White of the Night: Jose Calderon

Beautiful night in Indiana, as the Pacers start three American Whites, and win a big one over the Rockets!

Interesting stat from NY: New York has outscored opponents by 53 points when Gallinari has been on the court during the four games since he returned from injury. Gallinari made our list of top performers again tonight, scoring a smooth 11 on 5, in only 17 min.

Sean Marks thrust into the starting C spot in N.O., and good to see him do well.

But, oh, J.C. Superstar! Jose Calderon, in his return from injury game, proves his worth, leading the Raptors to victory, and earning our White of the Night.


Top White Performers:

Nowitzki: 26p - 7 reb -- 36 min
Scola: 25p - 7 reb -- 38 min
Calderon: 23p (10 shots) - 10a -- 29 min
Bargnani: 22p (13 shots) - 5 reb -- 30 min
Turkoglu: 22p - 3 reb - 2a -- 38 min
Lee: 19p (11 shots) - 14 reb -- 34 min
P Gasol: 18p (12 shots) - 6 reb -- 28 min
Hinrich: 17p (11 shots) - 5 reb - 7a -- 32 min
Stojakovic: 17p -- 39 min
B Lopez: 15p - 8 reb -- 35 min
Nocioni: 15p (10 shots) - 6 reb - 3a -- 33 min
Murphy: 14p (10 reb) - 16 reb -- 33 min
Dunleavy: 13p - 4 reb -- 27 min
Vujacic: 13p (7 shots) - 2 reb - 3a -- 25 min
M Miller: 12p - 9 reb - 5a -- 29 min
Gallinari: 11p (5 shots) -- 17 min
Love: 11p (6 shots) - 5 reb -- 22 min
Marks: 10p - 7 reb -- 29 min
Novak: 10p -- 22 min
Szczerbiak: 10p (5 shots) -- 14 min
Radmanovic: 10p (5 shots) -- 13 min
Nesterovic: 9p (5 shots) -- 15 min
Pachulia: 9p (3 shots) - 6 reb -- 22 min
Najera: 9p (4 shots) - 6 reb -- 25 min
Foster: 8p - 7 reb -- 30 min
Barry: 8p - 8 reb -- 21 min
Ridnour: 7p - 4a - 5 stl -- 26 min
Gray: 7p - team high 7 reb -- 22 min
Biedrins: 6p - 13 reb - 4 blk -- 34 min

Whites of the Night: Turkoglu & Nowitzki

Scalabrine starting at C seems to be just the thing the Celtics needed to get back on the winning track. Great for Brian, and great to seem him get more comfortable in his starting role, as his points are trending up!

The Italian rookie Gallinari (Knicks) finally gets back from injury. Can't wait to see him in regular action.

The co-Whites of the Night are Nowitzki and Turkoglu, for their equally spectacular offensive nights. Kleiza was also fantastic, and deserves recognition as well. Kleiza is a superb athlete and scorer, and deserves to be getting major minutes.


Nowitzki: 39p (20 shots) - 8 reb -- 39 min
Turkoglu: 31p (16 shots) - 4 reb - 5a -- 30 min
B Lopez: 28p (17 shots) - 10 reb -- 41 min
Kleiza: 26p (13 shots) - 5 reb -- 36 min
Okur: 23p (15 shots) - 11 reb -- 39 min
Ginobili: 21p (11 shots) -6 reb - 4a -- 31 min
Nocioni: 17p (8 shots) - 15 reb -- 31 min
Lee: 15p (9 shots) - 11 reb -- 39 min
Fernandez: 15p (11 shots) - 4 reb -- 33 min
Bonner: 12p - 11 reb -- 29 min
Kirilenko: 12p - 3 reb - 4a -- 34 min
Scalabrine: 11p (8 shots) - 4 reb -- 29 min
Rodriguez: 10p (7 shots) - 5a -- 21 min
Stojakovic: 10p - 6 reb -- 37 min
Alexander: 9p (6 shots) -- 9 min
Scola: 9p (5 shots) - 5 reb -- 26 min
Andersen: 5p (2 shots) - team high 9 reb -- 27 min
Przybilla: 2p (1 shot) - team high 10 reb -- 28 min

White of the Night: Brad Miller

Overall, great night to be a White basketball fan! Seven of our guys scored 20 or more just tonight, topped off by Bargnani, who continues to impress in his starting role. But how can we not give the White of the Night to Brad Miller, for a monster 30p-22r game, leading his team to victory in triple overtime! Good work, Brad.

Newsflash: The Pacers start three White Americans! That is sweet enough, but then they go on to beat the Detroit Piston black-sketball team in a thriller! How sweet it is.

--Utah is fighting them for White Basketball standard-bearer right now, playing Whites for a full 63% of the minutes tonight.

--Ryan Anderson starting for the Nets, with Yi's injury. Man, this is his big chance, play like you belong big man!

--Breakout game for Joe Alexander too! Very nice. Play the man, coach!

Bargnani: 31p (14 shots) - team high 10 reb -- 39 min
B Miller: 30p (20 shots) - 22 reb - 2 stl -- 51 min
Lee: 30p (21 shots) - team high 10 reb - 6a - 2 stl -- 41 min
Ginobili: 27p (15 shots) - 3 reb - 2a - 3 stl -- 30 min
Ridnour: 25p - 9 reb - 4a -- 42 min
P Gasol: 21p (14 shots) - 5 reb -- 31 min
Nowitzki: 20p - 13 reb -- 38 min
Murphy: 18p (9 shots) - 13 reb -- 45 min
Udrih: 17p - 6 reb - 7a -- 56 min
Nocioni: 16p - 4 reb - 3a -- 30 min
Stojakovic: 16p -- 35 min
Korver: 14p - 4 reb - 2 blk -- 33 min
Koufos: 14p (9 shots) - 5 reb -- 27 min
Krstic: 14p (8 shots) - 11 reb - 2 blk -- 31 min
Collison: 13p (7 shots) - 11 reb -- 40 min
Alexander: 13p (8 shots) - 5 reb - 5a -- 17 min
B Lopez: 13p - team high 8 reb - 5 blk -- 31 min
Anderson: 13p (8 shots) - 4 reb - 2 stl -- 26 min
Hinrich: 12p (6 shots) - 5 reb - 6a -- 32 min
Biedrins: 12p (8 shots) - 14 reb - 4a - 5 blk
Dunleavy: 12p - 6 reb -- 33 min
Kirilenko: 12p - 4a -- 39 min
Bogut: 12p - 11 reb (6 off) - 2 blk -- 37 min
Foster: 11p (5 shots) - 7 reb - 4a -- 7 min
Harpring: 10p - 2 reb -- 17 min
Bonner: 10p - 5 reb - 4a -- 33 min
Okur: 9p - team high 9 reb - 4a -- 33 min
Scalabrine: 9p - 4 reb -- 27 min
Nesterovic: 8p - 5 reb -- 20 min

White of the Night: Nick Collison

Great game on Saturday night from Nick Collison, starting at C for OKC, winning the White of the Night recognition. Great to see Nick back in the lineup, with his thumb fully bandaged, but obviously still able to get the job done.



Top White game reports:
Okur: 22p (9 shots) - 6 reb -- 21 min
Collison: 21p (12 shots) - 9 reb (6 off) - 4a - 2 stl -- 35 min
Scola: 18p - 11 reb -- 27 min
Blake: 15p - 4 reb - 4a - 3 stl -- 38 min
Bogut: 14p (8 shots) - 7 reb - 2 blk -- 27 min
Lee: 14p - 11 reb -- 34 min
Ridnour: 12p - 9 reb - 6a -- 35 min
Fernandez: 12p (7 shots) - 6a -- 25 min
Morrison: 11p (6 shots) - 2 reb - 3a - 2 stl -- 22 min
Nocioni: 11p - 2 reb -- 33 min
Kirilenko: 11p - 7 reb - 7a - 2 stl - 2 blk -- 31 min
Harpring: 11p - 2 reb -- 17 min
Biedrins: 10p (5 shots) - 6 reb - 3a - 2 blk -- 33 min
Krstic: 8p - 2 reb - 2 blk -- 13 min
Love: 5p - game high 12 reb -- 22 min

White of the Night: Manu Ginobili

Great game by Manu Ginobili, taking the White of the Night award for Sat. Jan 3.

K-Love also deserves recognition for the noticable upswing in his game recently.

Ginobili: 21p (13 shots) - 3 reb - 3 stl -- 28 min
Stojakovic: 19p - 6 reb -- 40 min
Love: 18p - 12 reb -- 21 min
Scola: 16p (9 shots) - 11 reb -- 39 min
B Miller 13p - 9 reb - 6a -- 36 min
Nocioni: 13p - 3 reb - 3a -- 27 min
Murphy: 12p - 13 reb
Ridnour: 12p - 3 reb -- 29 min
B Lopez: 12p - 8 reb -- 30 min
Barry: 11p (6 shots) - 3a -- 23 min
Pachulia: 10p (4 shots) - 4 reb -- 17 min
Gray: 10p - team high 9 reb -- 32 min
Kleiza: 9p (5 shots) -- 10 min
Nesterovic: 8p -- 6 min
Alexander: 8p (4 shots) - 9 min

White of the Night: David Lee

What a way to start out the new year! Honestly, this has probably got to be the most solid overall night from our White ballplayers this year. Lots of high scorers, with some incredibly efficient games. Very sweet stuff, and very difficult to single out one guy for tonight's award.

Dirk led the night in PRA with 46, Varejao had an incredible game starting at C, Brad Miller was a monster on the glass and on offense, Pau led his team in rebounds and assists, Troy led his team in rebounds, assists, and steals, K-Love and Bonner shot the lights out... As I said, very tough to decide, but I have to give the White of the Night again to D-Lee for his sweet efficiency, hard work on the boards, and incredible 5 steals!

Tip of the hat also to Sasha Pavlovic, making our list of top performers for the first time this year.


Nowitzki: 31p - 4 reb - 5a - 4 stl - 2 blk -- 39 min
Varejao: 26p (14 shots) - 8 reb - 3 stl -- 31 min (starting C)
Lee: 26p (15 shots) - 11 reb - 3a - 5 stl -- 40 min
B Miller: 25p (18 shots) - 16 reb (8 off) -- 38 min
Okur: 21p (13 shots) - 13 reb - 2 blk -- 31 min
P Gasol: 21p (13 shots) - team high 11 reb - team high 6a -- 30 min
Love: 19p (9 shots) - 8 reb -- 25 min
Fernandez: 19p (11 shots) - 4 reb -- 36 min
Bargnani: 19p (12 shots) - 6 reb -- 32 min
Biedrins: 18p (12 shots) - 13 reb
Bonner: 16p (9 shots) - 29 min
Murphy: 15p - 18 reb - team high 5a - team high 3 stl
M Gasol: 15p - 11 reb - 2 stl -- 32 min
Stojakovic: 14p -- 36 min
Pavlovic: 13p (8 shots) - 5 reb -- 21 min
Ginobili: 13p - 6 reb - 6a - 5 stl -- 23 min
Nocioni: 11p (7 shots) -- 14 min
Belinelli: 10p - 6a -- 29 min
Przybilla: 10p (6 shots) - 7 reb -- 32 min
Kirilenko: 10p (6 shots) - 2 stl -- 11 min

White of the Night: Brook Lopez

Congratulations to Brook Lopez for a spectacular breakout game, starting at C for the Nets, earning the coveted White of the Night honors for the first time in his young career.

Barely beating out a very solid game from Andrea Bargnani, who performed spectacularly in his return to the starting lineup, including 5 blocks!

And let us not forget a tip of the hat to for Jose Calderon, continuing a very solid streak of play lately for the Raptors.

It is also really nice to see that Gortat has earned a spot in the regular rotation, after showing his worth while Howard was briefly down for the Magic.

Dec 31
Bargnani: 26p - 6 reb - 5 blk -- 41 min
B Lopez: 23p (13 shots) - 12 reb - 3a - 2 blk -- 37 min
Turkoglu: 18p - 9 reb - 4a -- 30 min
Calderon: 18p (9 shots) - 11a - 5 reb -- 34 min
Biedrins: 15p - 13 reb (6 off) - 2 stl -- 35 min
Gortat: 14p (9 shots) - 7 reb -- 18 min
Ridnour: 11p - 7 reb - 11a -- 34 min
Bogut: 11p - team high 9 reb -- 40 min
Scola: 11p - team high 10 reb - 2 stl -- 32 min
Nocioni: 10p - 5 reb - 4a -- 29 min
Andersen: 10p - team high 10 reb -- 16 min
Kleiza: 10p -- 14 min
Davis: 8p (3 shots) - 3 reb -- 16 min

White of the Night: Jose Calderon

Some great performances for all us White basketball fans last night, but I've got to give the prestigious White of the Night to Jose Calderon for his 21-6-16 night! Belinelli come in a close second for his spectacular game. Commendations to Love (17 on 7) and Scola (16 on 8) also.

--Utah looking more and more like a White Basketball team, their White players getting 50.75% of the total playing time in their deletion of the all-black 76ers! Sweet! Kirilenko also looks rejuvenated back in the starting lineup for Utah, filling up the sheet like the old days.

--The best rebounder in the league continues to perform miracles in spot minutes, of course I'm speaking of Zaza Pachulia.

--The Birdman thrown into the starting lineup for the Nuggets, but takes only 1 shot in 31 min??? Come on, Chris, play like you belong! He did lead the team in rebounding, but we expect more!

--Swift got the start down in OKC, nice to see. Go Big Red!

Belinelli: 23p (12 shots) - 6a -- 37 min
Calderon: 21p (14 shots) - 6 reb - 16a -- 44 min
Okur: 19p - 10 reb -- 35 min
Love: 17p (7 shots) - 7 reb -- 31 min
Nocioni: 17p (10 shots) - team high 8 reb -- 24 min
Scola: 16p (8 shots) - 5 reb -- 34 min
Kirilenko: 16p (12 shots) - game high 13 reb - 3a - 3 stl - 3 blk -- 36 min
Turkoglu: 14p - 5 reb - 8a -- 42 min
Biedrins: 13p (8 shots) - 15 reb - 2 stl - 5 blk -- 30 min
Korver: 12p (7 shots) - 5a -- 25 min
M Gasol: 12p - 5 reb - 3a - 3 stl - 2 blk -- 37 min
Kapono: 11p - 3 reb -- 30 min
Humphries: 10p - 4 reb -- 10 min
Pachulia: 8p (4 shots) - 8 reb -- 18 min

White of the Night: Hedo Turkoglu

Dec 27

Spectacular night from Hedo, scoring 26 on 12 shots, leading the Magic, and good old fashioned stat stuffer from Kirilenko for the Jazz. Also nice to see Fesenko, Korver, and Koufos step up for the Jazz.

Turkoglu: 26p (12 shots) - 7 reb -- 37 min
Kirilenko: 20p - 10 reb (5 off) - 5a - 3 stl -- 49 min
Ginobili: 20p (16 shots) - 4 reb - 4a -- 40 min
Bogut: 17p - 10 reb -- 26 min
M Gasol: 15p - 10 reb - 4 blk -- 41 min
Koufos: 14p (9 shots) - 4 reb -- 20 min
Bargnani: 13p -- 21 min
Korver: 13p (10 shots) - 6a -- 40 min
Fesenko: 12p (8 shots) - team high 11 reb - 3 blk -- 34 min
Nocioni: 11p -- 22 min
Calderon: 11p - 8a -- 38 min
Scola: 10p - game high 14 reb - 4a -- 46 min
Pachulia: 10p (7 shots) - 7 reb -- 20 min
B Lopez: 6p - game high 13 reb -- 30 min
Love: 5p - game high 10 reb - 20 min

White of the Night: Joel Przybilla

from Dec. 23rd:

Joel Przybilla earns the White of the Night honors for his monster game on the boards, ripping down 19 rebounds for the Blazers.

Nice to see Robert Swift in the lineup for OKC. He was performing well before his injury, so hopefully he will be back in the regular rotation soon.

Indiana looked a lot whiter tonight, even with Murphy out, as four of our guys got good minutes, including McRoberts and Diener. Very nice trend there, especially if they can keep it up when Dunleavy and Murphy get back.

Kirilenko: team high 22p (13 shots) - team high 11 reb -- 29 min
Nowitzki: 21p - 8 reb - 4a -- 35 min
Kleiza: 20p (10 shots) - 4 reb -- 26 min
P Gasol: 20p (10 shots) - 7 reb - 3a -- 35 min
Nocioni: 18p (10 shots) - 8 reb -- 30 min
Blake: 17p -- 31 min
Nesterovic: 13p - 3 blk -- 21 min
Foster: 12p - game high 14 reb (7 off) - 2 blk -- 31 min
Fernandez: 12p (9 shots) -- 21 min
Ridnour: 11p - 11a - 6 stl -- 44 min
Scola: 11p - team high 8 reb - 3a -- 31 min
Ilgauskas: 11p - 3 reb - 2 blk -- 27 min
Diener: 11p (6 shots) - 4a -- 18 min
Przybilla: 10p (6 shots) - 19 reb -- 39 min
Bogut: 9p - team high 11 reb -- 37 min
McRoberts: 8p - 4 reb - 5a - 2 stl -- 25 min
Pachulia: 8p (4 shots) - 4 reb -- 17 min

White of the Night: Luke Ridnour

News of note:
Josh McRoberts had his first significant minutes of the season, and played very well, blocking 4 shots, white scoring 10 with 8 boards. Let's hope to see more of Josh!
Steve Novak also makes our list for the first time this season, showing some aggressive shooting in his minutes.
Diener also gets some rare minutes, and performs well.
K-Love down to 6 minutes??? WTF...
Luke Ridnour wins White of the Night for his incredible efficiency, leading his team to a blowout victory.

Okur: 23p - 13 reb -- 40 min
Ridnour: 18p (7 shots) - 7a - 2 stl -- 26 min
Calderon: 16p - 4 reb - 4a -- 35 min
Nash: 16p - 11a - 2 stl -- 37 min
Nocioni: 15p - 8 reb - 3a - 2 stl -- 41 min
Novak: 14p -- 18 min
Turkoglu: 14p - 5 reb - 7a - 2 stl -- 42 min
Bonner: 14p - 3 reb - 3a -- 29 min
Belinelli: 13p - 4a - 2 stl -- 34 min
B Miller: 13p (8 shots) - 9 reb - 4a -- 28 min
Ginobili: 13p (8 shots) -7 reb - 3a -- 24 min
Bogut: 12p - 8 reb -- 22 min
Kapono: 12p -- 26 min
Diener: 12p (6 shots) -- 15 min
P Gasol: 11p - 7 reb -- 42 min
Kirilenko: 11p -- 29 min
Biedrins: 11p - 9 reb - 3a -- 34 min
McRoberts: 10p - 8 reb - 4 blk -- 28 min
Kleiza: 10p (3 shots) -- 16 min
Foster: 9p - team high 10 reb -- 33 min

White of the Night: Marco Belinelli

Belinelli breaks out, playing a team high 42 minutes, racking up a career high 27 points, and earning the prestigious White of the Night award.

Nelson had some kinda fit of temporary insanity, starting 3 Whites (Belinelli, Biedrins, Kurz). It looks like someone whispered in his ear right after the game started, though, as Kurz only played 12 minutes...

Chris Andersen lead the team in rebounds and swats 3 shots in his mere 23 minutes. WTF??? Somebody, please, free the Birdman!

For games Friday:


Belinelli: 27p - 6a - 2 stl -- 42 min
Okur: 26p - 12 reb -- 47 min
Nowitzki: 24p - 6 reb - 3a -- 36 min
Scola: 23p - 10 reb (5 off) -- 3 stl -- 30 min
Ilgauskas: 23p (14 shots) - 6 reb -- 27 min
B Miller: 17p (9 shots) - 11reb (5 off) -- 35 min
Nesterovic: 16p - 8 reb -- 35 min
Nocioni: 16p - 6 reb -- 33 min
Bargnani: 16p - 5 reb -- 28 min
Lee: 14p - 14 reb - 36 min
Biedrins: 14p - 15 reb - 6a -- 32 min
P Gasol: 13p - 11 reb -- 34 min
Kirilenko: 12p - 6 reb -- 37 min
Milicic: 11p (5 shots) - 2 blk -- 23 min
Collison: 10p (5 shots) - 9 reb -- 26 min
Carroll: 10p (6 shots) -- 16 min
Andersen: 6p - 10 reb - 3 blk -- 23 min

White of the Night: Steve Blake

White of the Night: Steve Blake, for putting together a solid 22-10, to go along with 4 steals, helping to power the Blazers in an exciting victory.

Varejao starting at C, continues to outplay the guy (Ben Wallace) who normally starts ahead of him at PF. Weird how that works.

Not quite as weird as Biedrins getting only 23 minutes. At least Belinelli continues to rise in Golden State!

Solid White performances for games Wednesday and Thursday:

Nowitzki: 27p - 10 reb - 4a -- 38 min
Okur: 23p - 9 reb -- 29 min
Blake: 22p - 4 reb - 10a - 4 stl -- 38 min
Nocioni: 22p - 4 reb - 3a -- 35 min
Belinelli: 21p - 4 reb - 4a -- 38 min
Korver: 18p - 9 reb -- 31 min
Ginobili: 17p - 9 reb - 5a -- 30 min
Biedrins: 16p - 10reb (5 off) - 2 blk -- 23 min
Nash: 15p - 11a -- 35 min
M Miller: 14p - 7 reb -- 34 min
Ridnour: 14p - 3a -- 32 min
Varejao: 13p - 11 reb - 2 slt -- 34 min
Calderon: 11p - 5 reb - 10a -- 37 min

White of the Night: Jose Barea

Two solid games in a row for JJ Barea, earning the coveted White of the Night as he got even better in his second start. Barea's 18 shots highlights my oft-repeated point: White SGs take note -- shoot like you belong, if you want to stay on the floor.

The experiments continue in Chicago, with Aaron Gray getting the start, and ripping down 9 boards in his 21 min.

The Birdman Andersen continues to produce miracles in ridiculously few minutes, blocking 4 shots in his 18 minutes, to go with 8 points (on 4 shots) and 5 boards.

Marc Gasol responds to his benching with one of his best games of the season.

The solid White games tonight:

Nowitzki: 24p (17 shots) - 11 reb - 3a -- 35 min
Barea: 22p (18 shots) - 4a -- 31 min
M Gasol: 21p (9 shots) - 7 reb - 2 blk -- 26 min
Stojakovic: 20p (10 shots) - 27 min
Nocioni: 19p (11 shots) - 3 reb - 3a -- 26 min
Kirilenko: 17p (12 shots) -- 23 min
Bonner: 14p (9 shots) - 6 reb -- 19 min
Collison: 14p (8 shots) - 8 reb - 2 stl -- 27 min
Pachulia: 13p (7 shots) - game high 12 reb - 2 stl - 2 blk -- 34 min
Love: 13p - game high 15 reb -- 33 min
Okur: 12p - 13 reb (5 off) -- 33 min
Oberto: 12p (5 shots) - 6 reb -- 23 min
Nash: 12p - 9a - 5 reb -- 38 min
P Davis: 10p (7 shots) - 3 reb -- 15 min
B Lopez: 6p - team high 11 reb - 3 blk -- 26 min

White of the Night: Chris Kaman

Great night for the Caveman Kaman, earning the prestigous White of the Night award tonight! Playing an almost perfectly efficient game (11-13 FG, 3-3 FT) and filling up the stat sheet, team leader in points, rebounds, and blocks, second in assists, powering the Clips to victory.

Pachulia, rebounding machine! 18 total, 8 offensive, in his 34 starting minutes, wow. As I have detailed elsewhere, Zaza is one of the most highly skilled offensive rebounders in the league (he actually has more offensive rebounds than defensive rebounds so far this season), and is always quite efficient on offense. For some reason, he only put up four shots though, although he did earn 6 FTAs. Maybe it has to do with the two starting guards on his team taking 22 shots each! Good grief.

Bargnani starts, along with Bosh and ONeil, and Toronto wins again, surprise surprise, as the developing Italian leads everyone in scoring. Beautiful trend there!

Ahearn minutes trend up, all the way to 6! Ha ha, start him, coach! Popovic is crazy like that, starting a guy straight from the end of the bench. It may happen! The only guys ahead of him are a rookie (Hill) and an antique (Vaughn). Hell yeah, bring it on, and Blake, you better take 20 shots if it does!!!

Aaron Gray, the monster in the middle, gets the start for the Bulls! Promptly busted for DWW (Defending While White), picking up 3 early fous, and doesn't even start the second half. Beautiful, coach Vinny, just beautiful.

Shit that pisses me off:
Kleiza gets rewarded for his beautiful game last night with a grand total of 17 min PT.
Joe Alexander comes off his 31 min/14 point game to a very underwhelming 8 min PT.
WTF???


Kaman: 25p (13 shots) - 14 reb - 6 a - 4 blk -- 38 min
Bargnani: 25p (15 shots) - 4 reb - 2 blks -- 37 min
Nowitzki: 24p (17 shots) - 12 reb - 37 min
Kirilenko: 16p (6 shots) - 7 reb - 3 a - 5 stl - 4 blk -- 29 min
Bogut: 16p (13 shots) - 20 reb -- 40 min
Scola: 15p (12 shots) - 7 reb -- 41 min
Przybilla: 14p (6 shots) - 9 reb - 3 blk -- 22 min
B Miller: 14p (8 shots) - 8 reb - 2 a - 2 stl -- 34 min
Udrih: 14p (9 shots) - 4 reb - 7 a -- 33 min
Ilgauskas: 13p (11 shots) - 6 reb -- 28 min
Nocioni: 13p (13 shots) - 4 reb -- 26 min
M Miller: 10p (7 shots) - team high 10 reb - 6 a - 2 stl -- 39 min
Varejao: 5p - team high 11 reb -- 33 min

White of the Night: Linas Kleiza

What a weird night in the NBA: both JJ Reddick and Brian Scalabrine started! It would have been nice to see them both score 20, but they both represented themselves well, being thrown in with the starters after mainly getting DNPs.

Kleiza earns the honors tonight for his mind-boggling scoring efficiency, on only 9 shots scoring 25 to lead the Nuggets to victory.

P Gasol: 34p (21 shots) - 6 reb - 3 a -- 34 min
Nowitzki: 32p (21 shots) - 9 reb -- 36 min
Kleiza: 25p (9 shots & 13-15 FTs) -- 28 min
Turkoglu: 22p (20 shots) - 7 a - 4 reb - 3 stl -- 39 min
Nesterovic: 21p (19 shots) - 7 reb - 5 a - 2 stl - 3 blk -- 35 min
Croshere: 17p (11 shots) - 6 reb - 3 a -- 17 min
Biedrins: 17p (9 shots) - 9 reb (5 off) - 2 blk -- 33 min
M Gasol: 16p (6 shots) -- 23 min
Alexander: 14p (12 shots) -- 4 reb - 2 stl - 3 blk -- 31 min
Hawes: 14p (7 shots) - 4 reb -- 18 min
Fernandez: 13p (11 shots) - 7 reb - 3 a - 2 stl - 1 blk -- 35 min
Foster: 12p (6 shots) - 5 reb - 3 a -- 22 min
Rodriguez: 12p (8 shots) - 2 reb - 2 a - 2 stl -- 22 min
Gray: 11p (9 shots) - 5 reb (4 off) -- 21 min
Udrih: 11p (5 shots) - 5 a -- 27 min
Murphy: 10p - 19 reb - 4 a -- 37 min
Reddick: 10p (9 shots) - 3 reb -- 34 min
Lee: 10p (8 shots) - 7 reb -- 21 min
Nocioni: team high 8 reb -- 22 min

White of the Night: Ryan Anderson

Since preseason, based on his measurable production, I have been pointing out that this rookie deserves way more playing time. Tonight, Ryan hammered that point home, scoring 17 points on only 5 shots, including 6-6 from the line, helping the Nets to a victory over the Atlanta "BlackHawks" (with Pachulia down, not having a single white to play at all). This follows on the heels of yesterday's game where he scored 15 on 7 shots.

Ryan came off the bench, but for the second game in a row, played more minutes than either starting forward, and has gotten the crunch time 4th quarter minutes in both games as well. Here's a radical thought, coach: the white rookie is clearly your best big man, so start him, play him 40 mpg, let him produce! "My whole life I've been out there starting, getting minutes so it's been different," said Anderson. "I've tried to stay positive and work my butt off, showing everybody I'm committed to the team."

In other good news, rookie Joe Alexander's minutes continue to trend upwards, playing 20 mintues tonight. Drafted with the 8th pick by the Bucks, Joe looked buried early on, but appears to be earning his coach's trust.

Nocioni: 20p (13 shots) - team high 11 reb - 2 stl -- 31 min
Bogut: team high 20p (14 shots) - game high 9 reb (4 off) -- 41 min
Ridnour: 19p (7 shots) - 4 reb - 4 a -- 48 min
Anderson: 17p (5 shots) - 5 reb - 1 stl -- 25 min.
Biedrins: 17p (15 shots) - game high 16 reb (8 off) - 4 a -- 36 min
Ilgauskas: 16p (11 shots) - 7 reb (3 off) - 3 a -- 27 min
Kaman: 15p (11 shots) -- team high 13 reb (6 off) -- 38 min
Murphy: 12p (11 shots) - game high 13 reb - team high 5 a -- 37 min
Nesterovic: 12p (13 shots) - 12 reb (5 off) - 2 blk -- 33 min
Scola: 12p (8 shots) - game high 10 reb - 3 a - 2 stl -- 32 min
Przybilla: 10p (5 shots) - team high 8 reb - 1 stl - 1 blk -- 21 min
M Miller: 10p (8 shots) - 5 reb - 5 a -- 32 min

White of the Night: Marc Gasol

Wow. Just wow. What a game. Marc leads the Grizz to victory tonight:
27 points, on 11 shots (w/ 9-11 FTs), 16 rebounds, 3 blocks -- in 35 minutes.

I think I have been the only person pointing out that he will be a top Rookie of the Year candidate. I guarantee you, after tonight's game, others will start adding him to the list.

Biedrins had a monster game in his own right tonight: 16p, 22 reb (9 offensive). However, no trips to the line, no blocks, 3 blocked attempts. Marc won the battle of titans tonight, clearly.

And hey, what do you know: Belinelli got off the bench! Played 4 whole minutes, and managed to hit a 3 pointer.

Caveman Kaman put in a solid night: 19p (12 shots), 10 reb, 3 blk, all team highs -- 39 min

Kirilenko also with an outstanding game: 15p (10 shots), game-high 11 rebs, and game-high 4 stl -- 32 min off the bench

Hinrich: 5 shots, 0 FTs, 4 points, in 35 minutes??? What is he thinking?

He needs to take a lesson from his oppenent tonight Hedo Turkoglu, who went 3-16 for 10p! Now that's what I'm talking about, that's how you have to play in the NBA: shoot like you deserve it.

Nocioni showed them how it is done, scoring 20 points, on 12 shots, in 26 minutes. Earned 9 trips to the line, to go with his team-high 7 boards. Nocioni needs to be starting.

Hawes continues his solid play as a starter for Sacramento, scoring 15p (11 shots) and team-high 8 rebs and 2 blks.

A ray of (white) light in Charlotte? Morrison went 4-6 for 10p in his 24 minutes. So, where is Matt Carroll?

Nocioni should be a starter

Andres Nocioni (6'7 225 SF) led the Bulls to victory in their last preseason game, scoring 26 points, 9 in overtime, playing 44 minutes as a starter in the absence of Deng.

Nocioni's high-scoring game capped a pretty solid preseason, and highlighted how well Andres plays when given the minutes. In the five games he played more than 20 minutes (averaging 28 mpg), Andres averaged 18 points on only 12 shots, a very efficient clip, along with 5 rebounds.

Just by way of contrast, the starter Deng in the preseason also averaged 28 minutes, but scored only 11 points on 10 shots, along with 5 rebounds.

This reveals a classic case of someone being declared better simply because they've been declared starter, and given better minutes. Andres' numbers are dragged down by the games he played 15, 11, and 6 minutes, but WHEN GIVEN COMPARABLE MINUTES, his numbers are actually better than the guy starting in front of him.

Deng was a lottery first round draft pick (seventh overall) out of Duke, entering the league in '04.
Nocioni was undrafted out of Argentina, also entering the league in '04. Notice, from the stats below, how Andres has always been given fewer minutes.

Yet, compare the years when they both averaged the same 27 minutes. Given the same minutes, Andres scored more points (13.0 vs 11.7) on fewer shot attempts (10.1 vs 10.6), and gathered in more rebounds (6.1 vs 5.3).

Yet, Deng's minutes then shot up, to 33 and 37, while Nocioni's then fell to 26 and 24.

So what is the argument? You could say that Deng had greater "upside" and has contined to progress as a ball player. BUT, I have already shown that this very preseason, when given the same minutes, Andres is more productive!

From his very first year, Deng has been given more minutes, so a casual glance at the stats makes Deng appear the better player. But when they average the same minutes, Andres shows greater productivity, both in the past and now!

So why is Deng starting, and Andres backing him up? Obviously, the answer is right there, in black and white.



year 1:
LD 27:18 mpg, 11.7 ppg, 10.6 shots pg, 5.3 rpg
AN 23:23 mpg, 8.4 ppg, 7.4 shots pg, 4.8 rpg

year 2:
LD 33:23 mpg, 14.3 ppg, 12.2 shots pg, 6.6 rpg
AN 27:18 mpg, 13.0 ppg, 10.1 shots pg, 6.1 rpg

year 3:
LD 37:30 mpg, 18.8 ppg, 14.9 shots pg, 7.1 rpg
AN 26:30 mpg, 14.1 ppg, 11.0 shots pg, 5.7 rpg

year 4:
LD 33:47 mpg, 17.0 ppg, 14.2 shots pg, 6.3 rpg
AN 24:36 mpg, 13.2 ppg, 10.7 shots pg, 4.2 rpg