Ariza watch

Nothing new this week.  Ariza continues to be a low efficient scorer while providing solid defense, decent playmaking and rebounding, and racking up the steals.  Rumor is that T-mac will be coming back into the line-up in a non-disclosed time.  The teams success will depend on T-mac’s ability to mesh team.  In the long run it will probably be good for Ariza to be a solid second man, which his game is built for.  Throw in a healthy Yao and the Rockets can be serious contenders.  I hope the Rockets can unload T-mac’s contract and pick-up a decent 2 guard….hmmmmm

 

32-19

A couple of surprise wins this week really skewed my total.  Charlotte won three games this week, Atlanta dropped two, and most importantly, Denver lost at home to Minnesota for their second win of the season.  The Lakers rolled with three wins and the starters continue to cover the benches ass by providing them with 20+ point leads to squander.  They better figure something out because having only played four road games all season, its going to get a lot tougher. 

Only a couple picks this week.  I’m only going to pick Laker and Rockets games and games that actually matter, so who’s cares about the Minnesota/Knicks game anyway right?

Tuesday:  Portland, Lakers and Charlotte over Boston ( I know this is a bad odds pick, but Charlotte is playing good and Boston isn’t clicking)

Wednesday:  Cavs, Bulls, Rockets

Thursday:  Boston, Denver, Rockets

Friday:  Cavs, Lakers

Saturday:  Nugs, Hawks, Rockets

Sunday:  Lakers, Bucks

Ava

It’s amazing what kids can remember and what they are “into” at different times.  As phases come and go, Ava, surprisingly, hasn’t gotten into the doll phase.  I think I’m kind of glad about that but I’m not sure why.  Lately, she’s been into Christmas BIG TIME.  I think this year will be the most fun yet.  Last year, she was kind of into the present thing but not quite getting it.  Two months later at her B-day…it was ON.  So getting back to my point, Toys’R’Us  conveniently sends out a huge ad.  Ava has been “reading”, kind of, this book for weeks.  Here’s our exchange:

Ava:  Daddy, I get hippo hungry for Christmas.

Me:  Hungry Hippos?

Ava:  Yeah, Hippo Hungry.

Me:  Ok.

Ava:  Daddy, I get this (points to play kitchen), and this (points to princess dress up), and this (points to play oven), and this (points to everything else on the page).  Daddy, I get a WHOLE BUNCH OF TOYS!!!!

Me:  Ava?

Ava:  Yeah.

Me:  Only good girls get lots of toys.

Ava:  silence

Me:  Are you going to be a good girl?

Ava:  Yeah (not so convincingly)

Me:  ok

Ava:  Daddy?

Me:  Yes?

Ava:  Daddy, I get this (points to play kitchen), and this (points to princess dress up), and this (points to play oven), and this (points to everything else on the page).

 

Gotta love her enthusiasm.  Can’t wait for Christmas.

Ariza Watch

So rather than include Ariza watch in my weekly post, I decided to do a separate post every week or after every Rockets game for Sarah.  Ariza continues to be a high volume shooter and low volume scorer.  So far, averaging about a point per shot, which in NBA standards, is pretty poor.  I think I’ve said this before, but that’s not his game.  What is his game is the almost 2.5 steals per game and the hustle plays that don’t make the box score.  Over the past week, the turnovers have gone down to under 3 per game.  I’m thinking that making Ariza the man will improve his ball handling skills and in the future make him that much more dangerous.  Coming from a system which he was more or less a spot shooter and then going to making plays for himself and setting up others isn’t an easy transition.  Either way, the Rockets are on my radar and I’ve been rooting for them.  The Rockets have a tough week.  At home to the Mavs and Spurs and then on the road against the Thunder.

 

126-67

Went the week 33-18.  A couple of surprise wins skewed my total.  The Knicks actually winning 2 games, Washington won their supposed “rival game against the Cavs, the Hornets with 2 wins for their new coach/GM over the sliding Suns and the hot Hawks teams, the Warriors and Clippers upsetting the Blazers and Nugs, and the finally the Rockets lost on a last second tip in dunk to the Hawks. 

The Lakers welcomed back Gasol to the starting line up and they rolled over the Bulls and Thunder.  Not surprisingly, Gasol didn’t need much of a jump start to get going.  He had a great first game back.  In the short term, things are looking up for the Lakers.  Long term, the bench will still have to step up big time for a repeat championship.  Gasol’s 18 & 8 helps the Lakers almost immediately, as it would help just about any team.  Watching last night’s game, the bench is still struggling to hold a lead against the opposing team’s bench.  One of the reasons going around was that Odom needed to move to the second line up to get them going.  I didn’t see much of that last night.  Fisher continues to struggle to guard or put up any points.  So which makes me wonder how much of a contribution “leadership” counts towards when your getting lit up by younger faster guards and struggling to find your shot on a consistent basis.  Don’t get me wrong, I really like Fisher, but he’s definitely on the downward side of his career.  If Fisher goes out with ANY type of injury and the Lakers being so thin at the point, would it cost the Lakers a chance to repeat? Hmmmm…

This week’s picks.

Monday:  Kings, Bucks, Blazers, Clippers

Tuesday:  Wiz, Raps, Mavs, Nugs, Thunder, Lakers

Wednesday:  Pacers, Raps, Celtics, Heat, Hornets, Pistons, Nugs, Rockets, Spurs, Suns, Blazers, Kings

Thursday (Turkey Day):  Hawks, Bulls

Friday:  Heat, Hawks, Cavs, Celtics, Pistons, Mavs, Rockets, Nugs, Suns, Thunder, Blazers, Kings

Saturday:  Wiz, Cavs, Magic, Blazers, Lakers

Sunday:  Hawks, Clippers, Suns, Celtics, Magic, Sixers, Rockets, Nugs, Hornets, Lakers

Special edition Ariza Watch (For Sarah)

At the beginning of the Laker/Houston game, the Lakers had a ceremony to present Ariza with his championship ring.  The jumbotron said “Thank you Trevor” and there were a few highlights of the key plays made during the playoffs.  Of course, not missing the chance to bust my balls, my lovely wife convinced me I was tearing up.  Well, not exactly…ok maybe a little.  Funny thing was I was wondering what they did in the case where a championship is won and a player is traded.  Well, that’s that.  I thought it was a nice gesture on the Lakers part to put the effort in to make it special.  On a side note, two rings were presented as Trevor’s son, Tajh, was also given a replica ring.  Nice, very nice.  Apparently, that must have tweaking Artest the way as it provoked him to do a little shoe throwing. 

No seriously, shoe throwing.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vu1zMV5j0fo&feature=player_embedded

Ok, onto Ariza watch.  Interesting week.  Ariza had good games against crappy teams as to be expected and struggled against the Lakers and Mavs.  I would expect to struggle against your former being that they know your game.  Three point shooting has fallen off quite a bit from last year but turnovers have gone down as well.  Scoringwise, he’s all over the map, 9, 17, 28, 9.  But looking closer at the numbers, he’s averaging about a point per shot attempt.  Not great but there are other numbers that stand out.  6 ½ rebounds, 5 assists, over four steals a game and about one block a game.  That’s filling up the box score.  There was a great sequence during the Laker last night.  Kobe goes to the low block, posts Ariza up and pivot spins and tries to get a shot off only to have Ariza block the ball back at his face.  Kobe regains control and circles out to reset and Ariza steals the ball and leads the break for an easy score.  Nice.  Another bitter sweet loss last night as the Rockets take one in LA. 

Ariza v. Artest II- I hate to say it but Artest takes this one.  More points on more efficient shooting, rebounded, dished the ball and fewer turnovers with the same amount of minutes.  The difference, Ariza had a +9 and Artest -9.  Is Artest the man?  No.  He’s cherry picking and gets choice looks on Kobe double teams.  Am I making excuses….yeah I guess so.  I still think Ariza’s the better player and when T-Mac comes back and hopefully gets traded for a better player, Ariza will shine much brighter as the number two guy where he belongs. 

Houston plays Phoenix, Minnesota, Atlanta, and Sacramento.  Two cupcake games and two gamers.  I’d expect about the same lines for next week.  I’ll catch the Friday’s game against Atlanta as the Josh Smith match-up will be fun to watch.  That could very well be the match-up that wins the game for Houston.

 

umm...LA we have a problem.

So the Lakers drop two in a row for the first time this season and triple their losses in three days.  Cause for concern…yes.  The Laker bench is horrible….let me repeat…horrible.  How horrible?  How about being outscored 91-43 in the two losses.  So, averaging 17 points a game from the bench isn’t going to get it done.  I don’t care if Gasol comes back tomorrow, long term, there’s a problem.  Am I saying trade, trade, trade?  No, but someone needs to chew someone’s ass and fire these guys up.  Kobe’s hurt so things might get worse before they get better.  10 out of the next 11 at home should help…a little, but, until the bench can step up and play the Lakers are going to lose close games they might normally blow out.

This week I went 33-16 bringing the season total to 93-49.  Surprise wins?  Boston losing back to back Atlanta and Indiana, Denver blowing the doors off the Lakers, and Houston losing to the Queens…err, Kings.

This week’s games:

Monday:  Atlanta, Orlando, Dallas

Tuesday:  Cleveland, Miami, Indiana, New Orleans, Houston, Denver, Chicago, Lakers

Wednesday:  Atlanta, Indiana, Orlando, Phili, Cleveland, Boston, Milwaukee, Houston, Clippers, Toronto, Dallas, Portland

Thursday:  Phoenix, San Antonio, Lakers

Friday:  Cleveland, Phili, Miami, Houston, Orlando, OK City, Dallas, Milwaukee, Portland, Denver

Saturday:  New Jersey, Cleveland, Atlanta, Milwaukee, Houston, San Antonio, Chicago, Detroit, Portland

Sunday:  Orlando, Boston, Indiana, Miami, Phoenix, Lakers

60-33

Holding pace at about 65%, I went 33-19 this week.  Some surprise loses include the Phoenix over Boston and Chicago over Cleveland at home.  I wasn’t sold on Phoenix but a road win to Boston will make me watch this team a little closer.  The Thunder smashed the Magic last night, but the Magic are still missing Carter, Lewis and now Anderson.  But to get smoked by 28 points?  Really?

The Lakers got four wins this week.  Two in back to back OT games and two blow outs.  I really thought the Hornets would be better than they are.  They got tooled last night losing by 16 but it was much worse than the score would show.  Kobe had an efficient game and the bench got significant minutes and played ok.  Player of the night?  D.J. Mbenga…10 points, 12 rebounds and 4 blocks.  With both big men out, D.J. has been a solid.  Yeah, he gets dunked on quite a bit, but to a guy trying to get playing time, you check your ego at the door and play.

This weeks games:

Monday:  Sixers, Knicks, Raptors, Warriors, Clippers

Tuesday:  Magic, Heat, Nugs, Blazers, Rockets, Thunder

Wednesday:  Pacers, Raptors, Celtics, Pistons, Sixers, Hawks, Nugs, Blazers, Cavs, Rockets, Spurs, Thunder, Suns

Thursday:  Cavs, Lakers

Friday:  Magic, Sixers, Knicks, Celtics, Blazers, Mavs, Rockets, Lakers, Raptors

Saturday:  Hawks, Celtics, Wiz, Blazers, Cavs, Heat, Grizz, Warriors, Thunder

Sunday:  Mavs, Thunder, Suns, Lakers

Games to watch: 

Denver @ Chicago-These are two very evenly matched teams.  Although an East/West match-up, should be entertaining.

Houston @ Dallas-This should be a heat check game for both teams to see where they are in their division as well as in the West overall. 

Chicago @ Toronto-Two middle of the road play off teams similar two the Houston/Dallas game

Cleveland @ Orlando-I’m still not buying the Cavs as an elite East team but with Carter, Lewis and Anderson out, the Cavs better win or their in worse shape than I thought.

Dallas @ San Antonio-Another intra-division game with edge to San Antonio after Dallas being played hard by Houston the night before.

Cleveland @ Miami-I believe Miami is the better team but something about LeBron tells me the Cavs squeak this one out.

Phoenix @ Lakers, Lakers @ Denver, Houston @ Lakers-All of these games are going to be good.  They will all depend on one thing as well.  Who’s starting?  If Gasol and Bynum are back, the Lakers should go 3-0 since on of the games are back to back.  After this week, I think the pecking order for the West should be a much more defined.

Atlanta @ Boston-The Celtics are still too much team for the Hawks, but you can always hope…

OK City @ San Antonio-This is old v. young, precision v. recklessness, & experience v. athleticism.  This is one of those games that will be a nail biter or a blow out.

Ariza watch:  Ariza had another solid game against the Thunder.21, 5, & 6 with only 3 turnovers.  Next game is Tuesday in Dallas with a back to back at home against the Grizz.  The game of the week will be Ariza v. Artest II on Sunday. 

midweek update

Through Wednesday I went 16-8.  Only a couple surprise wins.  Detroit appears to own Orlando beating them at home without Prince and Maxiell.  Portland is still struggling to find their groove.  The Houston game was great last night.  In bitter sweet fashion, I was ecstatic when Ariza hit the game tying three.  I don’t have the NBA league pass so I was watching the game on a live stream.  As luck would have it, the stream cut out with a little over 2 minutes left in OT and I finished watching that game on ESPN’s gamecast.  Let me tell you, waiting for the text to load is a really lame way to watch the game.  As is it turn out, Ariza had the ball stolen from him in the closing of the game and the Lakers pulled one out in a nail biter.  Ariza had a rough shooting night going 5-21 and 2-7 from the three.  Add 9 boards and 5 assists and it seems he’s getting more comfortable being “the man”.  He was the only starter that came away with a positive +/-.  The Rockets are a gritty hard nosed team that will grind out wins and never let up.  Too bad their missing their big man and can’t trade T-mac.  So did Ariza outplay Artest?  Artest was more efficient from the field and made one more three but Ariza had more rebounds and assists.  Well, I’d say it was a push.  They play the same position but have really different games.  We’ll see how Ariza does in LA next week.

In tonight’s games, I still take the Cavs but as of late, I’m thinking I overestimated Utah at home.

19-10

Had a descent weekend.  I was surprised the Lakers layed down for the Mavs.  What a terrible game.  The silver lining?  Gasol has yet to play this year.  A couple of other surprises:  Memphis beating a jazzed Raptor team coming off a surprising win over the Cavs, the Bucks beating the Pistons (although I’m re-stating that I’m not sold on the Pistons this year), the Clippers pulling one off over the Mavs that just beat the Lakers.

 

So for the season I’m 27-14.

 

This weeks picks:

Monday: Nets, Hornets, Rockets, Clippers & in a coin flip the Kings

Tuesday: Cavs, Nugs, Magic, Heat, Bulls, Lakers, Mavs, Blazers & against my better judgement: Sixers.

Wednesday: Magic, Wiz, Raptors, Nugs, Knicks, Celtics, Lakers, Hornets, Hawks, & Warriors.

Thursday: Cavs & Jazz

Friday: Wiz, Magic, Sixers, Hawks, Celtics, Nugs, Raptors, Bucks, Cavs, Rockets, Clippers, Lakers, & Blazers.

Saturday: Hawks, Celtics, Bulls, Mavs, Knicks, Jazz & Clippers.

Sunday: Sixers, Wiz, Magic, Blazers, Warriors, & Lakers 

 

 

 

Ariza Watch:  Rockets pull out strong win over the Blazers at home.  Ariza had a career high 33 points, shot great from the 3 point line, and most importantly, only had 2 turnovers.  Rockets play tonight in Utah.  I’m hoping he builds off the last game and continues top play efficient ball.  Wednesday will be a great game with Ariza coming back to LA.  Will the Rockets win?  I doubt it.  Will Ariza out play Artest?  I hope so…

8-4

So, not too bad on opening night for the rest of the league.  Memphis over Detroit wasn’t even close but, I’m still not sold on Detroit.  Minnesota squeaked out a win on a last second shot and Golden State and the Clippers lost by 1 & 2 points respectively. 

Ariza watch:  This is for Sarah, I’m still really bitter about Ariza’s agent screwing him out of being with the Lakers this year.  He was hands down my favorite player on last year’s squad.  He played defense, shot a consistent percentage and most of all, accepted his role on the team even though he could much more.  This was quite obvious in the Denver series.  Anyway, I’ll be watching “my boy” this season to see how he progresses with an increased role on a hobbling Rockets team and increased playing time.  Last night, 25, 5 & 5 with 2 steals and 1 block.  Similar to the previous game, Ariza had a lot of turnovers.  This is not surprising, as he isn’t the most stellar ball handler.  We’ll how he progresses during the year.

 

Only two games on tonight:  I’ll take the Spurs and Portland.  Even the Spurs on the second of a back to back is better than a thin Bulls squad and the physical battle Denver withstood against Utah last night will take its toll against a fresh Portland squad at home.

For the weekend:

Friday:  Sixers, Knicks, Hawks, Celtics, Hornets, Thunder, Heat, Cavs, Magic, Raptors, Jazz, Warriors, & Lakers.

Saturday:  Wiz, Cavs, Philly, Blazers, Pistons, Spurs, & Clippers.

Sunday:  Magic, Celtics, Bulls, & Blazers.

 

B-ball up and running

Finally the 09-10 season has started.  Lakers came out with a so-so win against a feeble Clippers team.  Boston outplayed an over-hyped “improved” Cavs team and my boy Ariza was a bit tentative.  He’ll come around.  Surprisingly, the Wiz pulled one out over Dallas and Agent Zero has come back with something to prove.  I’m going to “attempt” to pick the winners of games for the rest of the year and see how I fare.  So, tonight’s picks are:

Atlanta, Orlando, Cleveland, Boston, Miami, Minnesota, San Antonio, OK City, Memphis, Denver, Golden State, Clippers.  In a side note, I picked all the home teams except the 0-1 Cavs team that will more than likely tear Toronto a new one in a angry second game of a back to back.  But wouldn’t it be great for the “win a ring for the king”  campaign to start 0-2?

 

WTF?

I guess it’s the rough economy that really brings out he A-hole in people. I think I’m going to dedicate the next few posts to complaining about the daily crap that not only I, but everyone else has to put up with. Yes, I’ll agree that most of the things are petty, but it’s never the fault of one snowflake for starting an avalanche.

-What’s so hard about saying thanks to stranger who’s holding the door open for you? And why do people walking out the opposite way insist on walking through first and have the nerve to give you a dirty look as they’re walking through because they brush up against you? What’s the deal? Most department stores have about hundred doors in the front but they decide to walk through the one you have open?-

Hornets Tonight

Well, two posts in two days is a bit of a rarity these days but this is an important game.  If the Lakers can pull out a win tonight that will secure home court in the event that we play the Hornets in the post season.  We’ll see what Laker team shows up, but lately they’ve been better defense.  I expect the Hornets to come out with a lot of energy ready to avenge the previous two home loses.  Obviously, CP3 has the potential to go off on any given night, but will the rest of the team follow suit?  If CP3 goes off and the rest of the team takes the night off, that would be fine with me.  I have CP3 in three of my fantasy leagues so…cheers!!

 

Coming together

So rather than bash my team post after post, I decided to wait till I had something positive to say (kind of). Defense had been a mysterious thing previously. A mythical creature like a unicorn. Some people claiming to have seen it, but others discounting it as a fluke. That has not been the case the past few games. Last night Portland has shut down in the third quarter in route to a 14 point win. There was a span of 5 or so minutes that made me what to post a blog. The Lakers forced 3 consecutive 24 second violations, and the last one coming out of a Portland timeout. This is the team that will win a championship, the team that is playing to their potential, the team despite being somewhat shorthanded coming out with a a decisive win.
Now, on to the bashing portion of this post. Why can't the Lakers get fired up for every game like they did for the Boston game? Seems like the only reason for this explosion of great play was sparked from the win on Christmas day. I knew this team could play, but lacked motivation. Oh well, if it took a win against Boston to gain their confidence so be it. We'll see if they can avenge the loses to Miami and Indiana this weekend.