Bismack Biyombo’s first NBA start results in his second career double double. Although there was a downside as Robin Lopez and Marcin Gortat out-muscled him a bit and some rebounds slipped out of Biz’s hands (included one of these instances). Otherwise – a great game for Bismack.

Kemba Walker with some mind-boggling shots versus the Philadelphia 76ers.

Some great leadership skills by Corey Maggette on this play. He realizes that we’re in the game way too much and simply gives up the ball for tanking purposes. This isn’t Bad Porn, this is Horrible Porn – Corey opted not to even penetrate.

Enjoy!

BBL, going to get me a Jeremy Lin!

Larry Legend’s career high at that point of his rookie season. Bird goes for 15 points in the first quarter by making two threes (remember that it’s 1980) and finishes the game with an impressive statline for a rookie.

Enjoy!

Lakers get: Chris Paul
Rockets get: Pau Gasol
Hornets get: Kevin Martin, Luis Scola, Lamar Odom, Goran Dragic, 2012 Knicks first round pick

That trade was vetoed for bullshit.. I mean basketball… reasons.

Here is the trade that ended up happening:

Clippers get: Chris Paul, two 2nd round picks
Hornets get: Eric Gordon, Chris Kaman, Al-Farouq Aminu, 2012 Minnesota first round pick

Now lets look at the deal from the Hornets side, because the first trade was last second vetoed by Mr Commish aka Hornets owner since it wasn’t good enough, and the Clips deal was much better.

In both deals they basically gave up just Chris Paul, who wanted to leave and would have been trouble if he stayed, ok.

In the deal that transpired, the Hornets received Aminu, for his “youth and potential”. Dude sucked last year, and sucks this year. In 18 minutes last year, he averaged <6pts on <40% shooting. PER of 9.6. This year he’s averaging 4.4 points on 33% in 19 minutes.. PER of 9.5. He is horrible. Every player in the original deal is better than Aminu.

The Hornets received Chris Kaman, who is a good big. He only played 32 games last year, but has been healthy this year so far. The Hornets now somehow have a loaded frontcourt (Okafor, Landry, Smith), and Kaman is averaging 9/7/1blk on 44% in 23min. Hornets would have gotten Scola (a good big), and Odom (6th man of the year). Scola is averaging 15/6 on 47% in 32min. His PER is basically the same as Kaman’s at 13 this year. Lamar would be an additional big. He is having an all-time bad year for himself (PER of 9.4 and just being plain out of it), while Okafor/Landry/Smith are each at a PER of 16. Lamar would be replacing Smith who got signed afterwards, for a rotation of Scola/Lamar/Okafor/Landry.

New Orleans received Eric Gordon, who was the biggest player in the deal. He had the youth and talent that Stern was looking for, since everyone in the first deal was too old for him. Last year, Eric played in 56 games, at 38mpg. Averaged 22pts on 45%, 3reb, 4.4ast, 1.3stl. KevMart played 80 games, 32.5mpg. In that time he averaged 23.5ppg on 43.6% (shot better on 3s and FTs though, for a TS% of 60% > EJ’s 56.6%), 3reb, 2.5ast, 1stl. PER of 21.4 compared to 18.5. I had to use last year’s stats because of course, while KevMart has been healthy so far, Gordon has only played 2 games, and a report just came out that he is out at least 3 more weeks.

Finally, the draft picks. Hornets received the TWolves pick from Clippers, instead of Knicks pick from Rockets. The TWolves were supposed to be one of the worst teams in the league, if not the worst, while the Knicks were playoff bound, maybe even a contender. But so far this year, the Knicks are bad in every way, and the Twolves are actually a half game better in this early season (nobody saw Rubio helping Love and his team to wins).

So what’s all this mean? As of now, it seems like everything about the first deal would make a lot more sense for New Orleans. Better players, perhaps a better pick, maybe making the playoffs (which would generate more revenue for a struggling franchise), and more wins would help find a buyer faster. But it’s really early in the short season still, and the Hornets made the deal for their future. Most people still expect the Knicks to get back on track, be it due to Baron Davis, developing chemistry, making a trade, or firing Coach Pringles, so the Minny pick would still be more valuable. It will all come down to that, along with seeing if Eric Gordon can stay healthy. He hasn’t played a full season yet in his career, but he’s only 23 and in his 4th year, and a great talent. The deadline for his extension is Wednesday.. so we’ll see what Stern decides to do here. Extend his contract with that risk, or let him go so CP3 was basically just traded for a good big, a raw/crap young player, and a 1st rounder? And of course, since the Hornets suck this year, they will end up getting a high draft pick from their own first round pick.

What do you guys think about the deal as of now? Especially those who were saying that Stern and the Hornets got a better deal by canceling the Lakers/Rockets trade and shipping Paul off to the Clippers?

I came across this video last week while I was just doing my daily ‘tubing.  Anyway, it shows you how good of a back to basket player he was.  Not only did he have his signature fadeaway but he had counters, shimmy’s, step through moves, up and unders, spins, pretty much the complete package.  He’s probably the best post up guard of all time.

Here’s the White Mamba turning defense into offense.  Check out the anticipation, the hustle, the speed in the open court, and lastly, the court vision. How did he even know Korver was there? Unbelievable play.

New series of videos coming up, ”Greatest Series”. In this one we are going to see some great individual playoff and finals performances throughout one series. First one is Michael’s unreal performance in 1991 NBA finals, every game is in one 40-minute highlight video that shows every Jordan’s highlight from the finals. So lets begin.

June 2nd, 1991. One of the most anticipated NBA Finals are about to begin. Whole world was watching as Michael and Magic were about to sqare of for the first and the last time in the NBA finals. First trip to the finals for Michael, 9th for magic.

June 2nd, 1991—Game 1 In Chicago Stadium:

First game in the NBA finals for Jordan. He was under so much pressure but he played great. Scoring 15 points in the first quarter, Michael also dished some amazing assists.  He got 5 assists in the first quarter alone. Rest of the game Michael wasn’t so dominant, Magic and the Lakers were close all the way. They even built a nice 10 point lead in the 3rd quarter but Chicago came back. Michael exploded again in the 4th quarter with 13 points. He killed the Lakers with his shooting in the 4th. In the end LA won the game 93-91 with Sam Perkins game winning 3-pointer and Michael missed shot to force OT. Jordan finished the game with 36 points on 14/24 FG, 12 assists and 8 rebounds. Stat line just shows you that this was great all-around effort but the Lakers and Magic ( 19 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists) were too much. In the end this was the only game that LA won in this finals.

June 5th, 1991— Game 2 In Chicago Stadium:

Must win game for Chicago Bulls. After shocking game 1 loss everyone was looking for Michael to step up again. And he did, as always. First half was all about suporting cast, Horace Grant scored 14 points and Scottie Pippen played amazing defense on Magic. Michael had only 2 points in the end of the 2nd quarter. After that it was all history. 13 straight field goal attemtps, scoring clinic by Michael. Then it happened: ”a spectacular move by Michael Jordan, that’s 13 consecutive field goals!” One of the best announcers ever Marv Albert sad it all, it was just a spectacluar move that we never saw again on basketball hardwood. Going for a layup with his right hand, switching it to his left and finishing on the reverse side. Phil Jackon just laughed in disbelief. LA Lakers were crushed, they never came close and this one was history. Easy 107-86 win for the Bulls. Michael finished the game with 33 points on 15/18 FG. Again he dished 13 assists and grabbed 7 rebounds. Another great all-around game by Michael. Chicago Bulls shot 61 % in this game. John Paxson was 8/8, Horace Grant 10/13,  Scottie Pippen 8/16, Bill Cartwright 6/9. Great team effort by Chicago.

June 7th, 1991— Game 3 In Great Western Forum:

Series is shifted to LA. Lakers were happy with 1 win in Chicago and they were hoping to get unleast 2/3 at home. But Michael and the Bulls came ready for the challenge. Michael started the game by hitting a couple of long range jumpers and finished the first half with 15 points and 4 assists. The game was close throughout the first half. In the 3rd quarter LA Lakers went on a 18-2 run and Chicago was in deep trouble. Chicago answered in the 4th with Michael leading them to overtime by hitting a jumpshot over Divac. Overtime was all about Michael, scoring 6 of his teams 12 points Chicago suprised LA and won the game. Michael finished the game with 29 points but this was his worst shooting performance, just 11/28 FG. But again he played great game on defense and he was a great leader: 9 assists, 9 rebounds, 4 steals and 2 block shots says it all. This was only game in the finals that Michael had less than 10 assists

June 9th, 1991— Game 4 In Great Western Forum:

The momentum was on Chicago’s side, they came to this game full of self confidence. Jordan’s jammed toe, very paintfull injury, did not stop him from making another great performance. Chicago’s team effort got them an 8 point lead in the half time. Michael finished the half with 16 points and 7 assists. LA fans expected a comeback in the 2nd half. That didn’t happened, Chicago blown them out in the 3rd quarter. 16 point deficit in the end of the 3rd was to much for LA and Chicago was just one game away from the title. Michael played another great game, he wasn’t forcing anything, 28 points and 13 assists on 11/20 FG. Again, he was getting his teammates involved and Chicago won the game easly.

June 12th, 1991— Game 5 In Great Western Forum:

The birth of a legend, Michael Jordan wanted his ring so bad and he finally got it after 7 years of struggle and playoff exits. Boston Celtics and Detroit Pistons stopped him in the past but not this time. Chicago swept Detroit in ECF and LA won just one game in the finals. With James Worthy and Byron Scott out in game 5, Chicago looked like a favourite to win it all in LA. Michael wasn’t nervous, he was great in this one: hitting jumpshots, playing great defense (5 steals) and again gettin his teammates involved (10 assists). He shot 12/23 FG and finished the game with 30 points. First game in the finals that he wasn’t a high scorer, Pippen scored 32 points.

Michael Jordan is well known as a great finals performer. In this finals he averaged 31.2 ppg, 11.4 apg, 6.6 rpg and 2.8 spg. But look at his shooting numbers, 55.8 FG%, 50 3P% and 85 FT%. Just a great display of talent and hard work. Entire Chicago Bulls team was great. Scottie played great defense on Magic, John Paxson shot 65 %‼‼ from the field throughout the series. Horace Grant was amazing on the boards, even Bill Cartwright played solid. This was the birth of Chicago Bulls dynasty that ruled the NBA basketball in the 90′s.

Kemba Walker knocks in three 3-pointers for his career high at that point of 19 points. Somewhat of a break-out game. January 6, 2012.

Enjoy!