Two Quotes, Two Very Different Styles - Gilbert Arenas & Shaquille O'Neal.

According to a report out of the Washington Times, Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler aren't getting along. Along with Antawn Jamison, the three are co-captains of the 3-9 Wizards and primarily responsible for the teams success.

Arenas, having missed most of the last two seasons with injury is never happy. Just as all of his problems in life are usually someone elses fault.

The feud with Butler stems from Arenas's belief that Butler isn't a good fit for Washington's offense, or he simply isn't trying hard enough.

I think Arenas is totally out of line here and he should show more respect to Butler. Caron has been fantastic for the Wizards and has improved and evolved into a star in the league, and a two-time All Star. This was after the Miami Heat and L.A. Lakers kind of gave up on him after only three seasons in the league.

Since signing his $111-million contract last year, Arenas has yet to prove that he's worth anywhere near that sort of money.

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Shaquille O'Neal's days as a dominant player in the NBA are well and truly over. When it comes to hosting a scrum or press conference though, Diesel remains in a league of his own.

Touche Shaq.

The Cavs have started out slowly and I don't think that the acquisition of Shaq is going to be enough for them to win the championship this year, but one thing's for sure. If this is Shaq's last season, his sense of humour will be missed around the NBA. We'll still hear from him as it's unlikely he'll fade off quietly into the sunset, but it will be the end of one of the most charismatic players ever.

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A large part of the reason the Phoenix Suns sit atop the Western Conference.

It must be so much fun to play on a team like the Suns. Especially when you see guys respond like Channing Frye and Jared Dudley have.

When you have a distributor like Steve Nash, guys know that they'll get their shots. Ego's get pushed aside because that's the way. Nash seems disinterested in scoring the ball himself a lot of the time, even though he's more than capable of doing so.

But, look at Frye and Dudley. Already, Frye has tried more three-pointers (86) through 14 games than he did during his previous four seasons (70). And he's knocking them down at a decent clip - 44-percent. You get the feeling that he's so happy to be finally given a chance to just play and to play the way that suits him best.

It's the same for Dudley. He's on track for career highs in points and rebounds and even he is jacking up a few three-balls as well, he's 24-for-49.

It remains to be seen if the Suns method can overcome the odds and win a championship, but they are certainly fun to watch and Nash is showing no signs of slowing down, despite his age.

NBA Power Rankings: Mavs Ride Into Town, but Hawks Go Top

The sexy thing to do this season is to lose your superstar and then go on a winning run.

Milwaukee did it when Michael Redd went down, and so did Sacramento after Kevin Martin fractured his wrist. This week New Orleans without Chris Paul were too good for the red hot Phoenix Suns and Atlanta Hawks.

Strange? Doesn't make sense? Luckily The Daily Hurt's weekly power rankings are here to break it all down.

1. ATLANTA HAWKS - Despite coming off a loss to New Orleans on Saturday night, Atlanta takes top spot in a week which otherwise saw them sweep Portland, Miami and Houston. For the first time in a long time, the Hawks look for real.
2. DALLAS MAVERICKS - Considering the Mavs have won five straight and have been missing Josh Howard, Shawn Marion and Erick Dampier for parts of the run, they probably should be ranked No. 1. However, Atlanta has been more impressive overall.
3. ORLANDO MAGIC - Dwight Howard took only four shots in Friday nights victory over the Celtics. The Magic have won five straight and are starting to assert themselves in the East.
4. LA LAKERS - All that TV work clearly distracted Pau Gasol from his day job with the Lakers. He looked very rusty in his debut, scoring 24 points and grabbing 13 rebounds on 60-percent shooting as LA strolled past the Bulls. The Lakers three opponents this week are a combined 7-and-31.
5. PHOENIX SUNS - The Suns weren't the only team to get surprised by the Hornets this week. It was a minor blip and Phoenix made the Pistons pay for it on Sunday night. Phoenix has a light week at home to Memphis before a trip to Minnesota and Toronto which should keep them on top of the West.
6. CLEVELAND CAVALIERS - LeBron won't answer questions about 2010. Fine. But will he answer this? Are the Cavs a better team without Shaq? Cleveland is 4-1 sans O'Neal.
7. MILWAUKEE BUCKS - OK Bucks, you wanna play with the big boys? A three game road trip starting in San Antonio before coming home to face the Magic on Saturday will test Milwaukee. Brandon Jennings has coped incredibly well so far, but how long can he go before Mr. Rookie Wall pays him a visit?
8. DENVER NUGGETS - The Nuggets dropped the ball against the Clippers on Friday night but rebounded with a solid win over the Bulls on Saturday. Denver remains undefeated at home, where they play five of their next six and against only one opponent (Miami) with a record over .500.
9. BOSTON CELTICS - Since Doc Rivers asked Rasheed Wallace to limit his three-pointers, 'Sheed has gone 0-for-11. Not that they've all been bad looks, but Wallace hasn't given the Celtics the offensive punch off the bench they were hoping to get from him.
10. PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS - I'm not sure what to make of the Blazers. They are 10-5 but were easily beaten by the Warriors in Oakland. They've been very good at times, but less convincing at others.
11. HOUSTON ROCKETS - The Rockets have alternated wins and losses over the last 11 games, which seems about right. Whether or not the alleged argument between Tracy McGrady and Rick Adelman ever occured, it's hard to see how T-Mac fits into the current lineup.
12. MIAMI HEAT - It's not quite panic button time in Miami just yet. That will come if the Heat announce that they've signed Allen Iverson. Sunday's win at home against New Orleans was just the Heat's second in the last five games and both were by one point.
13. UTAH JAZZ - Three wins on the bounce have the Jazz over .500, and with their next five games at home, Utah's slow start to the season should be a distant memory soon. Deron Williams shouldn't need a campaign to get himself voted into the All-Star game, but apparently he does , and I'm going to try to help him out.
14. SAN ANTONIO SPURS - There might not be a better time to take advantage of the Spurs. Tony Parker is clearly not 100-percent, nor is Manu Ginobili and San Antonio hasn't had a record under .500 (5-6) this far into a season since Tim Duncan's rookie year.
15. NEW ORLEANS HORNETS - Is Marcus Thornton the Rookie of the Year? Probably not, but he's averaging 18 PPG over his last seven—not bad for a second-rounder. Since CP3 went down, Thornton has been the spark that's seen the Hornets sting the Suns and the Hawks and come within a Udonis Haslem bucket of defeating the Heat.
16. MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES - It's not the first time that a team has gotten better after Allen Iverson left it. The Grizz had won three straight before falling to the Bucks on Saturday night. O.J. Mayo and Rudy Gay still need to work better with each other, but the signs are there that Memphis is better than its 4-9 record.
17. OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER - OKC get mostly recognized for the firepower on offense, but the Thunder is playing some pretty good D too. Maybe it's just me, but I can't wait to watch Oklahoma versus Milwaukee on Friday night. I didn't imagine I'd have said that at the start of the season.
18. TORONTO RAPTORS - With career highs in points, field-goal percentage and rebounds, Chris Bosh is holding up his end of the bargain in Toronto. Unfortunately, the 6-8 Raptors aren't doing the same.
19. INDIANA PACERS - Let me get this straight. The Pacers had no problems defeating the Celtics, but they couldn't get it done against the Knicks or Bobcats. Yep, it sure must be fun being an Indiana fan.
20. CHICAGO BULLS - By the time November ends, the Bulls will have played 10 of their 15 games on the road. For that reason, I'll reserve making any major assessment of this team until there schedule has evened out a little bit, but I suspect they are better than what we've seen so far.
21. PHILADELPHIA 76ERS - The Sixers pushed the Cavs for three periods on Saturday but then went 4-for-23 in the fourth, ending their challenge. Philly has no shortage of offensive weapons in Iguodala, Williams, Young, and Brand, but no one's really sure of who gets the big money shots. With four of their next five on the road, the 5-8 Sixers are in tough to stay around the .500 mark.
22. DETROIT PISTONS - Defense isn't the problem in Detroit, it's lack of firepower. That will change when they get Prince and Hamilton back, but nobody seems to know exactly when that will be.
23. LA CLIPPERS - Friday nights' victory over the Nuggets showed what the Clips are capable of when they get it together, especially considering they trailed by 14 points in the first quarter. While Blake Griffin is still at least a few weeks away, the Clippers should get Eric Gordon back this week.
24. NEW YORK KNICKS - Just the thought of Allen Iverson joining the Knicks must have been enough to spark the team into action. If Nate Robinson wonders why anyone thinks he has an attitude problem, here's the reason: http://bit.ly/088W3iN
25. SACRAMENTO KINGS - The good news for the Kings is that Tyreke Evans is day-to-day. The bad news is that the Kings have lost three straight and the post-Kevin Martin injury run is well and truly over.
26. GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS - The Stephen Jackson soap opera finally concluded this week (thankfully). The question is who will be next to go—Monta Ellis or Don Nelson? Ellis says he wants to stay but this is Golden State. Expect chaos to resume anytime now.
27. WASHINGTON WIZARDS - The week started off so well. Antawn Jamison returned and the Wiz hammered the the Cavs by 17. It ended with losses to Oklahoma City and San Antonio totalling 41 points. Huh?
28. CHARLOTTE BOBCATS - When Stephen Jackson said he wanted to go to a contender, did he mean a contender for the first pick in the 2010 draft? This can't possibly be the same team that blew out Atlanta by 20 earlier this month.
29. MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES - The Timberwolves get Al Jefferson back and lose both games by a combined 41 points. It's hard to see where or when win number two will come.
30. NEW JERSEY NETS - Couldn't beat the Knicks and haven't been able to beat anyone else yet either. Whatever happens, Lawrence Frank should definitely be a contestant on Survivor next season; he'll romp in.
    Questions, comments or suggestions, email me:
    thedailyhurt@hotmail.com
    www.twitter.com/LeighEllis
    

FIFA Gives Ireland the Dikembe Mutombo and the Jazz and Hornets Make Progress

As expected, FIFA rejected Ireland's request to replay their match with France.

No surprise there. If FIFA had agreed to it, it would have sent the wrong message and they also knew that if they bended here, they would be inundated with requests to replay matches anytime a controversy occured.

In other words, almost every time international games are played.

There will be plenty more controversies and you can be sure that the World Cup will have it's fair share, just like there was in Germany in 2006.

Given all the drama, who would have thought Roy Keane would be the person to provide a voice of reason.

Just one note, if you go to a press conference with Keane, be sure to turn your phone off.

*****

And it's on to NBA action from Thursday night.

No Chris Paul but the New Orleans Hornets outworked the red hot Phoenix Suns.

The Hornets are 2-2 under Jeff Bower and 2-1 without Paul, although they lost the game when Paul went down.

The NBA: where Amazing does happen.

Phoenix had been one of the hottest teams in the league, while the Hornets were already in disarray.

New Orleans were looking shaky at best even when Paul was in the lineup. Peja couldn't shoot anymore and David West was out of sorts.

Suddenly though, a quick coaching shakeup and an injury to their superstar was all the Hornets needed to regain their buzz. (I hate that pun, but it works here!)

This game was won on the glass where the Hornets pounded Phoenix; New Orleans grabbed 25 offensive rebounds alone !

It also helped that Stojakovic nailed seven 3-pointers and rookie Darren Collison overcame a bad shooting night to finish with 15 points, five boards and five dimes, including two big buckets in the closing minutes.

In the last three games, Stojakovic has scored 65 points after he scored just 80 over the first 10 games.

That was easily Phoenix's most unexpected loss of the season and it will be interesting to see how they respond.

The Suns start had many people thinking that they could be contenders again in the West, but this loss could be a sign that they might have already peaked this season.

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The Utah Jazz beat the San Antonio Spurs in Texas for the first time this century.

When it last happened, Karl Malone led the Jazz with 30 points and no current Utah player was even in the league then.

Of course Jerry Sloan was coaching, although he was only in 47th season in charge back then.

Seriously though, it's incredible to think that the Jazz hadn't won there since 1999. It's not as if they've had dreadful teams either.

It just shows how dominant San Antonio has been at home, mentally and physically.

It's also worth noting that the Spurs were without Parker and Ginobili, but still they defeated Toronto and Dallas earlier this season while missing those two.

San Antonio are notoriously slow starters too, but this is the first time they have a sub .500 record through 10 games since 1996.

Good to see Deron Williams back for the Jazz.

His daughter had been unwell and he missed a couple of games, but since returning he's posted solid numbers which suggests that whatever his daughters illness is, it isn't playing on his mind too much which is great news.

*****

Unrelated to NBA, but this why basketball is better than hockey.

The Case of Thierry Henry and the French Nickers

Before we get into the NBA rounds for today, the big story from Wednesday was France's controversial football world cup qualifying win over Ireland in Paris.

French striker Thierry Henry clearly handled the ball. That is beyond doubt. It was deliberate and it led to the goal that secured victory for France.

The question is whether or not the goal should have been allowed.

The answer is yes.

If the referee didn't see it, then it doesn't matter. Whether or not Henry is a cheat because of it, is a different matter, but unless the referee determines it to be handball or not, then the goal stands.

Simple as that.

This Irish based blogger also posed an interesting question.

Twentymajor says that Ireland captain Robbie Keane was whistled for handball twice during the match, which begs the question, is Keane any different from Henry, just because he got caught?

I mean, wasn't he trying to cheat the ref as well?

I don't see how it is any different.

Best newspaper headline goes to British tabloid, when they screamed "French Nickers".

*****

Anyway, on to the hoops.

And there was a couple of upsets in the NBA on Wednesday night.

Who would have known that the New York Knicks actually had some fight in them. The Knicks looked gone at half time trailing by 15 points; Indiana led by 30 points from Danny Granger, were shooting a scorching 59-percent.

The Knicks were still down by 13 late in the fourth quarter before storming back to win.

You know it was a bad loss for the Pacers when Eddy Curry, who was playing his first game in about a decade scored 10 points.

Mike Wells from the Indy Star has a few other insights into the Pacers worst loss of the season.

Still on the Knicks and it looks like Allen Iverson will sign with them soon, possibly as early as Thursday night.

They deserve each other really. Iverson will no doubt think that the Knicks want him there because he can lead them to the post season, but in reality, he's just going to be another side show for the circus that is New York Knicks basketball.

*****

Back to the upsets and how about the Wizards dumping LeBron by 17 points.

Antawn Jamison had 31 points and 10 boards in his return and gave us our first look of what he, Gilbert Arenas (18 points, eight assists) and Caron Butler (19 points, six rebounds) are capable if they can just stay on the floor together.

They might want to work on their three point shooting though; they combined to go 3-for-17 last night.

The Minnesota Timberwolves aren't getting any nearer to a second victory. The T'wolves are just dreadful and coach Kurt Rambis thinks that it is more on the players shoulders than anything else.

He's right.

Minnesota has had its share of injuries, but every team goes through that.

The Wolves just don't have any spark or fire and Rambis was dead right to call his players out on it.

I thought that Rambis would never have walked away from the cushy role he enjoyed as Phil Jackson's assistant, but he stepped out of his comfort zone to take the job in Minnesota.

I hope he can get something out of this franchise that has struggled for most of its existence.

*****

One franchise who knows about overcome struggles is the Atlanta Hawks.

Yet, the Hawks keep rolling, last night they brushed past the Miami Heat 105 - 90.

It's great to see Atlanta continuing to build on their strong start to the season. Regular readers of this blog know that I've been harping on about Josh Smith's maturity as a major factor behind Atlanta's success and it was evident again last night.

He was whistled for a tech foul (second for the season), but he logged his third straight double-double and also led the team in assists with seven.

It's a different story for the Miami Heat though. Or should that be the same old story in Miami.

They've been playing really badly of late. I personally think that Dwyane Wade is capable of carrying this team deep into the playoffs, but their form of late hasn't been impressive.

Dwyane Wade is too good of a player to let the slide continue and they get the defensively inept Toronto Raptors on Friday night, who Wade averages 27 points on 53-percent shooting against.

Thunder Stun Heat, Suns Comeback Again, Raptors Defence Vanishes

• It shouldn't come as much of a surprise but the Oklahoma City Thunder easily handled the Miami Heat in Florida last night. Kevin Durant had 32 points and nine rebounds, but it was the defence played by Thabo Sefolosha on Dwyane Wade that gave OKC the edge. Wade was just 6-for-19 from the field and had a season worst six turnovers. Sefolosha picked up four steals. He doesn't have the sexiest offensive game in the world, but he makes up for it on defence.


• Also, despite Miami's 7-3 start, they needed a Wade buzzer-beater on Saturday night just to defeat the winless New Jersey Nets. Part of the reason for Miami's recent struggles ?Remember when Jermaine O'Neal had two double-doubles to open the season, well last night's (19 pts, 10 rebs)was his first since October 30. He's also battling injury again. He was a beast in his early days, but his many injuries have worn his body down and he just doesn't have the intimidation he once had.

*****

• Speaking of old dudes, Steve Nash is showing no signs of slowing down at all. The Suns trailed the surprising Houston Rockets by 15 points mid way through the second period last night, before storming back to win by six, 111-105. The 59-year-old Nash scored only 12 points, but dished out 16 assists, and Phoenix won its fifth game of the season when trailing after three periods.


• Amare Stoudemire was impressive again offensively, scoring 23 points on 8-for-14 shooting, but he only six rebounds. For someone of his strength and explosiveness, he should be getting 10 boards a game in his sleep.


• Channing Frye is one of the most intriguing stories of the season. The scrawny 6'11" Frye plays at centre but jacks up three-balls like he's Baron Davis, only Frye's shooting the long ball at a 46-percent clip, while Davis fires away at a not so friendly 29-percent.

*****

• One Clipper who's game looks to be coming around is forward Al Thornton. He started out very slowly and scored in double figures once in his first eight games, but is averaging almost 20-points-per-game over his last four. He has tremendous talent, I just hope we get to see it all in Clipperland, but it's never been a particularly great place for a young player to develop.

*****

• The Toronto Raptors defence has improved lately, but Tuesday night against Denver was a poor performance. Toronto gave up seven dunks to the Nuggets in the third quarter and Denver scored 102 points over the last three quarters to blow the Raptors apart...again. Make it six straight wins over the Raptors in Denver.


• To be fair, the altitude in Denver is a component that you don't really have to face in any other city, but seasoned Raptors watchers know that what they witnessed last night didn't have as much to do with lack of oxygen as it did with lack of effort.

*****

• This has nothing to do with sport, a ballsy crocodile gets it...check it out.

Allen Iverson Already Thinking Comeback ?

• A day after being released by the Memphis Grizzlies and the New York Knicks are reportedly considering signing him. Seems about right. The Knicks are going nowhere and have are a complete joke right now, so they might as well add Iverson who continues to say that he'd be happy to come off the bench, even if he has clearly proven to the world that that is not the case.


• Actually, considering that the Knicks point guard is Chris Duhon, Iverson would at least be an upgrade there.


• I was talking to a workmate and we agreed that despite the fact that Iverson is the only person in the world who still thinks he's a franchise player, if he did accept a secondary or support role at a team, he would provide a decent option to defer to. Can you imagine when Kobe gets doubled that Iverson would be alone to operate?

*****

• Tough break for Orlando Magic point guard Jameer Nelson will miss four to six weeks. Just as the Magic get Rashard Lewis back, Nelson goes down again. I love his game and think that Orlando really missed him in the finals last year.

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• The Atlanta Hawks are crowing about being ranked No. 1 by ESPN's Marc Stein. That's a pretty good spot, but Atlanta could only make it to No. 3 on the absolute official NBA power rankings. Atlanta has a very good team and Jamal Crawford is making the most of his role as sixth man. That, and Josh Smith is playing at a very high level.

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• It's hard to disagree with John Krolik from the Cavs blog. Brandon Jennings 55 point night against the Warriors was great to watch and we could all see that he has a very similar shooting style to Michael Redd, the Warriors hardly clamped down on him and made him work.

*****

• Stephen Jackson got his wish. He wanted to go to a contender and wound up at one in the Charlotte Bobcats. The thing is with the Bobcats is that they probably won't make the playoffs but will finish just outside meaning they won't really be a chance to get the number one pick in next June's draft. The Warriors get Raja Bell and big Vladimir Radmanovic which I have no idea how they'll fit in at Golden State.

NBA Power Rankings: Blazers, Bucks and Pacers Surge; Nuggets Go Top

Milwaukee Bucks rookie Brandon Jennings explosive start to NBA life has made the Bucks relevant again and in first place in the Central division. Meanwhile, the Portland Trail Blazers have quietly won six straight and the Boston Celtics dropped back-to-back games for the first time this season to see them tumble from top spot.

What does it all mean? The week three power rankings provide the answer.

DENVER NUGGETS —While Denver only squeaked by the Bulls and then got caught up in the Brandon Jennings typhoon in Milwaukee, what was most impressive about them this week was how they used defense to stifle the Lakers. Offense is always more fun to watch, but defense is what wins championships.

LA LAKERS —The Lakers went from a 19-point victory at home to the Suns one night, to a 26-point loss on the road in Denver the next. Had the Lakers beaten the Rockets on Sunday night, they'd be in top spot.

ATLANTA HAWKS —Jamal Crawford is averaging 17 points off the bench providing the Hawks with the offensive weapon that's been missing over the last couple of seasons. Atlanta has won three straight and begins a three game homestand on Monday night against the Blazers. I love the way Josh Smith is playing right now. Mature, responsible and unselfish.

PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS —Portland has won six straight, but apart from against the San Antonio Spurs, none of their wins have come against playoff-bound opponents. Defensively, Greg Oden's game looks to be coming together, now if he can just provide some consistency on the offensive end, the Blazers will become even more formidable.

PHOENIX SUNS —A thumping loss to the Lakers tempered the Suns' hot start, however, Phoenix has a fairly light schedule for the rest of the month which should keep them among the leaders out West.

CLEVELAND CAVALIERS —The Florida double-header is never easy so that the Cavs went 2-0 in two nights suggests that, after their sluggish start, LeBron has got Cleveland on the right track. The LeBron/D-Wade rivalry continues to live up to the hype.

MIAMI HEAT —In case you missed it, here it is again http://bit.ly/qEPrY3 . Oh, and then he followed that up with this http://bit.ly/2epWTx . Yes, Dwyane it is your house.

INDIANA PACERS —Danny Granger predicted a victory over the Celtics on Saturday night and was good to his word. The Pacers have won four straight and like last year, will be difficult to beat at home. Did anyone expect Dahntay Jones to be Indiana's second leading scorer at 16 PPG?

BOSTON CELTICS —The Celtics stumbled this week and showed a vulnerability against fast-paced teams. An Eastern conference finals rematch at home with the Orlando Magic is a must-watch on Friday night.

MILWAUKEE BUCKS —By now, everyone knows Brandon Jennings went off for 55 points against the Warriors on Saturday night, but did you know that for the week, the rookie shot 9-for-10 from three point range and 60-percent from the field? He's also leading the team in assists.

DALLAS MAVERICKS —The Mavericks overcame a 17-point deficit at home to defeat the Rockets but they couldn't overcome a Spurs team on the road that was missing Duncan and Parker. Dallas gets another shot at the back-to-full-strength San Antonio this week.

DETROIT PISTONS —Will Bynum is a mini-me version of Ben Wallace, but with an offensive game. The Pistons have been treading water without Hamilton and Prince but they face a tough test this week at L.A. (Lakers), Portland and Utah.

ORLANDO MAGIC —The Magic welcome back Rashard Lewis this week and his arrival couldn't come at a better time. Orlando's offense has been inconsistent and with Lewis back on the floor, it will take some of the heat off Dwight Howard.

CHICAGO BULLS —The Bulls begin the first of six straight on the road Tuesday at Sacramento. Chicago scored 60 points in the first half against Toronto on Wednesday but managed only 29 in the second half en route to a loss.

SAN ANTONIO SPURS —San Antonio still hasn't won on the road and dropped their first home game to Oklahoma City on Saturday night. The Spurs leading scorer? Four players are averaging 15 PPG.

OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER —OKC burned the Spurs in San Antonio on Saturday night but then couldn't get it done against the Clippers on Sunday night, despite 40 from Kevin Durant? There is so much to like about the Thunder, but consistency continues to be their biggest obstacle.

HOUSTON ROCKETS —The Rockets are easily the hardest team to rank. They lose at Sacramento but win at the Lakers. I love Aaron Brooks's aggressiveness which is tempered perfectly by the calmness of Luis Scola.

SACRAMENTO KINGS —Just what is going on in Sactown? The Kings are 4-0 since Kevin Martin went down. I can't wait to see Tyreke Evans go up against Brandon Jennings in December. How strange does that sound, looking forward to a Bucks versus Kings matchup?

TORONTO RAPTORS —The Raptors spotted the Clippers a 22-point lead before romping home by 15 points on Friday night. Then on Sunday night, Turkoglu missed a buzzer beater against the Phoenix Suns. If Toronto can be at or over .500 by the time they return home on Friday night to face Miami, it will have been a successful road trip.

PHILADELPHIA 76ERS —Losing sophomore Marresse Speights for up to eight weeks is a severe blow to the Sixers. Philly's main problem, though, remains on the defensive end where they have already allowed more than 110 points four times this season. Elton Brand is averaging less than 10 points per game.

UTAH JAZZ —The Jazz will be happy enough with a split in the two games that they didn't have Deron Williams, who's been dealing with a medical issue with his daughter. Hopefully, she is well and D-Will is back on the court soon.

MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES —If there's one player I wouldn't sign to replace Allen Iverson, it would be Jamaal Tinsley. The Pacers gave him $14 million to go away, that's got to say something about his character. Must be good enough for Grizzlies owner Michael Hiesley though.

GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS —The dub's squeaked out two wins this week. One was against the Timberwolves and the other against the Knicks. It just goes to show the states of Minnesota and New York that even Golden State, with all their chaos and mess can still keep it together enough to beat them.

LA CLIPPERS —Just as the Clippers looked to be getting it together again, they fell apart. To make matters worse, the Clips opened with a home heavy schedule but could only manage two wins from seven games. Sunday night's win over Oklahoma might have been the Clips' best performance of the season.

NEW ORLEANS HORNETS —Chris Paul deserves so much more than what he's getting from Hornets owner George Shinn. Byron Scott was unlucky to get the boot and the best New Orleans can hope for from this season now is a high lottery pick.

CHARLOTTE BOBCATS —The Bobcats are last in points scored and field goal percentage. They have scored less than 82 points in six of their nine games. It makes you wonder how they've acutally been able to win one, let alone three games.

WASHINGTON WIZARDS —Let me get this straight. Earl Boykins hadn't played in the NBA since April 2008, and he comes off the bench to lead the Wizards in scoring in his first game back. It still wasn't enough to stop Washington from losing their sixth straight.

MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES —It's hard to believe that the T'Wolves were unbeaten at one point this season. Sure it was 1-0 and their lone victory was over the Nets but the way they have played since makes you wonder how they ever did it.

NEW JERSEY NETS —The Nets remain ahead of the Knicks because they've at least shown the ability to compete, as was proven against Miami on Saturday night, but when you're down, you're down.

NEW YORK KNICKS —Mike D'Antoni will probably survive the season, but he needs to get this team to show some passion and fight. Anything better than what the Knicks have offered so far will be an improvement.