The D.A.Y. of Ben Gordon vs. Michael Redd
The Suns-Lakers rematch in Phoenix, a great game that was seriously overshadowed
It was a nice relaxing weekend. For a while, I thought my fever was going to hit quadruple digits and I was going to turn into the human torch, but I made it through with only a few mind-altering hallucinations. The most amazing thing that happened all weekend, trumping even Ron Artest’s new hairstyle or Steve Francis’s return from the grave, was that the sun came out and it was 50 degrees on Saturday. The winter has been so long, I forgot about how much I love the sun. You’re not supposed to think this way about Vegas, but one of my favorite parts of the trip was simply walking around in the sun with a t-shirt on during the day. And now that I’m babbling about the Sun, it’s a good time for an awkward transition. The Kobe return to the valley of the Suns was supposed to be the game of the day, possibly the year. It gets 4th billing of the D.A.Y. here.
CHICAGO 126 MILWAUKEE 121 OT
Ben Gordon and Michael Redd combined for 100 points, which is only the 8th time that’s happened in the past 30 years. They say that kind of showdown is as rare as a perfect game in baseball. Standing ovation for both of them. There are no losers when we are able to watch performances like that. Except for the Bucks and their 52 point man Michael Redd, cause they lost. Redd got off early and kept making it rain from three (I think “make it rain” is going to be the slang phrase that won’t go away in 2007. This year’s ballin’, if you will). The Bulls were down 18 in the fourth, but a blazing hot Ben Gordon took over. Redd had his chance to win the game in regulation but couldn’t hit, and the Bulls closed it out in OT. The final numbers for the two shooting stars were gigantic. Each one shot 18 of 32, Gordon hitting 6 of 12 threes and Redd hitting 8 of 13. 52 for Michael, 48 for Ben. Other players like Luol Deng and Ruben Patterson contributed to this game, but who cares. This is the day of Ben Gordon and Michael Redd. Quick trigger scorers, two of the most explosive players in a conference that is in desperate need of these kind of nights to keep it somewhat relevant.
BOSTON 124 MINNESOTA 117 2OT
Paul Pierce for president. Not only are the Celtics an NBA team with him back in action, but they’ve got a 4 game winning streak. Delonte West was the star with 31 and 10, Al Jefferson and Ryan Gomes combined for more rebounds than the entire T-Wolves team, but a lot of credit goes to Paul’s presence. As for Minny, how does a team grab a total of 27 boards in 58 minutes of basketball? Someone needs to show the T-Wolves that Red Auerbach defensive rebounding commercial. KG put up a 33-13-10 triple double and Ricky Davis scored 35. It was double OT, which is always exciting, and the Celtics got their revenge for the Ricky Davis buzzer beater and showboating that gave them their 18th straight loss, but there is a bigger issue at play with the T-Wolves. Forbes Magazine has declared Kevin McHale the best GM in all of sports. Hmmmm… this explains why the Dow Jones hit suicide levels last week. The people giving financial advice have an obvious mental deficiency. Maybe they really are taking this “bait the readers into hating you” style way too far. Kevin McHale, the best GM in all of sports. Wow. Is there an actual Forbes magazine reader out there that can explain this? I assume KG or his business manager peruse the magazine to find which gasoline they should use on their private jet. This can’t make them happy. What an amazing proclamation by Forbes. The sad thing is that people who don’t watch or care for basketball but read Forbes will see it and just take their word for it and could possibly spread the word to their friends and business contacts, and a world where Kevin McHale is the best GM in sports will continue to exist at cocktail party conversations. Nothing will ever top this . Nothing. Oh by the way Billy King is third on the list.
WASHINGTON 107 GOLDEN STATE 106
Gilbert overcame his demons and hit some meaningful free throws with 0.1 on the clock. The game winning assist came from Don Nelson, who picked up a technical that gave Gilbert the opportunity to win the game at the free throw line. This was after a fairly horrific call against the Warriors that would have put Gilbert on the line with a chance to tie, even though the foul happened after time expired. The refs reviewed it and thought otherwise, and during this time Nellie chose to lose the game for his team. Doesn’t he know that superstars are given every unfair advantage to win NBA games? The Wizards have their holy trinity of Gil, Caron, and Antawn back in place. Jason Richardson is getting healthy again, and threw together a line of 28, 10, and 8. He’s back just in time to play at a high level when it’s too little too late for his team. Just like last year. Gilbert led everyone with 32 points in what you could call a revenge game between the Warriors minor and major league teams.
PHOENIX 99 LA LAKERS 94
Lamar Odom is possibly out for the year now? The Lakers have survived many an injury this season, but this is the last straw. Honestly, Scottie Pippen could help them. That’s how real it is. Kobe kept drawing attention for open shooters like Brian Cook and Sasha Vujacic. He scored 31 on 28 shots, and really that was all he could do. This game was a mismatch beyond Kobe Bryant’s ability. If Nash wasn’t struggling with his shot in the first half, it wouldn’t have been close. Nash took over in crunch time though, hitting all the big shots, finding the right guy, doing Steve Nash things. By the way, he’s shooting 53% from the field and 48% from three. He never shoots unless he’s wide open, and that is exactly what you are supposed to do. Brian Cook had 22 and 14 for the Lakers, which looks great, but when you’re dependent on that kind of a game from Cook, it’s over for your team. Other than him and Kobe, nobody scored more than 8 points. The Lakers still have a little bit of breathing room in the standings over the Clippers, Denver, and New Orleans, but for how long? They’re Kobe Bryant and a D-League team right now.
PHILLY 99 NEW JERSEY 86
The Nets really don’t want to make the playoffs, do they? After the trade deadline, they knew this was the unit they would go with for the rest of the season and they seemed to rally around that. Vince announced that it was on him to carry the load on offense with all of their injuries. In this game, Vince shot 4 of 20, missing on his last 14 shots from the field and did not get to the free throw line. Jersey wasted Jason Kidd’s 85th career triple double. Meanwhile, the Sixers have matched Boston’s 4 game winning streak. If you look at active winning streaks, Dallas is at 15, the Spurs are at 8, and then the two headed monster of Philly and Boston are at 4.
UTAH 108 NEW ORLEANS 94
The Jazz took over and cruised in the second half for an easy win. Chris Paul had 14 and 13 for the Hornets, and Tyson Chandler had a huge 20 and 19 game, but the Jazz were never really threatened as Memo led the way with 28 and 9 and Boozer had 17 and 12. Chandler has been a monster lately, putting up his 12th straight double-double in this game. New Orleans is on the outside of the playoffs looking in, and I believe they will take the spot of one of the L.A. teams soon enough.
SEATTLE 96 CHARLOTTE 89
There is no way you care about this game. Ray scored 34, Rashard scored 28, the Sonics won.
25 Responses to “The D.A.Y. of Ben Gordon vs. Michael Redd”
Mar.5 at 10:33 am
Rod Strickland says:
First?
Mar.5 at 10:34 am
Vitor says:
Wow Sam. McHale and Billy King are 1 and 3 in a list of BEST GMs in the NBA? Has anyone from Forbes ever watched a game or read anything about the League? First they come out and say the Knicks are the most valuable team then this crap. Forbes should be prohibited from ever having sports columns again.
Mar.5 at 10:42 am
J says:
When I heard the Make It Rain remix, all I could think was R. Kelly should not be singing “I’m gonna make make make it rain on these hoes”
Mar.5 at 10:42 am
Rod Strickland says:
Mchale best GM…Huh? How about Nachbar’s dunk over Sammy, nastier than blow from Gerald Henderson jr.
Mar.5 at 10:46 am
Cheryl says:
C’Mon Sam. I know it was the weekend, but y’all gotta give some love to Shaq and the Heat for their win over Detroit. Shaq looked like Laker Shaq on Friday, running the floor and talking sh*t. It was fun for those of us who haven’t given up on the Heat.
Mar.5 at 11:01 am
Bill Biehl says:
Michael Redd is my man. We went to the Same college (ohio state), same high school (West High, Columbus, Ohio - what up cowboys!) but i have to hate on him for staying with the Milwaukee Sucks. He is going to be a great player with nothing to show for it. One of the best. Too bad he’ll be in that shithole until he’s past his prime, he should have signed with Cleveland - they would be in title contention if he had. And oh yeah, how the hell is Kevin McHale the best GM in all of sports when his team has that bad of a record? That must be a joke.
Mar.5 at 11:04 am
Sam Rubenstein says:
Not the best GM in the NBA. They say he is the best in ALL OF SPORTS. And yes, the first time I heard that R Kelly line, I knew that our culture of forgiveness has gone too far. I actually thought that “make it rain” stood for R Kellying someone, not something as tame as throwing paper money in the air.
Shaq is playing hard, and it’s great to see him out there moving around and looking like an athlete again. Hopefully it lasts, cause Erick Dampier was on his way to Finals MVP before Dwyane and the refs took over, and nobody wants to see that.
Mar.5 at 11:08 am
uamini says:
“The Timberwolves’ McHale has been harshly criticized in the press for not giving superstar Kevin Garnett the supporting cast to win a championship. But McHale has guided the Timberwolves to eight playoff births and a .539 regular season winning percentage–more than double his predecessor’s .244. Winning improvement under McHale has been so great that it offset a 19% rise in salary against the NBA’s median payroll during his 11 years as GM. “
Pretty weird ranking, they just look at something they call “winning improvement” and at the payroll. So McHale is the best because the Timberwolves were even worse without him (and without some guy named KG)…makes perfect sense
Mar.5 at 11:12 am
Ron says:
What was the criteria for the Forbes list? Billy king should not have been ranked in no way shape or form. He is the absolute worse GM on planet Earth. It’s ok though, next year my $65,000.00 net worth will put me just ahead of Bill Gate of the Forbes wealthiest americans list. I’m ready for the photo op.
Mar.5 at 11:49 am
Gilbert0 says:
Vitor, Forbes may suck at ranking GM’s but I think they may be on the money in terms of most valuable teams. It is something that is easy to quantify as opposed to ranking GM’s where numbers don’t tell the whole story. The Knicks wouldn’t really have much competition apart from the Lakers in terms of value. How good the team performs is somewhat incidental.
Mar.5 at 11:59 am
Bryant Reeves says:
The crazy thing about that list is that numbers 2 and 5 (Feaster and Lamoriello - NHL GM’s of the Lightning and Devils, respectively) really are great GMs. Billy Beane at 26 (highest in MLB GMs) is also fantastic. How could Forbes’ absolutely insane formula for best GM spit out the best NHL and MLB GMs while also coming up with two of (arguably) the worst GMs in the NBA?
Mar.5 at 12:31 pm
Max Airington says:
When VH1 comes up with the spin off show “Worst Year Ever”, Lamar Odom better be the host. In the words of 21st century thespian David Chappelle, “We’re f*cking DONE SON!” Maybe next year. Still looking forward to 40ppg from Kobe for the rest of the season….
Mar.5 at 1:22 pm
mdshuai says:
I don’t think it would take much arguing to convince someone how bad those two are as GM.
Mar.5 at 1:41 pm
Emry DowningHall says:
R. Kelly’s verse on the Make It Rain RMX pales in comparison to the stuff he says on the I’m a Flirt RMX … and Sam I couldn’t agree more … forgiveness has gone too far! I thought R. Kelly would have some shame after the incident but years later, nothing doing.
Mar.5 at 1:41 pm
namik says:
Dont give up on us Max!!! PJax and KB will find a way. All we can do is believe….I say 7th seed again and a 5 game drubbing by the Suns. Atleast. And before you ask, yes, I am insanely optimistic.
Mar.5 at 2:19 pm
JR says:
wtf? as a timberwolves fan, i just threw up in my mouth reading that forbes bull shit.
Mar.5 at 3:28 pm
Ron says:
At least forbes has fingers ainge at 92, and The ultimate worst GM matt millen at 96.
Mar.5 at 3:33 pm
Sam Rubenstein says:
The Millen one gives actually credibility to the whole list, which is what makes the top of it so mysterious? Imagine if the Joe Smith incident never happened. They’d need to come out with a whole magazine devoted to McHale.
Mar.5 at 4:05 pm
mutoni says:
my favorite quote from the whole mchale-forbes fiasco is this quote from an unnamed wolves player upon hearing of the ranking: “No. 1 best or No. 1 worst?” a surprised Timberwolves player said before tipoff Sunday.
Mar.5 at 4:10 pm
CoolWhip says:
CRAZIEST FINISH EVER (deliberate hyperbole). That Arenas finish was bananas. With 5 ticks left clear-out for Agent 0, he drives, gets contact, throws a shot up and buzzer goes…THEN whistle blows. The refs announce they will review the play, and with 0.00 reading on the clock they assess a tech to Don Dadda Nelson for his voicing of displeasure with the appeal. How do you assess a T when the game is over? Then it is decided that Arenas was fouled with 0.01 left - so they put 0.01 back on the clock and Arenas unsurprisingly cans 3 freebies. With 0.01 left, the Warriors can’t even tip the ball in - game over.
I think there should be more written about this. No matter how much he lost his temper - anything short of puching a ref should not warrant a game deciding technical.
Mar.5 at 4:30 pm
Chris says:
Off the top of my head
1. The Joe Smith debacle which cost his franchise 4 (or was it 5 first round draft picks)
2. Traded Sam Cassell for Marko Jaric
3. Drafted Ndudi Ebi (who? exactly)
4. Signed Mike James, signed Eddie Griffin, signed Olowokandi
5. 2nd best player on the team is Ricky Davis (or Mark Blount or Randy Foye depending on the night)
and this is the best GM is all of sports, if you were starting up a franchise you would rather have this guy or the GM of the Spurs who drafted all-star tony parker with the 29th pick, or the gm of the mavericks, or the gm of the suns, or Joe Dumars, or bryan colangelo who’s erased all of babcocks’ mistakes in one season. And billy king is 3rd??! The rating system is obviously flawed because it’s rewards two gms who have(had) star players and surrounded them with a below average supporting cast
Mar.5 at 5:29 pm
DBlizzy! says:
Yeah Coolwhip I second that. The refs have too much influence on the game as it is. Unless there is a misdemeanor assult, the ref should swallow their whistles
Mar.5 at 5:57 pm
jay says:
you are telling me. forget pippen. lakers should have gotten rose when they had the chance. he is not even playing on the suns!
Mar.5 at 6:20 pm
Boyd says:
Good point jay, good point. He could get 15ppg for the Lakers. Jalen Rose has been stiffed by the Suns, but then you wonder why he signed with them? Did he think he was better then Barbosa, Bell? Perhaps he figured he would be a 9th man or something. Never mind, still seems like a waste though, Dantoni could be juicing more out a very talented roster. And for the record, Bryan Colangelo should win GM of the year, again, and should have won it last year. Not only has he transformed the Raps, the Suns are still living off his spoils with 3 1st round picks next year. Which D’antoni will promptly use to draft either 3 superstars who won’t see ANY playing time (he has no confidence in anyone, and it costs the team games whilst he learns to trust people) OR, he’ll draft 3 stiffs that would put up 3.8ppg in the NBDL. And yes, the Lakers are f*cked.
Mar.5 at 10:17 pm
Jpolk says:
Technically Billy King did the best he could … Iverson likes to shot way to much and only racks up assist when over dribbling the ball… So he surrounded him with people who do not mind NOT shooting and NOT TOUCHING the ball. Ala Eric Snow, Matt Gieger, Bo Outlaw, and a hoard of other subpar Nba Players