Lion Face/Lemon Face 11.9.09
The reason for all this:
Lion Face: Manu GINOBILI (!!!)
Two years ago, this game would have had me spitting blood through jagged teeth after it forced me to chew through my windshield after shattering it with a drive around the block listening to speed metal. Now, I can just sit back and appreciate the absolute art that is Ginobili’s deceptive, slick, and filthy game. 36 points in 32 minutes on just 15 shots, for the love of Pooh God. 8 assists, 4 boards, 1 steal and 4 (!) blocks. The dude figured out more ways to score than … nah, I’ve used that one before. Let’s see… hmm….Ah! Got it! Dude made moves like he was in fact where the hell Matt was. (Ah, the internet meme joke, both lamer and more interesting than the sex joke. Win.) He even whipped out the “slide between two defenders, glide sideways getting fouled and finish with one hand barely looking at the basket. Nailed threes and got contact, always getting contact simply by outsmarting the defender into running into him. Of course he flopped. It’s Manu. But that’s part of his charm. And without Duncan, without Parker, facing a playoff team, he dominated. And that was manly.
Lemon Face: Me.
Back in the preseason, Graydon and I were having a healthy argument on the streets of New York. Manu was coming off an injury plagued season that saw him miss the postseason with an injury that was a re-injury of one from the previous summer. He was old. He was on a loaded team. And his skillset was particularly succeptible to age. So I made a bet for a few beers with Graydon. I bet that Manu would not score 30 in one game this season. I failed to factor in the following: 1. Parker getting hurt because he’s French and therefore malleable like a fresh bagguette. 2. With Parker out against an East opponent, Pop would rest Duncan with an “ankle.” 3. Manu’s still got it. That last part? That was my bad. Throw in the fact that all these things would happen when they were facing arguably the worst perimeter defense in the league and you’ve got me looking like a big ol’ pile of poo. Fail, Moore. Fail.
Lion Face: Anthony Morrow
When people look at the disaster that is the Golden State, they often point to how Stephen Jackson is being held hostage, or how Monta Ellis’ prime is being wasted, or how Anthony Randolph remains locked in a prison of sadness. But look at Morrow’s line last night. 20 points in a 41 point win is nothing spectacular, Randolph and Azabuike had more. But 7-10 from the floor, 6-6 from the arc, 4 rebound, 4 assists, 3 steals. That’s just good work, my friend. Morrow, more than any other Warrior, I can see contributing immediately to a contender. Put him on the Bobcats, and all of a sudden they have a pure shooter who can run the floor. Put him on Cleveland and all of a sudden the Cavs have one of the deepest backcourts in the league. Put him on Dallas and you have a guard with size to spell with Terry, making a small backcourt suddenly sizeable. Put him on the Lakers… (shudder), and it’s the end of the Goddamn Western Civilization. He’s shooting 61% from the arc, he’s fourth in effective field goal % for players averaging +25 (68.4%), and third in True Shooting percentage among those same players (70.3%!). He’s simply devastating offensively. Get the man out of there. Let Nellie run that ship aground with the others. We need to save Morrow.
Lemon Face: Byron Scott
“But they won!” Yes, but he started Devin Brown. “Brown had 25!” Yes, but he’s Devin Brown. This was a nightmare scenario for Hornets’ fans, regardless of how it may seem. Because now Scott can justify continuing to bury the rooks and not pursuing trades because he can point to how well this unit played together. And Julian Wright may have just plunged off the edge of the cliff into the sea of Nobody. I sincerely hope that’s not the case, but even after a win, I have a hard time seeing a future with this Hornets club.
Lion Face: Toney Douglas
He missed the game winner last night. But the fact that he took that game winner says something. He got a ton of iron on it, and he was the Knicks leading scorer with 21 on 14 shots. Good for him for just helping the Knicks to be in a position to win against a schitzophrenic but talented Utah club.
Lemon Face: Mike D’Antoni
It’s hard not to look at this Knicks club and wonder if Mike isn’t underperforming a bit, as bad as they are. He’s had ample ability to push Walsh to sign someone of value, and instead we’re looking at Nate Robinson coming back to take Douglas’ minutes while Chris Duhon continues his descent into oblivion. Jordan Hill isn’t getting any playing time meaning he’s either buried or is a bust, and their leading rebounder last night was Wilson Chandler. The LeBron thing becomes more and more mystifying. It’s essentially turned into Russian Roulette between Cleveland and New York. Whichever one doesn’t get LeBron may be kaput for a decade.
Lion Face: Marreese Speights
This kid has officially made The List. He was plugging 18 footers in Amare’s eye, driving, rebounding, bodying up, running the floor. Absolute superfreak on both ends of the floor. He was unstoppable, nearing NOVA for about four minutes of the fourth, before the Suns adjusted and just ran the Sixers’ tails off. He’s got good spacing, high motor, plugs and plugs and his production is sick. He leads the team in points and rebounds per 40 and is third in blocks per 40. It’s time for him to start. He’s the second best player on the team at this point.
Lemon Face: Elton Brand
Just sad, man.
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