No Regard Daily Recaps 11-4-2010

One Game We Watched Last Night: New York Knicks vs. Chicago Bulls


Knicks: 120 Bulls: 112

Twelve things I learned tonight:

Bulls:

• The Bulls are on TV every night. Even when they don't have a game.
  
• Derrick Rose may not be able to palm a basketball, but he can fly. Like through the air. Literally. No more than five seconds after I commented on Toney Douglas's defensive prowess did Rose blow by him, jump from a few feet away from the basket, shift in the air to avoid Gallo, and throw down a vicious two handed slam.

• Rose is also an excellent (if occasionally careless) passer. His penetration with the option to kick it out to Kyle Korver for three is going to be devastating all year. When Boozer returns and they play a three man game, I shudder to think of their potential effectiveness.
• They have someone on their team named Taj Gibson. Apparently he also played last year. He is not bad at basketball.
• Luol Deng can look distinctly spectacular one night and woefully unimpressive the next. Why this is, I'm not exactly sure.
• The Bulls are going to be an excellent basketball team if their fans don't boo them off the court every time they lose.

Knicks:

• They can score points! A lot! 70 in-a-half-a-lot!
• Trading Danilo would be a fool's errand. He's very young, very talented, and gesticulates in a very expressive manner.

• Toney Douglas has all the skills--including, previously unbeknownst to me, a ridiculously quick release from three--to be, at the very least, a functional 1, should he develop just a trace more consistency.
• Ronny Turiaf, heart transplant and all, can dominate the paint defensively. He may be incapable of making anything but a dunk on offense (he missed at least three lay-ups), but he makes up for Amar'e's all too frequent apathy on D.
• Said Amar'e can look bad. Real bad.
• This was a great win for the Knicks. But like all New York sports franchises in recent memory, no lead, no matter how large, is ever safe. They live eternally on the precipice. Can't say it's not interesting.

One Game We Watched Last Night, But With Less Enthusiasm: Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Portland Trail Blazers


Thunder: 107 Blazers: 106

Another great overtime win for Durant and co. They needed this one. Some thoughts:

• Like the Bulls, the Blazers are always on TV. How is this possible? The Bulls at least hail from Chicago where people like sports. Does anyone but Steve Prefontaine even actually live in Portland? Isn't Pre dead!?!?
• But seriously, the Blazers are ballers and they deserve some respect. Brandon Roy personifies the word solid. Andre Miller is an ageless wonder. He will be getting, shimmying if you will, to the rim, somehow, at a snail's pace, long after he's left this world.
• The Durantula, Russell W., and Jeff Green are respectively, incredible, sick-nasty, and very good basketball players. After that, this team lacks depth. Nenad's a decent center, Serge Ibaka can make some buckets, Thabo is a reasonable defensive player, and James Harden is, well, James Harden. If one of their big three goes down, they are in a consequential amount of trouble. Hold your breath OKC.