HOLY CRAP: BASKETBALL ROUNDUP

• More crazy crap has happened since the last time I blogged that I don't know what to do with myself. The highlights:


• 1) 52,11,10 AND 61,0,3 at MSG. I didn't look up the King's night. But I can't imagine a more impressive triple double. Although, I will still take David Robinson's Quad-Double: 34-10-10-10 as the most impressive statline of my lifetime.


• 2) Jameer Nelson goes down for the Magic. This is terrible, terrible news for Orlando's legitimate championship aspirations. The leader of the team goes down, the team's hottest 3-point shooter goes down, and the number one backup is Anthony Johnson. People have been talking about Stephon Marbury going to Orlando. I'm sorry, I still think Marbury can play. But he's not a point guard anymore. There are two types of PGs: Steve Nash and Chauncey Billups. The Nash's are Nash, CP, Deron Williams, Jason Kidd, Devin Harris, and any other ball-dominating, huge assist, wildly unselfish playmakers. The Chaunceys are Chauncey, Jameer Nelson, Mike Bibby - and every other guy who gets their team into the offense with the first pass, can drain open shots, surprise the other team buy getting into the paint and dishing, and moves the ball to the open man when teams are scrambling. Marbury is neither. Marbury, even when he was a statistical dynamo, was neither as ridiculously unselfish as the Nashs, nor could he play within the flow of the team like the Chaunceys. For Orlando, the most important cog of their success is A)Ball movement, and B) Dead-eye outside shooting. Marbury doesn't move the ball fluidly and has always been a dreadful (if frequent) outside shooter. Stephon could definitely help some team who needs a 6th man -a guy who can immediately make plays and even unlock some tough defenses - think Super Eddie House. But that's it. If Orlando expects to plug him into the starting lineup right away, there will be a ton of unhappy customers.
• Andrew Bynum: Same thing as last year. The Lakers are officially into plan B. If anyone in LA or that organization thinks they will rely on a center with a limited offensive repertoire to come back from an injury and make an impact in the postseason, they've got another thing coming. And that other thing coming is the exact same team in the postseason they had last year.
• The Spurs! No one made a big deal about this. But Popovich sat Parker, Ginobili, Finley, and Duncan on the road against the Nuggets on Tuesday night, and nearly played Denver to a draw. Granted, this was no easy task for Denver who certainly wasn't scouting Jacque Vaughn and Fabricio Oberto, but it was still impressive that San Antonio managed 96 points. I particularly like Roger Mason who embraced the role of playmaker heaving 21 shots, 10 3 pointers, 6 assists, 8 TOs. It was an extraordinarily active game from him. And Popovich surrendering a game rather than make his older and fragile players get drained in a game in the high altitude is almost certainly another brilliant Pop move - and an easy way to spot who could possibly be a 4th playmaker (hint, hint: It's still not Bruce Bowen.)
• Kevin Durant and THE LEAP: I have been biding my time and waiting to make this announcement. But I think the 31,7, and 8 that the Durantuala put on the Nuggets last night makes it official, Durant is officially here. You keep wanting to say it. You want to say it when he goes for 46 and 15 against the clippers.; You want to say it when he hangs 29 and 10 in Utah; you want to say it when his "bad game" on the road against Sacramento results in 33 points; you'd love to say it when he swats 4 shots against Memphis. But now that all 4 performances have occurred since January 23rd, we can finally say that the Kevin Durant we all know, and we all love HAS ARRIVED. I will now officially tell all the people who like Oden to get a spoon and eat my butt. In November, KD had 6 games under 20 points, in December, he had 3, in January, he had 2, and so far in February he has gone over 30 in both games. KD is rounding into form in just the same way Wade and LeBron did about midway through their second years. The only question I have is, how many forwards are you taking over KD for your stretch run RIGHT NOW. I have 4: LeBron, Danny Granger, Chris Bosh and KG. (No, Tim Duncan is not a forward. He is a highly skilled center. When you are 6'11", and play the low block and guard the other team's center, you are a center.) I'm not taking Dirk, Gasol, Amare, Millsap, or even Paul Pierce over Kevin Durant. Sorry Caron Butler (though you are awfully close), Josh Howard, David West (that hurts), and Rashard Lewis. Kevin Durant is the 5th best forward in the game RIGHT NOW. And that Bayliss, Roy, Outlaw, Durant, Aldridge starting 5 would have been the most electric in the league by 2010.
• Kudos to David Bickel for carrying the blog in my absence. Just like intramural football and basketball, while I may be the emotional leader of the blog, Bickel just produces.