The Dribble

Now with Jerry West still in the picture in Memphis, the injury to Damon Stoudamire (if serious), takes on a different perspective.

• Brett Edwards at the Association thinks the Pacers would be crazy to trade Artest for Devean George but as a Lakers fan he is just drooling at the idea
• Brendan McGovern lists the top 10 "worst" moves in the NBA in 2005 (from #1-the Hawks passing on Chris Paul to-#10 the Artest implosion in Indiana at read it at About.com
  
• YaYbasketball! celebrates Lebron's 21st birthday
• with Marcus Camby visiting the doctor's office (again) Fantasy Basketblog takes the opportunity to analyze the centers and power forwards making noise across the league
  

Being a bonafide big man in the NBA is no easy task and usually takes a couple of years just to get used to the pro-level caliber of players:

• now with Okafor/May/Voskuhl out indefintely Melvin Ely is rounding out nicely in Charlotte while averaging 22 min per game, he posted 20 points and 8 boards against Chicago last night in 31 minutes

• is the surprise of the season so far, Boris Diaw or David West?

• the Golden State Warriors looked to shake things up and started rookie Ike Diogu in place of Adonal Foyle at center and ended their 5 game losing streak

• Stromile Swift finally has the game everyone has been expecting from him: 26 pts and 13 boards in 34 minutes when the Rockets slowed down the pace of the game against the Hornets

• Etan Thomas in Washington is starting to outplay Brendan Haywood as he puts up 11 points 7 rebounds and 2 blocks in 25 minutes of work
  

• with Olowokandi out in Minnesota, Eddie Griffin finally cracks the starting lineup and responds with 22pts 12 rebs and 4 blocks in 37 minutes

The rematch of last year's finals saw neither teams showing up with any offensive game (I blame thick turkey gravy) as the Pistons' (who shot 42%fg) displayed a superior defensive intensity, outrebounded and outworked the Spurs (40%fg). Tony Parker scored the only eight points of the opening quarter that the Spurs could muster and the Pistons just kept playing like they really had something to prove against the defending champs.

Lakers vs Heat played out a close one on Christmas Day in Miami (Kobe missed a heave-ho fadeaway 28 footer as he tried to tie the game-and was 0-8 from 3pt land) and it got me thinking as to how this game ressembled a WWE/WWF matchup; there was camera play (zoom in on sweaty frowning foreheads of Kobe/Shaq), and there was bumping/shoving, and of course mandatory expletives (Gary Payton vs Lamar Odom, who was left feeling that the former "Glove" was quite disrespectful).

Merry Christmas to all visitors and friends in the blogosphere.

The Score.ca has a list of the top 10 current Prep to Pro NBA athletes that should've stayed in school to get stronger. Read it here.

The Toronto sun reports that Artest could go to the Raps , for fan favorites Mo' Peterson and Matt Bonner.


Isaiah and the Knicks said no picks/youths for artest

Talking about Artest character :

• the Artest sweepstakes have begun as Larry Bird and the Pacers prove once again how they have given him another chance and he crapped on them and the franchise's image yet again. His "baggage" is growing by the day which is why I wouldn't expect his availability to last for very long. Although we are only 20 games into the season which are the teams that could use him? Looking at the standings the frontrunners in a trade of this magnitude would have to be (1) a western conference team, because you just don't want a trade like this to bite you in the ass 5-6 months later, or (2) trade him to a team that that has something of value;
  

Under terms of the collective bargaining agreement, any player who signed as a free agent before the season began can't be traded until Thursday, but once that moratorium is lifted and about 100 players flood the market, there might be some movement.

Rob Babcock GM of the lowly Raptors , admits he has been in "meaningful" trade discussions with other NBA general managers in the last few weeks as the league braces for a wave of speculation and perhaps some deals later this week. Of note the Raptors Gm is considering packages including their first round pick of hte upcoming draft.

Sure fire Movers:

-Artest
-Stojakovic
-Radmanovic


Sure Fire Teams to Trade:

-Raptors (another bad trade in the horizon?)
-Pacers (Artest is gone)
-Kings (Stojakovic for who ? Artest?)
-Spurs (always make magic happen)
-Cleveland (is done yet !)
-Lakers ( Phil's rebuilding and he's not done yet)

Guards/Backourt:

1. Allen Iverson
2. Dwayne Wade
   
3. Paul Pierce
4. Kobe Bryant
   
5. Gilbert Arenas
   
6. Steve Nash
   
7. Michael Redd
8. Jason Richardson
9. Ray Allen
10. Baron Davis
11. Chauncey Billups
12. Chris Paul
13. Tony Parker
14. Vince Carter
15. Richard Hamilton
16. Joe Johnson
17. Mike Bibby
18. Stephon Marbury
19. Steve Francis
20. Sam Cassell
    

Bubble: Tracy McGrady, Larry Hughes, Jason Terry, Bonzi Wells, Jason Kidd

Forwards/Frontcourt:

1. Lebron James
2. Elton Brand
3. Marcus Camby
4. Dirk Nowitzki
5. Tim Duncan
6. Kevin Garnett
7. Jermaine O'Neal
8. Chris Bosh
9. Shawn Marion
10. Antawn Jamison
11. Rashard Lewis
12. Chris Webber
13. Pau Gasol
14. Lamar Odom
15. Yao Ming
16. Dwight Howard
17. Richard Jefferson
18. Carmelo Anthony
19. Ricky Davis
20. Ron Artest

Bubble: Peja Stojakovic, Mehmet Okur, Al Harrington, Troy Murphy, Rasheed Wallace

• fantasyanalyzer.com updates its player rankings daily as well as its top 10 overrated and 10 underrated players
• DM at fantasybasketblog more or less explains the types of fantasy basketball games that exist and gives the low down on point guards
• Brendan McGovern gives his 2006 mock draft and his analysis of the Los Angeles Clippers so far this year at probasketball.about.com
• Steve Kerr says that Atlanta Hawks coach Mike Woodson is gonna get fired at sports.yahoo.com
• theassociation's Craig Kwasniewski (can't be his real name) explains why the Houston Rockets are struggling
• Paul Benedict's this week's five on five at NBA Source covers; 5 non impact rookies, 5 plus/minus leaders, 5 fretful thoughts, 5 match-ups, and 5 fearless forecasts
• JESkeets falls in love with Toronto's Joey Graham
• Tony Mejia is still on the Phoenix Suns bandwagon. Read it here.
• Chris Clarke from End of the Bench criticizes the Suns for their blowout of the Blazers here
• Sergio Gonzalez at CBSSportsline is thinking about trading Marcus Camby in his fantasy league
• Marty Burns at SI.com lists five players begging to be traded

Some lesser known players that are getting noticed around the league:

• Luther Head: with T-Mac out with back problems and Rafer Alston struggling "Loother" has been stepping up big time and has been giving the Houston Rockets another scoring option, he is solid from three point land (47%) and loves to drive to the basket making Wesley, Barry and Moochie Norris expendable
  
• Travis Outlaw: now that Reuben Patterson has been dismissed from the Blazers squad (a la Terrell Owens) expect Outlaw to get some more minutes as he spells the injured Darius Miles off the bench, he might not put up the same kind of offensive numbers but should contribute to the "team"
• Boris Diaw is slowly working his way into the starting lineup on the strength of his versatility (think of a better passing Shane Battier), as he does it all and gives the Phoenix Suns an entirely different look on the floor as he plays the guard, forward and even center positions all the while filling the stats sheet with his assists rebounds and almost 11 points per game
  
• Jose Calderon: a point guard that contributes over six assists a game coming off the bench is almost unheard of but this European point guard is impressing many across the NBA as he refuses to turn the ball over and continues to push the ball up the floor looking for either a streaking teammate or his own shot (which he will find eventually probably around the same time he learns to master the english language)
• Austin Croshere / Nick Collison: differing only in age (5yrs) yet similar in looks, size and statistics, these two hard working forwards would be welcome additions to any team across the league as they do the dirty work and often are seen as extensions of the coach's mindset on the floor
  
• Salim Stoudemire, the 2nd round pick and cousin of Damon Stoudamire, has become known as a 3pt specialist giving the Hawks an added threat from outside shooting 42.4% and averaging 1.5 per game from beyond the arc and averaging a more than welcome 11.2 points per game
  
• James Jones was given the opportunity in Indiana last season (through a series of unfortunate events) and showed that what he does well is primarily shoot the three. Phoenix took a chance on him this year and the trend has continued as he forces the opposition to stretch the defense with his perimeter shooting (41.4%)
  
• Bobby Jackson is giving the Grizzlies some solid contributions in limited minutes as a backup point guard to Damon Stoudamire and is using his veteran experience to average 11.0 points per game
• Sarunas Jasikevicius, the Euro export is shooting 50% from 3pt land is averaging 9.2 points with a steal a game and (due to Tinsley's groin injury) has made his way into the Pacers starting lineup
  

other notables: Raja Bell, Ike Diogu, Delonte West, Jameer Nelson, Luol Deng

• Phoenix wins by 45 in all around team effort as they took control of the game early against the Blazers (15 total team blocks don't hurt either)
• McGrady looks fine vs. Celts and goes 14 for 20 from the floor for 35 pts along with 7 rebs 5 asst 2 steals and 2 blocks while Jefferson shows up with 12 pts 10 rebs in 18 minutes
• Cavs and Kings combine for 5-31 from 3 point land as Cleveland rides Lebron's 30 pts 6 rebs 6 assists 2 steals 3 blocks performance
  
• Mo Pete's hustle forces the Wizards to OT in a losing cause
• Gasol dominates Hornets with 29 pts 15 rebounds and 3 blocks