Tag: Washington Wizards

The Good, The Bad, and The Unknown

~ Dave Ettinger ~ Leave a comment

roy hibbert

Monday night marked the beginning of the 2nd round of the NBA Playoffs. Within the first 2 games, there were 2 emphatic statements made. One was better than good, while the other was ehhh for lack of another word, worse than bad. And Tuesday night, the other 2 games will get under way. Let’s start with The Good:

Chris Paul, and his Los Angeles Clippers, marched into Oklahoma City and sent a clear message to Kevin Durant and the Thunder. Chris Paul sent another message that I’m pretty sure his critics heard loud and clear as well. Paul put his Clippers on his back and led them to a decisive 122-105 victory to grab a 1 game to none lead in the series. Paul hit 8 three-pointers, that’s right, EIGHT three-pointers!! Yes, Paul went 8 of 9 from downtown and also added 10 assists to his stat line. He essentially contributed in half of his teams points Monday night. Paul, without a doubt will not continue to drain three’s at such a frenetic pace, however, he should be able to maintain his elite level of play throughout the entire 2nd round. This would get the monkey off his back and would land him in his first Conference Finals of his career. The MVP to be, Kevin Durant, may have something to say about that though, as I expect a bounce back performance in Game 2 from Durant and his trigger happy side-kick Russell Westbrook. By the way, imagine if Robin turned to Batman and said, “You know what Batman, I think we should change the name of this movie to Robin Returns.” Batman would have picked up Robin and put him back in his closet. Durant needs to man up and tell Westbrook to give him the damn ball and get out of his way! Anyone who knows basketball has been saying this for years, but I guess Durant doesn’t want to listen. Now, let’s move on to the bad….THE VERY BAD:

Roy Hibbert, oh poor Roy Roy. The stat line says it all: 0 points, 0 rebounds, and 5 fouls (in 18 Minutes). What in the blazing saddles is going on here?? Roy Hibbert is listed at 7’2″. 0 Rebounds?!?!?! You should get at least one rebound by accident….from the bench….when you’re 7’2″. I, along with the rest of the world do not understand what has happened to Roy Hibbert, but he better figure it out quick or else his Pacers will be watching the Heat steamroll the Wizards rather than having that dubious pleasure themselves. And last but not least, the unknown:

Only time will tell what will happen in the rest of the series’ that have yet to start, but the big conversation of the 2nd round thus far has been the Miami Heat vs. the Brooklyn Nets. A lot of people are jumping on the Brooklyn bandwagon because they swept the regular season series with the Heat this year (4-0). I for one am not buying into that. Yes, winning 4 straight games, no matter how close they were, against the two time defending champions is an outstanding feat, however, this is not the regular season anymore. The Miami Heat rest their players throughout the regular season, and from time to time honestly just don’t try sometimes. Come playoff time, Lebron, Wade, and company are all business, all the time. And frankly, they are just a better team than Brooklyn. The other question is, as a Knicks fan, if you had to root for one of these teams, who do you root for? This is not an easy question to answer, but I would have to root for the Heat. Despite what some delusional Knicks fans think, the Knicks and the Heat don’t have a rivalry anymore. The Knicks and Nets don’t have a rivalry yet either, but fuel will definitely be thrown on the fire if the Nets can somehow dethrone the Heat. Plus, Knicks fans can’t root for a team that employs Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett (come on now!).

Stay tuned for my predictions going forward in these NBA Playoffs.

If you enjoy my writing, follow me over to intheneutralzone.com where I am a contributing author there as well. Also you can follow me on twitter @DaveEttinger2 or like me on Facebook at http://www.Facebook.com/DaveTalksSports. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it!

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NBA Playoffs to be Overshadowed No Longer

~ Dave Ettinger ~ Leave a comment

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                     So far, the 2014 NBA Playoffs have been nothing short of spectacular.  There have been 8 overtime games (including 4 in a row in the Memphis Grizzlies/Oklahoma City Thunder Series), and we still haven’t gotten out of the 1st round.  More importantly, The Los Angeles Clippers and their fans showed up for Game 5 last night in L.A. and showed their support for the team.  The Clippers held off the Golden State Warriors, winning the game 113-103 and now have a 3 games to 2 lead in this best of 7 series.  As I mentioned earlier, The Grizzlies and Thunder did what they do, and played a 4th consecutive overtime game.  The Grizzlies eked out a 100-99 victory over The Thunder to take a 3 games to 2 lead in that series as well.  Another series concluded last night with The Washington Wizards defeating The Chicago Bulls and advancing to their first 2nd round appearance since 2005.  Behind the youth of John Wall and Bradley Beal and the leadership of Nene, the Wizards will look to continue their run through the playoffs against the winner of the Atlanta Hawks/Indiana Pacers series.  Side note: Roy Hibbert, why are you terrible at basketball?  Anyway, outside of the Wizards series and the Miami Heat/Charlotte Bobcats series (that has been over for some time now), every other series has been ultra competitive and every game has been fun to watch.  The biggest surprise of the 1st round has to be The Dallas Mavericks hanging in there with the battled tested San Antonio Spurs.  And even though there have been 8 overtime games, I personally believe the best game so far has come from that series as well.  Vince Carter’s buzzer-beater in Game 3 on Saturday was just the icing on the cake of an exhilarating final minutes of a great basketball game.  In the final Minute and forty-six seconds The Mavericks and Spurs went a combined 7 for 8 from the field.  Monta Ellis put forth an outstanding effort (scoring 29 points on 12-22 shooting), singlehandedly keeping his team in the game.  And despite Manu Ginobli and Boris Diaw’s best efforts, Vince Carter put the nail in the coffin of Game 3 with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from the corner.  This series is now tied 2-2, and Game 5 will be played tonight in San Antonio.

                    Another important news story that has been completely overshadowed thanks to Donald Sterling, is the passing of Dr. Jack Ramsay.  It’s a shame that a story as pathetic as Donald Sterling’s can overshadow the remembrance of one of the greatest NBA coaches of all-time.  But, let’s see if we can pay the proper respects to a man who was so vital to the progress of the NBA.  Dr. Jack Ramsay coached in the NBA for 20 years, and is currently 13th on the all-time wins list.  He won an NBA Championship in 1967 as the General Manager of the Philadelphia 76ers and also won a Championship in 1977 as the Coach of the Portland Trail Blazers.  After retiring from coaching in 1988, Ramsay got into Broadcasting where he did play-by-play for The Philadelphia 76ers and The Miami Heat for 9 years.  Ramsay was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1992 capping off a truly memorable career. 

 

If you enjoy my writing, follow me over to intheneutralzone.com where I am a contributing author there as well. Also you can follow me on twitter @DaveEttinger2 or like me on Facebook at http://www.Facebook.com/DaveTalksSports. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it!

 

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Melo Scores So Much It’s Offensive

~ Dave Ettinger ~ Leave a comment

New York is home to the best show on TV, The Carmelo Show. Carmelo Anthony has been on fire as of late and he stayed lit Sunday afternoon. Carmelo Anthony scored 36 efficient points in Oklahoma City against the Thunder. Thanks to Melo’s offensive onslaught (and a little help from his friends) the Knicks pulled out a 125-120 victory. This win brings the first 50 win season to New York in 13 seasons. This also brings Carmelo’s astonishing scoring average to a blistering 41.75 points per game over his last 4 games. There is only word that can truly explain Carmelo Anthony right now; unconscious. He is now the leading scorer in the NBA, but more importantly the Knicks have now won 12 games in a row. As I’ve stated before, the Knicks are a streaky team who rely on the three ball. Right now they are shooting the ball well, and everything seems to be going in no matter where they shoot it from. The positive to be taken away is the types of threes that are being taken. When the Knicks were playing poorly they were jacking up a lot of contested three-pointers (ahem, JR). Now that they are winning again they are taking good open shots. These open shots aren’t created on their own, they are created from good ball movement and penetration. All of these things can be attributed to Carmelo Anthony, JR Smith, and Raymond Felton’s ability to drive into the lane and kick the ball out to the open man. At the same time, when they decide not to pass the ball it’s because they have an open driving lane to the basket. This is a recipe for success for now and the future.

With the Knicks latest success, all the “experts” who wrote them off are all slowly making their way back on the bandwagon. As I see each of these flip-floppers try to sneak their way on to my wagon, I sound an alarm that has their seat eject them back to wherever they came from. I understand that this is New York and the media attention that teams receive here is unbelievable, but we need to avoid the knee-jerk reaction. Everyone should have realized that the Knicks were decimated by injury and had a ridiculously tough schedule in the beginning of March (which included that tough 5 game road trip). This coupled with the lack of chemistry between Amar’e Stoudemire, Carmelo Anthony, and Tyson Chandler contributed to the teams struggles. Also, I shouldn’t forget to mention that Iman Shumpert wasn’t 100% healthy until just recently, and Jason Kidd and Steve Novak went ice cold at precisely the same time. So, I’m glad I’m the only one out there that didn’t serve them with the death penalty. Anyway, the Knicks are playing great basketball, and we can only hope that this style of play and intensity continues throughout the playoffs. The Knicks still shouldn’t overlook anyone they face in the playoffs, but it looks like they can give the Heat a run for the money if it should come to that. Tune in to MSG network Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. to watch the Knicks take on the Washington Wizards at home. They will look to keep the good times rolling and attempt to extend their winning streak to 13 games.

If you enjoy my writing, follow me over to intheneutralzone.com where I am a contributing author there as well. Also you can follow me on twitter @DaveEttinger2 or like me on Facebook at http://www.Facebook.com/DaveTalksSports. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it!