Around The League: All-Star Break Edition
Jan 31, 2023 13:19:35 GMT -6
beatonz, Smithy P, and 1 more like this
Post by New York Knicks on Jan 31, 2023 13:19:35 GMT -6
Who's Hot
Remember when the Clippers started the season with a 10-7 record? I was wondering what the hell is wrong with the Clippers? How does a team coming off a 71 win season hover around 500 through the first 4 Sims? It didn't make much sense. Probably because it was a mirage. Now we have returned to reality and the Clippers are dominating once again. They have won 18 of their last 20 games. 14 of their last 15. Over that span they have enjoyed some key victories: a 20 point blowout vs the Eastern Conference Champs Orlando, they beatdown the Nuggets, and they beat the defending champion Blazers TWICE. The Clippers are clicking as we head into the 2nd half of the season. And Artis Gilmore is their MVP. He's averaging nearly 25/11 while making over 51 percent of his field goal attempts. Iceman George Gervin, Al Skinner, and 6th man of the year candidate Bobby Jones are all doing their part as well.
Who's Not
The Milwaukee Bucks are headed in a completely different direction. They started the year looking like a playoff team in the East (granted a pretty weak Eastern Conference). But nevertheless they were a competitive team. Now they're getting smoked on a daily basis. Detroit beat them by 23, Miami spanked them by 19, and Utah obliterated them by FIFTY-TWO points. After this most recent Utah loss, the Bucks are now on a league worst 9 game losing streak. They have dropped to the #13 seed in the East. And they have the 5th worst record in the entire ITP. Clearly it's time to rebuild in Milwaukee. Paul Westphal, Calvin Murphy, and the overrated Bill Walton all gotta go. It's time to tear this piece of shit apart.
Injury News
Rich Kelley - At one point Rich looked like the center of the future in Minnesota. Then they drafted James Wiseman with the #4 overall pick in the draft. That has created an intense competition between the two centers. And sometimes competition brings out the worst in people. In their last team practice Wiseman Jordan Poole-d Rich Kelley right in the face. As a result Kelley suffered a broken jaw injury, which will sideline him for the next 7 games. Now the question is, will the Wolves discipline their young future star? And how will Kelley and Wiseman go on as teammates?
Ben McLemore - Benny Mac has progressed nicely in year 2 for Charlotte. His rookie season was very mediocre. But this season we're seeing his potential manifest.
Year: 2000 - 2001
PPG: 8.3 - 13.1
FG %: 44.2 - 49.4
3PT %: 36.8 - 47.9
He's been a nice bright spot for them. Fortunately, he's only gonna miss 3 more games with his dislocated shoulder.
More News Around The League
- The All-Star Game took place, and to nobodies surprise, the superior Western Conference won by the final score of 103-87. The West played some suffocating defense throughout the game. Holding the East to 87 points on 43.2 % shooting from the field. The West was ballhawking more than Ed Reed with 15 steals. As a result the East had a putrid assist - turnover ratio of 19 to 16. The West also killed them at the free throw line (28 FT makes vs 8). John Shumate, who was named the all-star game MVP, got to the free throw line 10 times by himself. He scored 15 points with 9 rebounds and 5 blocks.
- One of the reasons why the East struggled offensively was Dwight Jones. He shot 1 for 10 from the field. He committed two turnovers. And he had as many fouls (3) as points. Who put this jackass on the team? Andrea Bargnani should've made it.
- Did you see how many Memphis Grizzlies were put on the all-star team? They had a league best THREE all-star selections. The much deserved Bob Lanier, who's a top 3 MVP candidate this season. But also Pistol Pete Maravich and Curtis Perry, the two players they acquired in the George Gervin deal. Acquiring TWO all-stars in the SAME trade? When does that ever happen? That was a damn good deal Memphis.
- The Miami Heat on the other hand had ZERO all-stars. That's despite having the best record in the Eastern Conference at 27-14. Michael Carter Williams had the best chance at point guard. But Brian Winters and Damon Stoudamire made the cut over him. Even though it sucks to have no all-stars, the Heat are the epitome of team basketball. They're a selfless group, and that's how they keep racking up Ws.
- Speaking of racking up Ws. The Utah Jazz have 34 of those this season. Now you can add another victory. Dennis Johnson won the league's 2001 slam dunk contest. That makes him a two time slam dunk champ. Most people make the mistake of associating high flying with Gervin, Erving, and David Thompson. No, it's Dennis Motherfucking Johnson.
- The Bulls kept the three point contest championship in the family as well. Last year we saw Bulls guard Andrew Benjamin pull it off. This time it was Kentavious Caldwell Popes turn. KCP was matched up against Dejan Bodiroga in the Finals. Dejan went first and dropped 14. Pope got off to a slow start, with only 9 points heading to the final rack. But he made all 5 of his shots including the moneyball to give him the 15 he needed to beat Bodiroga. Congrats to him.
- Also congrats to the rookie team for smacking up the sophomores. Little brother got the best of big brother in this one. Killian Hayes led the way with 18 points (on only 7 field goal attempts) 9 assists and 7 rebounds. He was the unanimous rookie game MVP. Isaiah Stewart was an animal in this one as well. 17 points in 18 minutes. 13 for 16 from the free throw line. He ate that sophomore frontline for breakfast.
- On the losing side, Kyle Lowrys season of chucking continues. He shot 5 for 15 in this one. While getting cooked on the other end by Hayes. Lowry you need to get your Shit together.
- Despite Lowrys struggles the Warriors have been one of the hottest in the Western Conference. They won 13 of their final 15 games heading into the all-star break. And have made the quantum leap from lottery-bound to the #6 seed. Who's responsible for this? The big man in the middle Elmore Smith. Smith was just named player of the week AND player of the month. He's backpacking his team. Carrying them on his back. Now if only Lowry could help out a little bit in the 2nd half.
- And this puts an end to the leagues all-star break. Now we move on to the 2nd half of the season, where things are gonna start getting interesting. Who's gonna be the team to beat in the West? The 1st place Jazz? The defending champs Portland? The red hot Clippers? The loaded Nuggets? The Spurs? It's crazy to think two of these 5 teams will actually be matched up against eachother in the 1st Round of the playoffs. And in the East, do they even have 5 teams worthy of making the playoffs? Will we see somebody (ANYBODY??) in the East actually try to improve their roster? There have been reports that the Raptors are actively looking for a Small Forward. Will we see some big trades as we inch closer to the deadline? Lots of interesting stories around the league as we began the second half. Best of luck to everybody.
Remember when the Clippers started the season with a 10-7 record? I was wondering what the hell is wrong with the Clippers? How does a team coming off a 71 win season hover around 500 through the first 4 Sims? It didn't make much sense. Probably because it was a mirage. Now we have returned to reality and the Clippers are dominating once again. They have won 18 of their last 20 games. 14 of their last 15. Over that span they have enjoyed some key victories: a 20 point blowout vs the Eastern Conference Champs Orlando, they beatdown the Nuggets, and they beat the defending champion Blazers TWICE. The Clippers are clicking as we head into the 2nd half of the season. And Artis Gilmore is their MVP. He's averaging nearly 25/11 while making over 51 percent of his field goal attempts. Iceman George Gervin, Al Skinner, and 6th man of the year candidate Bobby Jones are all doing their part as well.
Who's Not
The Milwaukee Bucks are headed in a completely different direction. They started the year looking like a playoff team in the East (granted a pretty weak Eastern Conference). But nevertheless they were a competitive team. Now they're getting smoked on a daily basis. Detroit beat them by 23, Miami spanked them by 19, and Utah obliterated them by FIFTY-TWO points. After this most recent Utah loss, the Bucks are now on a league worst 9 game losing streak. They have dropped to the #13 seed in the East. And they have the 5th worst record in the entire ITP. Clearly it's time to rebuild in Milwaukee. Paul Westphal, Calvin Murphy, and the overrated Bill Walton all gotta go. It's time to tear this piece of shit apart.
Injury News
Rich Kelley - At one point Rich looked like the center of the future in Minnesota. Then they drafted James Wiseman with the #4 overall pick in the draft. That has created an intense competition between the two centers. And sometimes competition brings out the worst in people. In their last team practice Wiseman Jordan Poole-d Rich Kelley right in the face. As a result Kelley suffered a broken jaw injury, which will sideline him for the next 7 games. Now the question is, will the Wolves discipline their young future star? And how will Kelley and Wiseman go on as teammates?
Ben McLemore - Benny Mac has progressed nicely in year 2 for Charlotte. His rookie season was very mediocre. But this season we're seeing his potential manifest.
Year: 2000 - 2001
PPG: 8.3 - 13.1
FG %: 44.2 - 49.4
3PT %: 36.8 - 47.9
He's been a nice bright spot for them. Fortunately, he's only gonna miss 3 more games with his dislocated shoulder.
More News Around The League
- The All-Star Game took place, and to nobodies surprise, the superior Western Conference won by the final score of 103-87. The West played some suffocating defense throughout the game. Holding the East to 87 points on 43.2 % shooting from the field. The West was ballhawking more than Ed Reed with 15 steals. As a result the East had a putrid assist - turnover ratio of 19 to 16. The West also killed them at the free throw line (28 FT makes vs 8). John Shumate, who was named the all-star game MVP, got to the free throw line 10 times by himself. He scored 15 points with 9 rebounds and 5 blocks.
- One of the reasons why the East struggled offensively was Dwight Jones. He shot 1 for 10 from the field. He committed two turnovers. And he had as many fouls (3) as points. Who put this jackass on the team? Andrea Bargnani should've made it.
- Did you see how many Memphis Grizzlies were put on the all-star team? They had a league best THREE all-star selections. The much deserved Bob Lanier, who's a top 3 MVP candidate this season. But also Pistol Pete Maravich and Curtis Perry, the two players they acquired in the George Gervin deal. Acquiring TWO all-stars in the SAME trade? When does that ever happen? That was a damn good deal Memphis.
- The Miami Heat on the other hand had ZERO all-stars. That's despite having the best record in the Eastern Conference at 27-14. Michael Carter Williams had the best chance at point guard. But Brian Winters and Damon Stoudamire made the cut over him. Even though it sucks to have no all-stars, the Heat are the epitome of team basketball. They're a selfless group, and that's how they keep racking up Ws.
- Speaking of racking up Ws. The Utah Jazz have 34 of those this season. Now you can add another victory. Dennis Johnson won the league's 2001 slam dunk contest. That makes him a two time slam dunk champ. Most people make the mistake of associating high flying with Gervin, Erving, and David Thompson. No, it's Dennis Motherfucking Johnson.
- The Bulls kept the three point contest championship in the family as well. Last year we saw Bulls guard Andrew Benjamin pull it off. This time it was Kentavious Caldwell Popes turn. KCP was matched up against Dejan Bodiroga in the Finals. Dejan went first and dropped 14. Pope got off to a slow start, with only 9 points heading to the final rack. But he made all 5 of his shots including the moneyball to give him the 15 he needed to beat Bodiroga. Congrats to him.
- Also congrats to the rookie team for smacking up the sophomores. Little brother got the best of big brother in this one. Killian Hayes led the way with 18 points (on only 7 field goal attempts) 9 assists and 7 rebounds. He was the unanimous rookie game MVP. Isaiah Stewart was an animal in this one as well. 17 points in 18 minutes. 13 for 16 from the free throw line. He ate that sophomore frontline for breakfast.
- On the losing side, Kyle Lowrys season of chucking continues. He shot 5 for 15 in this one. While getting cooked on the other end by Hayes. Lowry you need to get your Shit together.
- Despite Lowrys struggles the Warriors have been one of the hottest in the Western Conference. They won 13 of their final 15 games heading into the all-star break. And have made the quantum leap from lottery-bound to the #6 seed. Who's responsible for this? The big man in the middle Elmore Smith. Smith was just named player of the week AND player of the month. He's backpacking his team. Carrying them on his back. Now if only Lowry could help out a little bit in the 2nd half.
- And this puts an end to the leagues all-star break. Now we move on to the 2nd half of the season, where things are gonna start getting interesting. Who's gonna be the team to beat in the West? The 1st place Jazz? The defending champs Portland? The red hot Clippers? The loaded Nuggets? The Spurs? It's crazy to think two of these 5 teams will actually be matched up against eachother in the 1st Round of the playoffs. And in the East, do they even have 5 teams worthy of making the playoffs? Will we see somebody (ANYBODY??) in the East actually try to improve their roster? There have been reports that the Raptors are actively looking for a Small Forward. Will we see some big trades as we inch closer to the deadline? Lots of interesting stories around the league as we began the second half. Best of luck to everybody.
