Roundball Wrap-Up: Wednesday March 5th

Your favorite inconsistent NBA post is back from last year!  I never really had a full grasp on how to do this blog, but I think I have figured it out. There will be similar elements from Bucks Buzz, but in reality, it will be its own post on Wednesday (Or Thursday). I do not really have a time for when it will be up but there will be all sorts of random shit I happen to come across on the Internet plus some thoughts about the week that was.

Players of the Week 
LeBron James - What a massive statement for LeBron in the last 10 games. He is getting the extended player of the week as James is averaging nearly 33 points a game along with being 52 percent from three and shooting over 60 percent from the field. Do you think James was a little pissed off at the hype Kevin Durant was getting? I bet LeBron reads Sportandfashion-news and sick and tired of seeing 'This week in Kevin Durant' therefore we are adding LBJ to the mix. James' strong play has become the difference in propelling the Heat winning the last eight of 10. I am happy this is a friendly rivalry and LeBron is taking over becoming more selfish because he damn well can whenever he wants due to being the best in the world.

Kevin Love - We should have given Love this honor last week, and I did not so this is my apology. Love had a massive February and it did not stop in March. He put 33 points and 19 rebounds against Denver on Monday dominating the Nuggets as well as getting a win against Sacramento where Love flirted with a triple-double with 22 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. The last time Love did not have a double-double where he played in the game was January 27th against Chicago. If Minnesota finds themselves in the playoffs, Love deserves to get some MVP votes. I do not know expect him to win it, but he is more than deserving right now.

This week in Kevin Durant
After Oklahoma City lost three straight, they have won three straight beating the likes of Memphis, Charlotte and Philadelphia. Durant disposed of Philadelphia with 42 points and nine rebounds. He also added 37 points against the Grizzlies which is like scoring 50 on most defenses.

'I am not mad, I am disappointed' Owner of the Week
Mark Cuban -  Cubes thinks the D-League would be a better option than the NCAA. I disagree. What's broken is the fact guys only have to stay for a year. They honestly need to have a baseball system where either high school is the choice or two or three years in college. One-and-Done is broken. If you do not know believe it, look what's happening at Kentucky basketball.

Team of the Week
Chicago Bulls - Being a neighbor from the south, you typically do not root for Chicago. Honestly, I like the Bulls when they are not playing Milwaukee. It is hard not to like Tom Thibodeau and respect what he does with the little talent he has on the roster. What if he had a team full of stars, could he make them a 65 win team? I am dead serious about that question too. Bulls are fourth in the Eastern Conference and pushing towards the third spot. People do not want to face Chicago in the playoffs, and they are hot as of late winning their last 10 of 12 games.

Team of the Weak
Denver Nuggets - It is time Denver embraces the tank. Their entire team is injured and lost their last 14 of 17 games which is bailed out by a short two game winning streak against Los Angeles and Milwaukee in early February. Nuggets need to just shut it down and try to get as high of a draft pick as humanly possible. If the Nuggets could add a Marcus Smart to their team, they become instantly better with the wealth of good talent they are already have on this team whom all currently sitting on the bench or not playing right now. At least Ty Lawson blew up Corey Brewer's ankles. (h/t @cjzero)



Sportandfashion-news Medical Injury Report  
Kevin Garnett - Tonight will be the third straight game where Garnett is missing for back spasms. Should this concern you are a Brooklyn fan? Absolutely. Garnett always had some issues with his back in recent years, and it appears to be acting up on him again. This could be damaging news for Brooklyn and their playoff hopes if Garnett battles back injury for the rest of the year.

NBA's week in Images, GIFS, Instagram, Vine, Links, anything else. 


This young Knicks fan is the greatest.  



John Wall did a step over on Kyle Lowry, respect. (H/T @Truth_About_It)

Check out @StephensonLance's 'Sir Lance A Lent' @and1basketball Aqua Mid PEs for tonight: http://t.co/KgJ9UdOQw3 pic.twitter.com/MUBykuAbjr
— SLAM Magazine (@SLAMonline) March 4, 2014

Lance Stephenson's Mardi Gras shoes last night. First, they are great. Second, I did not know AND1 still made shoes for NBA players.

Charlie. 

Tank for Thon Maker

This went viral over the weekend as the world outside of the college basketball recruiting world were introduced to Thon Maker, a 7'1 high school sophomore. He has all the skill in the world. He can take it to the lane as well as hit deep threes. Maker looks great handling the ball, and obviously, he can block shots with the best of them.  The comparison will be Kevin Durant who ius 6'10 and Giannis Antetokounmpo who is 6'10-6'11, with an opportuntity to grow even more. I see a lot of Kevin Garnett comps as well but he never had a handle like Maker. I worried about that with Giannis, but after watching Maker at 7'1 doing things Giannis can do on the court, it makes me feel more confident if he kept growing. Trying to think about how a team stops in college basketball or the NBA is damn near impossible. The only concern would be if he can stay healthy with his legs and feet. Always a worry with big men no matter their skill set.

Charlie.

The Battle of Minnesota's Two Kevin's.

I am going to start out off my first post of the year with a huge cliché: life is full of choices. You know it (Ron Burgundy voice). Soak that little ditty in another time (Burgundy again). You probably just thought about all the choices you make on a daily basis (my voice or Ron’s if you want I guess)….”Should I eat cereal or eggs this morning?”, “Is this 3^rdcup of coffee the one that is going to make me shit?”, “Should I masturbate a 2^ndtime today?”, “Should I wear my Jordan’s or my sweet loafers?”, “Hard shell tacos or soft shell?”, and of course “Should I rock my ponytail or let my beautiful hair flow?”.  All of these decisions prove crucial, as they will dictate how the day will ultimately unfold, and of course, there are an array of other decisions that do not get addressed.

I would like to think that I am a forward thinker. Recently, I had a day dream that I am sure will become a reality. I figure soon enough[1]holograms will be able to look so real, that we will be able to go to any event, from any situation, simulated live in front of us, with unexpected results. Let me explain more…

Youremember when “Tupac” showed up at Coachella?

Yeah, it was awesome, but it still looked a little sketchy. I like to think these holograms are going to improve in time, and probably looks even better indoors. I do not think it is out of the question to think that this technology will transfer over to sports seamlessly. Which, of course, it could end some age-old arguments.

If things progress in that field like I figure, and these things end up being REALLY REAL LOOKING, then I think that we will have the opportunity to watch a 24-year-old springy MJ against a post-accusations pissed off Kobe Bryant. It would come with a cost of course; royalties would need to be figured out. You would have to pay the original (actual) players because their talents would be being re-sold, and of course arenas and such to hold these events. But how sweet would it be to watch a game that featured MJ, Scottie, Oscar, Bill Walton, and Steve Nash against Kobe, LeBron, Bill Russell, Karl Malone and Allen Iverson? Or whatever match-up it ends up being. The possibilities are seriously endless. How can you tell me you would not pay for this in 40 years?  

Not to mention how cool this would be from a historical teaching standpoint. The “old greats” that are forgotten as generations past would be brought back to life for people to enjoy. I seriously think this could happen. Plus, everyone want to know how LeBron James stacks up against every good player in the last 60 years. 

I’m from western Wisconsin. I stay true to my state in my sports fandom. But a lot of Twin Cities’ influence infiltrated my home city. In football debates, the Cites influence can sometimes become shout-worthy. This is mainly because Green Bay Packers fans are stubborn as hell, and mostly correct, and furthermore because Minnesota Vikings fans generally lack ammo. But when it comes to Minnesota Timberwolves/Milwaukee Bucks arguments, differences are minimal, if even present at all. This is because we both generally suck. So with the Timberwolves becoming a somewhat exciting team in recent years, the NBA fans around the area have collectively cheered.

As a questioner and sports fan, I find it my duty to create some mild confrontation from time to time, even if it is in a friendly manner, seeing as that I definitely cheer for the Wolves in most games they play in. A trend that I have recently noticed is that Timberwolves fans really really go to bat for Kevin Love. Which is honorable for a number of reasons. One reason being he can grow a lumberjacks beard, and another is that he is wet from downtown. Super soaker wetness[2].

I found out this dedication by simply voicing my opinion that I think it would be smart for the team to trade Love straight up for Blake Griffin. The die-hards fly off the handle with this one. And I can understand why I guess… But why wouldn't they rather lock into at least five years of Ricky lobbing to Blake and finishing .500 or better, instead of only 2 more years of K. Love stroking lonely 3-pointers, as they struggle to go .500[3]?  Then Kevin Love would happily re-sign with the Clippers, and everyone is locked in for awhile, and we have a structure in the league. Kevin is happy back in his college town of LA, while Blake is considerably colder then he ever imagined he would be while playing in the League, but he is going to suck it up and dunk, and maybe (and hopefully) it pisses him off so much that he got traded that he becomes a high-flying Karl Malone. Then with Ricky Rubio, you could be potentially be talking about the next Stockton and Malone!!!

For some reason, potentially becoming the next Utah Jazz does not appeal to Wolves fans around here, and it kind of confuses me. That, however, was not the intention of this jargon, because what I take away from their short-sighted opinion with Kevin Love is actually the admiration they really have for him. They love the guy.

He breathed some positive air in that franchise and the fan base greatly appreciated it. They never want to see him, his beard, and his 3-ball leave town...ever. But when I noticed their dedication to him, I had to start asking the tough one.....

“Would you take Kevin Love or Kevin Garnett?”

To me the answer is easy; it’s KG all day, everyday, even though I might be scared of him. I will get to KG momentarily, but here's why it is at least honorable to want Kevin Love…Love, or as some call him, “Mr. Buttersworth[4]”, has big brass nuts. They are heavy. He has a skill set that is elite. Presently, he is scoring 26.3 points per game, which ranks second in the league. That is paired with 13.5 rebounds per game, which is tied for first with DeAndre Jordan. Only three other players boast per game averages that rank in the top ten of two of the three “big stat” categories;those being Steph Curry (23.3ppg (7^th)/9.6apg (2^nd)), LaMarcus Aldridge (23.2 points (8^th)/11.0rpg (6^th)), and DeMarcus Cousins (23.1ppg  (9^th)/ 11.4rpg (5^th)), and none of them are as substantial as ranking second in both category.  Love does certain things most guys just do not/cannot do. He stretches the floor while simultaneously rebounding everything. For his career, he averages 3.9 OFFENSIVE rebounds per game. That number, my friends, is absurd.

This season he has also started sharing better (A formidable act), averaging 4.1 assists per game. His offensive game is blossoming into uncharted territories. If he had one other consistent scorer on his team, or if Rubio would just start figuring how he is going to score in this league himself, then Love has the opportunity to end this playoff drought that Minnesotans thirst for. Not to mention, he is fantastic for the Midwestern demographic he resides in (Again he looks like a lumberjack, people around here get down with the thought of a burly lumberjack tearing up the NBA.).

But to take him before Kevin Garnett is tomfoolery.

Before I go much further, I will say that many of the people I was asking to make this decision are under the age of 22, and by and large do not remember a lot of the Big Ticket’s best years. But some of the trusted Wolves fans I talked to thankfully backed my opinion of KG’s superiority.

The really obvious first reason the choice is KG starts with the defensive end. Success in basketball almost always starts with defense. You get a lot farther, especially postseason-wise, with good defense. KG plays defense. Kevin Love does not. While no T-Wolves team in history has ever been defensively historic, it should be noted that KG’s MVP season doubled as the team’s most efficient defensive season of their short history, posting an efficiency rating below 100 for the only time, and it resulted in them going all the way to the Western Conference Finals.

While Garnett's offensive numbers neared career bests that season (averaging 24.5ppg/13.9rpg/5.0apg), his contributions on the defensive side of the ball that proved just as devastating to his opponents. He swiped the ball 1.5 times per contest, while also accumulating 2.2 blocks per game.  He was everywhere.

The snowballing of hustle stats like these are what ultimately trump Love. Love has never averaged more than one block or steal per game in any season, while KG to contrast has only came up short of averaging at least a steal and block in three of his 19 seasons. He also has been a better passer (KG:3.9apg/KL:2.2apg) for his career, and his defensive rebounding is tied with Love at eight per game. What numbers do not capture however, is voice.

Garnett's personality seems to be on par with exactly the kind of person it takes to be a great winner. An asshole. KG is a fiery asshole. One of my buddies told me they were at an open gym in the cities once at Hastings High School, and occasionally Timberwolves players would drop by and run games with them.  He relayed to me KG once berated some scrubby string bean of a 16-year-old for not securing rebounds. An NBA MVP is going to going to yell at a 16-year-old who will not even being playing competitively in two years for not securing rebounds in a June scrimmage? If you did not already guess it, I’m pretty sure KG would hate me. And I’m almost positive I would not agree with him on most things (Mainly because I don’t deal with assholes), but I am also pretty sure KG will say anything to anybody, and that is a major reason why he was the leader he was.  

I’m taking Kevin Garnett over Kevin Love because I know that when he steps on the court, he morphs into something that is so intense, I reckon his own mother does not enjoy seeing it. But it sets the tone for the team, and no one wants to be on KG’s bad side. Kevin Love just does not posses that same intense pressure to compete. He lacks the will to sacrifice for the team the way KG did.

If you need a final reason to really sway you to Kevin Garnett, it can be that his teams were much more successful. While Love is young, and will surely get his due in the league, KG dragged Minnesota to the playoffs eight times. Love is threatening to never bring them to the playoffs in his time spent there, which is now rolling through its sixth year.

When it comes to prospecting sports, there is never a right answer.  I have faith these debates will someday be put to rest with futuristic life-like holograms, but only time will tell that fantasy. And so in the meantime, sports bars and dorm rooms everywhere will have to banter on swapping opinions and defending their choices between swigs of beer, and chomps of ground beef.

But just know that if someone asks you if you would rather have Love or Garnett that you want Garnett. Everyday, and all day.

~Andrew

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[1]Anywhere between I would say 40 and 90 years.

[2]This link is specifically for the white girls that are reading!!  I don’t listen to this shit at all!!!

[3]Both versions of the team would significantly increase winning percentage if Rubio could score at all, and they had a viable second option.

[4]Okay, only I call him that.