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Thursday, February 28, 2013

SDH Presents the NBA's Worst to First for December: 2. Oklahoma City Thunder

Overall Win/Loss Record (as of December 31st): 24-6,  first place Northwest Division






2
This Month:

2
Team Statistics and League Rank (as of December 31st):

Points Scored: 105.9 (1st)
Points Allowed: 96.7 (13th)
Team FG%: .478 (3rd)
Opponent’s FG%: .427 (2nd)
Rebounds per game: 43.4 (23rd)
Opponents rebounds per game: 43.6 (7th)
Turnovers per game: 14.6 (11th)
Opponents turnovers per game: 15.6 (28th)


Individual Statistical Leaders (as of December 31st):

Scoring (ppg): Kevin Durant (28.5)
Rebounds per gameSerge Ibaka (8.5)
Minutes per game:  Kevin Durant (39.6)
Assists per game: Russell Westbrook (8.7)
Field Goal Percentage:  Serge Ibaka (.565)
Steals per game:  Russell Westbrook (2.1)
Blocked Shots per game:  Serge Ibaka (3.0)






Worst Player of the Month: Eric Maynor


Two years ago, Eric Maynor was tabbed as not only the primary backup to star Russell Westbrook, he also played the added role of being being the perfect complement to Russell as well.  When Russell barreled down the lane and forced up shots which later resulted in him turning over the ball, Maynor would protect the ball, while getting his teammates invovled in the offense as well.  If had not been lost to injury the following season, Maynor would have probably started alongside Westbrook allowing him to focus on his strengths of being a scorer while Maynor would blend in the background covering for Russel's mistakes.  Unfortunately, that has not happened as Maynor has found himself buried under the bench as second year point man Reggie Jackson have been given the nod to beprimary backup and has been little if any factor for the Thunder this season.  In addition to having his minutes dropped, Maynor has also struggled offensively averaging under three points per game while shooting a woeful .313 from the field making him all but expendable to the Thunder.
First Player of the Month: Serge Ibaka


He would have been named as the First of the Month in November; however, it was considered as more prudent to wait another month to see that his spike in production was not just a fluke.  Now after two months, have passed,  Serge Ibaka has proven that he was not just a temporary spark as he has maintained his career high production in scoring (14.2), rebounds (8.6), and field goal percentage (.586).  Along with his surge in offensive production, Ibaka still remains a defensive stalwart in the paint leading his team and the league in blocked shots per game as well.  Once considered as a mere cleanup player who blocked shot and little if nothing else, Serge Ibaka has shown to have quite a diverese offensive repitoire and has been on of the key reasons why the Thunder has been such a dominant team in the regular season thus far. If he continues to keep up his phenomenal play, Serge will certainly will be considered a prime candidate for the Most Improved Player Award once the regular season ends.      
Analysis:

The Oklahoma City Thunder have continued their rampage as they have left nothing but carnage and debris as they stormed through 2012 winning all but two games in November.  In December, the Thunder were all but unstoppable on the offensive end as they scorched their opponents outscoring them 106.2 to 97.2 while at the same time crushing their souls on the defensive end shooting .471 from the field.  Only two teams managed to beat the Thunder--the Minnesota Timberwolves (12/20/2012) and the Miami Heat (12/25/2012)--as they were just two of three teams, the third being the New Orleans Hornets (12/12/2012), to hold the Thunder from reaching the 100 point mark; however, they were barely able to defeat the Thunder.  One can go as far to say that they both had been able to survive the Thunder rather than surpass them as they both beat them by rather minuscule margins--six points to be exact.  The Hornets, however, were not as lucky as the Thunder manage to squeak by four points despite being held to scoring just 92 points. 
   
The rest of the teams who allowed the Thunder to crack the century mark were not as lucky as they would get mercilessly pounded and ground into dust.  They were a few valiant heroes that tried to match the Thunder's scintillating scoring and managed to hang on to the very end; however, they simply could not survive Oklahoma City's offensive onslaught.  Both the Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Lakers put up rather impressive showing scoring 111 (12/4/2012) and 108 points (12/7/2012), respectively, but still could not outpace the Juggernaut that is the Oklahoma Thunder from scoring 231 points against them altogether.  Only Dallas had the closest chance of beating the Thunder despite allowing them to reach the 100 point mark, even bringing the game to overtime (12/27/2012); however, the Mavericks simply could not hold back the Thunder as they would narrowly lose 111 to 106.  So, throughout December, the Thunder simply could not be contained and for the two teams that were fortunate enough to have beaten them, they were left with a lasting scar as a reminder.

With such an impressive showing, it is certainly not a stretch to say that the Oklahoma City Thunder are not only the team to beat in the regular season, but also an almost shoe-in to return to the NBA Finals.  While there have been teams that have surpassed them in the Western Conference standings, neither team can be considered a viable threat to knock them out of the Conference Finals.  Last month, the Memphis Grizzlies shocked the world finishing November with the most wins in the league; however, that time up at the summit was short lived as they were knocked off as quickly as they climbed up to get there.  Now, it is the Clippers'  turn to have the spotlight shine on them as they finished 2012 owning the best record in the league; however, it is only a matter of time until Los Angeles slips yet again from the top.  Yet despite the fluctuations Oklahoma City has still remained a steadfast force in the league as they remain nipping at the heels at anyone who has the good fortune to temporarily surpass them.

Once the post season arrives, it will be next to impossible for those who have the rotten luck to face the Thunder to hold that team down defensively.  Oklahoma City simply has too much fire power and with the way the Thunder have been sharing the ball this season, they are even more dangerous than ever.  Before, opponents would have to worry about mainly Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook on defense; however, now it is not only just Durant and Westbrook as there are now four offensive option capable of coming up big giving other NBA teams even more headaches when facing them.  If their defenses single out Durant, the Thunder can simply move on to Westbrook to not only shoulder the load offensive scoring 25 to thirty points, but also involve two or three more teammates to score 15 more points each per game.  Kevin Martin has provided the Thunder with a potent offensive punch off the bench averaging in the area of 15 or 16 points per game while Serge Ibaka has had his coming out party posting the best offensive numbers in his career.  And it is not just them either as other Thunder players who have been shut out of the offense in previous seasons, have come to have rather impressive seasons such as Thabo Sefolosha, who is posting his best numbers as a Oklahoma City Thunder averaging close to eight points per game while shooting close to .490 from the field and .414 from beyond the arc.

What was once considered as one of the most predictable teams in the league has completely flipped the script this season with a more diversified and efficient offense to go along with their non stop stifling defense making the Oklahoma City Thunder the most dangerous team in the NBA.  Even the Miami Heat cannot sleep on this team despite humiliating them in the Finals as this Oklahoma Thunder team is a far improved version of itself and unlike other teams, the transformation was more internal that anything else.  Save for the mega trade that sent James Harden to the Houston Rockets, there has not been any other roster moves as the core of the team has essentially remained intact for the most part.  It was all internal starting with Russell Westbrook's epiphany and realization that the Thunder will not be able to win a championship if he continues to hog the ball on offense.  Once he returned with an improved point of view, it was just a matter of time until the Oklahoma City Thunder's potential would be fully utilized and become the unstoppable force that they have been thus far this season.     

SDH Presents the NBA's Worst to First for December: 3. San Antonio Spurs

Overall Win/Loss Record (as of December 31st): 25-8 , first place Southwest Division





This Month:

3
Team Statistics and League Rank (as of December 31st):

  • Points Scored: 105.5 (3rd)
  • Points Allowed: 96.5 (11th)
  • Team FG%: .487 (2nd)
  • Opponent’s FG%: .438 (8th)
  • Rebounds per game: 41.9 (15th)
  • Opponents rebounds per game: 42.2 (15th)
  • Turnovers per game: 15.4(23rd)
  • Opponents turnovers per game: 15.2 (9th)




Individual Statistical Leaders (as of December 31st):

  • Scoring (ppg): Tony Parker (19.3)
  • Rebounds per gameTim Duncan (9.7)
  • Minutes per game: Tony Parker (32.7)
  • Assists per game:  Tony Parker (7.3)
  • Field Goal Percentage:  Tiago Splitter (.593)
  • Steals per game: Kawhi Leonard (2.1)
  • Blocked Shots per game:  Tim Duncan (2.5)






Worst Player of the Month: Stephen Jackson



Stephen Jackson has always been overrated from day one as he inflated his stats throughout his career by jacking up 20 to 25 shots to get the seven to nine field goals he would make per game.  Now, from being an over inflated ball hogging role player, he has become a virtual non factor for the Spurs.  In 23 minutes per game, Jackson just averages a little over six points per game while shooting a woeful .375 from the field.  Add to the fact that he is currently earning more than 10$ million this season makes it even more frustrating to watch him play as there are far better players on that team that make far less.  In addition, his 23 minutes per game can be put to better use, if it were given to a younger and more productive player.  Fortunately, his contract expires at the end of the season allowing San Antonio to fall under the salary cap for next season and like those before him, Jackson and his over-inflated image and salary will be a distant memory.   
First Player of the Month:  Tiago Splitter



It is suffice to say that Tiago Splitter is possibly one of the best NBA players that no one has ever heard of. Forced to play behind future Hall of Famer Tim Duncan, Splitter has been wasting much of his prime years as a backup whereas he would be possibly a starter in most teams in the league. At 28 years old, he is nearing his athletic peak and by the time Duncan finally decides to call it quits, whatever upside that Tiago had will all but disappear, leading many, including himself, to wonder "what if?"  Coming off the bench, Tiago has continued to be superbly efficient in the few minutes that he has played as he has averages close to eleven points and six rebounds per game in under 25 minutes of playing time while shooting a phenomenal .602 from the field in December.   It is only too bad that he will never get a chance to realize his full potential as long as he remains a member of the San Antonio Spurs.          
Analysis:

There is no surprise here: the San Antonio Spurs have remained on top the Western Conference as well as having one of the best records in the league.  They still remain both irresistible force and the immovable object as San Antonio has yet to show any signs of rust or that they are in the midst of decline.  In fact the Spurs can actually be likened to a fine wine as they seem to get better with age with each passing year.  For fans of the opposing teams, the Spurs still remain a thorn at their side or that will simply never go away--a painful boil or a gruesome wort that simply never goes away no matter how much they try to get rid of it.  It is for that reason that the Spurs do not get as much fanfare or the admiration as other elite team because people have been so used to them consistently winning to the point where all of its luster has worn off.

Despite consistently finishing among the top five teams every regular season, the Spurs are virtually shown no love by the media as they do not have the same flash or pizzazz as the Miami Heat, Oklahoma City Thunder, Los Angeles Clippers, or the New York Knicks.  Even the ongoing drama of the collapsing Los Angeles Lakers has gotten more airplay in the spotlight rather than the Spurs who have remained in the hunt for an NBA Championship for the past 15 years.  In fact, despite always finishing among the top teams in the regular season, the Spurs have rarely come up in any discussions of who will be the top candidates that will contend for a title.  When the Spurs are even mentioned as a possiblility heading into the NBA Finals, it is usually met with groans instead of glee and jeers instead of cheers.  In terms of respect, the Spurs can be considered the Rodney Dangerfield of the NBA--they simply get no respect no matter what they do.

And that is what probably keeps the Spurs pushing hard every season--the simple fact that they never get the respect they are due as they are often overshadowed by the more attractive teams that offer more style to the Spurs' substance.  Absolutely no one gave the Spurs any attention when they went 12-4 in December simply torching their opponents as they beat them by an average margin of 17.1 points.  In those twelve wins, only San Antonio won all by ten or more points but four which included a hard fought four point overtime win against the Memphis Grizzlies (12/1/2012), two high scoring affairs against the Houston Rockets (12/10, 12/28), and a narrow five point win against the New Orleans Hornets (12/21/2012).  Their four losses came at the hands of quality teams such as the Utah Jazz (12/12/2012), Portland Trailblazers (12/13/2012), Oklahoma City Thunder (12/17/2012), and the Denver Nuggets (12/18/2012).  Out of those four games, only the Thunder were capable of suppressing the Spurs holding them to just 93 points as they beat them by 14 points while the other three just simply survived barely beating San Antonio by an average margin of 5.7 points.

Perhaps what probably hurts the Spurs the most in terms of their exposure and receiving the attention and respect that they deserve is the simple fact that although they simply dominate in the regular season, once the playoffs arrive, they are nowhere to be seen.  Since winning their last NBA Championship in 2007, the Spurs have been less than stellar in the post season to say the least.  After reaching as far as the Conference Finals in 2008, San Antonio was unceremoniously swept in the two following years--once in the first round against the Dallas Mavericks, followed by another sweep by the Phoenix Suns in the Conference Semis the following year.  In 2011, despite finishing with the best record in the league that year, they were once again shocked in the first round getting booted out the first round by the lowly eighth seed Memphis Grizzlies.  Last season looked as if the Spurs would finally break their post season losing cycling as they crushed their competition sweeping every series and even started the Western Conference Finals with a 2-1 lead over the Oklahoma City Thunder; however, all of that just went up in smoke as the Spurs would fall in the next three games as the Thunder went on to represent the Western Conference in the NBA Finals.

From simply looking at their post season failures over the past five years, one can put forth the argument that San Antonio's window of opportunity has all but closed making them even less interesting to follow with each passing season.   It has basically been the same old shtick year after year--the Spurs finish among the top teams in the regular season only to collapse and get eliminated early in the playoffs.  Add the fact that they have been playing the same bland way for the past fifteen years does not help either as they were never much of a draw to watch when they were even winning championships.   In every NBA Finals that the Spurs have appeared in and won, the NBA suffered its lowest television ratings in the league's history--compare that with any other team and see how poorly this portrays the San Antonio Spurs.  Now it is just simply a case of the Spurs being on top in the regular season just for the sake of being on top with no way else to go thus relegating them in the shadows and remaining as the league's least respected team.   

SDH Presents Top 16 Euroleague Basketball Previews: Week Nine

It is week nine of the Top 16 Euroleague playoffs as the 16 best teams battle each other in order to make it to the next stage.  Here are the previews on what to expect this upcoming Thursday and Friday starting with Group E . . .



and for Group F.


Finally, take a look at a preview's of Week Nine's Game of the Week featuring Montepaschi Siena and Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul.


As always, you can join in "Feel(ing) the Devotion" by watching live streaming video of all the top 16 teams on http://www.euroleague.tv and do not forget to check on Slap Dog Hoops for all the scores, recaps and highlights 

SDH Presents NBA Nightly Highlights (2/27/2013)

It was a jam packed ten game Wednesday night in the NBA as twenty teams look to end strong on this finishing stretch of the season.  Take a quick look at all the action from Wednesday night in under three minutes right here on SDH.


Last night saw Stephen Curry drop 54 points in the Warriors game against the Knicks; however, despite his best efforts, Golden State still managed to lose at Madison Square Garden.


Check out Curry's amazing performance in super slow-motion high-definition:


And last, but certainly not the least, here are the Top Ten plays of Wednesday night that feature a great no look assist from Tyreke Evans, a ridiculous game winning shot courtesy of Monta Ellis, and a last second shot by Wesley Johnson to force overtime.


 As always, you can view full game by game recaps, highlights and post game interviews on www.nba.com/video and be sure to stay tuned in the coming days as SDH recaps, reviews, reminisces, and ranks all 30 teams for the month of December in SDH's Worst to First for December. 

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

SDH Presents Turkish Airlines Euroleague Basketball Weekly (2/24/2013)

It is a couple of days late; however, here is another edition of Turkish Airline Euroleague Weekly.  In this week's episode,  Euroleague Basketball Magazine reviews Top 16 week 8 action with Top 10 plays plus the trio of Zoric, Ukic and Smith bwin co-MVPs.


As always, you can join in "Feel(ing) the Devotion" by watching live streaming video of all the top 16 teams on http://www.euroleague.tv and do not forget to check on Slap Dog Hoops for all the scores, recaps and highlights 

SDH Presents NBA Nightly Highlights (2/25/2013)

Take a whip around the NBA and check out the highlights from all 4 games last night, including the showdown out west between the Lakers and Nuggets!



Check out some of these high-flying dunks as the Nuggets run and gun offense was in full force against the Lakers Monday night, throwing down alley-oops, putback and fastbreak slams all over the place!


Check out Celtics superstar forward Paul Pierce as he scores seven consecutive points in overtime with a serious of tough shots to lead Boston to the BIG road win in Utah against Al Jefferson and the Jazz!


Finally, let's cap things off by taking a look at the top five plays from last night.


As always, you can view full game by game recaps, highlights and post game interviews on www.nba.com/video and be sure to stay tuned in the coming days as SDH recaps, reviews, reminisces, and ranks all 30 teams for the month of December in SDH's Worst to First for December. 

Sunday, February 24, 2013

SDH Presents the NBA's Top 10 Plays of the Night (2/23/2013)

Check out the 10 best plays from Saturday night around the NBA as Dwyane Wade reached a scoring milestone in Philadelphia, the Nuggets put on an aerial show in Charlotte & Blake Griffin registers two plays worthy of top 10 selections at Staples!


As always, you can view full game by game recaps, highlights and post game interviews on www.nba.com/video and be sure to stay tuned in the coming days as SDH recaps, reviews, reminisces, and ranks all 30 teams for the month of December in SDH's Worst to First for December. 

SDH Presents NBA Nightly Highlights (2/23/2013)

Check out the highlights from all the games this Saturday in the NBA as Danny Granger returns to action for the Pacers, JJ Redick makes his Milwaukee Bucks debut and Dwyane Wade reaches a milestone in Philadelphia!



Check out some of the highlights from LeBron James' triple-double against the Sixers, the 35th of his career, through the lens of our Phantom Camera as he went for 16 points, 11 assists & 10 rebounds to lead the Heat to the easy road win in Philly!


Check out these two incredible plays by Blake Griffin as he shows off his amazing skills with the awesome and 1 layup & insane full-body dive to save the ball and ignite a Clippers fast break, ending with a Caron Butler 3-pointer!


And finally, check out these three plays by Dwyane Wade as he reaches & then surpasses 16,000 points in his NBA career - scoring every single point in a Miami Heat uniform!


As always, you can view full game by game recaps, highlights and post game interviews on www.nba.com/video and be sure to stay tuned in the coming days as SDH recaps, reviews, reminisces, and ranks all 30 teams for the month of December in SDH's Worst to First for December. 

Saturday, February 23, 2013

SDH Presents Friday's Top Euroleague Basketball Performances (2/22/2013)

The Turkish Airlines Euroleague Top 16 playoffs trudges on with eight teams continue to fight tooth and nail in order to reach Championship glory.  Here are the top performers from Friday starting off with the Top Ten Plays from Week Eight.



This week had not just one, or two, but THREE bwin MVPs:  Panathinaikos' Roko Ukic, Unicaja's Luka Zoric and Maccabi's Devin Smith.  All three had a Performance Rating of 28 having HUGE games for their respective clubs.


Olympiacos Piraeus stole the show on Friday night as two of their players earned recognition for their performances.  Kyle Hines earned Fiday's Dunk of the Night with this excellent stuff to the basket . . .


While Kostas Papanikolau served up a good helping of rejection earning him Friday's Block of the Night.


Real Madrid's Sergio Llull and Rudy Fernandez earned the Play of the Night with this great lob and dunk.


And last but not least, check out Friday's Assist of the Night courtesy  of CSKA's Milos Teodosic.  


As always, you can join in "Feel(ing) the Devotion" by watching live streaming video of all the top 16 teams on http://www.euroleague.tv and do not forget to check on Slap Dog Hoops for all the scores, recaps and highlights 





SDH Presents Friday's Euroleague Basketball Top 16 Highlights: Week 8 (2/22/2013)

The Turkish Airlines Euroleague Top 16 playoffs trudges on with eight teams continue to fight tooth and nail in order to reach Championship glory.  Here are highlights of the best moments of the three games that were played yesterday on an action packed Friday Night.



BC Khimki Moscow Region got back to its winning ways on its home court by downing the visiting Besiktas JK Istanbul.


Anadolu Efes improved to 7-1 and registered its seventh consecutive win in Group F by beating CSKA Moscow.


Olympiacos Piraeus led from start to finish in routing Caja Laboral Vitoria.


And finally, Real Madrid survived a scare against Alba Berlin to raise its record to 7-1 in Top 16 Group E.



As always, you can join in "Feel(ing) the Devotion" by watching live streaming video of all the top 16 teams on http://www.euroleague.tv and do not forget to check on Slap Dog Hoops for all the scores, recaps and highlights. 



SDH Presents the NBA's Top 10 Plays of the Night: (2/22/2013_)

Check out the 10 best plays from an incredible night of basketball around the NBA with 12-games full of jaw-dropping plays to make a list with posterizing dunks, game-tying plays and a Vince Carter milestone!



As always, you can view full game by game recaps, highlights and post game interviews on www.nba.com/video and be sure to stay tuned in the coming days as SDH recaps, reviews, reminisces, and ranks all 30 teams for the month of December in SDH's Worst to First for December. 


SDH Presents NBA Nightly Highlights (2/22/2013)

Check out the highlights from all the games around the league tonight in this Friday night edition of the NBA Nightly Highlights!



Check out some of the highlights from Russell Westbrook's BIG night against the Timberwolves as he goes for a season-high 37 points along with 9 assists & 7 rebounds to lead the Thunder to the win!


And finally, check out Mavericks guard Vince Carter as he moves up the NBA All-Time scoring list to 28th, passing Gary Payton, with the tough basket underneath the rim & then later in the game hits the go-ahead 3-pointer to give Dallas the lead and eventually the win over the Hornets!


As always, you can view full game by game recaps, highlights and post game interviews on www.nba.com/video and be sure to stay tuned in the coming days as SDH recaps, reviews, reminisces, and ranks all 30 teams for the month of December in SDH's Worst to First for December. 

Friday, February 22, 2013

SDH Presents the NBA's Worst to First for December: 4. Miami Heat

Overall Win/Loss Record (as of December 31st): 21-8 ,  first place Southeast Division





This Month:



4
Team Statistics and League Rank (as of December 31st):

  • Points Scored: 103.0 (4th)
  • Points Allowed: 98.2 (18th)
  • Team FG%: .493 (1st)
  • Opponent’s FG%: .442 (12th)
  • Rebounds per game: 38.8 (29th)
  • Opponents rebounds per game: 41.0 (6th)
  • Turnovers per game: 14.1 (5th)
  • Opponents turnovers per game: 15.0 (12th)



Individual Statistical Leaders (as of December 31st):

  • Scoring (ppg): Lebron James (26.3)
  • Rebounds per game:   Lebron James (8.4)
  • Minutes per game:  Lebron James (38.2)
  • Assists per game:  Lebron James (7.0)
  • Field Goal Percentage:  Chris Bosh (.549)
  • Steals per game:  Lebron James (1.6)
  • Blocked Shots per game: Chris Bosh (1.2)





Worst Player of the Month: Mike Miller



Here is a perfect example of what many in the sports business consider as "dead weight."  For three straight years, Mike Miller has played 119 of a potential 203 games while just producing under six points per game while his minutes have dropped fro 21.0 per game in his first year to under 14 minutes now.  And he has been doing all of that while earning close to 6$ million per year and is owed another 18$ million for the next three years.   It's obvious that there is no way the Heat can unload such a waste of a mid-level exemption unless they bite the bullet and buyout the 18$ million left on his his contract or hope upon hopes that he decides that he has enough of stealing their money and do the right thing and retire.  Unfortunately, it is doubtful that neither will happen laving both parties to grudgingly accept one another for now.

First Player of the Month: Lebron James



It is rather difficult to find anyone else on the Heat that is worthy of noting as the first of the month, other than Lebron James.  Not only has he led the team in almost every statistical category, but as for the rest of the team, there is not really anyone else worth mentioning.  Sure Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade still continue to perform at the same All Star level producing the same exceptional numbers; however, neither one of them have really set themselves apart from the rest of the team as Lebron James has.  Although upon closer examination this can be refuted, at a quick glance of all the numbers, Lebron James has virtually carried the team on his back; however, one can simply point out that that is just the burden of the man that the team has crowned as their king.  Such a team dynamic gives new meaning to the quote "heavy is the head that wears the crown." 
Analysis:

It is hard to judge the Miami Heat too harshly for their rather complacent attitude and rather lackluster play over the past couple of months since the Heat have little or sense of urgency to really shift into overdrive.  They have no real threats or barriers in their way from loosening their stranglehold on the Eastern Conference, and with no one really standing in their way, the Heat have allowed themselves to slack off a bit in this first stretch of the season.  Both the Indiana Pacers and the Boston Celtics, the two teams that fought hard against the Heat in last season's playoffs, have been less than stellar to say the least.  Indiana has spent the season sputtering past their opponents due to their rather poor offensive production while the Celtics have looked as old and as tired as their aged roster would suggest.  The brand new Brooklyn Nets, despite the depth in their roster,  have proven to be rather underwhelming and unworthy opponent as well as they had struggled through much of December forcing the dismissal of head coach Avery Johnson as a result.

Even the Atlanta Hawks, who currently trail the Heat at second place of the Southeast division are far from being a worthy rival as they trail the Heat by a rather large margin and if they were to meet in the playoffs, would provide little or no competition.  As for the Chicago Bulls, there are hobbled and hollowed out version of their previous selves who earned the league's best record last season and are just barely treading water.  The only real competition that can presumably stand in Miami's way is their one time bitter rival New York Knicks team who have undergone a reawakening and currently trail closely behind in second place in the Eastern Conference.  Nonetheless, there still remain those  cynical on whether or not the Knicks will provide an adequate enough deterrent for the Heat despite losing quite badly in both of their meeting thus far (11/2, 12/6) by an average margin of twenty points.  Altogether there remains no team, at least in the Eastern Conference, that can stand in the Heat's way thus resulting in their rather uninspired play.

Although the Miami Heat only lost five games in December, they were all pretty bad ones as they lost by an average margin of eleven points with three of them being against rather lackluster competition to say the least.  They got shockingly upset by of all teams, the lowly Washington Wizards, who have one of the worst records in the league on the road (12/4/2012).  Afterwards, Miami simply got shamed losing two straight against two Central Division cellar dwellers, the Detroit Pistons by ten (12/28/2012) and unfathomably blown out by the Milwaukee Bucks the following night(12/29/2012).  The worst of all those losses had to be the blowout suffered by the New York Knicks on their own home floor where New York held the Heat to scoring just 92 points and shooting .421 from the field.  That is pretty impressive on New York's side considering that the Hat league the league in field goal percentage shooting close to .500 this season.  

Such humiliating losses are certainly unbecoming of the reigning NBA Champion whose roster consists of three of the best players in their respective positions in Lebron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade.  Not to say that they should win every game, but at least play well enough to not be embarrassed by three of the worst teams in the league along with a potential opponent in the Eastern Conference Finals.  Granted, although the Miami Heat did lose badly against teams that they had no business losing to in the Bucks, Wizards, and Pistons, they still manage to win in rather splendid fashion beating all but two teams by ten or more points.  The two exceptions were complete contrasts from one another as the first team was their opponent in last year's NBA Finals, the Oklahoma City Thunder, which resulted in being a hard fought Christmas Day battle of the ages (12/25/2012).  On the flip side, the Heat had to go through an overtime to narrowly beat the lowly Orlando Magic, who do not nearly have the talent or the firepower that Miami has, by only one basket to enter the new year (12/31/2012).

There is no doubt that Miami is by and large, the best team in the NBA, period; however, they are not doing themselves any favors by not playing like it.   So far with the way that this team has player, the Miami Heat seems to lack the sense of urgency or killer instinct seen in the other great NBA championship dynasties in the past.  Instead of completely separating themselves from the rest of the league and playing to their full potential, they remain content with simply staying and status-quo being among the league's elite instead of pounding them down the way they should be.  History will certainly not be kind to the Heat if they continue to stay in neutral allowing themselves to lose focus and lose to undeserving competition as they did in December.  So far the Miami Heat have not lived up to their name as they have not been scorching hot, but have performed lukewarm  at best.  

SDH Presents Thursday's Top Performers of Euroleague Basketball's Top 16 Week 8 (2/21/2013)

The Turkish Airlines Euroleague Top 16 playoffs trudges on with eight teams continue to fight tooth and nail in order to reach Championship glory.  Here are the top performers from Thursday night's action starting with the Game of the Week where Panathinaikos' Roko Ukic was selected as Player of the Game.  



Along with being recognized as Player of the game, Ukic also earned the Play of the Game for Thursday's Game of the Week as he drained this shot from beyond the arc.


Ukic would not be the only Panathinaikos player in the spotlight as Dimitris Diamantidis earned Thursday's Assist of the Night for this great half court lob to his teammate.


Diamantidis also earned Thursday's Nightly Notable as he  stole his 328th ball on his way to become the all-time Euroleague leader moving ahead of fellow countryman Theodoros Papaloukas.


In other Euroleague news, Unicaja's Andy Panko earned Thursday's Play of the Night with this sweet pump fake and pass down low for the score.


Staying in Spain, FC Barcelona's Xavier Rabaseda wowed fans with this electrifying dunk to earn him recognition for Thursday's Dunk of the Night.


And last, but certainly not the least, check out the effort and defensive intensity of Maccabi's Yogev Ohayon, whose play earned him Thursday's Block of the Night.


So there you have it:  the best of the Euroleague from the best of the Euroleague.  As always, you can join in "Feel(ing) the Devotion" by watching live streaming video of all the top 16 teams on http://www.euroleague.tv and do not forget to check on Slap Dog Hoops for all the scores, recaps and highlights