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 role in their offense.

Luckily for the Nuggets, they have a pretty easy schedule to start the New Year. After completing their back-to-back against Los Angeles, Denver takes on Milwaukee, Sacramento and New Orleans in their next three games.

Even if they lose to L.A. again, the Nuggets should be no worse than 5-3 heading into their Jan. 7 matchup with San Antonio.

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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 is really where he shines. 

Again, he does not get a lot of stats on defense, but he is still effective defensively. He is not afraid of contact and is willing to do the dirty work down low. He is a smart defensive player who somehow always finds a way to set his feet and take a charge. Not to mention, he crashes the boards well. He, Kendrick Perkins and Serge Ibaka really form a formidable frontcourt defensively. They are all physical defenders and really cover up some of the defensive weaknesses of their teammates. Although Dirk destroyed the Thunder in the playoffs, Collsion certainly made Dirk work for every point. It would be hard to find someone who played better defense on Dirk the entire playoffs. 

Mentally, he plays with a high basketball IQ on both ends, which only can help a young team. With regards to that, he brings a veteran presence to an up-and-coming team that is starved for a strong veteran leader. No offense to Kevin Durant, but he is not a very strong leader yet. He is someone who can lead by example, but is not the most dominant personality in the locker room. Unlike Russell Westbrook, Collison understands his role and accepts that he is not the star but a role player. Not to mention Collison seems to be a loyal guy, having played for the Thunder for his entire career. 

A good comparison for Nick Collison would be Tyler Hansbrough. They are both athletically limited players who make up for it with a high basketball IQ and hustle. Unfortunately, Collison doesn't get half the publicity Hansbrough does, when he is just as deserving. For the Thunder, they could not have found someone better to represent a small market team. Collison is a very down to earth player who never mails in games, plays with intensity to make up for a lack of athleticism and values loyalty. That should be the recipe for success on any roster.

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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 Intensity

After head coach Tyrone Corbin challenged the team to step up and play with more intensity following a loss the the Denver Nuggets, the team responded well by increasing the intensity and effort. 

The Jazz did a much better job of being active to create turnovers and fast-break opportunities. 

Players did a good job individually and as a team to buy into Corbin's new defensive schemes and limited chances for the 76ers. 

This is the biggest key for the Jazz to build on as this young team gains experience. 

If the team can play with strong defensive intensity, the team will do well and win a lot of games. 

Lineup

One of the biggest question marks for the Jazz heading into the season was who would start at which position and who would get the most playing time. 

After trying out several different lineup combinations in the first two games, it looks like the Jazz got an idea of one that will work. 

Even without usual starter Al Jefferson available for this game, the team looked like it's settling into a more stable rotation. 

The lineup of Devin Harris, Gordon Hayward, Josh Howard, Paul Millsap and Derrick Favors played the best basketball of this young season together. Adding Jefferson back into the starting five will only help.

Favors did a good job of limiting his fouls and was able to stay on the court. He showed off his low-post play and ended up with a new career high with 20 points. 

The other notable player was Gordon Hayward who played the shooting guard position. This helped him to become more of a facilitator and use his athleticism rather than having to play in the front court. 

Favors and Hayward once again showed why they are the future of the team and the players the Jazz can build on. 

Tempo

Partly as a result of solid defense and partly due to youth and energy, the Jazz were able to increase the tempo that they played with and pushed the ball up the floor better.

This is going to be very important going forward as the team learns to use their youth and athleticism to its advantage. 

Devin Harris and the other point guards did well to get the ball down court quickly and get into the paint where they could draw fouls or get to the basket. 

Paul Millsap and the other big men also did well to run the floor and score some easy fast-break points.

If the Jazz can continue to establish this uptempo style of play, keep up with the defensive intensity and continue to put the right combinations of players on the floor, they are going to find success in the NBA. 

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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 interested.

According to Marc Stein of ESPN, the Atlanta Hawks are a team that has made an attempt to figure out what it would take to get Howard.

"Sources told ESPN.com that the aforementioned Hawks, meanwhile, engaged Orlando in trade talks for Howard earlier this month with an offer believed to be headlined by $124 million guard Joe Johnson and swingman Josh Smith. You have to figure that the Magic, though, would insist on Al Horford if such discussions ever got serious."

The move seems awfully foolish for the Hawks.

Dwight Howard has already made it very clear that he has an interest in ending up on three different teams. Those teams are the Lakers, the Nets and the Mavericks.

Why would the Hawks offer the best players on their roster to pick up a player who would ultimately walk away at the end of the season regardless?

It just doesn't make any sense.

Maybe they would hope that Howard would resign since Atlanta is his hometown. That's a lot to risk on nothing more than hope.

For now, Howard isn't going anywhere. When he does, Atlanta fans should hope it's not their team making an offer.

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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 a suit) and it seems that Scott really has control of these guys.

So, after three quick games, and the only ones they'll be playing in 2011, let's take a look at what went right and wrong so far this season.

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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 and finishing ability to go up and slam it through.

As you can see in the video, this folly really bailed Kobe out. He nearly turned it over receiving the inbounds pass.

As it stands, Gallo is the goat, Kobe escapes, but not Matt Barnes. He is in a poster, win or lose.

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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 they did sweep the Heat last year and that didn't translate to success against them in the playoffs. The Bulls No. 1 goal this regular season is to get the No. 1 seed over the Heat because, to beat Miami, they are going to need home-court advantage.

It has been an up and down start to the season for the Bulls so far this year, though. After watching all four of their opening games, here are five observations I have of this exciting Bulls team. 

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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 minutes, the Bucks lack size behind 7'0" Bogut. Both Gooden and Leuer stand at 6'10", but Gooden is 10 pounds light, while Leuer is 32 pounds lighter.

While the Bucks lack size at the backup center spot, they aren't necessarily a small team as they start Mike Dunleavy at small forward who is listed as 6'9" and the 6'10" Ersan Ilyasova at power forward. At the shooting guard spot, Stephen Jackson has good size at 6'8".

Przybilla would help to alleviate size concerns as he is three inches taller than both Gooden and Leuer at 7'1"and 245 pounds.

Recently, Przybilla has struggled to stay healthy, but the extended off-season has given him time to heal up and come back with a strengthened knee. 

With Przybilla playing center, the Bucks can keep their size and even go to bigger line-up by playing Gooden or Leuer at the four with either Przybilla or Bogut. This would help the Bucks defensively against bigger teams.

In addition to the variety of rotation possibilities, the signing of Przybilla would take pressure off Bogut and allow him more rest during the upcoming grind that the Bucks will face during the dense schedule following the lockout.

While Przybilla won't be an attractive signing, it would be one that will benefit the team in small teams that could make a big difference, if just in a few games. It is important to remember that this is a team that could make or miss the playoff by a matter of a couple games.

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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, the Brewers were back in the playoffs following their appearance and quick exit in 2008 as a wild card. Behind Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun, the Brewers won their first playoff series since 2008 as they knocked out the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NLDS before losing to the eventual Wild Series champion St. Louis Cardinals in the NLCS.

When the Wisconsin Badgers landed transfer Russell Wilson, hopes slowly began to rise. After winning the starting job, Wilson led the Badgers offense to a hot start at 6-0, before dropping back to back games to Michigan State and Ohio State, both coming on last second heaves. Monte Ball destroyed defenses on his way to being named a Heisman finalist. The Badgers closed out the season strong, winning the first Big 10 Championship, and heading to the Rose Bowl on Jan. 2 to take on the Oregon Ducks.

As of the Dec. 26 AP Top 25 rankings for Men's college basketball, the state of Wisconsin has two teams in the top 15, with the Badgers ranked 11th and the Marquette Golden Eagles at 14th. Both teams are looking to continue their fast starts and make big statements in their respective conferences. The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panthers are atop the Horizon league standings with a 3-1 conference record. The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Phoenix are 2-1 in Horizon league play.

The great success that has found in the cheese state has led some to start referring to the state as "Win"sconsin. Throughout 2011, Wisconsin has been blessed to see plenty of wins in the NFL, MLB and college basketball. Now that 2012 is here, it is time for the Bucks to carry the load and keep the winning going.

Expectations are high for this Milwaukee Bucks team that missed the playoffs by two games last season. They built around the core of Brandon Jennings and Andrew Bogut and added scoring in Mike Dunleavy and Stephen Jackson.

While it is quite unlikely the Bucks go on to win the NBA Finals, it is not unreasonable to expect at least a playoff appearance and possibly a playoff run from the Bucks.

The Bucks will be challenged playing in an improved Central Division. The Chicago Bulls are back looking to build on their spectacular regular season last year behind the play of their MVP Derrick Rose. One of the hottest picks for a young and upcoming team, the Indiana Pacers are looking to be quite the force as they hope to return to the playoffs.

If the Bucks can make the playoffs, it would be the second time in the four years under Scott Skiles.  

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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 of the offseason after all of their other options fell through.

Could the Rockets look to make an offer for guard Deron Williams at the trade deadline? Either player would be a great fit in Houston and could be used to recruit other players in order to help the Rockets build a contender. Most likely there are going to be multiple teams (Phoenix, Houston, Dallas, New Jersey and others) looking to lure big-name free agents in order to turn around their respective franchise.

General Manager Daryl Morey is always looking to improve the Rockets, and bringing in a player such as Williams and/or Howard would be a big move. It would also bring about some new hope for the fans in Houston who have been in a rebuilding and stagnant mode for the past so many years.

The Rockets could look to build an offer around guard/forward Kevin Martin as potential trade bait for Williams as the Nets would be receiving a legit scoring threat. Add in other pieces like Chase Budinger, Goran Dragic, and maybe even Dalembert. The only thing known at this point is that if a team does want to make a legitimate offer for Williams, it is most likely going to have to involve multiple teams.

It will be interesting to see what happens as the season goes along.

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