THE TORONTO RAPTORS have now extended their winning streak to a franchise-best 10 straight games after their 103-93 win over the Knicks on Thursday night. Now, #WeTheNorth sits at 31-15 and just two games back of the Cavaliers for the East’s top spot. Their success can be largely attributed to the All-Star backcourt duo of PG Kyle Lowry and SG/SF DeMar DeRozan, who have averaged a combined 48 points per game over the course of the win streak. But Lowry and DeRozan, albeit even better now, have always been good; perhaps the biggest reason for the team’s improvement as of late has been C Jonas Valanciunas, who since returning from a hand injury in late December, has averaged 16.5 points, 13.6 rebounds, and 2.4 blocks per 36 minutes. Toronto now ranks in the top 10 in both offensive and defensive efficiency, after finishing 23rd in the latter category last year. The future return of defensive specialist SF DeMarre Carroll will only further help the defensive cause, but unfortunately Carroll will likely be out until at least late February with a knee injury. Just in case you were wondering what all the ruckus was aboot, eh?
THE ALL-STAR RESERVES have been announced! Here you go people:
THE ALL-STAR RESERVES have been announced! Here you go people:
In the East, few can be disappointed with the backcourt decisions of Butler, DeRozan, Thomas, and Wall. Perhaps the next closest candidate would be Pistons PG Reggie Jackson or Bucks SG/SF Khris Middleton, but you’d have a hard time making the case to me to remove any of the aforementioned four. In the East frontcourt, many wanted Bulls PF/C Pau Gasol, who actually came close to taking Carmelo’s spot as a starter in the fan voting, or Cavaliers PF/C Kevin Love, but again, it’s difficult to say which of Bosh, Drummond, or Millsap should lose their spots for Pau or Love. In the West backcourt, I have to say, as great as Klay is, I legitimately believe that Lillard should have that spot. Lillard averages more points, rebounds, assists, and steals per game than Thompson, and defeats the Warriors’ SG in PER 21.7 to 18.2. In the West frontcourt, many are upset over the decision to add Spurs PF/C LaMarcus Aldridge over the likes of Karl-Anthony Towns, Gordon Hayward, and Dirk Nowitzki, but the case is far from stone-cold for either of the three over the second-best player on the second-best team. What is most surprising is that new Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue will be coaching the East, and his career record as head coach is a whopping 2 wins and 1 loss, while his counterpart, West head coach Gregg Popovich, has well surpassed the 1,000 win milestone, not to mention 5 championships along the way.
BLAKE GRIFFIN made headlines for all the wrong reasons this week. On Tuesday, Griffin “came to blows” with close friend and assistant equipment manager Matias Tasti. Even worse, he suffered a spiral fracture in the incident, and after undergoing surgery, LAC announced the superstar PF would miss 4-6 weeks. Griffin may also miss additional time due to a potential suspension from the league following the incident, as Commissioner Adam Silver reviews the case. Quite shockingly, according to ESPN, "I've always heard rumblings, and I don't know if I really believe them, but what I've heard is that if Doc had to pick one to trade, he would pick Blake...". It's worth noting that the Clippers have been 13-3 since the Oklahoma product went down with a quad injury and some stats point towards Griffin not meshing well with his teammates this season. Still, Blake has no doubt remained a superstar, averaging 23.2 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 5 assists per game on 51% shooting.
JUST IN CASE there haven’t been enough Kobe-Jordan comparisons in the past two decades, there have been more! After Dirk Nowitzki recently called Kobe “our generation’s Michael Jordan”, Derrick Rose came up with an unbelievably original comment that nobody has ever seen or even thought of before. Brace yourselves, people, for these quite riveting and absolutely revolutionary words:
“He’s our generation’s Michael Jordan.” -Derrick Rose
No. Freakin’. Way! Who would have ever thought to compare Kobe to Jordan?!
"One of the biggest differences between the two stars from my perspective was Michael's superior skills as a leader.” -Phil Jackson
"He ranks right there with Jordan." -Pat Riley
"He reminds me of Michael Jordan.” -LeBron James
“I see a lot of myself in him. No doubt about it.” -Michael Jordan
Oh, I guess quite a few notable people.
Ok, yes, props to Derrick Rose for showing respect to two legends. But my point is that it’s almost annoying that this makes headlines every single time someone says it. We get it already -- Jordan and Bryant had/have similar play styles.
BLAKE GRIFFIN made headlines for all the wrong reasons this week. On Tuesday, Griffin “came to blows” with close friend and assistant equipment manager Matias Tasti. Even worse, he suffered a spiral fracture in the incident, and after undergoing surgery, LAC announced the superstar PF would miss 4-6 weeks. Griffin may also miss additional time due to a potential suspension from the league following the incident, as Commissioner Adam Silver reviews the case. Quite shockingly, according to ESPN, "I've always heard rumblings, and I don't know if I really believe them, but what I've heard is that if Doc had to pick one to trade, he would pick Blake...". It's worth noting that the Clippers have been 13-3 since the Oklahoma product went down with a quad injury and some stats point towards Griffin not meshing well with his teammates this season. Still, Blake has no doubt remained a superstar, averaging 23.2 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 5 assists per game on 51% shooting.
JUST IN CASE there haven’t been enough Kobe-Jordan comparisons in the past two decades, there have been more! After Dirk Nowitzki recently called Kobe “our generation’s Michael Jordan”, Derrick Rose came up with an unbelievably original comment that nobody has ever seen or even thought of before. Brace yourselves, people, for these quite riveting and absolutely revolutionary words:
“He’s our generation’s Michael Jordan.” -Derrick Rose
No. Freakin’. Way! Who would have ever thought to compare Kobe to Jordan?!
"One of the biggest differences between the two stars from my perspective was Michael's superior skills as a leader.” -Phil Jackson
"He ranks right there with Jordan." -Pat Riley
"He reminds me of Michael Jordan.” -LeBron James
“I see a lot of myself in him. No doubt about it.” -Michael Jordan
Oh, I guess quite a few notable people.
Ok, yes, props to Derrick Rose for showing respect to two legends. But my point is that it’s almost annoying that this makes headlines every single time someone says it. We get it already -- Jordan and Bryant had/have similar play styles.
Relax.
But then again, this is a headline about complaining about headlines...
But then again, this is a headline about complaining about headlines...
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