Ricky Rubio, Iman Shumpert, DeMarcus Cousins and Al Harrington are Renaissance men.

DeMarcus Cousins and Shakespeare... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Ricky Rubio speaks mandarin with Yi Jianlian.

And with his new-found knowledge of the Chinese language, Ricky is so going to win the hearts of all the women. Dude already knew how to say "pretty" in mandarin even before his trip to China. It's a wrap.

Ricky Rubio meets Yao Ming.

It is very quite possible that Yao Ming is still growing. Via: Ricky Rubio Instagram

Goodness, Yao Ming's head is about the size of Ricky's torso and he is only supposedly a foot and 2 inches taller than the lanky Spanish.

Ricky Rubio uses a phone case with Ricky Rubio on it.

RUBIO-CEPTION. Via: rickyrubio9

Ricky, I know you are pretty, but come on... that's just weird.

The Round Up - April 3rd, 2013.

Scott Cunningham/NBAE/Getty Images

There is only 2 weeks left in the regular season and as some of you might know, NBA basketball at this time is not the prettiest and last night was a good example of that. But I am still here and will recap them anyway.

Clipped Wings: After going off for 50 points on Tuesday night, Carmelo Anthony came up with a sub-par 40 points (17 of 27) and 5 rebounds performance against the Atlanta Hawks. J.R. Smith came off the bench for 19 points on 8 of 15 shooting to help push the Knicks to their 10th straight win, making it the longest streak in franchise history in 19 years. For the Hawks, it was Kyle Korver that took on all of the offensive responsibilities, going for 25 points (9 of 14), 6 of 10 from beyond the arc and 6 boards, while the rest of his teammates made little to zero impact in the 13 point loss.

Green All Over: In honor of Paul Pierce's first newborn, Prince Paul Pierce (no, seriously that is his name) who came out of his mother's womb with a chariot and everything on Tuesday night, the Boston Celtics celebrated Pierce's first day of fatherhood with a win over the visiting Detroit Pistons. Jeff Green led all scorers with 34 points on 13 of 19 shooting and 6 rebounds. Paul Pierce showed no signs of fatigue, adding 17 points and 5 rebounds in 33 minutes of play. Despite getting outscored by 30 points in the paint, the Celtics held their own from the perimeter, hitting 51 percent of their shots from the field, where as the Jose Calderon-less Pistons went for 37 percent. Greg Monroe had a team-high 24 points (11 of 22) and 17 rebounds in the losing effort. With this win, the Celtics have clinched playoff berth, but whether they be the 7th or 8th seed depends on the next couple of games.

In the Wild: The Minnesota Timberwolves' 3 point shooting is an actual thing now, they are still the worst in the league from long distance but they were hitting everything against the unfortunate Milwaukee Bucks, who just happened to be on the end of the rare shooting outbreaks from the Wolves. Ricky Rubio was as magnificent as his beautiful Spanish hair, doing a little bit of everything with 19 points (7 of 12), 5 of 6 from three, 12 assists and 8 steals in the victory. Nikola Pekovic ate the Milwaukee front court alive, eating his way to 27 points (11 of 14), and 8 boards. The other Euro player from the Bucks was pretty good too, Ersan Ilyasova scored a game-high 29 points on 12 of 21 shooting and grabbed 12 rebounds.

Jet Fueled: In the meeting of old friends, the Houston Rockets took gentle care of the Sacramento Kings, defeating them in every single quarter on the night of the Sacramento-Seattle meeting with Mr. David Stern. In their return to the line up after missing games due to injury and illness, James Harden and Chandler Parsons combined for 50 points (21 for Harden, 29 for Parsons) for the Rockets. The Kings' did not have the greatest time shooting the ball, going 34 for 87, 39 percent from the field in their 3rd straight loss at home.

A Few Notes: Still without Ty Lawson, the Denver Nuggets managed to clean off the Utah Jazz in the 17 point win on the road to make way for the Lakers for the 8th spot in the West. The Nuggets got help from just about everybody, with 7 players in double figures.

On an off night for the Philadelphia 76ers or specifically Jrue Holiday, the Charlotte Bobcats with some late game heroics from Gerald Henderson took advantage in their 18th win of the season. Jrue Holdiay was absolutely horrid, going for only 5 points on 2 of 24 shooting. 2 of 24 shooting, sorry I had to repeat it to make sure you knew what I was talking about. Gerald Henderson was the lone bright light in this game, he scored 4 critical points of his total 24 (10 of 18) late in this game to seal it for Charlotte.

Fantasy Shoutouts: The rookie all the way from Lithuania, Jonas Valaciunas went off for a career high 24 points on 4 of 7 shooting, and 16 of 18 from the charity stripe. He also nabbed 10 rebounds in the win over the Washington Wizards, which puts an end to their playoff contention.

Marson Brooks, in his second year also went off for his career high, going off for 27 points (12 of 16) and 7 dimes in the 18 point victory against the Cleveland Cavaliers. He was a perfect 10 for 10 to start, so for Christ's sake, PJ, give the young man more minutes.

The Round Up - March 26th, 2013.

Danny Bollinger/NBAE/Getty Images

Beard Gang: The Los Angeles Clippers could have won to tie their franchise for most wins in a season, but instead the Dallas Mavericks move to only one game behind the Lakers for the 8th spot in the Western Conference and just one win short of reaching the .500 mark to shave off those glorious beards that should really be kept. I mean why shave it if it has gotten this far. Anyway, Dirk Nowitzki passed Patrick Ewing for the 17th on the NBA all time scoring list with 33 points (12 of 21) and 9 rebounds in the overtime win. The Mavericks bench was huge in this outscoring the Clippers' second unit 40 to 28. With the game down to the wire, the Clippers had only one person to go to, and Chris Paul delivered, scoring the 10 of his total 33 points (on 12 of 15 shooting) in 4th quarter (keep in mind that those 10 points were the Clippers' last 10) to give his team a 2 point lead with 5 seconds remaining. But O.J. Mayo had to step in to make things more fun, hitting a tough left handed lay up to force overtime, where Dirk would take over and lead his team to victory.

O.J. MayNO.

Green Light: In a game where both teams were without their main defensive piece to clog up the middle, Boston without Kevin Garnett and New York without Tyson Chandler, this contest turned into an offensive exhibition, well, at least it was for one team. Carmelo Anthony and J.R. Smith combined for 61 percent of the entire Knicks offense. Melo went off for 29 points on 30 shots and 8 rebounds, while J.R. Smith bombed atomically (I don't think I am using this right) off the bench for 32 points (13 of 24) and 7 boards to become first player in this season to have three 30 point games off the bench. Jeff Green led all Celtics with 19 points on 6 of 14 shooting, 10 rebounds and 6 dimes. Boston have now lost 5 straight, and for the first time since 2003-04', have allowed two New York wins in Boston in the same season. The Knicks, on the other hand, are rolling, winning all 5 of their last 5 games.

The Pack: The Minnesota Timberwolves won their first back to back on the road this season, in the victory over the Detorit Pistons. The Wolves, who have struggled mightily from just about everywhere on the floor, specifically from the behind the three point line, shot 54 percent in the Palace of Auburn Hills. To make things even weirder, Minnesota held the Pistons to rather low 41 percent from the field and with the exception of three players, no one in a Pistons uniforms registered in double figures or even broke 9 points. Nikola Pekovic led the pack with 18 points on 7 of 10 shooting and 11 boards. Tiny Puerto Rican man, J.J. Barea came off the bench for a game-high 21 points on 11 shots.

Did Ricky just throw a normal pass, wait, what?

The Round Up - March 21st, 2013.

Nam Y. Huh/AP Photo

I'm back. Sorry for missing a whole night of recap yesterday, wasn't feeling too well.

Rip City: This game was close for about the first 12 minutes and then the Chicago Bulls forgot how to pay defense allowing a 14-0 run in the second quarter to the Portland Trail Blazers, who would build on their lead from then on and never once let their foot off the gas pedal. LaMarcus Aldridge led the way with a game-high 28 points (14 of 23) and 8 rebounds, while the rookie, Damian Lillard chipped in for 24 points (9 of 17) and 7 assists in the victory. Taj Gibson of the Bulls returned for first time since spraining his MCL about three weeks ago. He had 14 points on 14 shots and 9 boards off the bench. Joakim Noah went for 18 points on 7 of 10 shooting and 6 rebounds in 27 minutes, which could possibly the fewest amount of playing time he has had in this whole season, because you know, Coach Thibs is kind of crazy.

Gold Rush: For the first time this week, the Denver Nuggets scored less than 68 points in the paint, going for only 48 against the Philadelphia 76ers last night at the Pepsi Center. In the absence of Ty Lawson and Wilson Chandler, Andre Miller stepped into the starting spot to finish with 21 points (9 of 14) and 8 assists. Corey Bewer exploded off the bench for 29 points on 10 of 18 shooting (5 of 6 from three) and 5 steals in win. Down 2 with only 2.7 seconds remaining, Brewer drew a 3 point shooting foul from Damien Wilkins, who scored a season-high 24 points (10-15), for a chance to give Denver the lead, which he does after sinking all three free throws  With only 2 seconds left, Damien Wilkins tried for a game winning 23 footer, but would get blocked by Anthony Randolph to secure the Nugget's 14th straight win. Philly either really wanted this game, and I don't see why they would, or they are really bad at this tanking thing. The thing, where you lose games on purpose to get a good lottery pick in the draft, in hopes repairing the damages from signing Andrew Bynum.

Bottom of the Barrel: When two of the worst teams in the West face off against one anther, things aren't going to be pretty. Especially, if one of those teams have missing a few of their core players. But good news for the Minnesota Timberwolves. After missing most of the season with a torn left meniscus, Chase Budinger returned in uniform for the first time, coming off the bench for 9 points (3 of 7) and 4 rebounds in 18 minutes of play. Unfortunately, he did not make much of an impact from the outside as expected, as the Wolves would go 1 for 19 from beyond the arc. Nikola Pekovic had a team-high 18 points (6 of 12) and 12 boards in their 9 straight loss on the road. King's Isiah Tomas went for 24 points on 8 of 15 shooting and 6 dimes. Tyreke Evans, who has been quietly impressive in this season, added 21 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists.

The Round Up - March 12th, 2013.

Via: @jose3030

Cold Welcome: In his return to Orlando for the first time as a member of the Lakers, Dwight Howard got more than just boos, creative signs and custom made "Coward" jerseys. Dwight, fueled by the need to make sure his former city misses him, went off for a game-high 39 points (7 of 13), 25 of 39 from the free throw line, 16 boards and zero turnovers. His 39 free throw attempts in this game not only breaks the record of this NBA season, Shaq's Laker record of 32, but also ties his own record for most in a game. The Lakers have now won 9 of their last 11 games since the All-Star break and most of it can be attributed to a healthier looking Dwight, who is slowly returning to form. His former teammate and best friend, Jameer Nelson had 21 on 19 shots and 7 assists in the 9 point Magic loss.

Smoking Gun: Despite going off for a season high 35 points in the first quarter and outscoring their opponents 54 to 36 in the paint, the Milwaukee Bucks would fall to the Dallas Mavericks. The Mavs, who have now won 4 straight, is getting closer to shaving their beards, with only 3 wins away from the .500 mark. Dirk Nowitzki went for his third double double of the season, hitting 7 of his 13 shots for 19 points and 11 rebounds. Vince Carter was huge off the bench, exploding for 13 of his total 23 points in the 4th to take the W. Monta Ellis had the most Buck points, going for 32 points on 12 of 24 shooting and 9 dimes.

Bottom Up: The worst three point shooting basketball team in the NBA didn't shoot like the worst last night against the shorthanded San Antonio Spurs, who were without Tim Duncan, Kawhi Leonard and Tony Parker. The Minnesota Timberwolves just as injured, pulled through, holding their opponent down to a season low 10 points in the second quarter to completely shift momentum to their favor, giving them a 15 point lead in the half, which they added to finish with a 24 point win. Ricky Rubio led the way with his first career triple double, going for 21 points (9 of 17), 13 boards and 12 assists. The Spurs got a taste of what it was like to be the Timberwolves on that night, shooting a very Minnesota-y 35 percent from the field and 31 from downtown (still higher than the Wolves' season average of 30).

The most adorable triple double you will ever witness.

Spring Cleaning: The Memphis Grizzlies took care of the Portland Trail Blazers on the road for their 5th straight win. The unsung hero of the Grizzlies, Mike Conley finished with 14 points on 12 shots, 15 assists and 4 steals to continue his 53 game streak with at least one steal or more. In his first game back from injury, Zach Randolph chipped in for a solid 19 points and 10 boards. His front court mate, Marc Gasol put in an additional 20 points (8 of 13) and 5 dimes in the win. The rookie of the Blazers, Damian Lillard had his 7 straight game with 20 points or more, with 30 points and 7 assists on the night. LaMarcus Aldridge tried to help with his 28 points and 10 rebounds, but their shallow bench just couldn't offer anything.

A Few Notes: The Charlotte Bobcats clinched their third win in 2013 in the 26 point victory over the Paul Pierce-less Boston Celtics  With this win, they double their total victories from last season (which was 7) in 2 fewer games. They were led by Gerald Henderson who erupted for a career-high 35 points on 11 of 19 shooting.

The Miami Heat extends their 19 game winning streak in the 17 point win over the Atlanta Hawks. Which ties the 2008-09 Boston Celtics for the most consecutive wins by a defending champion. Dwyane Wade scored a game-high 23 points (9 of 18), dished out 6 assists and stole 5 basketballs. While LeBron James suffers his second shooting slump in 21 games (19 of which were 50 FG% or more), going 3 of 11 from the field for 15 points, 7 boards and 7 dimes.

Fantasy Shoutout: John Wall went off for 27 points on 7 of 15 shooting, 7 rebounds and 14 dimes in the loss to the Kyrie Irving-less Cleveland Cavaliers.

Brook Lopez had 26 points (10 of 15), 5 rebounds and all the bragging right in the family after yamming one on his twin brother in the Brooklyn win over the New Orleans Hornets. Deron Williams had an impressive line of his own, going for 21 on 19 shots and 13 assists.

Eric Gordon of the future Pelicans scored a team-high 24 points (8 of 17) and got a cool dunk in their 4th straight loss on the road.

Ricky Rubio goes behind his back twice for the fancy lay-in.

Pretty Ricky gets tricky to get by my defenders whose feet were sticky.

George Karl pushes Wilson Chandler out of the way to yell at referees.

Ricky Rubio changed a face alright. But the real victim here is Wilson Chandler, who took the biggest share of George Karl's wrath as he gets tossed aside in a midst of his coach's outrage. Wilson wasn't too happy about it either, taking matters to twitter after the game (like everyone else these days), to issue a threat to the man that manages his minutes

About to dress up in all black and catch George Karl outside. Putting his hands on me like he about that life lol
— Wilson Chandler (@wilsonchandler) March 10, 2013

So is he going to be dressed up as the Undetaker? Please say yes.

The Round Up - March 2nd, 2013.

Nam Y. Huh/AP Photo

Long Hair Don't Care: Following his triple double performance on Thursday, Joakim Noah led the Bulls to another victory with a team-high 21 points (10 of 13), 10 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 blocks against the Brooklyn Nets. The Nets started the game with a 15-4 lead, but crumbled in the second and third quarter to give away a 19-0 run for their opponents. In between the second and third, Brooklyn did not score a single point for a whole 7 minutes. Carlos Boozer came in for 20 points (9 of 16), 8 rebounds and a career 5 steals. Brook Lopez of the Nets had 22 points on 9 of 16 shooting.

Wild Finish: With 27 seconds left, the game tied up at 102 between the Milwaukee Bucks and Toronto Raptors, Ersan Illyasova scores 2 of his total 29 points (12-21) on a put back to give his team a one point lead with 6.9 left to play. Toronto, without their leading man, Rudy Gay (back spasms) went to Alan Anderson (21 points) for the last play, where he got by Larry Sanders for the dunk to force overtime. But the Raptors are still Raptors, so it would only be fitting that they would fail to execute late and lose this game. Kyle Lowry added a triple double, 10 points, 10 boards, 10 dimes and 5 steals. Brandon Jennings of the Bucks got a career high 19 assists, while Larry Sanders erased 5 shots to make it his 39th straight game to register at least one block.

Panic in the Bay: The good news for the Golden Warriors is that Stephen Curry has been incredible in the last few games. The bad news is that they were 0-4 this week, despite of Curry's ridiculous numbers and only 3.5 games ahead of the Lakers. In this slop-fest against the struggling Philadelphia 76ers, where both teams had at least 20 turnovers that led to 20 points for the opposing tea,. Stephen Curry was stayed hot. Hitting 11 of 20 from the field for 30 points and 8 assists. Klay Thompson chipped in for 29 points, 7 of 12 from the three. But the Sixers would not give this game away. Jrue Holiday went off for 27 points on 11 of 20 shooting, 5 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 steals. While his back court mate, Evan Turner goes for 22 points (10-15), 10 rebounds and 9 assist to end Philly's 7 game losing streak.

Rookie Watch: At this point of the season, there is no doubt that Damian Lillard is a lock for the ROY award. The rookie had 24 points (9 of 18), 6 rebounds and 4 assists to lead his Blazers to victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves. J.J Hickson went for 18 points (7 of 8) and 16 boards. The shooting woes of the Wolves continued last night, as the team shot 39 percent from the field, and only 1 of 12 from downtown. They did not hit a three until the last 45 seconds of the game. Derrick Williams had a team-high 23 points on 20 shots and 8 rebounds in the losing effort

The Round Up - February 28th, 2013.

Gary Dineen/NBAE/Getty Images

Wild Thing: After blessing us with a great Wednesday night of NBA games, the Basketball Gods decided to punish us with a game between the Chicago Bulls and Philadelphia 76ers on National TV. The results weren't exactly the insult to basketball, that we expected. We actually got a pretty good one man show from Joakim Noah. The bunhead led the Bulls with his third career triple-double on a game-high 23 points (8 of 12), 21 rebounds and 11 blocks to send the Philadelphia 76ers home with a 7 game losing streak. Noah becomes the first player since 1998 to record at least 20 points, 20 boards and 10 blocks in a game and is the first ever to do it while shooting at least 65 percent from the field. Carlos Boozer added 21 points (5 of 13) and 12 rebounds. On the other side, Jrue Holiday scored 22 points on 19 shots. Spencer Hawes chipped in for 20 points on 18 shots and 15 boards for the Sixers.

Joakim Noah will have none of yourself silly shot attempts.

Point Gawd: The Indiana Pacers minus Roy Hibbert took on the Los Angeles Clippers last night and got dominated inside without their big man in the middle. David West had a team-high 22 points (5 of 14) and 6 rebounds. Paul George got 20 points on 18 shots and 5 assists. The Clippers made a huge push in the third, where Blake Griffin scored 10 of his 18 points to take the lead, which they would eventually hold on to before the buzzer sounds. Griffin finished with 7 of 10 shooting from the field and grabbed 14 rebounds. Indiana made a late 11-0 run in the final minutes, but Point Gawd, Chris Paul descended on to the court to score 3 clutch baskets to extend the lead after every deficit cut. The Clippers point guard registered 29 points on 11 of 18 shooting, 6 rebounds and 8 assists to hand the Pacers' their first home loss since December 7th.

What is the point of fouling Blake Griffin? Do yourself a favor and just get out of the way.

The Chase: Only 2 wins away from .500, the Los Angeles Lakers entered the Staples Center last night to take on the Minnesota Timberwolves to get one step closer to their mission. And it got a lot easier when Wolves' center, Nikola Pekovic left the game with a left abdominal strain in 9 minutes of play. Ricky Rubio did everything he could with 13 points (5 of 11), 8 rebounds and 13 assists (9 of which were accomplished in 14 minutes of the first half) in a game where Minnesota never led. J.J. Barea came off the bench for 20 points (8 of 14), and 5 assists. A determined Kobe went off for 22 points n the first half, finishing the game with a total 33 points (13 of 22), 5 rebounds and 5 assists. With his two steals on the night, Kobe stole his career 18,000th basketball, becoming the 15th player in NBA history to do so. The Lakers connected on half of their three pointers, knocking down 16 of their 32 attempts to defeat Minnesota for the 21st straight time.

Classic Ricky.

Kobe is a product of German Engineering. Thank you, science.

Ricky Rubio gives the best advice.

Down 20 points to the Lakers on Thursday night, Ricky Rubio still looked to be positive, giving some valuable life advice to his rookie teammate, Alexey Shved. Ricky is right, life is full of negatives just as it is with positives. There is no point in dwelling in sadness when you can be happy about other things. I mean, you are still alive and if you are reading this, you do have internet.

Have a great day, you guys. Remember his wise words.

The Round Up - December 15th, 2012.

Stats Rundown

After breaking his jaw, Kyrie Irving decided to dressed as Batman and score a new career high 41 points (15 of 25 from the field) against the Melo-less New York Knicks. But thanks to Anderson Varejao missing his pair of game winning free throws, the Knicks escape with a one point lead and the ROY's effort goes down the drain.

At least he got to embarrass Jason Kidd. Masks don't kill his vibe. (Via: @YouBigDummy)

Sophomore Jump: Speaking of (scoring) career highs, Kemba Walker recorded a new one against the Orlando Magic. However, his 32 points, 7 assists and 2 rebounds was not enough to get the win.

Boards: The Memphis Grizzlies, led by Zach "Papa Bear" Randolph's 25 points and 16 rebounds thrashed the Utah Jazz.

Rookie Watch: Harrison Barnes had 19 points (3 for 4 from three), and 3 rebounds in the victory over the Atlanta Hawks.

Time Machine User: This might be a sign of the end of the world. Derek Fisher scored 20 points, 4 assists, 2 steals, and probably a million flops in the overtime loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Spanish Prodigy: First thing Ricky Rubio does when he returns? A pass between his legs for the assist.

Airborne: Tony Parker's shot takes his time to go through the hoop.

Springs: Nate Robinson only blocks players taller than him. Both Shaq and Yao Ming were once his victims.

Minnesota Timberwolves sings Christmas Carols.

Remember when I had this great idea that the Timberwolves would somehow be a great boy band, well it turns out it might not be the greatest idea after all. Kevin Love doesn't want to sing, and those who did butchered those joyful carols.

Jokes aside, why did the only person that could speak fluent English didn't have to sing? This brutal mistreatment to the foreign players is discrimination and resulted in the most awkward caroling. Worst of all, Ricky Rubio, who I thought was the perfect boy band member, did not sound any better than Andrei Kirilenko. And here I thought I had a management opportunity in my future, thanks for ruining my dreams.

Via: TBJ

Notes: Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Los Angeles Clippers [11/28/12]

Los Angeles Clippers 101 - Minnesota Timberwolves 95

The Good

Clippers: They got to play at their ideal pace, quick and against unsettled defense. They had 22 fast break points and 54 points in the paint. Chris Paul was allowed to dissect the floor with ease against the Minnesota point guards. He could have taken way more shots, but that is not his game, he uses his vision to create for others.

DeAndre Jordan anchored the spectacular interior defense, his length and shot blocking neutralized the opponent bigs. The Clippers have steadily improved their defense, helping just enough in the paint while keeping their assignment close to bother their shot.

Wolves: They grabbed 52 rebounds (21 Offensive, 10 more than the Clips) to keep themselves in the game. Alexey Shved was huge off the bench, his 17 points proves that he is more than suitable to start over the inconsistent Malcolm Lee, who is not the defensive stopper Adelman thinks he is. The Wolves defense is good enough to get stops, it is the offense that needs help. Besides, Shved's length alone is enough to bother most guards. At least Adelman stopped the J.J. Barea and Luke Ridnour combo.

The Bad

Clippers: The Clippers rarely get out rebounded by such a large margin, needs to box out and stop the guards from creeping in to steal the rebound.

Wolves: Obviously injuries, Andrei Kirklenko would definitely change the results of this game. Without AK, the Wolves are forced to put Pekovic out in the high post. His limited passing ability and inability to knock down the 15 footer does not do anything productive for the Wovles. Back door cuts were Minnesota's bread and butter when AK is on the floor because he can space it so well. Kevin Love is still not in game shape or perfect health. He only contributed by getting to the line 8 times and has Ronny Turiaf's love of jumping at every single pump fake to thank for. I also thought he was too PASSive, he looked to pass too often and usually holds on to the ball long enough for a double team to come, resulting in an ugly possession. To sum it up,  20 turnovers and 38 points in the paint is not a formula for success against a team that thrives in transition.

The Feed: Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Toronto Raptors [11/04/12].

Recap:

The Toronto Raptors capture their first win of the season, ripping the Wolves up 105 to 86. This was not the most interesting game, with Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio out, the Raptors took advantage of the Wolves crippled offense.

The starting back court of Toronto was back in action, producing the same monstrous results.  DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry dropped 22 points each, with Lowry passing out an additional 5 assists. The game remained close until third quarter where the Raps drowned Minnesota with a barrage of points in the blow out.

Andrei Kirilenko led all Wolves with 17 points, 6 rebounds and 3 blocks, Nikola Pekovic helped with 15 points. Minnesota stayed in the game early despite turning the ball over 16 times in the first half, contributing to 27 Raptor points, eventually  their carelessness came back to haunt them, giving up the rock a total 24 times tonight.

Offensive End:

The Raptors ran a lot of isolations, taking advantage of the mismatch and getting easy points. Ball movement was definitely not as good as it was in the Brooklyn game. The focal point of the Raptor's offense is still DeMar and Andrea, they like to get them going early. Besides Jose Calderon, the rest of the guys that ran a pick and roll usually used the screen to get an open shot or path to the basket.

Minnesota looks into the post early, using Pekovic's beast of a body to bully Jonas Valaciunas. If they don't look for the post up, they run a basic pick and roll with cutter coming across.

Defensive End:

Toronto needs to fix their transition defense. It has been the biggest concern over the last 3, they just can't seem to set themselves fast enough to neutralize the quick oncoming attack. Their rotations were decent tonight, but they didn't have a real challenge to defend against.

The Wolves' defense at the back court is especially weak, allowing an above average shooting guard (DeMar DeRozan) to do whatever he wanted on the floor is unacceptable. Their front court with Pekovic and Kirilenko did a great job against the Toronto big men.

The Moments:

• Alexey Shved has the girliest hair in the NBA period, no discussion.
• HOT CHEETOS AND TAKIS played at the Air Canada Center, and according to twitter, the Raptors Children dance team used it as part of their performance. Although this is greatest thing to ever happen, it is ironic to be played in Canada because unfortunately we don't carry those hand-dyeing snacks. It is fitting to be played against the Wolves, since the song was sang by kids in Minnesota.
• Dante Cunningham heel kicked J.J. Barea in the forehead and gave his own teammate a concussion.

Rookie Watch:

Jonas Valaciunas always bring a lot of energy, he might not play well, but he will play hard. He got 4 point sand 4 rebounds at the end of the night.

Terrence Ross shows confidence, he has a lot of work to do on the defensive end and nee to bulk up to keep up with the rest of the NBA. He got in foul trouble early, 3 fouls in 5 minutes, and knocked down a jumper in the garbage time.

Alexey Shved played pretty well, he needs to do what I prescribed for Ross as well. He has a lot of potential, great court vision, dished 4 assists and scored 8 point in 22 minutes.

New NBA trend: Justin Bieber Backpack Rookie Hazing.

Photo by Jordan Strauss, AP

If you watched the Rookie Rising Stars challenge last year, a few rookies were forced to wear some ridiculous backpacks by older peers. While some rocked the Disney Princesses, Ricky Rubio took up the biggest challenge and wore the Justin Bieber backpack. He managed not to only pull it off because of his spanish pop star good looks, he might have began a trend.

The Suns welcomed Kendall Marshall with a Bieber pack of their own, with a newer and a less moppy headed Justin.

Update with Video:

Man, Kendall does not look pleased at all, come on at least be like Ricky and take it in stride. You can't show weakness.

If this trend really picks up, we already know who to call.

I have got to say, NBA rookie hazing is super disappointing, the NFL knows how to do it right, Tebow's rookie hair cut still gives me the giggles.

Sources: National Post (Picture), Suns Blog.

Nobody likes Michael Beasley.

Photo by Elsa, Getty Images

It is not just you T'Wolves fans, looks like both Rick Adelman and Ricky Rubio wanted Beasley gone.

From an interview with Coach Adelman (Via SB Nation):

"Yes, Michael has been good. I get along with him. But I don't think we'll be a championship team with him. If I put Michael in, Michael can score, but he doesn't play any defense and he forgets the other offensive players, and I just can't tolerate that under my system because the other players are just standing around."

That was the most perfectly put description of Michael Beasley ever, if any team wants to sign him after he wants out of Phoenix, someone should just out that quote in his resume.

The battering does not stop there, from an interview with Ricky Rubio (Via BDL):

"...I love when you are in a team and you get to the locker room and just hear voices laughing,'' Rubio said. ''We don't have Beasley anymore so we don't have to hear him singing songs. But it's going to be fun.''

Ricky, I don't think Beasley is the only one that can't sing on the Timberwolves, as a matter of fact, this youtube gem proves no body on the roster can sing, at ALL.

I hope that they made a highlight compilation of Michael Beasley hogging the ball with the "Bye Bye Bye" by N'Sync for his departure.

Sources: Yahoo BDL, SB Nation, Bleacher Report (picture)