Danilo Gallinari Video: Watch Nuggets Forward Blow Game-Tying Layup
December 31st, 2011 by Austin Green No comments »
Danilo Gallinari had a chance to force overtime in L.A. on Saturday, but the man known as the "Rooster" choked on a routine lefty layup versus the Lakers.The embarrassing play was a fitting end to Gallinari's worst game of the season.The third-year man out of Italy missed nine of 12 shots against the Lakers, including all four of his three-point attempts. On the season, the usually sharp-shooting Gallinari is hitting just 34 percent from the field. Last season, after the Knicks traded him to Denver as part of the Carmelo Anthony deal, he connected on 37 percent of his threes. So far this year he's bricked all but two of his 16 three-pointers, giving him a god-awful percentage of 12.5.It's early in the season and the lockout-shortened training camp provides a convenient excuse for Gallinari's struggles. But if his poor play continues, Denver will have to rethink the 6'10" forward's ...
2011-12 NBA Season: The Most Overlooked Member of the Oklahoma City Thunder
December 31st, 2011 by Kevin Hsu No comments »
The Oklahoma City Thunder are favorites to win the West this year. Their success has been created through smart draft picks, as well as the emergence of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. The Thunder have slowly become a model organization through valuing necessity over talent. Among one of the Thunder's best draft decisions is Nick Collison. Collison had a storied career at Kansas before entering the NBA as the twelfth pick in the 2003 NBA draft by the Seattle Supersonics. Since then, he has quietly become a valuable player on the Thunder.Although his stats are not gaudy, they do demonstrate his effectiveness. He consistently shoots over 50 percent from the field and over 70 percent from the free-throw line, all while providing smart play offensively. He also sets great picks, which in turn sets up good looks for his teammates. Although his offense is nothing to sneeze at, his play defensively ...
Utah Jazz Find 3 Things To Build on in Win Against the Philadelphia 76ers
December 31st, 2011 by Chris Johstoneaux No comments »
After two games where it seemed that nothing went right for the Utah Jazz, the team played better and found several positives in a 102-99 home win against the Philadelphia 76ers.Playing at home for the first time this season helped the team to find energy and motivation that it lacked on the road.Overall, the Jazz seemed more comfortable, shot the ball better and ran the offense more efficiently.There are many things that the Jazz improved on during this game, but here are three that if the team can build on will set them up to be in good shape this season.Hopefully, the performance against the 76ers is a sign that the effects of the lockout and an accelerated preseason are going to be minimal and that there are more wins to come. Defensive IntensityAfter head coach Tyrone Corbin challenged the team to step up and play with more intensity following a ...
NBA Rumors: Hawks Would Be Making Mistake by Offering Trade for Dwight Howard
December 31st, 2011 by Michael Mill No comments »
Since the announcement that the 2012 NBA season was on, the rumors and assumptions for the landing spots for key players around the league began.The two big name players on the trade block that drew in attention were New Orleans' Chris Paul and Orlando's Dwight Howard.Chris Paul has since been traded to the Los Angeles Clippers.Dwight Howard is still sitting on the Magic's roster.Although he has been removed from the trade block, it's highly unlikely that Howard will remain with Orlando for the rest of the season.When the year is over he will become a free agent, so it's in the teams best interest to deal him while they still can get something in return.There has been a lot of speculation on where Howard will end up. The Los Angeles Lakers and New Jersey Nets are the favorites among fans for the presumed landing spot.That doesn't mean other teams aren't ...
Cleveland Cavaliers: What’s Gone Right, Wrong in the Early NBA Season
December 31st, 2011 by Jesse Dorsey No comments »
Three games into this young and confusing NBA season, the Cleveland Cavaliers are sitting at one win and two losses. Really, that's not surprising; what's surprising is that they could have, should have, would have been 2-1 after last night's contest against the Indiana Pacers.These Cavaliers are definitely a team with flaws, we saw all of them on display in their first game against the Detroit Pistons, but there are some diamonds in this sea of rough.As he has been known to do, Coach Byron Scott is getting the most of the talent that he's been given, and the players seem to buy into what he's preaching, and that's no surprise.Last year, the biggest vocal sparring partner Scott had on a regular basis was JJ Hickson, and the guy that everyone always had concerns about was Baron Davis.Now, both of those guys are wearing different uniforms (well, one is wearing ...
Lakers vs. Nuggets: Watch Nene Deliver a Nasty Slam in Matt Barnes’ Grill
December 31st, 2011 by Brian Mazique No comments »
The Lakers were lucky on Saturday. They dodged a major bullet by pulling out a 92-89 victory at home against the Nuggets. However, Matt Barnes was unable to dodge this poster from Nene.Working off the pick-and-roll executed perfectly by Ty Lawson, Nene exploded on Matt Barnes and made him a star of his own reality TV show, Dunk'd.The Nuggets squandered a major opportunity to win or at least tie this game when Danilo Gallinari blew a wide open layup in transition, after a Kobe Bryant miss. Check it out here: Bryant was ineffective down the stretch of this game, and were it not for a few superstar foul calls, Kobe could very well be the goat of this game, and not Gallinari.Still, there is no excuse for blowing a layup the way he did. This type of play is where you miss a player having the explosion ...
Bulls Defeat Clippers, 114-101: 4 Observations of the Bulls on the West Coast
December 31st, 2011 by Adam Lufrano No comments »
The Chicago Bulls started the lockout-shortened season slow, barely beating the shorthanded Los Angeles Lakers and losing to Golden State. However, Derrick Rose led his team back into Los Angeles last night and carved up the Clippers to give his team a 3-1 start to the season.From all over the sports universe, pundits and fans alike have proclaimed this year's Bulls team as the group that's ready to take down the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference. With the Miami Heat starting the season 4-0 and seeing an emergence in their first-round pick, Norris Cole, against the Boston Celtics (where he scored 14 points in the fourth quarter), the Bulls still have work to do to truly challenge Miami for a berth in the NBA Finals. But that's a long way away from now. The Bulls will get their chance to play Miami later in the regular season this year, yet ...
NBA Rumors: How Joel Przybilla Could Help the Milwaukee Bucks
December 31st, 2011 by Michael Dulka No comments »
It is no secret that the Milwaukee Bucks are interested in adding free-agent Joel Przybilla to be their backup center for Andrew Bogut.According to the Journal Times' Gary Woelfel, Przybilla's agent was in attendance at the Bradley Center for the Bucks home opener against the Minnesota Timberwolves last Tuesday."They made it clear how much they want him,'' Bill Duffy, Przybilla's agent said. "I think it would be a good fit.'' As of now, the Bucks are relying on Drew Gooden and Jon Leuer to fulfill backup duties, but both players are better suited to play the four position. In the first game of the season, it was Gooden who saw minutes as Bogut went to the bench, but his ejection and suspension for a flagrant foul opened the door for the rookie Leuer to have success and steal minutes.While Bogut is the up and away center and will get around 35 ...
Pressure on Milwaukee Bucks Mounts as Wisconsin Sports Success Continues
December 31st, 2011 by Michael Dulka No comments »
It's a good year to be a fan of Wisconsin sports teams. In of the best collective years Wisconsin sports has seen, the burden now falls to the Milwaukee Bucks to make noise in the NBA and push towards the playoffs after narrowly missing out last season.The Green Bay Packers are coming off a Super Bowl victory in their 2010 season after blazing through the NFC playoffs and defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-25 in Super Bowl XLV. Continuing their success in 2011, the Packers extended their winning streak to 19 games before losing to the Kansas City Chiefs on Dec. 18. With the NFL season drawing to a close, the Packers carry the top seed into the playoffs looking to repeat as Super Bowl champs.The Milwaukee Brewers followed up the Packers' success by winning their first division title since winning the AL East in 1982. By winning the NL Central crown, ...
Are the Houston Rockets Potential Bidders for Deron Williams?
December 31st, 2011 by Karthik Tadisina No comments »
With the New Year just around the corner, and the NBA season now officially underway, trade talk could be one thing that all NBA general managers are looking forward to in this shortened NBA season since the summer of 2012 around the corner. One team that did not make a major move in the shortened offseason prior to the 2011-12 NBA season was the Houston Rockets. After losing center Yao Ming to retirement and Chuck Hayes to the Sacramento Kings via free agency, the Rockets were in a dire need of a center.The team was very much involved in trade talks with the Los Angeles Lakers and the New Orleans Hornets regarding a possible Chris Paul trade, with the Rockets acquiring Pau Gasol, but talks eventually failed leaving the Rockets back to square one.Houston was finally able to secure a center in Samuel Dalembert to a contract at the tail-end ...