Is Jokic the QB that can save Broncos?
Today’s Panel:
First Half
Monologue: The San Antonio Spurs are still here
The Spurs have won 14 of their last 18 games sitting in 6th place in the Western Conference
If a nuclear war broke out and nearly every species on earth was wiped from the planet, Gregg Popovich would still be calmly in his office with a glass of wine!
The Spurs started the game shooting their first 14 three-point attempts!
Things were interrupted by a pigeon:
This is San Antonio and apparently the city’s zoo has a branch at the arena
OKC eventually pushed the game into overtime where Westbrook finished the night with 24 assists (career-high). It’s not just his personal best, but a testament of how he’s adapting his game on the fly this season. But he was outshone by this guy…
Spurs still a force to be reckoned with out West?
“Yes. Just because of Gregg Popovich and what he’s able to do with players” – Pippen on the Spurs chances to make the playoffs
“Spurs are the best-coached team in the league” – Pippen
“This hot streak they’ve been on the last 15 games coincides with Marco Belinelli coming back shooting the way we expected him to shoot over 40 percent from three-point range” – Elhassan
“DeRozan because he is definitely focused on that. He is a mid-range player and a very deadly one” – Pippen on who he thinks is the best mid-range shooter in the game
Westbrook’s decision-making covering up shooting struggles?
Westbrook’s statline: 24 points / 24 assists / 13 rebounds
“You see this no fear in this guy when he’s out there playing. He’s made some serious adjustments. It’s good that he’s taking that out of his game and started to distribute the ball a little bit” -Pippen
“I am so impressed by the growth he’s had this year. He’s not pressing anymore” – Elhassan
“Westbrook making the right plays more often” – Elhassan
Steven Adams on potential All-Star nod: “I’d probably like a break” | Should Steven Adams be more excited about potential all-star nod?
Via Royce Young:
“For this guy, it’s probably not that exciting. When you’re playing a lot of minutes and you’re carrying a load, that break is important” – Pippen
“Adams just wants to refuel for rest of season” – Pippen
“It’s not just the game, there’s a lot of duties (Sponsor obligations) you have to do when you’re out there and that can be tiring. That’s a blue-collar dude there” – Elhassan
January 11, 1991 – Rod Strickland (Spurs) with the tough reverse circus one-handed layup vs the Jazz!
Footsteps; Think guys will stop trying De’Aaron Fox soon?
Clumsiness; More impressive:
The ninja move by Marcus Smart:
Or his block on Bam Adebayo:
Bloodsport; Why do all of James Johnson’s posterizations look so violent?
FYI: Johnson is a Black Belt!
Jumpers; Even bigs are doing this now?
Elevation; DeMar DeRozan dunk appreciation time
Let’s…
Top baseline bangouts of all-time:
2012: JR Smith throws down a nasty dunk!
1999: Vince Carter drives past Chris Mullin and throws it down!
2003: Kobe Bryant puts Rasho Nesterovic and Kevin Garnett on a poster!
Moving on…
How long can Lakers afford to be without LeBron?
This is going to be the longest stretch LeBron has ever been out injured in his career
“You can see in the scheduling what another week could do for LeBron James. We know how much he carries the team, you’re going to be expecting him to take the long-haul in terms of finishing out throughout the All-Star break and going through the season. Anytime you can rest LeBron James because you know it’s hard to get him off the court from an injury or anything is valuable to your team. It’s great to see the Lakers play without and have some success without him as well. It’s getting the other guys to play harder” – Pippen
“If LeBron doesn’t play, they’re not beating the Celtics, Sixers, Pacers. These are all better teams than them” – Elhassan
Clippers play-by-play announcer, Ralph Lawler learns the definition of “drip” mid-game!
Second Half
Marcus Morris-Jaylen Brown argument a big deal for Celtics?
Took place during a 2nd quarter timeout
“It’s not clear at all. When you got that much talent on a team, there’s going to be problems” – Pippen
“Coach Stevens has a bit of a problem as to how he’s going to rectify this going forward with these players” – Pippen
“The reason why he’s [Morris] upset is transition defense [from an earlier possession]. He’s [Brown’s] jogging back. Morris is a fiery dude” – Elhassan
See video above for the incident
“Celtics argument more significant than Warriors argument” – Pippen
“Maybe Jaylen Brown’s taking it the wrong way. Sometimes in the heat of the moment, when the leader speaks, you have to take that insult as if the coach is talking to you” – Pippen
Practical for Warriors to start Boogie once he comes back?
“It’s an excellent idea. I feel that it’s more comfortable for them to start a big instead of trying to go big. They’ll get a feel of how he’s going to play with that starting lineup because he is the best fit with him out there with some size” – Pippen
“If your goal is April, May, June, to be out there, you got to build as much chemistry as you can right now” – Elhassan
Zach Lowe’s weekly column: 10 Things I like and Don’t Like
Once again, let’s…
Top 5 dimes from the first half of the season:
5. Pelicans double-dime vs Bucks
4. Ben Simmons behind-the-back to Embiid
3. D-Wade’s lob to Derrick Jones Jr.
2. Harden’s no-look to Isaiah Hartenstein
1. Lonzo’s behind-the-back to Chandler
How important is home-court advantage for Nuggets?
“It’s very important. Every team in the league fears going to Denver. It’s tough. They know how to play their opponent” – Pippen
“Playing in Denver could be a scary situation in playoffs” – Pippen
“The three things that help them: The airport is so far (Teams land near Omaha, NE and then drive to Denver, which is a 45 minute drive). The altitude. You get tired real easily, shortness of breath and finally, they play fast” – Elhassan
January 13, 1999 – Michael Jordan’s 2nd retirement from the Chicago Bulls:
What happens if MJ doesn’t retire after 2nd three-peat in 1999?
“All along, we all wanted to continue to play together. But we were informed that this was going to be our last season. We just made the best of it” – Pippen
“I felt like that was a situation that we wanted to stay. They felt like it wasn’t going to be the same” – Pippen
“It was one of those seasons where we knew we could have won 50 games, no other team would have had the advantage that we had because we were already together” – Pippen
“I definitely think we would have won the title [in 1999]. The organization didn’t have it in their eyes to keep that team together” – Pippen
“I probably would had retired had I got a couple more years in Chicago” – Pippen
January 11, 2010 – Hedo Turkoglu with the under handed alley-oop pass to DeMar DeRozan vs the Pacers!
Do Pacers deserve more respect?
“Absolutely [they] deserve more respect. What they have done is first of all defensively, particularly with Oladipo missing time, and I love their bench rotation, I’m a big [Domantas] Sabonis fan. I think he’s the 6th man of the year. He’s been tremendous for them. This is a legitimate conference title contender” – Elhassan
“Pacers can beat anyone in the East” – Elhassan
“I like the Pacers but I think they’re just holding a place right now. They’re going to slide way down come playoff time. They’re not going to be a team that’s going to have home-court advantage” – Pippen
Sixers to retire the late Mose Malone’s No. 2 on Feb. 8 at halftime (Will host the Nuggets on ESPN)
“He is the greatest player to have a great career on that many teams” – Elhassan
Can Donovan Mitchell carry load vs Lakers tonight? (Jazz down 5 guards)
Jazz Guards: Dante Exum, Ricky Rubio, Raul Neto, Grayson Allen and Thabo Sefolosha
