Basketball

[jabu]

Verlies je niet van de tegenstander, dan wel van de scheidsrechter. X'C

[jabu]

Ik heb zelf Carter meerdere malen als Raptor in Toronto mogen aanschouwen. Zijn plaatselijke populariteit kende geen grensen. Des te pijnlijker was zijn terugkomst in het Air Canada center deze keer:

The Artist Formerly Known as Air Canada returned to the Air Canada Centre and was booed every time he touched the ball, which added up to a whole lot of booing. But Vince Carter's reunion with his former followers (the third time he's played in Toronto as a visitor) turned out to be only about 10th on the list of the game's best subplots.
In what might have been the NBA game of the season so far, Carter rattled home an off-balance 28-foot 3-pointer with 0.1 seconds remaining to knock off the red-hot Raptors 105-104. But as great as Carter's shot was, it was the game's subplots that gave it substance.

In somewhat random order:

Subplot 1: Carter's shot gave the New Jersey Nets a 10-game winning streak, the longest in the NBA this season. One peculiar aspect of this streak is that the Nets began it with a losing record. During the streak they have catapulted into first place in the "Titanic" Division, where they now lead the 76ers by four games.

Subplot 9: For a while, the game was as hotly contested and physical as any other NBA game this season. The fans' emotion toward Carter seemed to infect the game. The second quarter featured three technical fouls on the home team, and the Raptors collected two more in the third quarter. In one play, Jason Kidd was faked up and went shoulder-first (head-first) to the floor. On another, Jacque Vaughn dove under Mike James' legs and undercut him, dangerously. Even Carter dove for a ball and somehow wound up with Jose Calderon's head between his legs. As Nets broadcaster Jim Spanarkel noted, if the game had been played on asphalt, there would have been plenty of blood flowing.

One strange thing about the Toronto's five Ts is that the Nets scored only one point on them, allowing the Raps to maintain their lead throughout most of the game (until Carter's jumper). New Jersey missed four technical free throws, employing an odd rotation of shooters -- first Carter, who missed two; then Kidd, who made one and missed one; and then Vaughn, who shot and missed one, even though Carter and Kidd were on the floor.

Subplot 8: Two of the second-quarter technicals resulted in perhaps the most bizarre ejection in years, when referee Steve Javie -- known for his quick trigger -- nailed Morris Peterson with two Ts in short order. The second one, as you might have read in the Associated Press game story, resulted when Carter playfully slapped his pal Peterson, who gave him a little slap back.

While the AP says that Peterson was "clearly annoyed," that's not how it looked on the replay. Rather, Peterson barely touched Carter or looked at him, just flinging a backhand in Carter's direction in a friendly gesture.

Then, in something I've never seen before, Carter tried to persuade Javie that his opponent, Peterson, didn't deserve the technical. After the game, Carter said he would pay any fine that resulted from the technical foul.

Here's what I don't understand: Why couldn't Javie rescind the technical foul? When Peterson and then Carter explained that Peterson had not acted out of malice, why didn't Javie have the guts to huddle with his fellow officials and reverse the call? Refs reverse calls all the time.

Everyone would have respected Javie more for getting the call right than they do for standing by his hasty, unnecessary ejection -- which, by the way, might have cost the Raptors the game, because Peterson had had success against the Nets and also was guarding Carter.

Subplot 4: With Peterson out of the game, Carter hit his stride in the fourth quarter, scoring 24 points, all in the last 10:08. His shooting had been off the mark until then -- as he said in the postgame interview, he had started out too excited and trying to make everything. He scored the Nets' last 12 points, on two free throws, two putbacks and two 3s … including the game-winner. He finished with 42 points.

Subplot 2: Lost in the hubbub over Carter and the Nets is the recent success of the Raptors, who were a tick of the clock … or a borderline call … or a missed Carter 3 from having the league's longest winning streak, at six games. Don't look now, but the Raps are just 3.5 games out of the 8th spot in the East.

Subplot 5: We can't do him justice in this space, but the emergence of 21-year-old Chris Bosh as a superstar is one of the untold stories in the NBA. The variety of skills he displayed in his 27-point, four-block performance was scintillating … and lost in the shadows once again.

Subplot 6: And just when did Raptors' guard James become a star? Already Miami, Detroit, Boston, Milwaukee and Houston have given up on him, and he's just in his fifth season. But point guards who can score at James' rate -- he's shooting .440 on 3s -- and defend are not easy to find, which makes his journeyman status more puzzling. All I know is this: When the Raptors need a basket, they often go to James, and he delivers, as he did several times on Sunday, with his behind-the-head, Tim Hardaway-style jumper.

Subplot 3: Richard Jefferson left after two minutes with back spasms. On a day where Tracy McGrady left with a similar injury, the Nets can only hope RJ returns soon.

Subplot 10: OK, so a VC return to Canada doesn't seem like big news anymore. But don't think time has healed any bad feelings.

Of course, some of his former fans will remember that Carter was the first NBA star who made a big commitment to stay in Canada, and he was known for his community work.

But he became upset about the disarray in the front office, and the team's unwillingness to listen to him. And he committed a cardinal sin when he stopped giving his full effort, which accounts for the hatred of many Raptors fans.

All of which helps explain why he called his game-winner his biggest shot ever, and why former Raptor Lamond Murray, now with the Nets, said, "To stick a dagger in their heart right when they thought they were going to win it, it don't get no better than that. That's sweet revenge."

Subplot 7: None of the players Toronto acquired for Carter played for the Raptors on Sunday. Joey Graham, who was selected with one of the two draft picks Toronto got in the trade, did play 19 minutes on Sunday and has shown promise, though no one sees any All-Star games in his future. But Alonzo Mourning is long gone, and Eric Williams and Aaron Williams have played a total of about 135 minutes this season.

So when Carter was booed throughout the game, and when he made his shot, there was more going on than in perhaps any other game this season. Which made a seemingly ordinary midseason Raptors-Nets game anything but.

ESPN

[Deli]

Voor hem zelf een prima verlopen terugkeer denk ik zo....

Ook wel een beetje jammer dat zijn 'ruzie' met Peterson zo uit proporties werd geblazen (letterlijk en figuurlijk) door de refs.

[FlaFlu]

Het ging inderdaad nergens over. Toch kreeg ik de indruk dat Peterson geïrriteerd was.

[jabu]

Pistons winnen weer van de Spurs. Netjes Thomas :xyxthumbs: . Alleen de uitslag Pistons 83 - Spurs 68.... X'C
Rasheed Wallace met 27 punten en 10 rebounds en bovendien nog eens Tim Duncan op 17 punten houden (wel 13 rebounds).
Wedtrijdverslag

Steve Francis is ondertussen geschorst bij de Magic omdat hij weigerde weer het veld in te gaan.

Kobe is trouwens ongelofelijk bezig en heeft het 41 jaar oude record van Wilt Chamberlain geëvenaard door in 4 wedstrijden achter elkaar minstens 45 punten te scoren.

[FlaFlu]

Het gaat lekker inderdaad. Met 28-5 veruit het beste record van de NBA.

[jabu]

Transfernieuws van de Nederlandse velden:

Peter van Paassen naar Demon Astronauts

AMSTERDAM - Peter van Paassen speelt de komende weken voor Demon Astronauts. Daarna zal worden beslist of er sprake kan zijn van een langer verblijkf bij de landskampioen. Van Paassen werd werkloos, toen Cape Holland ophield te bestaan. Aanvankelijk zou hij naar het Belgische Groot Leuven gaan, maar die transfer ging niet door om persoonlijke redenen.

Daniel 'Chip' Jones naar Polynorm

BERGEN OP ZOOM - Daniel 'Chip' Jones verlaat EiffelTowers en speelt de rest van dit seizoen en de komende twee jaargangen voor Polynorm Giants in Bergen op Zoom. Met de overgang - die een dag eerder nog werd tegengesproken - kwam vrijdag rond en is misschien wel de beste beslissing, die Jones in zijn loopbaan nam. In plaats van te verpieteren op de bank bij EiffelTowers kan hij nu tenminste doen waar hij goed in is: basketballen. In Den Bosch kregen buitenlandse spelers voorrang en kwam Jones dit seizoen niet verder dan gemiddeld 6.8 minuten en alleen tegen Polynorm en Woon! Aris kwamen er een keer dubbele cijufers te staan in de kolom 'minuten', veel te gering natuurlijk voor een geroutineerde eredivisiespeler met 38 interlands op zijn naam.

Basketballsite

[jabu]

The NBA All-Ugly Team. :D

[FlaFlu]

De coach van The Pistons, Saunders, is gekozen als coach van the Eastern All Star Team. Dit mede omdat de coach van de Cavaliers verloor. En omdat The Pistons natuurlijk gewoon alles winnen. ;)

[FlaFlu]

Deze basis vijf speelde tegen de Knicks voor de 167ste keer achter elkaar samen:

C Ben Wallace
PF Rachid Wallace
SF Tayshaun Prince
SG Richard Hamilton
PG Chauncey Billups

Hamilton, Wallace Lead Pistons Past Knicks
Knicks Home | Pistons Home | Box Score

NEW YORK, Jan. 19 (Ticker) -- Things are going so well for the Detroit Pistons that they remind coach Flip Saunders of a team that used to play at Madison Square Garden.

Richard Hamilton scored 26 points and Chauncey Billups collected 13 assists as the Pistons rolled to their sixth straight win, a 105-79 victory over the New York Knicks.

NBA TV highlights from
Pistons-Knicks: Play
The win was Detroit's fifth in a row and second straight lopsided victory. It also improved the NBA's best record to 32-5, and was an impressive display of unselfishness on the offensive side, as the defending two-time Eastern Conference champions totaled 30 assists, which led to 42 baskets.

It was the fourth straight game Detroit had at least 30 assists and ninth time overall for a team that has played with the same starting lineup all season.
The effort was so impressive to Saunders - who took over when current Knicks coach Larry Brown left after two years - that he agreed when a reporter asked him if the Pistons reminded him of the 1969-70 Knicks, a team that relied on unselfish play and ball movement to win the NBA championship.

"I was talking with TNT and they said 'Who does your team remind you of?' I'm maybe dating myself but I said it reminds me of the Knicks," Saunders said. "Just how they played and with Walt (Frazier), Willis (Reed), (Dave) Debusschere and (Bill) Bradley and all those guys they were so unselfish. They relied a lot on ball movement and they were team-oriented. They had every guy that had their own specialty.

"They had Bradley shooting the ball. They had Debusschere getting open looks. They had Willis controlling the middle and we're pretty much the same way. All of our guys have their own thing where they have their own thing that they specialize in and have the ability to carry the team at certain points in the game."

Although Detroit's offense has improved under Saunders, Billups was quick to point out that the team's excellent record comes from playing solid defense.

"We know who we are," Billups said. "We know we're a defensive basketball club when it comes down to it. We just had a facelift so to speak with our offense. But we know who we are. When it's time for us to go up-and-down, we know where it's at. It's not getting extra possessions and extra shots, it's taking care of the defensive end."

Playing the second end of a back-to-back on the road following Wednesday's 117-88 rout at Atlanta, the Pistons overwhelmed the Knicks virtually the entire way. They led by double digits most of the night and closed out the first half on a 13-4 run, highlighted by two 3-pointers by Rasheed Wallace and another by Hamilton, who both fed off the effective passing from Billups.

"When we're taking shots from the corners and we did a lot tonight, that shows we are playing a lot of ball movement, a lot of player movement and making the extra pass," Saunders said. "That's pretty much how you'd want to play offensively."

"We had a lot of wide-open looks," said Hamilton, who scored 40 points against the New York on December 2 and finished 11-of-16 from the floor Thursday. "We played inside-out and guys were really passing up shots for guys to get even better shots."

Detroit had little problems keeping the lead and maintaining it in the second half.

After the Knicks closed to 51-39, the Pistons pulled away with a 15-6 run in which Hamilton scored eight points. They held the Knicks without a basket for over five minutes.

"Tonight was a game where we were locked in defensively and aggressively dictated what kind of shots they were going to get," Saunders said. "I thought offensively we were able to do what we wanted."

"They executed great, they defended great," said Brown, who had his contract bought out in Detroit and signed a five-year deal to coach in New York. "They did everything tonight. I guess that allows them to win 32 games."

Detroit shot 51 percent (42-of-83), including 12-of-25 from the arc. The Pistons also got 23 points from Wallace and 18 from Tayshaun Prince, who knocked down four 3-pointers apiece.

Things were so bad for the Knicks during the decisive spurt that they committed turnovers on four consecutive possessions.

"That was embarrassing," said Knicks guard Jamal Crawford, whose only points came in garbage time in the fourth. "We have to have a better effort than that."

"Detroit played world championship basketball," New York rookie forward Channing Frye said. "They came out and executed and whooped us."

The Knicks lost their fourth in a row following a season-high six-game winning streak.

New York played without starting forward Antonio Davis, who began a five-game suspension for running into the stands Wednesday in Chicago. The Knicks also played a second straight game without starting point guard Stephon Marbury, who is out with a sprained left shoulder.

"It hurts us not having Steph (Marbury) and Tony (Davis)," Brown said. "But again they (Detroit) are at a whole different level than we are right now. From coaching to playing to execution to effort - that is why they have only lost five games."
Eddy Curry led the Knicks with 26 points. Frye added 15 as New York committed 20 turnovers and were handed its sixth consecutive loss to the Pistons.

NBA.com

Delfino deed het ook weer goed met 11 punten, 5 rebounds en 2 assists.

NBA Finals, here we come! It's playoff time Detroit!

[jabu]

NBA Finals, here we come! It's playoff time Detroit!

Die Finals kunnen ze zeker halen, maar dat duurt nog wel even. We zitten nog niet halverwege het seizoen.

[Deli]

The NBA All-Ugly Team. :D

Hehehe...
Zitten er een paar hele lelijke tussen. Cassell en Muresan mogen natuurlijk niet ontbreken....

Vind Pollard overigens wel meevallen. Hij heeft wel vaak een vreemde smaak wat betreft haardracht maar goed...

[FlaFlu]

NBA Finals, here we come! It's playoff time Detroit!

Die Finals kunnen ze zeker halen, maar dat duurt nog wel even. We zitten nog niet halverwege het seizoen.

Ik twijfel er geen moment aan dat ze de playoffs halen. De Finals is een ander verhaal maar Detroit is gewoon de favoriet (samen met The Spurs).

[jabu]

Via deze link kan je NBA wedstrijden downloaden.

Je kunt de wedstrijden downloaden met het programma Azureus.

De wedstrijden zijn vaak Divx bestanden, die kun je met Mediaplayer afspelen, de wedstrijden die RM bestanden zijn kun je met Real Player afspelen.

[FlaFlu]

Thanks, Maartoe. :xyxthumbs:

Wanneer worden de selecties van de All-Star teams bekend?

[Dubbel]

Vergeet de rest van die All Stars maar en stel alleen LA's Kobe Bryant op.



K. Bryant: 80

:worshippy: :worshippy: :worshippy: :worshippy: :worshippy:

80 punten tegen de Raptors!

[jabu]

:glotz: 81 punten:

28-46 van het veld, daarbij 7-13 driepunters en 18-20 van de vrije worp lijn.

TOP SINGLE-GAME SCORERS
1. Wilt Chamberlain, Phi. March 2, 1962 vs. N.Y. 100
2. Kobe Bryant, L.A.L. Jan. 22, 2006 vs. TOR 81
3. Wilt Chamberlain, Phi. Dec. 8, 1961 (3OT) vs. L.A.L. 78
4. Wilt Chamberlain, Phi. Jan. 13, 1962 vs. Chi. 73
Wilt Chamberlain, S.F. Nov. 16, 1962 vs. N.Y. 73
David Thompson, Den. April 9, 1978 vs. Det. 73
7. Wilt Chamberlain, S.F. Nov. 3, 1962 vs. L.A.L. 72
8. Elgin Baylor, L.A.L. Nov. 15, 1960 vs. N.Y. 71
9. David Robinson, S.A. April 24, 1994 vs. L.A.C. 71
10.Wilt Chamberlain, S.F. March 10, 1963 vs. Syr. 70

Echt ongelofelijk.....

[jabu]

Thanks, Maartoe. :xyxthumbs:

Wanneer worden de selecties van de All-Star teams bekend?

No problemo! Ik weet niet wanneer ze het gaan bekend maken maar het stemmen is afgelopen en de All-Star Game is 19 februari a.s. Vooralsnog doen deze mannen mee.

[FlaFlu]

Thanks. :xyxthumbs:

Respect for Bryant. :worshippy:

[Deli]

De trade tussen Ron Artest en Peja Stojakovic lijkt rond.
Ben benieuwd voor welke van de twee teams het een verbetering zal blijken.... Ik gok de Kings... Hoewel Artest een moeilijke jongen blijft heeft hij verdomd veel talent. Peja gaat elk jaar steeds een beetje minder spelen. Misschien dat een nieuwe omgeving hem wel een boost kan geven...

[Feest]

Peja had alle vrouwen uit Sacramento nu wel gehad. Tijd voor de fijne studentes van Indiana University. :yes:

[FlaFlu]

Peja blijft goed met die 3's. Ik denk dat het goed uit gaat pakken voor Indiana.

[Feest]

Ik heb Peja 2x gezien. 1x op de Final Four in Barcelona, en 1x bij Knicks - Kings.

In beide wedstrijden was-ie magistraal.

Voor de rest vind ik het geen boeiende sport.

[FlaFlu]

Jij niet? Je meent het? Ik dacht dat je toen je in New York woonde elke wedstrijd van The Knicks op de banken stond?

[Feest]

Nee, ik ben een baseball-man. :cheer:

En sowieso is 't onmogelijk om op de banken te gaan staan voor de huidige Knicks. X'C