Strong and sour across the A…

Lion Face: Brandon Jennings for ROY

Start the campaign, register the domain, print the banners, warm up the hype machine. Brandon Jennings was unfriggin’ believeable tonight. Late in the fourth, the Nuggets’defense had stiffened up, shut down the angles, and was surging for a comeback.  Jennings ran through a screen, Billups pursued. He reset the offense and saw nothing was happening. So Brandon Jennings, a rookie, stepped back and drained a three right in Chauncey B-B-B-Billups’ F-F-F-Face. He hit runners, leaners, pull up jumpers off the pick, threes in transition, the whole damn gamut. If you want the biggest reason Jennings is worthy of the ROY (all of six games in, we know), it’s the confidence with which he’s playing. A solid jumper already? The ability to drive and get to the basket already? The ability to cross-up, step back, and drain threes in the face of Mr. Big Shot ALREADY? Get ready for the Pterodactyl With Fire For Wings Era. FEAR IT.

Lemon Face: Mr. “I Criticize Anyone Being Excited To Win” Shot

Billups was laughing again at the Bucks for being excited last night, one night after making fun of the Bulls for being excited about a near-game-winner with .03 seconds left.  At some point, the guy needs to quit being a curmudgeon and just let guys be happy to win. Winning’s the objective. And Chauncey, if you’re only going to be happy when you win a championship, you’re never going to be happy again. I mean that. EVER. So just accept that your team squeaked by a Bulls squad with little to no offense, and then got buried by a 20 year old rook who specifically worked you over. Might want to think about raising that TS%, too, bud.

Lion Face: Mo Williams

Hey, I can’t make fun of the guy for the other 3 out of 5 games where he’s between mediocre and terrible if I don’t give him credit when he does perform well. And Mo was just unconscious last night. That game is radically different if Mo doesn’t dominate. He scored on 10 of 20 possessions last night, with a 70% TS and 30% assist rate.  If Mo plays like that every night, well, he’s not Mo Williams, and the Cavs will make the ECF. I love revenge games, though. Cleveland played like it had been spit on and did things they should do every game. You know, using Shaq to draw defenders and pass to LeBron, using LeBron as a cutter, working for the open shot, playing actual defense. And Mo Williams got to exercise some demons. Of course, now he’s saddled with, ironically the same thing Orlando was saddled with until last year. “Let’s see you do it in the playoffs.”

Lemon Face: Orlando Magic

I’m not going to say Vince Carter has claimed another victim in his endless quest to destroy the hopes and dreams of NBA fanbases, but that was NOT the team we saw back in May, battling for every loose ball, playing smart, aggressive defense, working the ball on the perimeter, killing themselves for the best shot possible. I’ve noticed this in two Magic games I’ve watched (admittedly both losses), they seem to think that their ability to knock down threes was a gift bestowed upon them by the Gods, like rollerblading or foreplay, and not the product of sincere effort and calculated decision making, like cooking or lobster hunting. They’re firing in the face of guys instead of pushing it around for the extra look. They’re not moving much without the ball and they generally look like they expect to win, versus Boston, who approaches every game with the mindset that by God, they WILL win.  Lot of injuries for the Magic, plus iffy calls on Dwight.  But if they think the rest of the league will lay down to them because of their talent, they should rewatch what happened to Cleveland last year against them.

Lion Face: Taj Gibson

Everyone knows I love Tyrus Thomas, but I can’t get over how well the 24 year old rookie is playing when no one expected him to contribute. He was a large reason the Bulls were even in that game last night, and he was doing it against Chris Bosh without a size advantage. He doesn’t have Thomas’ athletic superprowess, but what he lacks in ups he makes up for in umph, and he and Noah on the offensive glass are like two lions jumping to catch the single elk the Romans have thrown down. If only the Bulls didn’t need a scoring threat so much more.

Lemon Face: Kirk Hinrich and his jumper

Again, big fan of Kirk. But if his shot doesn’t mosey on back to the barn and get back in the saddle, that cowboy can’t ride. That team is too offensively limited to begin with to suffer through Hinrich’s latest shooting slump. I can’t figure out what’s happened to his stroke, but he better fix it, pronto.

Lion Face: The Phoenix from the Ashes

They’re back. They’re really back. And it may only last until tonight when the Lakers obliterate them, but the Suns are back. I didn’t think they’d be back. After all, Stone Temple Pilots never came back, even when they came back. It wasn’t the same. But this team? Good God. It’s beautiful, like seeing an old friend that used to get you drunk and take you on adventures and you’d wake up hung over on the railing of a ferry with three dollars worth of cat food in your pocket and a mongoose in your coat. Channing Frye, knocking down everything in sight, making absolutely killer entry passes from his wingspan in the clouds. Grant Hill playing like he’s 27, still killing himself on every possession. Amare actually gave Nash the point and ‘You and me, baby” last night. They ran that pick and roll and wanted to cry I was so happy. And Nash. Screw championship contention, screw the contract status, screw the age, screw his back that’s going to keep him from walking in 30 years. Screw it. He’s just having fun. and we’re all along for the ride.

Lemon Face: New Orleans Hornets

You let Channing Frye single handedly get your coach fired. Ew.