Hov's Kings - Retired

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Re: Hov's Sonics (2-5) - Losses pile up ...

Postby Martti. on Thu Oct 28, 2010 5:47 pm

hova- wrote: Martti., I really found some rhythm with the other guys, so when Evans comes back, I think we will be better than we were in the first three games with him. The injury kind of helped me to find more scoring opportunities. You changed your avatar to Haslem? James Jones had 20 and was 6-8 from downtown this night!


Yeah, but he bricked two wide-open threes on the same possession against the Celtics. :P
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Re: Hov's Sonics - Season Opener ...

Postby hova- on Thu Oct 28, 2010 8:17 pm

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Kevin Durant has lifted the Thunder to new NBA heights.


Thunderstorm in the NBA
By Carl Column, NBA.com
Posted on November 15th 2010 5:36PM


The Oklahoma City Thunder just seemed unstoppable. A team that has doubled it's win total in the last season and reached the playoffs for the first time in their young franchise history just seemed on it's way to reach a new plateau, a new level, pushing into contender heights. Than it happened.

After winning the first twelve games (12!) of the season, the Thunder finally lost a game. Finally, because things began to become screepy. Or what do you think about beating last year's Eastern Champion Boston twice. At home and at the Garden. Or winning against the Conference rival Spurs at home with 19 points (109-90, 38 points by Durant).

The Milwaukee Bucks managed what no one thought could be possible right now as they simply blew past the Thunder beating them 82-112 in what was already decided after the first half.

"We did not really get into our rhythm and as the shots were simply not falling we began to get impatient and had too many turnovers", OKC point guard Russell Westbrook said after the game that he finished with just 14 points and 6 assists.


Progression on every aspect

But that is also a big point in OKC right now. "With just 14 points and 6 assists". When Russell Westbrook started his rookie campaign in Oklahoma City, he averaged around 15 points and 5 assists. 14 and 6 would have been a solid to good outing for the dunking guard out of UCLA. But just as much as everybody else on the Thunder's roster, Westbrook took his game to the next level this season. Right now he is averaging 18.9 points, 8.2 assists and 5.5 boards per game and is also showing improvement on his shot selection as he shoots .533% from the field and .400% from beyond the arc.

The Thunder rank 1st in the league in OPPG with only 89 points per game against them. On the other hand their offense is good enough for 7th in the league (102.4PPG).

While Westbrook and Durant lead this team, the role players play a big factor in Oklahoma. Nenand Krstic, Jeff Green, Thabo Sefolosha and James Harden complete one of the best core of any NBA team right now. The Serbian center Krstic provides toughness and inside scoring, averaging 9.6 points and 5.5 boards per game.

Thabo Sefolosha and James Harden really complement each other. The first can guard any wing scorer in the league and makes almost no mistakes. The latter is averaging 12.5 points on .414% from downtown in his sophomore campaign. Jeff Green is flying under the radar a bit as his numbers have fallen, but his 12 points and 5 boards per game are exactly what the Thunder need next to Kevin Durant.


MVP from OKC?

Speaking of Durant. How good can one guy be? KD does everything a go-to-guy needs to do. He's scoring, crashing the boards, playing injured, playing with passion and he also comes up big when it counts the most. When the Thunder were struggling against the injury-plagued Jazz, Durant took over in the last, scoring at will and leading his team to a 101-97 road win, posting 35 points and 14 rebounds.
Against the Pistons, Durant scored half of his team's 88 points, a feat that only the big stars have achieved in this league so far. Apart from his 44 points, he also grabbed 8 boards and had 3 steals.

Durant not only scores at will, but he has also improved his defense. His 1.6 blocks and 1.9 steals per game make him a threat on the more important end of the floor as well and despite his wiry frame, the 6-9 Texas alumni is also able to back down against bigger guys in the post.


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On a level with Bird, MJ, LeBron?

Looking at his numbers, Durant seems already putting up stats like a legend. It's tough to say how good this kid already is and how good he can be, but it should be allowed to compare his figures with the ones of the NBA's elite. It's too early in the season to give the PER much emphasis (LeBron is also having a career high PER right now), but looking at his scoring output and his rebound, Durant's numbers look like a cross of Michael Jordan and Larry Bird. One thing, KD might need to improve is his passing, but this guy simply finds ways out of double-teams that do not need him to pass the ball a lot. His shooting game allows the Thunder to let Westbrook handle the ball more often and hit Durant when he's open. Simple put, this guy is amazing and the Thunder should be considered for Champion this year.

With all that said, Durant stays humble. "Sure, the team needs me and I try the best to be the go-to-guy. But I would never say "this is my team, baby" or something like that, as it simply does not reflect my personality and disrespects the other 13 guys on our roster".

Take a look at the career-highs of the cream of the crop in NBA history compared to KD's current campaign.


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Last edited by hova- on Thu Oct 28, 2010 9:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Hov's Sonics (2-5) - MVP FROM OKC?

Postby Valor on Thu Oct 28, 2010 8:58 pm

Damn, Durant's a beast in both virtual AND real life (Y) He should definitely be in the conversation for MVP, screw LBJ and his Miami Trio (Y)
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Re: Hov's Sonics (2-10) - MVP FROM OKC?

Postby dare on Thu Oct 28, 2010 9:24 pm

Yup Durant is a beast but I think in your association his a ballhog, his just forcing double teams or triple teams.
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Re: Hov's Sonics (2-10) - MVP FROM OKC?

Postby Martti. on Thu Oct 28, 2010 9:34 pm

He doesn't somehow fit with Bron, Bird and MJ, bacuse of the .9 assists per 36, but as a scorer I believe he could be come the second best. :)
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Re: Hov's Sonics - Season Opener ...

Postby The X on Thu Oct 28, 2010 9:39 pm

hova- wrote:With all that said, Durant stays humble. "Sure, the team needs me and I try the best to be the go-to-guy. But I would never say "this is my team, baby" or something like that, as it simply does not reflect my personality and disrespects the other 13 guys on our roster".

:lol: Sit will love this one :lol:
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Re: Hov's Sonics (2-10) - MVP FROM OKC?

Postby Fresh8 on Thu Oct 28, 2010 9:52 pm

Durant sure is beasting.

In my mind, he will always be the evil Durant. Much more interesting. :)
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Re: Hov's Sonics (2-10) - MVP FROM OKC?

Postby hova- on Fri Oct 29, 2010 12:31 am

Valor, right now I see him as the R2MVP leader.

dare, Martti., it's a sim engine problem that I will try to change (some ratings changes). He should at least average around 3 assists for realism imho.

The X, Sit, thought I would do some inter association footage. In my dynasty, Durant's the real Durant. ;)
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Re: Hov's Sonics (2-10) - MVP FROM OKC?

Postby Fresh8 on Fri Oct 29, 2010 12:44 am

The real Durant is secretly evil.
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Re: Hov's Sonics (2-10) - MVP FROM OKC?

Postby kibaxx7 on Fri Oct 29, 2010 1:17 am

KD needs to pass the ball a little more. :wink:
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Re: Hov's Sonics (2-10) - MVP FROM OKC?

Postby Valor on Fri Oct 29, 2010 1:52 am

Sit wrote:The real Durant is secretly evil.

As we've all discovered through the ALIB Trilogy :P You make it hard for me to like him in real life
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Re: Hov's Sonics - Roster Breakdown

Postby hova- on Fri Oct 29, 2010 2:21 am

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Sonics snap loosing streak, beat injury-plagued Jazz

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Some old-school performances by Larry Hughes and Jerry Stackhouse highlight the Sonics' win in Utah.


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Salt Lake City, November 23 (AP) - Omri Casspi records double double in road win against Utah.

It took the Sonics some time and maybe the right opponent at the right time to grab their first win after loosing five games in a row.

The Utah Jazz, now at 5-10 only two wins better than the Sonics, lost their third game in a row and also their third home game, tough for a team that only lost 11 of it's 46 home games (Playoffs included) last year.

"Without Deron (Williams) and with Andrei (Kirilenko) playing with pain we have a tough task, but we did not really show the effort to fulfill our duties tonight", Coach Jerry Sloan said.

For the Sonics, things did not start off very well as they trailed for most of the first half, but never let the Jazz run away too far.

Omri Casspi scored 30 points and added 11 boards, leading the way in the third with two straight three pointers in the face of Andrei Kirilenko.

"I have played with Dirk, I have played with some other great shooters in this league and I promise you, when it's all said and done this guy will be right up with these guys", Jerry Stackhouse told media after the game.

Stackhouse was one of the key factors for the Sonics' late surge as he scored 10 of his 12 points in the fourth. With three minutes left in the game he took two size up dribbles between his legs, crossed over Utah's veteran signing Larry Hughes, drove baseline and slammed it down.

"Definitely some vintage Jerry Stackhouse, he does not get up very high but he can still throw it down when needed", Coach Hova said later about the icing on the cake of the Sonics' win.

Stackhouse's dunk capped of a 10-2 run which gave the Sonics a comfortable lead to close out the game.

Larry Hughes, signed by the Jazz to shoulder the load Deron Williams left, had himself a ballgame. The 31-year old scored 32 points as he took 27 shots, he also added 5 assists and 4 steals.
Starting point guard Sundiata Gaines only scored 5 points and shot 2-12 including 1-7 from downtown driving his coach crazy.

Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap had 11 boards each, the first adding 16, the latter 14 points.

Still the Sonics had the better end, also because they outrebounded the Jazz 52-34 and only had 8 turnovers compared to Utah's 18.



NOTES: The Sonics grabbed a season-high 14 offensive rebounds, Carl Landry had a career-high 8 ... Utah shot only 4-22 from downtown ... Jerry Stackhouse led all Sonics with a +/- of +14 ... the Jazz will play against the Hornets at home while the Sonics move on to L.A. to meet the Clippers at Staples Center ... both teams only had 9 personal fouls ...

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Bayless traded to New Orleans ...
Bosh has 30/19 as Heat beat Granger-less Pacers ...
Clippers grab 2nd win behind Kaman's 19 points, 13 boards ...
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Re: Hov's Sonics (2-10) - We got the Jazz ... / MVP FROM OK

Postby Houndy on Fri Oct 29, 2010 8:30 am

Great win.

And I thought I was the only guy struggling on All-Star with a fairly decent team. 1-5 baby!
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Re: Hov's Sonics (2-10) - We got the Jazz ... / MVP FROM OK

Postby The X on Fri Oct 29, 2010 8:11 pm

Nice you got the win (Y)
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Re: Hov's Sonics (2-10) - We got the Jazz ... / MVP FROM OK

Postby Angelo on Fri Oct 29, 2010 8:17 pm

seems like an interesting association ill be following :D
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Re: Hov's Sonics (2-10) - We got the Jazz ... / MVP FROM OK

Postby dare on Fri Oct 29, 2010 8:17 pm

Nice win, should have vote for an article for Cassipi. Allstar season for him.
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Re: Hov's Sonics (2-10) - We got the Jazz ... / MVP FROM OK

Postby Valor on Fri Oct 29, 2010 8:52 pm

Awesome, Casspi is on a roll :)
Keep the Wins coming! (Y)
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Re: Hov's Sonics - Roster Breakdown

Postby hova- on Sat Oct 30, 2010 10:08 pm

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Hi and welcome to this week's version of NCAA talk. Today we had a chance to talk to UConn's big man and surefire number one pick of the 2011 NBA draft, Lance Meredith.
The 7-0, 255 lbs. center out of Connecticut will head into his last season of College basketball this year and has already declared that he wants to be a professional basketball player afterwards.

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NCAA Talk: Lance, nice to have you here today. First of all, how did you spend your time after the stunning Final Four this year when you and your teammates were able to bring the NCAA Championship to Uconn for the third time in college history?

Lance: Oh you know, I had a lot of stuff to do. First of all, I tried to attend all the intensive courses I could get to catch up on everything I missed while playing the Final Four. Apart from that, I tried to improve my game, definitely. I want to play in the NBA next year and there is much to work on. I also hung out with my girl and my family a lot after all this turbulent time during the NCAA tournament.


NCAA Talk: About your college career, you went from Yale to UConn after your rookie season and thus you had to sit out for your whole sophomore season @UConn. What was the reason behind the whole school change?

Lance: Well you know, actually I always wanted to study medicine at Yale. My grades were pretty okay, so I was able to take on medicine studies there like I always had dreamed of. While studying medicine I also played at the college team (Yale Bulldogs) in a minor college league (Ivy League). Everything worked out fine and I began to get better at basketball and scouts from all over the country came over to see me playing at Yale. So well, after some time I decided to leave Yale and take on my medicine studies at UConn, which is not far away from my hometown New Haven, so I had the chance to play in the first division of the NCAA with the Huskies.


NCAA Talk: Sounds like a pretty good decision as you were simply dominating at Yale (Lance averaged 36 ppg, 18 rpg and 3 blocks; editor's note), but wasn't it hard to sit out for the whole second season of your college career?

Lance: Actually it wasn't. I have always dreamed of being a doctor, helping children and other human beings. I did not care too much about basketball before. So I tried to stay in shape and get on with my studies. Basketball became more important of course, because that's why I changed school. But the studies still were a big part of my life.


NCAA talk: So when you played your first game in your junior season which was anticipated by many, you still were not 100% sure wether you will ever make it to the pros?

Lance: Exactly.


NCAA Talk: But you surely were after the game as your debut turned out to be one of the best UConn performances ever. (Lance scored 48 points and grabbed 14 boards also blocking 5 shots and missing only three of his 21 shots; editor's note)).

Lance: Well, I guess they simply did not know me and thus didn't try to defend me properly.


NCAA Talk: So after failing to win a title without you, UConn won it's first NCAA Championship since 2004 in your first season with the team. You were still posting sick numbers (28 ppg, 12 rpg, 3 bpg) and you also were the big reason for the win against Kansas. Do you think you will be able to repeat in your last season at college?

Lance: I hope so, definitely. Our chances are big, we did not loose one player from last year's run, we have all improved our games. I think we can win it again, yes.


NCAA Talk: Let's talk about your game and the NBA. Most guys say that you are the perfect cross of Tim Duncan and David Robinson. You can play in the post like Duncan and show some really good fundamental skills but you can also run the floor like a guard, something David Robinson was known for. Who's your idol and what do you think about that?

Lance: (smiles) Ahhh well, I would never ever compare myself to one of these guys. Those are Hall-of-Famers. Who am I? About the idol ... Tim Duncan must be a every big man's idol and he's mine, too, that's for sure.


NCAA Talk: So the Spurs are your favourite team, where would you like to play?

Lance: The Spurs are good, no doubt. But I don't have a favorite team in the NBA. I'm pretty much attached to my hometown and the region here. I would play for every team in the NBA. When you come into the league, you're a lucky guy and you got to be professional and play wherever you get to play.


NCAA Talk: Okay Lance, last question: About your nicknames, there are some decent nicknames in the NCAA reports about you. Some name you "The Doctor" because of your studies obviously. Other names are "Big Lance" or "Big L". What's your favourite?

Lance: (laughs) "The Doctor"!! Oh well no, I guess I don't care but they already called Julius Erving "Dr. J", so I'd rather go with "Big Lance". "Big L" is a rapper, so call me "Big Lance". Honestly, I don't care.

The interview was conducted by Ann C. Ay.
Last edited by hova- on Sat Oct 30, 2010 11:40 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Hov's Sonics (2-10) - Big Lance ? / We got the Jazz ...

Postby The X on Sat Oct 30, 2010 10:13 pm

Nice to see some draft coverage, even if his stats seem a bit too high :P
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Re: Hov's Sonics (2-10) - Big Lance ? / We got the Jazz ...

Postby Fresh8 on Sat Oct 30, 2010 10:36 pm

lol. agreed with The X.
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Re: Hov's Sonics (2-10) - Big Lance ? / We got the Jazz ...

Postby Martti. on Sat Oct 30, 2010 10:50 pm

lol at Ann C Ay. :lol:

Seems like the next Duncan in the making, pairing him with Cousins would be awesome for you. :P
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Re: Hov's Sonics (2-10) - Big Lance ? / We got the Jazz ...

Postby hova- on Sat Oct 30, 2010 11:34 pm

The X, 28/12/3 ? Pretty high but not unrealistic, considering the leaders in points were around 25 last season, in boards around 13 and in blocks ... some guys had 5 per game!

About the 46/18 and 3 ... he simply dominated the minor league, that's all I wanted to say :)

Martti., He's a guy everyone would draft with the 1st pick. But I hope I won't end up with a top 10 pick ;) Apart from that, I'm looking for a PG.
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Re: Hov's Sonics (2-10) - Big Lance ? / We got the Jazz ...

Postby Fresh8 on Sat Oct 30, 2010 11:38 pm

46/18 is a bit much ;)
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Re: Hov's Sonics (2-10) - Big Lance ? / We got the Jazz ...

Postby hova- on Sat Oct 30, 2010 11:40 pm

Sit, well, let's go with 36 and 18 then :D That's what I call an interactive Dynasty! ;)
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Re: Hov's Sonics (2-10) - Big Lance ? / We got the Jazz ...

Postby kibaxx7 on Sun Oct 31, 2010 3:18 am

Nice prospects update (Y) If the Sonics continue like this, you might see Meredith on your squad next year, lol.
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