Big Zach Attack
Zach Randolph, Dime #19Clippers fans got their first real look at everything that comes with having Zach Randolph on your squad. Good Zach was getting buckets (27 pts) and boards (13 rebs) against the Heat last night, unleashing his array of jabs, jumpers and putbacks throughout. Bad Zach was getting LIT UP defensively; Udonis Haslem (18 pts) was eating good off drive-and-dish buckets because Zach kept forgetting to put a body on him, and when Mike Beasley came off the bench and Z-Bo tried to guard him, the rookie proceeded to give Zach a faceful of jumpers and lefty drives. You know how coaches usually play it close to the vest during those between-quarter interviews? After halftime, Mike Dunleavy Sr. flatly admitted somebody needed to stop letting B-Easy drive left every single time … Beasley was due for a big-time performance, though, because Derrick Rose and O.J. Mayo (who’s been collecting 30-point games like souvenir shot glasses) were starting to put distance between themselves and Beasley in the R.O.Y. race … Eric Gordon, meanwhile, had his hands full with D-Wade. The first half was gross: Wade was throwing up fadeaways from the corner with two guys draped on him, skating past EJ for reverse dunks, mixing him up off the dribble, and just making everything look effortless. After Wade (26 pts, 11 asts, 3 stls) dropped a pull-up J in Gordon’s eye right before halftime, one of L.A.’s announcers gawked, “That guy is a machine.” … Sparked by Z-Bo, Al Thornton and Baron, the Clippers put together a 13-0 fourth-quarter run to take the lead, and for whatever reason, that was when Daequan Cook decided he was Miami’s No. 1 option, firing up brick after brick, often on possessions where Wade didn’t even touch the ball. Wade regained control and got Miami within one with 2.9 seconds left, but on the last play all he could get was a fadeaway 30-footer that he had to launch over Marcus Camby’s arms that had no chance … Some announcers are homers, and then there are the Clippers’ guys. Once after the play-by-play man praised Wade, his partner barked, “Are you on the Miami Heat payroll? You’re bad-mouthing the ballclub!” And he sounded serious … Announcers’ exchange after Gordon muscled in a lefty and-one over Haslem: “He’s not left-handed, is he?” “Nah, he’s just good.” … Saturday was supposed to be the Spurs’ official return to relevancy game. Tony Parker was back in the starting five with Comedic Genius Tim Duncan, and Manu was healthy in his sixth man role for a big divisional matchup against the Rockets on the road, where San Antonio separates itself from other contenders. But the Spurs got smoked by the McGrady-less Rockets, letting Luther Head go off for 21 points while looking like a Baby Arenas with his long-range game and herky-jerky penetration … NBA TV’s Steve Smith was running down Houston’s depth and went too far: “They’ve got Aaron Brooks, Luther Head, Steve Francis; they’ve got a lot of guards.” Who’s Steve Francis? … Would the Yao Ming apologists care to explain how your man only got ONE REBOUND last night? We’re all ears … Meanwhile, Big Z was ballin’ like he had two good feet again, slapping up 21 points and 17 boards and even getting a breakaway layup (how does that happen?) against the Bucks. But of course, the main story was LeBron. He scored 32 in the win, getting past the Richard Jeffersons and Mbah a Moutes of the world on sheer God-given ability; the game was like a lesson in evolution … Knicks/Warriors wasn’t even an NBA game; it was like 3BA with 9-foot rims. The fact that Al Harrington put up 36 points and grabbed 12 rebounds and it was the THIRD-most eye-popping stat line of the game should tell you enough. Are we sure Steph doesn’t wanna get in on this? … Other sick stat lines from Saturday: Dwight Howard went for 32 points, 21 boards and four blocks in a win over the Pacers; and Devin Harris torched the Jazz for 34 points … Hilarious moment from Mavs/Kings (which Dallas won easy): Gerald Green was going in for a breakaway dunk, but took off too far out — damn near from the free throw line — and had to try a finger roll. That missed, but since Beno Udrih had stopped chasing G-Money and literally had turned his back to him while talking to someone else, Green was able to recover the rebound and get an uncontested layup. Good luck with Beno making that All-Defensive Team … We’re out like Yao …
November 30th, 2008 at 3:38 am
the_don_mega says:
David Lee… im speechless…
November 30th, 2008 at 4:08 am
Duke says:
I wonder what Knicks fan might do if they try to trade David Lee at any point from now on?
November 30th, 2008 at 4:11 am
W says:
ummmm the clippers anouncers aren’t that bad. The bad mouthing the ballclub thing was a joke. Lawler is always saying nonsense(in a funny way) to smith. They don’t pull stuff as bad as sean elliot.
I was expecting the heat to smash on them after that beating they put on the suns.
November 30th, 2008 at 4:31 am
Flying_Aussie_Dutchman says:
And to think.. D’Antoni said. “He should’ve had 50 and 28”
Imagine that!.. Then knowing Knicks.. He’ll be traded next day
November 30th, 2008 at 4:49 am
dagwaller says:
Yao Apologist here – ask Stephen Curry if he cared that he didn’t light it up against Loyola.
November 30th, 2008 at 6:12 am
kobeef says:
Funny how the Clips looked like a decent team without Kaman who was inactive for some reason.
Win #2 for the Thunder! Somewhere Clay is thinking this second win is all a result of his genius move to fire his coach….that said, KD playing SF and Westbrook starting at PG (best players on the team) seems to be a better option than Carlesimo’s choice.
How is New Jersey tied for 6th in the east? This team has some quality wins which is remarkable for a team that supposedly gutted the roster and tanked the season to build for the summer of Lebron.
November 30th, 2008 at 6:31 am
John says:
The Heat should have won the game, Marion and Haslen would have a free dunk if the referee let them. He invented a timeout so the Clippers could have another chance,,, somebody got very rich in Vegas
November 30th, 2008 at 6:39 am
Hi, Jurg from Denmark says:
Hi, this is your Jurg and I am proud to say I am from Denmark.
This question if for mr Austin Burton. I have completed my list of top ten european player in nba. And it is a good list.
And I have to say that I am missing mr fantasy doctor. I am going to ask him about my team and how it is going. Even though still not happy about losing Session I was happy to have Duhon have 22 assits today.
This is Jurg, hi hi.
November 30th, 2008 at 7:04 am
sans says:
Love the evolution line…Lebron was a straight animal last night, tearing apart the horrific red Bucks jerseys…
November 30th, 2008 at 7:05 am
sans says:
oh, and does this mean ANYONE can go nuts inside a D’Antoni system? Mike D’Antoni won Steve Nash’s MVPs for him.
November 30th, 2008 at 7:20 am
YOUNGFED-now that i'm a celebrity i'd like to thank all the little people (lmao) says:
YOUNGFED’S BANGER OF THE DAY: Kidz-n-the-Hall
http://www.king-mag.com/online/?p=4793
Looks like Mayo is running away with that ROY award and the future of Canada award.
November 30th, 2008 at 7:57 am
knoc says:
baron davis has to stop shooting so much and pick better quality shots instead. his low fg is hurting the team imo.
November 30th, 2008 at 8:12 am
jay says:
who is EG, anyway?..
November 30th, 2008 at 8:21 am
Phileus says:
Oh, you’ve got me Dime. Yao Ming is trash. He has no talent. He can’t play at all. Utterly worthless player who contributes nothing to his team. You’ve been right all along: Asians just can’t play basketball. He doesn’t have the heart, the intensity, or the talent to compete with genetically superior players like Lebron James.
What a joke.
November 30th, 2008 at 8:49 am
Smitty313 says:
Yoa was studying tapes of Eddy Curry before the game.
November 30th, 2008 at 9:37 am
QQ says:
That line should read: Some announcers are homers, and then there’s Sean Elliot.
@ post 14: You know its your opinion that you hate on some players (Yao, in your case) and it’s good and all. We all hate some ballers (FUCK YOU VINCE CARTER!!!) But DAMN. That ‘Asians can’t play line’… Damn.
Have a nice day.
November 30th, 2008 at 9:51 am
UKnow says:
QQ;
Phileus’ not so subtle use of sarcasm obviously went right over your head.
November 30th, 2008 at 10:21 am
Ashlov says:
It’s a shame the Heat got robbed last night. Wade made a legit steal and save on the Clippers’ inbound, and he had players down the court for an easy last second score.
November 30th, 2008 at 10:40 am
Max says:
Agree on what W said regarding the Clippers announcers — I don’t watch many Clips games, but I like their announcers because they’re dry and painfully realistic about how bad the team is. I’ll take that over the blatant homerism of another announcing teams (Celtics, Spurs)
On the other hand, what kind of D-league production was that where no one on the Clips network checked with the refs or anyone on the court, to see what the deal was with that Wade steal at the end of the game that got overturned, then reinstated? Critical play, and I was still waiting for an explanation at the end of the game.
Daequan Cook taking multiple DWade type jumpers at the end of the game and missing them all…fail. He made Sasha V look like Calderon by comparison.
November 30th, 2008 at 10:44 am
chinesedespot says:
Well, since Dime has insisted on stirring the pot, let’s help them get some proper perspective.
To answer their question – how Yao got only 1 rebound last night – there’s a simple answer: all players, even the best ones, have off nights.
This could be the same reason why Dwight Howard got dominated by Yao in their previous matchup. Would Dime judge Dwight by that game and say that Yao’s a much better player than he?
Which brings me to an interesting point. In Dime’s editorial on that game:
http://dimemag.com/2008/11/dime-smack-bulls-jazz-derrick-rose-larry-hugh-game-winner-dwyane-wade-yao-ming-manu-ginobili-comeback/
they wrote that “Yao clearly outplayed Dwight this time in Dwight’s gym”. Thing is, Yao didn’t just out play Howard “this time”, there is data to prove that Yao consistently outplays Howard: http://www.basketball-reference.com/fc/h2h_finder.cgi?request=1&p1=mingya01&p2=howardw01
Does this mean that Yao is a better player? I doubt it. It more likely proves the simple fact that there are mutiple and different types of matchups congenial to every player. Howard just can’t defend Yao well one-on-one in the low post, but I’m sure Dime knows that he’s got many other redeeming qualities.
And so does Yao – and that’s merely what I wanted to point out in my previous post: that it’s more fun enjoying the different dimensions these guys bring to NBA than to trot out the same old tired basketball cliches; or worse, be so blatantly biased against a single player that it could be mistaken for racial prejudice.
November 30th, 2008 at 11:12 am
Big Freeze says:
Yao apoligist here:
Who won the Rockets game again?
And no mention of David Lee’s stat line? WTF?
November 30th, 2008 at 11:32 am
JCARR says:
KNICKS ARE a temporary buzz, they are like a hangover you want to get rid of but cant
November 30th, 2008 at 11:41 am
jl90 says:
the funniest exchange of the clippers announcers were when that mike guy was like “and zach randolph finally shuts the door on the heat. YEAH!” and the other announcer is like “now calm down we’re supposed to be impartial observers blah blah blah” and the other guy goes “yeah whatever”
that said, i still like them better than sean elliott
November 30th, 2008 at 11:52 am
Big Dog says:
If you’re 7′6 and play more than 2 minutes there is no excuse for having 1 rebound. I can understand an off-night for scoring (maybe its just not falling), but 1 rebound? Come on, man
November 30th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
dagwaller says:
Good points, chinesedepot.
Big Dog, I’m inclined to agree with you, but as a Yao Apologist, I’d also like to point out that the Spurs frontcourt scored a total of 19 points on 7-19 points.
“If you’re supposed to be the greatest PF of all time, shouldn’t you shoot better than 6-18?!” My issue isn’t with the fact that Dime calls out poor performances (we all do it); my issue is that it always seems to be two or three particular players.
November 30th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
Bron42 AkA Your Moms Best Friend says:
dag we all kno yao can score, i mean he is a 7′6 shooter…but i still don’t say he does much of the otehr small stuff that would take the rockets to the next level. He still doenst dominante.
And ya dime points out certain peoples flawas alot, its one of the perks of getting to write articles but at the same time, some stats do need to get pointed out alot if its so repetative..they never said yao sucked or cost his team, they jsut said how does he only have 1 board..not like they ripped him or anything. He could drop 30 and if he still only had one board it would still be a “how does he only have one board” moment no matter if it was dwight,shaq,yao, amare etc..anyone over 6′9..hell they even say it about beasly
November 30th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
Amar says:
major props to d-harris who was just too damn quick for anyone utah sent at him (sure would have been nice if Brevin Knight, a scrappy quick PG wasn’t injuried). what sucks more than another home loss to an east conf team is the fact that AK got hurt in this game.
utah’s tv team put up a graphic that said that the jazz had already lost 57 player games to injury this season (or whatever it is called). ridiculous. After I finish my sports med residency I’d apply for a job there, because their team docs suck ass, but I don’t want to live in utah.
November 30th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
Amar says:
on the plus side, the jazz are still dunking all over the place (brewer had a few filty crams on his way to 4 or 5 dunks, and CJ had his usual “shandon anderson on chris webber memorial who the hell are you” dunk). sloan is going to use the fact that more dunks = less wins, though, so expect a lot more fucking matt harpring in the coming weeks. blah.
deron didn’t have 15 assists last night, but still put up 13 in limited mins (2nd night of a back to back after an injury).
November 30th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
Lady Luck says:
What is with you guys ripping on the regional announcers? Homers? Uh, yeah, this IS the network that the TEAM has a deal with(i,e, pays)to announce all of their games. Of course they are for their team. The Cleveland announcers which host a pre-game and post-show specifically for the Cavs often refer to the Cavs as “the good guys” during the game. The late great Chick Hearn was all about the Lakers. Sooo….what’s the point of pointing this well known fact out?
November 30th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
masterju2 says:
Quit hatin on Ralph Lawler and Mike Smith. They make clippers games fun to watch and always make me laugh.
November 30th, 2008 at 4:15 pm
dagwaller says:
Bron, good points. I guess it’s just a symptom of being a fan (or apologist, heh) of players that get beat on a lot.
Then again, you have to be good to get talked about, so maybe I (we) shouldn’t complain so much.
November 30th, 2008 at 7:57 pm
Bron42 AkA Your Moms Best Friend says:
eh ricky davis gets alot of talk and none of its good lol..if anything, people stll expect wayy to much from certain players.. ya is never gonna be shaq, dwight is never gonna be pullin up for jumpers, steve nash is never gonna win defensive first team.
as for yao dominanting dwight…um yao has how many more years of experience? lol its kinda like when young shaq usd to go against the dream and would always bite on post moves and pump fakes eventually getting into foul trouble. not sayin yao is annnnyyything close to hakeem (the dream dominated games) but until dwight learns not to get baited into stuff on D, hes always gonna have trouble against yao