The 2005 Draft’s Best Big Man?

Sean May in only 24 minutes of action is averaging 12 points and 7 boards, shooting 50% from the floor and 83% from the line.  Over 40 minutes that works out to 20 points and 14 boards.  Pretty good for a player that’s essentially a rookie (he only played 23 games last year).  Sean is coming off a 32 point, 6 board effort including 14-17 at the line against Dwight Howard and the Magic.  Over the last 6 games he’s averaged 19.2 ppg and 7.7 rpg.  As Borat would say…Very Nice. 

 The rest of the draft class includes Andrew Bogut who in 32 minutes is averaging 11.8ppg and 7.8ppg.  David Lee averaging 10 and 9 in 27 minutes (and earning the best knickname in the class courtesy of Kenny Smith, “Shallow Water”…he likes to shoot under 5 feet).  Of course there is always Hakim Warrick who is really a SF is averaging 15ppg and 6rpg in 32 minutes a game.   The rest of the class has either barely played or is oft injured (Marvin Williams, Channing Frye, Ike Diogu, Charlie V,  Andrew Bynum and Johan Petro)

Raptors Win! Raptors Win!

Can it be?  A win in OKC?  Indeed you weren’t not seeing things.  In fact you weren’t likely seeing it at all as the game was only on Raptors TV.  Anyway, it looks like Andrea Zuckerman Bargnani is turning the corner.  He finished with 16 and 4 in 23 minutes.  Of course lets not forget that the Hornets were without Peja and David West which meant they started Rasual Butler and Marc Jackson.  Even the dregs of the Eastern Conference can handle those two.

Last 5 Minutes of the Raptors vs. Cavs

Raps up seven with 4:56 remaining.  Bosh at the line…makes one of two.  Cavs run Lebron off a P/R (pick and roll) but Lips Jones misses an open three.  Two consecutive fouls by the Raps…none of the shooting variety.  James draws 3 and finds Anderson V for a lay-up.   Raps finally start going to Bosh but Anderson V beats him to the spot…going left as usual.  Charge.  Goaltending on Joey Graham…89-85 Raps.  One thing worth noting is that the success the Cavs have when LBJ starts the offense on the left elbow extended.  Usually he comes off a screen and either gets to the rim, finds the roller off the screen, draws the entire defense and finds the open man in the corner for a 3.  Freddie Jones missed 3 instead of re-posting to CB4.  Missed 3 by Cavs….more offensive “sets” that involve less than 3 passes.  TJ Ford with a pull up jumper..Raps up 6.  Daniel Gibson with a terrible force…how can the rest of the Cavs not give the ball to the King?  He’s their meal ticket.  Bosh settles for a jumper and misses.  More missed jumpers from the Cavs and TJ Ford finally gets to the rim.  Raps up 8.   Hey Lebron gets the ball and scores…there’s a surprise.  Back to six but under 1 to go.  Raps move the ball well for once but Freddie can’t hit a wide open jumper.  3 misses from the Cavs and this game is over.  Despite poor execution for most of the 4th Q by the Raps, the Cavs managed to be even worse.  If the Cavs aren’t going to get Lebron the ball in a position to score when it matters, this team will struggle  Losing to the Raptors is unacceptable and Mike Brown has proven to be the magic elixir that might allow Sam Mitchell to keep his job for another couple of weeks. 

Raptors – Cavs…Ugh

In a battle of the worst coached teams in the NBA, the Raptors and Cavs are proving once again that great athletes DO NOT necessarily make for great basketball.  The Raptors have just completed a stretch of 5 consecutive trips down the court in the 4th Q without getting the ball to Chris Bosh in a position to score.   Trip number six finally resulted in a touch for CB4 and a 3 point opportunity.  Lebron responds with a hard drive to his right hand and an easy finish.   On a separate note the Raptors are in the process of trying to become “Phoenix North”…unfortunately they run a fast break that reminds me more of my JCC run then anything involving Stevie Nash.

Introducing Harry Oreck

Harry Oreck started his professional career in armchair sports judgment at the tender age of 2. He studied 14 straight years of Sports Illustrated using his bible, er…I mean sports almanac as reference. By 16 years of age, Harry could rifle off any baseball or basketball statistic under the sun. Since focusing on basketball, he has developed an in depth understanding of the game at both the college and NBA level (high school too, but who’s asking?)

This blog is dedicated to the musings of Harry Oreck. May he ramble on about any topic he wishes. I know I will be reading.

Jonathan