Indiana vs. New York: Two teams going in opposite directions. Indiana may
have peaked last year. With each game Indiana looks more and more lost. You
would think that Indiana would be able to take advantage of the David
West/Carmelo match up as much as New York would be able to, but no dice. I
didn't even see Indiana make a concerted effort to get it down low. The guard
play for Indiana is really suspect. I'm questioning Indiana's decision to ride
with George Hill long term over Darren Collison. One bright spot for Indiana is
it looks like Lance Stephenson is going to be a player. He's been getting more
and more minutes as this season has progressed. It has a lot to do with his
improved jumpshot. He wasn't hitting today, but it's something I noticed over
the last week and his percentages are real good. I've spoken on how well the
starting unit for NY has been playing together, but over ther last week New York has
had another surprise revelation. Rasheed Wallace is still Rasheed Wallace.
He's still an above average defender down low. He still has a lethal arsenal in
the post, that he seems more inclined to use at this age. Two nights ago I
watched Sheed carry New York offensively during a stretch that Carmelo and Tyson
we're in foul trouble.
Philadelphia vs. Cleveland: The Sixers have been struggling, but they have
a favorable matchup against Cleveland. Jrue Holiday made it his personal job to
keep Kyrie in check the entire game, and that is pretty much the only thing
necessary to beat Cleveland. This forced the intrepid Alonzo Gee and Tristan
Thompson to step up in have big games, and that is not a formula to win in the
NBA. Evan Turner was aggresive today and was hitting his jumper. This isn't a
bad idea, because Bynum reaggrivated his knee injury by bowling.
Golden State vs. Oklahoma City: The Thunder didn't really play well. They
haven't all season. However, at times Durant and Westbrook have played well,
and those two guys will win you 45-50 games by themself. This was one of those
45-50 games. OKC was unimpressive, but they were just more talented than a
really crappy Warriors team. All the Warriors got going for them is Steph Curry
gunning and David Lee picking and popping. They're not a hard team to plan
for. Bogut has made his cameo already for the season.....he should be back
sometime next year for a spell.
NC State vs. Oklahoma State: Sneaky good game full of future pros. At the
top of the list is TJ Warren. TJ is legit 6'7" and is all perimeter. He's got
a sweet jumper (although the form is rough), and a decent handle. He reminds me
a lot of Joe Johnson. Marcus Smart starts at the PG for OSU, but he's just a
basketball player. He makes shots, plays defense, blocks shots, and rebounds.
He seems to be a vocal leader already as a freshman. He's also already built
like an NFL running back at 6'3". Lebryan Nash is still a pretty raw wing at
6'6". He needs to work on shooting, and might have to find a niche in the NBA
as a defensive stopper. He is also build like a football player. Rodney Purvis
was highly touted coming out of high school, but even watching him in AAU, I
wondered whether his skills would translate over to the next level. His game is
a lot like Dwayne Wade, but that's tough to do as you step up our competition
level. He looks like he is going to have to change his game some, before he
steps to the next level.
Houston vs. Los Angeles: The Lakers aren't running any offense, they're
just keeping things simple. Pick and roll with Kobe and Dwight. Post up
Dwight. Post up Pau. Pick and Pop with Kobe and Pau. This isn't rocket
science here. It's simple and it's great players executing it. It's scary to
think what the Lakers offense will look like once Nash and D'antoni get
rolling.
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