The Round Up - November 9th, 2012

Stats Rundown:

LeBron James was one assist away from a triple double, he finished with 21 points, 11 rebounds, 9 assists and hit dagger that sealed the victory over the Atlanta Hawks.

Honorable Mention: Carmelo Anthony scored 31 points and grabbed 7 rebounds to lead the Knicks over the Dallas Mavericks.

Board Monster: Pau Gasol grabbed 16 boards in the victory over the Golden State Warriors.

Dishin': Rajon Rondo had 20 assists tonight in the loss to the 76ers, making this his 27th game with 11+ assists, tying him with John Stockton's record in 1990-91. That is not all, he also matched another John Stockton record, this game becomes his 29th straight game with double-digit assists, which is the third longest in NBA history.

Butter Fingers: OJ Mayo of the Dallas Mavericks lost the ball 8 times in the loss to the New York Knicks.

Block Party: Anthony Davis and Marcin Gortat stuffed 5 basketballs each.

New Record: LeBron grabbed his 5,000th rebound today in the victory over the Atlanta Hawks.

Rookie Watch: Anthony Davis scored 23 points, grabbed 11 boards, and blocked 5 shots, the unibrow is at work.

Time Machine User: Kobe Bryant doing young Kobe Bryant things and more, getting 27 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists in the blowout victory. Oh yea, if you don't already know, Mike Brown got fired as their head coach.

UNdefeated: The Knicks are the only team that is left to be undefeated, they are now 4 and 0.

Veteran's Day: It is veteran's day, so NBA player wore special head bands to pay tribute, and as always Spencer Hawes pulled it off the best. Definitely modern.

Fight: Brandon Jennings and Bradley Beal got into a little scuffle.

Good intentions gone wrong: MKG tried to prevent a fight between his college teammate Anthony Davis from fighting with his current teammate, Byron Mullens, but instead he pushes the ref 5 feet away.

SHEEEEEEEDDDD NOOOOOOOO!!!: Brandon Wright has no respect for seniors.

AIRBALL!: Andris Biedrins with the worst free throw attempt ever. 10 year old kids would at least hit the rim.

Rim-Stuffed: Kenneth Faried tried to show off with a windmill dunk, it didn't end well.

EMBARRASSMENT: When 3000 year old Andre Miller blocks you on a dunk attempt, you might as well pack your bags and retire. Sorry Derrick Favors.

Highlight of the Night: DeMarcus Cousins scarred Danny Green for life, that is what you get if you try to be Manu Ginobili, when you are not Manu Ginobili.

Game Winner: Chase Budinger wins the game for the Timberwolves in the most boring way.

The Round Up - November 4th, 2012

Stats Rundown:

Dwight Howard did a little bit of everything in his first victory in a Lakers uniform, finishing with 28 points, 7 rebounds and 3 blocks. Honorable mention to Kevin Martin who is not going to let the Beard out do him, scoring 28 points in the loss to the Hawks.

Board Monster: Nikola Vucevic used his magical touch to grab 13 rebounds in a surprise blow out of the Phoenix Suns. Who would have thought they would be on the other end and have a 2 game win streak.

Thief: Steve Blake who usually turns the ball over, got 5 steals today. So that's basically why the Lakers won today.

Butter Fingers: Kevin Durant was 2 assists shy of his first triple double, and was 4 turnovers away from a quadruple double. Jrue Holiday also lost the basketball 6 times today.

Rookie Watch:
Damian Lillard did not play today, therefore no one is deserving of this honor. (Alexey Shved got 8 points, and I know you don't care)

Time Machine User:
I guess Kobe Bryant didn't need his knee to be German treated, because he has been ballin'. In the first Lakers victory of the season, the Black Mamba scored 15 points, dished 8 dimes and grabbed 7 boards in the destruction of the poor Pistons.

Best Hair: Andrew Bynum showing us how to never change and be yourself, no matter how much money you get, you stick to your roots and remain HOBO (get it? I changed it from humble to hobo because he looks like one, haha I am sorry).
From @jemelehill:

Whoops: Dante Cunningham heel kicked J.J. Barea's forehead while going for a rebound. Tests confirmed he gave his own teammate a mild concussion. Two concussions in the last 4 days, when did I start watching football?

My Bad: Russell Westbrook saved the basketball from out of bounds under his own basket for a hustle play, too bad it didn't really work out because Al "weird ears" Horford caught it and dunked it. (Will update with video)

This must have been his reaction:

Who is this Melo person and why is he actually playing defense?

Highlight of the Night: Jeff Teague only knows one dunk and this time he did it properly.

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.

Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love in Uncle Drew: Chapter 2

This is chapter 2 to the original viral Pepsi MAX campaign, this time with Kevin Love as a special guest, play old man West and a Bill Russell cameo.

If you missed the first one, here it it:

These commercial are great, hopefully Uncle Drew will bring his whole team back to together and we get to watch them destroy those "young bloods."

Source: @KyrieIrving

Kevin Love broke his hands doing push ups.

Marlin Levison, Minneapolis Star Tribune

It's been a rough preseason for Kevin Love this past week. First, he woke up to a elbow injury from sleeping with his arm hanging off the bed. And now, he is out for 6 to 8 weeks because he broke his right hand doing push ups. These freak injuries are hurting the Timberwolves, to Love's credit, he did break it doing KNUCKLE push ups with his trainer.

Perhaps he should learn how to do them properly from the other Kevin:

Sources: Orlando Sentinel (Picture), CBC Sports

Brandon Roy and his knees are back!

You can't hate Brandon Roy. This man, who was reaching his prime at age 28, was forced to retire due to his degenerative knee condition. He lacks cartilage in the bones of both his knees, but it never deterred him from his goal. After taking a whole season off, and undergoing the Kobe procedure, his new German-engineered knees are finally ready to pick up, where he left off.

His knees look great, even pulled off a little up and under layup with defenders in his face. If Adelman can manage his minutes without over-exerting him, I have confidence that the Timberwolves will make the playoffs.

Source: ESPN on Youtube

NBA West Preview: Who makes the Playoffs?

The West have been a powerhouse for years now. Making the playoffs in this conference is no easy feat. The competition is tougher, and for lower seeded teams, making into a guaranteed playoff spot is always a struggle. A lot have changed in the West since last season, some teams went under construction, some added new players, but one thing is for sure, the strong remained strong. Any thing can happen in a full 82 game season, here are my predictions for the 2012-2013 western conference playoff spots.

1. San Antonio Spurs
I got to give it to the Spurs. Every year you expect a drop off, but they always make a late run to the top. Not much has changed to the solid Spurs team, their core group remained intact, and the bench stayed just as deep. Tony Parker will once again pick up the baton and conduct beautiful music with this team. This time however, he will have more help from Kawhi Leonard whose continuous improvement can guide this team to a deep playoff run.

2. Oklahoma City Thunder
Coming off the beating they took in Game 5 at the hands of the Miami Heat, the reigning western conference final champions will play with a sense of revenge. The Thunder comes back this year without any veterans. They instead, added more youth, drafting the enigmatic Perry Jones III, and picked up Hashen Thabeet. All is good for Scott Brooks, Eric Maynor returns from his knee injury, providing OKC with a defensive back up point guard.

This might be Thunder's best shot at winning the Larry O' Brien trophy. After this season, James Harden will likely be gone. Kevin Durant and company will have to take advantage of this opportunity to seal the deal. They will give the Spurs a run for their money as the top seed, but inconsistency will be a factor, as they can often shoot themselves out of the game.

3. Los Angeles Lakers
Without a doubt, the biggest story of the whole summer, adding Dwight Howard and Steve Nash, makes this team a title contender again, and a damn good one too. They added more offensive weapons to their bench, with Antawn Jamison and Jodie Meeks. The problem for the team is that it still lacks depth and defensive presence (except Dwight Howard, of course). Mike Brown will need to make this team gel quick, and find ways to rest his stars, without letting leads blow away.

I would put them up higher in the seeds, but in a 82 game season, for a roster full of aging players, injuries are inevitable. Any injury to the core group, will cost them games. If they somehow stay healthy, they would take 2nd seed. Don't even think about 73-9 Metta World Peace, you will be lucky to get 60 wins.

4. Los Angeles Clippers
No idea how the new flopping rule will affect this team. I do know that they still have their all stars, and they will definitely improve with a full training camp. Giving Chris Paul time to adjust with his teammates will make this team all the more offensively devastating. With Billups returning, they will get a veteran guard that can control the pace and hit shots when it matters. Additions of Lamar Odom, Matt Barnes, Jamal Crawford and Grant Hill provides more overall depth.

Defensively, the Clippers will miss Kenyon Martin and Reggie Evans who held down the paint for them. DeAndre Jordan will have to pick up the responsibilities of guarding the west big men, which will be different than his usual help defensive role. How well he adjusts to this change will determine where the Clippers stand.

5. Denver Nuggets
The Nuggets will stay burning the soles of their opponents with their incredible speed. Andre Iguodala provides them with versatility at both ends of the floor. His defense will be heavily relied on, especially against fellow All Star players from opposing teams. Javale McGee should have settled in to Denver by now, and if he absorbed even half of what he learned from Hakeem Olajuwan this summer, it will give the Nuggets something in a half court situation.

Ty Lawson will be appointed to lead this team on the open floor, despite his height, he is a huge threat offensively in transition. Gallinari has to play at an All Star level for this team to get to the second round, he can not continue to miss open opportunities. This team will have a lot of defensive troubles, hopefully Kenneth Faried, McGee and Timofey Mozgov can cover the porous back court defense.

6. Memphis Grizzlies
The Grizzlies was a surprising 4th seed last year. This time around, Rudy Gay and Zach Randolph have time to mesh together. The front court of Marc Gasol and Randolph is the key to this team's success. They have to rely on post scoring or involving them in some kind of play to find points. This will be a gritty defensive team, but on offense the lack of shooting can hurt them in the long run.

7. Dallas Mavericks
 Another team you can never count out. The Mavericks rebuilt their front court with Chris Kaman and Elton Brand. Kaman gives the Mavs something that never got from Haywood, an actual offensive package in the low post. This depth in the front court is new to the team, and Rick Carlise will have to figure it out. Without other offensive pieces, the Mavs will be fighting for this spot, and possibly a early playoff exit.

8. Minnesota Timberwolves - Utah Jazz
Edge to Timberwolves if Ricky Rubio comes back 100%, if not Jazz will sneak in at 8 again. The Wolves have all the pieces to take this spot if they can manage to stay off the injury list. Kevin Love will continue to put up big numbers, and new wings Andrei Kirilenko and Brandon Roy can put points up in bunches.

The Jazz kept their bigs, which will be a plus in the west. Favors and Hayward are bound for a break out season, and if the new back court of Mo and Marvin Williams work out, they can easily creep up on Minnesota.

The Others (Not in Order):
Golden State Warriors 
Stephen Curry is finally back, hopefully for good. This team might make a splash late in the season, only if Bogut comes back, Klay Thompson's promising future holds up and the rookies adjust quickly. Oh, and they will have to learn how to play defense too.

Sacramento Kings
I don't even know what is going on with this team. They have alot of talent but they just never seemed to be able to get it together. For any playoff hopes, they will have to make some changes.

Portland Blazers, Phoenix Suns, Houston Rockets and New Orleans Hornets
These are all teams in rebuilding mode, the future is bright for the Suns and Hornets. As for Blazers and Rockets, it is not looking too good.