AOW: LeBron James (NBA)

Why play four quarters, when you could win it in one?

That seemed to be the Cavaliers’ strategy Sunday against the Clippers, when they scored 46 points against LA’s 20 in the first quarter. LeBron James scored half the Cavs’ points in that quarter. Three of those points were off a shot from the “C” in “Cavaliers” 30 feet toward center court. Moments later another trey came from the “a” a few feet deeper.

James kept contributing to accumulate 32 points including five three-point shots and 11 assists. Four of those threes were in the first quarter.

LeBron is almost too easy a pick for the Athlete of the Week (AOW). Of all the teams in all the sports in the world, he might be the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of all. His career average is 27.7 PPG! He has improved all of his major stats in this, his seventh season in the NBA, scoring 29.4 PPG with 8.0 assists. He is one of the best athletes to ever play the game of basketball, but he continues to work to improve his game. He focused in the off-season on his shooting, and improved both his FG% and 3P% by 2% each over his career average.

As he has improved, so has his team. The Cavs now have the best record in the NBA at 38-11, are on an 8 game win streak, and are 2-0 against the Lakers, who are a half game behind them at 37-11.

Athlete of the Week is such an understatement for LeBron James it is almost insulting. James is simply “King.”

AOW: Jamal Crawford (NBA)

This week’s Athlete of the Week (AOW) is Jamal Crawford of the Atlanta Hawks, much due to his stellar performance last night against the Pheonix Suns. Crawford was drafted out of the University of Michigan by the Cavs in 2000 and played for the Bulls, Knicks, and Warriors before joining the Hawks this season. So far this year, he has been a reliable sixth man, playing 30.7 minutes per game off the bench to score 17.2 points a game.

Crawford has become a prolific shooter, and that is his primary role on the team. This year, he has improved his FG% from 40.7% to 45.6%, his 3PT% from 34.7% to 35.3%, and his FT% from 84.4% to 85.6%. The Hawks can count on Crawford to hit a big shot when they need it. Last night against the Suns they needed it, and he delivered.

Amare Stoudemire hit a FT to take a 101-99 Suns lead with 3 seconds left. After a timeout, the Hawks’ Mike Bibby inbounded the ball to Crawford, who fired a 28-foot 3-point shot over Jared Dudley that went in at the buzzer, earning Atlanta a 102-101 victory. In a game with horrible 3PT percentages of .154 for Atlanta and .217 for Pheonix, it was a perfect long ball from Jamal Crawford that made the difference.

Crawford finished the game with 21 points, 4 assists, a rebound, and a steal. He made 7 of 7 FT attempts, and of course the game winning 3 to bring the Hawks’ record to 26-13 and give the struggling NBA East a victory over a 24-16 West opponent. (Recap, Box Score)

Grizzlies sign “Done Ruthless”

Inside Hoops reports,

The Memphis Grizzlies claimed Memphis native Lester Hudson off waivers, Grizzlies General Manager and Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Wallace announced Friday (January 8). Hudson was available after being waived by the Boston Celtics on Jan. 6.

“We are excited to acquire Lester Hudson off waivers,” Wallace said. “Lester is a player we thought of highly in the pre-draft process. He earned favorable reviews for his performance during his brief time with the Celtics. He is an athletic, tough combo guard who was one of the most prolific scorers in college basketball over his two years at the University of Tennessee at Martin. It is a wonderful day for the Grizzlies to be able to bring this Memphian back home to continue his NBA career.”

The 6-3, 190-pound rookie guard averaged 1.4 points and 0.5 assists in 4.4 minutes in 16 appearances this season with the Celtics, who selected him in the second round (58th overall) of the 2009 NBA Draft. Boston also assigned Hudson to two different stints with their NBA Development League affiliate, the Maine Red Claws, where the 25-year-old posted 14.6 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.2 assists in 28.0 minutes in five games.

One of the most explosive scorers in the NCAA in recent years, Hudson ranked second in the nation in scoring in 2008-09 behind current Golden State Warriors rookie Stephen Curry, averaging 27.5 points as well as 7.9 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 2.34 steals in his senior season with the University of Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks. In his junior year, Hudson became the first men’s player in Division I history to record a quadruple-double with 25 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists and 10 steals on Nov. 13, 2007 vs. Central Baptist College.

The native Memphian transferred to UT-Martin after playing his first two seasons at Southwest Tennessee Community College in Memphis.

The Grizzlies’ roster now stands at 14 players.

inDsports has been tracking the progress of Hudson’s progress in the NBA and D-League after his impressive college career at UT-Martin earned him the nickname “Done Ruthless.”

LeBron’s 48 pts keep Cavs hot with comeback win

On LeBron James’ birthday he wasn’t about to give up a game to one of the top teams in the NBA East. He put up 48 points to lead the Cavs, who got off to a slow start, but tied it up at 101 with seconds left thanks to a 3-point shot by Anderson Varejao.

The big 106-101 win over the Atlanta Hawks brings the Cavs win streak to six. That includes road wins over the Suns, Kings, Lakers, and Hawks, and home wins over the Rockets and Hawks. That puts the Cavs to 26-8. They are tied with the Celtics (23-8) and Magic (23-8) in the loss column at the top of the East. The Lakers (25-6) and Suns (21-12) are two of the top three teams in the West.

The Cavs are without question the hottest team in the NBA. With the quality of these wins, I would argue that they are playing the best basketball in the league right now as well.

The Cavs have a bit of an easier stretch coming up (if there is such a thing in professional sports) with games against the Nets, Bulls, and Wizards, all teams with losing records. They head back out west for two tough nationally televised games after that:

@Denver (20-12), January 8th, 10:30 PM, ESPN
@Portland (20-13), January 10th, 9:00 PM, ESPN

Those games are also available online at ESPN360.com.

(Cavs-Hawks recap & box score)

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Courtney Sims officially in CSKA Moscow

EuroBasket reports that Courtney Sims, former Michigan Wolverine and Pacer, Sun, and Knick in the NBA, has signed with CSKA Moscow.

CSKA Vice President Natalia Furvaeva said in the announcement that CSKA had been needing help at the center position. Sims has not played in two months and was an easy player to pick up in the middle of the year.

Sims bounced around the NBA, playing small minutes for three teams and spending some time in the Development League as well. He put up 6 points and 6 rebounds in 24 minutes in the 5 games he played in the NBA. Playing for the Iowa Energy, he was the 2009 NBDL MVP, having put up 22.8 points, 11.0 rebounds, and 2.0 blocked shots in 32 games. He was cut from the Atlanta Hawks in the 2009 preseason.

CSKA could be a good breakout opportunity for Sims. Sitting atop the A Superleague standings at 8-0, they are one of the top international programs. I will keep an eye on the Sport-Scene.net tracker, where you can occasionally download and watch a televised CSKA game. I will also track EuroBasket’s Russia news for updates on his performance there.

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Update, 01/23/2010:

Courtney Sims officially [lasted 12 minutes] in CSKA Moscow! USBasket reports:

The reigning NBA D-League Most Valuable Player, Courtney Sims (6’11”-C-83, college: Michigan), has returned to the Iowa Energy. The 6-11 Sims returns to the D-league after an unsuccessful stint with Russian powerhouse CSKA Moscow. The former Michigan big man appeared in only one Euroleague game with CSKA, scoring six points in 12 minutes and was in fact replaced earlier this month with former D-League star Pops Mensah-Bonsu (6’9”-F-83, college: George Washington). Last year with the Energy, Sims appeared in 32 games and was fifth in the league in scoring (22.8ppg), third in rebounding (11.0rpg) to go along with 1.5 assists and 2.0 blocks all while leading the league in field goal percentage (60.5%). In addition to being named MVP, Sims was also Co-MVP of the D-League All-Star Game along with Blake Ahearn (6’2”-G-84, college: Missouri St.). Sims is in his third professional season and will make his 2009-10 D-league season debut on Saturday night as the Energy take on the Ft. Wayne Mad Ants at 11pm EST on a nationally broadcast game on Versus.

It’s a shame that Mad Ants star Ron Howard will be missing as he is still recovering from an injury. The Mad Ants certainly miss his 22.4 PPG. This could still be a fun game to watch anyway. Sims should be playing with a chip on his shoulder after all those wasted frequent flier miles. If you are one of the few people who actually have access to Versus, watch it!

Celtics re-assign Lester Hudson to D-Leagueor

InsideHoops.com reports,

The Boston Celtics announced today that guard Lester Hudson has been reassigned to the Maine Red Claws of the NBA Development League. This is Hudson’s second assignment to the Red Claws this season.

Hudson, a 6’3” guard, appeared in three games for the Red Claws earlier in the season and averaged 16.3 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.7 assists in 34.0 minutes per game.

Lester Hudson, nicknamed “Done Ruthless” by fans at The Mid-Majority, is in his rookie year in the NBA. In his senior year at Tennessee-Martin, Hudson scored 27.5 PPG and led his team to a 22-10 record, including their first-ever OVC Championship and an appearance in the NIT Postseason Tournament.

Hudson was the 58th overall pick in the NBA draft. He played some impressive minutes early in the season, but has not been given playing time in recent games leading up to his move to D-league.

Hudson’s stats for the Celtics:

G: 14 Min: 3.8 PTS: 1.1 FG: 4-14, .286 3PT: 2-4, .500 FT: 5-6, .833

RB: 0.4 AST: 0.4 TO: 0.36 STL: 0.21 BLK: 0.14 PF: 0.43

No doubt, mid-major fans and those of us here at inDsports will be tracking his progress for the Red Claws and looking forward to his return to the NBA soon.

Update (12/28/09):

In his first game returning to the Red Claws, “Done Ruthless” played 24 minutes and shot 7-14 from the field, scoring 21 points. He added five rebounds, five assists, and two steals.

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