NBA News for November 25th: Lin struggles to live up to "Linsanity" hype in Houston

Marc Berman of the New York Post looks at the team Lin’s Rockets just beat and concludes that the Knicks are really missing two of their injured players, namely Iman Shumpert and Amar’e Stoudemire. He also gives us this update on Shumpert: “Shumpert told The Post recently his target date for return is January, not December. The former Georgia Tech guard will be a dynamo to aid the Knicks’ on-the-ball defense and take pressure off Brewer. Before suffering a torn ACL, Shumpert was among the best perimeter defenders in basketball in his rookie season.” The piece is very good and recommended reading, even for non-Knicks fans.

One more item on the Rockets, from our own Harrison Sanford. “He invited us over for Thanksgiving,” Shumpert told Sanford. “Couldn’t leave the teammates on Thanksgiving but he is a good dude though.” (The Knicks ate at Marcus Camby’s house) … For Houston, Friday night made Rockets fans want to pitch themselves. Mainly because the Rockets seem to have hit the jackpot with Chandler Parsons. He notched a career-high 31 points on 13-of-17 shooting against the Knicks. The Rockets 2011 second-round pick’s contract is looking like an absolute steal and can play a big role in their New Era movement. Parsons has a team option for the next two upcoming seasons for under $1 million. “Parsons really worked on his game this summer,” Felton said. “He’s got a bright future … definitely.” “Fantastic, great young player ,” Woodson added. “And he is probably going to get better as the years go by.” Take a look at some of Parsons most recent games. 18 points, 13 rebounds Wednesday night in a win over the Bulls. 11 points, 10 rebounds vs. the Jazz Monday night. 24 points, 3 assists Sunday vs. the Lakers. 19 points, 11 rebounds vs. the Blazers last Friday and 13 points, 10 rebounds vs. Hornets prior to that. Those hidden gem contracts are what gives teams like Houston a chance to make a big leap in the coming years.

Let’s go back to Marc J. Spears for an update on Andrew Bogut’s ankle: “Andrew Bogut is targeting a return to the Golden State Warriors’ lineup next Saturday against the Indiana Pacers, a source tells Yahoo! Sports. The injury-plagued center plans to practice on Monday and, barring a setback, is expected to be back on the court after a hiatus to rest his surgically repaired left ankle. Bogut played in four of the Warriors’ first five games of the season – averaging just over 18 minutes per game – before the coaching staff decided to give Bogut time off so he could strengthen his ankle. In the four games he’s played, Bogut averaged 6.0 points and 3.8 rebounds.”

D'Antoni was unworried about Pau but said his post-ups won't be like they used to be next to Odom: "You got a guy like Dwight Howard there."

November 24, 2012 7:30 pm via Twitter for iPhone ReplyRetweetFavorite

@KevinDing

KEVIN DING

Jerry Zgoda of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune has some good news for T-Wolves fans: “Now that Kevin Love is back in the lineup and ready for this third game back tonight against Golden State… Ricky Rubio likely isn’t all that far behind. Rubio is scheduled to return to his Vail, Colo., surgeon on Monday for a three-day visit after which the Wolves hope he will be cleared for contact practice when the team returns from this trip after Wednesday’s game in L.A. Some time ago Rubio said that last visit to see Dr. Richard Steadman would be mostly to shake up hand and get clearance to go back on the court. The Wolves are hoping that day is very near. Don’t expect his game return to be as sudden as Love’s, though. David Kahn said he still isn’t putting a timetable on Rubio’s return, as he hasn’t done all along. But there’s no question Rubio’s return is getting closer, maybe closer than expected, particularly if you weren’t expecting him back until Christmas or later.”

Miami reporter approached Kyrie Irving tonight because he thought he was Jeremy Pargo. So... yeah. Pargo's playing well, but not THAT well

November 24, 2012 7:20 pm via webReply RetweetFavorite

@JasonLloydABJ

Jason Lloyd

Why are the Wizards 0-11? It can’t be as simple as “no John Wall,” can it? Mike Prada of Bullets Forever says it’s not, and does an excellent job of breaking down what they did wrong in losing to the Bobcats in double overtime: “There were many reasons why the Washington Wizards lost their 11th straight game to begin the 2012-13 season on Saturday night, but I want to focus on three possessions in the overtime periods because they demonstrate an especially problematic attitude that’s infested this team right now. These are three plays where the Wizards have momentum or are given a set of extremely favorable conditions, and instead of taking charge, they sat back and hoped the clock would just tick down or the ball would end up in the basket on its own.”