Wednesday, 13 March 2013

The 10-man rotation, starring Pope Sheed

A look around the league and the Web that covers it. It's also important to note that the rotation order and starting nods aren't always listed in order of importance. That's for you, dear reader, to figure out.

C: The Knicks Wall. Not to be Johnny T-shirts today, but for those of us who view the NBA as a religion unto itself, there was only ever one real choice at the conclave, and he rocks Air Force 1s. (And yes, you can totally buy that.)

PF: The Diss. Jacob Greenberg on the "proxy war" being waged between Sacramento and Seattle over ownership of the Kings: "No matter the outcome of this modern-day judgement of Solomon, the NBA will be victorious."

SF: Blazer's Edge. Last night it was Dwight-in-Orlando; tonight, it's Melo-in-Denver; Thursday, Raymond Felton's return to the Rose Garden will take center stage as the New York Knicks face the Portland Trail Blazers. Ben Golliver reminds us about just how contentious things got between Blazers fans and Felton, which neither side has come anywhere close to forgetting.

SG: Silver Screen and Roll. Drew Garrison gets screencap-specific to showcase something I wrote about a bit this morning — just how dominant defensively Dwight Howard was on Tuesday night, especially when it came to blowing up the Orlando Magic's screen-and-roll game and preventing penetration.

PG: TrueHoop. Kevin Arnovitz breaks down the Oklahoma City Thunder's starting five in the latest installment of his "Killer Lineup" series, detailing how a lockdown unit that struggled to score over the past two seasons has morphed into a blow-your-doors-off wrecking crew this year.

6th: Ball in Europe. Several members of the Houston Rockets make an appearance in a manga-style comic. If they were featured in an anime cartoon, the joke "Something something Vampire Hunter Donatas Motiejunas" would be appropriate, but no such luck so far, it seems. Oh, well.

7th: San Antonio Express-News. If this is the end of DeJuan Blair's time as a member of the San Antonio Spurs, he's going to savor it, and he's going to do everything in his power to make coach Gregg Popovich realize that he's worth high-leverage postseason minutes. A story of difficult circumstances and hard-earned maturity, well-told by one of the sport's best newspapermen, Mike Monroe.

8th: The Oklahoman. When the Thunder snagged Ronnie Brewer from the New York Knicks for a second-round pick back at the Feb. 21 trade deadline, it seemed like a perfect match of skill-set (a tough, multi-position defender comfortable in a reserve role on good teams) and opportunity (the Thunder's second unit often has trouble stopping opponents, especially on the perimeter). And yet, Brewer's been mostly unable to get off coach Scott Brooks' bench. Why? Darnell Mayberry considers the reasons.

9th: CelticsBlog. After a dismal performance against the woeful Charlotte Bobcats on Tuesday, Boston blog mainstay Jeff Clark accentuates the positive by offering his fellow fans (and, of course, himself) a reminder of why, specifically, he loves this Boston Celtics team as presently constituted. It's fun.

10th: The SportsFan Journal. The best reason yet why Brandon Knight shouldn't feel bad about getting put on a poster — though we might not remember, it even happened to His Airness.

Got a link or tip for Ball Don't Lie? Give me a shout at devine (at) yahoo-inc.com, or follow me on Twitter.



No comments:

Post a Comment