Game Time: Miami vs Boston

Miami vs Boston

Pre-Game Thoughts

• Nightmare Matchup — LeBron James vs Sasha Pavlovic … yikes!
• That bad matchup will very likely decide the contest. Extremely difficult to see Boston winning this game without Paul Pierce (especially without his physical defense on LeBron)
• The Celtics are short on bodies out on the wing tonight with Paul Pierce and Mickael Pietrus out injured. Marquis Daniels is their only fit backup wing and play the majority of minutes against LeBron but Pavlovic will start and get 15-20 of them himself.
• Unfortunately, this also means that Boston needs to get 35-40 minutes out of Ray Allen because they will need to keep him on the court whenever Dwyane Wade is out there otherwise they’ll be forced to defend Wade with an undersized two / point guard such as Keyon Dooling, Avery Bradley or gosh forbid E’Twaun Moore (no way should the rookie be matched against Wade). Dooling is the best option of the three.

Game Time – 26/12/2012

Thoughts on a few games

Detroit vs Indiana

Pistons Frontcourt

Greg Monroe gets into foul trouble early in the game so Lawrence Frank goes to his bench and brings in Jason Maxiell. So at this point, the Pistons are going with Jason Maxiell (center vs R.Hibbert) and Jonas Jerebko (big forward vs D.West) … man, the Pistons are going to get killed in the paint, again, this season.

Jerebko clearly looks over-matched physically in the post against David West early on. Not convinced about those reports of added weight / muscle / power. Jerebko does look more fluid offensively and comfortable/confident in his ball-handling though. 

Boston Signs Pietrus

Yahoo Sports reports

The Boston Celtics have signed free agent forward Mickael Pietrus to a veteran minimum deal for the rest of this season, NBA.com reported Saturday.

The signing was expected, but the Celtics had to wait for Pietrus to clear waivers Saturday before he could sign.

Excellent signing for Boston.

Memphis Trades Vasquez for Pondexter

Adrian Wojnarowski tweets

New Orleans has traded Quincy Pondexter to the Memphis Grizzlies for Greivis Vasquez, a league source tells Y! Sports.

Analysis

I like this trade for both sides

2011: Offseason Weight Changes

Sorry, hard to get enough league-wide information in this shortened off-season but here are a few of the notable weight changes (increases + decreases) that I have come across in this fast-paced off-season.

Increased Bulk / Muscle

• Paul George has grown two inches and added 10lbs. He now stands at 6-10, 234lbs.
• Amir Johnson is up to 256lbs from the 235lbs he finished last season. He has said that he expects that to drop a bit as the season progresses though.
• Also, read that Ed Davis has added 20lbs

Knicks Defense (Personnel Wise)

Knicks Defense

Starting lineup

• C  – Tyson Chandler – elite defender
• PF – Amare Stoudemire – average defender
• SF – Carmelo Anthony – solid defender, capable of very good defense
• SG – Landry Fields – very good defender
• PG – Toney Douglas – good to very good defender

Bench

• PG – Mike Bibby – abysmal defender
• SG – Iman Shumpert – rookie with good defensive tools and athleticism, likely average to above average defender

Dante Cunningham Joins Grizzlies

Rick Bonnell reports

The Charlotte Bobcats have decided not to match the Memphis Grizzlies’ offer sheet to restricted free agent forward Dante Cunningham, player personnel chief Rod Higgins told the Observer this morning.

Matching Memphis’ offer sheet would have obligated the Bobcats to more than $4 million in guaranteed money total this season and next.

Grizzlies Rescind Qualifying Offer To Haddadi

Ron Tillery reports

Grizzlies general manager Chris Wallace confirmed Thursday that the team withdrew its $2 million qualifying offer from Haddadi, a 7-footer who hails from Iran. The move makes Haddadi, 26, an unrestricted free agent. He can sign with any NBA team without the Griz having a right to match offers.

Utah Trades Okur To New Jersey

Utah’s press release (via IamaGM.com)

Utah Jazz general manager Kevin O’Connor announced today that the team has acquired a future second-round draft pick and a trade exception from the New Jersey Nets in exchange for center Mehmet Okur.

Excellent trade for Utah.

Nets Sign DeShawn Stevenson

ESPN reports

The New Jersey Nets have reached an agreement with veteran guard DeShawn Stevenson, and general manager Billy King said he is expected to sign Friday.

Stevenson will receive a one-year, $2.5 million contract, sources told ESPN The Magazine’s Chris Broussard.