Morning Bell – 2.24.2009

Posted by on Tuesday, February 24, 2009 4 Comments

Things That Amazed Last Night

- I turned on the Celtics/Nuggets game about 2 minutes in to the 4th quarter, and was shocked.  I thought, “Wow.  The Celtics must not be very good with Garnett out if they’re losing to the Nuggets.”  Then I heard the announcers talking about how the Nuggets would play better the next few games, and how this was an aberration.  That’s when I realized I had misread the score.  The Nuggets had FIFTY-nine, not ninety-nine.  I then recalibrated my TV so that I’d never make that mistake again.  Oops.

- My family has some history with Devin Harris.  He and my wife ran in the same circles at University of Wisconsin.  They have hugged.  She’s a huge fan, and their last names are quite similar.  Ergo, there’s a pretty big Devin Harris movement in my house.  Unfortunately, this means I watch way more Nets games than I’d like, but at least they’re entertaining for the most part.

Anyways, Devin’s (first name basis, OBVS) shot last night was one of the most outstanding shots I’ve seen.  Yeah, we’ve seen half court heaves and buzzer beaters, but not usually after getting the ball stripped and recovering it.  Then it hit the least amount of net possible.  It was so good that I had to leave the DVR on pause, just to show the wife because she was on the phone with her grandmother.  .

- Obviously my reaction to this shot is colored by my wife’s bias, so I’ll temper it with this question: did Devin Harris travel?

The ball was stripped, but I didn’t think you could advance the ball up court while it’s being bobbled.  And Harris definitely matriculated up court after Iguodala got his hand on the ball. 

Things About the 8th Seed in the East

Currently, Milwaukee holds the 8th seed, but wins by New York and New Jersey closed the gap.  Chicago is in 9th, one and a half games back.  New Jersey is in tenth, a half game behind Chicago.  The Knicks are a half game behind the Nets.   I’m about ready to call Indiana and Charlotte out of the race, but we’ll give it another couple of weeks.

And speaking of this 8th seed (and we will be, A LOT), we need a name for: a) the race for the 8th seed – possibly Paroxysm Playoffs and b) a name for what the winner will be called.  This is where we’ll need your help.  Suggestions below, por favor.

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About Trey Kerby: Trey Kerby is the mastermind behind the popular weblog which they call The Blowtorch (www.theblowtorch.net), America's premier NBA humor site. Trey is located just outside Chicago, in a house with several windows. He is author or co-author of several books, including To Kill a Mockingbird, The Watchmen, There's a Wocket In My Pocket, and The Iliad. When not devising jokes, he likes to spend time with his wife, try to find his cat, and/or laugh. He is currently searching for a publisher of his untitled book of NBA facts which is scheduled to be released prior to the 2009-2010 NBA season. If you want, email him at theblowtorch[at]gmail[dot]com.

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Chilai

What about calling them the "Apollo Creed Special", because you know the 8th seed will get slaugthered by the "Ivan Drago" Celtics or Lebron (hopefully Kirilenko will be traded to one of these teams to make the metaphor work better). Specially after last year 7 game series against the Hawks, I think the top seed will be focused from the get go.

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j-n-z

First: By now I like the new outfit. Except for the tiny font you're using. What happened to that? The comments are bigger. At least in my Firefox.

Then: The Celts seem to run crazy. I mean, it's the Celts. The score more than 110 in regular in consecutive games? I know they crush defensively. But it's the Celts. 110+?

And DL, I like that "warm-up special". Remember the Celtics WUS of 2008? That was one special special. This year it should be Charlotte. By any means. (I know what you're thinking. I know.)

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Kevin

In essence, it's the same idea of going up for a shot, getting blocked then recovering the ball to go up for another shot. It just looks really messy, but it should work out as long as they deemed he had lost the ball at one point

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The DL

Whoever wins the 8th seed should either be called the sacrificial lamb or the warm-up special.

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