Ballin’: Larry Hughes Makes a Stand
NBA February 12th. 2008, 10:23am
Los Angeles Lakers 106, Charlotte 97: Pau Gasol enjoyed his best all-around game with the Lakers – 9-for-11, 26 points, six assists, six boards – and Kobe added 31 points as the Lakers improved to 4-1 since acquiring the best player in Memphis history.
Philadelphia 84, Dallas 76: The 76ers seem to have started their second-half run a bit early this year, huh? That’s four wins in a row, and amazingly, Philly’s just 1/2 a game out of the 8th playoff spot in the East. Nice of Dallas not to show up on back-to-back nights against mediocre foes, huh?
San Antonio 93, Toronto 88: Another spectacular night for one of the most underrated players in the league, Manu Ginobili: 34 points, 15 rebounds and six assists. He’s averaging career highs in points, rebounds and assists.
Cleveland 118, Orlando 111: Larry Hughes farted in the general direction of the website that disparages him nightly (and rightly so!), and went for 40. Obviously, now nobody wants to trade the chucker for Jason Kidd.
Houston 95, Portland 83: After a torrid January, the Blazers have lost four of six in February, though Brandon Roy sat out two of those losses. At 28-23, that would be good for 5th in the East; sadly, they are only 10th in the stacked West. Houston’s quietly won seven in a row, but only three came against teams over .500.
67 Responses to “Ballin’: Larry Hughes Makes a Stand”
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February 12th, 2008 at 10:26 am
come on…no love for big country? or does the grizzlies’ stay in Vancouver not count?
February 12th, 2008 at 10:32 am
Stick a fork in Portland.
February 12th, 2008 at 10:35 am
could u i9magine a cavs team where hughes averages about 15-20ppg a game with a good shooting average and everyone healthy…
February 12th, 2008 at 10:36 am
Does this mean they change their URL to “PleaseTakeMoreShotsSoWeCanGetJasonKiddButInTheMeantimeMakeSomeOfThemSoWeCanStillMakeThePlayoffsLarryHughes.com?
February 12th, 2008 at 10:41 am
How long until irish shows up?
February 12th, 2008 at 10:41 am
yea, i can, but that team would still get smoked by SA, PHX, Denver, LA, NO, Utah and Dallas. boo, realism sucks.
lotta FA’s tho this offseason, and a lot of cash coming off the books. maybe jermaine o’neal can stay healthy and motivated or maybe b-diddy doesnt wanna stay in GS? who knows? then maybe we can make a run at a champ.
February 12th, 2008 at 10:43 am
dallas and SA dont worry me as much as feenix, denver and lakers
i think this team can win the east IF larry can play well and we are 100% healthy
February 12th, 2008 at 10:44 am
Fan House
February 12th, 2008 at 10:45 am
The Magic will probably win 48ish games, and lose in the first round. And then, in the offseason, when they want to know what they can do to improve, the answer is … uh, nothing?
Lewis makes wayyyyy too much, you can’t move Howard, and the backcourt simply will not cut it. Your only hope is that something falls into your lap in the draft around 20.
February 12th, 2008 at 10:46 am
if i dont comment here, dornoch will have my head.
yes the future MVP played like shit last night and his coach wasnt too pleased with his efforts. If you had a young Moses Malone on your team, you to would expect 20+ and 20+ rbs every night. Season series is 1-1 between the CAVS and Magic. if any of you really think Dwight howard sucks just from one game, you havent seen him play that many games than.
do not forget to watch him win the slam dunk contst. He is making it a point to win to show that big men can dunk. Dwight is still the BEST big man in the league
February 12th, 2008 at 10:47 am
No irish? Didn’t he make a big show of claiming he would be here if the magic lost to the beat up cavs?
February 12th, 2008 at 10:47 am
mmonast…they won the East without him last year, they can do it again this year. Detroit is the only roadblock. Boston doesn’t worry me in the least.
i agree somewhat tho i still think Dallas and SA would be heavy favorites, but any team that can get out and run seems to have their way with us. and if we had to face CP3…ugh.
February 12th, 2008 at 10:47 am
lose in the first round coming from someone who thought Kansas was going to win the NCAA this year. TBL cmon you are losing it
February 12th, 2008 at 10:48 am
Sorry irish. You beat me to the punch.
February 12th, 2008 at 10:48 am
irish…i know youre prolly not around, but until Dwight wins 4 champs, duncan is still tops.
TBL…hedo is a great trade piece right now. they could easily parlay him into something nice.
February 12th, 2008 at 10:49 am
TBL your basketball knowledge so far this year has sucked. CAlling Chris Kaman a lock for the all star team. Man you got your head so far in the clouds with what you see as talent in the league
February 12th, 2008 at 10:50 am
I don’t know. I think Lebron this year has made the jump we saw in Game 5 last year. I think the Cavs take the East in the playoffs if everyone gets healthy.
Spencer’s right though, a running team would be the worst matchup for us. I actually think we’d be best off against Dallas.
February 12th, 2008 at 10:51 am
Well I guess I should be thankful you decided not to talk about Golden State 120, Washington 117.
It was a good game, where the Wizards blew a 23 point lead and DeShawn Stevenson decided to do everything in his power at the end of the game to give the Warriors the win. Maybe instead of having beard growth contests he should work on improving his game.
I know they were without Arenas, Butler and Antonio Daniels but the guys they have on the floor are in the NBA and they were good enough to build a 23 point lead, they should have been good enough to hold on to it.
8-game losing streak, longest since 2001, the All Star break can’t come soon enough.
February 12th, 2008 at 10:53 am
cbh how mnay loses in a row is that
also CAVS fans, orlando is still the #3 team in the east
February 12th, 2008 at 10:55 am
cbh…i hear you. but a 23 point lead over GS is like a 12 point lead over a normal team. they score so fast it’s incredibly hard to keep one of those huge outbursts from happening.
February 12th, 2008 at 10:55 am
This is total bullshit… the Rockets are 31-20 and would be out of the playoff race if it started today. It’s possible that a 50 win team might be in the lottery.
February 12th, 2008 at 10:56 am
i could only imagine the horror or cavs feenix or cavs NO
February 12th, 2008 at 10:58 am
Orlando only has a 1 game over the Cavs for 3rd in the East. By the end of the month the Cavs will have a good hold on 3rd, 5 of their last 6 in February are against Indiana, Washington, Memphis, Milwaukee and Minnesota.
February 12th, 2008 at 11:01 am
so TBL you think the Magic will win only 16 or so of there remaining games. what type of shit is that. check there shcedule and see then please change your statment. See how many home games they play in the second half of the year. they play shitty teams like your favorites that will almost guarantee a win LAC, NJ, NYK so please keep jocking the knicks and the nets and i will still see my team in the top three in the east with Boston and Detroit. TBL how bout those jayhawks, frauds
February 12th, 2008 at 11:02 am
Yeah, Stephen Jackson was tearing it up last night.
The Wizards are decimated by injuries, it’s so frustrating because they seem snake bit the last two years. All of their middle of the pack players stay healthy and their stars are injured.
On the bright side, a lot of guys are getting some good experience, Roger Mason Jr. had a good game, Brendan continues to play well this year, Nick Young showed flashes last night.
February 12th, 2008 at 11:03 am
@irish: Orlando ONLY has a 1.5 game lead even after the Cavs go 0-7 without Lebron. They had their chance to have a pretty big lead and blew it. The Cavs have sewn up the 3.
February 12th, 2008 at 11:03 am
Kaman WAS on his way to being an All-Star and then he hit some kind of wall in late Jan. with injuries. The guy is hurt.
Who cares if Dwight Howard is the best big man in the game? (subjective) How is he going to get them out of the first round? Last time the Magic have advanced past the first round? 1997?
February 12th, 2008 at 11:03 am
hey tuna, two games behind check the stats
February 12th, 2008 at 11:05 am
and then still lose in the 1st round
February 12th, 2008 at 11:06 am
Dwight Howard is only best big man in the league bound for greatness. He is no fluke like Kaman TBL.Howard is a legit stud and it is sad how i have to make you aware of that. yeah they had to play Detroit in a series last year and got swept. Learning experience does people good
February 12th, 2008 at 11:06 am
This just in: Pau Gasol is pretty good.
February 12th, 2008 at 11:08 am
Orlando has a better shot than Cleveland in this years playoffs.
im down this debate. You CAVS fans are something else. Where the fuck were you all yesterday after MElo wiped his ass with your team at yoru home court by a huge margin.
February 12th, 2008 at 11:09 am
Um, we were saying the supporting cast sucks and injuries have killed us, like we do every day?
February 12th, 2008 at 11:10 am
right here in this space yesterday…magic had every reason to win last night cavs playinf 4th game in 5 days travel troubles team is hurt but instead dwight played like a little kid and you lost
February 12th, 2008 at 11:10 am
you werent here yesterday nick, your boy cursed was. whatever
if you were you dropped one line about hoops
February 12th, 2008 at 11:11 am
i was here, just didn’t want to talk about how bad my team got spanked. things like that aren’t worth rehashing.
irish, i gotta disagree with you about the playoff comment. dwight showed last night he can be taken out of a game (for the most part) and detroit has a much deeper front line to get him in foul trouble.
there is NOBODY in the NBA who can cover Larry Hughes tho.
February 12th, 2008 at 11:12 am
the only thing that can stop larry hughes is a strong breeze or perhaps a slippery floor
February 12th, 2008 at 11:12 am
The Warriors/Wizards game was hands down the single worst officiated regular season game I’ve seen in a while. I’ve also never seen so many whistles go the way of the away team. But on the other end, G-State couldn’t contend a jumper shooter [without fouling] for the life of them in the first half and go down by 23 at one point. If they could just play defense like they do in second halves through the entire game, the Warriors could easily be a 4th or 5th seed instead of hanging on to 8th.
February 12th, 2008 at 11:14 am
Pretty sure I ripped the supporting cast yesterday, like I almost always do: http://thebiglead.com/?p=4567#comment-105408
February 12th, 2008 at 11:16 am
mmonast…shh. dont let the secret out.
February 12th, 2008 at 11:17 am
A pretty awful call went the Warriors way the end there, DeShawn Stevenson drives and basically get’s murdered and there is no foul, then Al Harrington get’s a tickle and get’s the basekt and one.
February 12th, 2008 at 11:19 am
nick like i said one line. its okay i can take the bad along with the good.
February 12th, 2008 at 11:20 am
But that had to be after 6-7 straight whistles for the Wizards in the first half of the quarter who got charge after charge after charge but when Baron leans into Nick Young and he flops circa Vlade 1998 the ref runs it down like Davis just dump trucked the kid.
It’s all about consistency.
February 12th, 2008 at 11:20 am
by saying Dwight Howard is the best big man in the game… you mean “best big man not named Yao Ming,” right?
February 12th, 2008 at 11:21 am
fuck Yao. the only reason he gets voted to the All star game is CHINA votes. next..
February 12th, 2008 at 11:22 am
I commented like 7 times in Ballin’ yesterday, including this: http://thebiglead.com/?p=4567#comment-105446
Dwight Curry isn’t going to be enough for your boyz, Irish. Get used to it.
February 12th, 2008 at 11:22 am
man if i am going to sit here on TBL i minus well go into work and get paid for doing this
February 12th, 2008 at 11:23 am
if we had Dell Curry we would be set. i knowNick im just fuckign with you.where is your boy cursed at
February 12th, 2008 at 11:24 am
Irish, I think the fact that he averages 22 and 10 per night has a little something to do with it: http://www.nba.com/playerfile/yao_ming/
February 12th, 2008 at 11:24 am
Tim Duncan is still the best big man people. Come on now.
Howard is the future though.
February 12th, 2008 at 11:24 am
Irish, you making the trip to NO this weekend? I’ll be there.
February 12th, 2008 at 11:24 am
i think he means dwight howard is the best big man playing in the state of florida?
February 12th, 2008 at 11:25 am
Uh, Spencer…I hate to burst your bubble, but the Cavs don’t have many ‘big contracts’ coming off the books. If they did they would be a legit trade player. Try this page for Cavs’ contract info.
February 12th, 2008 at 11:27 am
mmonast if you really dont think Howard is good than you need to get out of Ohio more.
nick p, i wish.
February 12th, 2008 at 11:30 am
rick…wtf? I thought E-Snow was off the books after this year.
i hate danny ferry that much more.
February 12th, 2008 at 11:31 am
i didnt say he isnt good, just dont think he is number 1 yet
February 12th, 2008 at 11:31 am
at the end of next season spencer is when we will have a lot of cash to throw around
which is probably why the cavs wont make a big trade this season
February 12th, 2008 at 11:32 am
Snow will be useful as an expiring next year.
February 12th, 2008 at 11:35 am
When Bynum comes back the Lakers are going to be scary good.
It’s crazy to think Kobe wanted out so bad and now he will likely contend for a championship while the team he could have been sent to, the Bulls, will either miss the playoffs or get blown out in the first round.
February 12th, 2008 at 11:37 am
still, theres some decent cash coming off the books with ira and shannon leaving plus the mid-level. granted, boobie is gonna need some $$ thrown his way.
and gilbert has given ferry the green light to go into the luxury tax…so who knows?
February 12th, 2008 at 11:47 am
The reason the Cavs won’t make a big trade is because anyone other teams want, the Cavs need/want to keep, namely Lebron and Z.
February 12th, 2008 at 11:49 am
Teams definitely want Varejao. He’s more valuable than Z at this point. We just can’t (and definitely should never) trade him, since we just signed him.
February 12th, 2008 at 11:53 am
yea, i dont think anyone really wants Z. he has a massive contract and is towards the end of his career. plus hes a niche center, not many teams want a half-court only, finesse, jump shooting center who gets a few blocks but otherwise is a defensive sieve.
February 12th, 2008 at 11:56 am
I think you guys get my point.
I know teams aren’t beating down the door for Z but the fact remains that unless the Cavs are trading for Dwight Howard, can they afford to trade him?
February 12th, 2008 at 11:58 am
Yeah, that’s fair. The only guy with any value otherwise is Boobie, and he’s getting paid nothing, so that doesn’t do us any good, either.
February 12th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
I still don’t find this money you think the Cavs are going to have to play with…$75 million for 10 players. Gibson and Devin Brown are locks to split Newble and Shannon Brown’s money. We’ll be staring at $80 million in salaries with a 12 man roster.
February 12th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
Mark Blount will flourish alongside Shawn Marion….