sidenote: nba wednesdays

Showing posts with label nba wednesdays. Show all posts

NBA wednesdays - Best of NBA Tattoos

This post was inspired by two previous posts. 1- Getting my own tattoo made me ten times more interested in other people's tattoos. 2- an NBA post I did with Amulya a while back where we discussed Jason Terry's ridiculous tattoo. (below) sidenote - only 53% of NBA players have tattoos. I expected more. I guess the guys with tattoos just stand out so much. Anyways, enjoy.

Worst omen tattoo - Jason Terry. He called the 2013 Celtics championship via tattoo. If there was ever a bad decision..

premature

Best tattoo evolution - Chris "Birdman" Andersen. I watched him in the Knicks-Heat game on Sunday, man he looks out of shape. Still.. I wish the Celtics had signed him.

birdman needed wings

Player with the best rationale not to get a tattoo - Luis Scola. "Tattoos are not cute."

should've stayed in Houston

Tattoo that just fits - (Tie) Jason Kidd and DeMarcus Cousins. Kidd has always wanted to own a panther. It's hard to get a panther in the states, so he got a tattoo of a panther instead. Makes sense.

rar

No explanation necessary. DeMarcus Cousins:

misunderstood

Most surprising player without tattoos - Andrew Bynum. With hair like this.. it seems crazy he doesn't have some off-the-wall tattoos. I would not give this guy the max in a million years. The ratio of Dwight Howard bad press: Andrew Bynum bad press blows my mind.

after a wild night of bowling

Most obsessed with tattoos - Monta Ellis. Once got 14 tattoos in an offseason, because he was bored. He shoots 23% from beyond the arc. For some reason, these things feel related.

Most intense - Wilson Chandler. Has a juggernaut tattoo. In China he put up 26 ppg/12 rpg so he was certainly unstoppable then. Back in America, only 11 ppg. eh.

dude I think your underwear are showing

My favorite NBA tattoo - Unfortunately, not an actual NBA player. Would be even more hilarious if it was. I hope Shaq knows about this.

see you on the other side,

from ken

taking requests for future blog posts. please comment or email.

NBA Wednesdays: An Open Letter to Jeff Green

that ain't safe

Dear @unclejeffgreen,

Thank you for being you:

First of all, thank you for being a Celtic.

You are only 26 years old, yet two years ago you underwent major surgery to fix an Aortic Aneurysm. While recovering you went back to school at Georgetown, a top 25 university, to finish up your degree in English and theology. Thank you for repping education. I wish I could discuss philosophy with you.

On the court, some nights I watch you and you're unstoppable. Channeling your inner LeBron James and driving hard to the basket. Spotting up for corner 3's like Ray Allen. Big enough to post up small forwards, and way too explosive for power forwards to slow down. Playing the kind of D that could slow down LeBron James. Thank you for being a fun player to watch.

jeff green doing jeff green things

Some nights you aren't quite at the high expectations I peg you at. There's many a game I wish you could rebound more. There's other nights when I wonder where those ballsy drives to the basket went. But KG said it best, "He's so good that sometimes we just forget he just went through major heart surgery. That's what you forget."

And it's true. I forget that all the time. When I really think about it, it's crazy that you're playing basketball at all, let alone at an NBA level.

And since Rondo went down you've upped your game to another level. I watched you drop 31 on the Suns and loved every minute of it.

You are such a baller that Kevin Durant once dedicated his season to you.

A million times out of a million I would rather root for a scrappy team with bleed-green vets like KG and Pierce, than any team of collected superstars. I want the teams I root for to like playing with each other, to care about playing great basketball, and I'm glad the Celtics are that team.

You are inked to the Celtics for the next 4 years, and I'm glad to have such an inspiring human being on my favorite basketball team. Please keep doing Jeff Green things.

See you on the other side,

from ken

taking requests for future blog posts. please comment or email.

NBA Wednesdays: 5 bullet points about All-Star weekend

no he didn't

1) This was an embarrassing moment for Chris Bosh, but let's remember for a second that Chris Bosh is (right or wrong) an All-Star starter. It's not like he's some scrub, he's still Chris Bosh. This moment really speaks to Chris Paul's game.

It counts for something that on All-Star night, when the best 10 players in the world are on the court at the same time, CP3 dealt out 15 assists, scored 20 pts on just 10 shots, and had the testes to nutmeg an All-Star. You know Chris Bosh will remember this in Game 7 of the NBA finals when he gets switched on a pick and roll. Obviously, CP3 was already at the 'guys I would go to war with' level, but nights like this definitely remind me: wow - this is a special player.

The Clippers have to move Bledsoe for a big man. Whether or not CP3 stays in Clipper land, this might be the only shot for the Clippers to get to the Finals in a long time. Jamal Crawford isn't having miracle seasons like this on a regular basis. Otherwise, he wouldn't be Jamal Crawford.

dunking

Faried's shot chart

2) Kenneth Faried had his coming out party. 40 pts and MVP in the rook/soph game, had a 50 pointer in the dunk contest, early darkhorse All-Star for next year. He even made a corner 3.

3) Kyrie Irving played crunch time in the All-Star game. There's no doubt everyone knows he's a star. His only downside: of all NBA superstars he gives the worst interviews. Every other answer I heard from him was a one word answer. He talks like a guy afraid to screw up. This is a man that wanted to bet $50,000 on a one-on-one game against Kobe Bryant. He has interesting things to say. Let's hear it.

4) KG is staying in Boston. He believes the team has a shot, his no-trade clause remains firm, and I love him for it. The Heat are probably unstoppable, but all I know is I wouldn't bet on the Heat over. Most recently, the Celtics without Rondo showed up LeBron et al 100-98.

Arne Duncan vs Usain Bolt

5) In the celeb All-Star game you get to see the fastest man in the history of the world going up against the Secretary of Education. Only in the NBA.

See you on the other side,

from ken

taking requests for future blog posts. please comment or email.

NBA Wednesdays. All Star rosters with Sean and Sean + Gimme some raptor news

Sean Nguyen

Sean Edelman

Virtual coffee date with Sean Nguyen my friend from MUSC, and Sean Edelman my friend from Kenyon. Two Seans + NBA All Star game rosters + Rudy Gay trade = great NBA Wednesday.

Ken: So let's start with the all star rosters:

East: Rondo, Wade, LeBron, Melo, KG, Jrue, Kyrie, Bosh, Chandler, Joakim, Paul George, Luol

West: CP3, Kobe, KD, Blake, D12, Parker, Westbrook, Duncan, Zbo, LaMarcus, Harden, David Lee

Nguyen: The votes are pretty accurate in terms of representing the all-stars in our league. I would have to disapprove with not having Steph Curry on the reserve.. I know they do it by position now but he has been playing exceptional and he deserved a spot.

Ken: Between Blake, Duncan, Zbo, LMA, Lee you already have 5 big guys. I'd take Steph Curry over D12. You could also talk me into Serge or Marc Gasol, especially when you consider how fun it would be to watch Serge in a glorified exhibition game. Also, Denver is playing .600 ball don't they deserve an all star?

Nguyen: Denver is a balanced team.. no one all star.. even their star Iguodala is playing average...(on my fantasy team)..

Blake Griffin aint bout dis life

I agree with you. I'd love to see Ibaka but for an all star game Blake Griffin at the PF is more exciting to watch. Also I agree on the notion of too many big men. I'd trade one of them for steph curry any day. But I think Steph Curry's injuries over the year have clouded the fans/media memory of him.

D12 is the modern day embodiment of the all star game. I can still remember his superman get up for the dunk contest. I think he is a celebrity icon that has the personality to entertain the people. If the all star weekend was all talent, then we would have lebron james in the dunk contest...but sadly we do not.

On a sidenote, I hope kevin durant can finally win the 3 point shooting contest.. he's been in it for 2 years now barely losing to k-love last year.

Edelman: I think the issue with Denver is how rounded out their offensive attack is. They don't have any clear superstar leader with 6 players averaging 10 or more pts per game. I would argue Faried might be the best candidate off that team to be an all-star since he's averaging 12 pts and 9.8 boards per game, but he's a second year player with little name recognition. Ty Lawson could be another possible all-star but the west is just way too deep at PG to give him a consideration.

face of Brooklyn

So Brook Lopez is Rondo's replacement. Thoughts?

I think his offensive numbers definitely deserve the nod, but it bothers me that he is 7 feet tall and yet is awful at rebounding and defense.

Nguyen: Brook Lopez who has been doing work should've had a spot over kg.... Paul Pierce has had a semi decent year and with his team struggling I think the star scorer gets the blame so I can see how he is overlooked.

Edelman: I would've liked to see JR fill the Rondo spot, but that's my biased Knick fan opinion and JR has pretty much shot himself out of contention with his awful month of January.

What do you guys think about Monte or Brandon Jennings as the replacement? Milwaukee is above .500 and while both are very one sided players, isn't that the nature of the all-star game?

Ken: I'd be wary of Monta Ellis, considering how much they've improved since he left. sidenote - Rudy Gay trade just broke:

The Raps finally replaced Vince Carter's spot with Rudy Gay, a career 18 ppg/ 6 rpg guy that outstayed his time in Memphis. If I'm a Raps fans, I'm pumped. Is this team headed to the NBA finals? Of course not, and who cares?

Toronto, welcome to the era of
7 seconds or less

Kevin Durant and LeBron James are by far the two best players in basketball right now. The two of them will be trading titles for the next 5 yrs.

At least this trade makes the Raps exciting. Gay-DeRozan-Ross-Lowry-Bargnani. Wow, non-stop offense.

Nguyen: The Rudy Gay trade is good for basketball in Toronto. It makes for some interesting dynamics, especially for a run and gun team.

I do not know how I feel about Memphis' ability to contend now. I know Tayshaun and Ed Davis are perfect for the system but I am still hesitant that they changed their dynamics too much. I do agree that Rudy Gay was a ball stopper in Memphis and that killed their flow. I do not think Toronto will be any different without a change in defense. You're surely not going to get it out of DeRozan and Gay. To me, I feel like this a very similar team to the Nuggets and to some extent Golden State.

Edelman: I love the deal for Memphis. Gay is one of the most overrated players in the league. Yes he does score a lot of points and can be an offensive force, but he's like melo on a bad day, incredibly inefficient and stops the flow of the offense. Tayshaun Prince is an obvious upgrade defensively for them, but in my opinion he's also a better offensive player for their system.

all in

The strength of the Grizzlies offense lies down low with Zbo and Gasol and they benefit from having players on the wings who can hit 3-point shots when the defense collapses inwards. Prince is an complete upgrade in that regard as he's a career .370 3-point shooter who's shooting an absurd .434 this season. Gay, on the other hand, is a career .344 3-point shooter who's only shooting .310 from behind the arc this season. Add in the addition of Ed Davis, who's still a big question mark with plenty of upside, and the Grizz look like winners on this one.

I agree with Ken that the Raptors have now become a really fun to watch team. All offense and no defense, reminds me of Amare's first season with the Knicks. That being said, I think Toronto isn't done making trades yet this year. I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to move Barg to a playoff-contending team in need of an extra wing scorer.

Ken: Ok that's all for this week -

See you on the other side,

from ken

taking requests for future blog posts. please comment or email.

Wingspan Wednesdays: Rondo out for season

Emergency virtual coffee date with Amulya Iyer to analyze the Rajon Rondo injury:

Ken: After I jinxed Rondo with this RIP 2012-13 Celtics post, I felt like we had to analyze the situation.

Amulya:

Ken: Wow.. Although, I love that the lightest shades of red are in New England.

What direction do the Celtics go in? I saw Jalen Rose tweet a half-baked trade: KG for Tiago Splitter/Steven Jackson. Wow. KG + TD. Arguably the two best power forwards of all-time, on the same team.

Amulya: Honestly - I think the C's pull a 96-97 Spurs. Just tank the season, make a play for the #1 overall pick, and start giving the young guys a chance to play. In 2 years the team will have Rondo at full strength, and hopefully a young, exciting core to surround him with. Right now without Rondo they are basically the Atlanta Hawks - a mediocre team with nobody really exciting to watch. I'd much rather they be the Cavs or the Wizards next year - a team that loses a lot but is really fun to root for and exciting to watch.

K: As far as tanking goes, KG has a no trade clause and trading Pierce would be really hard to swallow. The rumor is no big moves, but isn't that what they said before Perk/Green? That's where this whole Celtics team started going bad. They should have fully committed to go for it and keep the Perk/KG/Pierce/Allen/Rondo core intact for one last run, or start rebuilding for the future right away and not resign KG/Allen et al. Also, Jeff Green 4 yrs at 36 million.. what?

A: Yeah - they were definitely trying to hedge their bets by trying to get younger but also stay competitive. I guess it didn't work.

Although they would have been screwed with this Rondo injury regardless of what the rest of their team looked like. ACL is tough. We'll see how Rose comes back from it, but except for Adrian Peterson everyone who comes back from ACL injury loses explosiveness, which means Rondo's entire career will look different. I wonder if he will even come back at 80% - quickness, agility is a huge part of his game.

K: He's a pretty cerebral guy, he could use this time to transform his game. Any chance he could just shoot free throws non-stop for the next 8-12 month?

The downside is, I feel like he should be trying to play like D Rose, but this takes him in the opposite direction.. The upside to this injury is, we'll get to see what Courtney Lee/JET have to offer. The JET signing might have been the most overrated move of this offseason.

A: It was probably only overrated in Boston. I'm sure every other team knew this would be bad because he could only get 3 mil a year or something. Right?

K: We should've known it was a bad omen when he did this:

A: Is that seriously tattooed on the JET?? Wow. How is that not more well known? That's the worst omen I have ever seen. I'm surprised KG and Pierce haven't torn their ACL's yet. Wow.

K: Yeah, I like bold predictions... but that was crazy.

A: How long do you think he waited to come up with that? Like even before he signed his contract he was like - I'm definitely getting this tattoo? Is that the second championship trophy he has tattooed?

K: Just spent the last ten minutes research JET's tattoo. He got the trophy tattooed before the 2010-11 season when they won it all, when he signed with Boston he added the celtics leprechaun. sidenote - here's Paul Pierce's tattoo:

A: HAHAHAHAHAH there should definitely be a follow up to your tattoo running diary of NBA players tattoos. There must be something interesting there.

That is a bit much Paul Pierce...

K: Just read this stat, this blew my mind.

Celts are -1.5 with Rondo on the court and +0.8 without him. I'm sure there's an explanation for this: minutes, not playing against starters, whatever. But it has to count for something, right? KG is +4. For what it's worth: KD is +15, LeBron is +14, John Wall is +14, and Darko was -31.

This gives me hope.

There has to be something wrong with a point guard that shoots a career 24% from 3 and 62% from the line.

Here's my game plan post Rondo:

Try to see if Barbosa/Terry can take over the role as primary ball handler. I just can't give up on JET, he has to be salvageable. He was the #3 6th man of the year last season and has scored 15+ points for 7 straight seasons. Plus I just have such great memories of him from the 2011 run.

My opinion of Jason Terry has changed in so many different directions.. we should stop.

Let's end with this:

See you on the other side,

from amulya & ken

taking requests for future blog posts. please comment or email.

RIP 2012-13 Celtics

Two nights ago the Celtics lost the honey nut cheerios game and forfeited the rest of the season. The proof? Look no further than one night ago:

Celtics @ Atlanta. C's blow a 27 pt lead, and lose by 12 in double OT. Kyle Korver makes 8 3's in the second half. The Celtics lost by 12 in DOUBLE OT!

Here's what we need to do now: blockbuster trade - Rondo for Bynum.

Terry gets to go back to the Mavs, so they're happy, and Cuban can build around Rondo/Dirk for the next 2 years. 76ers get some draft picks, Bynum isn't seeing the court in Philly anyways.

Celts resign Bynum at the max, then sit him on the bench for the rest of year while he goes through LIFE101 with KG. They force Pierce to fake an injury for the rest of the year, cut Jeff Green, call up Fab, win the draft lottery, pick a wing player who will have one job for the next 5 yrs: slow down LeBron/Melo/Durant.

Here's your 2013-4 starting 5: Barbosa, Bradley, Pierce, KG, Bynum
sidenote - Am I the only one that loves Barbosa as a ball handler? Especially when he doesn't have to run the entire second unit offense?

6th man: Lee (defense/second ball handler)

3rd big man: Sullinger

Rest of bench: 2013 1st round draft pick (wing player to replace Truth), Fab Melo, Bass

sidenote - just came up with another trade:

..who says no? Bringing back Nash/Amar'e/D'Antoni. Rondo finally has teammates that can make wideopen 3's. Celtics get the center they desperately need, and couple him with KG to have a legitimate twin towers offense to crush Miami.

City of Boston, you're welcome.

from ken

taking requests for future blog posts. please comment or email.

Virtual Coffee Date with Sean Nguyen: midseason NBA notes from two league pass watchers

Sean Nguyen

Sean is my fellow M1 from MUSC - we're the only Asian guys in our class, so naturally we had to be friends.

Ken: So we'll start with an easy one: who are your eastern/western conference finals teams?

Sean: As of today, I would say the thunder vs spurs and Heat vs Knicks.

I am hesitant about the clippers, the lack of free throw shooting from their bigs will hurt them down the line as you have seen in the last couple games. So I'm kind of half and half between spurs and clippers. "fundamentals" vs "flashy". But make note of the nuggets, ty lawson, iggy, manimal and company could have a run.

The east seems more predictable. the knicks and the heat are the most dominant and will remain that way through the playoffs.

I am sad to say that I do not think anyone can dethrone the heat without an unpredictable run like the mavs in 2010-2011 during the playoffs. Lebron is playing at his best and is almost averaging a triple double every game. The team chemistry is high with the trust they have amongst each other. (Ray allen taking the go ahead basket or even shane battier). I'd still bet biasly on my thunder though.

Ken: Yeah, the xmas Heat-Thunder game was really telling. The Thunder just didn't quite have the composure of the Heat.

Sean: Westbrook looked out of control Xmas day so until that's fixed... Rings will be on hold. Although, he has developed well over the post season.

Ken: sidenote - favorite dunk?

Sean: My personal favorite is harrison barnes over pekovic but as of last night, I think JR smith's reverse alley hoop had me stunned.

Ken: So what about the Celtics, are they hopeless?

Sean: One name. Avery Bradley. I think he will spark the teams defense again given his perimeter d. He is playing second game tonight after rehabbing double shoulder surgery. The team is quite new so I'm expecting a couple more streaks to get them in the playoffs.

Ken: Bradley helps, but they need a big man. Wilcox/Bass/Sully aren't getting it done. Where do you stand on Rondo? I just don't see him as a bonafied franchise player. He can get to the hoop at will, but if he's not willing to get fouled, it's hopeless.

Sean: I think Big sully will get into his game. He is still young but he can bump and grind in the paint. He is just missing some experience. Rondo is impressive (on my fantasy team), but I agree he is not a franchise "Star" player. I think he is an exceptional player like westbrook but i don't think he is a cp3, drose type of player. He needs a scorer but I do not think his attitude and composure will allow another star to fit that role.

Ken: Yeah some days I wish they would deal him, but ultimately I love him for being this guy:

So I guess I'm willing to play it out a few more weeks.

Sean: Teams are starting to peak. I'd give it another two weeks before determining who is hot and has a playoff run. The lakers actually looked good vs the clippers yesterday. Dwight and kobe playing exceptional with nash giving good dimes. (although pau was garbage) Their intensity looked great but it was a rivalry game.

Pages