The circus has arrived and it’s not funny

Previous weekly reviews: 31.10 - 6.11. | 7.11 - 13.11.

HERO OF THE WEEK

If it weren’t for the tough Seattle guys who tested Baron Davis’s ribs, the stats of the Golden State leader would have looked more impressive for the week, and there could have been no defeat on Monday in the last seconds of the match with Phoenix. However, what are we ?! Even before the start of the championship, Davis insisted that he no longer wanted to be considered the leader of the Warriors, on the advice of the sage Shaquille O'Neill. “He said that I can become a great player if I stop“ driving ”with or without it,” said Baron. “Well, you know, if I don’t push myself:“ You have to do this, you have to work that something. "When I go out on the floor, I try to just have fun."

Over the summer, Davis had a good rest, lost six pounds of excess weight and weaned himself to throw on the ring at the earliest opportunity. And the statistics immediately became similar to the indicators of the top playmaker. Last Tuesday against Toronto, he scored 22 points and made 12 assists, on Saturday, before getting injured, managed to score only 8 points and 2 passes, but the main match of the week for the defender was a meeting with Sacramento - 38 points, 18 assists and 3 interceptions! And no one will turn his tongue to chastise Baron for greed.



TEAM OF THE WEEK

A little more, and in Salt Lake City they will decide that without Andrei Kirilenko life is even better. Despite the injury of the Russian, who in recent years was considered the leader of “Utah” , a pillar of its defense, “jazzmen” continued the triumphal march, setting a new club record - 10 wins in 11 starting matches of the championship! At the same time in a couple of recent meetings (with “Phoenix” and “Toronto”) they showed remarkable character, having won 16-point backlogs at the finish line. The absence of Kirilenko is successfully made up for by the sensational newcomer Paul Millsap, whom coaching Jerry Sloan (who won the 900th victory in his career yesterday!) Called almost stingy the team player. The resurrected Carlos Boozer continues to shine. On Monday, he celebrated his 25th birthday with 35 points (14 of 16 hits from the game) and 9 rebounds. Not in vain the guy already predicted a place in the "West All-Stars", although the vote has just begun ...

LEGIONARY OF THE WEEK

The 11th issue of Andris Bedrins at the draft two years ago gave rise to the only explanation: overseas scouts once again chased after the lanky European undergrowth, hoping in their own conditions to cultivate what seemed to them the makings of great talent. Then managers of the Golden State assured skeptical fans that this pale-faced 18-year-old guy from Latvia would one day become a player in the starting five and be able to play the role of the dominant center. Well, I didn’t have to wait long: now, according to statistics, Andris looks no worse than Shaquille O'Neill - last week the Latvian scored 11 points on average (with 68% of hits from the game!), Made 14 rebounds and 2.3 block shots for match. Last season, Bedrins ridiculed the whole league, losing not only to Shaq, but to Ben Wallace in the exact penalty - 30.6%. But this implements more than half.

At first, Andris's successes were related to the injury of Troy Murphy, whose place he basically took. Now, Murphy, returning, has discovered that he will have to withstand serious competition from the “import” youth - after all, the Frenchman Michael Petrus was just as successful at the site of the second “big” one.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK



11/17/06. Cleveland - Minnesota. Trenton Hassell helps Kevin Garnett snatch the ball from Doniell Marshall (center). So far, partners have not provided adequate support for KJ, and rumors about the possible exchange of one of the best forwards in the world have once again spread throughout the league.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"They are very diligent, but in their game there is much more foam than essences - something like a cappuccino. I do not want to offend them, but the guys have big problems with scoring," - Phil Jackson on the “Bulls” after his “Lakers” victory with the score 82:72. For the first time in a long time before the game, Zenmaster personally engaged in a video review of the opponent, explaining this in part with nostalgic memories of the former club.

TOPIC OF THE WEEK

It’s too early to judge, of course, but the first impressions of Ben Wallace’s transition are that he annoyed both teams. It seems that the coaches of “Chicago” were warned that the attack of the team would be seriously affected - in fact, you have to play four out of five. But failures in defense were unlikely to be expected. Last season, the “bulls” took first place in defensive actions - their rivals were the worst from the game. Now, on this indicator, the Bulls take a place in the third ten. How to explain the failure of one of the favorites of the East? Ben has not yet fit into the team schemes, has he learned the direction of insurance? It is unlikely that this could be expected from a four-time holder of the title of the best defending player in the association. Do Chicagoans get tired of fighting off extra effort in an attack? Not so old they are. In general, trainer Scott Skiles still has to work and work.

Do not shine and “Detroit”. Without Big Ben, the pistons are not like a machine that can stop anyone. Moreover, they are often inferior to rivals in the battle for selection. As, for example, in a lost meeting with “New Orleans”, when in the last seconds a ball bounced off the backboard took away an unknown rookie Hilton Armstrong from the “pistons”. “Ben would not have missed this rebound,” - then, Pistons ex-defender Allan Houston assuredly later assured in the analytical material on ESPN.

CONFUSES OF THE WEEK

As “San Antonio” lost for the first time in history, “Charlotte” , probably, the ex-champions themselves still can not understand. All right, the “Bobcats” were making surprises at the start - no, they were habitually placed in the basement of the tournament table. It’s especially a shame that the beginner managed the grand. One of the top representatives of the 2006 draft Adam Morrison shone (on his account 27 points) not just like that, but in the battle with Tim Duncan, and admitted that after a not very successful start, the coaches advised him to relax. What will happen when the guy gets in shape and concentrates?

Chasing the week

It was necessary to “spurs” at least somehow rehabilitated? This important process took place in the Texas derby, which turned out to be partly sensational: the expected confrontation between Yao Ming and Tim Dankan was violated by the San Antonio substitutes. An experienced coach Gregg Popovich in the third quarter released reservists, either out of despair, or because of the lack of other ideas for leveling the 19-point gap. Without Duncan and Parker, the team spent a fantastic 20: 1 stretch, during which Beno Udrich, Francisco Elson and Robert Orry ruled. And in the beginning of the final quarter, the Houston's collapsed attack missed 11 of 12 shots, allowing guests to firmly seize the lead.

It is curious that the next day, the Rockits almost missed an even more significant - 21-point - leadership in a meeting with the Bulls. “It would be too much to give victory two days in a row,” Rafer Elston, the defender of the “rockets,” reasonably remarked.

FIGURES OF THE WEEK

7 away matches in a row are able to lead any team astray. Nevertheless, Chicago got used to this: every year in mid-November the famous Barnum & Bailey circus visits the city, and every year the bulls sent home are forced to ride across the expanses of America instead of a powerful start. Since the days of Michael Jordan, the November away series brought the Bulls a total of 4 wins in 49 matches , with Skales wards losing four times this season. Today the tour will continue in Denver, and on Friday and Saturday the team will end the trip with visits to Philadelphia and New York.

MOMENT OF THE WEEK

Either because of the excessive enthusiasm of the teams for the game in defense, or by the will of the disobedient stars, who cunningly turned in the basketball horizon, the week was rich in beautiful block shots. Alonzo Mourning's “hat” put on by Josh Smith, the “pot” by Kevin Garnett hung by Zach Randolph, the “nail” of freshman Paul Millsap, with whom he nailed the ball fired by Corey Maggetty to the parquet, is worthy of mention ... But especially cute (and representative) turned out to be a block shot of Tim Dankan, with whom he stopped the 226-centimeter Yao Ming . It’s not often possible to keep possession after the block, and here such a spectacular episode fell on the final quarter, in which “San Antonio” secured a shaky superiority over “Houston”.



WAITING FOR THE WEEK

Andrei Kirilenko is unlikely to return to duty by Saturday, but Baron Davis must recover. And then we will see the battle of the “hottest” teams of the past week, “Utah” with “Golden State”. The sold-out “warriors” in general have a difficult schedule: they are still waiting for two matches with “Denver” and one with “San Antonio”. Loving to pluck feathers of favorites, “New Orleans” for a week will test the strength of both finalists - “Miami” and “Dallas”. And today, on Tuesday, it makes sense to glance at the Los Angeles derby - “Lakers” take “Clippers”.

Nikolai TSYNKEVICH