Buzz Killers
Chris Paul (photo. Mannion)The Hornets are officially back on track, which means Chris Paul‘s MVP campaign is, too. Knocking off the Nuggets on the road on Thanksgiving, N.O. won its fourth in a row, while CP re-established himself as the best point guard in the game for those who might have forgot over the last couple weeks. Stamping 22 points, 10 dimes and three steals on Chauncey Billups‘ glistening dome, CP turned in the highlight of the night (the soon-to-be patented between-the-legs dribble that starts and ends in his right hand), and later hit James Posey for the game-winning trey with about 20 seconds left … Earlier in the fourth, CP calmly drained a 30-footer with a man in his face as the shot clock wound down, a huge shot that tied the game and — along with K-Mart picking up a tech for kicking the scorers’ table — swung momentum over to the Hornets’ side. It’s as if any perceived weaknesses in Paul’s game don’t seem to matter when the game’s on the line. When it’s crunch-time, he’s just as dangerous a three-point shooter as any PG in the League … If Posey is gonna do this Robert Horry 2.0 thing, first he needs a couple more rings, and second he needs to diversify his offensive game. Every shot Posey took last night was a three, and that’s not the first time that’s happened this season. One thing about Horry was that he could go on a run where he would get buckets all over the place, from three-point daggers to drive-and-dunks. But then Posey is a much better defender than Horry ever was, so maybe it all evens out … (Should we even be talking about Horry like he’s finished? It’s not like it would surprise anyone if he landed on the Spurs, Rockets, Lakers or Celtics roster sometime around the All-Star break) … While Chauncey struggled with his shot (4-for-12 FG’s), J.R. Smith was unconscious. He knocked down five threes on the way to scoring 32 points, including a couple sick dunks on the break and in traffic. It’s still tough to see a scenario where J.R. Smith is the third offensive option on a championship team, but when he’s on-point, Denver is very good … Who saw that behind-the-head pass from Nene to Carmelo for a ‘Melo dunk on the play before Posey’s game-winner? We didn’t even know Nene had that in him … Remember the other day when we told you about Melvin Ely and Chris Wilcox‘s own mothers getting them mixed up when they played for the Clippers? Here’s an e-mail from Austin during Hornets/Nuggets: “My brother, who used to go to the same barbershop as Chris Wilcox when he was in Seattle, saw Melvin Ely on the bench and asked, ‘Did Chris Wilcox get traded, like, this week? Wasn’t that Chris Wilcox right there?’” … Going into Magic/Wizards, we had Dwight Howard vs. JaVale McGee as the most intriguing matchup to watch. It ended up being kind of ugly, as Dwight dominated so thoroughly that it didn’t matter that the three-pointer-dependent Magic couldn’t even buy a trey (6-for-19), they still won big. Two minutes into the game, JaVale was on the bench in foul trouble, and when he was on the court for that brief period, his offense was awkward and ineffective while he offered no resistance for Dwight on defense. McGee came back later and played better as he got more comfortable, but overall he got taken to school … Meanwhile, Howard (26 pts, 14 rebs, 3 blks) took turns running through McGee, Andray Blatche, Etan Thomas and Darius Songaila. After a while it was a blur; one time we swore Jim McIlvaine made a cameo and got dunked on. Dwight damn near had a double-double in the first quarter … Do you see now why Wizards fans are fed up with Blatche’s inconsistency? After turning in the game of his life on Tuesday, when he dropped 25 points, 12 boards and five blocks on the Warriors, yesterday Blatche was invisible. He fouled out in 12 minutes … It was a short schedule for the holiday, but today there are 11 NBA games. Allen Iverson will be on the bench for Pistons/Bucks, at least at the beginning. You can probably guess why. As for Heat/Suns, one of the national TV matchups, it’s funny (although understandable) how D-Wade vs. Shaq is getting about 1/1,000,000th the amount of hype as Kobe vs. Shaq. But you know we’ll be watching anyway … We’re out like McIlvaine …
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November 28th, 2008 at 6:52 am
Hi, Jurg from Denmark says:
Ah you love Jurg coming in first. Don’t you Sweet England.
Mr Dime, I love post below about Jose Calderon. He easily make my list of Top Ten Euro player in NBA
Bye from Jurg until provoked. Hi.
November 28th, 2008 at 7:18 am
Atom says:
I know it might not be a popular opinion, but I think Jurg made some valid points yesterday, and maybe he does deserve his own section here at dime.
You can call it “Douchebag Corner,” and he can write in every week covering the best in eurobasketball, personally sniffing the crotches of all the Danish basketball legends, you know, like whats his name and the other guy and maybe Rik Smits? Anyway, I think he could offer a unique perspective that would contrast well with the generally coherent writing on the site. Just some food for thought.
November 28th, 2008 at 7:24 am
YOUNGFED.Know that i'm a celebrity i'd like to thank the little people (lmao) says:
Can’t wait to see D-Rose and CP3 match-up. That game will solidify Rose’s place as one of the best. Also for all the haters AI will play tonite. BTW JR Smith is the truth, the new human highlight filmaker.
YOUNGFED’S BANGER OF THE DAY: Jamie Fox and Lil Weezy
http://www.king-mag.com/online/?p=9101
November 28th, 2008 at 7:26 am
YOUNGFED-now that i'm a celebrity i'd like to thank the little people (lmao) says:
Can’t wait to see D-Rose and CP3 match-up. That game will solidify Rose’s place as one of the best. Also for all the haters AI will play tonite. BTW JR Smith is the truth, the new human highlight filmaker.
YOUNGFED’S BANGER OF THE DAY: Jamie Fox and Lil Weezy
http://www.king-mag.com/online/?p=9101
November 28th, 2008 at 8:10 am
Sweet English says:
A double post from FED with the spelling corretction there. I wouldn’t have worried FED it made sense first time round anyway.
KNOW THAT I’M A CELEB MUFUGGERS.
I’ll say it again, if A.I is The Answer, Detroit were asking a f**king stupid question.
November 28th, 2008 at 8:14 am
CowboyHenk says:
@Atom: Just to correct your topographical knowledge: There has never been a Danish player in the NBA. Rik Smits is DUTCH, as well as Gadzuric and Elson (to whom you are probably referring as ‘the other guy’).
Henk from Amsterdam (which is not the capital of Denmark..)
November 28th, 2008 at 8:25 am
Sweet English says:
@ Jurg. First off its Sweet English. As in the basketball term. To give the ball back spin off the back board in the opposing direction to the players movement, usually on an under-the-basket reverse. It’s ambiguous, a play on words if you may. And dude i know you can’t speak English but all you gotta do is copy the letters.
And secondly. I really couldn’t give two flying fucks that you got on a column first (excuse my language Dime)
Even Tyrone gets on columns first sometimes, demonstrating therefore that you have to be in NO way intellectual or talented to do so.
In fact, your a dick for even mentioning.
November 28th, 2008 at 8:27 am
Sweet English says:
oh, and ‘Bye from Jurg until provoked. Hi.’
Dude your the only person on Dime whos sign off is actually funnier than Tyrones.
True Thugz Say Hello When They’re Leaving.
November 28th, 2008 at 8:47 am
YOUNGFED says:
Hey Austin what name does “The Jed” go by on here. I know he said he uses another name or something like that if I’m not mistaken.
@SweetE
I had to replace that 1st post for the grammer police in here. lol
November 28th, 2008 at 8:52 am
Sweet English says:
You forgot all about the repost police though. They will Rodney King your ass (can i use that reference seeing as i’m white and british?)
November 28th, 2008 at 9:14 am
Hi, Jurg from Denmark says:
I love man who like to justify what his name mean. You are a small man. And weak. And you from country of shit. And you basketball player is selfish like Ben Gordun who play for him and not team. And Luol Deng who play for him last year and now fall apart like Penny Hardaway when he get lot of money. And John Amaechi who is gay and loves dick. He would love you i bet to give him some sweet spin of your ball on his chin.
And please be trusted that i know england and london very well. I was only there this past weekend and watch my uncle football team play. He has team in stinky london and i do not enjoy visiting but watch on television.
I also detect a man who does not like colored men apart from John Ameechi. When Jurg a boy remember very bad things for Mr Rodney King. And an insentative man to say those things.
And now you know. And you can go away for a long time. And leave more space for people YOUNGFED to write things because he is very well liked in our basketball comunity.
and this is from Big Jurg and not happy. Hi hi. And do not forget Jurgy get mentioned in Mr Fantasy Doctor message and is well known as man who knows basketball. Mainly from Europe.
November 28th, 2008 at 9:20 am
YOUNGFED says:
“And John Amaechi who is gay and loves dick. He would love you i bet to give him some sweet spin of your ball on his chin.”
Man I’m sorry sweetEnglish but he got you with that one. ROFLMFAO.
November 28th, 2008 at 9:29 am
Fish says:
You don’t seem to think Horry vs Posey defense deserves a debate. In Horry’s first few years with the Rockets he was all about defense. Hustle/blocks/steals – he was the man. For years you would find Horry assigned to an opponents best player. Posey is a great defender, but so was Horry.
November 28th, 2008 at 9:33 am
that's whats up says:
to all the previous posts – WOW !!!!!!!
….gotta love the Holidays……
…and the Jurg ball spin comment was top five all-time
November 28th, 2008 at 9:43 am
Sweet English says:
YOUNG and That’s
You bastards…
I’mma quit while i’m quite clearly behind.
November 28th, 2008 at 9:53 am
Sweet English says:
And FED i gotta wonder whether your playin’ me like that cos my man Jurg is all over your junk….?
November 28th, 2008 at 9:54 am
John says:
J.R. Smith is the X-Factor of the X-Team of the NBA. When he is playing like yesterday, he´s like a top 6 shooting guards of the league, and you put a guy like this on a team that have Billups (genereal floor, MVP finals) Carmelo (League Superstar, at least should be) K-Mart and Nene, with George Karl … Thats a lot of talent ,,, They can beat the Celtics in Boston, but they can also lose to some sub .500 at home ,,, go figure …
November 28th, 2008 at 10:00 am
that's whats up says:
yeah, the Nuggets are like your freaky ex-girlfriends:
they’re fun, you love to watch them perform well but in the end you just can’t trust them
November 28th, 2008 at 10:23 am
OGN says:
@ that’s whats up….That’s whats up… hahah
November 28th, 2008 at 10:59 am
JarrJohnson says:
@that’s whats up…. Very well put. There were times last night where you could see the tryptophan havin its way with the Nuggets on the defensive end. BTW, CP3 needs to be reprimanded for that irresponsible between the legs dribble. I can see many a break being fu—ed off all over the world today from cats tryin to emulate that move. Sick.
November 28th, 2008 at 11:13 am
SKE says:
While I enjoy this site, sometimes the articles make bold assertions that are contrary to easily-identified facts. It is frustrating. To wit, in his prime, Robert Horry was a very good defensive player.
Although it is hard to compare players with different roles and this is not to suggest that Posey is a slouch on defense, Horry set Alabama’s record for career blocked shots while Posey holds no such records at any point in his career. Moreover, in the 1999-2000 season, Horry had the fourth best defensive rating (http://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_2000_leaders.html). Additionally, inasmuch as rebounding, steals, and blocks are the primary indicia of defensive ability, Horry’s career averages are 4.8, 1.0, 0.9 while Posey’s career averages are 4.8, 1.2. 0.3. (As to these last statistics, Horry’s career averages go up anywhere from 10-20% if you don’t count his time in San Antonio when his minutes-per-game fell dramatically.)
Again, Posey is a good defender. And last year, he was excellent. He had the fifth-best defensive rating (although, notably, still slightly worse than Horry’s best mark). But that doesn’t mean he is inarguably a better defender than Horry ever was.
November 28th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
Korady says:
My biggest question during the Hornets/Nuggets game last night was why Melvin Ely seemingly became a black hole in the first quarter. ESPN said he took 8 shots and I think all of them came in that first quarter.
I’ll tell you what though, that game was a great example of how different those high scoring teams play and how great of a decision maker Chris Paul is as a point guard (even though he did make a number of mistakes). The Hornets just kept making that extra pass while JR Smith and Melo just did their thing for the most part when the Nuggets had the ball. Even Billups was running a stagnant offense. AI wasn’t the problem Karl made it out to be
November 28th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
dagwaller says:
SKE drops the bomb.
November 28th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
garbageman33 says:
Why do I picture a Borat kind of thing happening with Jurg? I’m sure his English is perfect and he just butchers it for added laughs.
November 28th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
Lady Luck says:
I agree with Fish Regarding Posey vs. Horry as defensive players. Horry was a hell of a defender during Houston an L.A.’s championship runs.
Posey needs to do more on the floor. He is capable of putting the ball on the floor and posting up. A lot like Bonzi Wells with better defense and a Ritalin scrip.
November 28th, 2008 at 9:29 pm
Buffalo Brave says:
“And John Amaechi who is gay and loves dick. He would love you i bet to give him some sweet spin of your ball on his chin.”
LMFAO!!!
November 29th, 2008 at 1:06 am
solomon says:
“And John Amaechi who is gay and loves dick. He would love you i bet to give him some sweet spin of your ball on his chin.”
i agree… this has got to be a top 5 smack – all time…
LMFAO!!!
November 29th, 2008 at 1:14 am
QQ says:
“And John Amaechi who is gay and loves dick. He would love you i bet to give him some sweet spin of your ball on his chin.”
Come on Dime…
You gotta give a pass the mic to jurg for this comment alone. Haha.
Funny as shit.