Deron Williams (38 points on 11-20 shooting, 2 treys, 14-18 free throws [that's a lot of attempts], 3 boards, 13 assists, 2 steals, and only 1 turnover) and the Jazz (14-9 [before tonight], and on a roll [with their latest victory over the mighty Lakers]) lost to the lowly Timberwolves (3-21 [before tonight], but looking really good with Kevin Love [11 and 14] back) tonight. Rookie Jonny Flynn made the game winning lay-up and scored a career high 28 points on 11-19 shooting, including 4-6 from downtown. Williams had a chance to tie it at the buzzer, but he missed (unfortunately, too, because I love overtimes [What fantasy manager in the right mind doesn't love an extra 5 minutes to pad up the stat sheet?]). But I don't think Deron's owners care about the Jazz's embarrassing loss (at home, too!) as much as they care about his fantastic line.(I'm not a big Flynn fan. I've seen him play, and he is a terrible player, from what I've seen. He's small. His defense is suspect. He over-dribbles and lacks the control a point guard should have over his team's offense. [I know he plays in a triangle offense, but he ball-hogs like he's Kobe. (He's not Kobe).] His dribbling can use some practice. He's a poor shooter [both in terms of shot selection and percentages.) And though I may not be a fan of his game, none of it matters, because his line was solid (for his managers) and he's a hero tonight (for those poor fans in Minnesota). But if it was up to me, Ricky Rubio would be running this club.
I wrote about the Grizzles yesterday, and I have to again today. Their game tonight against the Celtics was just too intriguing: They were playing in the second game of a back-to-back against a well-rested elite team, and yet they stayed competitive throughout the entire game, to the final possession. The Grizzles were so close to winning this game. Down by 2 and with less than a minute left, Ray Allen (18, 4 and 4, with 5 treys) buried a 3-point dagger with a second left in the shot clock after Paul Pierce (19, 2 and 6, with 3 treys) lost the ball.
Though, here's something interesting I noticed about this game: Chris Paul (20 points on 9-22 shooting [3 of those missed shots were desperation treys at the end of the game], 2-2 free throws, 4 rebounds, 16 assists, 5 steals, and only 1 turnover) had more assists through 3 quarters (in his game against the Mavericks) than the entire Grizzlies team (combined) had in the entire game (15-14) against the C's. The Grizz have great individual players, but they need to make the pieces fit; O.J. Mayo (21 points on 10-17 shooting), Rudy Gay (23 points on 7-17 shooting and 9-9 from the line) and Zach Randolph (20 points on 7-14 shooting and 6-6 from the line) are all talented scorers, but they need to help one another by creating easier shots for one another (5 assists combined for the trio).
It's nice to see Allen Iverson (20 points on 7-10 shooting) contribute to a Philly victory (their first in their past 13 games) over the Golden State Warriors. Though, it wasn't Iverson who led the Sixers; Thaddeus Young led the way to the tune of 26 points on 12-21 shooting, including a trey, one made free throw in as many attempts, 14 boards, 4 assists, 3 steals, and even a block.
Because I live in LA, the only games I can watch are local games (Lakers and Clippers), nationally televised games (ESPN, TNT, ABC, etc.), and Bulls games (I noticed that our cable has WGN, a Chicago TV network.) And as much as I hate watching non-Laker games (not because I'm a die-hard Laker fan, but because I can't stand the voices of the Clippers' and Bulls' commentators), I tuned in to the Clippers/Wizards game because nothing better was on TV.
Prior to the game, in the pre-game preview, the broadcasters had the most meaningless conversation I've heard in a long time. They repetitively re-used the same tautological cliche's. Things like, "This game is really important. If they win, they will add another win to their record. If they win, their record will improve by a game. If they win, they will be one game closer to .500, which is their goal." What team's goal is to win half their games? Gee, that won't even get them into the playoffs (top 8 out of 15). No wonder these guys are as bad as they are.
Then, the broadcasters talked up the match-up between B-Diddy and Agent Zero, as if they were two superstars (they are has-beens who are known more so for their antics off the court than their success on it). I believe their words went something like this: "Well, this is what we're all here for. The big match-up. This game will definitely be determined by the play of these two superstars." And I remember thinking to myself: Both these guys are going to shoot and miss a lot and turn the ball over a ton.
I wanted to see Sebastian Telfair (Clipper back-up guard) and Caron Butler (Wizards' starting small forward) stand next to each other, so I can compare the two. (Telfair looks like a smaller version of Butler.) When Telfair checked in to the game, I noticed something else.
Gee, Telfair is a bigger version of the professional poker player, Phil Ivey!
I started writing this post during half-time of the Clippers/Wizards game. I looked at Deron's line and just assumed, "Not a single player in this game can come close to matching Deron's line." Then I began to write.
Life lesson of the day: Don't watch a Clippers/Wizards game unless you're really into seeing two (shooting guards posing as) point guards (Gilbert Arenas [4-14, with 6 turnovers] and Baron Davis [2-14, with 5 turnovers]) jack up treys that clank off the side of the rim, a lot of rash unintelligent decision-making, overall terrible basketball, and the most annoying voices on television.
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