The New Sudoku Players' Forum

[udosuk]

These Rockets continue to surprise me... With T-Mac scoring only 8 pts, they managed to beat the Lakers by 25... Juwan Howard and Dikembe Mutombo continue to dominate in the absence of Yao, one each from the offensive and defensive ends respectively... And Battier, Alston and Head are in pretty good form from outside too... Believe or not, Mutombo, in the age of 40, got 19 rebounds and 5 blocks (just moved past Abdul-Jabbar)...

I think D'Antoni is a lock as the West's coach... You sure Marion would get selected? Suppose there are 7 spots for centers/forwards I think Yao (Rockets), Dirk (Mavs), Duncan (Spurs), Garnett (Wolves), Boozer (Jazz) are sure things, and some would argue Manu Ginobili (Spurs), Josh Howard (Mavs), Zach Randolph (Blazers) and Elton Brand (Clippers) are strong contenders, and I still haven't mentioned Melo who's coming out of suspension... That makes things pretty tough for Amare and Marion, and I think the Suns should be considered lucky if one between these two could get selected by the coaches... But Steve Nash most probably will be there...

Was D'Antoni the coach 2 years ago (2005) when the Suns were dominating the regular season? I think they almost won it all in all categories (3-pt shootout, PG skills challenge, mixed team shooting stars etc but Amare missed out on the Slam Dunk), but they lost the All-star game to the East... It's interesting that since 1996 every game has been won by the team from Shaq's conference... Let's see if this time will be different...

Added later:

Hud should like Thursday's Suns-Cavs game... It was a blowout (lead of 32 after 3 quarters) so no tension for the heart, Nash got 21 assists in just 30 mins, and with his 2 FGs accounted for 23/43 of all the Suns' baskets... And they had only 13 TO's (to the Cavs' 16) and out-rebounded the Cavs 50-46... The Suns' FG% was respectable (43/89=48.3%) while playing great defense in limiting the Cavs to 36/95=37.9% in FGs... 5 players got into double figures in score while 2 others got 8 pts... All in all a pretty dominant performance...

Next challenge will be Orlando on Sat... Let's see how they'll handle Dwight Howard...

[Hud]

I think Shawn Marion is the 6th highest forward in all star voting. He's 300,000 votes behind Battier. He might still find his way onto the team.

I forgot to see if D'Antoni was coach 2 years ago.

Last night the Suns probably played their best game of the season thus far. Lebron James was very gracious in praising Nash's play and the overall style of play of the Suns. Before the game, Nash said the Suns would have to start taking better care of the ball agains top tier teams. I noticed the Suns played some zone defense when I watched a couple minutes of a game awhile back.

You have to like the way the Rockets are pulling together without Yao. They can win with the great defense they play. Tonight they play the Nuggets who traded Boykins. I think they had some bad matchup problems when Boykins and A.I. were on the floor together. The game will be televised here starting at 8:30PM and I'll watch as much of it as I can. Too bad I completely skipped the Suns game last night. One of these days I'll watch one.

[udosuk]

The Rockets beat the Nuggets by 4... Perhaps it's because Boykins got traded to the Bucks like you suggested... But the new PG they took (Steve Blake) played pretty well too, getting 13 pts...

T-Mac once again hasn't scored big (12 pts, 11 asts) but Shane Battier was great, especially down the stretch... I was hoping he and Bonzi could play as well as they could to help out T-Mac & Yao and it seems at least he's doing fine now... Mutombo once again grabbed a double-digit of rebounds and it felt strange because 15-16 years ago when he joined the league he was playing for the Nuggets and aimed to challenge Olajuwon's position as the #1 center in the West... Now he's playing for the enemy against his old team...

I think the 7 bench players in each All-star teams are voted by the coaches, and the fans-voting only applies to the 5 starters... So it'll be depended on whether the coaches think Marion is valuable enough... If it's down to 2 out of 3 (Ginobili/Josh Howard/Marion) I think Marion might get cut (unfortunately)... But Yao is likely to be out, so Amare could well take up the starting center spot...

Added after Saturday's games:

Well done the Suns for beating the Magic... Boris Diaw once again got more assists than Nash and it's a pity he didn't grab the rebound to make the triple double... Once again they handled Dwight Howard well (10 pts, 5 rebs to follow his 4 pts, 3 rebs performance on Dec 11)... I think the Suns' (in particular Amare) have a way to stop opposing big centers... But probably not as well against great PFs such as Dirk or Duncan... They play the Griz (with Gasol) on Monday and Garnett's Wolves next Sunday... So they'll be opportunities to test my speculation if a good PF can beat them...

The Rockets squeezed through another win today in OT against the Kings... Which made them already 5-1 in the 10 games span I mentioned... But the last 4 games in this span are against the potential top 4 seeds in the West: Mavs, Suns, Nuggets, Spurs with the first two back-to-back next Tue & Wed... I truly doubt if they could challenge the Suns after visiting the Mavs the night before...

[Hud]

I have to give a "well done" to the Rockets for already getting the 5 games we spoke of. I wasn't going to say anything about it til the 10 games were finished, but you let the cat out of the bag. Right now, I think the Rockets are one of the top 4 teams in the league. When Yao returns, they should be even better. I wouldn't be surprised to see both the Suns and Mavs hit another bad spell before the end of the season. I hope it comes before the later part though.

I agree about the Suns shutting or at least limiting the opponent's center. I think now that Amare is back, Marion can devote all his time to the more mobile pf/f like Dirk and Garnett. I think the more balanced teams will give the Suns their toughest test. I like the way the Spurs share the ball.

[udosuk]

Naturally, every time I boast about the Rockets' success they'd lose the next game... I never learn... But heck, if they could beat the Mavs in Dallas without Yao it would be too scary to speculate about their chance in the playoffs... In this game T-Mac made enough shots (45 pts) but he didn't let the other shooters get into the flow, particularly Battier... I would say they're still clear underdogs in tomorrow's game against the Suns at home...

The Aussie Open (tennis) just got started and we've already seen 2 stars came back from the brink... I thought Sharapova was done when she got broken to trail 6-7 in the final set and was down 30-15 with her opponent (Camille Pin from France) serving... But she won the next 11 pts to win it all... And then last night Hewitt was 2 sets & a break down to an unknown American guy but somehow pulled it through... At least the home crowd got their tickets' worth...

I like seeing Chris Webber joining the Pistons... Although he probably won't replace Ben Wallace's defense, at least the offense should be much better than in the last playoffs when they got troubled by the Cavs and lost to the Heat...

[Hud]

Dallas really knows how to finish games lately. The Suns are developing that skill also, but the Suns let too many teams back in it forcing a strong finish. I agree 100% that one player shouldn't try to carry a team. I still can't believe the Suns lost to the Wiz when Arenas scored the 54(?) points awhile back. Tonight, the Suns are favored by 4 1/2 by the bookies. I predict a final score of 101-99. Notice I didn't say who wins?

I haven't followed much of C Web's career, but he must have been great at some point. He should help the Pistons if he can fit in with the other big egos on that team like Rasheed Wallace.

I hate to see the Suns lose Thomas since they'll be tempted to play Amare more than 40 minutes. They don't plan to get another player temporarily in Thomas's absence.

[udosuk]

The final score was 100-91 by the Suns... I bet you didn't know T-Mac would miss the game with his back hurting... That's from trying to carry the Rockets by himself against the Mavs...

But these other Rockets did quite well, and was leading by 15 before wilting at the end... Their PG Alston (Skip 2 my Lou) had a decent game scoring 29 pts and 8 asts (that's to be expected against Nash's not-so-great defense) but it's disappointing for Juwan Howard to 2/10 FG and only 7 pts, 3 rebs... And Mutombo (4 pts, 8 rebs) had his streak of 11 games of double-digit rebounding stopped... So perhaps the Suns defense on both the PF & C positions is solid enough... It's the PG defense that's the problem... Also Bonzi played a bit and it's a good sign...

For C-Webb, if you want to know a bit more about a player wikipedia is a pretty easy tool:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Webber

I don't know him that much in his Fab-5 days in U of Michigan (Juwan Howard was also a Fab-5 member BTW), but it seemed a big deal when the scandal about secret money made them erase all their records in basketball... And he's a known grass-smoker too... But somehow he's been quite popular in Australia, and a few years back I've seen many players wearing his jersey in the street courts...

[Hud]

You're right I didn't know T-Mac wouldn't play last night. I wonder if the Suns' increasing use of zone defense is partly due to Nash's problems guarding other point guards? I hated to see the minutes that some Suns players played last night. I just have a feeling that eventually, it will have an effect. Shawn Marion seems to be a very durable player. I don't recall the last time he was unable to play. Let's hope I didn't jinx him as I've been known to do.

That was an interesting read about C-Webb. I wonder why Jalen Rose has fallen so far? The article also mentioned Magic Johnson. I've always considered him the best player ever, but MJ seems to be the popular favorite for that title.

The Lakers seem to be playing pretty good ball lately. I think it coincides with Kobe's spreading the ball around. I really think the day of the "one man team" are over. Occasionally, a guy will win a game scoring the majority of his team's points, but not like in the past.

I wonder if the Suns would have taken a shot at C-Webb if Thomas had been hurt when he was available? I think not due to real or imagined character reasons.

[udosuk]

I can understand Marion being a sentimental favourite to many Suns fans... A solid down-to-earth guy with hard workmanship and little ego is certainly very likeable... I think Shane Battier is the Rockets version of him...

Magic is certainly great, and Michael Jordan's popularity was half-manufactured by Nike's marketing dept... But I think the HIV much affected Magic's popularity too... As for the best player ever I still think Wilt Chamberlain until somebody else scores 100 pts in a game...

The Lakers are certainly good when they click... But they aren't as consistent as the Mavs & the Suns... And the Spurs and Jazz are both in bad slumps lately... I could smell your desire to see the Lakers beat the Mavs in their next game, for your Suns to regain the sole possession of the #1 record... Beware of the Wolves, who's almost unbeatable when a leather ball is used... Of course, the Suns are the only team yet to lose a game with the leather ball...

I don't know whether the Suns went after C-Webb (he said 17 out of 30 teams asked him to join)... But they're not in his 5-team wishlist of Pistons, Heat, Mavs, Lakers, Spurs... That's because he wants to be a starter, and no way the Suns would let him be with Diaw/Marion/Amare all playing... And they said Amare's ego is pretty large too, so it's unlikely for them to mix well... I thought about the Rockets too (and they could have a decent chance negotiating with Juwan Howard being there)... But he probably don't want to play with Yao...

The next 2 games for the Rockets: Nuggets with Carmelo coming back and then the Spurs...

[Hud]

I watched the end of the Heat/Pacer game, and the first half of the Mavs/Lakers last night. The Pacers made a game of it but were trailing by 14 when I tuned in. The Mavs looked great, and I don't want to play them right about now. Udosuk, PM coming about my day's adventures.

[udosuk]

PM replied...

Today the Pistons defeated the Wolves in 2 OTs... But the genius stroke was Antonio McDyess provoking KG to a fight, resulting in both of them getting ejected... The Wolves without KG certainly can't beat the Pistons without McDyess... Especially with C-Webb playing a decent game (16 pts, 7 rebs, 4 asts with 8/12 FG)...

I'll wait and see if the league will suspend KG for the Suns game... If it turned out to be the case, the Suns' luck of seeing potentially tough opponents being suddenly depleted of their best players before the games is quite amazing...

On Nov 29, the Suns beat the Rockets with T-Mac hurting his hip the night before (against the Wolves)... Then on Dec 31, the Suns defeated the Pistons with Billups injured... And this Wednesday they again beat the Rockets missing T-Mac who hurt his back the night before against the Mavs, with Yao already sidelined... And don't forget on the opening day they faced a Lakers team without Kobe (though they still lost because of some amazing plays from Odom)... Well, I'm not saying they would have lost all those games if their opponents had been healthy, but you have to admit the Suns have been very lucky to have their full team intact throughout the season... Even the Mavs and the Spurs had their share of injury problems...

[Hud]

I noticed the same thing about the Suns and their opponents missing key pieces. I watched most of the game last night (Pistons/T-Wolves). I wasn't very interested in it but wanted to watch the later game; Nuggets/Cavs. I don't believe Garnet will be suspended since he only hit McDyess with the basketball, and really didn't throw it all that hard. The Wolves should have wont the game but Billups made a desperation 3 pointer to sent the game to either OT or double OT, I don't recall. When the game went to the second OT, I gave up and retired.

[udosuk]

The Rockets lost to the Nuggets today in OT... I thought Melo should be able to play, but turned out the blizzard which cancelled the Suns-Nuggets game last month required him to sit out for one more game... But again T-Mac was putting too much on his shoulder/back (9/25 FG or 36% for 24 pts, 10 asts, 6 rebs)... I'm pretty sure they'll now finish that 10-game span 5-5... You're right, I let the cat out of the bag way too early...

[tarek]

Believe it or not, but I'm actually a basketball fan & an NBA fan......The problem has been inability to watch it on terrestrial UK channels....

With FREEVIEW, there is a weekly game that is shown on Five US & I enjoyed a Rockets Mavricks game with T-Mac scoring 40+ points........ I'm not sure when this game was palyed but it made my day & it definitely is a change in pace compared to the Snooker Masters.

tarek

[udosuk]

tarek, glad that you watched the Rockets-Mavs game last Tuesday... I enjoyed watching/playing snooker too, and will follow today's Masters final featuring this Chinese wonder kid Ding junhui vs Ronnie O'Sullivan...