hova- wrote:Always the same, Ellis and Jennings on the ASG - I hate it and I will try everything editable possible to avoid it in my story as it already happened when I was simming all the time.
Sessions sneaking in is nearly ridiculous, but I like him.
Mark. wrote:Nice chapter As old and decrepit as Rip is, I could see someone like SA or another of the title contenders having a use for him.
hova- wrote:I like Hamilton in the game, IRL he is really stumbling over the court. Don't know about dealing him. Funny how I cannot imagine him talkin trash. Hope you don't try to get Bargs.
Barnes MVP as Team Chuck wins BBVA Rising Stars
Game Story | Box Score | Team Stats | Player of the Game
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist literally jumped over the 6-11 Valanciunas for this jam
Houston, TX -- With Team Shaq featuring last year’s Rising Stars MVP Kyrie Irving and this year’s early favorite for rookie of the year Damian Lillard, many thought that they would have some revenge on last year’s loss to Team Chuck.
Harrison Barnes and Ricky Rubio had different plans.
Following a 42 point performance, including 6 three pointers, Harrison Barnes and Team Chuck walked away from All Star Friday Night with a 147-139 victory over Team Shaq.
As you might notice from the final score, not a whole lot of defense was being played, as typical of these exhibition games.
It was, however, very competitive, with the intensity only kicking up a notch after Bobcats rookie Michael Kidd-Gilchrist of Team Shaq did a tribute to Vince Carter by leaping over Raptors center Jonas Valanciunas for a monster jam. Kidd-Gilchrist also made a vulgar gesture following the dunk but no technical were called as both the officials and Valanciunas did not see it.
“We felt like it was a bit disrespectful on his part, to be honest with you” Valanciunas’ teammate on Team Chuck, Ricky Rubio said, “That definitely got our competitiveness going, we didn’t want to lose to a guy like that”
Rubio certainly picked up his game, as he dished out 22 assists – tying John Wall’s record set in 2011 – and added a further 12 points and 7 assists as he and Barnes led the charge for Team Chuck. Chander Parsons of the hometown Rockets dropped 31 of his own, as Team Chuck outscored Team Shaq 87-68 in the second half to take home the W.
Kidd-Gilchrist, who can be viewed as the spark that ignited his opposing team, didn’t do too badly himself, knocking down 10 of his 13 shot attempts for 21 points.
Team Shaq was led by the efforts of Warriors guard Klay Thompson, who, like Barnes, hit a game high 6 three-pointers and ended up with 34 points. Thomas Robinson of the Kings notched 22 of his own, while Orlando’s Gustavo Ayon continues his breakout season run with a 16 point, 11 rebound, 6 steals effort.
Last year’s MVP Irving, however, only shot the ball 7 times in 28 minutes to end up with 11 points and 16 assists. His rookie counterpart Damian Lillard of the Blazers had a modest 12 points and 10 assists in just 18 minutes played.
“Coach asked me not to play too many minutes to save my legs for the second half so that’s what happened.” Lillard said when asked about the limited minutes, “It was a lot of fun though and I’m just glad to be a part of it”
This now makes it two in a row for Team Chuck, as they also won it last year with Irving leading the charge.Game Highlights
hova- wrote:WTF is MKG doing there. Making JV look silly on that one. Nice to see some high scores, sick game by Barnes and no defense and at all. Must be great for Bulls fan to have these games to see some offense at all
White clinched the title with this lefty windmill dunk from the foul line
White wins 2013 Sprite Slam Dunk
Official release
Posted Feb 17, 2013 2:50 AM
Houston, TX -- After spending years as an internet sensation for his various free throw line throw downs, the New York Knicks’ James “Flight” White finally had the ultimate trophy to vindicate his status as one of the best dunkers of all time.
In his third stint in the NBA after signing with the Knicks in the offseason, White proved himself worthy this season as an NBA player, appearing in 47 of the Knicks’ 50 games so far. The guard/forward then showed his world class dunking ability last night at the 2013 Sprite Slam Dunk contest, defeating the 2011 champion Blake Griffin of the Los Angeles Clippers in the final round with an array of dunks that lives up to his “Flight” nickname and impressed judge Clyde “The Glide” Drexler.
“Very impressive stuff” said Drexler, “He (White) is definitely a special dunker”
White captured 61 percent of the fan votes in the final round to edge out Griffin, the favorite to take home another title coming into the contest. The other competitors, Taj Gibson of the Bulls and Alonzo Gee of the Cavaliers, finished 3rd and 4th, respectively.
White becomes just the third Knick to win the contest, the others being Nate Robinson (3 times) and Kenny Walker.
Ryan Anderson edged out Stephen Curry in the final round to win the Foot Locker Three Point Contest.
Anderson wins Foot Locker Three-Point Contest
Official release
Posted Feb 17, 2013 2:50 AM
Houston, TX -- Coming into the event, there was only one word on Ryan Anderson’s mind.
Redemption.
In last year’s event, the then hometown favorite did not even make it out of the first round, citing being “star-struck” and caught off guard. This year, he made sure to prove everybody he’s the best in the business, as the league’s leading three point shooter (151 makes) edged out All Star Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors, 23-20 in the final round to win the competition.
His Hornet teammate Eric Gordon finished in third place with 17 points in the final round; while JR Smith of the Knicks, Chauncey Billups of the Clippers, and Louis Williams of the Hawks ended up as 4th, 5th, and 6th place respectively after being eliminated in the first round.
“I really wanted to come in and get that trophy” said Anderson, “I felt like last year I kinda lost it away being so nervous and I’m glad that I managed to get that win”
Anderson becomes just the first New Orleans Hornet player to win the contest. Last year, Kevin Love bested Kevin Durant in the final round to take home the title.
Mark. wrote:Man cool Rookie game. Good idea watching on casual. I think I will do that next time too
Axel. wrote:Nice presentation of the ASW so far. I never imagined MKG arrogant enough to pull off a vulgar gesture. Also cool to see Parsons drop 31.
You know, it never once crossed my mind to just watch the Rising Stars Challenge/All-Star Game instead of playing it, having done two years' worth of ASW coverage in my association. I think that neutral approach is much better, letting the CPU do its thing and seeing what highlights can arise.
#thierry wrote:Just read the chapter. Hamilton in San Antonio would be nice, he would do better than T-Mac
MVP Curry Breaks Three Point Record as West Wins in OT
Game Story | Box Score | Team Stats | Player of the Game
Curry’s three at the buzzer gave the West the victory
Houston, TX -- While he was all smiles as he congratulated Ryan Anderson on winning the Foot Locker Three Point Contest the previous night, Stephen Curry was silently fuming at himself for conceding the title of the three-point king to another person.
He took to another avenue to prove his skills as a deadly marksman.
Playing in his first All Star Game, Stephen Curry shattered the All Star game individual three point record, making 10 of his 13 attempts and dropped a game high 32 points in 20 minutes of play, including sinking the game winning 3 point dagger at the buzzer in overtime, to lead the Western Conference All Stars to a 146-145 victory over the East.
The previous record for threes made in the All Star game by an individual was 6, held by Mark Price in the 1993 game.
“Shots felt good, so I kept shooting” said Curry, who was named MVP of the game, “As a shooter, you don’t think, you just shoot. I just emptied my clip out there and they dropped in the hole”
Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant both had 21 apiece for the West, while the Rockets’ own Jeremy Lin finished with 8 points and 9 assists in front of the hometown fans in his first appearance.
The East was led by the forward duo of Lebron James and Carmelo Anthony, who had 31 and 25 points, respectively. James also added 7 rebounds, 8 assists, and 5 steals in the losing effort.
Chicago’s Joakim Noah, starting at center for the East in his first All Star appearance, finished with 16 points, 7 rebounds, and 8 assists.
As typical of an All Star game, the abundance of dunks, flair, and up-and-down action were definitely in presence on Sunday, but there was also an elevated level of competitiveness, as the game saw endless lead changes and neither team leading for more than the East’s 13 point lead early in the third quarter.
“We wanted to win badly and so did they” said Bryant, “That’s what the fans came to see, competitive basketball”
Not everybody had it easy though, as a bunch of first timers showed their nervousness from the very start. Brandon Jennings of the Milwaukee Bucks threw up 2 airballs for his first two attempts while Orlando center Gustavo Ayon forgot to pull his warm-up pants off before checking into the game.
The game capped a weekend of change in Texas, where David Stern presided over his final All-Star game as commissioner and players' association executive director Billy Hunter was voted out of office - a result he seems likely to contest.Game Highlights
Mark. wrote:Very nice stats there. Looks like it would have been a fun ASG to watch.
hova- wrote:Freaky All-Star game with Curry stealing the show.
I like the deal, getting some bigs is important for you as your bench is very thin on this end. Mid-round picks are my favorite picks as you can get very solid players there that can contribute right away and you don't feel like you have to do too much with them just because you drafted them with a high pick.
Rivalry heating up between Heat and Bulls. I guess you are already preparing for a nice Playoff story
#thierry wrote:Solid deal for you man, but yeah, the backcourt is suffering now. Keep it up
Grading the Deals: NBA Trade Deadline 2013
Feb 16th, 2012 09:56 PM EST
The 2013 NBA Trade deadline came and went on Thursday afternoon, and the word quiet doesn’t even begin to describe this year’s transaction cutoff date that has otherwise been historically frenetic. A grand total of six deals were completed as of the deadline, and you’ll have to count in everything that happened in the month of February to make up that number, with the first deal coming all the way back on February the 5th, and the final deal being on the 20th. The high-profile guys who were rumored to be on the block, like Paul Pierce, Josh Smith, Kevin Garnett and Jeff Green, all stayed put. Below you can find all the deals made before the trade deadline in chronological order and some analysis as to why they were completed.[/size]Celtics Trade Brandon Bass to the Bobcats for Tyrus Thomas
This trade is really mind boggling at first glance. Actually, it is still very mind boggling after a million glances, as it makes very little sense for the Celtics to give up on Brandon Bass for Tyrus Thomas. The only strand of argument that could be made in defense for Danny Ainge is that Thomas, at 6-10 and ultra-athletic, can add to the Celtics length in the front court and maintain such length when Kevin Garnett and/or Fab Melo needs a breather. Both LSU products, Bass is just 1 year older than Thomas and makes $6 million less while having a much more polished offensive game, as evident by the career high 32 point outburst in just his 5th game as a Bobcat just 8 days ago. Thomas’ best game so far in a Celtics uniform is a 14 point, 7 rebound performance in a loss against the Raptors.
This is easily the best move by Michael Jordan as an executive, surpassing his draft selection of rookie Michael Kidd-Gilchrist with the #2 overall pick, and also one of the worst moves ever in the renowned career of Danny Ainge.
Grade for Celtics: D-
Grade for Bobcats: AMavericks Trade Chris Kaman to the Hornets for Jason Smith
Kaman, a former all-star was signed in the offseason in the hopes of being a dominant one-two punch in the Mavericks front court with Olympic teammate Dirk Nowitzki, but things quickly turned downhill and sour when another former All Star – Elton Brand – won the job in the middle during training camp. Brand was claimed off waivers for the Mavericks after being amnestied in the offseason and has since been a solid contributor to a Dallas squad that has struggled to keep in the playoff race with Dirk sidelined for most of the first two months of the season with averages of 11 points and 8 rebounds.
The Mavericks finally parted ways with the disgruntled center, sending him to New Orleans for the ever-solid Jason Smith. Smith, an excellent mid-range shooter and a decent rebounder, will contribute well coming off the bench for the Mavericks while Kaman will get to start alongside the Hornets’ #1 overall pick Anthony Davis, who slides down to the power forward position.
This is a good trade for both teams, with the Hornets perhaps coming out as the better end in terms of talent, but the chemistry issues solved by the veteran Mavericks might just be addition by subtraction as they prepare for a playoff push to end the regular season.
Grade for Mavericks: B
Grade for Hornets: B+Grizzlies Trade Rudy Gay and Hamed Haddadi to the Raptors for Ed Davis, Jose Calderon, and the Raptors’ 2013 second round pick
Grizzlies Trade Jose Calderon to the Pistons for Austin Daye and Tayshaun Prince
The Grizzlies, in a money-saving motivated move, was able to find a taker for Gay in the form of the Raptors without too much of a loss. They were able to do a slight downgrade at small forward to Tayshaun Prince that saves the team about $10 million per season while still fitting what they do on the floor. Considering the money they have committed to other players, that flexibility allows them to add depth and continue to be a more versatile and challenging team moving forward. They were also able to get Ed Davis, who’s revelation this season with the Raptors and gives Memphis an incredibly deep big man rotation. That depth can be used to withstand injuries since an injury to anyone other than Marc Gasol could be weathered by just moving everyone’s minutes up or it could be used in a trade down the line to strengthen the perimeter.
The Raptors, being who they are, got their big name star one of the only two ways possible – trading and taking on a big cap hit star, the other being developing their own star in the draft. Rudy Gay gives the Raptors some more scoring punch at the wing and Gay now forms a very athletic and capable duo with DeMar DeRozan. However, as aforementioned, they take a big cap hit and now with DeRozan and Gay alone have committed a $27.3M investment each season for at least the next two years.
The Detroit Pistons, on the other hand, gets rid of Tayshaun Prince’s long term contract and continues on their rebuilding phase. Jose Calderon should be a nice fit shepherding the young guards Detroit already has on roster, it will be possible to sign him to a reasonable deal after this season and then make a decision about whether Brandon Knight actually makes sense as the future lead guard of the team or to trade him for a swingman and try again without the team falling off a cliff. A logical and practical trade for a team in desperate need of one.
Grade for Grizzlies: B
Grade for Raptors: C+
Grade for Detroit: A-Bulls Trade Richard Hamilton and Bulls’ 2013 second round pick to the Mavericks for Mavericks’ 2013 first round pick
Bulls Trade Marco Belinelli to the Suns for Jermaine O’Neal and Luke Zeller
Mavericks Trade Dahntay Jones and Bernard James to the Suns for Sebastian Telfair
This certainly falls into what was the likely story of the deadline: avoiding the tax.
It was no secret that the Bulls have been shopping around what little assets they have, namely Carlos Boozer and Richard Hamilton, in a bid to get under the luxury tax as owner Jerry Reinsdorf, who has never paid the tax, wants no part of it this season either, especially with the new CBA rules in place to punish repeated offenders. So it comes to nobody’s surprise that they have finally pulled the trigger and shipped out the few tradable assets they have outside of former MVP Derrick Rose and the All Stars Joakim Noah and Luol Deng. Despite having little to no leverage in these negotiations when everybody knows your back is against the wall, the Bulls were still able to come up with a pretty decent deal for Tom Thibodeau’s squad, despite it costing them both of their shooting guards in Richard Hamilton and Marco Belinelli.
The Bulls’ biggest addition would be the veteran Jermaine O’Neal, who despite being far from his former All-Star days with the Pacers, is still a skilled big body down low who is definitely an upgrade over Nazr Mohammed coming off the bench and would relieve Noah off some of those heavy minutes. In addition, they managed to get what is projected as a mid-late first round pick from the Mavericks, although at the cost of their own second round pick in the same draft.
Mark Cuban is known for splashy moves one after the other and this is no surprise as he looks to further improve his squad’s chances of a postseason run without sacrificing future cap spaces. The 35 year old Hamilton gives them a much needed veteran presence in the backcourt and a solid scoring punch off the bench behind the ever erratic OJ Mayo, especially with Vince Carter sidelined indefinitely with a leg injury. Hamilton has a team option after this season for $5M, which will probably be declined as the Mavericks look to make a run at free-agent-to-be Chris Paul. In addition, the Mavericks also traded away their guaranteed contract to the first-rounders in what is widely considered a weak draft, swapping it with a second round pick (non-guaranteed contracts) from the Bulls.
The Suns, added into the deal to make finances work under the constraints of the cap, really didn’t do anything that impacts their short or long term prospects. Currently holders of the league’s worst record, they got rid of disgruntled guard Sebastian Telfair, who has fallen out with both the coach and the rest of the locker-room, and hopes that this is addition by subtraction as they eliminate a bad influence for their young guys. Belinelli, a capable point guard as well as a deadly shooter, is a great pickup for their injury-plagued backcourt and might just be young enough to still be in the Suns’ future despite having already gotten 6 seasons under his belt.
Grade for Bulls: B-
Grade for Mavericks: B
Grade for Suns: BMagic Trade Glen Davis, Dequan Jones, and Kyle O’Quinn to the Nuggets for Timofey Mozgov, Jordan Hamilton, and Evan Fournier
Another case of addition by subtraction by the Orlando Magic, as they continue to move on from the Dwight Howard saga by unloading one of his best buddies on the roster in Glen “Big Baby” Davis. True to his nickname, Davis has been moaning about playing time and shots all season long despite being out of shape and have fallen completely into the dog house, averaging a career low 3.8 points and 1.7 rebounds in 52 contests. The Magic, who are a rebuilding team that is surprisingly competing for a playoff berth at 25-27, both gets rid of a locker-room cancer and saves money in the process.
Meanwhile for Denver, George Karl has been known for his ability to deal with troublesome players (see: JaVale McGee) over the years, and between Mozgov being stuck behind McGee and Koufos on the depth chart and Kenneth Faried going down with a broken jaw, the addition of the 27 year old forward from LSU will certainly help. Davis’ ability to stretch the defense will definitely be beneficial to the team provide that he’s in the right mindset, and that doesn’t look to be a problem for George Karl.
Grade for Magic: A
Grade for Nuggets: B-Rockets Trade Cole Aldrich, Tony Douglas, and Patrick Patterson to the Kings for Thomas Robinson, Francisco Garcia, and Tyler Honeycutt
Effectively moving Patrick Patterson for Thomas Robinson (and some pieces) absolutely makes a ton of sense for a Rockets team that has had plenty of time to evaluate Patterson and his fit with what they have. Robinson has a ton of potential and possesses the additional benefit of two extra years of team control. On top of that, Francisco Garcia and Tyler Honeycutt could absolutely contribute to a team set at the starting perimeter spots but lacking somewhat when it comes to swingman depth.
The difference in years under rookie deals could end up hurting Sacramento relatively soon. After all, having a player closer to his peak makes remarkably little sense for a team who should not be looking to win the rest of this season and likely cannot make much noise next year. He could help try [emphasis on try] to stabilize former Kentucky teammate DeMarcus Cousins, but that is not enough of a benefit to outweigh the other costs. Now is far too early to give up on Thomas Robinson, especially when doing so for a guy who helps them more at a less valuable time in the team’s progression.
Grade for Rockets: A-
Grade for Kings: D+
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