Dwight Howard and his 23.8/16.4/4.1 stats takes over as player of the month and likely the MVP race.
Meanwhile, Washington bigman Jonas Valanciunas gets ROM with 10/8.2/1.3. Um, what? I’d pick John Henson over him, and Kyrie Irving’s stats over both.
Oh yeah, by the way…. DeAndre Jordan is amazing. He’s off the bench for the Clippers with 11/6/1.5 – in 15 minutes of playing time. Oh. My. Lord. If we drop in the pick and I don’t like anyone, I’m calling them up.
We need a backup big really badly. Omar Samhan is really our best bench big. That is inexcusable. I look around for someone who can crash the boards and doesn’t cost too much –
Las Vegas trades –
Kyle Lowry
John Brockman
2012 2nd
Toronto trades –
Anderson Verajeo
Why for us: We need a backup big something bad. Verajeo gets 8/8 off the bench and he’s expiring to boot, while we ditch a disappointing contract in Kyle Lowry. This gives Patty Mills a shot as the backup PG and helps our 25th in the league rebounding efforts.
We sign Jerome Randle for PG depth after the deal.
Jan. 5, 2012 – Aces @ Kings – Win 106-89, (11-22)
We hold Tyreke Evans to just 6 points and the Kings can’t recover. Favors dominates with 24/8/6 and Verajeo drops 10/8 off the bench.
Jan. 6, 2012 – Trailblazers @ Aces – Win 105-79, (12-22)
Our defense picks it up and holds a tough team in Portland to just 79 points. Okafor drops 16 and 15 boards while Curry gets 18/11 assists.
Jan. 16, 2012 – Aces @ Rockets – Win 109-102, (15-24)
Curry gets 32/14 as Coach Rick gets a nice win against the team that fired him. Kevin Martin had 27 for the Rockets, but Patrick Mills, who is getting extensive bench time and is the sixth man (with DeRozan finally starting[/b] had 14/6.
Jan. 19, 2012 - Hawks @ Aces – Win 129-119 (17-24)
We avenge an earlier loss to the Hawks from this month and Curry has 33/15 assists. All starters score in double figures, and Fields gets 16 off the bench, while Joe Johnson flat out dominates with 48.
Jan. 23, 2012 – Sonics @ Aces – Loss 117-110 (18-25)
First game against our fellow expansion team and that didn’t go too well. Dispite 27/10 for Favors and 17 assists from Curry, the veteran leadership of the Sonics bests our youth.
Jan. 30, 2012 – Aces @ Wizards – Win 100-93 (21-25)
We end the month with a 11-5 record in January and a nice win in Washington. It’s a coming out party for Derrick Favors, who has 37 points and 14 boards in a dominating effort! And best of all – we’re now just ONE game out of the playoff hunt! Getting a big man backup in Anderson Verajeo and giving Patrick Mills the sparkplug role has helped tremendously!
By the way, just to note – Phoenix is 4-39. That is – check it – 24 straight losses. Holy. Cow. That gamble was a Vegas steal!
Omar Samhan has been fighting with Derrick Favors a lot, but no one is mad at Favors so we all know it’s Omar’s problem. I tell him if he does it again, he’s out.
Roster Stats -
- Code: Select all
Starting Lineup
Player Pos PPG APG RPG SPG BPG
Stephen Curry PG 20.6 9.6 3.7 1.7 0.3
DeMar DeRozan SF 10.4 1.7 2.8 1.1 0.3
Omri Casspi SF 11.1 2.0 3.5 1.0 0.1
Derrick Favors PF 17.3 1.8 7.7 0.8 2.5
Emeka Okafor C 10.7 1.5 9.3 1.1 1.9
Bench Depth Chart
Player Pos PPG APG RPG SPG BPG
Anderson Varejao C 7.6 1.6 8.1 0.7 0.5
Patrick Mills SG 4.8 1.5 0.2 0.4 0.0
Landry Fields SG 9.5 1.4 2.5 0.7 0.0
Grant Hill SF 7.7 1.1 1.8 0.7 0.1
Omar Samhan C 3.4 0.7 3.7 0.4 0.7
Jerome Randle PG 4.2 2.0 0.6 0.0 0.0
Renaldo Balkman PF 1.8 0.2 0.8 0.1 0.0
League Leaders -
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[b]Point-per-Game[/b]
#Player Pos Team PPG
1 Kevin Durant SF Thunder 29.5
2 Deron Williams PG Jazz 26.7
3 Monta Ellis SG Warriors 25.4
4 Danny Granger SF Pacers 24.0
5 Eric Gordon SG Clippers 23.9
[b]Rebounds-per-Game[/b]
# Player Pos Team RPG
1 Dwight Howard C Magic 16.2
2 Andrew Bogut C Bucks 12.9
3 Amare Stoudemire C Knicks 12.6
4 Joakim Noah C Bulls 12.5
5 Yao Ming C Rockets 12.3
[b]Assists-per-Game[/b]
# Player Pos Team APG
1 Chris Paul PG Hornets 10.8
2 Deron Williams PG Jazz 10.5
3 Russell Westbrook PG Thunder 9.6
[b]4 Stephen Curry PG Aces 9.6 [/b]
5 Brandon Jennings PG Bucks 9.3
[b]Blocks-per-Game[/b]
# Player Pos Team BPG
1 Dwight Howard C Magic 4.0
2 Andrew Bogut C Bucks 3.9
3 Andris Biedrins C Warriors 3.1
4 Josh Smith PF Hawks 3.0
5 Joakim Noah C Bulls 2.9
[b]Steals-per-Game[/b]
# Player Pos Team SPG
1 Stephen Jackson SG Lakers 2.4
2 Chris Paul PG Hornets 2.1
3 Greg Stiesmsma C Bucks 2.0
4 Tyreke Evans SG Kings 1.9
5 Andre Iguodala SF 76ers 1.9
[b]Turnovers-per-Game[/b]
# Player Pos Team TOPG
[b]1 Stephen Curry PG Aces 4.4[/b]
2 Brandon Jennings PG Bucks 4.3
3 Russell Westbrook PG Thunder 4.3
4 Kobe Bryant SG Lakers 4.0
5 Tyreke Evans SG Kings 3.8
Curry still in the top five in APG – bu #1 in TPG. Ugh.
Chicago still sits at #1 in the East, while Portland sits at top in the West with 37-12 record and Utah sits at 33-9
Meanwhile, in rookieland:
1. Kyrie Irving – still STILL God. 15.2/5.7.
2. Ricky Rubio – Still doing well for Minny, with 13.5 and 6.1 assists.
3. John Henson – 12 points, 7.1 boards and 2.0 blocks. Dynamic.
4. Kemba Walker – If it wasn’t for Kyrie, he’d be top point.
5. Jonas Valanciusas – 10.1 and 8.0 boards, very nice.
BTW - Jimmer Fredette got DLeagued by the Raptors. Um, what?
Scouts 2012 Draft Top 5:
1. PG Teddy Wilden (Mississippi State)
Still the apparent favorite, which is fine with me, because it means if I don’t get the top pick, it doesn’t mean my guy will go first.
2. PF Quincy Lutz (Cal)
Moved up with questions surrounding the more talented Tucker.
3. PF Josh Tucker (Xiavier)
Still getting godly stats at 29.5 and 15.5, but serious questions are flying around him.
4. SG Kevin Colt (Florida)
Well rounded scorer who’s consistant presence in the top makes me curious.
5. PG Ward Kante (Washington State)
New to the list with solid 20/8 stats.