Real life is keeping me away, but here are some quick links for the Monday afternoon perusal:
- FanHouse colleague Nate Jones is an unabashed Lakers fan, and he attended Friday's game in LA against the Pistons. His entire recap of the game is worth reading, but I chuckled when I read this:
But probably the most surprising aspect of the Pistons' performance last night was the production from Kwame Brown. I sat right under the Pistons' second half goal and got to see Kwame actually catch the ball, gather himself and dunk the ball one handed. Did you hear that Lakers fans? KWAME BROWN DUNKED THE BALL WITH ONE HAND! And he did it about three times in the second half. That is not the Kwame Brown that Lakers fans came to know and hate. They were used to the one that threw cake and air balled lay ups. I have a feeling that Rasheed has been working on him on his post work, because the guy actually looked serviceable on the offensive end last night.
- In case you haven't been paying attention, yes, Rasheed has been working with Kwame. Here's the video proof, and here's the requisite blockquote:
"Rasheed is a veteran guy who's constantly talking to you the whole time," said Brown, who played 28 minutes Friday. " 'Sheed is a great leader -- a lot of people don't know that. He has weird ways of showing his emotion, but as far as basketball player and getting guys in the right spot, he does that better than anybody, and he's constantly talking, constantly helping you out."
- Mark Cuban ... WTF?
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Shaq's post-game explanation for trying to maim Rodney Stuckey (emphasis mine):
"When you understand the laws of physics like I do, the laws of physics state that a body in motion stays in motion," Shaq said. "So when you have two objects that meet in the air, the smaller object is gonna fall much harder at the same rate of speed. I've never been the type of player to take anybody out. I was going for the ball, little guy ran into a brick wall, and you know, he fell, and he added a little bit to the end.
Stuckey added something? He fell chest first from seven or eight feet in the air and nearly suffered whiplash trying not to let his face hit the floor. And he added something? Yeah, it's called a bruise.
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Whither the Baby Eater?
"Curry established roles for his bench players coming out of camp but the loss of Antonio McDyess has forced him to change things up on a nightly basis. Perhaps the biggest surprise is the reduced minutes for Jason Maxiell. He was their best reserve last season and now he's only playing 11 or 12 minutes a game, even with the lack of frontcourt depth. Makes you wonder whether locking Maxiell up for four more seasons at the start of the season was a wise move."
- Just in case you ever wondered what the Pistons looked like as Charlie Brown characters ...