Being the McLeod fan that I am, he does have a guaranteed contract for one year. That is not say he will las the whole year, but I think he might. We will see. He is my favorite player in the league as he is Bowling Green guy and I watched him play a few times in college. Go Keef!
Some random thoughts on the NBA last night: - The Nuggets get it together and beat the T'Wolves in a surprise. I was not expecting that to happen. I am guessing we will see the Nuggets play like the stock market all year. Up and down and up and down. - When did Justin Guarini of American Idol fame get good at basketball? I swear he changed his name to Anderson and is now on the Heat. - Dwyane Wade is a baller. The Heat looked quite good last night and Shaq was not even doing all that much. His mere presence helps out in a lot of ways.
I thought only a part of his contract was guaranteed. I must admit I'm not sure what exactly happened with his contract, due to all the confusion with the Jazz pointguard situation in the last 10 days. Even if he spent a lot of time on the IL with fabricated injuries, he would certainly benefit from a year with the Jazz organization, though.
I am 99.9% sure that he did get the one year deal guaranteed with the Jazz. My brother and I got tickets for the Jazz-Bulls game in January for that specific reason. Thus, I think the Jazz have McLeod, Eisley, Arroyo and one other under guaranteed contracts. I think McLeod could be a decent player in the league. He is a good shooter and a good passer. I will be watching tonight as he plays against the Warriors.
You're probably right about McLeod's contract. In any case, he's certainly a better player than now over-the-hill Howard Eisley. Carlos Arroyo is out for about 3-4 games, so McLeod won't be starting past his return date. Raul Lopez, however, is out indefinitely, and might not be 100% for 5-6 weeks. If McLeod can impress Sloan during that time, he'll certainly get the nod over Eisley. On a unrelated note, it's just occured to me that the Jazz co-captains, Harpring and Bell, are both coming off the bench to start the season. Has this ever happened with a team before?
Final Score Phoenix 108 Philadelphia 98 Toronto 101 Detroit 89 Indiana 100 Boston 94 And anyone who's watching New Jersey...The real Zo's back!! 11 Minute played: 10 pts, 3 block, 4 rebound Too bad Zo' wants out of NJ... http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_y...0aA--?slug=ap-nets-mourning&prov=ap&type=lgns I hope Kidd and Zo' leave so they can get a ring.
The Jazz steamrolled their way to another blow out victory tonight. The victim this time were the Warriors, on their own floor, whom the Jazz beat 102-80. Utah shot 59% and had 6 players in double figures plus Giricek with 9. Aside from the shaky second quarter, the Jazz looked like they weren't in the same league with the Warriors. They haven't played any serious opposition yet, but the Jazz have looked terrifying in the 2 games they've played. The team is so well-rounded and talented, they don't seem to have a real weakness. With their top 2 pointguards out with injuries, Keith McLeod comes in tonight and has a double-double on 7-8 shooting from the field, apparently channeling John Stockton. Kirilenko stuffed people like nobody's business and Boozer pushed around the entire GS frontcourt. Scary stuff, people. Speaking of scary stuff, I also caught the Lakers-Spurs game. Kobe wanted the Lakers to be his team and his alone, and damn if he didn't get that, but sometimes, you gotta be careful what you wish for. Spurs easily beat the Lakers at Staples, despite their collective Shaq-like free-throw shooting and in a line you'll hear many, many times this season, Kobe led all scorers in a Lakers loss. I swear, at least 6 or 7 of the Lakers current players would have a hard time cracking the 10-man rotation on a serious team. Lottery pick might await at the end of this season and I honestly hope Buss realizes how stupid he was to put all his money on the wrong horse.
I just watched the hapless Sonics kick the ever-lovin' crap out of the even more hapless Hawks. Here is why the Hawks will be terrible this year: Atlanta's stat leaders for tonight... Points - Walker, 24 Rebounds - Walker, 8 Assists - Walker, 4 Steals - Walker, 2 Blocks - Walker, 1
random thoughts from the Association last night: - Keith McLeod is a baller. 17pts, 10 dimes. I am biased as I have Bowling Green connections, but this guy has shown a lot in his first two NBA starts. - Ben Gordon is gonna struggle this year. The Bulls stormed back from 27 down to lose in Double OT. The comeback had nothing to do with Gordon who could not hit the ocean from the Bermuda Triangle. - Luol Deng is gonna be one of the top rookies this season. His offense, his defense and his aggressiveness are unbelieveable. - Chris Duhon brought a lot to the table for the Bulls last night. He was a major factor in the Bulls comeback. - The Suns are real tough. - The Jazz are real tough. - The Hawks stink!
Yet another blowout victory for the Jazz, who beat the hapless Denver Nuggets 106-82 in Denver. Carlos Boozer, who at the point ought to just go ahead and change his name to Carlos Malone, had 30 points and 18 rebounds, unleashing a yet unseen weapon on the Nuggets, a mid-range jumper. When exactly he developed an outside game is a mystery to everyone. Kirilenko had 8 blocks, matching his season high, as the Jazz lead by 30 or more throughout the second half. Carmelo Anthony had to spend large parts of the game on the bench for disciplinary reason yet again. He shot 3-20 from the field and almost drew a flagrant late in the game. Bzdelik may not have much more time to turn this team around, which despite the addition of an all-star PF seems to have regressed since last year. Dwayne Wade seems to have benefited tremendously from Shaq's presence and had 38 points and 12 assists tonight as the Heat beat the Wizards. Erick Dampier looks like a better pickup for the Dallas than I expected and the Suns are rivaling the Jazz for the hottest start this season. The Kings, on the other hand, started 0-3 and you might see their rivalry with the Lakers turn into a rivalry for a playoff spot as these erstwhile powerhouses struggle at the start.
The Kings are brutal. The Suns and the Jazz are good and maybe even good enough to compete with San Antonio and Minnesota. Denver stinks and I am quite happy about that. Toronto is on a tear and as usual, my Bulls are 0-2 and soon to be 0-3 with the Suns coming to town tomorrow night.
I watched both of the Bulls games over the weekend and although they lost, I still think the team is much improved over last year. They seem to play a lot better and don't give up so easily like last year.Deng really impressed me,he could be the steal of the draft.Ben Gordon needs to get out of a slump,but with Hinrich playing good there won't be so much pressure right away to score.Nocion kicks ass I like his attitude.
the SUNS look destructatory - i'll get an NBA game tonight on canal+ in that time slot, either us smashing the bulls ot hou/mem i'm crossing the fingers
I am gonna go out on a limb and say that the Suns will lose tonight in Chicago against my Bulls or tomorrow against LeBron and the Cavs in Cleveland.
i can see them losing a close one in cleveland, but im gonna go out on a limb and say they handle the bulls
It is probably wishful thinking on my part to think the Bulls might win tonightm, but you never know.
Now that the NBA looks like the NFL did until recently (two three-division conferences), how are the playoffs going to look? Division champ and five (?) wildcards? Top eight records overall, no real change from last year. TIA
For a minute there I thought you were thinking that the NBA is turning into a White Trash fest like the NFL, but I was happy you did not go there. As for the Playoff format, I was wondering the same thing myself. I just checked NBA.Com and found the following: The three regular season divisional winners in each conference will earn a playoff berth and one of the conference's top three playoff seeds based on regular season record. The remaining five playoff berths for each conference will be based on regular season records with no regard to divisional alignment. Home-court advantage throughout the NBA playoffs will be based solely on regular season record, not playoff seeding, thus a divisional winner that has a higher playoff seed than an opponent will not necessarily have home-court advantage in the playoff series. This should explain it.
The bolded part, I do not like. I mean, Toronto's unbeaten right now, but if they fall back down to earth and none of the other Atlantic teams step up, we could have a near-.500 team at #3 and Indiana or Detroit at #4. I guess it's not that big a deal though, since home court will be assigned by regular season record.
I do not think the numbers really mean all that much personally. As long as the home court advantage is in the hands of the team with the better record, I am cool with it.
The Jazz beat Denver again last night, not by as much but it was still pretty much smooth sailing. I am biased as a life-long Jazz fan but if you haven't seen these guys play, try to catch a game whenever they are on TV, they are so much fun to watch. Kirilenko is everywhere, I don't know how he does it. So you NBA forum regulars tell me: Are my Jazz for real? I mean I know they are good enough to get into the playoffs but are they as good as they've seemed the last few days? Will they compete with Minn and SanAn for the Western conference crown?
I think your Jazz are definitely for real. They play like a team and are a great defensive team. If Okur can step up and be a good center, that is just an added bonus. I like the point guard headached Sloan will have too. I think this team will be in the thick of things in the end.