned him on the backboard or mid arc like we’ve seen yao get done a few times. Nate robinson pinned yao at the top of his shot, AK punched it at mid ark, shaq punched it on his fade away. PLUS its a rare occasion when amare gets blocked. not so rare with yao, thats why there isnt much hype.
3. Amare isn’t 7′5
4. Yes yao played 40 minutes but he was doubled over in the first 15. So while his conditioning is better, he still lacks conditioning.
5. Some guys can pull of the pink…but my point was it was the gayest thing alive for a hot minute, then camron did it and suddenly its cool. Just like the first shit..when a few guys did it, it was stupid, now everyones jumpin on it like they win something for doin it.
6. captain america is like cuba gooding jr in those MJ hanes commercials. Can we PLEASE not ride lebron too much when were ummm 12 games into the seson and the cavs arent even in first place? Solid jumpshot and lebron in the same sentence has to be a typo. Not to mention the love tap on his hand when the cavs were already losing by double digits
November 29th, 2007 at 11:16 am
Bron42 says:
arc*
November 29th, 2007 at 11:55 am
Myrie in NY says:
Why isn’t Dwight Howard the spokesman for muscle milk?
And when did Trailblazer players start getting endorsements again?
November 29th, 2007 at 12:59 pm
ns21 says:
When is the next dime mag coming out. I’m BORED!!!!
November 29th, 2007 at 1:00 pm
Bron42 says:
no mention of Steve Nash UFC kicking yao on the ground after flopping lol…Times like this are when yao needs to have a hulk moment and just swat nash like a fly.
November 29th, 2007 at 1:08 pm
SWAT says:
lol…I like arguing with you Bron. I agree to disagree with you!
November 29th, 2007 at 1:11 pm
SWAT says:
A little off topic though…i was looking at this cover of dime with Lebron on it and that dude look old as hell. I think him and greg oden got an ugly disease or something. Could they pull broads if they were regular dudes?
November 29th, 2007 at 1:47 pm
Bron42 says:
we live in a world where tpain lookin mofos get chicks so who knows…shits all upside down lol.
November 29th, 2007 at 5:38 pm
Amar says:
quietly andre miller had a very good game vs. deron williams . . .
November 29th, 2007 at 6:14 pm
tim says:
someone at the top asked who can stop the Magic? Um, the Pistons crushed them if I remember correctly…so thats one team….
November 29th, 2007 at 7:41 pm
The Franchise says:
Sure Yao got dunked on but he threw out a nasty facial himself. Baseline spin that left Skinner in his shoes and threw it down hard over both Skinner and Amare. Sick stuff. Oh yeah, those 31pts 13rebs are nice also. If he can get those numbers while “doubled over”, I’ll take it. How can you hate on his performance? Anyways, the FRANCHISE is back baby! T-Mac can learn a few things about being aggressive and take it to the rack in clutch time.
November 29th, 2007 at 9:56 pm
Brown says:
Smitty, I wouldn’t mind seeing TJ come off the bench. I’ve been saying forever that Calderon is the better PG, and the team plays better when he’s in. I have no idea why Sam Mitchell and Bryan Colangelo are in love with Ford. Once the offseason rolls around, they’re gonna have to choose one or the other, cuz Calderon is a FA, and someone’s gonna show him the money. If they choose to keep Ford and let Calderon walk, I’m officially boycotting the Raptors until they get rid of TJ Ford. He can’t shoot, he makes terrible decisions when the game is on the line, and he can’t guard ANY starting PG in the league. He’s too small, and he can’t finish. I just haven’t seen him to anything in his career that makes me think he’s a starting PG on a championship team. I say trade him to Cleveland, or whoever they can dump him off to.
November 29th, 2007 at 10:15 pm
Bron42 says:
who hated on yao’s performance? we just said he had weak conditioning and gets abused alot. no one questioned his stats. and wow, he spun off brian skinner, really can build a career off that lol.and sadly none of yao’s one handed while 3 inches off the ground dunks would EVER be considered a sick dunk..But since you wanted someone to hate on his performance, 31 points against a suns team that doesnt play defense really doesnt mean much, specially when their tallest player is what, 6′9? I wont hate on wink though. glad to see him playin again. If francis can get back to his old/young self, him, tmac and yao could really do damage.
calderon hasnt proven much more than TJ…ad if you know basketball, calderon comes off the bench for 2nd string strength. a steady head to guide the weaker players.
November 29th, 2007 at 10:27 pm
dagwaller says:
Smity and SWAT - Dime’s great, but they don’t like Yao. He could average 30 and 13 for the rest of the season, but at the end of Smack, you’ll read, “Yao missed a shot last night. Is it just us, or should a guy that’s 7′6″ never miss a shot? Go Knicks!”
Brown, I’m with you that Calderon is better than Ford, but I don’t think Ford’s as bad as you’re saying…
November 29th, 2007 at 10:48 pm
Austin Burton says:
I don’t have anything against Yao, but you have to admit he goes from Zero to Exhausted faster than anyone this side of Mike Sweetney.
I don’t have a problem with Yao getting dunked on. Pat Ewing got dunked on a lot, too, but that’s because he was playing help-side D and was never afraid to challenge a shot. Sometimes you just get caught a step too late or you can’t get your hand on the ball. No big deal.
November 29th, 2007 at 11:34 pm
Bron42 says:
I’m the one that doesn’t like yao, not dime lol. And their right so you can’t say they hate him just for pointing out the obvious. You say it like the guy really has a motor and their just picking on him. I’d say hes more sabonis than mike sweetney lol. And come on, Pat got dunked on alot by jordan(mostly) and other centers. And ewing in his prime blocked just as many shots as he got dunked on, you cant say that about yao. The reason yao gets dunked on by everyone and their mother is his lack of foot speed. someone like dwight howard is quick enough to get in position. You just tries to use his length and isnt athletic enough to really impose anyone. I never said him gettin dunked on was a big deal, its just annoying at 7′5 and very counter productive cuz 9 out of 10 times, hes not blockin the shot and they dunk on him or get the foul.
November 29th, 2007 at 11:48 pm
dagwaller says:
Bron, you’re right - you do hate Yao. So that was pointed at you AND the guys that write negative stuff about Yao every other day. Considering how many blocks Yao gets - 11th in the League, 10th if you don’t count Theo “I’ve only played in 6 games” Ratliff - you can’t really say that he gets dunked on as many times as he blocks. Not until they start counting “Dunks Against” (which I thought Dime might have started doing a few days ago), or until you start watching every game Yao is in.
It’s also even more impressive how many blocks Yao gets considering his offensive output. The ONLY player ahead of Yao that’s also on that list in ppg is Dwight Howard, and that’s by one point. In other words, Yao gets his on D, and he doesn’t have to focus exclusively on that end to do so.
Which brings me to my next point - maybe the reason you see him bending over is because he’s…mmm…trying? Not that Knicks fans would know what that looks like. Maybe Eddy Curry and Zach Randolph would have a few more bpg - or even ppg, for that matter - if they would run hard enough to grab their shorts every once in a while.
November 30th, 2007 at 1:16 am
Bron42 says:
how dare you confuse me with a knicks fan lol. but ya, good point, hes 7′5 and 11th in the league. That should say enough. The leagues tallest (maybe 4th biggest if you count weight) is 11th in blocks. hence why i said months ago i’d take dwight over yao any day..both ends of the court with alil heart dropped in. And his offensive output has nothing to do with is defense since as pointed out, he doesn’t really block shots on a regular basis and its not like he shots down other centers. Yao is a offensive center, plain and simple. You see him bending over because his long slow trots down court take so much out of him. Lets not pretend the rockets are the suns and just blazing up and down the court. To even try to hint that yao is a defensive presence is a joke. Hes a tall, soft, offensive center and as we’ved learned in the playoffs, your shot can be off days, which is why u need to be able to play defense too…or…boozer will average 40 on you.
November 30th, 2007 at 9:55 am
dagwaller says:
Maybe you need to re-read my post. He’s not a defensive presence…except he’s 10th in the league in blocked shots. So…yea. How many different ways do you want that put?
There’s no stat for “blocks against centers”, and I doubt you watch every Rockets game, so you really can’t say who he blocks and who he doesn’t. Besides, does it really MATTER which players he blocks? Especially when, as we agreed a few days ago, most of the centers in the League now are either not good or are defense oriented?
Nowhere in my posts did I say that Yao was BETTER than Howard - he’s irrelevant.
Yao isn’t an offensive center - he’s a superior center who happens to be better at offense than every center in the league other than Howard. The reason I brought up the offense is because a.) odds are he was playing offense and banging the boards before taking off on his “long slow trots”, as opposed to the other defensive minded centers that might have started walking back already, and b.) the other centers in the league that are all “in such better shape” generally only concentrate on one end. In other words, you won’t find them among the league leaders in points AS WELL AS blocked shots. Yao, you will.
Again, try to read the posts before you just restate what you’ve already said. Yes, the “long slow trots” take a lot out of him. Isn’t that better than the long, slow walks other centers take? And again, you can tell that it really doesn’t matter too much, because he still ranks among the league leaders in blocked shots.
November 30th, 2007 at 10:24 am
DOC says:
he said hell take dwight over yao wow he must really stink. and check facts my man last year bron beat everybody but the spurs.