Monday, November 15, 2010

Straight From The Rook #7



Mat MacDonald AKA The RookThe Rook is currently enrolled in Human Kinetics at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nov a Scotia. A frequent contributor to all NBA and Rapto rs debates along with other sports. Witty, quick and never afraid of a challenge, Mat's here to talk hoops with you and dish out his two cents whenever!

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The Monday Morning Hangover

Another week has come and gone in the NBA and yet again there are some big story lines to cover. First off, Kevin Love seems to have a love for the ball. Over the weekend Love grabbed 81 rebounds. When you read who’s hot and who’s not you’ll see how that’s so impressive.

First off, who’s HOT:

Kevin Love’s 81 rebounds were amazing, but it might’ve been the fact that not only did he rack up a 31 point, 31 rebound game but that in three games he out-rebounded Andrea Bargnani’s total rebounds for the whole season with 44. If anyone was sleeping on Love’s game before, I’m sure they’ve woken up by now – right?

DeMar DeRozan was a force for the Raptors in their two game Florida swing over the weekend. Against the Orlando Magic DD dropped a career high 26 points en route to the team’s second win of the season. To follow that up DeMar showed consistency dropping 21 points against a tough Miami Heat team. Not to mention his rebounding numbers - 6.5 per game over the weekend – and DeMar seems to have had himself a breakthrough early in this young season.

The Phoenix Suns scorched the Lakers. No, there’s no pun intended there…they little scorched them. Nailing 22 three-point attempts on a Lakers defense that has been dubbed one of the best in the NBA early on, the Suns made a point to use the long-ball early and often. Phoenix shot 22-40 on the night from beyond the arc, and to go with that scored 80 points in the paint.

Remember last week when I said that Chris Paul was the real deal but I couldn’t put him as the best point-guard in the league because he’d been hurt? Well thanks, Chris…you proved me wrong. Chris Paul has lead his Hornets to an 8-0 record, has proven to be the best point-guard in the league right now and let’s not forget, he’s an MVP candidate.

Move over Derrick Rose, CP3’s back!


The Utah Jazz…or sorry, Paul Millsap, or…Deron Williams…who knows? THE JAZZ ARE HOT! Four come from behind wins over Miami, Orlando, Atlanta and most recently the Charlotte Bobcats have fans buzzing again in Utah. Paul Millsap the unknown killer from the three was huge in these wins, especially against Miami where he scored 46 points including three big threes that no one, not even baby-faced Gerrad Butler could have seen coming.


Now…who’s not scorching these days:


I’m sorry but when you’re the Orlando Magic and you take on the Toronto Raptors at home after you just took a tough loss the night before, you don’t roll over and get in the fetal position. The Raptors abused the Magic in every possible way, including Andrea Bargnani absolutely tearing apart the Magic interior. Chris who?


Speaking of YouTube’s number one hit, Chris Bosh proved once again that he’s not all he’s been hyped up to be. After talking as much as he could the night before the Heat took on Bosh’s former team, CB1 displayed to fans around Toronto just why Amir Johnson deserved the money he received this summer. Bosh and Johnson, two completely differently players should never been compared to one another, but when someone who wasn’t given the hype as a ‘franchise’ player this summer out-performs a dubbed superstar in every facet of a game…there’s some reason to turn some heads.


Just to clarify – on the season in 32 minutes of play Bosh is averaging 14 points, 6 rebounds a game. His contract is almost double that of Amir Johnson’s who in 19 minutes a game is averaging 9 points and 5 rebounds while shooting 62% from the field compared to Bosh’s dismal 48%

Now, after that week if I were in the Heat or Magic’s shoes, I’d wish I had a hangover. Make sure you check in as this week we showcase the Portland Trail Blazers, Brandon Roy, and get an exclusive one on one with the Toronto Raptors Matt Devlin.

-MM


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