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Basketballr.com Update before we get started– things will be relatively slow around here until February 1st. In February, readers can expect a few more BasketBallr bloggers, plus some other nice updates to keep things fun and to keep you up-to-date. Check in with us periodically, but keep your eyes open for a big boost come Feb.

For quite some time now, this blogger has been a big fan of Jason Maxiell. I’m excited to watch Jason play. I’m proud of the youth and hunger that he represents for a team that is arguably complacent and… getting older. He’s the nameless face in a squad that has a chip on its shoulder for a quickly fading success story. The underdog amongst a team that was once underdogs themselves…

It has to be hard growing up in Rasheed Wallace’s shadow, as much as it must be hard to take a seat behind another all-star, Antonio McDyess. However, I’d like to think that Jason Maxiell is two all-stars away from gaining the minutes and the attention it takes to become an all-star himself. His dominance in Detroit’s 2006-07 pre-season was one thing, but finally J-Max had a chance to show his coach, his team, and the city behind them that he is a contender just as well.

Earlier tonight, Jason Maxiell recorded his second career double-double. J-Max put up 17 points on 5-10 shooting, 12 rebounds (8 of them offensive), 2 steals and 2 assists. Maxiell also put up the final field goal of the night, which sealed the game, for his first career game winning shot.

Its unfortunate that Maxiell’s first dominating game came in Rasheed Wallace’s absense. I’d love to see Maxiell get a lot more time on the hardwood. In fact, I’ve been ready for quite some time to suggest that Maxiell get a bench spot in front of McDyess (which is painful to say, because this blogger is a huge Dyess fan as well…).

Kudos to Jason Maxiell. May your performance tonight show Flip Saunders who you are, and win you a few more minutes per game throughout this season. I’m excited to watch you, and I’m hoping that your youth, tenacity, and hunger will wax contagious upon a team that has a growing problem with complacency.

On a side note, kudos to Flip Saunders for exercising the Detroit bench in these last two back-to-back wins. Show the league (and more importantly, yourselves) that the Detroit Pistons do have the breadth to reach for that championship once again.

And one more thing– does anyone else see the Nas/Maxiell resemblance?

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Moving beyond the NBA Weekend in Review column Basketballr.com has run in the past, we’re going to try something different. We’ll take a look at the NBA’s greatest playmakers of the weekend, reliving some big games that happened around the league that you may not have been able to catch. Any thoughts? Comments? Suggestions? Share in the comments section below.

Friday, December 1st 2006

Friday night, the league’s leaders like Detroit, Dallas, and Orlando continued their dominance with strong performances. Orlando pulled past Portland with six players in double digits. Dallas defeated Sacramento with a partial game by Nowitzki and another big game from Josh Howard. And our favorite, the Detroit Pistons, owned New York with a career matching night from Tayshaun Prince, a 26 points from Hamilton, and an 88.9 FG%, 16 assist performance out of Mr. Big Shot himself.

What else happened over the weekend? Four career records were broken in Chicago’s 111-108 defeat of the New Orleans Hornets. Let’s take a look:

• Chris Paul dished out a career-high 18 assists on his third career triple-double. In addition to 18 assists, Paul grabbed 11 boards and put up 25 points on 46% shooting. This was Paul’s first triple-double of his second NBA season.
• NOK’s Rasaul Butler scored a career-high 33 points on 52% FG shooting– 7 from behind the arc. Only 2 of Butler’s points came from behind the free throw line, making this performance all the more impressive.
• Chicago’s very own Olympic gold medalist via Argentina (and this blogger’s favorite Bull), Andres Nocioni broke two personal records on Friday with 31 points and 5 trey’s. Nocioni also grabbed 13 boards.

Let’s take a look around the league at what else went down on Friday:

• Chris Bosh put up 25 points and 11 rebounds to carry the Toronto Raptors passed the Celtics, 102-106.
• Mo Williams had his 4th seasonal double-double, via 31 points and 10 boards, but not enough to lead the Bucks past Phoenix in their 116-122 loss. In that same game, Shawn Marion put up 27 points and yanked 14 boards.
• Carmelo Anthony led the Nuggets to a 106 to 92 win over Minnesota. Anthony scored 35 with 8 boards and 4 dimes.
• Other noteables:
• Z. Randolph 28 Pts, 13 Reb, 3 Ast
• A. Harrington 28 Pts, 8 Reb, 3 Ast
• J. Johnson 31 Pts, 5 Reb, 4 Ast
• G. Arenas 33 Pts, 5 Reb, 10 Ast

Saturday, December 2nd 2006

On Saturday night, Utah, San Antonio, Houston and Miami picked up from losses earlier in the week (including Miami’s loss to Detroit on Thursday night, bitches). Utah defeated Seattle 109-107, maintaining their league-best record of 14-4. San Antonio gave the Sacramento Kings their second loss in a row to the Texas Trinity, with a 100-98 win for the Spurs. Houston spanked Cleveland with one hell of a defensive victory, holding Cleveland to just 63 points againts Houston’s 81. Last, Miami barely overcame Memphis with a 98-97 win. After Miami’s win, apparently David Stern was seen in panic mode, working on developing new rules that will keep his boy toy, Dwyane Wade, above 30 ppg. More on that story as it develops…

Let’s shoot-around the NBA for Saturday night’s big performances:

• Andres Nocioni had another close call with his personal best on Saturday night, with 24 points early on. Unfortunately, foul trouble had him sidelined to just 30 minutes in that game. With another nine or ten minutes, he had a chance to take his 60% shooting and improve on the record he set the night before. Chicago defeated the Washington Wizards regardless, with a final score of 112-94.
• Chris Bosh followed up the previous night’s big game with 26 points and 13 boards, enough to defeat New York 103-100.
• Allen Iverson’s 37 point, 10 assist performance on Saturday wasn’t enough to pull the 76ers past the Nets, who defeated the Sixers 112-107. New Jersey had a big help in Vince Carter, who put up 41 points, 8 boards and 4 dimes.
• ‘Melo carried the Nuggets to their 2nd victory in a row, this one against Indiana, 121 to 101. Anthony scored 38 points on 56% shooting.
• And the rest:
• T. Murphy 23 Pts, 11 Reb, 4 Ast
• C. Butler 21 Pts, 10 Reb, 1 Ast
• K. Martin 30 Pts, 4 Reb, 1 Ast