Andrei Kirilenko
Doyle Rader Ben Gooding
Posts about Andrei Kirilenko written by Doyle Rader and Ben Gooding
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The Kobe Beef
You already know the storylines and what to expect from the league’s All Star players and potential rookies of the year. Why spend any more time talking about them? Leave that to ESPN. The players assembled on this list, for the most part, are some of the lesser known players in the league. In fact, there are a couple on here that made the cut simply because of wishful thinking as they will likely polish the pine for their given team but that does not discount their talent. Others are players who will soon make a name for themselves in the league as their careers begin to take hold. Two on the list are rookies and the rest have had some, but not many, years experience in the NBA. Agree or disagree you should at least know their names.

Patrick Beverley, PG: Miami Heat

Of all the players on the Heat to watch for this season, well there are really only three and a half (Mike Miller is the half. No offense.), I choose Patrick Beverley. Are you still reading? If so, please, hear me out. So far this preseason, Beverley is not lighting it up per say but he is logging solid minutes while the Triumvirate sits and is averaging 6.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and a steal. Not bad. However, when Pat Riley…err, Erik Spoelstra had him log 41 minutes against the Spurs, Beverley dropped a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. He added five dimes and three steals all while never committing a turnover. I know, I know, Beverley will see limited minutes (if he sees any during the regular season) as he will be a bench option on a team such as the Heat but that does not mean that he will not make an impact. If Mario Chalmers’ ankle continues to be a concern throughout the season it would be Beverley who would replace him in the starting lineup. Beverley has a strong basketball pedigree and should not be overlooked. Plus, if Karma strikes the Heat, Beverley will be the only one left to play other than Udonis Haslem.

Darren Collison, PG: Indiana Pacers

Collison came to the Pacers in a massive four team trade this summer that has been over shadowed by a four team trade that never happened. The Pacers were the ultimate winner in the trade as they received the point guard they have been looking for during the better part of the previous two years. T.J. Ford just was not cutting it for them. Collison was Chris Paul’s back up in New Orleans last season and had his opportunity to shine when Paul went down with an injury. In 37 starts, Collison averaged 18.8 points and 9.1 assists. He will be the starter in Indianapolis and if these numbers can translate to the Pacers, a team as equally mediocre as the Hornets, expect Collison to easily enter any top point guard conversation this season.

Dominique Jones, G: Dallas Mavericks

Jones is one of only two rookies to make this list, Beverley is the other. Will he really make an impact on a team such as the Mavericks, though? The Mavs are deep. How deep? Deeper than Sage Francis. Minutes will be in short supply but expect Jones to get his fair share coming off the bench. Unlike the standard Maverick prototype, Jones loves to get into the paint and to the rim and is not content to settle for a jump shot. Subsequently, he will draw plenty of fouls with such aggressive play. His only issue right now is his ability to finish at the rim. During preseason he is only shooting 36 percent. He is a natural scorer, however, and his percentage is sure to climb as he becomes more acclimated to the NBA. He has carved out a niche for himself so far as the team is impressed with his abilities on the defensive end of the floor and as a passer on offense. He is averaging 3.6 assists this preseason. He may see limited minutes but expect him to make every one of them count.

Linas Kleiza, F: Toronto Raptors

In all reality, Kleiza may be the only thing worth watching in Toronto. No offense to Jarrett Jack, Sonny Weems, or DeMar DeRozan (all of whom can Dougie quite well) but we all know that Kleiza has the potential to be “the guy” in America’s hat. Every account and story about Kleiza since his return to the NBA from Greece and his time at the FIBA World Championships is that he is in the best shape of his career. He averaged 19 points on 57.8 percent shooting and 7.1 rebounds per game during the world championships with Lithuania. Since the international game is different from that of the NBA, do not expect these numbers to directly translate but they should be a good ballpark indication of what he is capable of doing night in and night out in Toronto. In limited play during the preseason, Kleiza has averaged 11 points and four rebounds. Expect the Raptors to lean heavily on Kleiza this season as he may turn out to be their main scoring threat, when the Andrea Bargnani experiment crumbles, on a team full of lackluster talent.

Kevin Love, F/C: Minnesota Timberwolves

If you are a frequent visitor to our blog you probably already know how much love we show to Love. Can you blame us? Look, the fact is that Love is going to be one of the best players in the entire league next year but no one is talking about it because their heads are too far up Miami’s ass. Plain and simple: Kevin Love is the best rebounder in the league. What, you do not believe me? You need to stop drinking the Kool-Aid at Dwight Howard’s party. I wrote a piece shortly after the world championships ended and I will direct you to it for a more in depth look at why Kevin Love is a player to watch. Read that article here. Still do not believe me? Then look at all his numbers here.

Wesley Matthews, G: Portland Trailblazers

Matthews is one of the newest members of the Blazers having signed an offer sheet with them this summer worth an estimated $34 million over five years which Utah failed to match. Looking at Matthews’ career numbers one thing strikes you; they are by no means daunting. However, if you have ever seen him play, especially in the playoffs last year, you know why the Blazers wanted him so bad. This kid hustles on every single play that he is on the court. He shredded the Lakers second unit in the playoffs with his tenacity and determination. He is averaging 15.5 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 2.5 dimes while shooting 48.7 percent on field goals and 40 percent on threes during the preseason. It looks like he has found his place in Portland. Matthew’s will likely be one of the first players off the Blazers’ bench and should take minutes away from the perpetual whiner, Rudy Fernandez. Portland spent the money and they will see results.

JaVale McGee, C: Washington Wizards

John Wall with the alley-oop to JaVale McGee for the flush! Get used to hearing that because it will become common. In fact it will likely appear on Sport Center’s Top 10 Plays regularly throughout the season. We have been fans of McGee for a while here at the Beef and feel that he is a household name of the future. McGee is young and full of talent which it why he edged out Andray Blatche as the only Wizard to appear on this list. Head Coach Flip Saunders has said that McGee needs to improve his rebounding otherwise Hilton Armstrong may get the start over him. This is merely some Phil Jackson-esque head game on the part of Saunders. Everyone knows that McGee will start and that not starting him hurts the team. However, Saunders’ statement must have hit home as McGee pulled down 11 rebounds against Atlanta in the teams’ most recent preseason game to go along with 16 points. These numbers would seem to be what we can expect of McGee this season which will be his first as the starting center. With Wall running the point, McGee’s future looks bright as the two should bourgeon into one of the league better young duos.

C.J. Miles, G/F: Utah Jazz

Miles lost his running mate in Wesley Matthews, in terms of hustle, but that should only help increase the minutes he will see this season. Over the past two seasons, Miles has seen his role on the Jazz increase dramatically (and his basketball card seems like it is in every Upper Deck pack). During the 2008-09 season, he started in all 72 games he appeared in and last season started in 28 of the 63 games in which he played. Yes, his increased time is linked in some way to the injuries of Andrei Kirilenko and his time spent as the Jazz’s sixth man but that certainly has not diminished his value in the eyes of Jerry Sloan. Miles is currently averaging 11.3 points in preseason play and has averaged 9.5 points over the previous two seasons. Expect another increase in production from Miles this season, which will be his sixth, especially as opposing teams will focus on slopping Al Jefferson and Deron Williams which should leave Miles open on many plays. If he plays well, he could easily find himself in the discussion for most improved player. (Plus, Miles is from Dallas so you have to love that.)

Ramon Sessions, G: Cleveland Cavaliers

Cleveland is a barren wasteland. Few dare to even mention its name anymore. For a time there were fertile fields and flowers blooming, and then a pestilence swept over the land leaving nothing but scorched earth. It will take time to recover but the wounds left may never fully heal. What is left is a shell of what once was. However, do not over look it just yet. Ramon Session, a name that many people have never heard, was acquired by the Cavaliers this summer in a manner that was in stark contrast to how they lost a player. While no one thought much of this trade but it will help the Cavs more than anyone realizes. Byron Scott, Cleveland’s head coach, likes to push the ball up and down the court. He likes a fast paced game. Byron Scott may find that the only way for his team to be competitive is to go small and force the opponents to adjust to him. This bodes well for Sessions. He has already had a double-double this preseason against the Wizards with 10 points and 10 rebounds as well as six assists. He is averaging 12 points, five rebounds, and 4.8 points in the preseason to date. It would not be absurd to think that Sessions could potentially return to the same playing form he showed with the Milwaukee Bucks during the 2008-09 season when he averaged 12.4 points and 5.7 dimes, mostly off the bench.

Marreese Speights, F: Philadelphia 76ers

Of all the players on the 76ers, Speights is the one that no one is talking about. Yet, it may be him that has the best season on the team. Not Jrue Holiday, not Evan Turner, not Lou Williams, but Speights. There are parts of me that want to predict anywhere from 37-40 wins for this team and there are parts of me (much smaller parts) that think they win no more than 29 games. Nonetheless, everything, in my view, hinges on the play of Speights and whether he can stay healthy or not and get the time he deserves. He must prove himself worthy to Doug Collins so that he is not relegated to a bench role behind Thaddeus Young and to do this he must improve his rebounding. OK, honestly, having Speights on this list is a bit of a stretch. He is good though, it is just uncertain if he will actually see the minutes he needs to prove that. Lucky for him, Elton Brand is an injury waiting to happen. If any of the big forwards on the Sixers goes down this season, it will be Speights who will step in to fill the void. When, not if, this happens it will be up to him to convince Collins that he is the player that he has the potential to be.

Ah, yes, media day across the NBA is upon us once again. The hardwood is polished, player edition sneaker boxes line the locker room, our Twitter feed is chalk full of goodies, Ira Winderman is as giddy as a schoolboy despite the fact that Brian Windhorst will cover the Miami Heat for ESPN, and the smell of freshly cut grass and hot dogs wafts through the air. Wait, scratch that last part. After a long and tumultuous summer, all 30 teams are fully assembled yet again as they prepare for their first practices which begin Tuesday. New faces are introduced to the media as well as the new numbers and jerseys that the players will don this year. The new adidas jerseys seem to carry a promise similar to that of PF Flyers. Yes, all is right with the league, faces are smiling, players are sounding allegiance to their teams, and every team garners some hope for the coming season. Well, not exactly. The Timberwolves have all but ruled out a championship run. Other teams are likely to follow suit in due time.

Since the two man staff here at the beef is not yet of the press ilk that are invited to events such as media day we will do our best to keep you informed of all the happening around the league. Here is what is transpiring across the NBA on the first day of the new season. Let the games…err, practices begin.

As of today the most pressing issue that has faced the league is where Carmelo Anthony will end up. Today, he reported to the Nuggets media day, spoke to the press, and will attend practices tomorrow. So much for the nonsensical rumor that he might not show up to camp. Who would honestly believe that anyway? The only possible scenario that would involve him not appearing at camp with the Nuggets would have been if he had been traded. They still pay him after all. The least he can do is show up. Anthony’s entire stance during the “Melo Drama,” as it is being universally called now, has been one of silence. He even went so far as to say that he never publically requested a trade. Adding further that, “I’m leaving my options open.” Really, ‘Melo? You are leaving your options open? Who could have guessed?

Anthony is likely leaving his options open because of the faltering four team deal that would end up sending him to New Jersey. Why is deal faltering? Anthony does not want to be sent to a Nets squad that will be forced to give up former All Star point guard Devin Harris, who is not too thrilled about his role as trade bait of late, to the Charlotte Bobcats which would leave the reigns of the offense in the hands of Jordan Farmar. If you ever watched Farmar quarterback in Los Angeles you too would have second thoughts about this arrangement. Naturally, Chris Paul entered the conversation because of his insistence that the New Orleans Hornets trade him after he ‘witnessed’ the scorched earth tactics of some of his fellow Beijingers. Yet, Paul could not be acquired by the Nets either later this season or in 2012 due to the teams issues with cap room if they did trade for Anthony and have him sign an extension with them.

Further complicating the proposed deal is the statement that the Utah Jazz made today concerning their role in the trade. In the original package, the Jazz were to send Andrei Kirilenko to the Nuggets. Now they are saying that they have no intention of moving the Russian box score stuffer. This is the second time a team has had misgivings about this deal. Charlotte did not want to move D.J. Augustin. Despite that, however, the deal appeared to be moving forward, albeit at the speed of molasses. As the four way trade began to catch snags other teams stepped up with offers of their own.

The Philadelphia 76ers were said to have been using the likes of Andre Iguodala to lure Denver into a trade for Antony. Then, the Golden State Warriors hoped into the fray with a half-hearted offer including Stephen Curry. Hell, even the Minnesota Timberwolves got involved. Everyone wants a piece of Carmelo Anthony. It was joked that any Minnesota deal for Anthony would require a point guard to be sent to the Timberwolves. Each of these potential deals was quickly shot down be one of the sides involved. Now that media day has drawn to an end, however, and Anthony has still not been traded, the goal of the Nuggets is to get him thinking about remaining in Denver. They might not get him to sign the extension they offered him but they could convince him to stick around a bit longer. At least that is their end goal even though it may appear futile at this point.

Jazz fans can rest easier tonight knowing that the team does not plan on moving Kirilenko and that Kyrylo Fesenko did not turn up in Houston for media day. Fesenko, after a long holdout, decided to resign with Utah. When asked why he did not take the Rockets’ offer he simply said that he did not want to move. The Jazz now have two viable options at center, the other being Francisco Elson, while Mehmet Okur is out. At present there is no set time table for Okur’s return. Even better news for the jazz is that Deron Williams has his eyes set on making new teammate, Al Jefferson, an All Star this year. That should not be that hard given Jefferson’s skill sets but his health will always be the one thing holding him back.

Unlike Fesenko, Erick Dampier still has yet to find a team to call home. However, the list he made is down to four potential suitors but only one will receive a rose from Dampier. Those teams are the Houston Rockets, Milwaukee Bucks, Portland Trailblazers, and the Toronto Raptors. If Dampier hopes to attend the playoffs this year in uniform rather than in the stands, he really has just three choices.

Another player who has been involved in the trade buzz over the summer is Rudy Fernandez. For quite some time it was rumored that the Chicago Bulls had interest in the Blazers’ spark off the bench. Well, that was then and this is now. Today, Fernandez tweeted (yes, we use Twitter as a valid source of information) that he “prefers the European style” and “I don’t feel good in NBA.” Wow, talk about a buzz kill. No one will touch him with a 10 pole now let alone want to trade for him. Can anyone explain why these Spaniards dislike the NBA so much? Pau and Marc Gasol seem to like it just fine. What is it about Spain? Is it their three hour lunches followed by a siesta every day? Is it the Iberian weather? Is the work ethic in the NBA too much for them? Seriously, throw us a bone. We have no clue what their deal is.

At least one European expressed his interest to remain in the NBA today and with the same team nonetheless. Tony Parker, after having been connected to joining Amar’e Stoudemire in New York to play for the Knicks at the start of the summer, reaffirmed his commitment to the San Antonio Spurs. “I hope Spurs fans know I want to stay here … I’m going to take Manu’s example from last year,” Parker said. The only example that we can think of that Manu Ginobili has ever set is flopping 101. Essentially, Parker will continue to end up on the floor 87 percent of the time he drives the lane for the Spurs for years to come.

Gilbert Arenas is back. Gone are the days of treating the locker room like it was the OK Corral. This is a new Agent Zero. Wait, he changed his number. He now wears the number nine. So what are the fans and media supposed to call him now? That is presently up for debate on Twitter with some of the better ones being “Cloud 9,” “The Ninth Wonder,” and “District 9.” Seeing as how he plays for the team located in the District of Columbia, “District 9” seems to be the most apropos. Hopefully that one will stick.

“I’ve gotten better.” Those simple three words are how Kevin Durant described his game today. He still does not think that he is on the same level of LeBron James, however. Durant is a modest player. Obviously, Durant is not on the same level as James. No, he surpassed that level this summer. He surpassed him in Turkey, he surpassed him in scoring last year, and he will surpass him in MVP votes this year. It is a good thing that Durant has such a good head on his shoulders. It would be a shame if he became “one of them” and did it all for the celebrity of it.

In some lighter news, Eddy Curry, the much maligned and hamburger loving center for the Knicks, injured his hamstring to day during running drills in which he was lapped several times. Mike D’Antoni must have been running them hard today. It must be noted that he was lapped before he pulled his hamstring. He is expected to miss four to six weeks. Curry, looked to be the third string center going into this season despite being paid around $11 million. The Knicks are going play some of their preseason games in Europe but Curry will not travel with the team because of his injury. The whole of Knicks fandom should jointly look up to the sky, shake their fists and yell, “ISIAH!!!” Go ahead, do it. You will feel better.

The Sacramento Kings probably will not make any playoff ripples this season, but that is not stopping one of their players from wanting to make as big an impact as he can. DeMarcus Cosins wants to be the Rookie of the Year. “When I’m on the court, I’m trying to show you … especially the people that doubted my basketball skills,” Cousins said. “I want to be the Rookie of the Year. I didn’t get a chance to be the Player of the Year in college. I need my own individual award. I want mine.” That should keep the cowbells ringing at Arco. At least half of the staff at the Beef gives him a legitimate shot at taking the honor home with him this year.

Down the 101 in Los Angeles, new Clippers head coach, Vinny Del Negro, is already complaining that Baron Davis is fat. Guess he has been hiding a second chin under that beard for all these years. This story has dominated all Clippers coverage so far. Blake Griffin seems to be a complete after thought…just like the Clippers themselves. It really is too bad that Eric Gordon is relegated to play for that organization. He needs to demand a trade.

As people who follow the Dallas Mavericks have come to expect over recent years, the Mavs began their season touting their roster depth at media day. It is beginning to sound like a record skipping. (Do kids even know what records are anymore?) The Mavericks are easily one of the most consistently deep teams put together every year. This season, however, they have one glaring omission. There is not a traditional power forward to back up Dirk Nowitzki. Time at the backup four spot will likely be given to Shawn Marion but that makes for a small lineup. Playing the four is nothing new to Marion but a more serviceable big might be needed down the stretch. Depth at the guard will also be an issue with Rodrigue Beaubois being out with a foot injury to start the season. The Mavericks had hoped to start the young and explosive guard alongside Jason Kidd this season in an effort to ease him into a replacement role down the road. Those plans will have to be put on hold for the moment.

These are just some of the stories facing the teams as the season gets underway. Soon the squeak of rubber on wood floors will be heard in 30 different places as players either try to make the cut or work on finding their rhythm after a long summer. What media day brings everyone is a great sigh of relief. Now all the filler stories and rumors can stop being written and everyone can get back to the business of basketball. What the upcoming season may hold no one knows. What is certain after media day, however, is that everyone still hates the Miami Heat.

Each game in out of all the opening round game ones was decided by thirteen points or fewer. However, only one team successfully pulled an upset out of their opening game hats. Seven of the eight home teams held pat and won on their court. There is a reason that the NBA changed the opening round from a five game series to a seven game series (increased revenue stream from advertisers) because of the level of competition and parity that has begun to take place in the top half of the league. In a seven game series anything can play out. One weekend of playoff basketball is in the books and the series look to grow more heated as they continue. Here are some of the highlights of early postseason play.

The big story is the Portland Trailblazers’ victory over the Phoenix Suns. (Garnett will come later.) Portland held on late, despite atrocious free throw shooting in crunch time, to take a one game series lead. Andre Miller led the charge with 31 points and eight assists, 15 of his 31 came in the fourth quarter. This cannot be considered surprising, Miller is one of two players this year to have a 50+ point game, the other being Milwaukee’s Brandon Jennings. In the absence of Brandon Roy, Miller knew that he must be the one who carries the team offensively. He did just that. With Steve Nash’s focus on the defensive side of the ball Miller will continue to lead the scoring attack.

Former Defensive Player of the Year, Marcus Camby, played like he still was the DPOY. He completely dominated the boards with 17 and shut down Amare Stoudemire, who has had a resurgent season, holding him to 18 points on 8-19 shooting. Led by Camby’s defensive presence the Blazers held the high scoring Suns to 41.8 percent shooting and only four fast break points.

The Suns performance brings to mind comments made by a former Arizona resident. “They are who we thought they were,” Dennis Greene famously said in a press conference and Coors Light commercial. Has the injury to Robin Lopez really hurt this team more than they wanted to admit? They played well without him at the end of the regular season but are these really still just D’Antoni’s Suns, completely stifled and out of sync when they cannot run? They shot 32 three pointers during the game and connected on eleven. Obviously they still choose to live die by the three. No, despite the Suns push since the All Star break they are still who we thought they were. A run and gun team that is not built for a deep playoff run. They may yet win the series but it is unlikely that they go much further.

Ah, Kevin Garnett, what was he thinking? Garnett has been suspended for game two of the Celtics’ series with the Miami Heat for elbowing Quentin Richardson in the face in the closing minutes of game one. Close inspection of the tape shows that Richardson was not directly involved in the following fracas but was still levied a fine of $25 thousand. Garnett reportedly said that he was merely stepping up to defend his teammate, Paul Pierce, because Richardson was talking trash to him. Whoa, hold on, KG was mad that someone was talking trash? Garnett is known throughout the league for his expletive laced and derogatory smack talk to opposing players during games. He can give it but cannot take it, a nice double standard. Joakim Noah even chimed in on the matter saying that Garnett was a dirty player. What the league cannot take are anymore hot headed players in front of a global audience. KG will be in time out until game three.

For the Utah Jazz tragedy stuck as another player went down because of injury. Mehmet Okur, the Jazz’s center who has the ability to stretch defenses with the long ball, went down with a torn Achilles. Utah came into this series banged up with Andrei Kirilenko just returning from a prolonged injury and Boozer nursing sore ribs but the injury to Okur potentially derails all that Utah hoped to accomplish. The injury requires almost immediate surgery and will sideline Okur anywhere from three to six months. This time table for recovery means that he could potentially miss the star of next season as well. Utah was in for a dogfight with Denver and now they must compete down a key member of their rotation.

Staying with the injury theme, Stephen Jackson also sustained an injury in the Bobcats game against Orlando. He suffered a hyper extended knee; luckily for the Bobcats the X-Rays he received in the locker room came back negative. Jackson will undergo an MRI today to see how serious the injury is. The Bobcats will need Captain Jack in the lineup to have a chance a beating the Magic who looked vulnerable in the second half of game one but were able to hang on for the win. Jackson will play in game two, he said so himself.

Andrew Bynum returned for the Lakers and played quite well in his first game back. He did everything the Lakers needed him to do: clog the lane and score sometimes. The Lakers, with Bynum in the middle again limited the Thunder’s dribble penetration and inside scoring. Ron Artest also locked down Kevin Durant frustrating him, though Durant does not show emotion (except for once), and his shot continually. However, there were two other storylines that stood out much more than anything the Lakers did or Kevin Durant did not do. This game was Russell Westbrook’s inauguration as a household name. He simply torched the Lakers’ point guards. Derek Fisher rarely does anything on the floor that gives away his age (he simply patrols the three point line on both sides of the court) but Westbrook made him look old, Fisher was about six steps behind him, it seemed, whenever he wanted to create. Kobe Bryant was even tasked with guarding him a couple of times and if it was not for some help and trapping defense, Westbrook would have reached the lane easily. Jeff Van Gundy was actually speechless (for .028 seconds) because of what Westbrook was doing.

The other story line in this game, that the NBA does not want me taking about, is all the fans in Seattle Supersonics jerseys sitting behind the Thunder’s bench. They are members of a group called Sonicsgate (www.sonicsgate.org) that has recently been popping up behind the Thunder’s bench everywhere they go. One of the members was holding up a sign saying “Seattle Drafted Durant.” They certainly did. I have the basketball cards to prove it. The playoffs must be a double edged sword for Clay Bennett now. On the one hand he has a good young team getting national exposure despite coming from a small market. On the other hand groups like Sonicsgate do not have short memories like much of America and will not let people forget how he lied, cheated, weaseled, and schemed to tear away a team from a great basketball fan base and city and how Emperor David Stern let it happen. Good for them, we here at the Kobe Beef lament for their loss and support them. (Hopefully the city of Indianapolis will not suffer the same fate as Seattle.) It is my hope that Sonicsgate has seats behind the Thunder bench in Oklahoma City.

Shaquille O’Neal also returned from injury (returning from injury seems to be a theme for the playoffs this year) for the Cavaliers opening series with the Bulls. Derrick Rose looked unstoppable as he tallied 28 points leading all scorers. But the Cavaliers could not be slowed down. The Bulls simply had no answer for the size and physicality of Cleveland’s frontcourt. They did make it interesting though.

Spurs fans and the media’s belief that this is still the 2003 San Antonio Spurs never cease to confuse us here at the Kobe Beef. The fans have a passionate hope about them. That is a quality that is lacking in many today so it is actually quite admirable. Game one between the Mavericks and Spurs was what people have come to expect from a meeting between these two Texas rivals. It was close throughout but one never really got the sense that it was ever out of the Mavericks control. The Mavericks out played the Spurs at their own game. It was a slow half court match that traditionally would have favored the Spurs but this was not the case. Dirk Nowitzki reminded the league why he was the MVP a few seasons ago by scoring 36 points on 12 of 14 shooting and being perfect in twelve attempts from the charity stripe. He was simply unstoppable. The Spurs came into the series touring the play of George Hill who is the hope for the future and Manu Ginobili. Ginobili had a good game but was noticeably vacant from the scorecard in the second halves of the final two quarters. If George Hill is hope then hope scored zero points. Misplaced optimism is more like it.

Brandon Jennings dropped 34 points on the Hawks on Saturday. He was a one man scoring machine. Ballots have already been turned in for Rookie of the Year but his performance in his first ever playoff game definitely would earned him an extra vote or two. What is disheartening about is performance for both him and his team is that he had five of his shots blocked. The Bucks lost by ten. Oh, what might have been. Hopefully that will not become the phrase most associated with the Bucks this post season.

For Jerry Sloan and the Jazz, the music is sounding ever so sweet but here at the Beef, we are hearing some notes that are coming out a little flat. We like to preach how important it is for teams to get hot at the right time and Utah is doing just that. However, look at who they are getting hot against. I’ll tell you right now, it’s nothing special. Maybe it is time to reveal what Sloan and company have been doing so you know where to place your money come playoff time.

Last night, the Jazz handed the Golden State Warriors 128 to 104 loss in a complete and utter rompage (nothing impressive, everyone has done it this season). However, Deron Williams racked up 19 assists as five other Jazz players racked up double digit points. This win brings their record up to 18-7 since the All Star break and they are averaging just over 108 points per game. Of those 18 wins, however, only three came against Playoff teams. They won in Portland, in Phoenix and beat Boston at home. Quality wins? Sure. Super-hype wins to get super excited about? No.

To be honest, they really don’t have a lot of these super-hype wins on the season. we are counting these super-hype wins as wins against any team in the top four spots in the West and top three in the East (sorry Boston, but you don’t get counted, read some of our earlier articles and you’ll see why). Right now, these teams are the Lakers, Nuggets, Mavericks, Cleveland, Orlando and Atlanta (Utah just so happens to be a top four in the West at this moment but they can’t take the court against themselves). Against these top teams, they are 6-9 with the most wins (2) coming against the Mavericks. They played and beat the Magic and Lakers in back-to-back games back in December but that was four months ago. As you look more and more their record begins to look a little average.

The Jazz haven’t even been tested by one of these top teams since early February and since Andrei Kirilenko has gone out with more hamstring issues. AK’s return will affect the Jazz greatly. Outside of Paul Milsap, I’m completely writing this team’s bench off. In addition, I’m not too comfortable with Wesley Matthews and C.J. Miles starting. Both are too young and inconsistent to really aide this team in an effective playoffs run. The Jazz’s success as of late can really only be attributed to the play of both Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer. The Jazz failed to make a deal for Boozer by the trade deadline and that can be seen as both a positive and negative. He brings points and rebounds but if done correctly, the Jazz could have brought in maybe two quality players for this veteran which would add some depth to this team. Mehmet Okur is spreading out his game to makeup for AK’s injury but is not bringing in the numbers that the Jazz need against some of the bigger and more elite teams. Sending Ronnie Brewer off to Memphis was a total mistake even though he went down with a season-ending injury. Granted, the trade landed them a 2011 draft pick but that doesn’t help them now or even then, for that matter, after what will probably be the most insane season of basketball wheeling and dealing ever.

Yes, the Jazz are winning games and they are doing it at the right time. However, they are beating up on total garbage. Beating up on Washington, New York and Golden State doesn’t get you anything in this league but wins you are suppose to have. Right now, in the ever-changing Western Conference standings, Utah is set to match up against the Thunder in the first round. They haven’t beaten them since March 20, 2009. I don’t call Ronnie Price, Kyle Korver, Sundiata Gaines, Othyus Jeffers, Kyrylo Fesenko and Kosto Koufus a quality bench by ANY stretch of the imagination. Tomorrow (April 2, 2010), they will be tested in LA against a frustrated Lakers team who has lost two in a row. After that, they have a chance to set the record straight against the Thunder. With two wins here, we might be able to start jumping on the bandwagon but I’d still be cautious.

It takes a lot to be a Championship team these days. The Lakers and Celtics have shown what takes a lot to earn those rings. The standard has been set and with the approaching NBA free-agency doomsday, teams know what they must do to win in the future. But right now, it takes big men, depth off of the bench and a dominating season full of very impressive wins. The Jazz have none of the above.