We haven’t heard a lot about Luol Deng since he went to the Heat. He’s only the third banana on his new team, a team that is suffering noticeably from the departure of Ray Allen. Another thing causing his relative anonymity this year is his apparent inability to dunk. Dunking is the machinery that drives…
Read MoreDay: January 23, 2015
Jason Smith 19 Points/3 Threes Full Highlights (1/23/2015)
In the locker room after the game, the mood was jubilant. It felt good to win; everybody was in high spirits, including Jason Smith. As he peeled off his sweaty jersey, he thought he saw something out of the corner of his eye. His pulse quickened, wondering if “they” were back again. When he noticed…
Read MoreLance Thomas 16 Points/4 Assists Full Highlights (1/23/2015)
With his arrival just a few weeks ago, Lance Thomas continues the legacy of great Thomases playing basketball in New York City. Of course, I am talking mostly about the immortal and unaging Kurt Thomas, whose body resisted the determined overtures of Death himself to start seventeen games for the Knicks when he was 40…
Read MoreQuincy Miller 13 Points Full Highlights (1/23/2015)
I’m sure there are a lot of good things about Quincy Miller. Blah blah length blah blah athleticism blah blah shooting blah blah blah. However, there’s one thing that forever taints him in my view. He shoots his free throws too fast. Usually a player has a whole ritual that he goes through before he…
Read MoreEric Gordon 20 Points/5 Assists Full Highlights (1/23/2015)
If Eric Gordon were a type of ice cream preparation, what kind of ice cream preparation would he be? Bowl of chocolate ice cream: it’s okay, but you know it’s not the same as real chocolate. Kind of like Eric Gordon now isn’t the “real” Eric Gordon, the pre-injury Eric Gordon. Fair comparison. Waffle cone…
Read MoreTyreke Evans 17 Points/8 Assists Full Highlights (1/23/2015)
I relaxed in my basketball-shaped in-ground hot tub, enjoying the sublime duality of frigid winter air on my chest and steaming water on my lower half. Just as I was getting ready to indulge in some fine puffy Cheetos, my phone rang. A little bit irked, I pick it up and snapped, “DownToBuck here.” “Yo…
Read MoreNik Stauskas 11 Points Full Highlights (1/23/2015)
The way the Kings’ commentators were going on about Nik Stauskas’ confidence, I have to think that he’s currently in a pretty bad mental state. His recent DNP’s and the trade rumors swirling like a tempest around him can’t help. It also doesn’t help that every time he makes a shot they say something like…
Read MoreNikola Vucevic 34 Points Full Highlights (1/23/2015)
Another insane scoring game for Nikola Vucevic, another loss for the Magic. I can only imagine how bad Orlando would be if they didn’t have a 20-20 threat on the floor for the majority of the minutes. If I’m Jacque-Off Vaughn, at this point in the season I just would say screw it and let…
Read MoreDennis Schröder 13 Points/5 Assists Full Highlights (1/23/2015)
The Hawks are a pretty good team, it seems. How many wins in a row is it now? It doesn’t matter. It feels weird to me, since the last time I watched a full Hawks game they lost by 30 to the Bucks. Every part of their team is integrated fully into a role, and…
Read MoreDonatas Motiejunas 15 Points Full Highlights (1/23/2015)
The Rockets’ commentators mentioned in tonight’s game the “Greece-Lithuania connection”, referencing Kostas Papanikolaou finding Donatas Motiejunas for a pair of nice buckets. That made me wonder: how are relations between the two countries actually doing? Imagine my excitement when I found out that there is a whole Wikipedia article called “Greece-Lithuania relations”! Sometimes writing these…
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