The Number 23
Dwight Howard (photo. Mannion)Going into the fourth quarter of Clippers/Magic, L.A. had the game in their pocket, ahead by nine and riding the momentum of Baron Davis‘ third-quarter buzzer-beating three from 27 feet out. But you know how the Clippers do. With announcers Ralph Lawler and Mike Smith almost taunting each other by constantly asking, “Are you worried yet?” Orlando went on a 19-2 run to take control, initially fueled by none other than Courtney Lee and Brian Cook, and sustaining itself via Dwight Howard … The Clips simply had nothing for Dwight, who on his 23rd birthday finished with 23 points, 22 boards and six blocks. For whatever reason, Mike Dunleavy Sr. hardly ever used Marcus Camby against Dwight (he did the same thing last week against Yao Ming), instead letting Zach Randolph, DeAndre Jordan, and Brian Skinner And His Stupid Beard get eaten alive. When Jordan checked in, the announcers were like, “Dwight’s never really played against someone who can block his shot,” as if Jordan was that guy … Knowing damn well he’s not blocking anybody’s shot, Z-Bo (21 pts, 12 rebs) just went with the Trick Daddy Book of Thugs tactics. One time he let Dwight catch the ball way too close to the rim, so Zach just yanked him down by his collar, giving everyone in Orlando a heart attack when Dwight landed right shoulder and head first … (Cook and Baron got into a little verbiage on that play, and a few minutes later Cook sent Baron to the deck on a flagrant foul. Baron popped right up and was trying to tear into Cook, but Camby held him back as Baron broke out a high-quality death stare.) … This was one of those nights where Orlando thrived on the three-pointer. On the go-ahead bucket in the fourth, Cook made an entry pass to Howard, who was motioning for somebody to cut. When no one moved, he rolled his eyes and casually kicked it back to Cook for a three. Even as the play developed, Mike Smith was begging Zach, “Don’t leave [Cook] open out there!” before Z-Bo predictably did exactly that. When the Clips did get somewhat close later on, Hedo Turkoglu and All-Star hopeful Rashard Lewis each stepped up and calmly drilled a pair of treys to put some distance between them … Funny moment when Dwight was goofing with Baron (27 pts) and pulled his headband down over his eyes, but you know if that was Vince Carter everyone would jump all over him for not taking things seriously … Not gonna lie, if George Hill walked into the Dime office right now wearing a shirt that said, “Hi, I’m Courtney Lee” — or vice versa — we wouldn’t think twice to question him …
D-Wade (photo. Chad Griffith)L.A.’s announcers conceded that Dwight is the best big man in the game, perhaps forgetting about Yao and clearly forgetting about Duncan. In our “Who’s Better?” series yesterday, we matched up two of the League’s second-tier bigs: Rasheed Wallace versus Elton Brand. Check out the arguments HERE and tell us who you’d rather have on your squad … Two amazing performances against terrible teams: D-Wade hit up the Bobcats for 41 points in a win, while Kevin Durant gave the Warriors 41 in a loss. In Wade’s case, his team needed every one of those points. The Bobcats led for most of the fourth quarter, before Wade tied it when he split a double-team and YouTube’d Emeka Okafor on what might be the Dunk of the Year so far considering style and situation. Durant, meanwhile, continues to do everything he can, but his team is just bad. Like, worst team in the League by a mile bad. The best we can hope for at this point is that he doesn’t get accustomed to losing like this and set the tone for his entire career … On the surface, Rockets/Grizzlies had potential to be unwatchable, unless you’re a huge Von Wafer fan. T-Mac and Ron Artest were sidelined, and the Grizzlies took the court without Rudy Gay (late to shoot-around). Rolling out a starting five of Kyle Lowry, O.J. Mayo, Quinton Ross, Darko and Marc Gasol, Memphis got out to a 10-0 lead and never trailed in a surprisingly convincing win. (Rudy scored 20 off the bench.) Just like we saw in the season opener, Yao was kind of thrown off by Gasol’s physicality and awkwardness, scoring just 14 points on eight shots. If the key with Yao is to not let him establish position deep in the paint, Gasol will lose a limb trying to keep his man from getting to his preferred spot … Darko’s line: 5 points, 5 boards, 5 fouls in just 10 minutes due to foul trouble. It’s never gonna happen for him, is it? … If more than 200 people a night were actually bringing their kids to Grizzlies games, we’d be more concerned with the fact that Gasol’s free throw routine still prominently involves him juggling his junk … We’re out like Ron-Ron …
December 9th, 2008 at 2:01 am
Str8baller says:
FIRST BITCHEZZZZ..
GAYFED 4 life
December 9th, 2008 at 2:03 am
sans says:
haven’t seen str8 in a while…are you guys serious with Rashard as an AllStar hopeful?
December 9th, 2008 at 2:09 am
CLUTCH says:
Dwight is the best Center in the game right now in terms of what you want from a traditional center, scoring around the rim, rebounding and altering shots. Duncan is still the best power foward in the game but we all already knew that.
Dwight might also be one of the best duel threat center ever. By this I mean in terms of rebounds and scoring. There have been better low post scorers than dwight obviosly (shaq, Hakeem, Ewing, Yao, Kareem etc) and there are couple who were better rebounders (Russel, Hakeem, mutumbo etc) But how many of these players are better than dwight in both categories?
December 9th, 2008 at 2:10 am
obmb says:
seven sixty one!
December 9th, 2008 at 2:27 am
the_don_mega says:
Marc “nut-juggler” Gasol…
December 9th, 2008 at 2:32 am
doc says:
@clutch-u got one with Keem,I’d throw Wilt in there too.Maybe Moses until Dwight show me some championships or at least get there.
December 9th, 2008 at 2:37 am
baron von faulk says:
@clutch, you put hakeem as better in both cats, so I would say hakeem. Dream had what they refer to as a “jump shot” (dreamshake baby!). But I am from TX so I am likely biased for Olajuwon
Id Howard ever gets a jumper then thereyago, possibly best ever. oh he has to hit his free throws at a better clip, too. he is definitely a beast.
i got howard and dwade on a fantasy team together in a league that doesn’t count free throw % or turnovers (which is the SH*T) and they are by far the top two players right now…
December 9th, 2008 at 2:41 am
QuEsT??? says:
damn smack came early
December 9th, 2008 at 2:45 am
baron von faulk says:
i don’t know that you can outdo VC’s game winner as dunk of the year if your judgment is based on style and siuation, I mean a reverse sideline alley-oop OT game-winner against his former team with all those haters in attendance, seriously.
the wade one can only be better b/c he posterized a shot blocker
December 9th, 2008 at 2:46 am
obmb says:
do not overlook bill russell:
G FG% FT% Rebs RPG Asts APG Pts PPG
963 .440 .561 21,620 22.5 4,100 4.3 14,522 15.1
he raised his game during the playoffs.
he was a 5 time NBA MVP.
he has 11 championships - that would be one ring for each finger and a toe.
he was a 12 time NBA all star.
December 9th, 2008 at 2:48 am
baron von faulk says:
Hey Austin, Howard is on that bionic stuff we were talkin’ bout the other day, he’s got $6M arms
December 9th, 2008 at 2:49 am
baron von faulk says:
russell though was, simply put, ahead of his time
December 9th, 2008 at 2:54 am
sans says:
@ clutch
I’d take Hakeem, and Shaq for that matter. Both of them would give you 30 every night and grab 12+ boards a night. Dwight’s the closest thing will ever see towards another Shaq, but no one will ever be that gigantic and nimble again in this league.
And Bill had the defensive game, grabbing and swatting shots, but I think Dwight is more of a pure animal offensively. Especially when he puts it all together.
December 9th, 2008 at 2:56 am
obmb says:
you can’t devalue russel’s accomplishments by simply saying that he was ahead of his time. anyway, how could you determined whether a player is ahead of his time? it seems to me that you could say that Dwight Howard is ahead of his time, but you would only say that if he was successful. was Jordan ahead of his time? would he have won all of those championships if last year’s Boston Celtics squad was in place, or if the Kobe/Shaq Lakers were at their peak? you can’t devalue JOrdan’s accomplishments, or any great player for that matter, because of the period within which they play.
December 9th, 2008 at 3:01 am
baron von faulk says:
okay let me rephrase,
russell played against a bunch of short crackers,
i was trying to be cordial about it but now that’s out the window.
And I will say Bill Russell was the SH*T, we happy? sesnsitive baby duck
December 9th, 2008 at 3:04 am
baron von faulk says:
do you live in or near a major city? look up in the sky sometime. then read this…
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/21473
ain’t no joke son, shit’s forreal
December 9th, 2008 at 3:15 am
obmb says:
baron von faulk says:
“russell played against a bunch of short crackers,”
does this include Wilt Chamberlain?
baby duck don’t think so.
December 9th, 2008 at 3:28 am
baron von faulk says:
Bill Russell was most definitely the man. He didn’t go against Wilt 82 games or anything though so I dunno about your point, put him in the league now and he’d be like Super Barkley I’m guessing (wasn’t he like 6′9″?), never saw him, too young. dunno. I’m sure he would still be the man now.
My point was that his talent transcended the game, which one could argue makes him ahead of his time. I don’t think Jordan (or just anybody who simply has great success) was ahead of his time, he would likely have the same or extremely similar impact in today’s game. Russell just played in a highly segregated era, did he not? Jordan’s era, segregation over. that’s all fella
I still like hakeem better, he could shake a puss out of it’s boots. And I was fortunate enough to have witnessed that at least.
. . . . .
I really hope y’all take a moment to educate yourself with the chemtrails article, we have been getting absolutely peppered lately here in Austin, TX. I have mad pictures.
That goes for you too Jurg, Europe is not exempt. This will help help your English, hi hi.
December 9th, 2008 at 3:31 am
baron von faulk says:
oh last thing and i’m out, russell would have similar impact today i think, but not 12 championships impact, i’ll leave it at that and anybody can post ’til they’re blue in the knuckles that he was the greatest ever.
December 9th, 2008 at 4:33 am
Three Stacks says:
Dwight is good and all, but it’s obvious to me that his offensive game is never gonna catch up to his sheer physical ability. It’s not like his form is all bad, but some people just can’t shoot jumpers, and I think Dwight’s one of those people.
His post game, honestly, isn’t that great either. It’s a little early in his career to be condemning him already, but this is like the 3rd year people have been waiting for him to unleash a jumper or different post moves. I’m just saying if it hasn’t happened yet, it might never.
December 9th, 2008 at 4:42 am
sans says:
Centaur is dropping the baby hook consistently nowadays. Moses Malone is probably the best example of what Dwight is: came straight from HS, was just a beast on the block getting boards, blocks, and never really went to nuts on points, like Dwight. I don’t see Dwight ever scoring like Pat Ewing, Olajuwon, or David Robinson–they were just too skilled of scorers that they didn’t have too bang it home all the time.
Amazing thing about Shaq and Wilt–they scored ridiculous buckets while missing 1/2 their free throw attempts. Imagine if they hit 80%.
December 9th, 2008 at 5:01 am
John says:
Question to everyone :
As the first quarter of the season is over, who is the MVP so far ?
For me, D-Wade, leading the league in scoring, 3 in steals, 7 in assist, 11 in blocks , bringing the worst team in the league to the 6 place in eastern conference, 2 times player os the week and 7 games with more the 35 points ,,, oh, and by the way, dunk of the year last night, sick ,,,
December 9th, 2008 at 5:21 am
Richard Wellner says:
9-18 free throws by Howard. Horrible. How hard is it to work on your free throws?? Seriously.
Things like that make me question this guy in a big way. Loser.
December 9th, 2008 at 5:27 am
Richard Wellner says:
John, to answer you question… I feel that Dirk is the MVP so far. He’s carrying a hobbled Dallas team to respectability and lookin’ great doing it.
Coach of the Year prediction: D’Antoni.
December 9th, 2008 at 5:39 am
Three Stacks says:
I don’t know why, but Richard Wellner sounds like the name of someone who’d be fun to punch in the face, no?
December 9th, 2008 at 5:45 am
Flying_Aussie_Dutchman says:
Gotta believe in a few (I mean A LOT) of years, if Thunder keep together they wouldnt be a half bad squad. Durant, Green, Westbrook and a few good draft picks - and if one of their PF/C actually become decent players
December 9th, 2008 at 6:01 am
Three Stacks says:
The thing about rebuilding through the draft, if you’re a small market team like OKC, is that the rookie contracts keep your draft pick around for only 4 years at the most.
So if you really, really sucked like OKC did when Durant and Green first got there, and you’re trying to build through the draft, you basically only have 2-3 years to get good. Otherwise, your draft pick is gonna bounce to a better team in a bigger market, or as they’ll say from 2010 forward, “pull a Lebron.”
Even if OKC added Blake Griffin next year, they’re still not gonna be close to a playoff team. And how many years will Durant wait around watching tornadoes go by in Oklahoma before wanting out?
December 9th, 2008 at 6:21 am
Flying_Aussie_Dutchman_Pistonfan says:
@Three Stacks
Good post dude… I strongly agree with about how long will Durant (and Green/Westbrook) wait around. A lot of guys who jump ASAP, with talent like his. He’ll have contracts from basically all other teams
December 9th, 2008 at 6:43 am
sans says:
Don’t forget that OKC can offer more for his services than any other team.
December 9th, 2008 at 6:53 am
CLUTCH says:
Oh sorry all I messed up my meaning a tad.
In summary there aren’t a lot of centers that have been better at both rebounding and scoring than Dwight is. Kareem, Hakeem, Wilt are three of those players and there are probably a few others.
Shaq wasn’t as good a rebounder as howard, this can be seen by him not being as good an offensive rebounder. However he was a better offensive player.
December 9th, 2008 at 7:17 am
Timmy D says:
How did you not mention that Darko ripped his jersey in half like the Incredible Hulk after he was called for a tech while guarding YAO!! It has to be on youtube soon it was one of the funniest things Ive ever seen in sports.
Darko is nuts man he has serious emotional problems and that is why he will never be as good as he should be. He has the talent he just doesnt have the emotional stability to be a solid player. But if he keeps ripping jerseys in half that will be worth the watch.
December 9th, 2008 at 8:13 am
rangerjohn says:
ok baron, dont tell me you are one of those “keep austin wierd” types. you know what im talking about if nobody else does.
and richard, DIRK the mvp? your nuts.
December 9th, 2008 at 8:20 am
Ashlov says:
Wade needs to carry a ziploc of Lipton teabags in his shorts during games, and drop one on the ground after dunks like that. Sick, man.
This is only one MVP, and his name is Wade.
December 9th, 2008 at 8:42 am
fallinup says:
“Gasol’s free throw routine still prominently involves him juggling his junk”
What’s so bad about juggling your junk. I do it every chance I get.
December 9th, 2008 at 8:44 am
AB_40 says:
wow no youtube flick of darko thinking he’s the hulk and tearing his jersey up? haha that was hilarious.
December 9th, 2008 at 8:45 am
Mo says:
B.Diddy was nice - but he needs to do it every game:
http://ezinearticles.com/?Baron-Davis-Dunk-or-How-to-Increase-Vertical-Jump&id=632119
December 9th, 2008 at 8:46 am
Kobeef says:
How long will Mike Dunleavy last with the Clips? I have never seen a team look so much like they are tanking to get the coach fired.
Also, leaving Camby out against Dwight? What the hell? The Clips have some serious talent but play like one of the worst teams in the league…somethings gotta give.
December 9th, 2008 at 8:48 am
Jeffrey says:
Why does this sound like Austin wrote this or does he usually write dime smack? I can tell by the “Brian Skinner and his stupid beard” comment.
December 9th, 2008 at 8:48 am
fallinup says:
This is the Clippers, Kobeef.
Dunleavy is gonna be named part owner soon. In all honesty, Mike is a friggin douche bag supreme.
December 9th, 2008 at 9:13 am
John says:
@Richard Wellner, @Ashlov,
Dirk is playing very well, and he won 2 times player of the week this season, but in 2 place, I would go with Lebron. But I still think Wade is first right now.
@rangerjohn : Who is your pick for MVP ?
December 9th, 2008 at 9:20 am
GayforRudy says:
F’n A…Apparently Orlando played last night. We get it. Dime, how about you guys stop letting Howard do the superman dance on your mouths?
December 9th, 2008 at 9:24 am
fallinup says:
Yeah, Dime! I want more Von Wafer! How dare you state who had the best night on a team that came back and won….on the day of his birthday!
December 9th, 2008 at 9:29 am
GayforRudy says:
FYI… Lebron and Kobe play tonight. Prepare yourselves for that to be 75% of Smack tomorrow. Regardless of what else happens.
And it won’t even be either of their birthdays!
December 9th, 2008 at 9:33 am
fallinup says:
@43
It doesn’t matter, you’ll still be here…same bat time, same bat channel….bawwwwwwwwwwing about it.
You know what I’d do if I spent my time on one of about gajillion bball sites that don’t post stories that I wanna read. I’d ask for my money back….oh wait.
December 9th, 2008 at 10:05 am
rangerjohn says:
JOHN
while i dont like it (i would like to see a duncan win another one) wade has to be the mvp right now, doing more with less. cp3 would be a close second followed by labron
December 9th, 2008 at 10:15 am
The saint says:
this iz the baron davis look……..creepy
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/photo;_ylt=AkOuDsrwEli6iqFckkZPuPS8vLYF?slug=8da3e2484fe0dd9948da4140891426cd-getty-82994450ng033_magic_clips&prov=getty
December 9th, 2008 at 10:56 am
that's whats up says:
baron von faulk
where are the Austin pics and what part of town are they doing it on?
December 9th, 2008 at 11:09 am
that's whats up says:
Gasol is Spanish for ballplay
December 9th, 2008 at 11:15 am
baron von faulk says:
@RangerJ - nah man, I’ve never had that bumper sticker or t-shirt. honestly I LOOK like off-duty military, super short hair and all, don’t do drugs, not a dirty hippie. I just like to educate myself and others about unorthodox issues and I don’t buy what the media or our politicians tell me - I am a SKEPTIC, not a conspiracy theorist. Also a huuuuge Spurs fan by the way, living just down the road and all
@t.w.u. - EVERYWHERE, they’ll form a big box, or triangle, and other various patterns to form obvious perimeters, or just drop them ahead of an entire weather front, watch for ten minutes and you’ll see the effects. more than obvious, the sky will go from blue to overcast in no time after the trails disperse and a bunch of wispy clouds form.
This is MUCH easier to see with sunglasses on btw. Then lots of ppl will complain about scratchy throats or get mildly sick sometimes, too. The quarantining of an area is obvious. Barium is toxic to mammals although we have no scientific research on long-term effects.
The funny thing is it’s right over our heads and the MAJORITY of ppl never even acknowledge it. I believe that is called “doublethink”
That article would be what I would consider BARON’S BANGER OF THE DAY, haha. That is the best article I have ever found on the issue that didn’t sound batshit lunatic, which confirmed a few of my suspicions.
December 9th, 2008 at 11:29 am
fallinup says:
thumbs up to Baron. I’m a skeptic too. I like hearing about all the crazy shit and seeing what other people say. But I can’t dwell on everything too much cause my head would explode. haha
December 9th, 2008 at 11:40 am
baron von faulk says:
damn right brother, it’s not worth it to be paranoid and live in fear all the time f’sho!
well somebody has got to find this “Donnie” Darko clip, sounds hella intriguing
December 9th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
John says:
Rangerjohn - Wade for sure !!!
December 9th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
sans says:
Has anyone seen this cartoon about Baron Davis?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3XyzQvtlZ4
hilarious, but no death stare involved
December 9th, 2008 at 11:49 pm
baron von faulk says:
ohhhh y’all better mention this spurs game tomorrow, daaaamn gina!
December 11th, 2008 at 1:16 am
Curtis G. says:
Okay. I didn’t want to believe that Dime (and by Dime, I mean Andrew Katz specifically) was biased against Yao, but this week’s entries have been pretty telling. First of all, Yao gets a whole segment dedicated to his horrible night against Memphis but no mention at all about his monster game against Golden state (a team he not supposed to be able to score on because they run so much) of 33pts and 14 boards or his monster game of 24points and 19 rebounds against a very good Atlanta team on 12-9-2008… the same day that this article appeared. I mean, if ya’ll at Dime don’t like Yao, then say so but don’t present a one-sided argument on the site against him that only showcases his bad nights. If Dwight (the obvious favorite of Dime) had thrown up two games like this against teams like this over the span of five days, we’d all be reading about how good the “Centaur” is and would likely have two or three videos showing how DH destroyed the comp. But when Yao does it, the bad game sandwiched in the middle (when he was missing two of his all star team mates and was playing mostly with the reserves) is the only game that gets noticed? That’s not even hating, that’s straight up bullshit. Excuse my French momofokus…