HoopWatch

If the Golden State Warriors will win their last game against the Seattle Supersonics, they will be the team that has the best record without making it to the playoffs in league-history. Such a painful demise on their part.

They have been winning one and loosing the next game for the past 14 contests. If only that trend were broken, if only they won that pivotal last game against the Denver Nuggets, then they would have the tie-breaker and their fate in their hands. Instead, they had to win all their remaining games, and hope that the Nuggets will lose against the lowly Memphis Grizzlies. Such a tall order.

The pain of almost making it is unbearable. They have worked so hard all season lang. Just a win could have a difference. They squeezed in last season, even upsetting title-faved Dallas, but in the most competitive Western Conference ever happening this year, squeezing-in wouldn’t be enough. This is the season where they would say that they almost made it in the play-offs. Yup! Almost, but not quite in it.

Kobe Bryant has just proven a point. He can’t win without a dominant big man inside!

First, he had Shaquille O’Neal for his first three championship rings, and then he missed the play-offs when the big fella left. Phil Jackson came back, and stirred the Lakers to two straight play-off appearances. But the problem was, they lost also twice in the first round. The first and second for Jackson.. ever!

Then, the Lakers management made the boldest move. They realize Bryant cannot do it alone and he is no Michael Jordan. So they decided to bring in Pau Gasol in an obvious and blatant one-sided deal with Memphis! And they are winning again, even topping the West for some time, until Gasol got injured. The New Orleans Hornets took over.

And now Gasol has returned. And they are winning again. Kobe may have scored 81, but he can never make his teammates better. Sad to say. (pics courtesy of wikia.com)

There is a big reason why Phoenix Suns General Manager, Steve Kerr, acquired an aging 36-year-old hip-sored-big-man-who-goes-against-their-offensive-philosophy veteran in Shaquille O’Neal, and that is to match-up well against the San Antonio Spurs. And they did Sunday night in Phoenix, in a thrilling-94-87 win.

The big fella was much of a big help, as he held down Tim Duncan to just 6-of-19 shooting, including a ghastly 2-for-11 in the final quarter. He even scored 14 points, grabbed 16 rebounds and had two block shots. Thus, the old adage continues as everyone knows that everybody has to go thru San Antonio for a team to be able to go to the NBA Finals. But this time this Suns team can match-up pretty well against Duncan, Ginobili and the rest of the Spurs.

It was tough luck for the Phoenix Suns, which is still a team in progress, to be able to defeat a highly-efficient and peaking Spur team. Neither team led by more than six points in this contest. Two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash and Grant Hill hit crucial jumpers down the stretch.

For two of the past three seasons, the Nash-led Suns had succumbed to the Spurs, denying them a chance to win the Larry O’Brien trophy. This game could be a telltale of things to come. There is still much room for improvement for the Phoenix Suns, but dealing San Antonio with a second straight defeat is luminous sign of things to happen. (photo courtesy of yahoonba.com)

The New Orleans Hornets are enjoying their best season since they moved from Charlotte. Many has taken notice of Chris Paul’s amazing performance, and the team’s deep bench that steps up each game. They are currently fifth in the highly-competitive Western Conference (who would have thought?!?).

Tyson Chandler has also been playing well, his best years since his early years in Chicago. Peja Stojakovic is back dropping threes like rain drops. JR Smith just couldn’t be slowed down. David West is playing great ball at the four-spot. Then there’s prized off-season acquisition, Morris Peterson, who also has been playing so well.

But perhaps the one guy who has not been commended for a sterling performance is Byron Scott. He is a great coach. Remember that he stirred the New Jersey Nets to the NBA Finals twice! Ever since he took over the coaching job New Orleans, I had no doubt in my mind that he would make this team a contender. And he has not disappointed me.

The Phoenix Suns are once again on top of the Western Conference. They share the pinnacle spot with the surprising New Orleans Hornets. Just a week ago, the Suns traded whining Shawn Marion and an ineffective Marcus Banks to the Miami Heat for the Big Aristotle, Shaquille O’Neal.

Many skeptics sighed heavily on the season’s most shocking and biggest trade. Experts believed that O’Neal does not have anything left in his tank. But O’Neal promised that he would want the fifth, and even a sixth, championship ring circling his fingers. And Steve Nash and the rest of Phoenix would want nothing but the Larry O’Brien landing on their laps by the end of the season.

They were robbed-off of a championship last season with the scandal surrounding Tim Donaghue. Hopefully, this season, there’ll no repeat of that misfortune. But most of the other teams in the West have bolstered their line-ups with reliable veterans. The Los Angeles Lakers added Pau Gasol, and the Lakers have won five of their last six. The Spurs added veteran guard Damon Stoudamire into their fold. He is better back-up than Jackie Vaughn. And the Dallas Mavericks are looking forward to add Jason Kidd.

But certainly, Steve Kerr and the Suns took the biggest gamble by taking in a 100-million dollar, aging and ailing big man. They will definitely miss Marion’s versatility, but Shaq could certainly help them inside the paint which is their weakness. They have been giving-up offensive rebounds to opponents. That may all change with the hulking O’Neal in the middle. Could this be the year? I believe so because the last time I remembered, the Diesel, Shaq, has always kept his promise. (photo courtesy of yahoonba.com)

The Boston Celtics have been so far true to their hype. They have dominated the league as of this writing, and leads the NBA over-all. The big three of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen have been all dominant. They are carrying the scoring load, and they are all hustling as well. Pierce has found a renewed spirit. They are all getting into the act accounting for more than 60-percent of the Celtics production.

But the real question lies on their health. How long can they really hold on? Most teams before who lost just a single player of a mighty triumvirate found it hard to bounce back. Magic Johnson and the Lakers had a hard time defeating the Celtics in the championship in 1979. Johnson had to be truly magical to accomplish that feat. And the rookie point guard proved to be the worthy center for that night, taking the place of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Houston’s own version of Charles Barkley, Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon never won the title in the 1990’s. They were never truly complete, as one of the three got injured at significant points in those runs.

As Pierce and Allen are known to be perennial sideline residents, how long, once again, can Garnett hold the fort if one or both of his fellow co-superstars go down with an injury? It is even Garnett who got injured this time around. After-all, Boston’s supporting casts are not that dependable at all as of now. Not unlike the 90’s Bulls, where Luc Longley, Steve Kerr, Dennis Rodman, Randy Brown and even Jud Buechler held the fort in Scottie Pippen’s absence in 1998 NBA Title Run. Yes, they were led by Michael Jordan, but they were able to pull the Bulls to a 62-win season, the second-best for that year. Jordan could not have done it on his own.

KG is no Jordan. And he is not getting any younger. In his last season with the Timberwolves, “The Kid” went down with an injury as well. Rondo, Scott Pollard, Eddie House and Kendrick Perkins all have to dish out sterling performances. And they should all hope that injury prone stars Allen and Pierce will not be sidelined this season. (photo courtesy of yahoonba.com)

Kobe Bryant put on quite a show on Christmas day, helping the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Suns, 122 -115, at the Staples Center.

After scoring just 12 points in the first half, Bryant exploded for 26 in the second half, including an off-balanced triple against Raja Bell, the Suns defensive specialist. Bryant was unstoppable in the second half, and he capped the third quarter with a buzzer-beating reverse dunk, as he blew by Bell, and dunked over Brian Skinner.

Bryant scored 38 points and added eight assists. He had several fade-away jumpers against Shawn Marion.

I just found out about this site which has a compilation of NBA game schedules. I usually go to sites like CNN or ESPN to check but this one is worth bookmarking.
What I like about it is that it is even segregated by teams so if for example you are an Atlanta Hawk fan, you can see all Altanta Hawk Basketball Schedule here.

You can also check out NFL schedules, even NCAA and College Bowl schedules. A nice resource for sports fans.

[more at docsports.com]

Before the season even started, the Phoenix Suns have been adorned by almost everyone as the favorites for the NBA Title by the end of next year’s Playoffs. But things don’t look too good right now. They just have lost to the Atlanta Hawks, and were blown out by the L.A. Lakers on their home opening day.

An additional factor to their struggle is the loss of Amare Stoudemire to injury. Amare is taking things slow right now, as he has still to recover from arthroscopic surgery. Only six players scored for Phoenix in that Atlanta game including two-time MVP Steve Nash, Shawn Marion, Grant Hill, Raja Bell, Boris Diaw and Leandro Barbosa. No one else stepped up form the bench. Nash had to score 34, and Marion with 20. Hill had a measly 13. Hill and Diaw should plug-in the scoring holes left by the departure of Stoudemire.

But the good news is the Suns were 1-5 to start last year’s season, and they had a stellar campaign. They could have been crowned champions if not for referee betting controversy and other unfortunate incidents.

However, the Suns would still need a lot of help from the bench. At this rate, the starters may have spent all their energy this early, with nothing left come March and April!

The Indiana Pacers bowed-off Play-off Contention last season after being in the postseason for a long time. They added Golden State cagers Ike Diogu, Mike Dunleavy Jr and Troy Murphy in the middle of last season. They appeared to be bright components for the future, and they are.

Currently, they are doing so well in the pre-season. They are 4-0, and Diogu, Dunleavy Jr and Murphy have had double-scoring games. The factors that has contributed to this success are the hiring of new coach Jim O’Brien and the additions of former Laker Kareem Rush and former Magic Travis Diener.

The philosophy of O’Brien is an uptempo type of game. He wants franchise player Jermaine O’Neal to draw the defense, and pass the ball to the shooters. And they have a lot of players who can burn the rim from the outside. Both additions Diener and Rush are excellent three-point bombers. While big men Murphy and Dunleavy Jr can hit from rainbow territory as well.

There is a lot of excitement from the Pacers camp this season. And their new-found games and philosophies may be the gateway back to the postseason wars. At least now, a first-round appearance is highly probable.