Rudy Gay Traded to Sacramento: Rudy Gay was traded from the Raptors to Sacramento on Sunday night in a salary dump for Toronto. To say Raports fans are excited to move on from Gay is a understatement. Just check out the headline in this post. Kings screwed up their potential cap space with this trade while opening up some room on their depth chart. I would give you my thoughts on this trade, but I'm still sobbing over it. BTW, the Kings aren't done dealing yet.
Crazy Uncle Kobe is Back: Kobe Bryant came back from his injury on Sunday night against the aforementioned Raptors. He was pretty "meh" in the game but it will take a few weeks for him to adjust to the lineups around him. One thing Kobe gets to look forward to in the future is more crap like this from Nick Young.
Michael Beasley Has Improved????: John Schuhmann of the Hang Time blog looks at the most improved shooters in the NBA this year and Michael Beasley comes in as the 2nd most improved shooter. What???? Marco Belinelli comes in at first. Beasley and Belinelli play for the Heat and Spurs now. So maybe it's true that some guys need to find the right team/coach? Tyreke Evans continues to regress. His shooting numbers have regressed even from last year. His regression from his rookie season will never not amaze me. I thought he was going to be something special, yet he's turned into a regression machine.
Who Knew Detroit's Offense Wouldn't Improve with Josh Smith and Brandon Jennings?: In one of the least surprising articles I've read, the Detroit Pistons are terrible on offense. Who didn't see Josh Smith and Brandon Jennings not helping Detroit's offense? You don't have to be a numbers guy to understand that Josh Smith takes terrible shots and the same with Jennings. Take a look though at Detroit's offense as a whole though and see how bad it is.
Who's Good at Defense?: TrueHoop looked at the data to see who's good at playing defense. Of course the entire Indiana Pacers team is on that list but there were some surprises and that surprise is named Omri Casspi. I started reading about how Casspi helps the Rockets defense while he's on the floor and instantly became depressed. The Kings had Casspi and traded him and a draft pick for JJ Hickson. I don't miss Geoff Petrie.
GOOD GOD THAT'S JUSTIN F's MUSIC!: My friend @JustinF writes a weekly Friday column at Liberty Ballers. You should check it out.
A Look Ahead: A look at the best basketball games
Friday, December 13th, Houston at Golden State (ESPN): Houston has been playing better lately going 7-3 in the last 10 games. Golden State has become the king of comebacks.
Saturday, December 14th, Cleveland at Miami: Cleveland has been playing better lately but they're still a mess.
Sunday, December 15th, Minnesota at Memphis: Still waiting for Minnesota to be better than .500.
Monday, December 16th, San Antonio at Clippers: Still waiting for the Clippers to beat San Antonio.
Tuesday, December 17th, Lakers at Memphis: Lakers haven't looked good since Kobe returned and Kobe hasn't looked good. Probably doesn't help that he looks overweight.
Wednesday, December 18th, Indiana at Miami (ESPN): I hate when the NBA schedules these games so closely. The Heat and Pacers only play 3 times this year and the schedule makers schedule two of those games a week apart.
Thursday, December 19th, San Antonio at Golden State (TNT): What if Golden State is trailing San Antonio in the 4th quarter? Do they make another comeback? See this is why I'm not totally buying into the Warriors as a title contender. They have to make comebacks in too many games. You can't do that in the playoffs, especially against a team like San Antonio.
I've sort of resigned myself to the fact that the Warriors, as they're built right now, aren't a title contender. Anyone who thought that way before the season began was fooling themselves in the same way Cubs fans think this year is next year. I looked at it like this: I wanted to see how well they did against the teams in the West that I thought were better teams--Spurs, OKC, Memphis--as well as how they did against a team like Houston that gave them trouble. Well, they've beaten OKC once as well as a very injured Grizzlies team last weekend, but outside of that it's still a "beat teams you're supposed to" kind of team.
ReplyDeleteYou also made a comment recently about the lack of depth they have and I wholeheartedly agree. Jermaine O'Neal has been okay, but I'd give anything to have Jarrett Jack coming off the bench.
I still believe Marcus Thornton would be perfect for them coming off the bench but A) would the Kings trade with a division rival and B) do the Warriors have anything to offer that would make the Kings want to make that trade? I say No and No to both.
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