The Wackness

By Mystery Cow

And so it goes. Soon the bandwagon will fill to the brim. Sir Charles was giving lots of loving last night, reserving his spot. Thank goodness the WCFs are on the We Know Drama channel, because if this was the Sports Leader…well the coverage would be on par with the objectivity, below suckness. It’s actually fitting that the Sports Leader has the JV Conference Finals with their eastern sports teams bias. They can ball wash to their heart’s content.

As for any subconscious secret wishes for the Lakes to blow one at the Alamo to “get it out of their system” loss, there won’t be any this round thank you very much sir. Last time I did that, it evened up the series. Who knew my wanton wants and wishes would be so permissive that they shred through blog fantasy and actually reach reality. No more “what ifs”, they’re just too powerful to commit to word. Call it my anti-jinx. Because we all know that it takes more than brain, brawn, and giving it 110% to win the Chip. It takes a little bit of luck. In some cases, A LOT of friggin’ luck. i.e. The Miami Heat.

Are the Spurs done? Yes. Even if the series comes back to Figueroa Street the Lakes have already proven they can close on the road twice now. Consecutively even at two places where it’s considered very hard to win at. Remember “pundits” fearing how much abuse Mamba was gonna get in Denver? They openly wondered what kind of vile was going to be thrown at 24 after Angelenos were taunting Melo about his DUI, even prompting 24 to say that “yelling never blocked a shot”. Utah? Yeah we lost two, but we won THE one to close it out.

Good luck hearing any mention of this on the Sports Leader. I wonder if they’re gonna keep pushing those KG/Russell interviews and Big 3 This is Sportscenter bumpers after Flip’s Boys come out of the JV?

I’m glad Jordie is feeling better about himself, we haven’t seen him play like that since the season ended. But I feel for him, AI eats babies for breakfast and Deron was raised by DFish on the arts of musclin’ fools. Hard match ups back2back. Now he gets (I won’t make the obvious Mr. Longaria dig) Pepe Le Parker and some other cat who’s name escapes me…I think he used to play for Utah and has an even Frencher sounding name than previously said French guy. And since Manu is hobbled, Finley has older ankles than Ray Ray in Boston, and everyone else is old and slow; this allowed Farmer to cut loose whenever Parker drove to the hole and fell (which by the way he did plenty of last night). Farms was built to play this team. I wouldn’t be surprised he gets his breakout game off these bums.

With the ways things are looking, the Slovenian Machine will be cashing in this summer. Ronny will probably get some of that pie too. They’re just playing o’so good enough and not making too many mistakes that positive pub is starting to spin about them. Just in time for their contract years at that. Funny, last year at this time the Kobe Watch was unfolding…now I’m vexed at how we’re gonna keep everyone together for another run at the Chip.

Fantasy indeed.

Consolation Prize

I was really hoping for an Andris Biedrins / Pau Gasol split screen commercial, but I guess this will do…

Baron vs. Zohan

Sit Your A** Down!

Though I didn’t get to see the game last night, I did get to see this video that is going around the web. In it, Paul Pierce wraps up Lebron James who is going for a lay up and Lebron’s mom gets very animated.

Look at what he says to moms.

Alexander The Great

by Mystery Cow

interestingly enough, there’s a dictionary listing for “brouhaha” but not one for “sasha”. the closest thing is “sashay” which is fitting since Mr. Vujacic seems to “sashay” back up court while fixing his luscious locks. with Denver it was Luke, now it’s Deus Ex Machina hurting them in Mormon-Land.

it’s easy enough to crow about the last two wins, but i sense a disturbance in the force. bad jujus are upon us, something wicked this way cometh. here’s a neat stat: Utah has lost a total of only FOUR times at home. while the Lakes were one of the FOUR, without Le Bestia i might add, the math still looks scary. even scarier in print. ekk. both games were won by double digits, BUT (and it’s a big “but”) those pesky Jazz flat out refused to go away into the cold, dark night. they stayed competitive till the very end with nary a nill of give up. that’s something that mayhaps bite the Lakes in the city near a Salt Lake where a rowdy crowd might just be enough to inch these Jazz over the hump. scary times indeed. you know what else was scary? sports talk radio today was all aflutter with thoughts of parade. IT IS WAY TOO SOON to even think about parades! that last time i was hearing this type of nonsense over the putrid airwaves was back when the Southland was abuzz with notions of a Clips vs. Lakes second round square off. arg! and we of the faithful know how that sordid story unwrapped in front of our very eyes, oh the horror!

tangent quips time, now to wander over to my feelings over Mamba getting his first MVP award. pure ambivalence. sure i would have been mad as hell if he didn’t get it, but now that he did get it…eh. like with everything in Mamba’s journey, it’s just another quirk that’ll be second guessed ad nauseam. Shaq got one too. now if he ever surpasses The Cap or Magic in hardware…now THAT’s something to get excited about.

back to why the Jazz might win some games. have you seen our defense? no really, have you seen it? the loud cries of “we want Tacos” haven’t been heard late in games at Staples since early April. some guy name Millsap was eating us up inside the box. while the Lakes aren’t noted as clog the lane defenders, but Jesus Maria! Millsap?!?!? this concerns me, here’s another thing that’ll only exponentially become a positive factor in formerly said rowdy crowd in the city near the Salt Lake. also, did you see how Deron absolutely had his way with Jordi Farms in the third quarter? he still hasn’t called the morning after to thank him for such a nice evening out. it’s customary for a guy to call up a girl after a great date. yeah, i know it’s a bad joke when you have to explain it. that’s how bad Jordi’s d-fense was. the you have to explain it after bad type. bad times are brewing. of all this, the scariest omen might be the latest weather report. there be snow up on them Utah mountains. do we remember the last time Vlad Rad was in Utah and there was snow up on them Utah mountains?

if Sloan, AK47, Deron, and Mr. Stabs-a-blind-man-in-the-back win one at home it’s not time to panic just yet. i HOPE they win one. while i want them to win game 3 platonically; i kinda hope deep, way back in the rear, next to the shallowest and darkest part of my mind that they get a loss out of the way. preferably game 4 with the series going back to LaLa. why for this wish? so no added pressure to this already combustible group of guys. seriously, i haven’t seen a group of guys complain about being fouled so much ever since a guy named Shaq used to play for us and complained about being hacked on each play. which he did, you know, get hacked.

but this guy, this gritty kid from the streets of Harlem, this guy is MONEY under pressure.

Basketball Blog - Celtics vs. Hawks Game 7 - Anything Can Happen

I haven’t been able to pay close attention to this series, but I have paid enough attention to see that the underdog Atlanta Hawks, this year’s version of last year’s Golden State Warriors, are playing out of their minds, and the Boston Celtics are letting them. You’d think that the Celtics, the team with the best record in the league, a team that I picked to win it all, wouldn’t allow the upstart Hawks to set the tone and pace of the game and outwork them.

Kevin Garnett has a reputation of not being a big game player. He’s not the guy who takes the last shot to win the game. And after game six, he did nothing to shake that reputation. The defining moment of the game was on the last shot. Rajan Rondo was desperately trying to find someone to hit the open three to tie the game. It could’ve been KG’s Tim Duncan moment. But Rondo ended up taking a flailing three pointer that didn’t even graze the rim.

He is a great team player, but late in the game, team players can become invisible. At 7 feet tall, he’s not exactly the guy who can do what Lebron and Kobe can do at the end of the game. He’s not going to play isolation with the ball at the top of the key. But late in a game, Hakeem Olajuwon wasn’t going to continually pass the ball out. He was going to the bucket. Someone was going to get dream shook. This has to be KG’s moment. If he’s going to be able to stake his claim as one of the best players in the league, the Celtics have to win this game and he has to have a big one.

(I will update this post after every quarter.)

First Quarter

So far so good for the Celtics. They are contesting shots and the Hawks are shooting a terrible percentage in the first quarter. Paul Pierce is taking control offensively. KG only has 4 points, but he pulled 5 boards.

Second Quarter

Total domination for the Celtics in the second quarter. I believe Atlanta only scored 10 points in the quarter and have only 26 for the half. Joe Johnson has 12 of them. KG and Paul Pierce have 10 each and KG on 5-7 shooting. Celtics up 44-26 at the half.

Third Quarter

Scary moment early in the quarter. Rondo was going up for an uncontested lay-up and Marvin Williams basically clotheslined him. Flagrant foul. He’s out of the game.

I really had no clue that PJ Brown was still in the league. And give it up for Leon Powe. I’m glad to see that he’s been able to fit in with Boston. He had a superb career at Cal.

Maybe the most interesting part of the third quarter was a back and forth between the announcers. Mike Breen playfully called Marc Jackson, “Action Jackson”. Marc deadpans back, “Hey man, I’m a grown man, call me Marc.” Then Jeff Van Gundy says something about him asking Marc what his middle name was last week, and Marc said it was “Action”.

Celtics are killing them 79-43. Will Atlanta even get to 60?

Fourth Quarter

The Hawks did get over 60 points and Boston didn’t get to 100. But it was still much of the same. Boston wins 99-65 and now have to face Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. If Phoenix vs. San Antonio was a must see first round match-up, this is the must see second round match-up.

PS

I was probably watching the Giants game when this happened. Kind of a cheap shot there KG.

 

Basketball Blog - Schadenfreude

By Albert:

Luke Walton is constant. Luke Walton will suck, but Luke suck balls for the whole season. He’s constant. How bad was the Nuggets’ D? It elevated Luke’s game into “X-factor” territory, whatever that means. Don’t get me wrong, I like Luke. Just not as much as Willy in Vegas who thinks each year IS his year and deserves the MVP because of his deft passing and amazing court instincts. Plus Luke gets extra points for owning a BBQ restaurant 7 minutes away from where I reside.

My omnipotent forecast before the Dance began was Fo’, Fo’, Fo’. I stick by it, but I will add some expanded coverage. We’ll see Chris Paul (assface) in the Conference Finals. In the end, we’ll play the Magic for the Chip. Yeah, I said it. The Celtics will not represent the East. They’ll get by the Hawks…barely, but Bron will rise only to loose to the Man-Beast that is Dwight Howard.

Still don’t believe me that Paul is an assface? You know what’s worse than getting a “Credit Card” when trying to box someone out for a rebound? Having someone ask you what the capital to Thailand is.