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…