CANADIAN CONTENT: Week of 12/21 – How the NBA’s Canadian Flavour performed last week

(Photo by P.A. Molumby/NBAE via Getty Images)
Steve Nash, Phoenix Suns (Victoria, BC)

18.7 PPG, 11.2 APG, 2.9 RPG
(Last week: 23 PPG, 9.8 APG, 2.0 RPG)
Steve Nash is Awesome.

Canadians should fill out their NBA All-Star ballot now and cast their vote for Steve Nash. Nash is putting up numbers similar, if not better, to his MVP seasons of ’04-’05 and ’05-’06 and currently leads the league in assists and free throw percentage (93.9%).  His Suns on the other hand, have been on a slide, dropping 3 of their last four.  The Suns’ lone win last week came against the LA Clippers on Christmas Day when they whooped the Clippers 124-93.
Their last game was a matchup between two run and gun teams where the Suns took on the Golden State Warriors, Nash put up a season-high 36 points in the Suns’ loss.

Toronto Raptors
Record: 15W-17L (Last week: 2W-0L)
It’s not a dream…..the Toronto Raptors are on a four-game win streak.  After dropping the New Jersey Nets and New Orleans Hornets from the previous week, the Raptors had a home and home series with the Detroit Pistons last week.  The Raptors continued their win streak, as they held the Pistons to 28% shooting in one of the Pistons’ lowest point totals.  The Raptors defeated the Pistons 94-64 in the first matchup and then beat the Pistons for a second time, 102-95.

Highlights:

  • The Raptors are 12-0 when holding opponents to under 100 points
  • Toronto has played well under the point guard guidance of Jarret Jack in the four-game stretch, Jack has averaged 33 min, 15.5 PPG, 6 APG and 2.5 RPG
  • Get your Tim Hortons: Chris Bosh leads the league in double-doubles with 23

Joel Anthony, Miami Heat (Montreal, QC)
232 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 1.5 BLKS
(Last week: 4.7 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 3.3 BLK)
When the Heat played the Utah Jazz last week, Joel Anthony stepped in for Jermaine O’Neal who left with a groin injury after three minutes.  Anthony put up 8 pts, 9 rebounds and 5 blocks in 34 minutes in the Heat win.

Jamaal Magloire, Miami Heat (Toronto, ON)
2.2 PPG, 2.2 RPG
(Last week: 2.0 PPG, 3.0 RPG)
Jamaal continues to rack up the DNP’s as Magloire played just 8 minutes last week and had 2 pts and 3 rebounds.  Oh….and in other news, Magloire was a member of what SLAM Online calls the Decade’s Worst NBA Draft Class.

Samuel Dalembert, Philadelphia 76ers (Montreal, QC)
6.2 PPG, 8.3 RPG, 2.0 BLK 
(Last week: 5.0 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 1.5 BLK)
Dalembert has seen a decrease in minutes averaging just under 17 minutes per game.  With the return of Marreese Speights, the minutes for Dalembert have decreased significantly.  Even in limited minutes, Dalembert continues to be effective, grabbing rebounds and blocking shots.  The Sixers are playing horrible and have a 7-22 record.

Romy Aquino covers the pro basketball game (the Canadian Flavour of the NBA, the PBL’s Halifax Rainmen) from a fan’s perspective.  He also can be found at NBA hoops blogs, Hip Hoop Junkies (A Member of TheScore.com’s Sports Federation) and Hoop Heads North.  Follow him on Twitter: @romyaquino

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