No morning links from Phillip today, he’s resting up from dunking over people in his men’s league. At least that’s what he told me. So, you only get my random musings…
*I know it’s been a few days, but congratulations to Duke for winning the NCAA Championship. I’ve never really been a fan of the Blue Devils, but I give credit where it’s due. That also means that we have a winner in the FB&G tourney pool – letshannondunk took the prize this year with two of the four teams in the Final Four while also picking the correct champion. So congrats to you as well. Drop me an email so we can get you set up with a fresh FB&G t-shirt.
*I must give a special mention to Don Nelson today. Last night, in a win over the Timberwolves, Nelson became the all-time winningest coach in NBA history – passing Lenny Wilkens. Over the years I’ve been hard on Nellie, but today he deserves recognition for this great accomplishment. On a side note, did you see Steph Curry’s line from that game last night? This kid had 24 points, 14 assists, 8 rebounds, and 7(!) steals. I know that Tyreke Evans has the ROY award sewed up, but I can’t get enough of Steph Curry.
*After yesterday’s post on Kobe’s extension, I’ve been thinking a lot about team payroll and getting the most production for the dollars that get spent. Yesterday, Kevin Pelton put up a great post over at Basketball Prospectus on what teams around the league get the most bang for their buck in terms of wins vs. dollars spent on payroll. It’s no coincidence that a team like the Thunder is at the top, especially with their core players still all on their rookie contracts and one of them (Durant) is one of the best players in the league.
*Do you like cool looking charts? Have you been over to hoopdata.com and played around with this thing?
*On Sunday the Celtics beat the Cavs. On Tuesday they lost to the Knicks. In the comments lil’ pau said “we’re not the only ones, for what it’s worth”, referencing (I’m assuming) the recent up and down play of the Lakers. I only bring this up because I read this and I thought that I’d rather have our problems any day of the week over the boys in green.
*Finally, I never got into “Lost”. It just never resonated with me. Am I missing something?
sbdunks says
Heck yes, you’re missing something Darius. Did you try and watch from the first season on dvd? Thats how I, and most people I know, got hooked. It’s a commitment, frustrating at times, a labor of love haha. But this final season has been pretty great. I’d highly recommend it.
Oh, and if anyone has never seen The Wire… proceed directly to netflix and queue it up.
james says
lost rules but yes the Wire is quite another beast
P. Ami says
Wow!!! From LOST to the Wire? That’s like going from Fruit Loops to Fruit Salad.
I’m watching this last season only because I know it’s almost over. Imagine a scenario where the writers consistently paint themselves into a corner and then use ACME paint to draw their way out through the wall. I think this season has had 3, maybe 4 good episodes, last season sucked, and the season before was okay. So, if you don’t mind the lack of narrative accountability (since they established flashbacks, flash forwards, and then flash sideways as central aspects of the plot) then hop on. Personally, knowing what I know now, I would suggest you stay away.
Steph Curry is why the Dubs have been the team, other then the Lakers, that I watch the most on League Pass. There is Curry, and then those few games this season where they took some excellent teams down to the wire (Cavs, Denver, ATL) all on Nellie’s special form of crazy. Maggette at the 4, Ellis at the 2, Curry at the 1, and whoever isn’t on the IR at the rest of the spots. I have a feeling Nellie actually likes it that way.
alex v. says
The Don Nelson “record” illustrates exactly why I hate sports records based on longevity. How many games did he get credit for after he quit coaching in all but name (and paycheck!) in Dallas? How much has he hurt the Warriors by screwing around and alienating the players (some of whom deserved to be alienated, but still)? I get that he was innovative once upon a time, and that he’s had some good years with less than great talent, but it seems he’s been pretty awful for the last decade or so.
I gave on Lost pretty early, when it became clear the writers had little more idea of what was going on than the rest of us. So far I really like the new show Justified on FX (starring Tim Olyphant, best known as the marshall in Deadwood).
robinred says
Western Conference standings:
1. y-LA Lakers —
2. x-Dallas 4.5
3. x-Denver 4.5
4. x-Phoenix 4.5
5. x-Utah 5.0
6. x-Portland 7.5
7. x-San Antonio 7.5
8. x-Oklahoma City 7.5
A three-way tie for 2nd with a 4th team 1/2 game out, and a three-way tie for 6th.
Also:
Lakers 55-22
Orlando 55-23
T says
Most of the “top” teams seem to be struggling recently. Aside from the Cavs/Magic I haven’t seen anybody playing consistently great.
And ya, Lost is great. The episode from Tuesday was fantastic.
lakergirl says
The wire was really one of the best TV shows out there…too bad it wasnt too popular.
I never watched Lost cos i didnt get the concept. How long can someone be lost for?
BrooklynBoyKP says
Lost is a joke, the writers never thought it would last more then 1 season so they just went crazy to generate interest so when it actually got popular the writers just created random stuff to get themselves out of logical barriers. The best analysis is the writers knew as much as what was going to happen as the fans did.
Don Nelson is pretty bad, he was “innovative” at one time but there are so many better coaches this record is meaningless he only gets it because he has coached for a long time. Warriors have great players and with a great coach they could be moderately successful. It could be worse then the best rookie (in my opinion) monta ellis and numerous good players like maggette and morrow.
Aaron says
Great little note from Hollinger today on the leagues worst ball hogs…. and I thought the Lakers were getting the ball stopper?
“Trevor Ariza, Rockets
Ariza is the league leader in a type of shot I call the “Contract Justifier” — at least once a game, especially early in the season, he takes a ridiculous one-on-one heave for absolutely no reason … except, one wonders, to justify his full midlevel deal and newfound “star” status with the Rockets.
The irony is that this has had the exact opposite effect: Ariza’s TS% is a brutal 47.5, the fourth-worst of any player with a usage rate above 20.0, and as a result his PER is well south of the mark he posted as a role player in Los Angeles.”
Craig W. says
I feel the Wire was the best TV show in many years. The way they ended it kept the flavor of the show alive, but boy what a downer. Life is like that, I guess. I am thankful mine is better – so far.
flip says
if you look by the last 10 games, phoenix and portland are killing it. denver has won its last three games. feel bad for those guys because of the bad luck with karl, but i won’t shed any tears if we destroy them tonight. guys like don nelson symbolize all that is wrong with nba coaches. he’s an entertaining guy but he leaves teams worse than when he got them. the most defense i’ve seen out a nelson-coached team is when you criticize don nelson. that’s about as defensive as it gets. And defense wins titles. Never saw “Lost,” but i heard that this year’s episodes was inspired by the lakers bench play. the wire was the best episode.
Yusuf says
Ariza will perform better with Yao back next season. He would’ve been one of the all-time great role players if he stuck in LA tho. He couldve been a Laker Legend like Rambis and Cooper.
Darius says
The Nuggets game preview is up.
http://www.forumblueandgold.com/2010/04/08/preview-and-chat-the-denver-nuggets-3/