Craig Kwasniewski Posts

In lieu of a convoluted 27 post multiple-player breakdown, I bring you things that will happen in the Christmas Day clash between Miami and Los Angeles:

-Dwyane Wade will hit a ridiculously sick bank shot off a spin move from the left side of the floor. He's not a great as Kobe (Kobe's the most explosive scorer in the NBA), but he's still a top five player and will only get better.

-Kobe Bryant will throw a few elbows at Wade when cutting on offense. He did it last year and he'll try to send a message to Wade. The Wade-Kobe match-up will be awesome! Kobe's ultra-competitiveness brings out the best of his opponents (except for Vince Carter, who's busy counting paychecks), and Wade will be ready. Also, expect a few sick fade-aways from Kobe in crunch-time.

-James Posey will hit a clutch three pointer in the fourth quarter to cap off a Heat rally from a big Laker lead. This guy finds his spots and comes through whenever Miami needs it. He may be the key player in the Heat playoff run this spring.

-Jordan Farmar will drive the lane into the teeth of the Heat defense and make a sweet lay-up. Even though he's ready to go now, it looks like he'll start next season just because of Smush Parker's fragile ego.

-Phil Jackson will NOT call a timeout during a Miami Heat 8-0 run in the second half. This continues to drive most Laker fans crazy. They seem to prefer the sideline screamers who call TO's after a 4-0 run; guys like Rudy Tomjanovich (and we all know how well that went).

-Speaking of Pat Riley, he'll stab a coach in the back, screw over the NBA's marquee franchise and continue to be idolized by Laker fans older than 35 (even though they currently have the greatest coach NBA history). Sorry, that already happened last season, eleven years ago and every frickin' day on LA sports talk radio.

-Antoine Walker will get more boos than Kobe Bryant. Toine will respond by hitting the side of the backboard on his first four shot attempts. As bad as he's been this year, Heat fans need to remember how well he played against Dallas in the Finals.

-Jason Williams will have a good game. Maybe it's the knee injury or maybe it's because Miami needs him to play under control, but J-Will is maturing as a point guard. His assists to turnover ratio in December is an impressive 5.6 to 1.

-Kwame Brown will push around Alonzo Mourning on the defensive end of the floor. Kwame is one of the strongest players in the game and a good low-post defender. As long as he stays out of foul trouble, I see him negating what Mourning brings at the offensive end.

And finally, the difference between the Lakers and Heat will be the newly found production from the Lakers bench. The past two Laker wins have seen the bench average 46.5 points. The bench will carry the Lakers through the fourth quarter in time for the starter to return and the Lakers will beat the Heat 102-95.

Just came back from Vegas, here's a few prop bets that were (not) on the board for the Heat-Lakers clash on Christmas Day:

-Over/under for thrown headbands by Smush Parker is four. This happens every time Phil Jackson yanks Parker out of the game for several bad plays like dribbling the ball off his foot, giving up on defense and not dribbling across the half-court in eight seconds (this happened once a game last year). Just imagine if he threw his headband after EVERY bad play, we're talking 15 thrown headbands a game!

-Over/under for primal screams by Alonzo Mourning is six. Does blocking a Sasha Vujacic lay-up really merit a primal scream? Does Zo Mourning let off a primal scream when he cuts off a old lady on the freeway? What about when finishing a game of Sudoku?

-Over/under for finger points to the sky by Alonzo Mourning is 3,271. I'm taking the over on this one. By the way, I'm glad that "god" has taken your side on the defensive end of the floor. So when Kobe dunks over you, do you equally blame god? And while we're here, can we please get a devil worshiper in professional sports? I just want to hear once in the post-game interview, "I'd like to thank Satan, the lord of all that is evil, for guiding me to 15 points and 12 rebounds." Just once!

-Over/under for the times that Mychal Thompson references Magic Johnson and the 1980's Lakers during the broadcast is 2,761. Thompson is the color commentator for the Lakers radio broadcast. His in-depth analysis usually boils down to "Magic would never let THAT happen" and "Riley would have called timeout."

-Over/under for Antoine Walker jumpers that hit the side of the backboard is five. His poor shot selection and the fact that he started the season woefully out of shape is making Heat fans forget how great he played in the NBA Finals.

-Over/under for Dwyane Wade flopping after a lay-up and taking an extra long time getting up is three. Mike Breen and Hubie Brown will gush each time on how much of a warrior he is and how he simply can't play that style of ball and expect to have a long career. Dwyane, please stop with the flopping. You're a top-five player in the NBA and you don't need to depend on the theatrics. Please, I beg you... please don't make me call you the black Manu Ginobili.

-Over/under for Sasha Vujacic arguing a call with the refs (even though he blatantly hacked someone) is 12. All was great in Lakerland when they let Devean George go, then Kupchak turns around and extends this douchebag for two more years. Two more years!

-Over/under for "NBA experts" claiming Denver is a title contender is 231. Sorry guys, George Karl is the head coach. Need I remind you of his past coaching failures? Fine, I will: 1994 and 1995 Seattle Supersonics, 2002 Milwaukee Bucks, 2002 Team USA World Championship and the 2006 Denver Nuggets. I love A.I., but George Karl will kill this team.

Vlade gets down with his bad self after draining a three aganst the T-Wolves, check it out:

(Warning Not NSFW! View with caution, live Euro discotheque action on the court.)



Wow! I'm not sure what to say...

Whatever, as long as he's hitting those beautiful rainbow jumpers, he can do the Worm for all I care. (BTW - The Lakers KCAL broadcast is awesome for adding the techno music to the replay, verrry Euro.) So what are the odds that Vlade was yelling "Guys, let's go disco tonight! " in the locker room while smoking 2 cigarettes after the game?

Anyway, somewhere on the flight between Chicago and Minneapolis the Lakers found their bench. The 51 points scored from the subs was absolutely shocking. It was fun to watch Mo Evans, Vlade and Andrew Bynum change what looked like a blowout loss into a nice road win.

Because of match-ups, the T-Wolves seems to bring out the best in Bynum. He averages 13.5 points, 11.5 rebounds and 3.5 blocks in two games so far this season. Mike James alone contributed to half of those blocks; he just keeps trying to take Bynum head on as though the seven-footer will somehow backdown.

The second unit allowed Kobe to play only 30 minutes as he simply looked gassed since the fourth quarter of the Wizards loss on Sunday. The overtime games last weekend took a toll and he needed the rest. I expect a more vibrant Kobe to engage Vince Carter tonight as the Lakers win over New Jersey.

(Finally, some proof that Radmanovic is bringing back the John Travolta look from Staying Alive.)

According to the Newark Star-Ledger,

The Nets recently called Chicago to inquire about P.J. Brown, who has been upset with his lack of playing time lately. The phone call was short, however, because the Bulls weren't interested in taking back what the Nets had to offer (Jason Collins, Jeff McInnis).

Now, I'd reject any trade offer involving Jeff McInnis... period. There's a good reason why he's been on six teams in 10 seasons; he's supposedly a cancer in the locker room. But the Jason Collins option is interesting. Though he's very Greg Kite on offense, his size and defensive skills would be much needed in the post-season.

It's a given that the Bulls will ship P.J. Brown by the trade deadline. He's too old to provide the defensive intensity that Coach Skiles needs. Plus the expiring $8 million contract will draw a lot of attention as the trade deadline approaches. Unless the Bulls can grab a player with good low-post skills, they need to trade for size.

Miami is still the team to beat once Shaq returns from his fake knee injury and you can't expect Big Ben to go at it alone in a seven game series. (His body broke down the last two times he faced the O'Neal.) Chicago's going to need as many bigs as possible to match-up with Miami's frontline and the 7-0, 255 lbs. Collins could give the Bulls the much-needed 10-15 minutes off the bench.

The only problem is that with Brown's $8 million contract, New Jersey has to find $1.2 million to send with Collins to make the contact dollars balance.

Would New Jersey go for Eddie House and Jason Collins for P.J. Brown? The draw of a big expiring contract should convince the Nets to give up House and the Bulls get the much needed size.

Paul Pierce may miss the next 2-3 weeks with a foot injury. According to the AP:

Pierce has a stress reaction -- a swelling of the bone and the soft tissue surrounding it, team spokesman Jeff Twiss said Thursday. Pierce will miss Friday night's game against Philadelphia and the five-game road trip that starts Tuesday in Denver.

Just a feeling here, but is Pierce just pouting because the Celtics missed out on the Allen Iverson sweepstakes? Aside from that ferociously, horribly, impetuously, malevolently, savagely, terribly, vehemently, viciously bad ending, he looked rather healthy last night, dropping 27 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists in a loss to Golden State.

If you just rolled out from under a rock and missed the ending of the game; basically Pierce was hoarded by the entire Warriors squad (coaches included) and could not get off a potential game-winning shot. Golden State tied him up, forcing a jump-ball... game over. Next time when being sixteen-touple teamed, you may want to pass to the open man under the basket. Or just flip the ball out to Cable Guy like you did earlier in the season.

So Iverson get's traded Tuesday night. Pierce (who was fully behind the idea of Iverson going to the C's) gets a "stress reaction" the day after the trade.

Coincidence?

Editor's Note: If he's injured, then can someone please explain what the hell "stress reaction" is? Isn't that what you get with too many lap dances?

I'm smart! Not like everybody says... like dumb... I'm smart and I want respect!

The Seattle Sonics worked out the rotting corpse of Penny Hardaway on Monday afternoon. According to The News Tribune, he "was in much better shape than he expected." It's possible that the Sonics would sign him and cut Desmond Farmer.

I guess this is what happens when you go winless on a five game roadie; you try out NBA stars of the past. Besides a brief stint with the Knicks (where he averaged a serviceable 16.5 points in the 2003-04 playoffs), the last thing I remember about Hardaway was Shaquille O'Neal referring to him as the Fredo when comparing Penny, Kobe and D-Wade.

The difference between those three is The Godfather trilogy. One is Fredo, who was never ready to have it handed over to him. One is Sonny, who will do whatever it takes to be the man, and one is Michael, who, if you watch the trilogy, the Godfather hands it over to Michael. So I have no problem handing it over to Dwyane. I would love to see the ball in my hands, but I'm not the best player or shooter on this team. I don't mind handing it over to Michael Dwyane Corleone.

I always loved that quote, except that it now looks like Sonny (Kobe) might re-take the family in the next few years.

So are the Sonics so desperate that they have call in Fredo for help? (BTW - if D-Wade is Michael Corleone then who's Al Neri, the guy who killed Fredo on the boat in Godfather II? Just asking...)

How soon before other members of the 1995 All-Star team start rolling out to Key Arena? Is the Reignman snorting coke lurking around the corner? Is Spreewell's kids hungry enough for him to give basketball another try? Hasn't he run his yacht aground yet?

Anyway, I expect Seattle's luck will change for the better, Ray Allen is supposed to play on Saturday against Toronto.

Based on the Lenovo Stat, Gary Payton of the Miami Heat trails only Charlotte's Gerald Wallace as the worst player in the NBA.

According to NBA.com, "The Lenovo Stat is a plus/minus statistic that looks at the point differential when players are both in and out of the game." Basically, it's a plus/minus statistic very similar to the one in hockey.

What I like about the stat is that it literally tells you what a certain player means to the team. It helps quantify the effects of role players like Shane Battier, Luke Walton or Eric Snow. Plus this is the defining stat for guys who kill teams when they are on the floor, like Smush Parker.

As of December 19th, Gary Payton's plus/minus is a paltry -139, trailing only Wallace's score of-160. Just to give you an idea how bad GP's score is, the lowest plus/minus on the worst team (Sixers) is a -121 by Willie Green.

We're talking nine-time NBA All-Star Gary Payton here, not just your average player. I know his defensive skills have fallen to where he's more of a mitten than a glove, but his veteran moxie should prevent such a poor rating. But given that he's a little banged up, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.

Actually, this tells me that Miami will to continue to have depth problems at the point until they can swing a trade (Earl Watson anyone?).

I know we're all tired about the whole media grandstanding over the "incident" on Saturday night, but I have to throw in my two Pesos regarding Carmelo Anthony's unusually high 15-game suspension.

According to Sam Smith of the Chicago Tribune, "NBA Commissioner David Stern can suspend players up to 12 games without the matter going to arbitration."

This may be a stretch, but could Stern have intentionally suspended Melo for 15 games knowing that an arbiter would reduce it to 5? Think about it, David Stern comes off tough with the initial suspension and fair with the arbitration ruling. Billy Hunter, who's screwed the NBAPA in every collective bargaining deal, actually wins one for the players.

Here's the icing on the cake; Billy Hunter's so confident that he'll win, he believes this will have a domino effect and reduce the other suspensions. Here's what he said in an InsideHoops.com interview yesterday:

"the appeal will affect the other suspensions that have been imposed that we can't challenge because they're less than 12 games. So if I'm successful in getting Carmelo's reduced, it'll have a corresponding impact on these other guys so that, minimally, they will probably get back a portion of the money, so if there's a reduction in the number of games they'll get the money back. So that's the way we're trying to address the entire situation."

Wow, this guy can't even get Stern to split a bar tab; and now Stern's going to roll over on the rest? That's a lot of confidence from a guy who been under David Stern's Jedi mind trick for the past eight years.

You will challenge Melo's suspension.

I will challenge Melo's suspension...

Gilbert Arenas is one of many opposing guards who are having their way against the Lakers this year. Just look at what's happened this season (player averages in parenthesis):

• Ray Allen (25.3 ppg) scored 30 and 32 in a home-and-home split

• Michael Redd (28.1 ppg) shot his way to 45 points in a win

• Chris Paul (18.7 ppg) sliced his way to 26 in a win

• Joe Johnson (28.4 ppg) scored 30 in a loss a Kobe-less squad

• Jason Terry (15.3 ppg) dropped 26 in a win in Dallas

• Gilbert Arenas (28.0 ppg) gets a career-high and franchise-record 60 points

Granted, except for Terry, all of these players are All-Stars, so I expect a good game from them. I just didn't expect season bests against a Phil Jackson coached team.

So who or what's to blame for this? Did Chucky Atkins sneak his way back on the Lakers? Did Rudy Tomjanovich ask in on all defensive meetings? Did Kobe go back to wearing the heavy Adidas Kobe Two's?

Nope, but there are several factors for the Lakers defensive troubles. First, Kobe is still nursing his knee back to health. As much as his offensive game has returned to last-year's form, he still tends to rest up on defense. I'd say that he's a few weeks from returning to full health.

The 2005-06 Dwyane Wade made a brief appearance in the 41-point game against Memphis Saturday night. Four days of rest and the high flying, spinning and twisting D-Wade is back. Okay, so oral surgery is not the kind of R & R most players seek, but it seemed to be the right medicine for Wade. As Ira Winderman noted in his Sun-Sentinel Miami Heat Blog:

The constant during Saturday's postgame interviews was about how fresh Dwyane Wade appeared. Heat coach Pat Riley cited it in his media session, as did Grizzlies coach Mike Fratello. Even Wade acknowledged extra spring in his step. Granted, the Heat is not in position to give Wade many four-day breaks, as it did after the guard underwent oral surgery. But there is something to be said about not pushing too hard. With Saturday's 40 minutes, Wade is now fifth in the NBA, averaging 40 minutes per game. Among the league leaders, only Philadelphia's Andre Iguodala has played more than Wade's 839 minutes.

Any break will help, as Shaq is still a few weeks away from playing and possibly a few more until he's back to his dominant self. Phil Jackson has pointed out many times before that Shaq doesn't really start trying until after his birthday on March 6th. Besides that, until Payton and J-Will are back to full strength, Wade will have to carry the Heat on the offensive end and create open shots for everyone. (Notice how much better Wright plays with Wade on the floor?)

If the Heat are to make any noise this spring, he's going to need to take some time off. Maybe Flash just needs a few more wisdom teeth removed and then some root canals. What about crowns or veneers? Periodontal surgery? Dentures?