HERO OF THE WEEK
Let his “Orlando” not shine recently, but the only victory “Magic” this week is entirely on the conscience of Dwight Howard . It was he who hit the ball from above for moments before the final siren of the match with San Antonio. It is Dwight who shows the statistics of this All-Star - 27 points, 10 rebounds, 2.5 block shots, and in the last three matches the center has implemented 33 of 37 shots from the game!
TEAM OF THE WEEK
Any coach can only dream of his team winning even when its leader scores half the points of his own norm. Roughly this has been happening recently with Cleveland , who manages to win only by scaring opponents with the presence of LeBron James. “We are trying to find ways to score points and stop rivals even when LeBron is not having a good evening. We win by a“ committee meeting ”,” Cavaliers coach Mike Brown boasts.
At the same time, King James himself refuses to admit that he is not playing a game: "I just do not force events, I take what is bad." Not the best justification for a mediocre performance, especially from a month to month deteriorating percentage of the sale of penalties - he at LeBron in January fell below 60 percent.
LEGIONARY OF THE WEEK
“Memphis”, “Houston” and “Philadelphia” - not so hot any rivals, but they are bits, “Dallas” without any mercy. “+16” - This was the minimum advantage of the “Mavs” this week. And the leader of the “cowboys” and the German national team Dirk Nowitzki , as always, was magnificent - 25.7 points, 9.7 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 2.7 interceptions and 1.3 block shots.
QUOTES OF THE WEEK
“Dirk says they gave us the title last year, but the reason for the defeat is in him because he did not prove himself a leader in the final moments. Partly because of our defense, partly because he was not convincing enough how Leader, ” Dwyane Wade in an interview with the Miami Herald.
“I suppose you earned the right to criticize Dirk with a clear demonstration of your own leadership skills. You are a terrific player, Dwayne. I love to watch you throw penalties. You don’t know anything about Dirk’s leadership skills. You don’t even know ... Your significance is definitely too bloated.” , - Mark Cuban , owner of Dallas, on his own blog.
CONFUSES OF THE WEEK
You can make loud promises as much as you like, and even fulfill them often, but once you goof off, you run the risk of being trash. I really do not want this fate to Gilbert Arenas , who this season has alarmed a calm hive of an exemplary and combed league. But on Sunday, Gil put himself in an uncomfortable position. After all, he promised to score 50 points in a meeting with Portland? And he scored 41 less than stated.
“It's as if the dude said that he would hit you in the face,” the young Jareth Jack described the sensations, who fell under the care of Arenas. Defender “Blazers” coped with the task brilliantly: Gilbert missed 12 of 15 shots, including all 8 “treshki”. At the same time, Jack himself managed to become the most productive. And Nate Macmillan, whose participation in the exclusion of Arenas from the US team last summer caused such a resentment of the Washington, modestly remained silent, passing part of the merit to Juan Dickson - the former Wizards player, who helped the coaches a lot in preparing the game plan.
PHOTO OF THE WEEK
02/12/2007. Utah - Atlanta. Mehmet Okur is difficult to put in an uncomfortable position. Even Josh Smith.
TOPIC OF THE WEEK
The ability of Americans to talk endlessly on sensitive issues sometimes reaches the point of absurdity. For example, recently, the former NBA player John Amaeci released a book about his life, simultaneously declaring to the whole world that he is gay . And please - now all the media just talk about what it would be like to survive in the league to a person who has publicly informed of non-traditional sexual orientation. With the filing of the middle-center, since 2002 living in the homeland in the UK! “Listen, Kenny, in our time it was no secret that some of the guys on the team are gay. And what? It didn’t bother anyone,” Charles Barkley drew a line during a telecom commentary on one of the matches with Kenny Smith.
FIGURES OF THE WEEK
Having fainted on Sunday at home against “Chicago” 103: 116, “Phoenix” for the first time this season (after 50 matches!) Lost with a double-digit difference. The factor of Steve Nash affected: with the Canadian playmaker on the court, the “solar” win 456 points from rivals today, without it they lose 22.
Chasing the week
The victory over the “Suns” was a consolation for the “Bulls” after a three-match failure at the end of a tour of the West. The most offensive part of it was the match with the Golden State on Saturday, at the start of which guests won 14 points. In the last seconds of regular time, Ben Gordon was in a good position, but did not even hit the bow, scared by Stephen Jackson. And in overtime, the penalty was decided by the same Jackson - 123: 121, the victory of “Warriors”.
MOMENT OF THE WEEK
To be honest, the last year's slam dunk contest was to be won by Andre Igudal - the triumphant Nate Robinson had suffered for too long in his last attempt. It is a pity that the defender of “Philadelphia” will not please us on the floor of Las Vegas - these are the numbers he gives out in ordinary matches.
To be honest, the winner in this nomination was to be Dwight Howard. But Dima Materansky dragged off the video with his participation in them with Nikita Zagaday blog.
WAITING FOR THE WEEK
You can not particularly carefully look at the schedule. The game program of the week provides only three days scored by serious matches (although Kobe vs. LeBron on Thursday is interesting). The main event - All-Star Weekend - is still waiting for us on the weekend. We will sympathize with Steve Nash, who refused to participate in the main fight due to injury, will be happy for Carmelo Anthony, who received the same invitation from David Stern, will cheer for Nate Robinson and Dirk Nowitzki, who will defend the titles of the best dunker and “trucker”.
Nikolai TSYNKEVICH