Author: katadmin

Green shoes help spark Douglas’ 29-point S&D effort

The Knicks’ special green shoes for St. Patrick’s Day obviously agreed with Toney Douglas.

Something had to explain his unusual confidence as he blistered Memphis for nine 3-pointers en route to a game-high 29 points sparking New York’s 120-99 triumph over the Grizzlies.

“I love that color. I had two days of practice in them and everybody was like, ‘Wow, those are really loud shoes,”’ Douglas told the Associated Press. “They’re special shoes now.”

Douglas tied a team record with nine 3-pointers, joining former Knicks John Starks and Latrell Sprewell who share the achievement. 

“Once I started hitting, I felt like there was no defense out there,” Douglas said. “No matter if a man was on me, anything I threw up was going in.”

His hot night was the standout performance for Thursday’s Studs and Duds on a limited night of play across the association.

STUDS

New York G Toney Douglas: Blistered Memphis for 29 points, including 9-for-12 from 3-point range, and was plus-18 in the Knicks’ 120-99 victory over the Grizzlies.

New York F Carmelo Anthony: Scored  28 points and was plus-18 in the Knicks’ victory over Memphis.  

Chicago G Derrick Rose: Scored 21 points, was a team-leading plus-14 and turned in a suffocating defensive effort on Deron Williams in the Bulls’ 84-73 victory over  New Jersey — their eighth straight triumph and longest winning streak in six years.

Portland C LaMarcus Aldridge: Scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in only 28 minutes and was plus-37 in the Trail Blazers’ 111-70 beatdown over Cleveland.

New York’s perimeter game: The Knicks’ outside shooting erupted for a team-record 20 3-pointers and shot 55.6 percent from behind the arc in their victory over Memphis.

Portland F Gerald Wallace: Notched 17 points, six rebounds and six assists and was plus-42 in the Trail Blazers’ big victory over the Cavaliers.

Chicago F Omer Asik: Contributed 11 points and 16 rebounds off  the bench and was plus-9 in the Bulls’ victory at New Jersey.

New Jersey C Brook Lopez: Tallied 22 points, eight rebounds and two assists in the Nets’ loss to Chicago.

New Jersey F Kris Humphries: Notched 13 points, 16 rebounds and five blocked shots in the Nets’ loss  to the Bulls.

DUDS

New Jersey G Deron Williams: Went 1-for-12 from the field with four turnovers and was minus-12 in the Nets’ loss to Chicago.

Memphis G O.J. Mayo: Clanked through a 1-for-7 shooting night and was a team-worst minus-19 in the Grizzlies’ loss at New York.

Cleveland F Alonzo Gee: Missed all five shots from the field, had two turnovers and was a team-worst minus-33 in the Cavaliers’ loss at Portland.

Magic won’t shave until their playoff run ends

Taking a cue from their counterparts in the NHL, members of the Orlando Magic are opting to stop shaving until the end of the NBA playoffs as a show of team unity.

It was Orlando forward Quentin Richardson’s idea to put away the razors for the next few weeks.

“It’s one of those team things,” Richardson told the Orlando Sentinel. “Togetherness. It’s something fun at the same time. It’s going to definitely look funny, I know.”

The team considered different options before deciding on the facial adornments, All-Star center Dwight Howard told the Sentinel.

“We thought about the bald heads, but some of us — myself — don’t look right with a bald head,” Howard said. “Then we thought about letting our hair grow out; then [we realized] we’ve got a lot of guys who are going bald, so [it would] look funny with just patches in their head.

“So the beard is the only way to go. It’ll be tough for me and the young guys to really get it going, but we’re all in this together.”

Hedo Turkoglu already has a head start on the rest of the team. How much more unkempt can he really become?

I’ll be curious about how Howard looks and handles the facial growth. Considering his well-known self-interest – or vanity — in himself, it will be interesting to see if he really will join his teammates  in this endeavor.

And I’ll wonder if Coach Stan Van Gundy joins them in this as well. Van Gundy with a beard could look like one of those beatnik poets back from th early 1960s.

Rookie Anderson keeps head up despite lost season

Rookie guard James Anderson earned his second career start Monday, replacing the injured Manu Ginobili in the Spurs’ 100-92 loss to Portland, but he knows not to make too much of it.

Someday soon, perhaps as early as Thursday’s game against Boston, Ginobili will be back in the lineup and Anderson will be back on his customary seat near the end of the Spurs’ bench.

“I’ll just wait for my name to be called,” Anderson said. “I’ll do whatever I can to support the team. If that’s standing on the sideline, cheering my guys on, that’s what I’ll do.”

For the player nicknamed “Big Game James” at Oklahoma State, this new role of glorified cheerleader takes some getting used to. Certainly, his first NBA season hasn’t gone as planned since the Spurs made him the 20th pick in last June’s draft.

Anderson has appeared in 23 games, averaging 3.7 points in 10:41 per outing. He scored five points Monday against Portland, going 2 of 4 from the field.

A stress fracture in his right foot, suffered in early November, cost Anderson 39 games. While he spent 10 weeks in rehabilitation, then another two on Development League assignment in Austin, the Spurs’ season went on without him.

Coach Gregg Popovich’s rotation took hold. Another sharpshooting rookie guard, Gary Neal, has enjoyed a breakout season off the bench.

Suddenly, Big Game James became No Game James.

“It’s a big adjustment, going from playing a lot of minutes to just playing every now and then,” said Anderson, a three-year starter and 2010′s Big 12 Player of the Year at OSU. “It’s just part of it. I’m just learning from sitting on the sidelines, picking up things here and there.”

In a way, third-year guard George Hill can relate to Anderson’s struggles. In another way, he can’t.

Hill remembers how difficult it was to learn the Spurs’ system as a 22-year-old rookie two seasons ago, and that was without a 21/2-month injury to overcome.

“That’s tough, especially with this system,” Hill said. “It takes you a year to really get it under your belt. I think James is coming along. He’s showing he wants to be here, working hard every day. That’s all you can ask from him.”

HOME OF THE FLOPPER: Finally, some of Ginobili’s best work has been officially recognized by a jury of his peers.

In this week’s edition of Sports Illustrated, the magazine anonymously polls NBA players on the question of, “Who is the best flopper in the game?”

Ginobili finishes second in the poll, drawing 18 percent of the vote, behind Cleveland forward Anderson Varejao. Houston forward Luis Scola, Ginobili’s teammate on Argentina’s national team, Lakers guard Derek Fisher and another Rocket, guard Kevin Martin, round out the top 5.

According to the magazine, 12 of the 32 floppers named in the poll played basketball outside of the United States before joining the NBA.