"Half Man, Half Amazing"

Wednesday night was no ordinary game for the Toronto Raptors. It was the return of Vince Carter. Nearly 10 years ago Carter was shipped to the then New Jersey Nets for Eric Williams, Aaron Williams, Alonzo Mourning and two first round draft picks. This move hit the Raptors hard. Trading away their franchise's best player for Mourning who refused to join the Raptors with a injury and was soon bought out and returned to the Miami Heat. Eric and Aaron were two poor players and one draft pick was used on Joey Graham while the other was traded away. To date this was the worst trade in franchise history.

Raptor fans are never kind to Carter when he steps onto the court in the Air Canada Center, but last night it was different. The Raptors set up a video tribute for Carter in the first quarter. Carter was emotional when watching the video, tearing up and after 10 years of hatred the crowd finally applauded Carter. Carter then thanked the crowd wiping his tears from his shirt."It was a great feeling," Carter said. "I couldn't write it any better."

Carter has been a role model for Canadians if we'd like to admit or not. He put basketball in Canada on the map. From the likes of Andrew Wiggins who stated that his interest in basketball came from watching Vince Carter when he was on the Raptors. Vince Carter might have exited Toronto horribly but he will forever be a huge part in Raptor fans lives. From 2004-present Carter is 2nd on the Raptors All-Time Scoring list, 5th in rebounds, 4th in assists, 3rd in blocks, 3rd in steals, and the greatest Raptor of All-Time. "Air Canada," "Half Man Half Amazing," "Vinsanity," call him what you want. When it's all said and done Vince Carter's jersey will be raised up in the rafters and he'll be a legend forever.

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Nets Pull Out Overtime Victory in Dallas

By Nick Ziegler (@Ziggy26x)

March 23rd, 2014

Brooklyn Nets vs. Dallas Mavericks Post Game Recap

Final Score: Nets 107 Mavericks 104

The Brooklyn Nets were able to turn their momentum that they have been riding at the Barclays Center into a huge road win against the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday night. The overtime win has given the Nets a (37-31) record on the season, but with the Toronto Raptors coming back to beat the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday afternoon they are still 1.5 games behind them in the Atlantic Division.

Player of the Game: Marcus Thornton

Coming off the bench for the Nets was the difference maker in the comeback victory; as Marcus Thornton continues to make the trade that Billy King did at the trade deadline a great one for the Nets. Thornton didn’t lead the Nets in scoring, but was their most efficient scorer in 24 minutes of play, as he scored 20 points on seven for 11 shooting, which included him going four of seven from behind the three-point line. Thornton also did a great job helping out on the glass, as he tied for the team-lead in rebounds for the game with seven.

espn.go.com

Positives:

Scoring was a real struggle for the Nets on Sunday in the win, especially in the starting lineup, but Joe Johnson was able to come through with a good game shooting from the field. Johnson led the Nets with 22 points on eight for 16 shooting in 37 minutes of play. Johnson came up big in the clutch for the Nets, as he had the game tying lay-up with less than 10 seconds to go, and then in overtime scored six of his 22 points to help lock up the win.

On defense the Nets really stepped up against one of the better offensive teams the NBA has to offer, which included them really shutting down the future Hall of Famer Dirk Nowitzki. Nowitzki was held to easily one of his worst games of the season, as he scored just 10 points on a surprisingly bad two for 12 shooting. Nowitzki wasn’t alone in the Mavericks shooting woes, as their bench really struggled as well. Two former Nets in Devin Harris and Vince Carter both shot the ball poorly against their former team off the bench. Harris went four of 15 from the field with just 11 points, and Carter shot four of 13 from the field with 12 points.

Negatives:

The Nets small lineup was noticeable against the Mavericks with their two starting seven footers in Nowitzki and Samuel Dalembert, as Dalembert was able to produce a big double-double and was a major factor on the defensive end. He finished with 12 points on four for five shooting to go along with 15 rebounds and seven blocked shots. This was defiantly a game where the Kevin Garnett injury hurt the Nets, and why they need him back.

Shooting Guard Monta Ellis was the main gun for the Mavericks on Sunday night with basically everyone else on the team struggling. Ellis finished with a game-high 31 points on 11 for 24 shooting. In overtime Ellis hit two three-pointers, which along with some Nets missed free throws gave Ellis a chance to tie it u if he was able to make three straight, but he couldn’t pull off buzzer beater.

Next up for the Nets will be the second half of a back to back against the red hot Anthony Davis and the New Orleans Pelicans.

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Knicks Downed At Buzzer by Dirk Nowitzki Jumper

By Kenneth Teape (@teapester725)

Monday, February 24th, 2014

Dallas Mavericks vs. New York Knicks

Post Game Recap

Grass is green, the sky is blue and the Knicks suffered yet another disappointing loss. Tonight the Knicks suffered the tough loss at the hands of the Mavericks by the score of 110-108 by the way of Dirk Nowitzki buzzer beater. The Knicks fought back and came up short like they have so many times this season, wasting yet another outstanding performance from their leading man Carmelo Anthony. As the losses continue to pile up, the reality is beginning to set in that the playoffs will be out of reach. With the loss tonight the Knicks record drops to 21-36 and six games out of eighth place in the Eastern Conference.

Player of the Game: Carmelo Anthony

EPA/Jason Szenes Corbis OUT

For a player who has a reputation of being a gunner and nothing else, Anthony has disproved that all season. He has continued to put up the monster scoring numbers but he is the only Knick player you can honestly say has shown up night in and night out during this forgettable season. Tonight Anthony did it again, pouring in 44 points on 14-29 from the field (7-12 3pt, 9-9 FT) as he was on fire all night. He kept the Knicks in the game single handedly multiple times throughout the night as the offensive side of the ball looked to be the only place anyone looked interested in playing. Anthony added nine rebounds, four assists and one block to round out his stat line for the night. It has been nice watching Anthony throughout the season as he has proven time and time again he is one of the best players in the NBA and with every passing loss not only do the Knicks playoff hopes diminish the likelihood of Anthony staying seems to go with them.

-Positives

The Knicks shooting percentages were through the roof all night. Overall they shot 52.6 percent from the field and an impressive 14-33 from the three point line, good for 42.4 percent. They assisted on 23 of their 40 made baskets as the Knicks offense clicked whenever they were able to hold onto the ball.

Stan Hondastan Honda/AFP/Getty Images

The Knicks were able to hold Dirk Nowitzki, the Mavericks leading scorer, relatively in check. Nowitzki hurt them in the end with a buzzer beater to win the game but outside of that he struggled for the most part. Nowitzki didn’t score for the previous 18 minutes before the buzzer beater and ended with only 15 points on the night, below the 21.8 he is averaging on the season. Nowitzki shot 6-13 from the field overall, struggling with his jump shot as he missed all three of his three point attempts.

Cole Aldrich has seen as little playing time as anyone on the Knicks this season but tonight he was pressed into duty with Tyson Chandler, Amar’e Stoudemire and Jeremy Tyler all getting into foul trouble. Aldrich responded well with his eight minutes, as the finished with a +12, grabbing three rebounds and making his only shot attempt. Aldrich responded as well as you could have hoped with what was asked of him out of nowhere tonight.

-Negatives

Stoudemire drew the start tonight alongside Anthony and Chandler and it was not pretty. The three are a poor mix together as Stoudemire and Chandler looked lost on multiple occasions on both ends of the court. Chandler and Stoudemire get in each other’s way more than help each other because they are both comfortable in the same areas on the court. Neither player put up bad stats, as Stoudemire finished with nine points, two rebounds and one block while Chandler had 12 points, 12 rebounds, one steal and two blocks. The problem was the Knicks just weren’t very good when either player was on the court; Stoudemire finished -8 and Chandler finished -14.

The Knicks offense was not running as smoothly as it could have because of the pressure the Mavericks put on them. The Mavericks force 15.3 turnovers per game, sixth best on the NBA and they showed why tonight. The Knicks finished with 21 team turnovers on the night, resulting in 25 points for the Mavericks. On the other hand the Knicks were only able to force 10 Mavericks turnovers and scored 17 points off of them.

Stan Hondastan Honda/AFP/Getty Images

At this point in his career Vince Carter knows as well as anyone he is not the high flyer he once was. He is more than content in his role as a secondary player that can still knock down a jump shot. Someone forget to pass the memo along to the Knicks, who left Carter open throughout the night. Carter went off, scoring a season-high 23 points on 8-17 shooting, making 7-12 from behind the arc.

The Knicks didn’t defend the three-point line or anywhere while the Mavericks played offense for that matter. The Mavericks shot 47.7 percent on the night and 41.7 from the three point line. The Knicks were unable to get a stop whenever they needed it most, as the Mavericks were able to get a basket whenever they needed. The Knicks also struggled to stop Monta Ellis and Jose Calderon, as they scored 22 and 20 points respectively, knocking down 7-14 combined from the three point line.

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The Franchise Player or The False Prophet?

One term that is used in the media a lot when referring to the NBA is the term Franchise Player.  I have always had a love hate relationship with the term and in its early stages I actually embraced it around 2000 or so when Steve Francis adopted nickname Stevie Franchise by declaring himself the Franchise player of the Houston Rockets while Hakeem Olajuwon's game was in a state of major decline.  It was a term of endearment and I got it, as with other Rockets fans of the time, we loved Stevie Franchise but when it was all love and cute back then the reality is that Steve Francis was a good player on a bad team and thus became a false prophet as he talked and ate his way out of the league without leaving a lasting impression.  His career ended with no championships, no gold medals, and he will not even be allowed into the Basketball Hall of Fame; again good player on a bad team = false prophet.

Eleven years later, I'm more mature, more wise and yes I'm considered the Dr. Phil of the NBA and with that being said I have to offer up some tough love and the irresponsible use of the term franchise player.  Those who really know me understand that I am extremely tough on NBA players on and off my fav team which you all know by now is the Miami Heat and have been pre Wade and Lebron.  Heat fan since 1995 so again the haters can kick rocks...it had to be said!  Alonzo Mourning is and will always be the face of the Miami Heat, it was his heart and toughness that the Heat continue to be patterned after 4 years since his retirement i.e. Udonis Haslem.  The truth of the matter is that  Alonzo never led the Heat to a championship when he was the best player on the team even though he did win a championship as a part of the Dwyane Wade/Shaquille O'Neal championship Heat team in 2006.  I know all of the haters in the world are happy now because they think they know what's coming next...Alonzo Mourning was not a false prophet despite the things he didn't do while being the face of the Miami Heat.   Alonzo was more of a tweener and he is one of the few NBA players to rest in the gray area between Franchise Player and False Prophet.  Ask yourselves this...Did you really think I was going to say something negative about Alonzo Mourning...lol.  My definition of a franchise player is very simple.

1. You must lead your team to the Finals or win the NBA Championship.
2. You must win the regular season MVP Award or the Finals MVP Award.
3. You must average over 20 points per game for your career.  
4. You must have at least five years of being a starter on the All-Star Team.
5. You must have been apart of the final roster for Team USA.

One or two of the above criteria can't be met, all five must be met in order for me to consider someone a franchise player.  I said it earlier I'm extremely tough when it comes to this subject.  If someone approaches me and thinks that their favorite player is the franchise and all five of the above criteria are not met then there's no discussion at all...period!  I will give you a look like I'm saying "Are you fucking kidding me!"  Yeah it's that serious people.  Just tonight I had to give my nephew the look when he asked me if Manu Ginobili was a franchise player and once he saw the look he broke out in laughter because he knew the error that he'd made.    

Far too often I turn on my television or read articles that label certain players as franchise guys and I just sit there in a state of shock, shaking my head at the absurd presumptions.  Let me be very clear, I'm not saying any of these players are bad, maybe overrated but not bad.  At this time, the big two of New York, Carmelo Anthony and Amare' Stoudemire are not franchise players, they are top ten players in the league but that's where it ends.  The media hype of Deron Williams, Chris Bosh, or Dwight Howard is overkill, they are not franchise players, there's just no argument to support the opposing side of this matter.  The great thing is that there's still time for all of these players to reach that peek if they so choose to take that next step.  Sometimes good just isn't good enough, names like Patrick Ewing, Reggie Miller, Vince Carter, Chris Webber, Steve Nash, and Jason Kidd come to mind, these guys are false prophets period!  Some of you reading this may be shocked, angered, or in a state of disbelief but the proof is right in front of you.  Being conditioned to following a looser is a fatal flaw, demand more from your favorite player and hope they respond because the false prophets are easy to spot....good players on bad teams!  If you don't and you come at me with that foolishness you will be the next victim of the look.

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