Alonzo Mourning's career most likely over. Tore his patella and the least amount of recovery time is 3 months. This was going to be his last season at 37 and now it has been shortened. Like a true basketball warrior he refused to be taken off the court on a stretcher and his teammates helped him instead. I still remember watching him play for Georgetown during the NCAA tourney. He's been one of my favorite players to watch from college to the NBA. He gave his all every night even while injured or and while age slowed him down. He even had a kidney removed and came back when most thought he would retire. If this is the end he will be missed.
He's definitely playing better than people thought he would. I even have him on my fantasy team and I wish he had signed with the Spurs (but I respect why he chose PHX). The problem is he is playing major minutes for a 35 year old. Maybe he has a full tank after barely playing the last 7 years but at this rate I hope he still has something come playoff time. He's averaging about 35 minutes a game right now.
I have him on my fantasy also, I didn't draft him originally, picked him up as a free agent. He's getting the job done up to this point, but if he continues to play over 30 minutes a night then he's facing a burn-out come February. Unless Phoenix are hoping to rest him from the moment they reach the play-offs and then insert Diaw into the line-up or move Bell to small forward and start Barbosa, that's the only thing I can think of.
The Sports Guy addressed these issues a couple of weeks ago. Funny enough, I addressed them a few months ago. I'm still waiting for everyone to jump on the "You were right, Matrim" bandwagon. Don't worry, there's plenty of room.
Good god, no. Diaw has been awful, with the exception of a few good games, just to make his poor performances even more maddening. He was friggin' -17 vs the Mavs last night. If anything, they might insert Brian Skinner as the starting center and move Amare to the 4. But I doubt that Hill will ever be take out of the starting lineup unless he's really injured. This is one criticism of D'Antoni, and probably a legitimate one - that he plays his core players way too much.
I just went with a comment that D'Antoni made last week about getting Diaw more playing time. I agree he's been poor, he's made little of the time he's received so far, all be it limited time.
More playing time is one thing. And maybe some more minutes would help him get into the flow of the offense better. He can be a good assist man, and last week against Utah, he had several rarely-seen strong moves to the basket. But I can't see him starting, unless Stoudemire is not available.
Bump! Halfway through the season now and the Celtics still have the best record in the league, though I'm not yet convinced of their playoff bona fides. If they add the soon-to-be-bought-out Damon Stoudemire, though, that could change. Their other real problem is that Rivers insists on playing Ray Allen long minutes. Allen's a 32 year old shooting guard with bad ankles - he shouldn't be averaging more than 34 minutes a game, yet he's over 38. That's insane, and I doubt he's going to have his legs under him come the postseason. This could cost the C's against a tough defensive team that's been there before like Detroit or Cleveland. And yeah, the three teams I mentioned plus Orlando are the only ones I feel have a legitimate shot at coming out of the East. The west is a mess with New Orleans, of all teams, looking like the best in the conference. Which should say something about Chris Paul, who deserves real consideration for league MVP. I still think Phoenix is going to implode, and the Spurs may have already (0-7 in their last 7 against winning teams, and now the dreaded Rodeo Trip coming up). Dallas, meanwhile, has very quietly gone 15-4 since a bad start and are flying under the radar. After last season, I'm sure that's welcome in Big D. I'm going to admit that I'm really, really pulling for Phoenix to come out of the west, and hopefully Sarver's definitive statement this past weekend will loosen them up a bit. Hopefully it'll be a fun second half.
Spurs appear set to sign Stoudamire while Sam Cassell may be a Celtic soon. Stoudamire was looking at a few teams, including Boston and Phoenix. He's 34 I believe and I can't remember the last time I saw him play, so I'm not sure what he'll bring to the Spurs other than hopefully giving Tony Parker more time to get his foot healed. As for the Spurs/Suns tonight, the biggest game of the season so far (for me anyway) certainly has lost most of its shine. No Parker or Barry for a Spurs team already on a 3 game skid and that just can't seem to get healthy this year.
The Lakers land Pau Gasol! If and when Bynum returns, they will have a formidable frontcourt. Kobe should realize that the Lakers are now by far his best chance at another championship. PF Pau Gasol SF Lamar Odom C Andrew Bynum SG Kobe Bryant PG Derek Fisher And a second unit of PF Radmanovic SF Walton/Ariza C Ronnie Turiaf SG Sasha Vujacic PG Jordan Farmar
It looks better on paper than it will on the court IMHO unless they get rid of Odom. He's a guy who needs the ball to be effective - not what you want out of your fourth option. I could see him going to Chicago for Nocioni and Smith, or maybe Toronto for Kapono, Garbajosa and Humphries.
The Suns trade Marion and Banks to the Heat for Shaq pending a physical! I'm praying he passes the physical! http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3232862
kobe bryant = the shit when bynums back, lakers might be a contender in the west phil obviously knows what hes doing lol fcuk bawstan!!!
Is this the first time in NBA history that 9 teams are above 600 in one conference? The Western Conference standings are ridiculous - the 7th place team is 3 games out of first place? WTF? http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/stand...p=conference&seasontype=2&standType=standings
The West is crazy. The playoffs should be a lot of fun and probably 5 or 6 different teams have a legitimate shot at the title. FWIW, I think Phoenix is going to beat Detroit in the final.
Just saw on NBA.com that Yao will be out for the rest of the season and will miss the post-season if Houston make it. Big blow for the Rockets, especially since the trade deadline passed last week. They will have to search the free-agent ranks and hope for a miracle.
bad news for the rockets, they are getting into a real stride, watched the hornets match ah well, lakers gonna take it all or the spurs
It sucks for the Rockets, but can you imagine if they end up in the Lottery and luck out and get a top 3 pick they can turn into a guy like OJ Mayo? Maybe it's a blessing in disguise since they weren't going to win it all this year anyway.
Phoenix in the finals? Nah, gotta go with Lakers or Spurs Hopefully Cs get Cassell, that woud be big.
I hear Phoenix got booed on their home court recently (loss to Philadelphia?). My prediction above is maybe a bit on shaky ground but I'll stand by it. I think they just need some more time together and I've learned in the past not to underestimate the Big Aristotle come playoff time. Plus Shaq should only keep getting fitter if D'Antoni keeps running him like he's in junior high.
If Bynum is able to put up 80% of the numbers from earlier this season when he comes back, it's there's to lose if you ask me. And I don't see how you could have any problems with the way Kobe has played this season. He's figured out when to get his team mates involved and when to close out games himself.