Whitney’s 900th point keeps Coyotes hot (AP)
By his own account
Ray Whitney has been written off at least twice. And that makes reaching the 900-point plateau all that much sweeter. Whitney scored two goals and added an assist to help the Phoenix Coyotes beat the Anaheim Ducks 6-2 on Saturday night. “I’m proud to be there
” said Whitney
who reached the milestone on his first-period goal.
What is the greatest quarter in Clippers history?
Last night
the Clippers beat the Miami Heat at Staples Center to break one of the longest road winning streaks in recent history. They did so in large part because of a stellar first quarter.According to Mark Heisler of the Los Angeles Times
it might have even been the best 12-minute period in franchise history:The Clippers then put an amazing show
running up 44 points in a spectacular first quarter with Griffin flying
Eric Gordon bombing
Baron Davis dealing and DeAndre Jordan dunking.In an unofficial poll
broadcasters Don MacLean
Michael Eaves and I decided it had to be the greatest quarter in Clippers history. Of course
in other teams’ histories
they keep track of seasons
not quarters.This might not seem like an accomplishment for the record books
but this quarter beat out some pretty stiff competition. Here are just a few of the other best quarters in the storied history of the Clips:1. That one time Loy Vaught went for 15 against Buck Williams2. The single quarter when Maurice Taylor qualified as a star3. The only quarter Bill Walton played before his lower body exploded.4. The third quarter of Game 6 of the 2005 Western semifinals
right before Mike Dunleavy decided Daniel Ewing should guard Raja Bell5. The one quarter last season when Baron Davis and Chris Kaman were both completely healthy at the same time6. The first time the PA announcer referred to James Richardson as “Pooh”7. The last time Frankie Muniz was able to afford courtside seats8. The first quarter they played after Mike Dunleavy was fired.9. The one quarter in which Darius Miles and Quentin Richardson pounded their heads 16 times.10. The first fourth quarter in which Lawler’s Law (i.e. that the first team to 100 points wins) was broken.Wow
what a successful franchise. I don’t know how they’ll ever top last night’s exploits.
Rip Hamilton and Brook Lopez are sitting
and very upset
Ben Gordon dropped a white-hot 25 points off the Detroit bench Wednesday night
Tracy McGrady has brought solid all-around play to the Pistons backcourt of late
and Rodney Stuckey (though he shot 5 for 15 Wednesday night) had been looking good from long range in the two games prior to Detroit’s Wednesday loss to the Grizzlies.But does that mean you can’t find a single minute for Richard Hamilton?Detroit coach John Kuester thought so
as he benched the former Pistons All-Star for the entire game
in spite of the fact that Hamilton (who has missed time to injury this season) was completely healthy. The Grizzles won handily.And Hamilton
in a way that won’t get himself fined or suspended
is not happy. From the Detroit News:”They didn’t tell me anything
I was definitely surprised
” Hamilton said after the game. “Do I think it was a level of disrespect or unfair or anything? I’ll leave that to you all.” Teammate Tayshaun Prince chimed in and said
“buffoonery. Do you all know what that means?” First
I’d like to imagine Tayshaun with a British accent and raised index finger as he cries “Buffoonery!”Secondly
you’re not leaving it to us all
Richard. The problem here is not that John Kuester didn’t replace some of Stuckey’s dodgy 39 minutes (McGrady is the team’s de facto point guard these days) with some run for Hamilton. And the problem here is not some delayed reaction to Hamilton supposedly quitting on the Pistons last month.The issue is that none of this matters.The Pistons are such a nonentity
seemingly fille
d with nothing but shooting guards
that Hamilton’s permanence or impermanence on the team has no bearing on things. He could be traded tomorrow or he could average 35 minutes per game for the rest of 2010-11
but it doesn’t matter. Because Detroit is going to miss the playoffs and is losing at home to the Memphis Grizzlies. Unless there’s something we don’t know about
it should have been on Kuester to at least find token minutes for Hamilton
especially as Stuckey was missing 10 of 15 shots. But you’ll be hard pressed to find anyone watching the game Wednesday night
someone who wasn’t a Pistons fan
who even noticed that Hamilton was picking up a DNP-CD.The Nets
rife with potential and assets and looking to actually trade for Hamilton
actually do matter. The problem they have is that the team’s one untouchable — the once-All-Star worthy center Brook Lopez — has been downright terrible for long stretches throughout this season. His once-iffy rebounding rate has dwindled to the ranks of the embarrassing — Brook pulls in just over 10 percent of all available rebounds. For comparison’s sake
the league leaders this year are managing 2 1/2 times that mark.Rebounding wasn’t Brook’s issue Wednesday night
as he pulled in eight
a mark he’s hit just one other time in the last month. But Lopez did force shots down the stretch
bad shots
he was pulled as a result
and had some choice words for Nets coach Avery Johnson as evidenced by a clip we can’t show on this site.This comes a few days after Avery Johnson tossed a shot Lopez’s way
apropos of nothing
regarding the center’s rebounding issues. And this is where Avery
and not Lopez
needs to get his act together
quickly.Because the current approach isn’t working. It’s making Lopez worse
and Johnson is a fool if he thinks repeated use of the same approach
despite failure each and every time out
is the smart way to go here. The Nets are trying their hardest to make Lopez the second-best player on a team featuring Carmelo Anthony
and while that’s not going to be a championship core at its best
it’s going to be far worse if Johnson keeps handling Lopez this way. Because the third-year center has taken a clear step backward
and it can’t be coincidental that Johnson is talking smack on- and off-record about the guy every damn day.This is what separates good coaches from great coaches. Great coaches get great things out of good players. It’s easy to coach go-getters
self-motivators who would hit the floor and take the charge just for the fun of it. It’s not easy to pull great things out of players who aren’t used to giving that extra bit. And if Avery continues to draw this line in the sand
he’s going to fritter away New Jersey’s chance at some very good things.
