What's wrong with the Knicks?

Ok we all fell in love with Linsanity as it was around and then Carmelo came back and everything changed, now people are wondering, what's wrong in New York? Well in my opinion the thing that's wrong with this New York team is that Linsanity can't exist with Carmelo Anthony on the court, this year. Now you have to remember because this is a shortened season there's no time to learn from one another in terms of playing together and getting everything down with your teammates. but here's the thing, When Jeremy Lin was balling out of control, the ball was always in his hands running, the pick and roll and attacking the basket, he was the primary scorer, and the team gelled because everything flowed with consistency. Now when you look at a D'Antoni coached team there has never been a go to scorer for people to play off of, this is where Melo comes in. In Phoenix it was Nash, Amare, and Marion. The thing with Marion is he played off ball and just gave you results, now it Lin, Amare, and Melo.Change the point guards but add a scorer and the system goes awry, why, because D'Antoni can't draw up plays for Melo he just says we isolate off of him. The solution is simple, players have to learn to move without the ball while Lin is handling it, he's shown that he can make the right pass, to cutting teammates, but when Melo is on the floor no one is moving around. When I look at this Knick roster it reminds me of the Atlanta Hawks teams of a few years back, when Joe Johnson was the focal point, he'd get the ball and everyone would sit idly by and wait for him to make a play. Well when Melo gets the ball everyone is watching Melo and waiting for things to happen, what they need to do is watch Lin and let him make things happen, otherwise we can see the Bucks sneak in and send the Knicks packing, and Goin Fishin.

NBA Slam Dunk Contest Stay or Go?

Now much has been said about the slam dunk contest for years now. It's back it's gone it's back again it's gone again it's irrelevant whatever the case may be everyone has their opinion on the game. Now here's my take. I could care less whether it stays or goes because it's all a matter of entertainment. The guys in the NBA are good dunkers but most are game dunkers not creative dunkers, because when you look at the dunk the do in a contest they have all been done before. The only thing they switch up is where they take off from for a little more difficulty. If you want to see real dunking take place then you should have seen the Showdown at the Convention Center, those guys are legit creative dunkers. Why because they can take more risks than NBA guys can. In the NBA the reason most of the "Big Names" don't do it anymore is because they are at All Star weekend because they are the best players on their teams. The best guys on their teams won't participate or waste their energy on something that means less than the All Star Game which doesn't mean anything either. But if they want to make the Dunk Contest exciting here's what they could do. Bring in guys from streetball tours to do the dunks with no rules anything goes. You could take 2 All Stars have them recruit some ballers from the world who can dunk and have judges pick the winners. The fans shouldn't have a say in any of the winners of the contest. There are a lot of things you could do to make it exciting rather just bringing in the "Superstars" of the NBA we already know who they are. Keep the fresh faces coming. Tron Dunk was awesome.

Why Dwight Howard isn't Dominating Offensively

Dwight Howard is a man, a beast, an absolute monster, defensively anyway. After last night's win against the hapless Golden State Warriors, the Magic barely escaped with a 117-109 victory. People look at me and ask "Are you stupid?" And I'll tell them "ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!!" Last night was another prime example of why Dwight Howard will never be as dominate as people make him out to be. I'm a Magic fan yes, but a Dwight Howard fan an emphatic, NO! People say how much he changes the game on both ends of the court and I say he changes one end not two. If you watch Magic games like I do then you know his liabilities on the offensive end. When you go to the line an obscene amount of times like Dwight Howard does, 42% from the line is an absolute joke. Dwight last night against the Warriors should have easily dropped 60 points against a team with no front line, and all the trips to the line. I'm not saying he needs to average 90% from the line but here are a few examples, Nene shoots 65%, Marc Gasol 70%, Joakim Noah 79% and he has the worst shooting form in the NBA outside of Shawn Marion, and finally Tyson Chandler at 78%. What this shows is that both offensive and defensive big men are hitting free throws at a higher percentage than "the most dominating big man" in the game today. If he has worked so hard all year on his free throw percentage then why is he shooting a career low, and that's just at the line. With the ball in his hand he still turns the ball over at a high rate, he still doesn't have any solid post moves down low, there is no skill to him on the offensive end. He is very limited in what he can actually bring a team as an offensive force outside of brute strength, and even with that he still gets called for his fair share of offensive fouls. I'm not saying he's not a difference maker on both sides of the ball, but don't call him the best big man in the game if he can only produce consistently in two areas, help defense and rebounding. Dwight Howard should average every night at least 28pts and 12rebs. There are no need for excuses for you to be in the league for 7-8 years and not improve significantly on the offensive end. If you wanna dominate hire Shaq to help your game out, since he wants to follow in his footsteps so bad.

NBA All Star Game Is Just a Business

You know there are things in life that we as fans like to enjoy, you know those once in a lifetime events that you have to experience for yourself. New Year's in Times Square, Walking along the Great Wall of China, you know things you must experience at least once. For sports fans it's things like the Super Bowl, I've been to three, the Summer Olympics, seeing the friendly confines of Wrigley Field, even being a part of Wrestlemania, but there is one that I have been anticipating for quite some time the NBA All Star Game. Each year a city is awarded the opportunity to host the event, but yet this is not an event for the fans of said city. The NBA All Star Game is here in Orlando this year and everyone is excited about the opportunity it presents to experience the event, but in an 18,000 seat arena only around 3,000 of those will be available to the people who live in the city, and even those seats are only available to those who have season tickets here in Orlando. If you've never been to a Magic game you know we have perhaps the worst fans of any contending team in the league, maybe even some non contenders as well. Most season ticket holders here are big money lawyers or doctors who go to games just to go not because they're fans but because they have the money to do so, leaving people like me, the true fan who makes little money compared to the big money people, out in the dark with no opportunity to check out the game they love on the one stage that brings them all together. Now this will be great for the city in terms of economic boom and it shows off the best arena in the world and maybe this will attract someone to come play with Dwight Howard before he leaves, but what about the real fans of basketball? This shows that the NBA is just a business like any other who only cares about the money and not the people who gives them their hard earned money. It's upsetting to go to a game meet a season ticket holder who doesn't know who Glen Davis is but is sitting lower bowl on his iPad 2 making adjustments to his stocks. These people sure they can afford it and sure they can spend their money however they want, but for the little guys like myself who live here in the city have to resort to contests and giveaways in order to secure tickets before shelling out 1,000 dollars for an event we can appreciate more than the big money spenders here in the city. It goes to show that, just like the lockout, it's all about money. Corporate sponsors and their families, players and their families, celebrities and their families all will flock here to occupy our arena on a night where the city itself should be rewarded, instead gets over looked for the almighty dollar.

What the Loss to OKC means for Magic

the orlando magic opened up their season yesterday against the oklahoma city thunder, and while they looked good coming out the gates, somehow this imaginary lid covered the basket after a hot start. the bright spot from last nights game came in the form of ryan anderson who was the one constant all night. yes i know jameer got to the basket but lets see if he does that all year. the resigning of jason richardson looks like it will haunt the magic for the next four years after his horrible beginning to the season and the man who wants to leave orlando so bad still cant hit free throws. now look i know the philosophy of the magic has been four out one in since van gundy came aboard but when the four out aint working you got to attack. jameer attacked with regularity last night but still looks like one of the laziest point guards in the league. but no one else did. another sour spot for the magic was transistion defense. it seemed no one wanted to get back on defense which allowed plenty of easy looks for the thunder. now i know they are looked at as favorites out west and its only one game but, the inconsistencies that plague this team is still there. no lockdown defender, no one to create their own shot, poor player management by the coach, j rich should not have gotten all those minutes. maybe tonight we see a different team, maybe?

What we Learned: Take Care of the Ball

the nba is back and yesterday was our first chance to check out how the lockout would change how the game is played this year. well after watching all five games i can say that turnovers and fouls will plague teams early and often as we move deeper into the season. this comes from a lack of being able to gel together in such a rushed offseason but this much i can say when these things subside, teams will be able to play a more efficient game together but the numbers are staggering. miami the team who won the largest also had the most turnovers as a team with twenty two while out in oakland the newest assembled team took better care of the ball than anyone with the clippers only committing ten. now i look at the first two weeks of this year as an extended preseason but if these teams dont find ways to tak care of the ball it could be a long season.

Merry Christmas the NBA is BACK!!!!!

HO HO HO MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!

Hey I know it's been a while but I am back and on this very special Christmas Edition of the Blazin Sports Blog I'm going to point out the one key thiing to look for in each game today.

Celtics vs Knicks
We all know that the addition of Tyson Chandler helps make the Knicks bolster arguably the best frontcourt in all the NBA with Amare Stoudamire and Carmelo Anthony. Now Chandler brings defense to the team but no one else on the team really does outside of Landry Fields. I'm interested in seeing if Chandler's defensive mentality brushes off on the rest of his teammates the way it did in Dallas. We know Melo has never been a defender and neither has Amare, and losing Billups will hurt them as he was a big point guard. Against the aging Celtics, who still are more than capable of putting up a challenge to some of the top teams but with Pierce likely out they may struggle. We will see if these Knicks can find a defensive formula under Coach Mike D'antoni, who preaches offense more than defense.

Heat vs Mavericks
The big thing I'm looking for in this matchup is role players on both teams. The Heat haven't managed to make nearly as much of a splash in the offseason as they would have liked, in adding Shane Battier and Eddy Curry (c'mon man). They really haven't helped their most glaring needs in which were the point guard spot and center position. On the other side you have Dallas who lost Chandler,JJ Barea, Deshawn Stevenson who were all key in helping win the NBA title last season, but added veterans all around with Lamar Odom, Vince Carter, Delonte West, and shot blocker Sean Williams. Will these pieces integrate into a fluid system or will it take time to learn each other's tendencies to play well on the court? We will see?

Bulls vs Lakers
I'm interested in seeing how well the most important, in my opinion, offseason acquisition plays alongside the MVP Derrick Rose, and that man is Rip Hamilton. Why people have overlooked this move so much is bafflling to me. The one thhing the Bulls lacked last year was someone who could compliment Rose in the backcourt and I believe they have found exactly what they need in Rip. He's another Ray Allen type who can come off screens and is crafty in getting his own shot. He's a great veteran and will defintely help out on both ends of the court. If this Bulls team stays healthy with the addition of Rip they will win the East in my opinion.

Magic vs Thunder
The one game I have to show no bias for but there are two things I have to watch for in this game. The first is will this Magic team show Dwight Howard that they can win with them surrounding him. Dwight wants to leave we all know this, but will his teammates step up and show him that this is where he wants to be by defeating one of the favorites to get to the Finals in the Thunder. Dwight says he will play hard regardless of where he's at because he wants to win, so his teammates have to step it up and help him out. On the opposite side of the court will Russell Westbrook realize that this is Kevin Durant's team and be a better teammate instead of trying to takeover the game by shooting his team in the foot instead of making them better. Everyone points the finger and rightfully so, at Westbrook for taking too many bad shots in last year's playoffs. If he comes out and becomes a better playmaker for his team is they key for this team this year.

Clippers vs Warriors
Lob City taking on the run n gun Warriors. If nothing else this game will feature plenty of highlights, but what both teams have to show is the one thing they don't have yet, DEFENSE. Both teeams will have a chance to show one is better than the other on the defensive end of the court, but neither has been looked at as great defensive not even good defensive teams. With Steph Curry possibly missing tonight's game it will be interesting to see exactly how the Warriors replace his steals. Ishmael Smith is a good defender and could see the court as the starter if Curry can't go. But with bioth teams projected to be offensive juggernauts we will see who is able to slow the other down. The Clippers have better defenders but the Warriors new head coach Mark Jackson wants his young athletic team, who's more than athletic enough, to use that ability on both ends of the court. We shall see what happens.