Guide to NBA Games: January 27 2009

This is a trial run for a new feature we are considering: a daily quick evaluation of the games that will be played in the NBA. You get how close the game is predicted to be, how much significance the game has for determining what is likely to happen in the playoffs (including which teams will be in the playoffs) a notice if a team has the big disadvantage of playing on back to back nights, notice of reported injuries for both teams, and an overall ranking of the game on a scale of 0 to 10.

Sacramento KINGS at Cleveland CAVALIERS
How Close Prediction: The Cavaliers will bury the Kings (20+ points)
Playoff Outlook Significance: Virtually None
Back to Back: Neither Team
Cavaliers Injuries:
--Delonte West: Out indefinitely - Wrist - 1/16/09 He is expected to miss up to six weeks with a broken right wrist.
--Zydrunas Ilgauskus: Late Jan - Ankle - 1/3/09 Is expected to miss three to four weeks with a chip fracture in his left ankle.
Kings Injuries:
--Shelden Williams: PF Wrist Questionable for Jan. 27 at Cleveland
OVERALL RANK OF GAME FROM 0 to 10: 0

Indiana PACERS AT Orlando MAGIC
How Close Prediction: The Magic will win big over the Pacers, by 15-19 pts.
Playoff Outlook Significance: Very Little
Back to Back: Neither Team
Pacers Injuries:
--Roy Hibbert: Ques Tues - Concussion - 1/26/09 Is dealing with a mild concussion
--Jamaal Tinsley: Out indefinitely - Disciplinary - 10/27/08 He is has been suspended indefinitley.
Magic Injuries:
--Mickael Pietrus: Out indefinitely - Wrist - 12/31/08 He is dealing with a right wrist fracture.
--Mike Wilks: out for season - Knee - 10/27/08 He will miss the entire season with a torn right ACL/MCL
OVERALL RANK OF GAME FROM 0 to 10: 2

Denver NUGGETS at Memphis GRIZZLIES
How Close Prediction: The Nuggets will win a very close game over the Grizzlies, by 1-4 points.
Playoff Outlook Significance: Virtually None
Back to Back: Neither Team
Nuggets Injuries:
--Carmelo Anthony: Out Indefinitely - Hand - 1/23/09 He fractured his right shooting hand and has been out since early January. He has now been cleared for on court workouts and has set a return date of January 30th.
Grizzlies Injuries:
--Darko Milicic: Out indefinitely - Hand - 12/27/08 He has a broken knuckle on his right hand.
OVERALL RANK OF GAME FROM 0 to 10: 5

San Antonio SPURS at Utah JAZZ
How Close Prediction: The Spurs will win a close game over the Jazz, by 5-9 points.
Playoff Outlook Significance: Extremely Significant
Back to Back: Neither Team
Spurs Injuries:
--No Injuries
Jazz Injuries:
--Andrei Kirilenko: Out indefinitely - Ankle - 1/26/09 Is out with inflammation in his right ankle.
--Carlos Boozer: Mid Feb - Quadricep - 12/18/08 He is expected to miss at least four weeks while recovering from knee surgery.
OVERALL RANK OF GAME FROM 0 to 10: 7

Charlotte BOBCATS at Los Angeles LAKERS
How Close Prediction: The Lakers will win solidly over the Bobcats, by 10-14 points.
Playoff Outlook Significance: Little
Back to Back: Neither Team
Bobcats Injuries:
--D.J. Augustin: Early Feb - Abdominal - 1/26/09 Is expcted to miss another week with an abdominal strain.
--Sean May: Out indefinitely - Knee - 12/18/08 He is suffering from tendinitis in his right knee.
Lakers Injuries:
--No Injuries
OVERALL RANK OF GAME FROM 0 to 10: 3

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Playoff Projections as of Jan. 26 2009

The more I think about it, the more I am convinced that serious basketball fans should spend a lot more time watching and thinking about playoff games and a lot less time watching and thinking about regular season games. I think if you are a really serious fan, you should be spending some time going back and watching and thinking about last year's playoff games while the current year's regular season games are going on. I think you could easily justify spending as much as 40% to even 50% of your basketball time on playoff games while the regular season is ongoing.

Which motivates me to start issuing weekly playoff projections, from the middle of the regular season on.

PROJECTIONS AS OF JAN 27 2009
Look for Weekly Updates
EAST CONFERENCE FINAL FOUR
Boston Celtics
Cleveland Cavaliers
Orlando Magic
Detroit Pistons
WEST CONFERENCE FINAL FOUR
Los Angeles Lakers
San Antonio Spurs
New Orleans Hornets
Houston Rockets
EAST FINAL
Boston Celtics over Orlando Magic
WEST FINAL
Los Angeles Lakers over New Orleans Hornets
NBA CHAMPIONSHIP
Los Angeles Lakers over Boston Celtics 4 games to 3

Yes, it's true: I'm very worried that the Pistons won't win a playoff series. On the one hand, they are engaged in all kinds of sophisticated team management, which is gradually improving their playoff chances. On the other hand, they do have a complicated puzzle to deal with (that no one else has ever attempted to solve, I emphasize) and they do have players in relative slumps, especially Rasheed Wallace, and they, like all teams in trouble, don't seem to be able to play good offense and good defense in the same game. In the last 6 weeks, it's been mostly good defense games, but now that they have at least half solved the Iverson puzzle (degree of difficulty at least 9/10) they are suddenly playing good offense but not good defense.

I'll keep the faith for now that they will have both the good offense and the good defense when the playoffs are here, and will squeak by whoever they play in the first round, which I am thinking will be the Atlanta Hawks, and had better be them because if it's Orlando or Cleveland, then I doubt the Pistons are going to win a series after all.

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Big Upgrades for Quest Rumors, Quest Videos, and the Hoopz Live Games Site

The Quest web designer has been very ambitious lately and many important pages have been upgraded, even though they were pretty much already the best such pages on the internet. Here are the highlights of recent upgrades:

The Quest For the Ring NBA Rumors

Even before the makeover and upgrade, this was already the most comprehensive source of breaking NBA stories on the internet. Now it is so far ahead of any other page that we honestly doubt that anyone will ever catch up even if we never improve it again! Simply put, if you visit here, you will learn about every breaking development in the NBA that you care to learn about. Aside from massive NBA coverage, there is some extra coverage of the Pistons and the Nuggets.

The Quest For the Ring Videos

To make a long story short, there are a lot more videos that you can easily choose from than there already were. The variety is even greater than before.

Live Games and Completed Game Videos Available for Download

An annoyingly huge number of hours overall have gone into this site, because it is so tricky to be able to figure out the best ways to access live games, and to access download links for videos of completed games. Sites come and go. Streams can be worthless. Programs become more or less important as time goes by. The changes are continuous. But that's the whole point of this site, which is done by a friend of Quest: to keep up with the continuous changes and to keep you connected with the best ways to watch games.

The site has recently been upgraded very substantially. There are now some very key playoff games posted in full, thanks to YouTube, including games 1, 3, and 4 of the Nuggets-Lakers April / May 2008 playoff series. The links to sources for downloading full, completed NBA games have been massively improved. The recommended programs section has been upgraded. Finally, this site is really and truly a guaranteed ticket to NBA games.

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Introducing the Quest for the Ring Ning

The Quest For the Ring Ning is now created. You can post basketball pictures, videos, blog entries, almost anything and everything. You can get discussions going. You can set up groups or events to, for example, get an informal League going. In the early days of the Ning, when there will be few members, we will post videos, pictures, blog entries, and so forth as time permits. Later on, we hope others will be driving the ball to the hoop as much or more as we do. Here is the address:

http://thequestforthering.ning.com











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