For Memphis, Anything is Possible

Last night the Memphis Grizzlies toppled the San Antonio Spurs in Game 6 to become just the 2nd team since the 2007 "We Believe" Warriors team to beat the #1 seed since the playoff format had move to a 7 game series for the first round.

But this feels so much better than the Warriors win for its unpredictability.  Yes the Warriors were a #8 seed as well, but that team had Don Nelson as coach (who if you'll remember knew the ins and outs of that Dallas team, having coached them for so long) and had also taken the season series against Dallas in convincing fashion.

But almost NOBODY thought the Grizzlies could do what they did to the Spurs.  The Grizzlies were missing one of their best players in Rudy Gay and had never even won a playoff game before this series.  The same Grizzlies who were derided (and still are) a few years ago for trading their best player to the Lakers seemingly for scraps. The guys who decided to take a chance on the much-maligned Zach Randolph.

These same Grizzlies are now advancing to the 2nd round.  They won by playing with toughness and heart, utilizing their size down low, and playing tough defense.  Many people will say that the Spurs were simply too old or too small to hang with the Grizzlies.  But the Spurs won 61 games in the regular season this year, with a core that had won 3 championships together.  They were trying to win, and the Grizzlies were simply better.

Will that be the case in the next series?  Who knows.  But don't be surprised if come a month from now we're still watching the Grizzlies play.  For Memphis, anything is possible.

Big Balls Prokhorov FTW

"Yo Mikhail, how big are your balls?"

In a press conference today, Mikhail Prokhorov, owner of the New Jersey Nets, came out and told the media that any proposed trade for Carmelo Anthony was officially dead.  He stated that the talks had gone on too long and that the toll had been too much on the team, and that the Nets were officially walking away.

That takes some serious cojones, and I applaud Prokhorov for doing it.  All along, New Jersey has had the best offer for Carmelo on the table, but they kept getting dragged around by Denver's Front Office, who simply wanted to see how much they could get.  Their thinking was obviously that New Jersey wanted Melo more than anything, so they were going to try to squeeze as much out of them as possible.

But now with Prokhorov putting his foot down (and wisely not mortgaging his team's future in the process), the Nuggets will have to settle for a lesser offer.  They'll still get something for Anthony, maybe even a lot of something, but it won't be nearly the same value that New Jersey could have offered.

Greed isn't always good.

Pacers' Youth Gone Wild

Remember when the Pacers looked like honest-to-God, above .500, growing-to-a-brighter-future contenders for a decent seed in the East? If not, then that's probably because it was fairly early in the season. Since then, the Pacers have suffered from an overall Roy Hibbert regression alongside bad shooting and shot selection from Danny Granger. When your two key players struggle your team is bound to follow, obviously. And the Pacers are 4 games below .500 and hanging on to the 7th spot in the Eastern Conference, a game ahead of the surging Charlotte Bobcats.

However, hope springs eternal, friends. The Pacers have recently enjoyed the benefits of improved play from some of their younger players. Tonight in particular the Pacers needed a little extra help to take down the short-handed Mavericks(Dirkless, yet again). The lines:

Darren Collison - 6/9 from the field, 5/6 from the foul line for 17 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 turnovers,  3 steals and a tied-for-team-high +/- of +12.        

Paul George - 6/9 from the field, 4/6 from 3-point range for 16 points, 4 boards, 2 steals and no turnovers.

Alongside these obviously fantastic performances (and the reason the Pacers were able to pull away in the fourth quarter, eventually winning 102-89), Tyler Hansbrough started at PF and played 17 minutes. He finished with 6 points and 3 rebounds on 2/6 shooting (and 2-2 shooting at the foul line), which doesn't sound good at all, obviously. However, I'm willing to argue that he's making strides in confidence (coming off a great game against the 76ers before this one) and making a lot of positive plays that don't show up on the stat sheet (classic white guy hustle talk, I know). His +/- of +4 was better than that of both Danny Granger and Roy Hibbert, though that could have been indicative of some different lineups thrown out by Jim O'Brien.

Either way, JOB's newfound trust in his young players appears to be paying dividends already, and I certainly agree with the move. When your traditional veteran-heavy lineups are struggling and your team's performance is trending downward, there's no reason to not give younger guys a shot. Stay on the lookout for a newly inspired Pacers team, led in part by some new faces.

Recap Haiku: January 7th, 2011

Recap Haiku is the Pick and Scroll's daily recap featuring yesterday's NBA games.

San Antonio 90 at Indiana 87:
Timmy and Tyler 
Lead their teams but only
Tim tastes victory

New Jersey 77 at Washington 97
Are you Kidding me?
I Watched very briefly but
Twas nothing to see

Chicago 99 at Philadelphia 105
Surprise, Chicago
A big third for the Sixers
Ended things so soon

Toronto 102 at Boston 122
Harangody, Raps
He's nothing at which to sneeze
As you discovered

Portland 108 at Minnesota 98 
Wes Matthews made sure
To bury the Timberwolves
With huge second Q

Houston 95 at Orlando 110
Run but you can't hide, 
Rockets, As J-Rich destroys
hopes for victory

Utah 99 at Memphis 110
Both teams played hard
But only one turned the
ball over too much

Miami 95 at Milwaukee 101
So close but so far
Milwaukee rode Boykins and
Bouges to no avail


New Orleans 97 at Los Angeles (Lakers) 101
David West and Pau
Face off and how they shined
A good fight, Hornets

Cleveland 98 at Golden State 116
Monta powers Dubs
A win over Cleveland I
didn't really watch

New York 121 at Phoenix 96
I expected this
Please, Phoenix front office, blow
this whole thing sky high

Recap Haiku: January 6th, 2011

(Credit to Sactown Royalty user Chen Prince. Follow him on Twitter.)

Recap Haiku is the Pick and Scroll's daily recap featuring yesterday's NBA games.

Thunder 99, Mavericks 95
Tale of Two Half Mavs.
They came out scorching early,
But fizzled out late.

Kings 122, Nuggets 102
All Kings, All the time.
Tyreke looks like his old self,
And Nuggets just sucked

Recap Haiku: January 5th, 2011

Recap Haiku is the Pick and Scroll's daily recap featuring yesterday's NBA games.

Magic 97, Bucks 87
Battle of the bigs:
Superman versus Bogut.
Wasn't even close.

Sixers 109, Wizards 97
John Wall can pass.
14 assists on the night,
Only 1 turnover.

Nets 96, Bulls 94
Machine won the game,
After nearly losing it
With a silly foul.

Raptors 120, Cavaliers 105
Cavs were up fifteen.
And they ended up losing,
Also by fifteen.

Celtics 105, Spurs 103
An exciting game,
Rondo had triple-double,
22(!) assists.

Bobcats 108, Timberwolves 105 OT
DJ Augustin
Scored 8 in last two minutes,
To force OT win.

Warriors 110, Hornets 103
24 for Paul,
But only two in the fourth.
Not MVP like.

Trailblazers 103, Rockets 100
Great game for Speed,
45 on 18 shots,
But had little help.

Hawks 110, Jazz 87
Johnson and Crawford,
Had 54 combined points.
That's firepower.

Clippers 106, Nuggets 93
Bill Simmons was right.
Blake is an unreal talent,
A true joy to watch.

Lakers 99, Suns 95
Suns went big tonight,
Hoping to match Lakers size.
It didn't work well.

Recap Haiku: January 4th, 2011

Recap Haiku is the Pick and Scroll's daily recap featuring yesterday's NBA games.

Knicks 128, Spurs 115
Did Pop just give up?
Or did Knicks just beat the Spurs?
Little bit of both.

Heat 101, Bucks 89
Heat are "Cerberus".
Mythical Three-Headed Dog,
That guarded Hell's gates.

Bulls 111, Raptors 91
Might not win title.
But if I was contender,
Don't give me the Bulls.

Grizzlies 110, Thunder 105
Tony Allen scored!
He beat you with 19 points!
TONY "Ray" ALLEN!

Mavericks 84, Trailblazers 81
Caron out for year,
But Aldridge had little help,
Couldn't win alone.

Hawks 108, Kings 102
Kings comeback fell short.
Mainly 'cause their defense sucked.
Hawks backcourt killed them.

Lakers 108, Pistons 83
Pistons unlucky.
I wouldn't want to play Champs,
Coming out of slump.

Recap Haiku: January 3rd, 2011

Recap Haiku is the Pick and Scroll's daily recap featuring yesterday's NBA games.

Heat 96, Bobcats 82
LBJ and Wade,
A pairing for the ages.
Tonight they showed why.

Magic 110, Warriors 90
He stood up on high,
The Prodigal Turk returned.
His speech was brief: "Ball".

Celtics 96, Timberwolves 93
Love is not enough.
Despite a great three quarters,
The Wolves collapsed late.

Hornets 84, 76ers 77
Sixers tried comeback,
But it wasn't meant to be.
NO CHAPU FOR YOU!

Nuggets 113, Rockets 106
Ziller mapped scorers.
Carmelo must've read it,
Bested Speedracer.

Jazz 102, Pistons 97
T-Mac's Legacy:
To put up great statistics,
But to no avail.

Recap Haiku: January 2nd, 2011

Recap Haiku is the Pick and Scroll's daily recap featuring yesterday's NBA games.

Knicks 98, Pacers 92
Knicks were on a slide.
Needed a win for morale,
And STAT provided.

Hawks 107, Clippers 98
A Strong Second Half,
And a Big Game from JoJo,
Led Hawks past Blake's Clips.

Celtics 93, Raptors 79
Return of Rondo,
Meant Rejuvenated Pierce
And Big Baby too.

Mavericks 104, Cavaliers 95
Matrix Reloaded
He did well in Dirk's absence,
Leading Mavs to win.

Kings 94, Suns 89
Haters Gonna Hate,
But they can't stop DeMarcus.
Neither could the Suns.

Trailblazers 100, Rockets 85
Little Patty Mills
Had career highs in points, steals.
Not bad Mr. Aussie.

Grizzlies 104, Lakers 85
What's up with LA?
They don't look like Champions.
Lets wait for Playoffs.

Recap Haiku: January 1st, 2011

Recap Haiku is the Pick and Scroll's daily recap featuring yesterday's NBA games.

Bulls 100, Cavaliers 91
Cavs won each quarter,
Except for the crucial third,
Where they scored nine points.

Hornets 92, Wizards 81
CP3 and Wall
But Matchup of the game was
Ariza and Young.

Heat 114, Warriors 107
Dubs had a hot start,
But then regressed to the mean.
Heat's Big Three played great.

Timberwolves 103, Nets 88
Machine led the Nets
Which is a terrible sign,
And why Wolves won big.

Nuggets 104, Kings 86
Carmelo came back,
But Nuggets didn't need him,
Not to beat the Kings.

Spurs 101, Thunder 74
Game of Old and Young.
Experience and great D
Won the Spurs the game.

Bucks 99, Mavericks 87
Three game losing streak,
All three without Nowitzki.
Mavs need their German.

Jazz 98, Grizzlies 92
Z-Bo keeps rolling
But Grizzlies fall once again
This time to good team.

Christmas Hiatus: Happy Holidays

Merry Christmas everybody, I'll be taking a week or so vacation for the holidays, so expect new posts and new recap haikus to continue at the start of the new year.

So here's to a great Christmas and a great 2011 for everyone.

Recap Haiku: December 22nd, 2010

Recap Haiku is the Pick and Scroll's daily recap featuring yesterday's NBA games.  I apologize for not doing one yesterday, I was still too traumatized by the events of the last Kings game, but we're now back to your regularly scheduled programming.

Hawks 98, Cavaliers 84
Jo Jo at his best
Still not worth a max contract
But he's very good.

Bulls 87, Wizards 80
Chicago's Big Three
Rose, Boozer, and Joakim
Is really quite good.

Pistons 115, Raptors 93
Another Big Lead
This time the Pistons held it
Led by Rip's face mask.

Knicks 112, Thunder 98
Raymond Felton, y'all
Most underrated pickup?
To this blogger, yes.

Celtics 84, 76ers 80
14 straight for C's
Despite tons of injuries
This team is so deep.

Hornets 105, Nets 91
Okafor Ballin,
Thornton and West helping out,
Makes CP3 glad.

Jazz 112, Timberwolves 107
"Never say Never"
That's the Jazz motto this year.
ANOTHER comeback.

Spurs 109, Nuggets 103
My condolences
To Carmelo Anthony
Who lost his sister.

Rockets 97, Clippers 92
Griffin is unreal
But he needs his team to help,
Night in and Night out.

Recap Haiku: December 20th, 2010

Recap Haiku is the Pick and Scroll's daily recap featuring yesterday's NBA games.

Jazz 101, Cavaliers 90
Sloan tied Pat Riley,
For the third-most coaching wins.
But he doesn't care.

Wizards 108, Bobcats 75
Since the Gilbert trade,
Wizards have been playing well.
Most of all, Nick Young.

Hawks 91, Magic 81
It's gonna take time,
For chemistry to happen.
Wasn't there last night.

Pacers 94, Hornets 93
Granger shoots for win
And Dunleavy gets the tip.
What a great ending.

Mavericks 98, Heat 96
Dallas hates the Heat,
Who they lost a title to.
Poured it on last night.

Spurs 118, Suns 110
Nobody better,
Than the Spurs are as of now.
Who knows when they'll lose.

Trailblazers 106, Bucks 80
Jennings out for weeks,
So Dooling starts in his place.
Bit of a drop-off.

Rockets 121, Warriors 112
Ellis v. Martin.
That's always a fun matchup.
Martin has more help.

Clippers 113, Timberwolves 90
Griffin and Gordon.
Two great pieces to build on.
Clips will be scary.

Recap Haiku: December 19th, 2010

Recap Haiku is the Pick and Scroll's daily recap featuring yesterday's NBA games.

Lakers 120, Raptors 110
Raps aren't giving up,
Gave the Lakers their best shot,
But wasn't enough.

Nets 89, Hawks 82
Plus-Minus is flawed
Sasha was +23!
Hawks hate the Machine.

Celtics 99, Pacers 88
Coach Jim O'Brien
Playing T.J. Ford and Jones
Over Roy, D.C.

Rockets 102, Kings 93
Kings have two bright spots:
Cousins is learning quickly.
Also, top 4 pick!

Pistons 111, Hornets 108 OT
Gordon on Fire.
Looked like his Bulls days again.
It was Bynum-ite.

Suns 113, Thunder 110
Grant Hill for 30!
Outscoring Kevin Durant!
Who says he's too old?

Recap Haiku: December 18th, 2010

Recap Haiku is the Pick and Scroll's daily recap featuring yesterday's NBA games.

Heat 95, Wizards 94
Low B-Ball IQ:
Thing McGee and Blatche both have.
Nick Young was Ballin'

76ers 97, Magic 89
Big trade for Magic
Meant only 8 men could play.
Advantage Sixers.

Cavaliers 109, Knicks 102 OT
Three L's in a row
For the slumping New Yorkers.
Yay, media hype!

Clippers 100, Bulls 99
Rose got to the line.
Had to hit both for OT.
He missed the second.

Jazz 95, Bucks 86
Utah's go-to move:
Get down by double digits
Then come back and win.

Spurs 112, Grizzlies 106 OT
This Spurs team is fun.
So are the Grizzlies at times,
When they aren't stupid.

Nuggets 115, Timberwolves 113
Career-High for Love
But not enough to get win.
Total bummer dude.

Trailblazers 96, Warriors 95
Great night to watch games.
Most went down to the wire.
That is sooo Wesley.

Thoughts on the Magic-Suns-Wizards Blockbuster

I'm going to Orlando to play with Hedo? Ball.

The Magic made two trades today in the hopes of possibly re-invigorating their franchise's title hopes.  The first was with the Phoenix Suns in which they sent Vince Carter, Marcin Gortat, Mickael Pietrus, their 2011 first rounder and $3 million to bring back former Magic player Hedo Turkoglu, Jason Richardson and Earl Clark.  The 2nd trade was for much maligned star Gilbert Arenas, for which they swapped Rashard Lewis.

Recap Haiku: December 17th, 2010

Recap Haiku is the Pick and Scroll's daily recap featuring yesterday's NBA games.

Pacers 108, Cavs 99
Blow it up Cavs.
Trade everyone and start fresh.
Rebuild through the draft.

Lakers 93, 76ers 81
Hawes against LA.
He is a Lakers Killer,
Rest of team isn't.

Thunder 102, Kings 87
DeMarcus Cousins
Improving by leaps and bounds.
But Kings still losing.

Heat 113, Knicks 91
Knicks were overhyped.
James got his Triple-Double,
And Heat got the win.

Raptors 98, Nets 92
Bargnani, a star?
He sure was against the Nets,
Outplayed Brook Lopez.

Clippers 109, Detroit 88
Clips with a blowout,
Surprisingly on the road.
Pistons are a mess.

Hawks 90, Bobcats 85
Joe Johnson returned,
Had a so-so performance.
But it was enough.

Hornets 100, Jazz 71
After some bench time,
Thornton is back to 6th man.
Its about damn time.

Rockets 103, Grizzlies 87
Dominant first half
For the streaky Rockets
Means an easy win.

Mavericks 106, Suns 91
Dirk and Steve: Old Buds
But Dirk got the best of him,
Since Nash left early.

Trailblazers 107, Timberwolves 102
With Brandon Roy out,
Rudy had a career night.
Aren't you glad you stayed?

Recap Haiku: December 16th, 2010

Recap Haiku is the Pick and Scroll's daily recap featuring yesterday's NBA games.

Nets 97, Wizards 89
Nets are 1-0
With Vujacic on the Team.
Sasha is Machine.


Celtics 102, Hawks 90
Jason Collins starts?
Are you effing kidding me?
Has to be Blackmail.


Spurs 113, Nuggets 112
Manu, the Poo God
Again hit the Game-winner.
Then he got the stop.

Recap Haiku: December 15th, 2010

Recap Haiku is the Pick and Scroll's daily recap featuring yesterday's NBA games.

Celtics 118, Knicks 116
Show at the Garden
Paul Pierce with the Game Winner
Amar'e's won't count.

Lakers 109, Pacers 94
Payback was needed
Kobe and Pau meted it,
Never gave up lead.

76ers 105, Clippers 91
The Duke Hawes era
Has officially begun.
He's too cool for school.

Bulls 110, Raptors 93
Il Mago was out,
Not that it really matters.
Still wouldn't have won.

Heat 101, Cavaliers 95
Where was this effort
When LeBron came to Cleveland?
Boobie outscored him.

Hornets 94, Kings 91
So frustrating.
Kings get 23 point lead,
Still manage to lose.

Grizzlies 113, Bobcats 80
Big time Grizz smackdown
on a reeling Bobcats team.
They missed having Crash.

Thunder 117, Rockets 105
K-Mart: great scorer,
But an awful defender.
Thabo! scored 15.

Spurs 92, Bucks 90
Who else would it be?
But Manu Ginobili,
As the horn sounded.

Suns 128, Timberwolves 122
Channing Frye for Three!
Was probably heard a lot.
Made 7 of 12.

Mavericks 103, Trailblazers 98
LaMarcus Aldridge
Was a one man wrecking crew.
But didn't get help.

Thoughts on the Nets-Rockets-Lakers Trade

If you haven't heard by now, the New Jersey Nets, Houston Rockets, and Los Angeles Lakers have agreed in principle on a three team trade.  New Jersey receives a 2011 first round pick from Los Angeles, a 2012 first round pick from Houston, and Sasha Vujacic.  Houston receives Terrence Williams and Los Angeles receives Joe Smith.

The deal makes sense for all three teams.  New Jersey deals a player in Williams who, while very talented, has been a bit of a disappointment and headcase (he was recently sent to the D-League as punishment for excessive tardiness) for an expiring contract in Vujacic and two more first round picks with which to use as assets, possibly in a trade for Carmelo Anthony.  New Jersey now has four first round picks within the next two years (one each from Houston/L.A./Golden State and their own) with which to entice Denver, as well as their lottery pick from this year, Derrick Favors.  Along with several expiring contracts, that's a much more appealing offer than one New York, team Carmelo reportedly wants to be traded to, could put together, as the soonest first rounder New York can send out in a trade is in 2014.

Houston's Daryl Morey has also struck again, essentially dealing a lottery protected pick for a guy drafted #11 overall last year, and at the position of biggest need for the Rockets.  Williams is a player who needs guidance, and a team like Houston, with players like Battier (whom Williams admires), is more capable of giving it than a young rebuilding team like the Nets.  Morey has now acquired two lottery picks from last years draft (Jordan Hill and now Williams) for less than if he had the picks in the first place.  In a minor second trade, the Rockets are sending little used guard Jermaine Taylor to the Sacramento Kings with cash for a 2nd rounder they likely won't ever receive.  This saves them from keeping Taylor's contract on the books if they had waived him to make room for Williams.

On the Lakers end, the deal was almost purely financial.  As they are over the Luxury tax, Vujacic's deal of about $5.5 million would've cost them double that amount (you pay one dollar for every dollar you are over the tax), so by subtracting that amount with Smith's contract, the team saves about $8.7 million. That's quite a bit of savings.  There's also the fact that unlike Vujacic, Smith is a veteran who can actually provide some solid frontcourt minutes for a Lakers team that has a propensity for bigs that get hurt.  This will be Smith's 13th different NBA team (tied for an NBA record), so he knows his way around the league.

So for now I'm calling this trade a clear win for the Rockets and the Lakers, and a wait and see approach for New Jersey.  It all depends on what they use the picks for.