6 and FT percentage 75 are both up in December

However, his 16 points scored last Saturday was his most since November 11th. The game before he played 28 minutes and had 6 assists.Jonathan Bender (Knicks) Bender played in his first game for the Knicks last Friday scoring 9 points, 2 rebounds, 1 block and 1 three in 14 minutes It was his first NBA in game in four years. He has has the skills to contribute if he receives consistent playing time.Honorable mention: Tyrus Thomas (Bulls): Returning from injury This article is also featured on Hot Stove New York. 1. Joakim Noah is not slowing down: Noah had his second 20 rebound game of the season this past week.

That game was against the Lakers where he also had six blocked shots and 14 offensive rebounds.Even though he is struggling from the field this month, his free throw attempts (3.6) and FT percentage (75) are both up in December. His 2.2 blocks this month are a season high and he is third in the NBA with 12 rebound per game. 2. He plays at least 40 minutes in mostly every game and is second in the league with 12.1 rebounds. 3. Curry is having the best month of his rookie season averaging 13.6 points, 3.3 assists, 2.6 steals, and 1.3 three-pointers in 35 minutes per game He is third in the West in steals with two per game. 5 Baron Davis is having a solid season Davis already has four games of 11 assists this month. He is averaging 16.3 points, 7.5 assists, 1.9 steals, and 1.4 threes in 34 minutes per game. Davis is having a nice bounce back season where he played in just 65 games last year. This article is also featured on Hot Stove New York. Today the Detroit Lions lost again, this time to the Arizona Cardinals, rolling their 2009 season record down to 2-12.

I understand that they mounted a tenacious comeback in the fourth quarter, but unfortunately I didn't see it because this game, like nearly all Lion's home games, was blacked out on local TV. It's true that Detroit is hurting; the State of Michigan's 14.5 percent unemployment rate is the highest in the country, and this doesn't include those of us who have given up looking or moved away. But, to associate the Ford Field blackouts with our economy is reckless banter by people who have never been to the city.A few days ago I heard a famous national commentator describe how our city "deserves" to be able to watch our team on television apparently we are hurting so badly that the NFL ought to relax its rules so that those of us who can't afford to attend the games can still watch them No one in the area is making this argument. Since August 2001, the football team that I have cheered for since birth has lost 108 of the 142 regular season games they have trotted out for. Incidentally, I began high school in August 2001. During the nearly decade that has passed since, I have attended all of high school (just outside of Detroit), and graduated. I enrolled in, attended for four years, and graduated from college (Just up the road in East Lansing). I have moved home, found one of the few jobs left in the state, and purchased a home (still, just outside of the City of Detroit). During the same time, the Lions have had seven different head coaches.

In my lifetime, the Detroit Lions have won 1 playoff game a classic NFC Divisional matchup against Troy Aikman's Cowboys, that I unfortunately cannot remember because I had just turned four years old. Much has been said about the Lions' futility, both locally and nationally, over the last few years. Their epic '08 campaign has gone down in history as the worst performance from any professional team, in any sport, in American History. In a salary capped sport, the Lions have managed to be so much worse than their competition, for such a long time, that, as a fan, I only hope they don'tembarrass themselves each weekend when they roll out of that tunnel wearing the most putrid colors in modern sport. This brings me to my point. I am tired of the national scene painting the Lions' problems onto the City of Detroit. It is true that Detroit is failing. The city's economy, formerly based around cars, is now based around unemployed manufacture's bitching about how they don't know how to do anything. But the City of Detroit has not completely died. Nearly three million people live in the city's sprawling suburbs. Many of us still have jobs. I have never seen anyone get shot. We are willing to pay for product. The Tigers, last season, were fourth in American Leagueattendance (behind New York, Boston, and LA). Until last season (when they got bad), the Pistons had extended their NBA record for consecutive sellouts to 259.