McLemore takes flight in Sacramento

Sacramento Kings guard Ben McLemore, left, stuffs against Phoenix Suns' Miles Plumlee, center and Channing Frye during the third quarter of an NBA basketball game in Sacramento, Calif., Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2013. The Kings won 107-104.(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

It might be time to re-name this blog Toma-‘Hawks (or something cooler and more clever). Just about every time we post a new blog, there is another Kansas product throwing down a ludicrous dunk.

The latest offering comes courtesy of Sacramento Kings rookie Ben McLemore.

Sacramento Kings guard Ben McLemore, left, stuffs against Phoenix Suns' Miles Plumlee, center and Channing Frye during the third quarter of an NBA basketball game in Sacramento, Calif., Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2013. The Kings won 107-104.(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

I’ll be honest, when I was on twitter after watching future Jayhawks in the NBA Andrew Wiggins, Joel Embiid, Wayne Selden, etc., etc., beat Iona, I though McLemore might have dunked on one (or both?!) of the Morrii.



With the recent rash of Jayhawk-on-Jayhawk crime (see Xavier Henry on Jeff Withey, and Thomas Robinson over the Morrii), one could only assume the spree would continue. But, no. McLemore actually posterized one of the 16 or so Plumlees to come out of Duke and Arizona product Channing Frye.

Unlike some of his past games, though, McLemore did much more than produce a showy dunk. His 19 points in the Kings’ 107-104 victory matched a career high, and he played 34 minutes, which likely means coach Mike Malone wants the 6-foot-5 shooting guard playing a prominent role in his rotation.

Here’s a postage interview with McLemore: from News 10 ABC, in Sacramento.

Trading places

Phoenix Suns' Markieff Morris, left, shakes hands with his twin brother Marcus, as they walk off the court after the Suns 107-104 loss to the Sacramento King in a NBA basketball game in Sacramento, Calif., Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2013.(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

In Phoenix’s loss, it was Marcus (averaging 10 points per game), not Markieff (13.1 ppg), doing more damage. Marcus put up 19 points in the loss, while twin brother Kieff got in foul trouble, only played 11 minutes and had season lows of zero field goals and three points.

Even before the game, Paul Coro from azcentral.com had a story on Marcus playing better for Phoenix, which proved to be prophetic.

Here’s how Marcus went to work versus Sactown.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDj1cQpPryI

Chalmers returns

Miami Heat guard Mario Chalmers (15) drives past Atlanta Hawks center Pero Antic (6) of Macedonia, during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2013 in Miami. The Heat defeated the Hawks 104-88. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

We told you the other day about Mario Chalmers’ ejection and suspension following a forearm to Dirk Nowitzki’s face. Well, Chalmers used the punishment as motivation and returned Tuesday night to help the Miami Heat beat Atlanta, 104-88.

The Miami Herald’s Joseph Goodman highlights Chalmers’ night in his story. And the Heat’s James Jones told Goodman the Heat need the former Jayhawk on the floor:

“Our core guys are still LeBron,
D-Wade, [Chris Bosh] and Mario, so as
long as we have three or four of those
guys, the rest of our supporting cast
just comes in and does what we do. We
make shots, we’re aggressive, we’re
active and we moved the ball.”


Chalmers scored 14 points and passed out four assists in his return. Clearly he enjoyed himself, as you can see in these gifs, and postgame interview with Chris Bosh.

• Don’t forget, keep up with all the ‘Hawks in the NBA and their statistical output every day at KUSports.com.