Derrick Rose made his way into the painted area at will in last night’s 11-point Bulls win over the Celtics. His aggressive penetration resulted in a career-high 19 freethrow attempts, which in my opinion were well deserved. I watched the game and I wasn’t sitting there feeling like he was getting all the calls… he was simply tearing the Celtics’ D apart, forcing the bigs to either foul him or give up a layup. It was another MVP-like performance from a guy who remains a legitimate candidate, even with all the injuries to a variety of his key teammates.
Random Observations:
- Highlight Recap: If I posted the clips indivually today, I’d just be listing the top 10… so I’m not going to do that. Listen to the sound on Josh Smith’s one-handed putback. Actually, watch it here and listen without the corny commentator drowning out that wonderful rim noise with his verbal tomfoolery.
- Lowlight Recap: Kevin Durant is apparently taking footwork lessons from Corey Maggette. Will flopping lessons be next?
- Neither Rajon Rondo nor Nate Robinson was able to stay in front of Derrick Rose at all last night as he scored 36 points on 10-19 shooting and 15-19 from the line. Rose entered the paint at will off pick and rolls, and simply burned Rondo one on one on other occasions. Shaq can’t move his feet these days, neither can JO, and the Bulls took advantage of that on both ends. Not only was the Cs’ frontcourt picked apart in P&Rs, they struggled to put the ball in the basket and got badly outrebounded. Carlos Boozer, Luol Deng, and Kurt Thomas matched Boston’s team total of 27 boards on their own. As a team, Chicago won the rebounding battle 48 to 27. While the Celtics were sending Rose to the line, the Bulls were swatting Boston’s shots. Taj Gibson and Kurt Thomas had four blocks a piece, and Ronnie Brewer threw in one more for a total of nine. As I’m sure most of my readers know at this point, I’m not a fan of Rajon Rondo, and the result of this game left me with a smile on my face. I never make judgements based on one game, but this should help hammer the point home that Rose’s game is on a higher level than Rondo’s. Rose can take over a game and drag his team to a victory. If dude’s aren’t hitting jumpers, like last night, Rondo’s effectiveness is limited. The guy really needs to take the shot when he’s left wide open 15 feet from the basket. As for his defense… I’m not that impressed. He’ll play the lanes well and get you plenty of steals, but he’s not out there sticking people. He damn sure didn’t do anything to slow Derrick down last night… although their bigs’ lack of lateral mobility didn’t make things easy for him. Anyway, Rose >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Rondo… and it isn’t close. Get used to it. Oh yeah, the score: 90-79. Boston was bricking everything, 28-74 FG.
- The Nets made the Bucks look like the ’07 Warriors in a 115-92 loss on their home floor. The NBA’s most offensively-challenged team shot 58% and got 20+ from three players (including a game-high 24 from former Net Chris Douglas-Roberts) as they dropped what was easily their highest point total of the season. The Deer hadn’t even scored 100 for damn near a month, and the Nets go ahead and give up 115 with no Bogut or Jennings? Yup, sounds like the Nets to me. The billionaire owner probably had to go buy himself an island or a spaceship or something to fend off his frustration after this debacle. Or maybe he put a price on the head of Brook Lopez. Seriously, what the hell is wrong with this guy? ONE rebound against a frontcourt of Ersan Ilyasova, Prince Luc Richard Mbah-A-Moute, Corey Maggette, and Jon Brockman? Are you kidding me? Unbelievable. When asked about his inability to outrebound the 5’5 Earl Boykins, he had this to say: “I don’t think I was really aggressive. I don’t think I crashed the offensive glass at all. I just didn’t make myself available. I am definitely disappointed in myself.” Ok… so you’re simply not trying to hit the glass? Well, at least he’s honest.
- Austin Daye scored 15 points, including the game-winning three he knocked down with a few seconds left on the clock. Who’d they beat? The befuddling Philadelphia 76ers. I call them befuddling because they often hang around with good teams, but just as often lose to bad ones. Over the past 10 games they’ve lost to Chicago by 45, beaten Chicago by six, lost to the Lakers by four, lost to Boston by four, Beaten the Nuggets by six, and lost to the Warriors by 15. It’s unexplainable… they’re all over the place. Anyway, they dropped a bad one to the Pistons, who got 31 points from young gunners Daye and Monroe. Tayshaun Prince was the game’s leading scorer with 23. Rip Hamilton, who’s name has been floating around in lots of trade rumors, played just 17 minutes off the bench. Time to let him go.
- Kevin Durant scored 40 points as the OKC Thunder avenged Tuesday night’s loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. The Thunder took this one 109-100, ending the Grizzlies’ brief three-game win streak. OKC got to the line 42 times and connected on 35 of the attempts… tough to win when you give up that many freethrows to a team that shoots them as well as OKC. Z-Bo did 27/16 in a losing effort.
- The other games: Josh Smith put up 27/10 as the Hawks beat the struggling Pacers by 15. The Pacers, who were hovering right around .500 just a month ago, have fallen to 14-20. Currently, that’s still good enough for the 7th spot in the East. The Bobcats got 19/9 from Gerald Henderson and beat the Wizards by 15. John Wall put up 16/11, but went 0-5 from three and coughed it up five times. Tyrus Thomas killed my fantasy team with a 2-13 shooting night. The Mavs suck without Dirk Nowitzki. Hedo Turkeyglue dished 17 dimes as the Magic beat the Mavs by 10. NBA247365.com poster boy DeShawn Stevenson continues to strike fear into the rest of the leage with his red-hot three-point gunnery. He dropped 24 last night, boosting his scoring average to 19.3 PPG over the last four. Paul Millsap dropped 12 of his 27 in OT as the Jazz beat the Rockets 103-99.
Quote of the Day: My main man DeShawn Stevenson does not want to participate in the three-point contest during All-Star weekend, if he’s asked…
“Nah, I don’t want to mess up my rhythm. If you go out there and only make two, then you might lose your rhythm.”
Where the f@ck is the signature overconfidence that DeShawn is so infamous for? I’m disappointed, I figured if they invited him he’d be out there actin’ a fool after every make. The clock would probably expire on him after like two racks.
Photo of the Day: Rudy Gay flying high…
