Lotta games on tap for tonight. So much bawful, so little time...

Worst of the Night in Pictures:

Today's pictures are brought to you by the many faces of Andres Nocioni ("Noc" as his friends call him).






Nationally Televised Game:

Bulls at Hawks - Considering the collapse the Bulls are going through right now you might think this is an odd choice for a nationally televised game, but odds are good that if the Bulls lose this one (which they're almost certain to do) then this could be Vinny Del Negro's last game coaching the team, so you might want to watch for that reason alone. Nice of ESPN to broadcast VDN's last game like that, don't you think?

All the Other Games:

Fail Blazers at Pacers - Considering Greg Oden and Danny Granger will both be missing this one with long-term injuries, the Pacers' blog Eight Points, Nine Seconds has dubbed this game the “Our Season Is Totally Over Bowl.”

Pistons at 76ers - Iverson's comeback tour/return from retirement/games against teams glad to be rid of him bonanza rolls on with tonight's game against the same Pistons team AI quit on last year when faced with the unfathomable horror of having to come off the bench.

Warriors at Nyets - All aboard the failboat for tonight's Basketbawful Game of the Night.

Craptors at Bucks - A big matchup between two Eastern teams battling it out for one of those lower playoff seeds and the accompanying honor of getting drilled in the first round by someone like Boston or Orlando. Listen guys, you'd probably be better off to just tank the season now and go for the draft pick. I'm just sayin'.

Hornets at Timberwolves - CP3 back to back against upstart rookie PGs who are coming for his crown, first Tyreke Evans and now Johnny Flynn! Watch as Minnesota goes for its 3rd home win while New Orleans goes for its 2nd road win! NBA Action, it's Faaaaantastic!

Crabs at Rockets - Who wants to bet that Shaq gets outplayed by 6'6" Chuck Hayes tonight? The Diesel on the second night of a back to back these days tends to move like a big rig driving up a steep hill.

Kings at Spurs - Just what the doctor ordered for San Antonio. Fresh off three straight losses the Spurs must be licking their chops at seeing Sacramento in the Alamodome AT&T Center.

Jazz at Lakers - Probably the game of the night in the Association tonight (which is why I'm glad I'll be in attendance). Utah's been playing well lately, but they've still got a ton of injuries and the Lakers are still the Lakers, so I may be the proud owner of a coupon for two free tacos by the end of the night.

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15 Comments:
Blogger chris said...
I just HAVE to repost this photo I took of Nocioni from the Kings-Clippers game in Natomas all the way from February:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2512/3963061653_bfc7346eb8_o.jpg

Blogger Unknown said...
The lost Mario Bros.?

Blogger 49er16 said...
Noc needs to grow the beard again.

Blogger AnacondaHL said...
The Bulls aren't losing. They're getting destroyed to the point that they're circling around through an alternate universe and somehow are negatively winning.

Blogger Sos said...
Instead of firing Vinny D, why don't they demote him to coach the Nyets/TimberPups? That way his on the job training won't hurt anyone else.

Blogger chris said...
Joe: Isn't that what the D-League is for? Maybe he can participate in reenactments of controversial game-winning shots in Association history, in front of angry crowds.

Blogger AnacondaHL said...
That splooge sound you heard tonight was the Lakers fans of the world masturbating over the defensive effort put forth by their team.

6 points. Fail.

Blogger Bakes said...
@AnacondaHL

I was hoping the Lakers would make the necessary adjustments in the second half and it seems they did so. I wonder what the record is for lowest points scored in a quarter? I don't much doubt it's less than 6, but honestly, I can't imagine it's happened recently.

I'd check myself but, well, I need to go change my pants.

Blogger Wild Yams said...
Just got back from the Lakers-Jazz game and man, what a weird game! The Lakers absolutely sleewalked through the first three quarters then suddenly went into overdrive in the 4th. Musta been the shocking presence of Sasha Vujacic (+9 for the game!). Utah's all banged up and LA was at home, so a big win wasn't too shocking, but what an odd (and ominous) way to win a game. I say ominous because I think the Lakers are definitely now in the mindset of "we just have to try at the end to win". That's gonna come back to bite them sooner or later, IMO. Too many home games and too many sub-par opponents early in the year I think are breeding a possibly troublesome attitude. They need a good long road trip.

Well, Chuck Hayes didn't necessarily outplay Shaq, but he played him close to a standstill. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I think Shaq is this year what Iverson was last year. Phoenix gave him away for literally nothing and suddenly they're back to looking like a playoff team, while the Crabs gave up very little to get him and they definitely look worse this year with him than they did last year without him. The Crabs are now 15-7. Last year they didn't lose their 7th game till January 15th, by which time they had already won 31 games. Something to think about.

Expect Vinny Del Negro to get the axe soon, probably tomorrow.

Allen Iverson tonight: 3-10 shooting for 11 points with 6 turnovers. After having front row seats to witness that display I'm guessing the Pistons aren't second guessing their decision to let him walk in the offseason.

The Spurs are in real trouble right now, cause that home game against Sacramento was much closer than the final score indicates (the Kings were down 3 with less than 4 minutes to play). San Antonio's got a lot of fluff to feast on in the coming weeks to help them get it together though.

Blogger Marcus said...
rockets when they try hard are insane...for the fact alone they have 0 superstars/allstars and no freebie freethrows cuz the all/super star drove at the rim and threw up a prayer

Blogger Ian said...
The Lakers juggernaut 4th was triggered by it's bench– That bodes poorly for _all_ non-LA teams (the Clippers' season will be mainly unaffected).

Anonymous Stockton said...
How many back to backs did the lakers played so far?

Blogger Bakes said...
@Stockton

Only 3 back to backs, though I hope you're asking out of curiosity and not to point out the Lakers have had an easy early season. Yes, they have by comparison with a measly 4 away games out of 20 played, but as been said many times so far, teams don't make their own schedules.

I have plenty of concerns about the 8 game road trip Jan 21 - Feb 1 and until they play one of the other "elite" teams (Orlando, Boston, Cleveland) I'm not convinced of an easy walk to another championship. The first real test I see for Los Angeles is on December 25th against the Crabs, but if the Crustaceans keep playing as they have been I think the Big Christmas Goose will lay a big egg come the end of the month.

Blogger RuffnReady said...
Great photos.

I particularly enjoy what Devin Brown is doing to him!

Anonymous FarmerTome said...
I always thought it was "Noche", but then again, what do I know? The only thing I know for sure is that Aaron Rodgers and Gyarados are the best at their respective positions. I'm from Mass. so I'm not biased. I have Rodgers on my fantasy team so I am.