LeBron James continues to dazzle with phenomenal performances (44 points on 16-29 shooting, 5-8 treys, 7-10 from the line, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals, a block, and only 1 turnover). He out-dueled the other superstar small forward in this game, Kevin Durant (29 points on 9-19 shooting, 2-6 treys, 9-10 from the stripe, 5 boards, 2 assists, 4 steals, a block, but 7 turnovers [really the only flaw to KD's otherwise solid fantasy line]). It's not that Durant's line is bad. Shoot, if any of my players played the way Durant played, I'd be ecstatic. (My players are terrible!) It's always helpful to have a LBJ or KD anchor a fantasy team, really. They contribute positively in practically every single category, except turnovers. I really can go on and on about how great they are, but I'd just be depressing myself.Rudy Gay (41 points on 15-28 shooting, 3-4 treys, 8-12 free throws, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 2 turnovers) played out of his mind tonight as they routed Dwyane Wade (25 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists) and the Miami Heat, 118-90. You know, the Memphis Grizzlies, after starting the season 1-8, have gone 9-5 in their past 14 games (including an epic overtime victory over James's Cavaliers 111-109) since one Allen Iverson left town. You know how many games the Philadelphia 76ers have won ever since A.I's arrival in Philly? Zilch. (They're 0-3). Not a knock on Allen Iverson's skills, but in real life, a dude's attitude can really impact a team's chance of winning more than contributions on the box score. Though, at the same time, Iverson has been playing quite unselfish basketball, willingly passing the ball to get his teammates involved. On the other hand, I'm confused as to how the Grizzles are playing as well as they are, considering their selfish nature.
It seems as though the only player on the team that is willing to sacrifice his individual stats for the team's ultimate well-being is O.J. Mayo (16 points on 6-8 shooting, 4-4 from the line). Mayo has not been dominating the ball at all. He's been giving it to the team's two selfish forwards, Gay and Zach Randolph (otherwise known as The Black Hole). The reason why Randolph is known as the Black Hole is for the following reason: Once you throw the ball in there, it's never coming back out. Really. If you give the ball to either Gay or Randolph. They will over-dribble the ball, drive to the hoop and take a terrible shot, all the while ignoring their teammates. Marc Gasol (16 points on 7-7 shooting with 15 rebounds), a big sleeper-of-the-year candidate, however, has been playing out of his mind, doing the most he can (a lot) with his limited touches. I guess that's good enough for the Grizz to be 10-13 (good enough for last place in their division, but still, 3 games under .500 this deep into the season is pretty impressive [though it should be expected considering the talent they have]).
I can't believe I spent a paragraph of my life writing about the Grizzlies that doesn't involve their (What were they thinking?) trading Pau Gasol for Kwame, Crittenton and Pau's brother, Marc (Sorry, but as good as Marc is, he is no Pau Gasol).
I decided to write my blogs in a more organized manner. I'm going to begin all my titles with "Where...", talk about the best performer of the day, talk about the most intriguing game of the day (to me), and end the entry with a life lesson or some witty saying.
Life lesson of the day: Don't trade Pau Gasol, one of the best Bigs in the league, for a bag of chips, and don't sign Allen Iverson.
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