NBA Lockout Over, Well Not Really,.......

The NBA and the NBAPA are meeting at this moment to figure out a way to end this lockout.  If for some reason they can't come to an agreement, check out this the folks over at Basketball Prospectus as they run a simulated season of the the 2011-12 NBA Season.  As of last night the games that were played, here are some of the outcomes (all information from Basketball Prospectus): 

PACERS 119, ROCKETS 115: Danny Granger (16 points) and Darren Collison (12) led a 37-point first quarter for Indiana, during which the Pacers led by as many as 15. Indiana pushed the lead to 22 in the second quarter before Houston finished the half strong. Nevertheless, Indiana tacked on 38 more points in the second period, giving them--I'll do the math for you--a robust 75-point first half. Houston plugged its defensive gaps in the second half, holding Indiana to 17 points in the third. Marcus Morris scored the last four points on a 12-5 closing surge that left the game tied entering the final quarter. It was nip-and-tuck down the stretch. Kevin Martin scored off the break to put Houston up 110-108 with 2:19 to play. Granger answered with a three. Luis Scola's old school three-point play put the Rockets back in front 115-114 at the 1:04 mark. Granger was then fouled on a three attempt and sank all three free throws. Martin missed a three, but Houston retained the ball when the rebound was knocked out of bounds. Chase Budinger missed another three and Granger made two free throws to seal the win. Granger was fantastic, needing just 21 shots to put up 42 points.

HEAT 88, JAZZ 81: Miami entered the game 2-1 but sported an average point differential of +17.7 after winning consecutive home blowouts. There was no blowout this time around after an 11-2 run gave Utah a four-point lead early in the third quarter. The Jazz stretched the lead to six before Udonis Haslim scored in the paint and Eddie House hit a three, drawing Miami within a point entering the fourth quarter. Those hoops ended up sparking a 13-point run that gave the Heat the upper hand. The Jazz stayed within shouting distance, but never seriously challenged the rest of the way as Miami won its third straight. Dwyane Wade enjoyed his best game of the season, scoring 28 points on 7-of-11 shooting.

KNICKS 116, THUNDER 110: I suspect this would have been NBA TV's featured game on Tuesday, and it would have been an excellent choice. Kevin Durant versus Carmelo Anthony in Madison Square Garden--what's not to love? Both teams were starved for a win after starting the season slow and played like it. The Knicks seized a 14-point lead on Toney Douglas' three midway through the second quarter and led by eight at the half, with Douglas' 13 points leading the way. Durant went on a spree early in the third, scoring 12 points in less than four minutes, drawing the Thunder within three. New York pushed back, stretching the lead back to 13 on Douglas' hoop late in the third. The Thunder had another burst left, scoring the first nine points of the fourth to tie the game. The teams traded baskets before Bill Walker's fastbreak dunk capped a 7-2 run that put the Knicks up five with 4:06 to play and New York led by at least six over the last 3:21. Anthony scored 14 of his 32 in the fourth. The streak-shooting Douglas finished with 21 points on 9-of-10 shooting. The Thunder fell to 1-4 on the young season.

BULLS 122, CLIPPERS 88: The Clippers slipped by the Bulls 100-99 in their only meeting in Chicago last season, snapping the Bulls' seven-game winning streak when Derrick Rose missed a free throw after time had expired. This time around, Tom Thibodeau's bench led a 32-18 second quarter burst that left Chicago up by 20 at halftime. It was never really a ballgame, as Chicago led by as many as 35 in the second half and improved to 3-1 on the season. The Bulls outrebounded the Clippers 51-21, grabbed more than half their own misses and outscored L.A. 20-1 on second-chance points. If this were the real thing, you'd be questioning the effort of Vinny Del Negro's squad in his second trip back to the arena in which he once coached.

GRIZZLIES 116, SUNS 100: A tough test for the surprising Suns, who entered the game as one of four unbeaten teams left in the league. Memphis went on a 23-11 run during the first half and led by 13 at the break with Rudy Gay's 12 points leading the way. Gay entered the game averaging 29.7 points per contest. He finished with 26 this time out, as the Grizzlies led by double digits for the entire second half and came evened their record at 2-2. The Suns are no longer perfect after getting pounded in transition (44-24) and in the paint (34-18). The bad news for Memphis: Zach Randolph was injured and will miss a couple of games.

Great site and great simulation.  I'll definitely be checking back in the near future, especially if the real NBA guys can't get it together.  

Catching Up

It's been a while since I've posted anything outside of my weekly picks, so I thought that I'd get back into the swing of things with some quick blurbs so you can see what's going on.

NBA:

Lockout - We all know that the lockout is still on going and David Stern has been masterful about using the media to bludgeon the players into taking a raw deal and being 'happy' with it.  There's a lot of people who look at this from an employer to employee view and how dare the players want more than a 50/50 BRI split.  People are going to argue and make this about their experience ('if I had a company I'd tell them to take the deal or they can get out of here' or 'these guys are asking their bosses for more of the profits, to he77 with them').  You must understand that these athletes are more like actors than rank and file employees.  They have a specialized skillset that you just can't go out and get any average Joe off the street to perform.  Plus this is corporate America where sometimes you have to fight for everything.  This can't be lost in the argument because Stern is trying his best to demonize the players (is demonize to strong of a word?) and have the fans revolt against them.  I only hope that the lockout ends soon and that there is a deal where there are concessions on both sides and not just the owners.

Charlotte Bobcats - Mr. Air Jordan himself is on record as one of the owners that wants to cut the players percentage of BRI down to 47%.  All I got to say Mike is that when this is done, we're going to see how your public stance hurts your ability and image among the players that hold you in such high esteem.   

NFL:

Chicago Bears - Well, he finally got paid, and no not Forte, offensive lineman Garza.  I still can fathom why the Bears don't make this deal with Forte.  They had put a deal on the table that would have given him around $13M to $14M guaranteed and Forte wants closer to $16M to $18M guaranteed.  You have a guy that is doing it all for your team (minus the fumbles last night) and he's being a pro about it and he's not letting his play suffer.  I just don't get it.  Worse for Forte is the franchise tag, which the team can do for 2 years straight.  The cap number for the franchise tag used to be the Top 5 position players from the previous year, but now the franchise tag is the Top 5 position players from the previous 5 years.  That lowers next years' cap for a RB from $9.5M (this year) to closer to $7.5M.  Sucks to be Forte right now. 

Indianapolis Colts - Still winless and maybe they want to stay that way.  Andrew Luck is the prize and many are questioning what the Colts would do with that pick, should they get it.  I think it's easy, I think you draft Luck and keep him until Peyton retires (I imagine 2 to 3 years tops due to neck concerns).  Yes the Colts need offensive and defensive line help, but when you think about it, Peyton would end his career like daddy Manning started his, running for his life. 

New York Giants - With Ahmad Bradshaw having a broken bone in his foot, Jacobs did a decent job this past weekend against the Patriots to help the Giants get a win.  Now word is Bradshaw is on his way back and will probably have to share the workload in order to keep him healthy.  Why wouldn't the Giants just rest Bradshaw for a few weeks and give Jacobs the rock for a few weeks.  This get Bradshaw a little healthier and maybe energizes Jacobs. 

Arizona Cardinals - With the Philadelphia Eagles on the docket for Sunday, Kevin Kolb is trying to do his best to get back in the lineup so he can prove the Eagles made a mistake (unless he plays defense, I really think that's a moot argument) in trading him away.  

New England Patriots - They have waived Albert Haynesworth.  Is Ocho up next?  I for one thought that their additions would reap benefits for the Patriots and boy was I wrong.   

Washington Redskins - Released Donte Stallworth.

Carolina Panthers - Released Ronald Fields.

NBA Lockout

If you're interested in the NBA Lockout and want a different perspective, check out Malcolm Gladwell's article.  (You can find it here.)  If you don't know who Malcom Gladwell is (smack yourself right now), then check out his site and his other publications.