Phoenix blows an easy one in San Antonio; Dwyane Wade is back
Jason Richardson should just lay it up next time. Don’t get us wrong, J-Rich is still one of the baddest to ever look down into a rim, but he’s developing a weird habit of blowing crucial dunks in the fourth quarters of close games. Last year it was the 360 for no reason that LeBron snuffed out. Yesterday it wasn’t even that complicated … Phoenix was down two in San Antonio with about 40 seconds left, Spurs ball. Jared Dudley got a steal and threw it long for J-Rich, who had gotten behind the defense. All by himself, J-Rich went conservative and tried a basic one-hand dunk that he’s probably been making since he was 13, but somehow missed it. That wasn’t quite the nail in the coffin, but the Spurs didn’t do Phoenix any favors by missing free throws in the final seconds. The Suns had one more chance, down three with 3.2 seconds left, but Nash stumbled while trying to race the ball full-court and they couldn’t get a shot off … Richard Jefferson showed up, dropping 20 points off the bench; Tony Parker had his first good game in a couple of weeks with 16 points; and Manu Ginobili had 21 and 8 dimes. The Spurs aren’t totally out of the championship picture, but those three absolutely have to play at the top of their game for this team to make a serious run … Amar’e Stoudemire (41 pts, 12 rebs) is so tough to figure out. He routinely gives one of the best players of all-time (Duncan) fits, but can you say he’s definitely a franchise-type dude? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. There’s hardly been anybody in the League over the last 13 years who can give TD a hard time like Amar’e. He’s that talented. So why isn’t he unquestionably one of the top 10 players in the game? … The Lakers needed a win like the one they got Sunday. When Kobe isn’t playing, that’s one thing. When he’s on the court and not hitting shots is when they need to prove they can make up for it. Kobe was just 3-for-17 against the Nuggets (14 pts, 12 asts), but L.A. used its size on the boards, the bigs passed the ball well on the interior, and Ron Artest gave ‘Melo (21 pts, 7-19 FG, 8 turnovers) a hard time … ‘Melo is a bull, but Artest (14 pts, 6 stls) was making him look like a welterweight. More than once Artest jumped in front of a pass intended for ‘Melo and just muscled him out of the way, going in for easy buckets while ‘Melo didn’t even try running after him. Then late in the fourth, Denver squandered a crucial possession when a frustrated ‘Melo got too rough with Artest in the post and was whistled for a foul … D-Wade struggled to find his shot in his first game back from the calf injury, going 6-for-17 (21 pts) in a loss to Orlando. Weird game for the Magic: Dwight Howard had one of those “Didn’t get the ball enough” games with 7 points on 1-of-7 shooting — although the one shot he did make was a vicious dunk on Jermaine O’Neal‘s head — and their shooters weren’t hitting from the outside. And yet they still won by double-digits. If anything, that’s proof Miami just isn’t very good … As dominant as Jason Kidd was in Atlanta the other night, consider one thing: He was guarding Mike Bibby, which doesn’t exactly require a lot of work. Last night Kidd was lined up across from Darren Collison, which is like going from racing a Vespa to a NASCAR. Collison was butchering Kidd — drives, fast breaks, long jumpers when Kidd tried to back off him — on his way to 35 points … Fortunately for Kidd, Collison made some killer turnovers down the stretch, and Dirk Nowitzki (36 pts, 8 rebs, 7 asts) hit some buckets in crunch time to help Dallas avoid blowing a 25-point lead … Other stat lines from Sunday: Tyreke Evans scored 22 in Sacramento’s win over the Clippers; Josh Smith had 22 points and 15 rebounds as Atlanta beat Milwaukee in overtime; Andray Blatche hung 36 points and 15 boards on the Nets in a win; and Kevin Durant‘s 29 points led OKC past Toronto … The Cavs announced Shaq is getting thumb surgery that could sideline him for the rest of the regular season, if not longer. How do you think this will impact the team? Will they lose the No. 1 seed in the East? Will their chemistry be thrown off if Shaq comes back right before the playoffs? Did Orlando, Boston and Atlanta just get a piece of good news? … The Wolves definitely got some bad news: Al Jefferson was arrested for DWI over the weekend. Jefferson was reportedly pulled over at 2:15 a.m. after the Wolves’ loss to the Blazers, driving erratically on a freeway. He’s been suspended for two games by the team … We’re out like using the glass …
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March 1st, 2010 at 4:58 am
YW says:
Damn, Yi Jianlian actually did something?
March 1st, 2010 at 5:04 am
alf (from melmak) says:
The western conference got even more crazier with the results of the games today. Dallas might just get that number 2 seed. They have the easier schedule to finish the regular season as compared to Utah and Denver.
My meal allowance says Manu Ginobili will be the sleeper in the free agency class next season.
Top 100 reasons why Dime should hire me as a regular writer:
97 – I fit perfectly right in with the cool Dime staff. Just check this out – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-txfpwczSXs&feature=related. Even Tom Cruise when he was still a cool dude stole the idea with this – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATTjGKJwhFI
March 1st, 2010 at 5:09 am
BRUCE says:
What the heck happened to my comments? I was first and second!
Lebron does not need that 7 feet tall, 300 plus pounds monkey to be dominant, just need Shaq to be a role player. A double-double is not asking too much. Anderson Vagina is capable of that so that is not asking too much from the self-proclaimed Superman!
March 1st, 2010 at 5:10 am
Sambuu says:
another top-5 college team lost
March 1st, 2010 at 5:11 am
BRUCE says:
Amare always give Timmy the business but in the end, Timmy gets the W! WTMF?
March 1st, 2010 at 5:44 am
spit hot fiyah says:
the mike bibby hate continues….
the cavs might be better of without shaq, if they get z back, we can look at it like they traded shaq for jamison, powe is back, if he can back to what he was in boston, they could be a better TEAM
March 1st, 2010 at 5:46 am
Khalvin says:
If Cleveland can sign Big.Z then losing Shaq is not a problem. They are still making the finals.
Hmm Denver loses to Lakers.. get used to it.
Still picking Spurs and Lakers in the west, I never want to count a team with NBA championship coaching like them out. Pop vs Phil would be great to see.
A DWI really??? couldn’t afford a cab? *smh*
*Completely unrelated link of the day*
http://www.onthenet.biz/2010/02/book-review-autobiography-of-malcolm-x.html
March 1st, 2010 at 6:19 am
alf (from melmak) says:
Again, with the results of the games today, the western conference even got crazier. Dallas has the best chance to get the number 2 seed as they have an easier schedule for the remainder of the regular season as compared to Utah and Denver.
My meal allowance says Manu Ginobili is the sleeper in the free agency class next season.
Top 100 reasons why Dime should hire me as a regular writer:
97 – I fit in perfectly with the cool Dime staff. Just check this – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-txfpwczSXs&feature=related. Tom Cruise, back in the day when he was still cool even stole the idea with this – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATTjGKJwhFI
March 1st, 2010 at 6:27 am
alf (from melmak) says:
Again, with the results of the games today, the western conference even got crazier. Dallas though should have the inside track into the number seed in the west as they have the easier schedule for the remainder of the regular season as compared to Utah and Denver.
My meal allowance says Manu Ginobili should be sleeper in the free agency class next season.
Top 100 reasons why Dime should hire me as one of its regular writers:
97 – I fit in perfectly with the cool Dime staff. Check this – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0xDrE4SVOA. Even Tom Cruise back when he was still cool, stole the idea with this – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATTjGKJwhFI
March 1st, 2010 at 7:03 am
sh!tfaced says:
So if this were a league of thirty something old point guards, Jason Kidd would put up monster stats every night…?
The Cavs losing Shaq may not look much right now, but they won’t reach the finals without him.
They traded for The Big Cleveland Steamer for one thing and one thing only – somebody who can take on Dwight Howard one on one in a seven game series. Only Superman can stop Superman. Because in this case, Kryptonite only slows him down.
March 1st, 2010 at 7:07 am
sh!tfaced says:
Kryptonite means Free Throws if you’re a Superman in the NBA, BTW.
March 1st, 2010 at 7:45 am
smity far away says:
“So why isn’t he unquestionably one of the top 10 players in the game?”
because he unquestionably needs the help of steve nash to be as dominant (at times) as he is. What other top 10 player do you know that needs(/benefits from) the assist(ance) of another individual player as much as Amare does?
March 1st, 2010 at 8:16 am
bigdoggchad says:
Nuggets blew a golden chance to take the season series on the Lakers. Anyone else notice the fouls Affalo was whistled for on Kobe? Not one of them was a foul. Then they let Artest play 90′s defense on Melo. Melo’s last two fouls were a joke that little bump on Kobe and that weak offensive foul. I still like the Nuggets chances.
March 1st, 2010 at 8:18 am
tp says:
kobe bron wade melo cp3 durant are unquestionably better than amare
lets see whos next, dirk, td, you can put them there too.
that leaves 9/10.. he has to beat out, jj, roy, hell even chauncey, chris bosh, d12, deron, westbrook (yea i said it).
no he is not unquestionably in the top 10. top 15 then we’ll talk.
March 1st, 2010 at 8:24 am
ERIC says:
JRICH is a two-footed leaper and cannot get up as high off of one foot.
next time go 2 feet and two hands.
March 1st, 2010 at 8:29 am
Kermit The Washington says:
Wow. You guys throw JRich under the bus, but somehow cover for NASH? Dude didn’t “stumble”, he actually had a clear look at the 3, and passed it off to someone (I forget who) for a TWO-POINT SHOT when 1.) there wasn’t enough time on the clock for another pass, and 2.) they were down by 3. That was just as bad as what JRich did. Why let him off the hook for that?
March 1st, 2010 at 8:40 am
POPPI GEE says:
I am thinking Shaq is more Bizzaro now and Dwight is Superman.
Shaq come on tough that thumb out like Kobe would do lol.
Dang JRich. Stat had to be pissed.
Denver has dug their own grave courtesy of J.R. Smith. Dude apparently said something to the effect of Kobe isn’t that good when he is agains me. WOW! You know if they meet in playoff time, at some point Kobe is droppin what 40 or 50. Deuces Denver see ya next year and tell Kenny and Charles to get the Gone Fishing photo ready.
Dallas has so many weapons it’s crazy. I most def. see them and the Lakers meeting to decide the west representative.
Andray Blatche is making money!
March 1st, 2010 at 8:47 am
bsteezy3 says:
Yeah J-Rich missed an ez one…that’s more embarrassing when you do that in a HS game lol
March 1st, 2010 at 9:19 am
karizmatic says:
I actually think the injury to Shaq is great news for the Cavs, it will give the rest of the team a chance to gel without him, and those guys are going to be pretty good anyway. At this point they might be a better team without Shaq anyway. I don’t foresee a drop in performance for them at all, and if he comes back right before the playoffs that will be perfect for them.
March 1st, 2010 at 9:37 am
QQ says:
‘And yet they still won by double-digits. If anything, that’s proof Miami just isn’t very good …’.
Hmmmm… If anything, that’s FURTHER proof that Orlando is THAT good.
Dwight contributing essentially nothing, yet we still get the W because of the bench (props to JJ especially)? Now you know, we’re clicking.
@ BRUCE: ‘Amare always give Timmy the business but in the end, Timmy gets the W! WTMF?’
LOL. You got it right my friend. Amare can post all those huge numbers, but we all now how Duncan’s team owns his ass.
March 1st, 2010 at 9:41 am
John says:
The injury is a blessing in diguise.
They will play a lot of Andy-V , JJ and Leon Powe.
Z will be back and Shaq will enjoy the month off to rejuvenate all his little injuries.
They will be playing in all cylinders in May and June.
March 1st, 2010 at 9:46 am
rangerjohn says:
@13
i was thinking the same thing about nash, he was clear, just drained a 3 on the play before that, and with 1 second left he passes up the 3 and throws the ball to channing frye who still missed the TWO point shot. thats just poor judgment on nashs part.
the funniest part of the jrich miss was the commentators, they where not real happy he missed and one (i for get who) was saying something like “and he won the slam dunk contest… TWICE!”
while i like hubie brown, he is maybe the most annoying commentator since “the czar”. i mean its always “well we know he is x” and “we know he is y”, hell one time last season he was talking about matt bonner “well we know bonner is an excellent defender……” now i have always liked matt but damn man he is not even an OK defender, but “we know bonner is an excellent defender” LMAO
March 1st, 2010 at 10:26 am
ballin says:
@smity far away
Gotta agree with you on that one. While Nash probably didn’t deserve those MVP’s, he makes everybody he plays with that much better. Channing Frye? Robin Lopez? How many careers has this dude revived?
For a while I thought it was simply the Phoenix run-and-gun system, until Dantoni went to the Knicks and they still suck. Give them Amare and I’ll be you he doesn’t do much more than David Lee without the help of Nash.
In fact, I bet that if you swapped Lee for Amare, Lee would put up better stats in Phoenix than Amare would in NY.
Translation: Amare isn’t a franchise player. He’s good, but he aint great. I’d pretty much take everybody else who made the all-star game over Amare except maybe a couple guys, so that makes him, what, a top 25 player?
March 1st, 2010 at 11:02 am
john says:
The Sun Always Shine on Manu in Phoenix
Manu GINOBILI admitted that he and the San Antonio Spurs were not at their very best in their last against the Houston Rockets. Today against another familiar rival, he made sure none of that was ever going to happen again.
The Phoenix Suns are well aware the kind of damage that he inflict on them when he starts to roll. And that was the exact script with Manu posting 21 points, dishing out 8 assists, colleting 6 rebounds plus one steal as the Spurs rolled out 113-110 to win the game. He was once again, outshined the entire Suns defence who scored 17 points in total between four players.
March 1st, 2010 at 11:07 am
Claw says:
Nash is 36 and is still putting huge numbers up, that is sick. Didn’t get the pass up of the shot, was at the bar waiting for the USA/Canada game so somebody had to yell out a Candian choking comment, the USA loses it OT, flippin Candians cost me two games.
Andray Blatche? How was this guy on the bench???? Dude is putting up monster numbers. I know there is nobody playing on the Wiz but those are some huge stats. Guy is gonna get paid.
March 1st, 2010 at 12:14 pm
eyes says:
@25.. Flip Saunders being the great coach he is.
Ginobli & Chauncey Billups are very underrated
Amare would fair well with any of the top PG’s. As much as Nash does for Amare the same could be said for Nash. He finishes everything around the damn rim.
The Nuggets were cheated & I’m tired of the refs & up top. Afflalo was playing great D on Kobe. On every replay it was clean yet Kobe was screaming like a child for a foul. Has D.Fisher ever commited a foul. From a playing standpoint. It’s sad to watch how Bibby & Fisher have aged. When you’re old & good. It means you have skillllz(Tim Hardaway). I’m anxious to see Lebron in his late 30′s. That offensive foul on Melo at 2:30 away from the ball. That was the deciding factor. Basketball is getting like Wrestling & Boxing. You can’t just beat the champ. You have to stomp them out.
Again stats do not make the player. Funny mention of Al Jefferson DWI. Yet still nothing on Carlos Arroyo or Nocioni. There aren’t any double standards or anything.
March 1st, 2010 at 12:41 pm
LakeShow84 says:
I hate it when officiating ruins a good game..
That was a HORRIBBBLLEEEE offensive foul call on Melo.. shit let us duke it out.. WACK..
Jrich?? WACK..
And you guys are smoking if you think Big Z can come back and “fill in” for Kazaam.. Without Shaq thats basically the same front court that got they asses handed to them last year.. Big Z will get burnt when Howard turns and faces and Varejao isnt strong enough to keep Howard off his spot..
RonRon be doing some dirty shit sometimes too lol grabbin asses and everything..
March 1st, 2010 at 12:48 pm
Mr. BBall says:
@eyes, man even though he is in Minny. Al Jeff is still a more popular player than Arroyo or Chapu. If Lebron and John Salmons get DWI’s on the same night, which news are you going to hear first and the most?
March 1st, 2010 at 12:55 pm
Claw says:
I’d be drinking too if I was Al Jeff and playing for the Wolves and my game has deterioated (torn ACL will do that). What is Rambis doing to that team? How does KLove only get 20 minutes of burn a game?
Amare was down after the AS break last year and Nash kept dropping dimes and his scoring went up. Nash doesn’t need Amare but Amare needs Nash – remember when Marion wanted max money? What’s he doing now?
March 1st, 2010 at 12:59 pm
KCL says:
I’ll tell you why Amare is not a top ten player because he plays 0 defense! also you never see Amare hitting a game winning shot like the likes of Duncun and you kinda have to notice that the Spurs usually get the wins despite Amare eating Timmy D’s lunch. Amare is in the same class as Gasol and probaby Bosh, he needs another great player to help him and if not he’ll get his stats and top-ten highlights but his team will b losers bet on it if some stupid ass team pays Amare to be the man over the summer.
March 1st, 2010 at 1:06 pm
sh!tfaced says:
@GEE
LOL. Oh yeah. Bizzaro is more appropriate for Shaq. Bizzaro, like Shaq, also thinks he’s the real Superman and someone stole his act.
March 1st, 2010 at 1:36 pm
Austin Burton says:
Nash gets too much credit for Amare’s success. Does he play a role? Yeah, just like I was saying CP plays a role in David West being an All-Star, or any PG plays a role in any scorer’s success. But Amare averaged 20-9 the season before Nash got there, when Marbury was playing PG. He’s good on his own.
March 1st, 2010 at 1:46 pm
Nautic says:
I think management wanted to find a reason to tank games eitherway. Jefferson’s suspension is a blessing in disguise so they can lose more games and get a higher draft pick. That and it lets management see if Kevin Love can replace Jefferson as their bigman and have Darko at C/PF and see how it works.
March 1st, 2010 at 1:50 pm
sh!tfaced says:
Love and Darko in the same frontcourt… no need to use the highspeed camera anymore
March 1st, 2010 at 2:12 pm
Claw says:
@Austin – You mean when Amare played without a torn retina and microfracture surgery on his knee – this ain’t the same Amare. Amare was dominant and MVP candidate and there was talk about him or Dwight Howard being better – I don’t hear that now.
QRich, Tim Thomas, Raja Bell, Boris Diaw the list goes on to guys that Nash made rich after balling with the Suns.
We’ll see after this year, because he’s opting out and some team with cash will pay him after missing out on Lebron and Wade and he wants to get paid.
March 1st, 2010 at 2:25 pm
Mike Honcho says:
Man….there is a lot of hate going on in these comments…
The Cavs are going to be the Cavs of last year without Shaq, basically meaning they’ll still win, but they’re missing another dominant scorer and defender. Everyone talking about Big Z and Vara…whatever, gonna step up and help out? Please let me know what your dealer is giving you! Have we forgotten the last few years where the Cavs had this same front court? And the last few years, the Cavs have not been able to get over that hump. Powe is not that dude and Twan is still trying to fit into the system and he’s not the defender they need to go far this year.
And can we please stop the hate on Amar’e??? What does dude have to do for everyone to realize he is good and a quality big??? He’s a 20-10 guy, a legitimate threat in scoring and he play’s average NBA big man D!
And Dime, can we get a clip of Amare destroying R Jeff on that dunk??!!! Nasty.
March 1st, 2010 at 2:29 pm
Willis says:
@Ranger John
Mike Fratello is the Czar
March 1st, 2010 at 2:48 pm
rangerjohn says:
willis yes i know, and hubie is maybe the most annoying commentator SINCE the czar
March 1st, 2010 at 3:22 pm
K Dizzle says:
@ Austin
I have to agree with you this time. I think only an idiot wouldn’t consider Amare an elite powerforward. He’s a top 3 4-man and haters nitpick on weak stuff. When he scores 30, haters say he don’t rebound, then when he grabs double digit boards, haters say he don’t play defense. Then when he plays his man tough, they say he ain’t clutch or he ain’t shit w/o Nash. When u good, they look for ways to tear down your game.
@ posters – when posting opinions on the shit I keep randomly readin that Nash didn’t “deserve” his MVPs, please make it clear whether you mean the first one when he helped the Suns go from 29 wins to 62 wins(yeah, you read that right) or the 2nd season when they won 54 games without Amare. I’m a Laker fan and even I know 34 wins and 45 win seasons weren’t enough to put Kobe ahead of Nash either season…
@ Dime – saw on the ticker that the Spurs about to waive FinDog. Why wait til the final stretch of the season to pull that? They better not be thinkin RJ’s gonna be 20 ppg now.
Nice game from the Lakers front line. They won that game. Ron did what he was brought in to do. Loved him sayin he gonna get his weight down so he can be even quicker on d and you can keep your 1-dimensional 6th man, I’ll take Lamar’s all around game any day of the week
March 1st, 2010 at 4:43 pm
Claw says:
@ K Dizzle – I’m a Suns fan and have enjoyed watching Amare over the years, but get real. Only somebody daydreaming about the past would think he is a top 3 PF at this stage of his career.
After the microfracture he has never been the same or as consistent. He’s lost his explosiveness, every now and then he’ll throw one down but back in the day he led the league in dunks. He’s a solid help defender but can’t guard his guy one on one.
Age is a bitch, catches everybody and to think Amare is the Amare of old is just wishing, which is free. The Suns almost pulled the trigger on Hickson for Amare, Hickson!
March 1st, 2010 at 5:59 pm
K Dizzle says:
@ Claw
good points mostly.
But after that vicious throwdown on Richard Jefferson and a 41 point game against the Spurs, who are still legit defensively, I find it hard to believe that Amare is old or even close to his prime at the ‘ripe old age’ of 27.
It’s not dude’s fault that Steve Kerr blew up a great team just cuz the Spurs squeaked by them for 2-3 seasons, one without Amar’e. They shoulda paid Joe Johnson. They shoulda kept Marion, Bell and Diaw. They shoulda kept the draft picks that woulda been Rondo, Deng, Nate…They shoulda kept Shaq since it finally allowed Amar’e to play powerforward and his numbers went up. If he doesn’t get raked in the eye, Suns are in the playoffs last season easy. I understand it’s a schizo franchise that been kinda lost since Colangelo left, but they need to choose a direction. Save money or try to win while Nash is still the best shootin guard in the l.
I’ll just agree to disagree that a player who averages 21 and 9 over a 8 yr career is pretty consistent. Unfortunately, Suns fans won’t appreciate him til he goes somewhere else and dominates.
And even if u a Suns fan, you need to let me know 3 powerforwards right now better than him. Nowitzki’s the only clear one; Bosh is on even ground, Duncan a center and KG fadin fast. And I guarantee that the Cavs wanted him, not Phoenix tryin to get rid of him…
March 1st, 2010 at 8:10 pm
Claw says:
@KDizzle
Good points, knowledge of Suns history as I was at the draft party when they took Rondo then immediately traded him. Also don’t forget trading Kurt Thomas AND a 1st round pick for cap relief, which is the Thunder’s pick this year. Idiots.
Cmon Bosh is a level above and I’d take Josh Smith (imagine him on the Suns), and Pau Gasol. On the same level is ZBo and Boozer as neither of them can play D either but ZBo is a beast on the boards.