The New Sudoku Players' Forum

[Hud]

Last night I saw some replays of the Rockets/Nets. Battier was unconscious hitting 3 after 3. I really think the Rockets can stick around til Yao comes back and hopefully have him at 100% for the playoffs.

I also saw some of the Pistons/Knicks game at the end of the second OT (I believe). The Pistons had just taken a 4 point lead with 17 seconds left and it looked like game over. This morning, I check the boxes and the Knicks had won. I saw a last second 3 pointer to tie the game, but there must have been some fouling in there someplace also.

I've been pleasantly surprised to see A.I. being such an unselfish player while still scoring quite a few points. He set up Boykins for many of his points. Now we'll have to see if Melo is also as unselfish when he returns.

The Suns/Mavs game tonight should be a barn burner. The Suns are trying to do some damage control by saying it's not important to win; just show improvement over the last meeting. I'll bet it's going to be a playoff atmosphere.

[udosuk]

It's another great battle today between the Mavs & the Suns... Too bad the Suns lost by 2 at the end, to a Dirk game winning shot... As good as Nash is in offense, defensively he just couldn't handle Jason Terry... But last time the loser of these teams managed to win 12 straight afterwards, so I wouldn't be too disheartened if I'm a Suns fan...

Iverson scored 44 pts today with 10 assists and the Nuggets had another solid win against the undermanned Sonics... Their next 8 opponents are the Hornets, Mavs, 76ers, Lakers, Jazz, Bucks, Spurs and Rockets... It should be a good time to assess how well Iverson would play under George Karl, with Melo still suspended... And the game against the 76ers should be interesting for Iverson too... J.R. Smith would be out for the last 3 games of these 8, and they should be expected to beat the Rockets at least...

Hud, you might not know but we can vote in nba.com for the All-Star starters once everyday... I have been voting for T-Mac/Kobe/Dirk/Duncan/Yao and Arenas/Carter/Lebron/Bosh/Dwight... But I'm not that sure about my Eastern selections, especially about Chris Bosh as a forward... But my Shaq-hatred somehow prevents me from voting for Dwyane Wade and vote for Vince Carter instead (whom I'm not too keen on neither)... If only Andrew Bogut had put himself in as a forward instead of a center...

If you like to support your Suns players, you should go there and vote too... However I don't think Nash will get the starting spot ahead of T-Mac/Kobe/Iverson and Amare is not likely to catch up on Yao, but they should get the coaches' votes as reserves anyway... And Amare should get the backup starting spot if Yao does not recover in time... (Personally I wouldn't mind seeing him rest more to prepare for the playoff run instead...)

[Hud]

Nice wins last night by the Suns and Rockets. I continue to be impressed by the Rocket's defense. These low opponet's scores can't be accidental. I actually wanted to view the Suns last night but couldn't get it on my crappy satellite service.

I kept seeing updates of the Lakers game and was a bit surprised to see the Bobcats (I believe) ended up winning by 9 (again I believe). Kobe can't do it alone, but I suppose he tries to carry the team on his shoulders.

I just can't get into voting for the all star team. Maybe the Suns won't be represented, but will surprise some people at the end of the season. Our newspaper is making a big deal about them having an 0 and 5 record against the Mavs, Spurs, and Jazz. Not much counts til the playoffs I think.

[udosuk]

The Bobcats is a freak team... Of the 9 games out of 30 they won so far, the victims are: Cavs, Spurs, Celtics, Nets, Pistons, Magic, Jazz, Lakers, Pacers... All of them are playoff contenders and 5 of those games were won when the opponents were division leaders... Yet they managed to lost to the Grizzlies, Hawks and Knicks (when they were slumping) and the Rockets and the Suns gave them back to back 30-pt thrashing earlier this month... It figures as Michael Jordan is one of the team owners...

It's still early days about the All-Star results but I keep thinking Nash should have gotten more support due to his Canadian fan base... I wonder would the Canadians support Chris Bosh/Vince Carter more or him...

Today the Suns play in Detroit... Should be another good game... But Billups is injured so Nash should have an easier time in defense... (The previous 2 games they lost were mainly due to Nash being unable to defend the opposing PGs Arenas & Terry...)

[Added after the games]
As expected, Nash and the Suns defeated the Pistons without Billups... So at least they've beaten one of the "elite" teams...

The Rockets just scraped past the Grizzlies by 2... They gave up 109 points () to the run and gun offense of the Griz... Mike Miller (32 pts, 7/10 3pt) almost killed them... Without Yao, I can't see them have any chance against the Suns on Jan 17 judging from the performance in this game...

Lastly, hope all of us have a peaceful and healthy 2007!

[Hud]

That was an amazing bit of info about the Bobcats. I'd noticed they won a couple games I didn't think they would, but not as many as you noted.

I guess the Mavs are the hottest team in the league right now. It'll all come down to who is hottest when the playoffs start.

I'm very surprised that the Suns came back to win last night's game. After 3 quarters, they were down and looked out. Last season they never won a game in that fashion til the playoffs. Barbosa might be the new "ice man".

[udosuk]

The Suns narrowly won another game today in Toronto... With Nash starring in the 4th quarter in his native country... The amazing thing about the Suns is their ability to consistently win the games they're supposed to win... The 8 games they've lost so far were to: Lakers, Jazz, Clippers, Spurs, Mavs, Jazz, Wizards, Mavs... All were quality opponents I'd say...

The Rockets beat the Sonics today, but just... The next 10 opponents are Jazz, Wolves, Bulls, Lakers, Nuggets, Kings, Mavs, Suns, Nuggets (with Melo), Spurs... It would be a marvelous effort even if they could win 5 out of those 10 games...

[udosuk]

The Aussie Cricket team got the perfect retirement gifts to Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Justin Langer & Damien Martyn - a 5-0 whitewash Ashes series, the first time in 86 years...

Hope Cec has enjoyed the series with all the exciting plays... Also our English viewers here (probably not as much )...

[Hud]

Udosuk, I had a premonition that you were going to ask me what I thought about the pending RJ trade to the D-backs. Anyway, as you can probably guess I'm not very keen on it, but I believe it has a lot to do with the $44m (I think that's it with accrued interest) in deferred money the D-backs owe him. We really did mortgage the future to have a shot at winning the crown back in 01. It would really be great if RJ returned to form after his back surgery and made the Hated Yankees regret their decision. The Yankees have tentatively penciled in 2 Asian pitchers in their starting 4 or 5. I wonder if Roger Clemens will go back there again?

We needed a small break from basketball, but I suppose it's a bit early to get into baseball. The Rockets are starting the very tough stretch you mentioned, tonight against the Jazz. I think the Rockets will prevail due to their league leading defense. I agree that winning 5 of the 10 games would be quite an accomplishment.

[Cec]

"....Hope Cec has enjoyed the series with all the exciting plays... Also our English viewers here (probably not as much )...

Yes, it was great for Australia to regain the "Ashes" but frankly I thought the previous series in England was far more exciting as a contest.

Cec

[udosuk]

Cec:
Yes, the 2005 series was definitely more competitive... Hopefully we'll get better contests in the 20/20, One-dayers and the World Cup...

Hud:
Your premonition was right on... When I read that piece of news I wondered what your reactions might be... I keep thinking since RJ and Curt Schillings beat the Yankees in WS '01 the Yankees have never won another crown... So acquiring RJ didn't work... And I don't think getting Clemens would...

As for the D-backs to recapture the crown... Perhaps they should get both Schillings and B Kim back to the team... :!

The Rockets lost to the Wolves in OT today... But what's been amazing me is how the old bigs Dikembe Mutombo and Juwan Howard stepped up in place of Yao... Unfortunately Bonzi is hurt again... I think the more he plays the better he'll blend with the team in playoff time...

The Suns won again today, while the Mavs lost to the Lakers... So these 2 teams are tied in the loss column (8) right now... With the Spurs and the Jazz fading they're the likely top 2 seeds in the West...

[Hud]

That was a tough loss for the Rockets last night. The Timberwolves are a good team though. Tonights game against the Bulls should be another toughie for them. The Bulls are favored by 5 points. I look for a low scoring game; something like 82-75 since both teams play very good defense.

The Suns Win was impressive in that it was mostly due to the bench players stepping up. They almost had 7 players in double figures. I'm really glad they are limiting the minutes played by all the starters. I cringe when I see Nash play 45-48 minutes. 30-36 probably allows him a little rest. Some of the players are really glad the leather ball is back. I wonder if some of that's psychological?

[udosuk]

You're really good at predicting results too! The Rockets defeated the Bulls 84-77, so each team just scored 2 more points than your 82-75 prediction... But I doubt if you picked the Rockets as the winners...

In the 2OT game with the Nets last month, Nash just played 47 minutes (out of 58)... So in a regulation game I suppose he should play about 40 minutes, unless it's a blowout and he sits the 4th quarter out...

I just checked out the Suns schedule here... They've won 6 straight since losing to the Mavs, and the opposition this month isn't particular tough for them, the most challenging being meeting both the Cavs & the Wolves twice, and perhaps visiting the Rockets next Wed... The real tests will be the 1st 3 games in Feb against Spurs, Jazz, Nuggets, and then some more easy ones for the rest of the month... So at the end of Feb their record could be something like 46-12 approaching the final 2 months when the true fun starts...

Regarding the ball issue:

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban asked several members of the University of Texas at Arlington physics department to test the balls. What they found, is that the new ball, when dropped from a height of 5 feet, bounced an average of 4 inches lower than the old ball. They also determined that the composite ball is slower to absorb moisture than the previous leather ball.

So apparently the problem could be actually physical rather than merely psychological...

[Hud]

Udosuk, you must admit that I didn't say who would win the game tonight lol. I would have gotten the score right but I forgot to factor in the extra 2 points each team got due to the new ball. I guess that's the way the ball bounces. I hope you're up on American Slang. Everyone is hoping Steve Nash doesn't start licking his fingers to get a grip on the leather ball as he used to do. I wonder if the Suns lack of injuries (touch wood) could be due to the restricted playing time? The Suns have been in a pretty soft part of their schedule, but I like the way they've taken care of business.

It looks like Earl Boykins' game has improved a lot since A.I. joined the team. I haven't been following them all that much til then though.

They played the big college football championship here in the Phoenix area tonight, They actually laid new sod over the existing sod less than a week ago. The footing seemed very good and there were few slips that I saw. Evidentally, Florida liked it and buried the favored Ohio State team. After the game, they will remove the new sod and transplant it onto a high school football field in Scottsdale. I wish I could put some of it on my lawn.

[udosuk]

Steve Nash licks his fingers to get a grip on the leather ball?! Ew... That's gross... I'm a bit mysophobic (the slight version of obsessive-compulsiveness about cleanliness and hygiene), and I wouldn't play basketball with anyone who does that... So well done, you've just managed to destroy any good image of Nash to me...

Another behaviour I highly dislike is soccer players (or tennis players on grass) constantly spitting on the field/court... Maybe they have some grass flying into their mouths or something, but whenever I see them do it in front of the screen I get shivers... And I remember seeing Tim Henman do that in one of the Wimbledon tournament several years ago and I never like him anymore... But I guess it's pretty common in many sport on grass, perhaps also baseball & cricket? But I've never seen any cricket players (Aussies at least) do that on screen...

The Lakers, after defeating the Mavs, managed to lose to the Griz today... But they still are doing a pretty good job without Lamar Odom and their center Kwame Brown...

Earl Boykins is only 5'5 but makes up with his speed... It'd be interested how Nash will cope with him...

[Hud]

Earl Boykins is usually a non-factor when the Suns and Nuggets meet. I think that's what has impressed me with his play of late. I'd bet he'll do better the next time we meet.

The sportswriters made a little fuss about the possibility of Nash licking his fingers. I haven't heard any feedback about whether he has picked up the habit again. Maybe that had something to do with his long hair image

The Sonics always seem to play the Suns tough and last night was no exception. It's funny that some teams just seem to match up against other teams better than others.

I can't figure the Griz beating the Lakers last night, but I suppose the 46 points they scored in the 3d quarter was all it took. That sure is a lot of points.

I was hoping the Jazz could beat the Mavs last night, but the Mavs know how to close out games. D'Antoni will probably be the west's coach in the all-star game. If the Mavs have the best record, Avery can't coach since he was last year's coach. Naturally, D'Antoni will be vilified if he names more than 2 Suns players to the squad. Shawn Marion should be a shoo in, but the west is awfully heavy in very good forwards this year.

Randy Johnson had his first interview with the press since rejoining the D-backs yesterday. He handled himself pretty well, but you could tell he isn't comfortable in those kinds of situations. RJ takes after me in that respect, but I'm not interviewed very often