2011 NBA All-Star Reserves Announced

Everyone has their opinions on which players are deserving to make the all-star roster (see here and here for my predictions) and every year a case can be made for some players getting the dreaded "snub". The 2010-2011 edition is no different. Earlier today the reserves for the East and West NBA All-Star teams were officially announced by the NBA on TNT. Here are the selections:

Eastern Conference

Kevin Garnett Celtics C
Paul Pierce Celtics SF
Rajon Rando Celtics PG
Ray Allen Celtics SG
Al Horford Hawks C
Joe Johnson Hawks SG
Chris Bosh Heat PF

Western Conference

Manu Ginobili Spurs SG
Tim Duncan Spurs C
Dirk Nowitzki Mavericks PF
Pau Gasol Lakers PF
Deron Williams Jazz PG
Russell Westbrook Thunder PG
Blake Griffin Clippers PF

While almost all players selected were deserving in their own right there are a few glaring omissions that should be pointed out, more so on the West squad than the East. Take for instance Kevin Love, who is averaging over 21 points and close to 15 rebounds but plays for the lowly Timberwolves. You can also make a strong case for Monta Ellis or Eric Gordon who are both averaging over 24 points a game and among the leaders in scoring but don't get nearly the attention from mainstream media they deserve. The same can be said for LaMarcus Aldridge, putting up 21 and 10 a night for the 8th seeded Trailblazers. I can't think of anyone in the East who got a serious snub, except maybe adding Raymond Felton. I just can't come up with a strong enough case to give him a spot over anyone else on the East's roster.

The question is, who would you leave off? My first choice would be Tim Duncan, who clearly got the nod due to team success and his overall popularity and respect from the coaches around the Western Conference. Duncan is averaging career lows in virtually every offensive category and is now the third option on for his team. But the Spurs do have the NBA's best record. Substituting Duncan with Kevin Love would have made sense as Love should be awarded for the great first half he is enjoying. West vote in center Yao Ming will be out, so Love still has a shot at an all-star berth.

They say it's impossible to please everyone. That statement definitely holds true when it comes to all-star spots. Congrats go out to all who made it. You're most likely still going to tune in, if for nothing more than the opportunity to see Blake Griffin smash on Kevin Garnett in Staples.

-ALR

Video: Blake Griffin Alley Oop Dunk Over Kyle Korver

Kyle Korver is primarily a shooter and has never been known for his athletic ability. Blake Griffin on the other hand is, and Korver got reminded last night how athletically inferior he is to Griffin:



Either Korver doesn't have access to youtube or he was temporarily detached from reality. The Ashton Kutcher clone got smashed on. His team won the game though 106-88, snapping the Clippers 9-game home winning streak so he can feel a little better about that.

And tell me when's the last time you've seen Korver and Kutcher in the same place at the same time? Kyle Korver /Ashton Kutcher = Same Person.

-ALR

Blake Griffin Windmill Dunk

Yes, more Clippers highlights, but this time its Blake Griffin giving us a small preview of what we might see during the dunk contest:



Impressive. Word around town is that the dunk contest is Blake's to lose, so let's hope he doesn't disappoint.

-ALR

Video: Blake Griffin Half Court Alley Oop

Blake Griffin has already become a youtube legend. There are thousands of videos of his above the rim antics just from this season alone. We can go ahead and add this insane 50-foot alley oop to Griffin's dunk contest resume:



Two things really stand out about this play; 1.) how quickly Blake got down the floor. When a big man runs that hard you have to reward him; and 2.) randy Foye put the pass on the money. The accuracy of that pass and from that distance was amazing.

If Blake Griffin doesn't put on a show ruring All-Star weekend it may go down as one of the biggest upsets and dissapointments in recent memory.

-ALR

Video: Blake Griffin Reverse Alley-Oop Slam

Wow. Blake Griffin is a BEAST.



-ALR

Video: Clipper DeAndre Jordan as "Gordon Limbaugh"

THIS is why I roll with the Clippers. They're just a fun collection of players. Here's video of center DeAndre Jordan as "Gordon Limbaugh" and campaigning for your all-star votes...



The blonde wig was a nice touch. When Jordan pointed the giant finger at the camera I couldn't stop laughing. Both Eric Gordon and Blake Griffin have made strong cases for an all-star berth. You can vote for your favorite players here.

-ALR

Video: Blake Griffin's Career High 47 Point Performance vs. Indiana Pacers

Yesterday against the Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles Clippers rookie forward Blake Griffin (yes, THAT guy) put on a show against the Indiana Pacers, finishing with 47 points (28 in the first half) and 14 rebounds. Here's a video of every basket (courtesy of nba.com):



And the scary thing is, the kid is still getting better. They can go ahead and ship the ROY trophy on out to Staples.

And don't forget to check out this post with a prediction on how the rest of the regular season may play out for the Clippers (looking pretty accurate if I may say so myself).

-ALR

Video: Mario Chalmers And Chris Bosh Don't Want It With Blake Griffin

First off, Mario Chalmers is 6'2, maybe 190 lbs. Blake Griffin is 6'10, 251. Mario, you don't want that issue...



Then on the following play, Baron Davis drives and dishes to Blake for the double pump jam. See how quickly Chris Bosh backed up? He wanted no part of the Clippers poster child.

And by the way, the Clippers snapped the Miami Heat's 13 game road winning streak for their 3rd straight victory. Check here for our formula of how the Clippers can finish with 41 victories. You heard it here first.

-ALR

Why The Los Angeles Clippers Will Win 41 Games... Maybe



Clipper stars Blake Griffin and Baron Davis


First things first, yes I am a Clipper fan. And not just because Blake Griffin has declared war on rims all across the NBA (see here, here, and here and everywhere else on youtube). I've been a fan since the Larry Brown, Danny Manning, Ken Norman and Loy Vaught days. Witnessing the Clippers lose year in and year out has made me quite realistic with my expectations. So when the Clips stumbled out the gate to a 1-13 start I was a little disappointed but not surprised.

Ever since Griffin's 44-point, 15 board dunk fest against the Knicks, the Clippers have played much improved basketball, with a record of 10-11 going into today's game vs. Golden State. They have even notched impressive victories against the Spurs, Bulls, Hornets, and most recently a 13 point blowout against the Nuggets. The Clippers were even on the verge of a victory over the Lakers if not for the last second heroics of Derek Fisher. Not bad at all.



Eric Gordon



Part of the success can be attributed to the young core realizing their potential. Eric Gordon has developed into a consistent scoring threat on the perimeter, while Griffin has been an absolute beast in the front court. Young center DeAndre Jordan has shown nice potential while filling in for Chris Kaman  and compliments Griffin well in the post. Even veteran PG Baron Davis is rounding into form after reportedly coming into training camp overweight (pun intended) and is contributing 11.4 and 7 dimes as a starter.

The Clippers currently sit at 11-24. They would need to finish 30-17 to reach 41 victories. So how can they finish at .500? Taking a look at the remainder of their schedule, the Clippers have 26 games against sub-.500 teams. I won't go as far as to say that they win all of these games, but they can easily take 20 of them. So that leaves 21 games against teams with winning records. Looking back at the recent 10-11 stretch the Clippers are currently on they have gone 4-7 against winning teams (.363 winning percentage). If you apply that percentage to the remaining 26 games against winning teams, you get about 9-10 victories for the Clippers. So by my calculations that would get them to 30 wins over the final 47 games in their schedule.

It may be a bit of a stretch but it's feasible and gives us Clipper faithful something to get excited about (besides Griffin of course). Now if we can only find a way to get Donald Sterling's foolishness out of the way...

-ALR

Blake Griffin Named Western Conference Rookie Of The Month

The beast known as Los Angeles Clippers PF Blake Griffin was named Western Conference Rookie Of The Month by the NBA today, the second consecutive month. Unless you have been in a cave since October you have seen tons of Griffin monster dunks all over youtube and Sportscenter. For December, Griffin averaged 23 ppg, 13.1 rpg, 3.9 apg and shot 52% from the field. He also racked up a double double in all 15 games in Dec. The Clippers finished the month with an improved 7-8 record, including victories over the Spurs (31 & 130 and the Bulls 29 & 12).

NY Knicks swingman Landry Fields was named rookie of the month for the Eastern Conference.

Here's another look at some of Griffin's amazing highlights:



And here is a highlight of an insane alley oop Griffin caught yesterday in a close loss to the Hawks:



My personal favorite is still the fast break spin move and slam over Galinari, but there really are too many to choose from. Keep it up and stay healthy, Blake. The W's will come soon.

-ALR

NBA Trimester: 2010-2011 Rookie Report

As we are at the 1/3 of the way through the 2010-2011 NBA season, this is a great time to give you "That Sports Blog"' rookie rankings, top 5 and bottom 5. You can see my pre-season rookie rankings here (looking back, I wasn't too far off). On to the rankings, which are based off of draft position, expectations and overall productivity...

1. Blake Griffin, Los Angeles Clippers
You've seen the highlights, the monster dunks, spin moves, and rebounds. Everyone knew Griffin would be good, but I don't think anyone saw him being this good this soon. The versatile big man is currently contributing 21.5 ppg, 12 rpg and even chipping in 3 dimes. Since his 44 point coming out party against the Knicks, Griffin has run off 20 straight double doubles. The scary thing is he's still getting better. His numbers for December; 23ppg, 13.5rpg and 4apg. He's even added in a reliable mid range jumper. He's the runaway ROY at this point.

2. John Wall, Washington Wizards

Before suffering from knee tendinitis Wall and Griffin were dueling for the top rookie spot. But injuries have caused JW11 to miss a bunch of games and limited when he has been on the court lately. Still, he's putting up over 15 and 8 dimes per which isn't too shabby for a rookie PG. His jumper has been shaky but there are signs that it will improve and with Arenas now shipped off to Orlando Wall will have more room to isolate his defender and utilize his superior speed. If he can stay on the court and off of the trainer's table.

3. Landry Fields, New York Knicks

If you're saying to yourself "Who?", you aren't the only one. Fields, a 6'7 swingman out of Stanford, has started every game at shooting guard for the much improved Knicks. He's currently 4th in rookie scoring (10.3) and leads all NBA guards in rebounding (7.5). He doesn't do much that will make you say WOW but he's been very solid all around. Not bad for a 2nd round pick.

4. Wesley Johnson, Minnesota Timberwolves
Though you may not hear much about him, Johnson has quietly put together a decent start to his NBA career. He's averaging close to double figures while shooting very well from the perimeter (.459 overall, .397 from the 3). He may struggle for minutes in the near future with the return of swingman Martell Webster but the versatile Johnson can also play the SF position in a pinch. And if you haven't caught any of his highlights, here is a sample. Minnesota may have a nice nucleus in the works if they can settle on a PG.

5. Derrick Favors, New Jersey Nets

I had Favors ranked in my bottle 5 before the season, mainly due to his young age and the spot where he was drafted (#3 overall). So far when he has been on the court he has proven me wrong. Though only getting 19 minutes of burn a game Favors has chipped in close to 7ppg and 5rpg and a couple double doubles. He has legit size for an NBA power forward and has shown flashes but until he can sustain his energy level on a more consistent basis he will continue to struggle for minutes.

Bottom 5 (based on draft position, expectations & productivity)

5. Evan Turner, Philadelphia 76ers

Being picked 2nd overall brings a lot of expectations, but Turner hasn't done much when on the floor to live up to them. He has struggled with his shooting so far and teams are sagging off of him and daring him to take long range jumpers. In Turner's defense he has been solid on the glass (4.4rpg) but the play making ability that was flashed during his 3 seasons at Ohio St. has yet to translate to the NBA. He did have a nice 23 point effort last night while starting at the 3 for Andre Iguodala but in contrast the performance was against one of the worst defenses in the league. Hopefully it will build his confidence and bring forth more solid performances.

4. DeMarcus Cousins, Sacramento Kings
Cousins entered the NBA with question marks regarding his bad attitude and a label as a hot head. So far he has done nothing but transform those question marks into bold exclamation points. Cousins has been suspended by his team, thrown out of practice and displayed horrible body language on the court. And to be 6'11 and close to 300lbs, he's had a little trouble finishing in the paint. Will all that said, Cousins has a TON of talent and is still managing to put up 11 and 8 a night. If he can shake his maturity issues he still has a chance to develop into a very good NBA center in a short period of time. But that is a very big IF.

3. Greg Monroe, Detroit Pistons

Monroe is another top 10 pick who has struggled to get minutes early in the season. Which is baffling because the Pistons don't have much depth at the center position. Monroe did get a few starts in early December but was quickly sent back to a reserve role. Monroe hasn't been much of a scorer but he has contributed 5 rebounds in less than 20 minutes per game which isn't bad. But outside of that he hasn't done much else.

2. Gordon Hayward, Utah Jazz

Take away last night's 17-point explosion against the Clippers and Hayward has been absolutely non-existent this season. He started the season as a big part of the Jazz's rotation but has seen his minutes cut to few and far between. The shooting stroke that everyone was so high on entering the season hasn't been there for Hayward and he has looked timid when given the opportunity to shoot. He's still young and coming from a mid-major program so he  may still be the adjusting to the jump in competition, but so far his play has left much to be desired from the 9th pick in the draft.

1. Daniel Orton, Orlando Magic

Congratulations go out to Orton for holding down this spot for the 2nd time. Gotta love that consistency. I really don't have much else to write about Orton as he has yet to play a single minute in the NBA, and only played parts of 2 games in the D-League as he re-injured his left knee. Orton definitely owes his agent a raise as they pulled a fast one by getting him drafted in the first round.

-ALR

First Trimester NBA Power Rankings (Part 1)

Roughly one-third through the NBA season, a worst-to-first ranking of the NBA using Charles Barkley-isms.



"That's TURR-ible"

30. Sacramento Kings (5-22)

29. Charlotte Bobcats (9-19)


The Bobcats just had their coach quit on them, and the Kings just gave their coach the dreaded vote of confidence.

"I am not a role model."

28. Minnesota Timberwolves (6-24)

27. Washington Wizards (7-20)

The Timberwolves give up the most points per game (110) in the league, putting those lofty Kevin Love numbers (21ppg, 15 rpg) in some perspective. The Wizards just traded for the only player in the league with a more ridiculous contract than Gilbert Arenas (Rashard Lewis).


"This place? Nothing positive. OK, I want to say something positive. It's positively a dump."

26. Cleveland Cavaliers (8-21)

25. Detroit Pistons (10-19)

24. New Jersey Nets (9-21)

23. Philadelphia 76ers (11-18)

Just look at the names of the cities three of these four teams play in. Would you like to live there? No? That about sums up their NBA teams. The Cavs fall from dominance has been widely documented. The Pistons have managed to kill Rip Hamilton's competitive spirit. The Nets made an in-season trade for Sasha "The Machine" Vujacic.

The 76ers play good defense, but seem to have regressed offensively under Doug Collins, Elton Brand leading the team with 15 ppg. Andre Iguodola is averaging 14 ppg, three full points lower than last season, and getting paid $12 million. Can you say "trade me"?


"He's got to bring something stronger than that. That's like bringing milk to a bar, it's not strong enough."

22. Toronto Raptors (10-19)

21. Los Angeles Clippers (8-22)

The Raptors can score, but cannot play defense, rebound, or keep a franchise player happy (see; McGrady, Tracy; Carter, Vince; and Bosh, Chris). The Clippers finally drafted a player (Blake Griffin, 21 ppg, 12 rpg) that has made them highlight worthy (check these out), but even that isn't enough to wash away the stench that comes from thirty years of losing.


"Yeah Ernie, its called defense, I mean I wouldn't know anything about it personally but I've heard about it through the grapevine"

20. Golden State Warriors (10-18)

19. Phoenix Suns (13-15)

Neither teams play any defense. The Warriors have a potent, yet undersized, backcourt with Monta Ellis (25.6 ppg) and Steph Curry (20 ppg, 5 apg). But after the unexpectedly hot 7-4 start, the Warriors have crashed back to earth, going 3-14 since Nov. 15, giving up 107 ppg in the process.

The Suns look to have written off this season after last week's trade to acquire Vince Carter, Mickael Pietrus, and Marcin Gortat. Depending on how you look at it, they either believe the additions will strengthen their anemic defense (109 ppg, 29th in the NBA), or they are continuing their most recent trend of dumping salary and talent, which could mean we'll see Steve Nash changing addresses soon.

"It ain't against the rules to make a layup..."

18. Memphis Grizzlies (12-17)

17. Milwaukee Bucks (12-16)

Both teams have below .500 records, but aren't as bad as their records may lead one to believe. The Grizzlies notched impressive early season wins against the Dallas Mavs, the Miami Heat, and the Los Angeles Lakers. They give up one point per game more than they score (99.7 to 100.7) which means they're losing a ton of close games. Hard to believe a team with such potent offensive players like Rudy Gay, Zach Randolph, and O.J. Mayo would have difficulty averaging 100 ppg.

The Bucks average a league worst 91 points per game, but are fourth in the league defensively. In their second year under head coach Scott Skiles, the Bucks are showing all the trademarks of a Skiles-led team: tough defense, patient offense, and being the lone team in the NBA that looks like a Division-1 Mid Major powerhouse. These talents were on display most recently when the Bucks defeated the Lakers at Staples Center, holding the world champs to a season low 79 points. They followed that by holding the Kings to the same point total in their very next game.

(Check tomorrow for teams 16-1. If you've been a good little girl or boy, it will be posted. Merry Xmas.)

#LTSB Video: Today's Edition Of "Blake Griffin Did It Again..."

I'm going to continue to post highlights of the Los Angeles Clippers rookie sensation for a few reasons. 1.) The kid is a BEAST. 2.) I'm a long time Clipper fan (save your jokes; I'm heard them all). 3.) We haven't seen a player this young, this size and this explosive since maybe Shawn Kemp; and I think Blake is already better than the Reign Man. Here are some highlights from the Griffin Show last night against the Timberwolves:



The Clippers are on a 3-game winning streak and Griffin posted his 16th srtraight double-double last night with 22 and 10 (and threw in 7 assists for good measure). In December he is averaging 21.7ppg, 13.3 rpg and 4.3 asts. Say it with me; ROOKIE OF THE YEAR. 'Nuff said.

-ALR

Video: Blake Griffin Dunks vs. Spurs

Has there been any other player is recent memory with more highlight dunks so soon into their NBA career than Los Angeles Clippers rookie Blake Griffin? The kid is good for at least 2-3 jaw-dropping slams a game. As was the case in tonight's Clipper 90-85 victory (yes, victory) over the San Antonio Spurs at Staples. Here are some highlights:





Even had to include this missed dunk attempt...



This guy is an absolute beast. Griffin, who was also named Western Conference Rookie Of The Month earlier in the day, finished the game with 31 points and 13 rebounds. Despite the Clippers 4-15 record Griffin gives fans something to cheer about and hope for the future. Keep the highlights comin'!

-ALR

Clippers Stay Losing

One win in their first nine games, being outscored by an average of ten points a night? Call that par for the course in Clipperland.

Starting center Chris Kaman goes down with an ankle injury, and is expected to miss two weeks? Yawn.

Point guard Baron Davis make $13 million this year, averages 8 ppg, 4 assists, and shoots 32 percent from the floor? No need to stop the press.

And now, after being baptized in the Los Angeles Clipper funk by missing his true rookie season to injury, former first overall pick Blake Griffin has been videotaped as the world's most recent Shake Weight victim.

The "rookie" power forward for the Clippers is averaging a double-double this season (16 ppg, 10 reb) and has quickly become a fan favorite for his reckless on-court play. However, this showing of off-court recklessness is sure to have the Clipper faithful resorting to the same head motion they've grown accustomed to watching the team play for the last 30 years, the head shake.

You may now resume not giving a d--- about the Clippers.