The Runnin' Goats

LeBron-A-Mania Is Running Wild AKA "The Decision"

2010-07-09T01:00:00.000-07:00

Before "The Decision"

I think you can make sense of LeBron going to any of the rumored four NBA teams who seemed to have the best shot at landing him.

Let me take a stab at it.

The Chicago Bulls: Playing with a true point guard like Derrick Rose and with a young banger like Joakim Noah has to be pretty tantalizing to James. As would be, playing on Michael Jordan's home court and proving to others that he could win there. I always thought this was the best place for his future because of the young players and the fact that the franchise has prove worthy of having the NBA's greatest ever player play there.

But LeBron's at his best when the ball is in his hands and he's directing the team. There's a reason why Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan never needed superstar floor leaders. They do the leading. Rose is probably better off finding his own Joe Johnson type and running his own thing.

The New York Knicks: I imagine that playing in the big apple is the major reason to go there. When things happen in NYC, they just seem bigger than if they happened in Cleveland, even if they are the exact same thing. It's that empire state of mind. Add to that, playing with Amar'e Stoudemire and running teams to death with the pick and roll, I'm sure that LBJ has had visions of playing in the city that never sleeps.

On the flipside, Amar'e didn't really play that well against Pau Gasol in the NBA Western Conference Finals and if people didn't already know before then, they now know that he just doesn't seem interested in playing defense. I'm not sure if Amar'e is the type of player who is going to be the best big man on a championship winning team.

And also, LBJ probably doesn't want Spike Lee bugging him all the time. "I got a movie for you LeBron! We'll call it "LeBron Doing Work".

The Miami Heat: Who doesn't want to play in Miami? It seems like South Beach is every NBA player's second home as it is. And now with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh making the Heat hotter, LBJ has to be thinking that he doesn't have to play out of his mind every night in order to win. Throw in the fact that the tax situation in Florida is much easier on an athlete who plays half of his games in the state, and it seems like win-win.

But I do wonder that for someone who seems to be concerned about his legacy, the scenario of playing with the best guard in the league not named Kobe would lessen him a bit in the eyes of the fans. It wouldn't to me because as the Lakers have proven, even with the league's best player in Kobe Bryant, he needed Shaq (or Shaq needed him), and also Pau Gasol to win a championship. It's rarely ever about just one guy.

The other thing is that for guys who both are best with the ball in their hands, how can D. Wade and LBJ share the basketball? Who takes the big shot?

Winning does cure all of that, at least for a little while (again, see Kobe and Shaq), and it has to be a tantalizing situation. Then again, does he really want to be the focus of the 4th season of "Basketball Wives"?

The Cleveland Cavaliers: I always hoped that this would be the place LeBron continued to call home. I looked at Kobe's own situation with the Lakers. Even though he did throw that small tantrum and wanted out, he eventually trusted that Lakers' management would do the right thing and stayed put. And they did do the right thing.

This whole free agency ego trip could've been LeBron's "Kobe tantrum". And then he'd sign with them and everything would go back to normal. He'd go back to work, trust in his management, and work on getting Cleveland that title. I still hope that's the scenario, but the other scenarios do seem more intriguing, sexy, and fitting for a, ahem, king.

Prediction: LeBron uses this ESPN 1-hour special to show how "good" of a person he is and re-signs with Cleveland. Then he can be the "Homecoming King".

I'll be back blogging "The Decision" and then giving my thoughts after it's all over.

"The Decision" - The Aftermath

I pulled for the upset, and I chose incorrectly. LeBron James said the major factor in his decision was the opportunity to win now, and win in the future. And thus, his career as one of a triumvirate of All-Stars for the Miami Heat has begun.

The opportunity to play with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh seems to be the major reasons as to why he chose to play for the Heat. He won't have to be superb every game because he won't need to be counted on like he was with the Cavs. That ultimately might be what ran him out of town.

You have to feel badly for the Cavs fans, but you can pin this just as much on the Cavs management as you can on LeBron. Let's not forget that in the last four years, the Cavaliers went from 2007 NBA Finalists, to losing in the 2008 and 2009 NBA Eastern Conference Finals, to losing in the second round of the playoffs last year. That's regression. I would imagine that he feels that the Cavs couldn't put the right players together for him, where as with just one decision, he immediately plays with a young power forward who can score, and the best shooting guard in the NBA not named Kobe Bryant. He didn't need to rely on management. Power to the athletes.

He's going to get blasted for his decision, and for the way he decided. But ultimately, he, Dwyane, and Chris all probably had to take less money in order to get the deal done. What actually happened is what fans have asked athletes to do all along. Three guys decided that they wanted to win more than than they wanted to get the maximum money. They still will make a ton of money and you'll hear them all say, "It wasn't about the money," even though that's hogwash, but they did exactly what people have asked athletes to do for a very long time. Put greed aside for team.

Even more so than head coach Erik Spoelstra, LeBron is on the hot seat immediately. Wade stayed with his team. Bosh is going to be able to fall under the radar. If the Three Amigos don't immediately win, the hammer falls on the Akron Hammer. He has the most to lose. With his heightened portfolio comes the most responsibility.

By making this entire free agent period about him (and really, without this ESPN televised special, it was anyway), he's saying to the NBA and the sports world, "Look at me, watch me, see me, and follow me." In the day and age of Twitter and TMZ, it might have happened that way anyway. But if his legacy wasn't already in question, it will be now. The dude needs to win now and often in order for it all to be worth it.

2010 NBA Finals Game 7 - Lakers Vs. Celtics Play By Play

2010-06-17T20:27:00.000-07:00

Some people are calling this game 7 one of the most important NBA games in recent memory. And since I've written about every game so far in this series, I figured I might as well do it again. But rather than write an article of reflection and letting what I just saw soak in, I'm going to do a play by play where I will be writing as I watch.

The announcers just said that the team who won the rebounding battle has won each game. Here's another good stat: I'm one for six in picking these games in the finals. And for the record, I think the Lakers pull this one out at home with a big run late in the 4th quarter.

Rasheed Wallace is starting tonight in place of Kendrick Perkins. If you're a Celtics' fan, you just hope he doesn't go 0-7 like in game 6.

First Quarter

11:21 - Rondo has to have a much better game controlling the tempo and he can't give the ball away. Well, just 39 seconds into the game, he turns it over.

10:54 - Derek Fisher hits the first shot of the game and it's a three-pointer, his first of this finals.

10:00 - After a Sheed turn-around bucket, the Lakers' two-some of trees, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum bat around a rebound like a game of keep-away volleyball before Gasol finally puts it in.

8:31 - Remember what I said about Rondo controlling the tempo? He just committed a silly back court foul that should've been a non-play for him.

7:24 - And just like that, Rondo redemption. He scores the second of back-to-back layups for him and Boston is up 10-7.

6:54 - Kobe goes one-on-two with a wide open man to his right, only to take a fade away that hits the top of the backboard. He didn't trust his wide open teammate over his 10-degree of difficulty shot.

5:55 - First timeout and the story of the game is that the refs are allowing these guys to play. There have been at least two eyebrow-raising non-calls so far and both to the Lakers' detriment.

5:10 - Big Baby comes in for Rasheed and he isn't slobbering. Yet.

4:42 - Ray Allen knocks down his first three-pointer, making sure he doesn't go 0-8 again.

2:27 - Gasol picks up his second foul on a charge and Bynum has to come back in the game just a minute or so after he was replaced by Lamar Odom. The announcers said before the game that Bynum is only good for about ten minutes per half. Does this mean we may see some DJ Mbenga? We can only hope.

1:20 - Garnett picks up his second foul on an illegal screen that wasn't illegal and he has to go to the bench. Back comes Sheed.

0:00 - Rough first half, but Boston's just shooting better and leads 23-14.

Second Quarter

11:12 - Kobe comes out of the game for the first time. Both Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson are ripping his first quarter, saying it was his worst 12 minutes of basketball in the playoffs. It wasn't that bad guys. He had questionable shot attempts, but he played really well on the defensive end.

(They just showed Ryan Seacrest, George Lopez, Ellen Pompeo, Dustin Hoffman, and Jack Nicholson in a star montage of those in attendance. Who's Ellen Pompeo?)

8:21 - The Lakers tie it up on a Ron Artest steal and lay-up. It's now 23-23. Boston hasn't yet scored in the second half. The tide has definitely turned.

6:15 - In two consecutive sequences, Kobe was doubled and gave it up to Gasol. On the first sequence, Gasol kicked it to Artest for a missed three, and on the second, he missed a short jumper. At some point, Kobe's going to stop giving it to him if he doesn't make those possessions count.

5:15 - The Lakers are only shooting 28%, yet are only down two points. So far, Pierce isn't getting his shot off, and Allen is missing some very open shots. That's why the score is where it's at.

4:14 - Allen is having a stinker of a game. Maybe Denzel Washington should get his gear on to make Ray angry.

(Yet another star celebrity crowd scan shows us Usher, T.O., and Leo Dicaprio. Usher and T.O. were wearing some phat sunglasses. Dicaprio is wearing a UCLA hat. The dude's always wearing local college gear.)

2:08 - Rasheed hit his third old school Sheed turnaround jumper. They're isolating him now on Gasol, which tells you how confident they are in that match-up.

1:22 - Artest and Pierce get tangled up and we get our first small scrum. Double tech time. With Bynum only playing a handful of minutes, they can't afford Artest to pick up another one and get tossed.

0:34 - Brian Scalabrine checks in and for a second, I thought it was Michael Rapaport and this was the Celebrity All-Star game.

0:09 - Kobe missed a terrible three-pointer and was going crazy. He may get a technical tonight if he keeps shooting the way he is. He's 3-14 so far.

0:00 - Kobe and Gasol are shooting a combined 6-27, but the Celtics are only up by six. It's 40-34 at halftime.

(Magic's analysis at the half - Kendrick Perkins being out may be a blessing in disguise for the Celtics because Rasheed can score and the Celtics have to outscore the Lakers. And he also added that water is wet.)

Third Quarter

12:00 - The Lakers have fifteen offensive rebounds compared to just two for the Celtics. If the Lakers can shoot better than 40% in the second half, they should be able to win this game. But the Celtics are playing tough defense and the referees are letting these guys play.

11:20 - Ron Artest came to play today. He leads all scorers with 14 points after being aggressive and taking it to the hole for a score.

9:45 - Rondo hits a runner in the lane to extend the lead to eleven at 47-36. Kobe missed another long three. You know he's not going down quietly. This is going to be an interesting 22 minutes here.

7:37 - Kobe finally hits a jumper to bring the Lakers to within ten. He's 4-17 now.

5:38 - Odom follows an Artest miss to bring the deficit down to six. Garnett is killing Gasol on the other end and I think he's getting into his head.

(Third celebrity go-around; Jeremy Piven, my girl Christina Aguilera, Andy Garcia's mustache, Greg Kinnear, Courtney "Cougar" Cox-Arquette, and Laura Dern. The pool is getting a little shallow here. I'd hate to see what round four brings us. "There's Rita Perlman and Danny DeVito!")

3:48 - Kobe's only 4-19 shooting, but he does have ten boards. He's just not getting that call where he gets the defender in the air and then jumps into him.

2:37 - Gasol gets to the free throw line after what looked to be a clean block on Garnett on the other end. The replay shows that he didn't come near the ball and slapped the heck out of his hand. Derek Fisher just went back to the locker room after slipping on the court.

2:12 - Rondo goes to the free throw line which has been an adventure for him. He goes one-for-two. Celtics still up by six.

1:24 - Big Baby was close to slobbering after getting called for a foul and complaining.

0:00 - The Lakers close strong and are down only four after at the end of the third quarter 57-53. This fourth quarter is going to be rough.

Fourth Quarter

12:00 - Phil Jackson just said that Kobe needs to do more off the ball. I don't think that happens. I think Kobe is going to have a breakout fourth.

11:43 - Gasol finally hits a shot where he's defended well instead of passing it out and is fouled, but missed the free throw. Boston is still up by two.

11:20 - Who would've thought that Ron Artest would be the Lakers' MVP tonight? He just caused another Celtics' turnover.

9:00 - Gasol has 14 rebounds, but he's being badly outplayed by Garnett tonight. He needs a strong nine minutes or will have to deal with that "soft" moniker all off-season.

8:46 - Kobe suckers Ray into fouling him beyond the three-point line and gets three free throws while down four. He hits all three. Nate Robinson comes in to give Rondo what looks to be a quick breather.

7:29 - Artest gets in the key and hits a short jumper while being fouled. His free throw ties the game. By the way, Derek Fisher still isn't back. Jordan Farmar has to play big time fourth quarter minutes if Fish doesn't come back in.

7:13 - Allen misses his first free throw in the finals. He hits the second and the Celtics are up by one. Garnett and Rondo are back in. That wasn't much of a rest for Rondo.

6:49 - Gasol misses another two free throws and is now 2-7 from the line. More importantly for the Lakers though, Fisher is back in the game. You knew he was coming back.

6:12 - Of course, Fisher hits his first shot after coming back in, which is a three. Tie game.

5:21 - Kobe sinks two free throws and then a jumper to give the Lakers a four-point lead. The Celtics might need to stop running plays for "Little Play" Ray Allen. He's missing too many make-able shots down the stretch.

2:20 - Down five, Pierce runs at Gasol and gets called for an idiotic blocking foul while in the penalty. Gasol hits one of two and the Lakers are back up by six.

2:14 - Artest commits just as silly of a foul while defending Pierce who was 30-feet away from the bucket. Pierce hits both and it's back down to four.

1:30 - Gasol gets Wallace back by abusing him on the baseline for a double pump put-in. I think all is forgiven after that shot. Lakers are back up by six.

1:23 - Sheeds says, "No sweat" and hits a desperation three-pointer (and a terrible shot if he misses) to bring the Lakers' lead back down to three. Sheed's played a game seven before.

1:01 - And Ron Ron gives it right back with a three. He's my favorite player today.

0:50 - "Little Play" Ray with a three from the corner, and all of a sudden in the last 90 seconds, both teams can shoot.

0:16 - These guys were just kidding for the first forty six minutes. After Kobe hits two free throws, Rondo hits a three from the corner and the lead is back down to two.

0:11 - Sasha Vujacic, who is in the game simply to knock down foul shots, knocks down two big ones and makes sure the Celtics can't tie it on another Hail Mary. Maria Sharapova must be so proud.

0:00 - The Celtics can't get a good shot off as Rondo shoots a corner three and it's a near air ball. Odom grabs the rebound and throws it the length of the court while Bryant snatches it just before it goes out of bounds and the game is over. The Lakers win 83-79.

Post-game

- Ron Ron thanks everyone in his hood and then thanks his doctor and his psychiatrist and pimps his new single. No, it's not about Michael Jackson. Only Ron Ron.

- Kobe's wife could be a Kardashian. I never saw that until now.

- Dr. Buss had problems clearing his throat. I thought maybe he was crying, but when I asked my Lakers' buddy what his deal was, he simply said, "He's old." Ok, then.

- Kobe says, "Anything is possible!" Ok, he didn't really. He said this championship was the sweetest because it was the hardest one.

- Mark Jackson says that Magic Johnson now has to move over and that Kobe is now the greatest Laker. He must not have watched Kobe shoot the ball tonight.

- Phil Jackson now has 11 rings and has coached the greatest player ever and a guy who is probably in the top 7 or 8 of the greatest players of all time and probably breaks into the top three or four when it's all said and done. Don't tell me that luck isn't a part of being great. Phil is lucky and great all at the same time.

If anyone says this was a great series, I'd disagree with them because the offensive play wasn't as up to snuff as the defensive play was. However, it was one of the more competitive NBA Finals we've seen in some time. Both teams left it all on the court.

Oh, by the way, I want to thank Ron's psychiatrist too.

The Lakers Make A Statement With Their Defense In Game Six

2010-06-16T20:22:00.000-07:00

A day off and a trip home can cure all wounds. And there's a reason why home court is so important in the NBA, especially when you've only lost one home game all season long in the playoffs.

Coming home down 3-2 in the 2010 NBA Finals, the Lakers played as if they were the ones in the lead. They were loose, focused, and made an extra effort to clamp down on defense in game six.

Led by Kobe Bryant's 26 points, the Lakers cruised to victory, holding the Celtics to just 67 points and making them look badly in the process. The Celtics four-core of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Rajon Rondo, and Ray Allen all scored in double figures, but all four together also averaged a minus 20 in the plus/minus stat category.

What was more impressive than his 26 points was Kobe Bryant's 11 rebounds and 4 steals. He also showed tremendous energy which seemed contagious to the rest of the club. Pau Gasol caught it like a cold. After two games in a row of pedestrian big-man performance, Gasol was one assist short of a triple double with 17 points and 13 rebounds to go along with his 9 assists.

Starting center Andrew Bynum only played 16 minutes, and at one point had to go back to the locker room for his knee. But Lamar Odom picked up the slack. Odom's 8 points and 10 rebounds don't look spectacular on paper, but his presence was huge, especially after Celtics' starting center Kendrick Perkins went down with a knee injury.

The Celtics backed off Rajon Rondo all game long and forced him to shoot from the outside to the tune of 5-15. They also forced Kevin Garnett out of the paint as much as possible and he was the guy taking 18-foot jump shots for the Celtics as the shot clock was about to expire on more than one occasion. They ran at Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, forcing them to take tough shots, or put the ball on the floor.

After being the goat of game five for the Lakers, Ron Artest not only played Paul Pierce tough, but he had a rare quality offensive game. He chucked up six three-pointers, making three of them and had 15 points.

Perkins says he'll try to play with ligament sprains in his right knee, but it's unlikely he'll even be as helpful as Andrew Bynum has been, who has been trying to play with knee issues of his own. While Bynum being out has definitely hurt the Lakers, they can switch to a faster line-up by putting Odom in. Perkins being out for the Celtics means that KG has to be the sole defender on Gasol. Also, it means Big Baby and Rasheed Wallace have to play a bigger part offensively and defensively. What did they do together in game six? They shot a combined 0-10.

Advantage, Lakers.

Kobe Comes Up Big In Game Five, But The Celtics Still Win

2010-06-14T20:18:00.000-07:00

At the very end of my article after game four, I noted that Kobe Bryant had yet to have a great, dominant game.

I wrote:

To me, the big question is going to be about Kobe Bryant. When are we getting his best game? He's the best player in the series, yet I'm not so sure he's been the story of any game yet. I have a feeling he's going to become the story soon.

Well, he sure was the story of game five.

Bryant had a terrific scoring night and if degree of difficulty was involved, he'd have scored all 10s, even from the Russian judge. He scored 38 points while playing over 43 minutes and had that look in his eyes that you hadn't seen yet in the series.

But it was a one-man show. Only Pau Gasol scored in double figures alongside Bryant and no one other than Bryant had more than two assists. You could say that it was because he was the one taking all the shots, but he didn't really turn it up until the third quarter.

He was much more animated near the end of the game than he'd been in the other two loses and it looked like his disappointment had more to do with his team not being able to stop Boston defensively than anything else.

Yahoo! Sports writer Adrian Wojnarowski started his column on Bryant with this paragraph:

On his way into the losing locker room, the most angry man in the Garden was heard to bellow a spontaneous stream of curses into the ears of his Los Angeles Lakers. As the door slammed behind them, a witness heard Kobe Bryant screaming that he needed some-bleeping-one to make a stand with him.

At the press conference, Kobe was much more calm and matter of fact. But based on his answer about what he'd tell his guys to be ready for game six, he still seethed.

“Just man up and play. What’s the big deal? If I have to say something to them, then we don’t deserve to be champions.”

It was an interesting bit of truth about how he felt about his team facing elimination. He could've given the normal cliched line, but he didn't. But it also wasn't a challenge. It was as if he wanted them to know that he was bringing his A game no matter what, and it was up to them to bring theirs. It wasn't up to him.

It was sort of anti-leader. Rather than say that he was going to carry his troops on his back if need be, he said that he wasn't going to say anything because if he had to, it meant they weren't champions anyway. At least that's how I interpreted it.

On the flipside, you had the Celtics with their fearsome foursome all scoring at least twelve points. After game two, it looked like Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen were the guys carrying the team, but now, after game five, it's back to Paul Piece and Kevin Garnett. Together, they had 45 points and played big in the end.

Can Kobe save the series for the Lakers? I wouldn't bet against him. But it very much seems he's not confident in his guys and after game five, he probably has a good reason not to be.

What game five showed is that Kobe can play at a tremendous level and still lose. If the Celtics get to play five on one in game six, you have to like their chances.

Second Squad Wins Game Four For The Celtics

2010-06-11T20:15:00.000-07:00

To start the fourth quarter in game four, Doc Rivers rolled out this line-up: Nate Robinson, Ray Allen, Tony Allen, Big Baby, and Rasheed Wallace. It was time to rest most of his starters.

But Phil Jackson decided that he was going for it. He started Jordan Farmar, Shannon Brown, Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom, and Pau Gasol.

Two different strategies in a two-point game heading into the fourth quarter of an NBA Finals game. Jackson had already lost Andrew Bynum for the game because of that balky knee of his. He probably figured that they could get a quick jump on the second team before Doc would be able to bring back his starters.

Doc usually tries to rest Garnett for a good amount of time late in the third quarter and Rajon Rondo does need a rest every now and then. He gambled by allowing his second squad plus Ray Allen go toe-to-toe with the Lakers' top two players and Odom, who is as good as any player Boston had in the game at the time.

And somehow, it worked. The five-some played for over nine minutes straight and outscored the Lakers 25-15 in the quarter. Then KG, Pierce, and Rondo came back in the game to put it away.

When Jackson went for the kill, it was with Bryant and Gasol already having played heavy minutes, and Bryant especially looked lethargic at times. He bounced back to hit six threes to keep the Lakers going, but we haven't seen that one great Kobe game yet in this series. Gasol hasn't looked peppy since game two and here he played 44 minutes. Bryant played 43.

The Celtics won in spite of two technical fouls in the fourth quarter - one by Rasheed Wallace, a usual culprit and one by Nate Robinson. Wallace's was the result of reacting like a 2-year old child after he was called for a foul. Nate's was for staring at Lamar Odom's neck.

Nate Robinson provided a spark off the bench for the Celtics, who seemed to be in slow motion offensively. No one in the starting line-up, save for maybe Paul Pierce, played particularly well on offense. But when Robinson came in, he gave them a little hop in their step with 12 points and two big three-pointers. Nate is like "The Facts Of Life". You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both, and there you have Nate Robinson.

Nate was called for a technical after he was knocked to the floor by Lamar Odom. Rather than dust himself off and walk away, he decided to man him up, except Nate is 5'7'' and Lamar is over 6'9''. All Nate did was really size up Lamar's neck. Thankfully for the Celtics, it didn't hurt them.

But Nate wasn't even their best bench player. That title goes to Big Baby. Big Baby is listed as 6'9'' and 289, but he looks 6'6'' and 300. He doesn't jump well and it looks like he's going to get his shot blocked every time he shoots down low. But there he was in the post with quick steps, pump fakes, and good body control to the tune of 18 points and five rebounds in 22 minutes. He was the best Celtics' player on the floor when he was in the game.

Even though the final scores haven't really dictated it, every game in the series has been really close. With it now tied at 2 wins a piece, it's for sure going back to LA. But there is one more game in Boston. Will LA be able to overcome tired legs and possibly losing Andrew Bynum? Will Boston's starters produce enough so that Doc doesn't have to rely on his bench to play so well?

To me, the big question is going to be about Kobe Bryant. When are we getting his best game? He's the best player in the series, yet I'm not so sure he's been the story of any game yet. I have a feeling he's going to become the story soon.

After Game Three, I'll Never Give Up On Derek Fisher Again

2010-06-09T20:12:00.000-07:00

I had a good look at Derek Fisher for two seasons, starting in 2004. At the time, Fisher had been bumped from his starting point guard spot with the Los Angeles Lakers when they signed Gary Payton to run the team. Fisher opted out of his contract and became a free agent, attracting interest from my team, the Golden State Warriors.

He was the starting point guard on a team with Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal. He played tough defense and hit big shots, but he was never the focal point on their star laden team. But he was a winner. The Warriors thought that he would blossom and become more than who he was in LA, but it never happened.

Fisher was given a boatload of money to the tune of 37 million over six years. They had to overpay him to get him and saw Fisher as the leader of a young team. He was there to help the nucleus of Jason Richardson, Mike Dunleavy, and Troy Murphy gel, and to bring the veteran leadership that the team lacked.

In short, Fisher's stay in Oakland wasn't a successful one. He shot and scored more in Oakland than at anytime in his career, but the Warriors finished with identical 34-48 records. By the time the Warriors traded him, they had a new point guard in Baron Davis, and gave Fisher away to Utah for three guys who you may have never even heard of (Keith McLeod, Andre Owens, and Devin Brown).

I had given up on Fisher because Baron Davis was everything he wasn't. Davis ran the club, was the premier scorer, the most popular player, and became the guy they needed Fisher to become if they were going to win. But Fisher would come back to haunt them.

In the second round of the 2006-2007 NBA Playoffs, the "We Believe" Warriors ran into the Utah Jazz after knocking off the number one seed Dallas Mavericks. Derek Fisher wasn't any different in his role with Utah than he was with the Warriors. In fact, his numbers were worse. But he gave the Jazz a jolt that stayed with them all series long.

Fisher's young infant daughter had retinoblastoma, which is a rare eye cancer. Fisher's status for the series was up in the air but in game two, he made a reluctant return in the middle of the game and helped the Jazz win the game and eventually the series. It stood out as the moment of the entire playoffs. How can you give up on a guy like that?

Fisher asked out of his contract with the Jazz because he wanted to be in a big city where he could get the best medical care for his daughter. The Jazz allowed his contract to be voided and Fisher ended up back in Los Angeles with the Lakers, giving up many millions of dollars in order to come back. His 2007-2008 season with the Lakers was one of the best of his career and he helped the new Kobe-led Lakers get back to the NBA Finals, even though they lost to the Celtics. Last year, he had one of the worst years of his career since he became a starter, but the Lakers were a juggernaut and won the championship.

And this year, he had the worst regular season of his starting career. And I gave up on him again. After game two of this year's NBA Finals in which Fisher looked slow and lethargic, I thought Phil Jackson should start playing Jordan Farmar more because he was able to get to the basket where Fisher couldn't.

I was wrong. Dead wrong.

Derek Fisher was the hero in game three. He was he difference. Playing the most minutes that he played all season long, he came up big when he usually does; the fourth quarter. Fisher was 6-12 from the field, scoring 16 points and his defining moment of the game was scoring on a swooping lay-up going one-on-three (Garnett, Perkins, and Allen) and seemingly being fouled by all three as well.

But where he did his best work was in defending Ray Allen. In game two, Allen went off, hitting a NBA Finals single-game record eight three-pointers and doing so a lot of the time with Fisher chasing him around the court. In game three, Allen was 0-13 shooting and was the invisible man again with Fisher chasing him around the court. Allen might've just been off, but Fisher attacked him harder as if he took game two personally.

Derek Fisher's numbers may be on the way down. He may eventually lose his starting job on this Lakers team over the next couple of years. But never again, will I give up on the guy. He comes up too big in too many big situations.

Boston's Game Two Win Tells A Different Story

2010-06-08T20:06:00.000-07:00

If you were a very casual basketball fan and didn't follow basketball all that closely, you'd have a few thoughts about Saturday's Boston Celtics victory over the LA Lakers in game two of the 2010 NBA Finals, and you'd be clear that it was how this series has, was, and will play out.

Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo are the big two for the Celtics

When the Celtics beat the Lakers in 2008, they had a big three. And there was an order to the big three. Kevin Garnett was the final piece of the puzzle, Paul Pierce was the longtime Celtic, and Ray Allen was the perimeter player who stretched the defense.

Back then, Rondo was still the young point guard who might've held them back. Today, Rondo runs their team like few point guards do. He's their best all around player and save for a lack of a real confident go-to jump shot, the weaknesses in his game are hard to find. He needs to have a hand in nearly every situation in order for Boston's offense to succeed, whether it's making the right pass, going to the hole, or pulling an offensive rebound. The day he has a bad game is the day Boston gets run off the court.

Ray Allen needs to be on the court or else the game slows down and the Lakers' length becomes too much for Boston. He stretches the defense because he's so hard to close out on when he's open. He has a quick release and is really good at recognizing when the defense is closing tight. Will he hit eight treys again in a game? No, but he remains the second most important offensive player for Boston in this series and his success is key to their success.

Pau Gasol is better than Kevin Garnett

While history will more than likely say otherwise, today, Gasol is head and shoulders above Garnett. He's simply the better player. He's always had the great offensive skills and now, he has a little bit of snarl in him. He won't play as overtly loud and angry as Garnett needs to because that's not him. But he's not backing down at all.

In the first two games, Gasol has averaged 24 points and 11 rebounds a game while Garnett averaged just 11 points and 4 rebounds a game. Celtics fans may argue that the referees haven't allowed Garnett to play his physical style and they might be right. But Garnett needs to adapt his style so that he's on the court more than 24 minutes like he was on game two. Gasol is having his way with him, but Garnett's the only defender in the front court who can match Gasol's length and who is savvy enough to make things harder for him.

Doc Rivers is Phil Jackson's coaching equal

This is never going to be true.

But game two was a good game for Doc. The Lakers were dominating the middle, but Doc allowed Kendrick Perkins and Big Baby to guard Andrew Bynum without much help. Bynum had a terrific game. But partly because of it, the Lakers' guard play wasn't as good as Boston's and that was the difference in the game. Kobe didn't have many open kick-outs and Fisher only shot 2 of 8. Kobe also looked frustrated at the way the refs were calling the game.

There might be a time in the series where Jordan Farmar has to play more in crunch time because he's one of the few guys on the Lakers who can get to the basket who is not Kobe Bryant. Fisher had a bad game, yet Jackson went to him in crunch time like he probably should've, but Farmar might need to play more down the stretch in close games, at least offensively.

And if Ron Artest is terrible offensively, Phil has to take him out on offense in crunch time right?

Jackson has used the postseason to call out players and officials, which is his own way of having fun with the earned perception that he's such a cerebral coach. But now that Boston has tied the series and can win it out on their home court, Phil is going to have to find the solution to his team's ills, rather than Steve Nash's and Kevin Durant's.

While game two didn't really tell the whole story of both teams, it did show that one game can tell a different story. Will the series play out like it did in game two? Probably not. But that different story might be closer to the real story than we thought could possibly be true after game one.

Game three should be the best game yet.

The Lakers Make Ugly Beautiful In Game 1

2010-06-04T19:55:00.000-07:00

Game 1 of the 2010 NBA Finals wasn't a beautiful game by any means. If watching Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley go at it in the 1993 NBA Finals was Halle Berry, the first game of the 2010 version of Lakers vs. Celtics was Clint Howard.

The referees determined from the start (maybe they had a summit like LeBron and Dwyane?) that they were going to call the game closely, and probably a bit too closely at that. From the first backslide takedown by Ron Artest on Paul Pierce that was whistled for a double technical foul, it felt like the referees wanted to make sure both teams knew that they weren't going to allow much of the rough stuff, or at least allow the teams to get away with it. And that was to Boston's detriment.

Going into this series, I thought the Celtics had to have a few things fall correctly for them if they were going to win. Firstly, Rajon Rondo had to play out of his mind. Rondo vs. Derek Fisher/Jordan Farmar is the only place on the basketball court that the Celtics have a real, surefire advantage. In my opinion, Rondo can't just have solid games. They have to be dominating. Secondly, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett can't be as inconsistent as they have been so far in the playoffs. And the Celtics had to play a physical style to test Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom and try to take Ron Artest out of his game.

None of those things happened.

Rondo looked good early on, but he wasn't dominant in any way. He didn't shoot well, but more importantly, he didn't look like he wanted to take the game over like they needed him to. He made some quality passes, especially in transition, but Boston needed him to finish rather than hand off to a Kevin Garnett who had a hard time finishing or kick out to shooters who couldn't get their shot off freely because of the Lakers' defensive length.

While Pierce's numbers look decent (24 points and 9 rebounds), he wasn't effective. He missed all four of his three-point-shots and half of his points came at the free throw line, which is mostly because the referees called the game so closely. Ron Artest played him physically, frustrated him, and made him work hard on the other end as well. Pierce looked like a completely different player than the 2008 version who was the soul to Kevin Garnett's heart.

Garnett is an absolute shadow of himself. He showed energy early, but it wasn't enough. Pau Gasol blocked his patented turnaround jumper twice, and it seemed to deflate him. On one play in the fourth quarter that summed up his night, Rondo fed him what should've been an easy dunk, yet he didn't jump high enough and decided to lay it in and didn't even get it above the rim. And on the other side of the ball, Gasol had his way with him.

The Lakers were the more physical team in the end. Ray Allen was in foul trouble all night, and his replacement Tony Allen couldn't blink without getting whistled himself. But the Celtics can't solely blame the tempo of the game on the referees because it was called like that both ways. Boston was called for twenty eight fouls, while the Lakers had twenty six.

Within all that ugly, I thought the two Lakers' stars, Kobe and Paul, played beautifully. I found myself just watching Kobe, even when he didn't have the ball in his hands. Other than a couple games against Oklahoma City where he just seemed frustrated, this has been a terrific playoffs for him. He was able to get to the rim at will, slicing through the Celtics' defense. And no one even tried knocking him down.

After game one, I think anything having to do with Pau Gasol and the word soft should be disassociated. This was an opportunity for him to prove that the Gasol who was shoved around in 2008 is a different player and he did just that. Because of early foul trouble to both Andrew Bynam and Lamar Odom, Gasol ended up playing 47 out of the 48 minutes, scoring 23 points, gathering 14 rebounds, blocking 3 shots, and helped hold Kevin Garnett and Kendrick Perkins to a combined 7 rebounds. He was the best big man on the court by far.

The Celtics are going to need to turn up the defensive intensity in game two and ask Rondo to come up huge. Or else, they're going to be in a big hole going back to Boston.

Is This LeBron's Last Stand In Cleveland?

2010-05-13T00:57:00.000-07:00

After losing on Boston's court to end yet another season without winning a title, LeBron James' off-season is going to be the worst one of his career. Sure, he's going to be courted like he's the prettiest girl in class before prom as teams like the New York Knicks, Chicago Bulls, Miami Heat, and his current team, the Cleveland Cavaliers promise him the moon. But after another early exit from the playoffs, the hammer is going to come down on him.

After watching game four, the main thing that stuck with me is how little LeBron trusted his teammates to perform. Boston's defensive game plan was brilliant, but it's not like it was a creative strategy. When he had the ball, they attacked him before he could get a running start, and if he got by the first guy, they threw one of their 7 foot tall trees at him. And if he gave up that basketball, the defensive strategy worked. Anthony Parker, Mo Williams, and Antawn Jamison didn't seem like they wanted the ball. It was like they were comfortable watching LeBron do his thing.

In game six, LeBron probably should've forced his will a bit more, but it seemed like he fought it. He's more Magic than Michael or Larry. It's in his DNA to give up the basketball rather than take a bad shot. It's the single thing that separates him from Kobe Bryant. Kobe will take tough shots time and time again because his teammates depend on his scoring. And he has good offensive rebounders around him that will bat that ball around and give him another chance if it doesn't go in.

But for whatever reason, LeBron decided to trust teammates who weren't that trustworthy. While LeBron didn't shoot well at all (8-21), his teammates shot just as badly. The rest of the Cavs went a 20-52 shooting. Take away LeBron's 19 rebounds and 10 assists, and the rest of his teammates only pulled down 29 total rebounds and dished out 7 assists. You'd be hard pressed to give LeBron even a B- for his play and this is in a game in which he had a triple double (nearly a quadruple-double with 9 turnovers), but other than Mo Williams, no one else probably earns even a C.

If the Cavs as a team were shooting even half decently, then choosing to give up the ball so freely would've been the right move. But after watching his perimeter players brick shots badly time and time again, he needed to go to plan B. There didn't seem to be a plan B.

It's a similar style of defense that Orlando deployed last year when they knocked the Cavs out. Who was going to hit the big shots this year that they couldn't hit last year? And Danny Ferry's solution to that problem was to clog the middle more by signing Shaquille O'Neal and trading for Antawn Jamison. O'Neal is near the end of his rope and it sure showed in game 6. He had problem holding onto the basketball on offense and defensively, a bad kneed Kevin Garnett destroyed him early on.

As for Jamison, he's the kind of player who can fill up stat sheets but doesn't really mean a whole lot when it's all said and done. He's played on more teams who have won less than 20 games than he's played on teams who have played .500 basketball.

How much of that goes towards head coach Mike Brown? I'm sure some of it does, even though he wasn't the one bricking shots. As a fan wanting to see Cleveland make somewhat of a comeback, I was frustrated with Brown's substitutions, especially when they needed to get out and run. It's hard to run with either Shaq or Zydrunas Ilgauskus in the game. You end up playing four on five.

If you historically look at teams who win titles, they have one dominant star, and two secondary stars whose games compliment the star player. Until Pau Gasol came to the Lakers, the Lakers lacked the inside presence to balance out Kobe's game. Tim Duncan had Tony Parker and Manu Ginobli, with Ginobli being a big game player. Even these same Celtics who beat the Cavs had Garnett, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce and now have Rajon Rondo.

Jamison, a broken down O'Neal, Mo Williams, and Anthony Parker obviously aren't the answer. If Danny Ferry has swung and missed while the Celtics and Lakers have been able to make trades that have delivered the right pieces to fit with their stars, does LeBron continue to trust the brass?

Many people think LeBron goes back to Cleveland simply because it's his home town. But with the way free agency can break out, why wouldn't he just wait and see where some of the pieces fall? If he wants to play with a big man, wouldn't it be a good idea to see where Amar'e goes? If he wants a Robin to his Batman, wouldn't it be smart to see where Joe Johnson goes?

I don't think he's necessarily packing his bags and leaving Cleveland. I think he's waiting to see what they can go out and get for him. And that's the smart move.

Stephen Curry's Rookie Year Was All That And Then Some

2010-04-22T00:54:00.000-07:00

Warriors' rookie point guard Stephen Curry's career started amidst trade rumors.

If you remember back to draft day 2009, his name was being floated in trade talks with the Phoenix Suns in a deal for Amar'e Stoudemire. In fact, many draft prognosticators figured the Warriors drafted Curry for the Suns because they already had a diminutive guard in Monta Ellis.

But the Curry trade never happened. In the end, it was probably for the better. Amar'e's a soon to be a free agent and while he would've made the Warriors' better record-wise this year, they wouldn't have been able to sign him and we would've been back at square one. You may say that the Warriors always seem to be at square one. But I'd argue that point guards like Curry aren't a dime a dozen. He has a chance to be special. Win one for the Warriors?

If you look at Curry's year-long stats, they look good, but not superb. Over 17 points a game and nearly 6 assists is nothing to sniff at, but those numbers don't knock your socks off. If you dig deeper, you'll find that he had a gem of a season. To really see Curry's growth not only as a scorer, but also a distributor, you have to look at his monthly splits.

In his first full month in the league, he was averaging roughly 10 points a game and 5 and a half assists a game. Stephen Jackson was also on this team. Wow, that seems like eons ago.

In December, you notice an upward tick in his play, but in January he really seemed to blossom. In the month of January, he averaged just over 19 points a game and 5 assists, but his shooting was spectacular. He shot 48% from the field, 89% from the free throw stripe, and 49% from the three point line.

His next two months were very consistent, and then in April, he exploded again. Some of the explosion could be attributed to Monta Ellis being off the court just as much as he was on it, but I see it as a sign of maturity that was forced upon a young player. When Ellis was out, Curry was able to change his role of second banana into being the alpha dog on the court. In eight games in April, he averaged 26 points a game and over 8 assists along with 6 rebounds. Those numbers are near LeBron-like.

It's obvious that statistics don't tell the whole story and Curry does play in an uptempo system. But Steve Nash does too, and has been knocked similarly, but who wouldn't want Steve Nash on their team? Curry will probably never be a great defender unless he adds some size and just works doggedly at it. But he can shoot, distribute, and has a knack for making the right play at the right time. He didn't take care of the basketball as well as he should've, but you can also blame some of that on the uptempo system.

The Warriors have such an unpredictable air about them because of the current ownership situation and decisions about the team and coaching staff probably won't be made until the sale occurs. It's hard to gauge what they'll do with their team. But after this season, one thing is certain; Stephen Curry can play and this franchise has a better outlook because of him.

Magic and Bird: A Courtship of Rivals Is Riveting

2010-03-14T00:50:00.000-08:00

I grew up smack dab in the middle of the NBA's renaissance in the mid-80s. It was lead by two superstars who couldn't have been more culturally different, yet seemed to be created out of the same fiber.

When I started to watch basketball there were three big stars. Dr. J was in the latter stages of his career, but his posters were still everywhere. And then there were Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.

I'll admit that I didn't like Larry Bird all that much growing up. He didn't smile. He was slow. He didn't dunk creatively. And his dang teams always won. My friends and I called him "Big Nose" Bird.

Magic on the other hand looked like he was having a great time on the court. He was cool, slick, and win or lose, you knew the basketball court was the number one place in his life.

They'd eventually cross paths time and time again throughout their careers and even after they stopped playing. When looking back at the history of the NBA, you'll see Johnson, Earvin and Bird, Larry side-by-side. They're like peanut butter and jelly.

I think that most of us born during that time frame will admit that the NBA is where it is today thanks in-part to Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, and the Lakers vs. Celtics rivalry. Though Michael Jordan came soon thereafter and transcended the sport even further, the league is not taken out of the tape delay doldrums of the early 80s without the two icons.

Ezra Edelman's HBO documentary Magic and Bird: A Courtship of Rivals gets every feeling right. Going back to when I said that I didn't like Bird, those feelings were front and center at the start of the documentary. I was watching it with my kids and early on, and my youngest admitted to not liking Bird either without any prompting.

Edelman had the perfect story to tell. One player is affable and kind when the cameras are on. The other's hair is unkempt and he looks like a cold-blooded killer. Yet, when the camera is off, the roles change.

Magic Johnson admits that when he was able to be Earvin, he was the greatest guy in the world. But once he was Magic, he was intense, competitive, and he had an affinity for too many things, including sex. Larry admitted that being an unfriendly player on the court was calculated. He wanted every edge possible. He didn't like Magic, but he liked Magic being there. Magic was someone he could compare himself to night in and night out. He would wake up in the morning to read what Magic and Lakers did in the newspaper. He could use Magic to pump himself up and push himself to go higher.

(Check out the video clip I added in which they talk about their dislike for each other: http://www.fanbase.com/video/3884.)

When I was younger, I figured the Lakers and Celtics played each other in every NBA Finals of the 1980s. It was really only three, and for whatever reason, I remember them well. I remember Magic being one of the main reasons that the Celtics won the championship in the 1984-1985 championship. He made a few crucial errors that Larry and company capitalized on and swung the series to the Celts. He had to pay for it in the off-season. It was an off-season in which he says was the first time in his life he'd ever been depressed.

The Lakers would win the next two times they battled in the Finals, and Magic would gain the respect back by hitting a baby hook as the clock ran out to win one of those games. After being "Tragic" Johnson, he was officially Magic again.

Those three finals gave me some of the best back and forth basketball I'd ever seen. Jordan would one-up them both in the 90s and become the greatest ever. But he never had a foe. He never had a Larry or Magic to stand toe-to-toe with him. He didn't have a Frazier to his Ali. Larry and Magic had that.

Even though I love the basketball scenes and reflecting on how great the league was when I was a child, I think my favorite part of the documentary is when their careers were coming to an end. Larry's back injury caused an early end to his career. Watching him suffer made my back stiff as I was watching. I knew it was bad, but still, it was painful to watch.

And who doesn't remember where they were when Magic announced that he had acquired HIV? I was in study hall with the rest of the players on the varsity and JV basketball team and the varsity head coach came in and said what happened and that it's now more important than ever to practice safe sex. I think most of us were astonished, but you had to be cool in study hall and not too long there after, people were cracking jokes.

I'd heard an interview with Edelman and he said that he shot a lot of long interviews with people close to Larry Bird because he was afraid that he wouldn't get an interview with Larry himself. And even if he did get one, he didn't think it'd be good. But for whatever reason, Bird brought it. He looked uncomfortable, but he spoke from the heart and he didn't mince words. He didn't like Magic. Didn't want to hang out with him after games even if Magic thought they'd grown closer. Even today, their relationship is built on competition and respect. They don't see each other often because they don't have to.

The most touching part of the entire documentary was when Magic announced he had acquired HIV. His own buddy Isiah Thomas questioned his sexuality which frustrated him. Larry called him to let him know he'd be there for him and that it would be ok. Magic couldn't play anymore and that hurt Magic. But it also hurt Larry because he didn't have anyone's box score to read to push him any more.

Go out of your way to see the film. These men were the best basketball players on the face of the earth in the 80s and we as fans were so lucky they were connected like they were.

After the movie was over, my youngest son told me, "I didn't like Larry Bird at the beginning, but at the end, he was a good guy."

LeBron James - More Than A Game Movie Review

2010-02-21T00:23:00.000-08:00

Last name ever
First name greatest
Like a sprained ankle boy
I ain't nothing to play with

Those are Drake's first lines in his single Forever from the More Than A Game soundtrack, but if LeBron James continues to dominate the NBA (and win a few championships), he may simply be known as "greatest ever".

More Than A Game is a documentary by filmmaker Kris Belman, whose IMDB page is very light on the resume. The film follows LeBron James and his friends, all from Akron, Ohio, as they rise from middle school hoop dynamos all the way until their high school graduation. James is one of the two main focuses, but his teammates and best friends Dru, Romeo, Sian, and Willie are there in full force as well.

The other main focus of the film is the father of Dru Joyce III, Dru Joyce II who was their AAU coach as youngsters and stepped into being their high school coach at St. Vincent-St. Mary after their original coach stepped down. His calming and teacher-like influence on the kids allows them to reach the apex of their potential.

From 2000 through 2003, St. Vincent-St. Mary won the state basketball championship three times, losing only in James' junior year. Even as a fourteen year old freshman, James was spectacular and simply looked and played like a skinnier version of his current self. It is amazing to see him grow up through the four years and improve his game, change his demeanor and really embrace his superstar status.

Hoops Dreams this is not. The idea wasn't to see the struggles of these five young men. It was to show their successes. It is a story that is almost written too perfectly if it weren't a true one.

There are two conflicts that send the team into confusion. One is with James and that's the one everyone remembers. How could James and his mother afford a Hummer? How could James afford all those shoes? But the other surrounds Sian who has to decide between possibly ruining their historic senior year run, or playing in a high school football All-Star game which would help him in the sport he loves best.

The best part of the documentary isn't necessarily the story. It's the footage that is used to back up the story. There is tons of footage of these five kids from middle school and up, and great footage of their senior year championship run, mostly because many of these games were shown on ESPN. By then, LeBron was already deemed as "The Chosen One" by Sports Illustrated and the most anticipated basketball player entering the NBA in years and years.

The early footage is of the hand held variety, but that helps the progression of the story. Early on, these kids aren't stars. Only their parents have footage of them. But by the end, ESPN is putting them on their network. It's quite the rise.

I did learn something about James from the film. When he came into the NBA straight out of high school, there was worry that by having a "posse", it could hurt him like it's hurt many players before. You keep friends around by paying for their living to simply hang out with you. If it could make MC Hammer broke, it could make LeBron James broke. But after watching this film, his "posse" is truly his family. He has a very close relationship with his mother, who raised him by herself, but his friends give him support and keep him secure. It's mentioned a few times in the film that because he didn't really have much family, he always wanted people around him. Those are his boys.

It's not a glorified "LeBron James is great piece" much like Spike Lee's Kobe Doin' Work was for Kobe Bryant. But you're not going to see deep into LeBron's psyche either. The story of five kids who grew up playing ball together and eventually became one of the greatest high school basketball teams of all-time is compelling enough.

Without Bias Is Really Good But It Leaves You With Mixed Emotions And More Questions

2009-11-05T07:17:00.000-08:00

If you were a basketball fan in the mid-80s, you knew who Len Bias was. Len Bias had Michael Jordan's body type with James Worthy's aggressiveness and length. I'm really not overdoing the comparison. From everything we saw back then, those were the comparisons.

(If you don't believe that comparison, ESPN writer Bill Simmons, who has probably written more about Len Bias than anyone, gives the same comparison in his new book, The Book Of Basketball.

Here's what Simmons said:

You couldn't have drawn up a better young forward for that particular team (the Celtics), someone who played like a more physical Worthy, but with Jordan's athleticism, if that makes sense.

See, I'm not crazy.)

People loved to see him jump effortlessly above the rim, but he wasn't one dimensional. He had a great mid-range jump shot and since he could jump so high, no one was blocking his shot. He could play below the rim as well as he could play above it.

At Maryland he dominated the ACC and caught the eye of Boston Celtics' GM Red Auerbach. Because of a crazy trade involving the Seattle Supersonics and Gerald Henderson, the NBA Champion Boston Celtics, who won 67 games before beating the Houston Rockets in the NBA Finals, held the rights to the number two pick of the 1986 draft.

The Cleveland Cavs held the first pick and took North Carolina center Brad Daughtery. That allowed Bias to fall into the Celtics' lap. Simmons thought it was the perfect fit. He would've come off the bench to spell both Bird and McHale at either forward spot and cut down both of their minutes. And Bird would've had a blast throwing him crazy alley-oops according to Simmons.

(By the way, that 1986 draft was just cursed. Daugherty would've probably been a Hall of Fame center, but only played eight years because of back injuries. Bias died. Chris Washburn was drafted third by the Warriors and he was burnt out on drugs by his second year in the league. William Bedford was picked sixth by the Suns and is still in jail today for drug related charges. Roy Tarpley was drafted seventh by the Mavericks and was kicked out of the NBA twice for drugs and alcohol. Even Scott Skiles had issues with drugs and alcohol. Cursed I tell you.)

Just two days after the biggest day of Bias' basketball career, he died from a heart attack brought upon by a cocaine binge. After watching Kirk Fraser's take on Bias in his ESPN 30 for 30 documentary Without Bias, I was left with mixed emotions. I was sad and angry, left wondering "what if", but also very happy that I watched it.

Len Bias died over 23 years ago. I was barely 10 years old. Yet, I remember nearly every detail about what happened. I remember that he died two days after the draft. I remember that he overdosed on cocaine. And I remember that he was supposed to be great. As much as I knew, Fraser's documentary provided me with many details that I didn't know.

I didn't know that Bias' parents had to go through nearly the same thing again four years later when his brother Jay was murdered. I didn't know that Larry Bird was so enamored with Bias that he was going to show up early to training camp with the rookies just because Bias was going to be there. I didn't know that Auerbach had his eye on Bias three years before they drafted him.

And yet, there are still things I would love to know more about.

Was Bias a drug addict or not? Head coach Lefty Driesell thought it was just a one time thing for Bias, while others mentioned in the documentary that the cocaine he and Brian Trimble scored was more pure than just "starter" coke.

Were Kevin McHale and Larry Bird truly ok with the Celtics drafting the next coming even though it meant their minutes would be cut and someone would eventually have to sit when Bias evolved? Someone (McHale) would've had to eventually be traded, or else accept a lesser role.

Did NBA experts think Bias had enough drive back then to be Michael Jordan's foil like we think today? Magic had Larry. Bill had Wilt. Who did MJ have? We know Bias had the talent, but was he as driven and focused enough as MJ?

Fraser interviews Bias' friends and family which gives a lot of credence into the story. It's one thing to have coaches and guys like Michael Wilbon, who covered the DC area at the time, but when you have Mr. and Mrs. Bias, his brother and sister, and teammates, you know the story is going to be as straight as possible.

One thing that amazed me was how stoic Mrs. Bias was. She felt that Len was going to be taken from her much earlier than he was. And she turned the losses of her two songs into positive work by becoming a spokesperson against drugs. I wonder how many lives she saved as a direct result of her losing two sons.

In no way could Fraser tell this entire story in just fifty five minutes. But he does a stellar job in getting as many interviews and stories into the documentary as possible. He tries to talk about the DC drug scene at the time, but doesn't have nearly enough time to do anything but dip his baby toe into it.

He also tries to discuss what happened to the Maryland program after the Bias ordeal, but again, there's not enough time. We know that Lefty Driesell was forced to quit by the program after Bias died. And though not discussed in the film, the program made the NCAA tournament in 1988 and didn't make the tournament again until 1994.

For the time given, Fraser's documentary gives you a great look at someone who had great promise and left the basketball world way too soon.

Len Bias photo added by Sarah - http://www.fanbase.com/member/sarah

Off-season For The 2009-2010 Warriors Was Definitely "Off"

2009-10-30T09:25:00.000-07:00

After the end of last season, you would've thought that things couldn't get worse for the Golden State Warriors franchise. Think again.

Last season came on the heels of the 2007-2008 season in which the Warriors just missed the playoffs, being the first team who won at least 48 games in the regular season to not make the postseason. They would go on to lose Baron Davis, Mickael Pietrus, and Matt Barnes before the 2008-2009 season started. They'd then trade Al Harrington before the season was over. And let's not forget Monta Ellis and his moped accident which caused him to miss nearly the first half of the season.

In the mean time, decision maker Chris Mullin was stripped of his powers thanks to Don Nelson and team president Robert Rowell and Nelson's friend Larry Riley was given Mully's job. With Baron Davis gone, there were rumors that Mullin was trying to trade Stephen Jackson, thinking that without Davis, Jackson wasn't as valuable and not necessarily the one to step into Davis' leader role. But before Mullin could do anything, Rowell signed Jackson to a new contract, thus making Jackson nearly untradeable in a seller's market. This is soap opera level stuff right?

(I'm grouping a bunch of things I've read during the off-season and will link to the places I read at the bottom.)

All Don Nelson's children...

This year's off-season reads like a soap opera and if someone wants to make a movie about a dysfunctional basketball organization, this might be the team to follow.

According to some reports, Stephen Jackson and Monta Ellis were told after last season that the Warriors would deliver them a big man in the off-season and that the team would make a rush towards the playoffs rather than become a rebuilding team. And on draft night, it looked like the Warriors had a chance to get that big man in Amar'e Stoudamire. Now I'm not sure he would've ever been happy coming here, but it seems that when Stephen Curry became available for the Warriors, any deal that would've made Phoenix happy for Stoudamire went out the window. Nellie didn't want to part with Curry.

Jackson supposedly became upset because the Warriors didn't get their big man like promised and that lead into a frustrating preseason where he gave up his team captaincy and was suspended for two games.

In preseason game against the Lakers, Jackson was guarding Kobe Bryant and Bryant was getting into his head. Bryant supposedly called him "Young Fella" which set Jackson off. Jackson had five fouls in the first half and was frustrated at both the replacement referees who were calling the game way too closely for his taste and at Nellie who left him in to accumulate the five fouls. After coming out of the game, Nellie tried to put his hand on Jackson's shoulder and Jackson pushed it off and told him not to touch him.

As the Warriors' world turns...

The Warriors did get a big man, just not the kind of big man who will lead them to the promise land. They signed veteran big man Mikki Moore. They also traded Jamal Crawford and in return landed former Warrior Speedy Claxton and Acie Law. No word on whether Mookie Blaylock, Vonteego Cummings, Bobby Sura, or Larry Hughes were available. Actually, I'm sure Hughes was available.

Marco Belinelli was traded in a multi-team trade for Devean George. And to top it off, young big man Brandan Wright was hurt again and will be out for a while.

They'll run out Jackson (until they can actually trade him), Ellis, Curry, Andris Biedrins, Corey "Bad Porn" (I'll let you look up why fans have been calling him that) Maggette, Anthony Randolph, Ronny Turiaf, Kelenna Azubuike, Anthony Morrow, and CJ Watson. There's definitely talent on this team, but like usual, too heavy in guys who can get up and down the floor and not heavy enough in guys who can play defense, be physical, and score in the flow of the game when they can't run.

I know that we won't see this because it's just not Nellie's style, but I'd love to see Curry, Ellis, Morrow, Randolph, and Biedrins get a lot of playing time together, though not necessarily all at the same time. It would give the Warriors an idea if these guys can play with each other. Anthony Randolph needs to be looked at as the future and they should build the team around him. Who plays better with him between Curry and Ellis? Is Morrow a better player at the shooting guard than Ellis, or does Ellis' penetration style work better with someone like Randolph? They have to use this season to answer those questions and figure out a way to get something in return for Jackson. Do you get rid of him early so that his stench doesn't ruin the team from the outset, or do you allow him to play himself into being traded?

This upcoming season has the looks of another wasted year and a mid lottery level draft pick for next year. Wait, that's what always happens.

Photo of Stephen Jackson by http://fanbase.com/member/rachna
Photo of Anthony Randolph by http://fanbase.com/member/prakash

Places I read to put together the points for my article:
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/kawakami/
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/expertsarchive;_ylt=Ag4p9AyKI4OA1llh7PyThdfTjdIF?author=Adrian+Wojnarowski
http://48minutes.net
http://www.warriorsworld.net/
http://www.ibabuzz.com/warriors/

Stephen Curry Is A Warrior For Now, And Other 2009 NBA Draft Thoughts

2009-06-27T17:31:00.000-07:00

Earlier on draft day, there were a few rumors floating out there about what the Golden State Warriors were going to do. Were they going to stay put and simply draft whoever the best player standing was at number 7, or were they going to be involved in a big trade.

They were rumored to be involved in trades for both Vince Carter and Amar'e Stoudemire early in the day. Obviously, since Carter ended up in Orlando, that one was actually just a rumor. However, the Stoudemire rumor may have legs and a trade could still happen, even if it didn't happen on draft night.

The rumor consists of the Warriors trading Andres Biedrins, Brandon Wright, and Marco Belinelli, and some combination of another player and new Warrior, Stephen Curry. There are many theories about what was going on. The early rumor was that Phoenix would be interested in the trade as long as Stephen Curry was there for the Warriors to draft because that's who they wanted. After the Warriors drafted Curry at 7, most people who were following the situation figured that Curry was drafted for Phoenix.

Why would the Warriors draft a player for themselves whose weaknesses are very similar to the weaknesses of their current star guard Monta Ellis? Both guys are on the small and slim side, aren't noted defenders, and aren't really point guards. You'd think that if the Warriors were drafting for themselves, they would've taken someone who would compliment Ellis more.

But I actually like the pick, even if the Warriors keep him. What Curry gives them is another fantastic shooter to pair with Anthony Morrow. It gives them some instant offense off the bench. And with the way Don Nelson likes to go small, I could see them pairing Ellis and Curry for small bursts of time.

The trade for Stoudemire is expected to happen by many reporters (Ric Bucher says to wait until July 8), but Warriors General Manager Larry Riley stated that Curry was drafted to keep, not to trade. This could all be a big poker game between Suns GM Steve Kerr and Don Nelson. And if it is a big poker game, it won't help Riley's reputation as Nellie's puppet.

I'm not sure what I think about Stoudemire. He's obviously a great talent and the perfect big man for Nellie's system. But why he'd be ok with a deal to one of the most disfunctional franchises in the league makes me worried that he may not be completely healthy. Why wouldn't he want to play the season out and then basically choose whichever team he wants to play for after his contract is up? If he's willing to take a contract from the Warriors, the cynic in me thinks that he might not be confident that he's going to have a strong year leading into what would be his free agency year.

(If the trade goes down I'll update this post.)

Other thoughts on the draft...

- I have a hard time believing that Ricky Rubio fell to the Minnesota Timberwolves because of a lack of faith in his talent. I'm not sure if they were worried about the issues with his team in Spain, or simply didn't think he'd be able to play in the US this year. At least, I hope those were the fears. Because I don't buy Hasim Thabeet, James Hardin, or Tyreke Evans as players who will be game changing. They may be decent pros, and Thabeet could even become an outstanding defensive post player, but Rubio has the talent to become a game changer.

- I won't say that I've seen him a ton, but what I have seen of Johnny Flynn tells me that he may have a little bit of Tim Hardaway in him. Hardaway might've been a bit stronger (and bulkier), but they both have the quickness and the ability to score the ball. Why Minnesota took him when they just took Rubio is a bit odd, but maybe they have more moves to make.

- What I've heard about Terrence Williams' game is mostly on the positive tip. But what I've heard about him off the court isn't necesarily positive. He's going to be an interesting player in New Jersey where they're building around Brook Lopez and Devin Harris. With that young of a team, you'd hope the immaturity issues that you hear about him don't curtail his possible rise.

- I thought Jrue Holiday and Brandon Jennings could've been possible picks for the Warriors at 7. Holiday and his agent Dan Fagan kind of screwed themselves by not even working out with the Warriors because Fagan and the Warriors' brass don't get along. Holiday ended up slipping the most out of the top players as he went 17th to the Philadelphia 76ers.

In the early draft previews, Jennings was going in the top 5, and I even saw him in the top 3. Going 10th is still a solid spot for him, but he might've gone to one of the worst possible teams in Milwaukee. At least, if the Knicks or Warriors drafted him, he'd be in an uptempo offense that would probably suit him best.

My Golden State Warriors Top Five For 2008-2009

2009-05-05T12:18:00.000-07:00

I originally wrote this for Fanbase.

My Warriors' top five list isn't a list of who the best five players on the team are. It's more a top five list of guys who fit their roles and made the Warriors better. Just remember that this was a 29 win team.

I'll get to my exclusion first. Stephen Jackson isn't on my list because as the Warriors number one player, in my opinion, he was one of the worst number one options in the league. As a number two option on a team, he's a pretty good player. As a number three option, he's fantastic. Thus, I left Stephen Jackson off my list because while he definitely played hard and tried to lead the team, he's just not that kind of player. If my list was about effort, he'd be on here. But my list is about guys who excelled in their roles given their opportunity (for the most part), and though Jackson filled up the stat sheet, there were just way too many times where he had the ball and didn't perform late in games.

It's probably a bit unfair to Jackson because he was called upon to be the guy and isn't that type of player. My apologies to Jackson fans, in advance.

1. Ronny Turiaf
Turiaf is never going to be a superstar in this league. He just doesn't have superstar talent. But what he lacks in the talent department, he makes up in tenacity and an understanding of how to use his big body. He's not terribly athletic, but he blocks a ton of shots per his alloted minutes, and he's developed a nice little go to jumper as well.

If the Warriors can supply him with another banger to play with, I can see his minutes be even more valuable to the Warriors. I didn't love him when they signed him, but I loved what I saw from him.

2. Kelenna Azubuike
He's undersized and wasn't even drafted out of college, but you have to like a guy who just puts his head down and plays hard. Maybe it's because he played a few seasons with Baron Davis, but I see a guy who truly has confidence in his game. He shot the three ball very well and earned a ton of minutes this season.

3. Anthony Randolph
What's there not to like about this kid? He's a dead ringer for Ronnie DeVoe from New Edition. His athleticism is off the charts. He thinks he's unstoppable. He'll block a shot and scream. He'll dribble the ball off his foot and look at the sidelines like a deer in headlights. I'm not sure what his ceiling is. But I'm going to enjoy watching him get there.

You can see some Randolph highlights here.

4. Monta Ellis
What a terrible year this was for Ellis. From the injury to the lying about the injury, to the questions about whether the Warriors would dissolve his contract, to his overall unhappiness, and eventually his inconsistent play, it was really a lost season for him. But he showed flashes of brilliance, which is enough to make Warriors fans happy going into the next season. What they truly need is to luck out and draft a bigger point guard so that Ellis can play his natural shooting guard position.

. Corey Maggette
How can I put Maggette here and not include Jackson? Well, I think Maggette can find ways to score in ways that doesn't hurt the team in doing so as much as Jackson does. However, with his contract, he should be better than what he is, but who thought he'd be better after watching him all those years in LA? The reason he's here for me is because he can get to the free throw line and make points them when you need them. On a 29 win team, that's not enough, but as a six man on a 45 win team, he could be valuable late in the game. Just as Nellie missused so many players, Maggette had to play a lot of his minutes at power forward and he was getting killed defensively.

It was tough to create a top five. It was kind of tough to create a top four. But that's my list for the 2008-2009 Golden State Warriors. It was a lost year and one that I would love to forget.

Photo of Stephen Jackson by Joe Gilmore and shared via creative commons (Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic)
Photo of Corey Maggette by iamgenious and shared via creative commons (Attribution 2.0 Generic)

When Is Enough, Enough?

2009-04-21T14:07:00.000-07:00

This article was originally posted on Fanbase.

When I think of the 2009 season for the Warriors, it brings back terrible memories. It reminds me of the year 1994. Let me create the parallel for you.

In 1993, the Warriors traded the rights of their first round draft pick Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway (and some future draft picks) to the Orlando Magic for the rights to Chris Webber. For the Warriors, who were more "little engine that could" than truly good basketball team, this was a match made in heaven. Chris Webber gave the Warriors a post presence that they hadn't seen since the days of Nate Thurmond. But he was also athletic and could run, fitting into Don Nelson's uptempo style.

Even though those Warriors lost in the first round of the playoffs, 1994 looked bright. All-star point guard Tim Hardaway was coming back from injury and the team would be at full blast. But Webber and Nelson couldn't get along. Supposedly, Webber didn't like playing center. He didn't like Nelson's backhanded criticisms. And he didn't like the Bay Area because he feared earthquakes. For a guy who called himself "The Big Bad Wolf", he sure came off as a pansy. But that's what happens when you're completely catered to since you were in the 8th grade.

Nelson was the adult here. He could've changed up his style to accomodate his new meal ticket. But something just didn't vibe between the two guys. The Warriors even traded for center Rony Seikaly so that Webber wouldn't have to play the five spot. It's too bad they had to trade Billy Owens, one of Webber's best friends on the team, to get him. The miscommunication here was very transparent. Webber was traded to Washington and soon thereafter, Nelson was gone too. You've heard about the curse of the Bambino? Ok, I won't go that far.

It would take the Warriors thirteen years to get back to the playoffs after the Webber/Nellie debacle. Thanks to a shrewd move by Chris Mullin to steal Baron Davis away from the New Orleans Hornets, the Warriors were back in business. In 2007, the Warriors became the NBA's most fascinating team to watch and upset the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the NBA playoffs. The Mavs were the number one seed in all of the playoffs, but behind Davis, the Warriors were the story. Who was also apart of the Oakland revival? Well, none other than Don Nelson. Mullin's other shrewd move was to talk Nelson out of retirement to replace Mike Montgomery as head coach.

In 2008, the team won 48 games and just barely missed the playoffs. I believe 48 wins is the highest number of wins for a team to ever miss the playoffs. Though Jason Richardson was traded before the season for rookie power forward Brandan Wright, the rest of the group was still there. Monta Ellis came into his own and Andris Biedrins was continuing to improve. All they had to do was resign Davis, and the group would be ready to run again and they'd be able to add another young piece to the mix.

But the Warriors couldn't resign Davis. Though Chris Mullin was the man technically making the moves, the word on the street was that team president Robert Rowell was the man behind not resigning Davis. He thought that Davis was asking for too much money and for too many years. Nellie was also seemingly behind some of the personel moves and Chris Mullin was being pushed aside. There's your thanks for giving your old coach the keys to the car Mully. All of a sudden, everything that was so good was about to turn terribly bad.

Monta Ellis didn't help the matters by ruining his ankle playing pick up basketball and then lying about it. And all of a sudden, the Warriors were throwing money at broken down players when the one player they deemed broken down was the guy who lead them to their resurgence. Gilbert Arenas and Elton Brand said no. Plan F, Corey Maggette said yes.

How can a franchise who made all the right moves just two years prior become the laughing stock of basketball again? Well, they can do so by not learning from their own mistakes. They created the blueprint for all franchises to see how not to deal with your superstar athletes. They showed that when you give your head coach too much power, he can start tinkering with things based on who he likes personally and who he gets along with to make his job easier.

Nellie's had help in destroying their franchise twice now. Even if they have exciting young players like Ellis and Anthony Randolph, the management isn't right. The object should be to win as many games as possible, while also getting the younger guys to step in when you need replacements.

I've been here before. It wasn't fun the first time. And it's even more annoying going through it again. When is enough, enough?

Webber photo from Wikicommons
Nelson photo from miles5226

Who Is The Most Disappointing Bay Area Athlete Ever?

2009-04-18T14:33:00.000-07:00

This was originally posted on Fanbase.

Ever since Barry Zito's recent failure of a start against the LA Dodgers, I started to think about Bay Area athletes who have brought the most disappointment.

With that horrid contract that pays him $18.5 million this year and one that ranks him 12th in all of baseball as far as total value, Barry Zito is a very disappointing player. In his two years as a Giants' pitcher, he has twenty one wins and thirty losses. The last time he had a sub 3.80 ERA was 2003.

I started to think about other disappointing Bay Area athletes.

I can think of three who played for the Golden State Warriors immediately.

Chris Webber was the golden child for one season, feuded with coach Don Nelson (does this sound familiar?), and then forced a trade. The golden child was gone. He was one of the most talented power forwards in the history of the NBA, had a very good career, but did it in another jersey.

Latrell Sprewell went from fan favorite to one of the most hated players in the history of Bay Area sports in all of six years. I guess that's what happens when you choke your coach. But at least Spree became an All-Pro with the team. He brought his lunch pail to work nearly every day, but it just didn't end very well.

Joe Smith was the number one draft pick in the same draft that also featured Kevin Garnett. Smith was actually a really good rookie, but by his second year, forgot what it was like to play defense, stopped rebounding and decided to become a jump shooter. By his third year, he was gone.

With the 49ers, one player immediately came to mind. Alex Smith was the first pick in the entire 2005 draft. It was a pick that Mike Nolan and the 49ers' brass couldn't whiff on. They didn't only swing and miss. They swung and missed so hard that they dug themselves into a hole. But Smith was a rookie. He hadn't played a down in the NFL and everything we expected about him was based on a college career and everything the 49ers were selling us about him.

I didn't think there was a player who I could despise as much on the field as much as I despised Chris Webber on the basketball court. He and Don Nelson were just as equally to blame for their selfishness, and they both destroyed what was an up and coming franchise.

Barry Zito hasn't done that. He was brought in because the Giants were trying to save face. They didn't want to be known as Barry Bonds' team anymore. They wanted to find a new identity. So a lot of this isn't even really Zito's fault. But what is his fault is that he's now one of the worst starting pitchers in the National League.

Who is most disappointing? Because of what it meant to me as a high school basketball fan, I'll still go with C-Webb. He was going to be one of the greatest athletes in the history of the Bay Area. Zito never had that responsibility. He just has to take the ball every five days and give the Giants a chance to win. But he didn't help destroy an entire franchise. That responsibility goes to Webber.

How I Almost Walked Into Jennifer Azzi (And More Important Facts About Her Great Career)

2009-04-10T11:27:00.000-07:00

This was originally written at Fanbase.

One thing that I miss about reading newspapers and specifically, The San Jose Mercury News, is the local coverage of some college sports like women's basketball. Back in the mid to late 80s, I loved reading about the Stanford women's basketball team just as much as I loved reading about the men's team. For every Todd Lichti and Adam Keefe, there was a Val Whiting and Jennifer Azzi.

What I loved about Azzi is that she didn't need to score in order to help her team win. In fact, as the point guard, she directed her offense like a quarterback. What also stood out about Azzi is that she was such a great clutch player, due in part to the great condition she was in. She was able to play hard every minute.

In 1990, Azzi lead her team to the NCAA Championship. The Cardinal beat Auburn and during the same year, Azzi won the Naismith Award as the college player of the year.

In 1994, she was a part of the gold medal winning US women's basketball team at the Goodwill Games and also helped Team USA win the big one in 1996 at the Summer Olympics in Atlanta.

That win in 1996 helped jump start women's professional leagues in the US.

In 1996, she joined the San Jose Lasers which was in the ABL, a women's league that started the year before the WNBA. Behind Azzi, the Lasers would lose in the semifinals of the playoffs in the two years of the league's existence. The league started a third year but didn't complete it.

It was during Azzi's one of Azzi's seasons with the Lasers that I nearly walked into her on campus while I was attending San Jose State University.

I was a Radio/TV Journalism major at SJSU, with dreams of becoming a baseball and basketball play by play announcer. The Lasers not only played their games on campus at the San Jose Event Center, but they also practiced there.

I had a dream one night that I was doing the play by play of a Lasers' game and Azzi hit the game winning shot. The very next day while walking on campus, I nearly walked right into Azzi who had just finished practice. Was it a sign?

Well, no. Even though I worked at KNBR, which is one of California's top sports radio stations, my dreams died when I learned how radio worked and how little I enjoyed the business. The Lasers also wouldn't be in San Jose for much longer.

Azzi was drafted by the Detroit Shock in the first round (5th pick) of the 1999 WNBA draft and then was traded to the Utah Starzz. She retired from pro basketball in 2004.

If I have a favorite women's basketball player, it's Azzi. Even though I don't follow the Cardinal at all anymore, I'll always remember watching Azzi highlights and her championship season of 1990. And I'll also always remember the day when I nearly bumped into her on campus the day after I dreamed that I was calling her winning shot.

Photo from Jennifer Azzi's press kit

Tim Hardaway - The Golden Years

2009-03-14T15:31:00.000-07:00

In 1986-1987, the Golden State Warriors made the playoffs and upset the Utah Jazz in the first round thanks to players like Sleepy Floyd, Purvis Short, and Joe Barry Caroll. But a year later, Don Nelson would replace George Karl as coach, and Floyd and Carroll would be traded for Ralph Sampson. They'd go from being a playoff team one year to only winning 20 games the next.

After drafting Mitch Richmond in 1988, the Warriors now had two-thirds of what would become Run TMC. Richmond joined sharp shooter Chris Mullin, making one of the more dependable offensive twosomes in all of the NBA. Richmond was the rock. Michael Jordan once called him one of the toughest match-ups of his career. Mullin was the veteran and someone who led by example, showing dedication and effort after nearly squandering the early part of his career with personal issues. In 1989, Nelson drafted someone who would fill out the remaining piece Run TMC. Tim Hardaway brought the free spirit and toughness of someone who spent his early days playing in the playgrounds in Chicago. And he also brought a wicked crossover.

When the Warriors drafted Hardaway out of the University of Texas at El Paso in 1989, one of his main roles was to stop Kevin Johnson. Actually, if I remember correctly, one of the first questions that Hardaway was asked after he was drafted was if he could stop KJ. I think his response was a simple, "Yeah." Johnson had destroyed the Warriors in the playoffs in the 1989-1990 season. Johnson was one of the quickest players in the league and was pretty much unstoppable facing the likes of Winston Garland. But it wasn't really Garland's fault. No one was stopping KJ in those days. It made sense for Don Nelson to draft Hardaway, who may have never stopped KJ, but sure made it hard for KJ to stop him.

Hardaway was easy to like. He played the game with a smile on his face, but with a chip on his shoulder. He was measured at 5'10, but would always claim to be six feet tall. If you tried to call him Timmy, he would remind you that his name was Tim. But you could call him by his nickname Tim-Bug, or just Bug and he'd be fine with that. He was one of the most competitive players in the league, but he allowed you to see the joy on his face when he was playing the game he loved.

Hardaway averaged nearly 15 points a game and dealt out nearly 9 assists a game in his rookie year. The only reason he didn't win the Rookie Of The Year award is because a man by the name of David Robinson was a rookie that year as well. Even though Hardaway energized the team, helping them lead the entire league in scoring, they didn't make the playoffs and finished with an under .500 record. You could argue that Hardaway's sophomore effort might've been the best of his career. He averaged nearly 23 points per game to go along with 9.7 assists per game and the Run TMC triumvirate together averaged nearly 73 points combined per game. The Warriors upset the San Antonio Spurs and David Robinson in the first round of the playoffs, but lost to the LA Lakers in five games in the second round.

Hardaway was quickly becoming one of the best and most exciting young players in the game. He was known for his great first step and also for his crossover dribble. It was originally called the "killer crossover" and somewhere along the lines, it was then dubbed the "UTEP 2 step", which I always thought was lame. The crossover was sick and he was getting to the hole at will. He had an awkward jump shot which came out of his hands like a knuckle ball, but he didn't need it very often early in his career. He was taking guys to the hole.

Before Hardaway's third campaign, Don Nelson broke up Run TMC. He traded Mitch Richmond to the Sacramento Kings for rookie Billy Owens right before the new season was about to start. With Owens, Nelson saw a versatile guy who could get up and down the court who had some size and could pull rebounds and then run the break himself. Even though the trade wasn't all that popular with the fans, you couldn't argue with the results. The Warriors won 55 games in 1991-1992 and Hardaway's third year was comparable to his second. He increased his scoring and assists, but he started to take more outside shots, hurting his shooting percentage along the way. But his his body was already starting to slowly break down. Even though the Warriors were one of the NBA's dandies, they would be upset by a hungry Seattle Supersonics team in the first round of the playoffs.

The following year was a bad one for the club as the injury bug bit them hard. Owens, Mullin, Hardaway, and Sarunas Marciulionis would all miss significant time with injuries. There was a bright spot to that 1992-1993 team. His name was Latrell Sprewell. With Sprewell, they finally had someone who matched Richmond's defensive intensity and he was athletic enough to be good on offense, even though he didn't have very many offensive moves. He just flew past and jumped over guys. Hardaway and Sprewell were going to be one of the best backcourts in the league.

The following year, the Warriors traded for the draft rights of Chris Webber. Webber would bring a certain dynamic that the Warriors hadn't had since the days of Nate Thurmond. He was going to be a dependable post scorer, a tough rebounder, and someone who put fear in the other team. As a power forward, he had the talents to be one of the all time best. But Nelson had him playing center because he was athletic enough to, but also because he didn't have anyone else. With Webber at center, Owens at power forward, Mullin at small forward, Sprewell at shooting guard, and Hardaway bringing up the rock, the team was going to run and not too many other teams would be able to stay with them.

But just as the basketball gods giveth, they also taketh away. Hardaway would miss the entire season after tearing his ACL in training camp. The Warriors would never get to see their dream fivesome on the court at the same time. With Avery Johnson as the point guard, the Warriors won 50 games and Sprewell came into his own. Webber didn't have dominating statistics but he was a game changer. It didn't matter in the playoffs though as they were swept by Charles Barkley and the Phoenix Suns. Webber and Nelson weren't geting along and Webber didn't want to play center. He also didn't want be on the West Coast. Nellie was able to trade for Rony Seikley so that Webber didn't have to play center, but that only made it worse because he traded one of Webber's best buddies in Owens to do so. Owner Chris Cohan backed Nelson and gave him the ok to trade Webber to the Washington Bullets for Tom Gugliotta and some draft picks. It would go down as the darkest day in franchise history.

Hardaway returned from injury the following season and he his stats were ok, but he wasn't himself. He wasn't driving to the basket as much and heaved up over 7 three-pointers a game, which was eye opening because his game was all about quickness and getting to the basktet. By shooting so many three-pointers, it showed a small dent in the armor of one of the most confident players in the league. He couldn't get to the basket as easily anymore. Even though Webber and Owens were gone, a lineup of Hardaway, Sprewell, Mullin, and Rony Seikley should've been good enough to compete for a playoff spot. But Hardaway wasn't 100%, Mullin only played one-fourth of the season, and Seikley was a disappointment. Nelson quit, leaving Warriors fans with neither Nelson or Webber, which was terribly frustrating since it was both of their egos that caused the problems in the first place. There was also some discontent between Hardaway and Sprewell. While Hardaway was away, Sprewell became the go to guy. There was a bit of an alpha dog struggle in the backcourt when Hardaway came back from injury.

I remember reading Slam magazine and Hardaway and Sprewell were the focus of the cover story. They acted like they were the unstoppable backcourt that they were expected to be. Hardaway even said that Sprewell was like Mike (Jordan) except he just had smaller hands. But they didn't get along or play all that well together and the Warriors only won 26 games. Hardaway was traded the following year to the Miami Heat.

Hardaway only played 5 1/2 seasons with the Warriors (he sat out one full year) and played 6 years with the Heat. And even though he was in the playoffs with the Heat consistently and even helped them get all way to the Eastern Conference finals in 1996-1997, he's far more famous for being one of Run TMC. It was because he helped ignite a suffering franchise and was a part of one of the most entertaining teams in the NBA in the 90s.

While his reputation suffered late in his Warriors career because he was the old dog and Sprewell was the new dog, I never felt that it was deserved. You only need to look at the 1992-1993 season when Hardaway stepped aside to allow Magic Johnson to start in his place in the All-Star game. Johnson was out of the league after contracting the HIV virus, but had won the popular vote. Hardaway was probably the best point guard in the league. It was Hardaway's year to shine, but he knew Johnson's accomplishment was bigger than the game. And when Magic thanked him, he looked like a kid in a candy store. That's how I remember his style too. He played basketball like he was a kid in a candy store.

Thanks to sportsecyclopedia for the timeline.

http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/nba/goldst/gswarriors.html

The Legend Of Sleepy Floyd

2009-01-19T13:35:00.000-08:00

The Golden State Warriors were a great team in the decade of the 1970s. They had a winning season for eight out of the ten years in the 70s including winning the NBA Championship in 1974-1975 season. The following season, they won 59 games but the Phoenix Suns came back from a 3-2 deficit to beat them in the Western Conference finals. But in the 80s, what those Al Attles coached teams did in the 70s became overlooked because of the terrible teams that defined the decade for the Warriors. Also, the NBA was so much of a bigger league thanks to Magic, Michael, and Larry.

It wasn't until George Karl came in (and then later Don Nelson) that the franchise found its respectability again. Being that I started to watch basketball in the mid 80s, I grew up watching some bad Warriors basketball. But there's something about the underdog Warriors that I've always loved. Being on the same coast as the Los Angeles Lakers, the Warriors were always had low visibility and for good reason. The Lakers were the toast of the 80s with big stars and long postseason runs. I was happy if the Warriors stayed with them until the fourth quarter where I expected the Lakers to pull away. There was one player that I loved watching on my lovable losers and that player was Eric "Sleepy" Floyd.

If you took one look at Floyd's eyes, you'd understand why his nickname was "Sleepy". But his play was all but tired. Floyd had a great career at Georgetown. It is he and not Patrick Ewing or Alonzo Mourning who is the career scoring leader for the school. Floyd also has the second highest scoring per game average in school history. He was on the opposite end of one of the most famous NCAA championship games in NCAA hoops history. Floyd was on the Georgetown team that lost to a late Michael Jordan jumper that gave North Carolina the 1982 NCAA Championship. Floyd had 18 points (to Jordan's 16) and five assists in the losing effort and would've had a better end to his storied Georgetown career had they not given that game away on a silver platter.

He was drafted by the New Jersey Nets later that year but was soon traded to the Warriors along with Mickey Johnson for Micheal Ray Richardson. His career blossomed with the Warriors and in the 1986-1987 season, made the All-Star team, which was big time for me. The Warriors rarely had an All-Star representative in those days and I was very excited to watch him play with the NBA's biggest stars. Floyd scored 14 points in 19 minutes for the Western squad.

Floyd's NBA coming out party was in 1987 playoffs when the Warriors had to play the Lakers. The Lakers would go on to win the NBA championship that year. In the first round of the playoffs, the Warriors beat the Utah Jazz in five games while the Lakers swept the Denver Nuggets in three. The Lakers were expected to sweep the Warriors as well, except Sleepy Floyd didn't let it happen. In game four in Oakland, Floyd went crazy. Even in that game, the Lakers led most of the way until Floyd exploded for 29 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Warriors to their lone victory in the series. That's how good the Lakers were that year. As a 10 year-old basketball fan, I was ecstatic. When everyone pretended to be Magic, Michael, and Larry when we played basketball, they now knew the guy I was pretending to be.

For some reason that I still don't necessarily understand over 20 years later, Floyd and Joe Barry Carroll were traded to the Houston Rockets for Steve Harris and Ralph Sampson the next season. It turned out to be a terrible trade for that season and the Warriors went back to being a league doormat winning only 20 games. Sampson couldn't stay healthy and we soon found out that without his twin tower brother Akeem Olajuwon, he was terribly overrated offensively. Even though Floyd was no longer the focal point offensively for his new team, he went to the playoffs with the Rockets during the next four seasons after only going once with the Warriors. He also played with San Antonio for a year and then finished his career in New Jersey, the team that originally drafted him.

Like many good NBA players, Floyd's circumstances prevented him from becoming the star he should've become. He wouldn't have been the type of player to sell basketball shoes like Jordan or carry a team on his back like Larry Bird, but he was just as good as some players who are very well known because of the teams they played on. Floyd spent the prime years of his career playing for the Warriors, who were a floundering franchise and had zero visibility. He was also a tweener guard at 6'3'' who played both guard positions, but showed that when necessary, he could run a team as evidenced by his 10.3 assist average in 1986-1987. That season, to me, Sleepy Floyd was Superman.

Game Time - The Warriors Invade Cleveland

2008-11-28T16:17:00.000-08:00

All of this talk about where LeBron will land in 2010 is getting pretty annoying. Don't people know that Cleveland has the type of team that can win a championship today? Doesn't LeBron know this? LeBron needs to table all the talk about 2010 and focus on the task at hand because the boys in Boston aren't going to give up the mantle easily.

I'm with Chuck.

If I was LeBron James, I would shut the hell up. I'm a big LeBron fan. He's a stud. You gotta give him his props. I'm getting so annoyed he's talking about what he's going to do in two years. I think it's disrespectful to the game. I think it's disrespectful to the Cavaliers.

Word.

The Warriors come to town and though they played Boston very well on Wednesday, this team is a frenetic mess. Jamal Crawford only adds to that. At least they're exciting.

1st Quarter

12:00 - I'm terribly annoyed that I can't watch this game in HD.

10:35 - Brandan Wright is starting again and blocked a shot, ran the floor, and got a dunk. Hopefully he continues to get a shot.

10:00 - I've known guys named Diante (I think that's my little cousin's name), Dante (also spelled Donte), and Kiante but I've never met a Delonte. He just missed a three.

9:11 - After Andris blocked Zydrunas' shot, Stephen Jackson tried to get the ball and jammed his finger. He's out of the game.

7:16 - Ben Wallace shoots his free throws like Purvis Short used to shoot jump shots. He tries to bring down rain. And missed them both.

6:12 - Mo Williams blocked Jamal Crawford's jumper and then hit one of his own. Warriors up 21-15. I just heard a Ric Flair, "Woooooo!" This isn't Charlotte.

5:30 - LeBron dunked in his first of what will probably be many alley-oops. Don't fake the funk on the nasty dunk.

4:25 - Boobie Gibson just missed a three. Sorry, I just wanted to type Boobie Gibson.

2:40 - Put back dunk by LeBron. He's just so much bigger and stronger than everyone else. It's not fair. I thought Corey Maggette was strong. LeBron poses on Corey.

:56 - A Wally Szczerbiak put back? You have to work hard to let him get an offensive rebound. And what kind of spelling puts z-c-z back to back to back? We'll call him Wally for the rest of the game.

:09 - Jamal Crawford hit a three and was fouled, but can't complete the four point play. He's a gunner and fits in perfectly with this rag tag team. But he needs to drive to the bucket if he wants to make a difference. Warriors up 32-29.

2nd Quarter

11:36 - Is there really a need to play the instrumental to I Got Five On It during a Cavs offensive set? Are they trying to get people to just smoke weed in the arena?

10:44 - Hey, Anthony Morrow hit an open jumper. Remember just a couple of weeks ago when Warriors fans thought they had a starting two guard? Well, he didn't even play against Boston.

10:36 - Did you know that LBJ is only one inch shorter than Big Ben but outweighs him by five pounds?

10:05 - Kelenna Azubuike is having a pretty good game so far. I don't get the pronunciation of his last name though. The announcers say it's a-zuh-bookie. It looks like a-zuh-bweek-ay. Doesn't it?

8:50 - LeBron's fingernails must grow at an amazing speed because he chews on them like he's looking for the tootsie roll center.

6:39 - When they throw the ball into Stephen Jackson, it's like throwing it into a black hole. You know how when Mike Jordan would get the ball, he'd turn, dribble a couple times before launching a beautiful fade away? Well that's just like Jackson except he doesn't make fade aways.

6:09 - LeBron just got a break away double pump tomahawk dunk. Cavs up 42-41.

5:35 - He just knifed through the lane and threw it down again. Who is he? Do I even have to tell you?

2:48 - Zydrunas beat Andris down the court. Andris must be either tired or dead.

1:48 - After missing outside shot after outside shot after outside shot, Jamal Crawford's brain finally told him to go to the hole. And finally, he made a shot.

1:14 - LBJ for three. Why not? He's making everything else.

1:00 - CJ Watson with the elbow pad just hit a jumper. He can probably throw a mean bionic elbow with that thing.

:00 - LeBron got the rebound with four seconds left in the half, drove all the way down court, and if he didn't get trip, he would've probably dunked that one too. 58-52 Cavs at the half.

3rd Quarter

12:00 - Anthony Randolph starts for Brandan Wright. I guess the Warriors needed to go skinnier.

9:10 - Zydrunas traps at the top for some reason. Either that or he just couldn't get down court fast enough and decided to pretend.

8:00 - Maggette shoots a fade away 20 footer that missed the rim by about 3 feet. It's no wonder that Cleveland is up by 10.

5:59 - Ronny Turiaf thugged Zydrunas a bit and Zydrunas became very angry with him. What was funny about it is that it was Zydrunas who elbowed Turiaf in the throat. Zydrunas turned to Turiaf to yell some expletives at him but Turiaf couldn't say anything because he was trying to breathe.

4:32 - Maggette grabbed a rebound, jumped and hung in the air beautifully, but overshot the rim by two feet and now has three air balls. At least it looked pretty before he shot it.

3:03 - LeBron just hit his second three pointer in a row and the Cavs are now up by twenty points. I think you might be able to count the number of shots he's missed on one hand.

1:34 - Black Hole Jackson got to the hoop, put it up left handed and yelled, "And one!" The problem was that he not only didn't get the call, but he missed the shot. I think you have to wait until you make a shot before you can call that.

1:02 - LBJ found Anderson Varejao for a bucket and I think the song that came out of the speakers was Maniac from Flashdance. Is it because with his curly mane flopping over the top of his headband that Varejao looks like Jennifer Beals?

4th Quarter

12:00 - The Cavs outscored the Warriors 36-16 in the third quarter. I have a feeling we're going to see the youngsters for both teams.

11:39 - Brandan Wright just scored and was fouled. Announcer Bob Fitzgerald noted that all the young players were on the court and that it could be fun. Fun for whom? I used to screen calls for Bob back in my younger days at KNBR.

7:05 - How about this for a random CJ Watson stat? He's six for six shooting tonight and is ten for his last ten.

6:02 - Hey, Rob Kurz is in the game.

5:40 - Hey, Rob Kurz made a shot.

5:25 - The sound guy decided to play the music from Beverly Hills Cop for no reason whatsoever.

4:44 - This was immediately followed by the instrumental to Jay-Z's Encore. You're far too kind, far too kind.

4:44 - CJ doesn't miss free throws either. He just made two to cut the lead to 21.

3:14 - CJ just missed a shot. And here I was ready to call him the next great Warrior.

1:00 - It wouldn't surprise me if the sound guy was a real DJ. He just played Grindin' by the Clipse.

0:00 - The Warriors brought the deficit down to 15, but still lost 112-97.

LeBron photos by Scott Ableman and ben_lei and shared via creative commons

The Warriors Finally Trade Al Harrington

2008-11-21T13:27:00.000-08:00

The big news out of Warriors land is that Al Harrington is no longer a member of the Golden State Warriors. It is well known around the Bay Area that Harrington isn't really a Don Nelson guy and he knows it. He made it public that he didn't want to be on the team. Nellie was quoted as saying that he thinks he's better than he is.

He thinks he's a superstar. I think he's a very good player. If he wants to be traded, we'll try to accommodate him.

ESPN.com reported that the Warriors and the New York Knicks have agreed in principle to a deal in which the Warriors would send Harrington in return for Jamal Crawford.

According to Kelly Dwyer from Ball Don't Lie, this deal helps the Knicks get all their contracts set up to clear by 2010, when they are expected to make a huge push to get LeBron James. GM Donnie Walsh also drafted and then later traded for Harrington, so he seems to be high on him.

I have mixed feelings about the deal. Crawford is more of a shooting guard in my mind, and the Warriors are waiting to get their star shooting guard back from injury in another couple months. Crawford is scoring nearly 20 points a game this season, which will definitely help the Warriors in the scoring department. The Warriors have had to turn to undrafted rookie Anthony Morrow for offense of late because of the lack of scoring from the back court. But what happens when Monta comes back? Crawford and Ellis play the same position and are both better shooting guards who will be asked to play point guard. Crawford likes to shoot the long ball more, while Monta likes the shoot the mid range jumper and go to the hole more. I'm not sure they can really co-exist on the court at the same time, but if Crawford was a 6th man, I could see Don Nelson putting together some interesting lineups. Also, Crawford can shoot the three, which the Warriors don't do very well outside of Morrow.

Right now, it looks like a good fit for the Warriors. I just worry about what happens when Monta comes back.

Photo by ssshupe and shared via creative commons

Last Night's Run - I See Promise

2008-11-08T11:02:00.000-08:00

Can the Warriors get Gerald Wallace?
Before I get to last night's game, there was an article written yesterday that put a twinkle in Warriors fans' eyes.

The Sporting Blog talked about a potential trade which would net the Warriors Gerald Wallace and get rid of Al Harrington. Too good to be true? Probably.

Wallace would thrive in Oakland and give me a national holiday, while opening up PT for Brandan Wright. Al Harrington is kind of a bum, but he's also a 6'9" jump-shooter, which means on some basic level he'd fit with D'Antoni. And that buzz has been there for a minute.

But then not too soon thereafter, Tim Kawakami broke my heart worse than Hulk Hogan.

There’s a temporary–and perhaps serious–wrench in Al Harrington trade speculation:

His agent, Dan Fegan, says that Harrington has been nursing a back injury since late last month and that Harrington is scheduled for an MRI later today.

I'm still slobbering myself at the idea that we could get Gerald Wallace. But I won't believe it until I see it.

Warriors lose to the Grizzlies again
Rarely would I ever be in a good mood after the Warriors lost twice to the Memphis Grizzlies in one week. But after last night's ball game, while I was disappointed that they couldn't pull it out, I liked what I saw. They are still a Monta Ellis away from really competing at any decent level, but there was some young talent on that court last night. Brandan Wright, Anthony Randolph, and Andris Biedrins give the Warriors a long set of legs and arms to seemingly challenge any shot on defense, and dunk back any miss on offense. And though I've stated before that I'm not the biggest Jack fan when it comes to him controlling the offense and being the money guy, no one plays harder. While you cringe when he takes the "I have a dream" three pointer, you give him the benefit of the doubt because he plays so hard, guards the best perimeter player, and owns up to his mistakes.

We didn't play hard enough. Down the stretch I am the leader of the team, so I've got to be smarter and can't give up a wide open three to their best player at the end of the game.

They still have this logjam of odd guards trying to find time on the court. DeMarcus Nelson fits much better as a swingman coming off the bench for defensive purposes. CJ Watson looks like a decent back up point guard who can come in and spot up for jumpers. I'm not sure what Marcus Williams is quite yet, but at least Nellie let him on the floor.

If we can't get someone like Wallace, I'm not opposed to trying to bring in a starting point guard in a trade for Harrington. I actually like Ellis better as a two guard and it would allow Corey Maggette to come off the bench, where I think he'd excel.

More from last night
Devin Harris spoils AI's Detroit debut.
But Chauncey's homecoming goes a lot better.
The Hawks are 4-0. Where's Dominique Wilkins?
The Bobcats upset the Hornets. J-Rich and Raymond Felton each go for 20.

Blame It On The Boogie

2008-11-04T22:49:00.000-08:00

Don't blame it on the sunshine
Don't blame it on the moonlight
Don't blame it on good times
Blame it on the boogie.

Tim Kawakami wrote in his blog today that Monta Ellis might be close to telling the Warriors to either love him, or leave him alone.

If he feels his recovery is coming along, Ellis could say by mid-December: Either void my deal or trade me, your choice, because I’m never playing for a franchise that would do this to me after I admitted my mistake and was ready to accept singular punishment.

That Ellis judgement is a very live possibility.

And there are teams that would take Ellis, if his deal was voided (basically, a release) or if the Warriors shopped him for trade.

I understand why the Warriors would feel like they were lied to. Well, because they were lied to. I understand that contracts have clauses and you're not supposed to do things that you are forbidden to do in your contract. That's all gravy. But 22 year old people make mistakes. Where's the forgiveness? Because the fans have already forgiven Monta. Why haven't the Warriors? And at what point do they push too hard and alienate him from the team?

What's frustrating from a Warriors fan perspective is that the franchise was back. We believed right? Even though they didn't make the playoffs last year, they had an excellent season for Warriors standards. We wanted them to resign Baron. If they couldn't resign Baron, we thought someone like Elton Brand could be good. Our eyes twinkled slightly at Josh Smith. We settled for Corey Maggette, knowing that we'd get Monta and Andris back. And now, you're telling us that we might not get Monta back and if we do, there's a possibility that he's going to be unhappy. It's far too reminiscent of Chris Webber, Latrell Sprewell, Joe Smith, and Gilbert Arenas. I thought we were moving forward, not backward.

So I came to this conclusion. Let's work together. Let's stop doing things that set the franchise back.

Warriors' brass, don't blame it on Monta.

Monta, don't blame it on the Warriors' brass.

Make up. Live happily ever after. You need each other. If you need someone to blame it on.

Do like Michael said. Blame it on the boogie.

Last Night's Run - The Rims Get Small

2008-11-03T23:24:00.000-08:00

The Warriors can't shoot
It was one of those games. But it wasn't supposed to be one of those games. It was supposed to be high scoring, up and down, not fundamental, and wild and crazy. But it was none of those things. It was one of those games. It was one of those games where the home team plays a bit harder than the other, even if there were tons of fans dressed like seats in the arena. It was one of those games where one team simply couldn't make an outside shot so instead of taking things to the bucket and getting closer, they just kept shooting outside shots. Because you know, the percentages should even out right? How's this for shooting?

Bad Shooter	FGM	FGA
S. Jackson	6	21
C. Maggette	4	16
A. Harrington	3	15
T. Hardaway	0	17

I know, Timmy didn't play tonight even though if he did, it would've been an improvement. But the reason I put Timmy there is because if you remember that game, the Warriors still won even though Timmy couldn't find the broad side of the barn. Why? Because he was only one player. Chris Mullin was able to bail him out and the Warriors won. Here, when you have three guys who feel the need to chuck up shots without much success, it's detrimental to the team. At least Andris Biedrins came to play as he scored 14 and pulled 22 boards. Also, we had an Anthony Randolph sighting for one minute.

Marc Gasol, Pau's angry little brother, was the only player for Memphis to really play well, at least offensively. He went for 27 and 16 and looked smooth and rough at the same time, if that makes any sense.

OJ Mayo and Rudy Gay both went 6-13 shooting and neither got to the free throw line so Gay still leads Mayo by a large margin in shots taken.

I almost forgot. The Grizz won 90-79.

More on Iverson for Billups
Kelly Dwyer from Ball Don't Lie has a really good recap of why this trade is much better for Denver than Detroit.

Detroit's taking another chance, and though there's the possibility the team might whiff in free agency, it hardly matters. They've cleared cap space and developed even more options. If nothing happens this summer, then they can run the kids for a year before trying to clamp down on the 2010 free agent market. After all, only Tayshaun Prince ($11.1 million), Jason Maxiell (reportedly about $5 million), and the backcourt tandem of Stuckey and Aaron Afflalo (combined to make $4.7 million) will be on the books that summer.

Nobody, not even Joe Dumars or Iverson himself, will be able to anticipate what sort of impact his presence will have on this year's Pistons team. AI's game is that unique. But given the far-reaching implications of what this deal could do for Detroit, again, it hardly matters in the long run.

Geoff Lepper says that Denver might've received some short term cap relief, it won't help that much in the long run.

The Nuggets save some $8 million in the short term; Billups ($11.1 million) and McDyess ($6.8) represent more than $4 million in savings over Iverson's cost ($21.9 million), which is doubled because the Nuggets are — even with this cost-cutting move - slated to go several million over this season's luxury-tax threshold of $71.15 million.

The deal could get even sweeter if the team is able to negotiate a favorable buyout with McDyess, who reportedly won’t play anywhere but Detroit.

But unlike Iverson and his soon-to-expire deal, Billups is on the books for another $25.2 million in '09-'10 and '10-'11 combined (there's also a player option for $14.2 million in '11-'12) and McDyess - unless a buyout is reached - will pull down $6.8 million next season.

So, in exchange for some short-term relief, the Nuggets have cast their lot with a 32-year-old point guard who has never led an up-tempo attack before in his life.

Tim Kawakami says that Denver got better, even if it doesn't make them a lot better.

The Nuggets aren't good enough to challenge in the West, but the Nuggets weren't going anywhere with AI and, in their spot, desperately needing new talent around Carmelo Anthony, it’s probably better to add Billups and his longer money than it is to let AI walk away next summer just to save some cash.

If I have this right, since the summer, Denver basically has traded Marcus Camby (given away a few months ago for cash purposes) and Iverson for Billups and McDyess plus some extra salary savings to use on Linas Kleiza's new deal and maybe some other things.

Again, nothing spectacular, but it's better than Denver sitting around and letting that roster atrophy and watching Carmelo get nasty and pretty soon he's ready to get the heck out.

Kobe Goes All Out For Guitar Hero

2008-11-03T19:17:00.000-08:00

This my favorite TV commercial going. You have an awkward Alex Rodriguez, a goofy Michael Phelps, and a left out Tony Hawk which leaves Kobe Bryant as the most charismatic person in the spot. Where's Ronny Turiaf? Couldn't he have at least chest bumped Kobe at the end?

Joe Dumars Isn't Messing Around

2008-11-03T11:08:00.000-08:00

The word around sports websites today is that Allen Iverson is going to Detroit in a trade for Chauncey Billups and Antonio McDyess. Iverson is in the last year of his contract, and TrueHoop says that Joe Dumars' long term vision is to create cap space for next year when guys like Lebron James, Amare Stoudemire, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Ray Allen, Tyson Chandler, Manu Ginobili, Richard Jefferson, Joe Johnson, Tracy McGrady, Yao Ming, Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki and Michael Redd are going to be free agents.

After Detroit lost to the Boston Celtics in last year's Eastern Conference Finals, Dumars stated that he didn't have any "sacred cows" and then fired coach Flip Saunders less than a week after the series loss.

For Denver, I'm not sure if it makes them all that much better, but it does show that the Iverson/Carmelo Anthony experiment didn't really work. Billups is more of a true point guard and he's a more dependable three point shooter (39% to 31% career wise) but Iverson's overall shooting percentage is higher than Billups'.

Also, the word is that McDyess might choose retirement over going to Denver.

Photo by bronwyn and shared via creative commons

Last Night's Run - Is Jack Really The Guy?

2008-11-02T11:25:00.000-08:00

Warriors beat the Nets in New Jersey and I couldn't find it on TV
I was only able to listen to about half of the third quarter last night on KNBR. But my question is why, in this day and age, are there still radio only games? With all the cable channels in the world, why can't I get a Warriors game on TV? Even though New Jersey isn't a sexy pick, I'm sure some Bay Area fans would've wanted to see Brook Lopez and Ryan Anderson play with their new team. Lopez had 10 points and 8 rebounds, though fouled out in only 19 minutes of action. Anderson had 12 and 4 in 18 minutes. Compare that to Yi Jianlian who started and didn't even score. After watching two heart breakers, it would've been nice to see what was a fairly easy victory.

Is Jack the guy?
The Merc had a Stephen Jackson quote that I'm struggling with.

I just know I've got to make plays. I've got to be more demanding of the ball to get myself going. I'm 30 years old. I can't just stand there and break a sweat.

Stephen Jackson is really good in his role of being the third option on offense. But the guy? I'm not so sure. He has terrible shot selection, can't really create his own shot, and is much better without the basketball. His role today without Baron Davis and Monta Ellis is that of more importance, but in no way is the type of player who can be the guy on a winning team. I'm all for Jack's attitude and I'm glad that he wants the ball. But he's going to have to change his style of shooting without responsibility in order to lead this team.

Nellie says Al is on the block
Chris Sheridan of ESPN says that Al wants to be traded and he's definitely on the block.

He thinks he's a superstar. I think he's a very good player. If he wants to be traded, we'll try to accommodate him.

That quote came from Big Don.

Other news
Joe Johnson has the Hawks 2-0 in the early season.

The Celtics get their first loss while the Lakers are still undefeated.

Derrick Rose had a big game to lead the Bulls over the Grizzlies. Rudy Gay now leads OJ Mayo 67-46 in shot attempts.

Last Night's Run - Warriors Give It Away Again

2008-10-31T22:19:00.000-07:00

Warriors give it away
Give it away give it away give it away now
Give it away give it away give it away now
Give it away give it away give it away now

The Warriors might've been listening to the Red Hot Chili Peppers before the first two games of the season. If that's the case, I have one request for them. Please stop.

Hornets and Raptors fan could argue that their teams won the games rather than that the Warriors lost them and that's a valid argument. However, it doesn't go with the theme of this post, so I'll stick with my argument.

Nellie went with a much different type of lineup Friday night. It was actually bizarro-Nellie, and on Halloween Night. Rather than go small against Chris Bosh, Andrea Bargnani, and Jermaine O'Neal, he went large to take advantage of Jose Calderon, Anthony Parker, Jamario Moon, and Jason Kapono. Nellie's best line-up consisted of Stephen Jackson, Corey Maggette, Al Harrington, Ronny Turiaf, and Andris Biedrins. Defensively, they were tremendous, especially Turiaf. It made me think that he needs to start at the 4 spot, even if they don't go big.

Much like teams without great point guards do, the Warriors turned the ball over in the clutch. Late in the 4th quarter with the lead, they took terrible shots, threw the ball away, fell down with the ball in their hands, and things like that. It seemed that Corey Maggette was the designated go to guy in the 4th, but he didn't work out. Kapono was guarding him and rather than take Kapono to the hole and go to the free throw line, he was setting for jump shots and fade aways. And then when he finally decided to go to the hole, he wasn't getting the calls.

Al Harrington seems to believe that the heavy minutes that the starters are playing is causing them to be tired by the game's end, in what I think seems to be a shot at Nellie.

In the preseason, we weren't playing 40 minutes. Right now we are, so it's something we've got to get used to, get adjusted to, and quick.

The preseason is usually a time where you're resting. It seems like we should have been playing a little bit more so we'd be prepared for now. It's going to take us a couple of games to get adjusted to and then we'll start knocking our shots down in the fourth.

It's a logical statement, but anything he says might seem a little tainted because of this now public feud with Nellie.

New Jack City brings people together
Truehoop has a great story about Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge and how there was a tiff between them and they were brought back together because of a trip to Oregon for Nike. During the trip, they watched New Jack City (Odom was also on the trip, but he's a sleeper) together and found out that they were each huge fans of the movie. And then, because they didn't have cell phone reception, they just started talking and worked things out.

With Rodney King's resurgence (he's on Dr. Drew's second season of Celebrity Rehab), I was reminded of this quote. "Can't we just all get along?"

Gay/Mayo Update
Rudy Gay hit a buzzer beater to help his Grizzlies beat the Magic last night. But more importantly, he opened up a huge lead over OJ Mayo in the shots category. He took 26 shots last night to Mayo's 11. He now leads 48-31.

Last Night's Run - Baron Davis Needs The Warriors

2008-10-30T22:46:00.000-07:00

Baron Davis needs the Warriors and the Warriors need Baron Davis.
After watching my poor Warriors lose their home opener last night and at the same time seeing that the Clippers were blasted by the Lakers, I came to the conclusion that Baron Davis leaving the Warriors doesn't just hurt the Warriors, it also hurts Baron Davis.

(At least it hurts him on the court. Jay Jay just posted that Baron is now dating Kate Hudson.)

The Warriors some how hung tight with New Orleans last night and did it without having a point guard on the court for most of the night. Rookie DeMarcus Nelson, who isn't even a point guard, started at point guard for the Warriors, but for most of the night Stephen Jackson played the point, and we're not talking point forward. The Warriors played like Mike Martz was coaching them. They were frenetic, crazed, and at times, Stephen Jackson was playing like he took 4 shots of vodka at halftime. With Baron, they would've won the game, and probably easily. Even though Corey Maggette was better than expected, putting up 27 and 8, without anyone to direct that team, they looked like a 33 win team. They desperately need Monta, but it's not like he's a point guard either.

As for Baron, it might be worse. I took one look at the starting lineup that the Clippers rolled out there against the Lakers and man for man, the Warriors were better. I'm not sure how you can win with Tim Thomas starting and Ricky Davis coming off the bench and playing 24 minutes. Baron might've bit off more than he can chew. Marcus Camby was injured, but he's not going to help them put the ball in the hole. Who is going to score for the Clippers other than Baron? Cuttino Mobley is a career 16 ppg scorer, but that's on shooting 43% compared to Monta shooting over 50% last year. Maybe Al Thornton improves on his 16 ppg from his rookie year and maybe Eric Gordon finds a way to get some playing time. But that's a lot of maybes and when your best player is a guy who is oft injured, that's not a good look.

Photo by luzer shared via creative commons

Baron, you and the Warriors need each other. On the Warriors, you regained your status as one of the best point guards in the league. Without them, I'm not sure you can be.

Al Harrington vs. Don Nelson
The Warriors do have more pressing worries though. This won't be like the Chris Webber deal because Al Harrington isn't as good of a player, but it looks pretty ugly.

Geoff Lepper has some quotes from both guys.

From Nellie:

He better play his ass off, don't you think? For us to make a trade for him and get a good player in return, he's going to have to play well. Otherwise, if he doesn't play well, he doesn't get his wish, and I don't get mine by having a good player... You're going to play all you want. You're going to be begging to come out of the game.

From Harrington:

I've heard that before. So I'm just at the point where I want it to be shown to me... I've been the gunslinger before and the guy that could do whatever I wanted to on the floor. And that didn't happen (here). That's why, when he tells me that, I can't jump for joy, because I've heard it before. We'll start tonight and we'll see if that's the truth.

Nellie wins round one. Harrington shot 5-17 in 42 minutes with only 13 points and 7 boards.

Mayo vs. Gay
I stated in my preview that one of the most exciting battles this season would be to see who has the most shot attempts between chuckers OJ Mayo and Rudy Gay. After one game, Rudy leads 22-20. Come on OJ, I got money on you.

The Real Reason Baron Left

2008-10-30T21:15:00.000-07:00

http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/article/hudson%20dating%20davis_1085170

What's worse? Owen Wilson's sloppy seconds? Or Teri Hatcher's?

By the way, I'm not bitter....

Hack A Shaq With The Double Thumbs Up

2008-10-30T00:00:00.000-07:00

Saw this on Ball Don't Lie and it was too funny to not put up.

Shaq went from frustrated and hurt to happy all in the span of a few seconds.

Last Night's Run - Opening Day

2008-10-29T20:57:00.000-07:00

Because of the great invention that is the DVR, I was able to watch last night's double header on TNT early this morning. I mostly stayed away from any spoilers except for a Facebook message by one of my friends that let me know that the Lakers were busting the Blazers asses.

But there were three specific things stood out to me based on the games from last night.

(I didn't see Chicago vs. Milwaukee at all.)

1. The Lakers are better than I thought.
I know, it's only one game and I'm not about to give them the title now, but they played like a well oiled machine. Defensively they were impressive, though some of that could be attributed to the funk that Portland played in as well. This team is for real.

(Photo by rich115.)

2. Boston is still hungry.
I didn't know how they could be, that is, until they got their rings. They didn't play well in the first half but they played lock down defense in the second half, holding the Cavs to 35 points. With the exception of not having James Posey, they look very similar to last year's team and didn't miss a beat.

(This is an awesome story about KG and last year's playoffs.)

3. The Cavs are going to be good... real good.
They're going to figure out how to use Mo Williams. He's going to learn exactly where to spot up and Lebron is going to get him the ball. Though he didn't shoot well (free throws included), Lebron looks upset, kind of like how Jordan did after Detroit kept beating him up. He has an edge to him. They won't lose that kind of game in April.

The Opposite Of Phil

2008-10-28T14:05:00.000-07:00

If the Blazers pull 25 offensive rebounds tonight against the Lakers, do you think Phil Jackson will go buck wild like this man?

Al Harrington Wants Out?

2008-10-28T13:56:00.000-07:00

According to Tim Kawakami's blog, Al Harrington wants to be traded, and as soon as possible.

What's odd to me is that Harrington's value is in being able to play multiple front line positions in the Warriors' uptempo offense. He's probably far more valuable to a team like the Warriors, than most other teams in the league. But he's also one of those players who people continue to think is going to turn into a breakout star, even though they've been thinking about him like that for years.

I like Al in the Warriors system because he's fairly athletic and can shoot, but he's not the difference in turning a team around.

Also, Bay Area fans have seen this before. Don Nelson can wear on players.

Edit

Geoff Lepper has a story that quotes Harrington and Nelson as saying things are ok.

2008 NBA Season Preview - Monta's Mopeds

2008-10-27T22:18:00.000-07:00

I'm not going to go in depth with a 5000 word NBA preview. I'm haven't done far enough research to do that, don't have the stamina for something like that, and I don't want anyone to fall asleep reading this. Thus, I have put together a list of ten for you.

These ten things are the top ten things that I'm looking forward to this upcoming season.

I'm looking forward to ...

Lebron and Mo Williams becoming the next dynamic duo.
Ok, maybe Mo isn't going to set the world on fire. But he does give Lebron a reliable second option (and one who doesn't run like he's on stilts). This has to be the year that Lebron takes Cleveland back to the NBA Finals because, um, he might not be around next year. And then it will be Mo Williams and everyone's favorite Wally Szcerbiak as Cleveland's dynamic duo.

Dwayne Wade upstaging rookie Michael Beasley.
A healthy Dwayne Wade (did you watch the Olympics?) means more to Miami's upcoming season than a Rookie Of The Year type of year from Michael Beasley. If you get both, Miami can contend for the playoffs. But if I were to bet on one, I'd bet Wade. Beasley is talented, but already has that Donyell Marshall vibe to him. Who me worry?

(By the way, I get to take that back if MB goes for 20 and 10 out of the gate. As for Donyell? He will just go back to hanging out with Tom Gugliotta.)

watching Portland early on.
The Blazers come out of the gate with Greg Oden, Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge, Rudy Fernandez, Jerryd Bayless, Steve Blake, and Ike Diogu - sorry, I had to get in another ex-Warriors player. To me, they are the single most intriguing team all year long. How's Oden going to do in his rookie year after last year's injury? Is Brandon Roy ready to lead these guys to the playoffs? Is Rudy Fernandez going to continue opening eyeballs (did you watch the Olympics?)? Here's hoping Ike gets some run.

seeing if OJ Mayo can back up the hype.
I think he'll struggle early on, but have a solid second half, and probably the best last month of all the rookies. But what might be the most exciting competition on the Grizzlies is to see who chucks up more shots between Mayo and Rudy Gay.

hoping that Kobe Bryant has a great year.
The odds are against him according to Bill Simmons. But I think Kobe is a different breed. Even after playing all the way into the NBA Finals and the Summer Olympics, I don't think Kobe wants to do anything else other than play more basketball. If he stays healthy, I think the Lakers are back in the finals.

wondering if KG, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen have it in them to beat a hungry Lebron.
It's going to take a supreme effort to keep Lebron James out of the finals this year. And that's especially if Kobe gets there again. I have to wonder if those guys are as hungry as last year. They had a special season and as hard as it is to win a title, it's even harder to do it again.

Ron Artest's influence over the Houston Rockets.
For some reason, Artest's addition intrigues me. And I'm not sure why. I've never really been an Artest fan. Maybe it's because I have a soft spot in my heart for Yao and Tracy McGrady. Maybe it's because my friend Billy Parker roots for the Rockets. I'm still unsure about it, but I do know that Ron makes Houston the biggest wild card team in the West.

the Baron Davis era in Clipperland.
I'm going to deeply miss Baron Davis in the Bay Area. Eddy Zucko is going to deeply miss Jessica Alba at Warriors games. Even if his wheels fall completely off, it's better than the CJ Watson, Marcus Williams, DeMarcus Nelson three headed monster that the Warriors will throw out there this year. How old is Tim Hardaway? Maybe he can come out of retirement? Sleepy Floyd? I'd even settle for a 250 pound Keith "Mr." Jennings right about now.

the Anthony Randolph era.
Actually, I'm not really looking all that forward to watching him play basketball as much as the fact that I've always been a Bell Biv Devoe fan and Randolph is a dead wringer for Devoe. Really though, are they Warriors going to run Randolph, Brandon Wright, and Andres Biedrins on teams all at the same time? Calista Flockhart would be so proud.

Photo of Anthony Randolph, I Mean Ron Devoe, By cMacDutt

~~playing pickup ball with Coby Karl after no one signs him.~~

seeing how creative the mascots get in mocking Monta Ellis.
I predict that every mascot comes riding into the arena on a moped. By the way, I imagine that every Fantasy Basketball league has at least one (and possibly many) Monta's Mopeds, Mississippi Mopeds or Moped Monta team in their league. At least it's better than those Oden's Bad Knee teams that your leagues had last year.

That's all for now. Enjoy your hoops tomorrow. Welcome back NBA.

Team USA vs. Spain

2008-08-16T22:43:00.000-07:00

After playing their best ball in their win over Greece two days ago, Team USA turns their attention to Spain, who is also undefeated through their first three games.

1st quarter

Kobe just ran over Pau on a screen and Dougie Collins said it was good because that’s Kobe telling Laker teammate Pau this is real. It’s damn real.
There’s been a Carmelo sighting. He just hit a three to tie the score at 7.
Dougie Collins just said that in 35 minutes, Jason Kidd has taken zero shots.
If anyone is fired up, it’s Lebron. He might run over and through someone today.
When I grow up, I want my arms and shoulders to be large and cut like Lebron’s.
Um, Lebron just ran over someone. He now has one foul. Kobe already has two.
If they had a gold medal for most tattoos, Team USA would win.
Spain is running a half court trap and poor Chris Paul is going to be banged around a lot. But he’s the perfect guy to break it.
Paul to Wade makes the score 29-16 and Spain has to call a time out. That’s what they get for doing the slanted eyes.

2nd Quarter

The first quarter ended with USA up 31-22.
We have an early Tayshaun Prince sighting. He immediately hits a three and then throws a lob to Lebron for a dunk. And then his next three was blocked. The good and the bad of Tayshaun.
Kobe finally hits a three and Team USA is now up 14. But then he gets his third foul and has to leave the game.
Chris Bosh isn’t only the better player for Team USA, but everything picks up when he’s in the game compared to Dwight Howard.
Team USA is 7-10 from the three point line and is up 16 with four minutes left in the half.
A Carlos Boozer sighting! Unfortunately, he took Tayshaun out of the game.
A Boozer buzzer beater puts Team USA up 61-45 at the half.

3rd Quarter

At halftime, the song Basketball by Kurtis Blow played throughout the arena. In China!
Carmelo is hot. He just hit his fourth three pointer and USA is up 22.
Kidd finally took a shot and made it. It was a layup off a fast break.
DWade just blocked a layup attempt with his forearm and sent it out of bounds.
That was a pretty boring quarter. Team USA is up 86-63.

(Why is it so hard to find a video of the Dwayne Wade alley oop to Kobe Bryant from Thursday where he threw the pass falling out of bounds and with his back to Kobe?)

4th Quarter

Craig Sager is talking to Tina Thompson who has some great soup coolers by the way. But I did watch some of the women play yesterday and they are even more vicious than the guys. They play to kill immediately.
Lebron threw an alley oop to DWade, but his pass was late and DWade was already up in the air. He did flush it, but he clipped the rim on his way down and fell. Not the greatest oop, but just shows you how athletic DWade is.
Team USA is now up 29 after a Michael Redd layup.

It was at this point that the kids could take no more. They didn’t want to watch the butt kicking any longer and wanted to play some PS3. With Team USA being up by 33 at this time (with 3:28 left), I obliged.

We need some Hacksaw Jim Duggan right now. USA! USA! USA!

(The final score was 119-82.)

Team USA vs. China

2008-08-10T22:34:00.000-07:00

I wasn’t about to wake up at 7:15AM on a Sunday morning, but my DVR did.

1st Quarter

- Kobe is the defensive stopper, and instead of the Mamba, he’s now the Doberman.

- Yao just hip checked Kobe on the screen and knocked down a three.

- Yao was sitting in the key for what seemed like 5 seconds. Lebron runs right over him and scores. Blocking foul. No home town officiating on that one.

- Remember Wang Zhi Zhi? He’s on Team China.

- China can’t really get any shots off, but they’re shooting them anyway. And they’re making them.

- Yao rejects Kobe and on the way back down, Lebron pins someone against the backboard. I still haven’t got Team China’s names right. Well, except Yao.

- First subs for Team USA were Chris Paul, Chris Bosh, DWade. Kobe and Lebron remain from the OG starting lineup which also included Carmelo, Dwight Howard, and JKidd.

- It’s weird because I’m watching the basketball specific HD channel and they don’t go to commercial. They just run replays without any commentary during the timeouts.

- Kobe’s three pointer gives USA a lead of 14-11 with just over 4 minutes left in the first.

- China is 4 for 4 on three pointers.

- Hometown officiating in full effect. DWade drove to the hoop for a layup right as the shot clock expired. They called traveling. How can one be called for traveling when he’s already in the air?

- In 1992, the margin of victory for Team USA was a staggering 43.8 points per game. In 2004, it was 4.6.

- End of the 1st Quarter - Team USA 20 China 16.

2nd Quarter

- Lebron stuffed a ball against the backboard with both hands and then threw a near full length outlet pass to DWade for the dunk.

- Lebron got caught in screens, had to switch two guys, and number 9 in the Chinese team hit a three to tie the game. DWade couldn’t get out in time.

- Bosh out jumped Yao for an offensive rebound, dunked it in, and then growled.

- Back to back dunks for the Doberman and Team USA is back up by 6.

- When Team USA gets out on the fast break with both Kobe and Lebron, they are to the bucket in 2 seconds. It’s pretty amazing to watch.

- Two passes, the entire length of the court, and a dunk. JKidd threw an outlet pass with Chris Paul caught near the free throw line and immediately threw an alleyoop to James. Team USA now up by 9.

- Team USA 49 - China 37

Might Have To Get Me One Of These

3rd quarter

- Team USA is 1-12 from three point land. I thought this line was supposed to be easier to hit from?

- Yi finally scored. He’s now 1-8 from the floor.

- Yao doesn’t look very mobile out there.

- This is a very low scoring third quarter. China only has 6 points through the first 6 minutes.

- Carmelo is having a rough go of it today. He’s dropped several passes and just doesn’t seem to have the energy that the other guys have.

- Team USA took a 12 point lead at the half and outscored China 25-11 in the third quarter. Their defense is stifling.

4th Quarter

- Carlos Boozer and Tayshaun Prince are now both in the game.

- Deron Williams tried to dunk on Yao, but came up a bit short.

- Michael Redd finally hit that three ball. Team USA is now up by 31.

- Yao is still fired up even though China is down by 27.

- The final score is Team USA 101 China 70.

A few things I learned about Team USA.

Defensively, they’re too long and too fast for most teams to beat them, unless they get hot from the three point line. They cheat and they double, probably just out of habit, but they are so athletic, they can get back. Offensively, they don’t seem to have enough shooters to play against a zone, but they pass so well, that they’re going to get an open look at the basket. Lebron James is going to be the MVP of this tournament and Kobe Bryant is going to be second in command.

2008 NBA Draft New Edition Style

2008-07-27T23:14:00.000-07:00

Ever since the Bulls won the rights to draft first, people wondered if they would take Michael Beasley or Derrick Rose. Beasley is a power player who has been pegged in this spot since the middle of the college season. Rose is a point guard who got his team all the way to the championship game. The Bulls seemed to like Rose better for a few reasons, and the word on Beasley was that he didn’t work hard enough, was immature, and was being compared to the likes of Derrick Coleman and Glenn “Big Dog” Robinson, former number 1 picks with great talent that didn’t work hard enough to fully realize it.

I asked “Basketball Blog” contributor and Bulls fan, Young Randall what he wants the Bulls to do.

I think the Bulls take Rose with the first pick. I really wouldn’t care if they take Beasley as their most glaring hole is a post scorer. But if they take Rose then they should move Hinrich and possibly Gordon for either another pick or a big from somewhere.

What I didn’t post is that Young Randall also said he wanted to see a full length version of Shaq’s freestyle rap, where he basically asked Kobe how his backside tastes. Why Young Randall would want to hear more, I’m not sure. He’s a mysterious guy.

Let’s get this going. We’ll see how long I can last.

- I saw Vinny “Of The Black” (Del Negro) in the Chicago Bulls war room smiling. I almost forgot he was their new coach. Wait, is it the war room for the basketball draft or only for the football draft?

- The Bulls grab Rose and now the wonder is if Miami passes on Beasley because of Pat Riley’s supposed dislike for Beasley. I say they still grab him. Why would they take OJ Mayo if he and Dwayne Wade not only both play the same position, but both need the ball in their hands? It doesn’t make as much sense.

- Stephen A. Smith asked Rose what he would bring to the Bulls and one of those things was, “to stay focused”. I think he’s a bit nervous.

- The Heat take Beasley and if anything, with a front line of Shawn Marion and Beasley, they are very athletic there.

- Ovintin J’Anthony (better than Orenthal James) Mayo goes third to Minnesota and the first thing that comes to my mind is that he looks like a dead ringer for Ralph Tresvant. Maybe his NBA nickname will be “Mr. Sensitivity.”

- The Sonics pair up Russell Westbrook with Kevin Durant. In this NBA, where you draft based more on possibility, rather than finely tuned game, your fourth pick averaged 12 points and 5 assists last year.

(By the way, your first four picks are 3 freshman and a sophomore.)

- UCLA goes back to back as Memphis takes Kevin Love, which I’m sure makes ShavedAsian a happy man.

(My man Ty Kennan loves Westbrook and doesn’t think Love’s skills will cross over into the NBA. He covered the Pac-10 for AOL’s FanHouse.)

- To a chorus of boos, the Knicks take Danilo Gallinari from Italy. Let’s hope that Stephon Marbury doesn’t know how to speak Italian. The guy plays in Italy and Stephen A. Smith’s question has to do with Knicks fans “sleeping on him”. Nice job there Stephen A. Way to know your interview subject.

- The Clippers, who lead all of the NBA in the category of most lottery picks ever, take Eric Gordon, a 6’ 3’‘ shooting guard. They go from one undersized two guard to another.

(After Jay Bilas gets done telling us that Gordon can’t play point guard because he doesn’t handle well and is turnover prone, Stephen A. asks Gordon how he’s going to help the Clippers at the point. Nice job Stephen A.)

- Milwaukee took Joe Alexander who Jay Bilas says has freakish ability, but also said he benefited from power players guarding him. If he plays small forward, they now have two as the Bucks just traded for Richard Jefferson earlier today.

- The Bobcats pass up Brook Lopez and take DJ Augustin, point guard from Texas. Lopez either had something in his eye, or he was bummed to not go to Charlotte.

- Lopez goes to the Nets and according to one of the draft guys I read earlier today, trading Richard Jefferson was all about clearing cap room for Lebron in 2010. The Double L, Lopez and Lebron!

- The Pacers draft Jerryd Bayless from Arizona, yet another freshman. With the possible trade of Jermaine O’Neal for TJ Ford, looks like Jamaal Tinsley might be on his way out. I know a team about 75 miles from me that needs a back up point guard.

- The Kings took the first guy who isn’t even at the draft in Jason Thompson, who is the first senior taken in the draft. We’re at pick number 12. Jay Bilas says there’s nothing spectacular about his game and he’s just solid. On the ESPN poll, Kings fans graded the pick as a F. But second place was an A. Now that’s a polarizing pick.

- Portland kind of has a cool draft. Though they drafted Greg Oden last year, he didn’t play, so as far as fans are concerned, they get two top caliber rookies this year. They pair him up with Brandon Rush, though I swear they have the another guy named Brandon who is pretty good and plays the same position, and who stole Baron Davis’ All-Star Game spot last year.

- Next up are my Warriors. Tim Kawakami thinks the Warriors would take Anthony Randolph if he was available. Kosta Koufos went to the Warriors in a ton of mock drafts. And the pick is Randolph. Here’s another young guy that Don Nelson won’t play. Jay Bilas says that Randolph is so skinny that he makes the skinny Brandan Wright look like Mr. America. Ouch.

(Mystery Cow instant messaged me before I had to chance to watch the draft and said that the Warriors drafted “The Scarecrow”. I didn’t know if he was talking about Randolph because he’s so skinny or Robin Lopez because of his hair.)

- To keep up with my now New Edition theme, if you look at Randolph sideways and squint a little, he kind of looks Ronnie DeVoe.

(Now that we’re out of the lottery (aka, the Warriors have picked) I probably won’t update after every pick.)

- Just as I say that, Phoenix grabs the other Lopez twin. One Lopez twin could possibly play with Lebron in a couple years and the other will get to play with Shaq and Nash, at least for a year or two.

- Toronto just drafted Roy Hibbert, who will probably go to Indiana, based on the proposed trade for Jermaine O’Neal. I loved Hibbert when I saw him two years ago. I guess he should’ve came out last year.

- JaVale McGee just got drafted by the Wizards and his claim to fame is that his mom played in the WNBA. I bet Agent Zero is going to have a field day with that one.

- I thought it was odd that Portland would draft Rush considering that Roy plays the same spot and my intuition was correct. They traded he and Jarrett Jack to Indiana for Ike Diogu and the rights to Jerryd Bayless. Poor Ike. That makes three teams in the last two years. Brandon joins brother Kareem Rush. Memba him?

(Kareem Rush kind of looks like a drunk Ricky Bell.)

- The guys at the broadcasting table are actually an interesting group. Of course, with Stu Scott hosting this thing, you’re going to get a lot of cheese, but Mark Jackson is great. I love Van Gundy doing the games, but he’s said some wacky things on the broadcast like that he thought Stephen Marbury was still a good player and that he likes Ike Diagu. Jay Bilas is Jay Bilas.

- The Nets just took Ryan Anderson from Cal. Brook Lopez and Ryan Anderson battled each other in the Pac-10 and now they are teammates and possible teammates of Lebron in 2010. Not bad guys, not bad.

- The one guy who has fallen is Darrell Arthur from Kansas. Someone who looks to be his little brother has already fallen asleep at the table.

- Utah, at 23, selected Kosta Koufos, who seemed to be handcuffed to the Warriors at the 13th pick. Jay Bilas really likes him by the way.

(If Koufos was black and was about a foot and a half shorter, he’d look like Michael Bivins.)

- Seattle just drafted a guy named Serge who is from Congo. Interestingly enough, he was wearing a green tie that matches his new Sonics hat.

- Ric Bucher just said that Arthur is slipping because he has a kidney issue. Yep, that would probably stop me from using a draft pick on a guy. The Hornets finally took him at 27.

- The first round is over after Boston just picked someone named JR Giddens, who supposedly has a ton of talent, but is a head case. I’ve had enough. As Kimbo Slice said after he beat James Thompson several weeks ago, I’m done Gus.

Edit:

Looks like OJ Mayo and Kevin Love are switching places in a trade.

(Since I couldn’t find someone who looked like Johnny Gill or Bobby Brown, here is a shot of NE sans both guys.)

I’m done Gus.

Plan C: Corey Magette

2008-07-09T22:56:00.000-07:00

Baron Davis said no. Gilbert Arenas said no. Elton Brand said no. But Corey Maggette said yes. According to Marc Stein from ESPN.com, it’s a $50 million contract for five years.

He also stated that it is believed that the Warriors will sign LA Lakers power forward Ronny Turiaf to an offer sheet, which the Lakers will have a week to match. I’m not sure they’ll let Kobe Bryant’s buddy get away.

Also, say goodbye to Mickael Pietrus. It looks like he’s on his way to Orlando. My favorite Pietrus moment was when I was at a game several years ago with Eddy Zucko, and they asked Pietrus who his favorite cartoon charter was. He said it was, “The Tweety Bird”. And he said it like only Pietrus could say it.

With Baron Davis verbally committed and ready to sign with the Clippers, word is that Elton Brand is heading to Philadelphia. Is that a back stab job worthy of when Carlos Boozer verbally committed to Cleveland and then went and took the offer from the Utah Jazz? J.A. Adande, also from ESPN.com, started his column about Brand by saying it is what it is.

As it turns out, Elton Brand is an NBA player, the Clippers are the Clippers and the joke’s on all of us who ever thought otherwise.

I wonder if B-Diddy can do the same and come back to the Warriors. Actually, I wouldn’t wish that on Clippers fans.

So why would Brand spurn the Clippers after saying all along that he wanted to help the Clippers get another superstar right by his side? Ric Bucher says it’s more about how he thinks he fits in the Eastern Conference. But it also has to be about the benjamins. It always is.

The Warriors Are Trying To Steal Brand

2008-07-03T23:04:00.000-07:00

Supposedly, Elton Brand opted out of his contract so that he could offer the LA Clippers some flexibility to help to the team offer more money to a big time free agent. Last night, they got their guy in Baron Davis. It seemed like a lay-up that Brand would then agree to a contract that would allow he and Davis to be Clippers for the next several seasons. But it looks like Chris Mullin and the Golden State Warriors have given Brand something to think about.

According to both Tim Kawakami and Marc Stein, the Warriors have offered Brand max free agent money to come up north.

If the Clippers offer Davis what is expected to be $65 million over five years, their offer to Brand looks to be smaller than what the Warriors can throw at him. The Warriors reportedly are offering at least $90 over 5 years. I won’t even pretend to understand the NBA’s salary cap, but it seems that in order to have both Davis and Brand under contract for next season, the Clippers’ offer could be much less than what the Warriors could offer.

But Brand specifically has stated that his goal was to remain a Clipper and that he was inspired by what Boston did by having Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen all on the same team. He wanted superstar teammates who were willing to give it their all. So if that’s his goal, the Clippers are probably his team. The Warriors’ best player is a young and small shooting guard and right now, they have no point guard. Will money talk? Who knows. But my bet is that Brand takes the Clippers deal. If he doesn’t, he might be more hated in Los Angeles than Carlos Boozer is in Cleveland.

BDiddy Gives Back The Keys To The City

2008-07-02T23:08:00.000-07:00

It was time. Baron Davis opted out, the Warriors called his bluff, and now BDiddy is going to southward. According to Mark Stein, Davis has verbally agreed to join the LA Clippers. The deal is said to be for five years and $65 million, which according to possible deals I saw from the Warriors, was similar in base money, but definitely longer in years.

If Elton Brand comes back as well, the Clippers have two definite stars and immediately leap frog over the Warriors in the West. As for the Warriors, it doesn’t look like Gilbert Arenas is coming back to play for the team that drafted him. Newly re-signed Antawn Jamison thinks it’s a done deal that Arenas is back with the Wizards.

Now, where do the Warriors go from here? I think Chris Mullin and company have a back up plan, but I guess we’ll have to wait.

We’ve been basketball blogging a lot lately.

Agent Zero Is In The Picture Again

2008-07-01T23:10:00.000-07:00

The Wizards Insider blog at the Washington Post is reporting that soon after Baron Davis opted out of his contract, the Warriors were trying to offer former Warriors guard Gilbert Arenas a max contract in the neighborhood of $100 million. The Wizards are offering a bit more (and an extra year), so Agent Zero has a big decision to make.

Warrior Fans, Remember This Guy?

The Wizards are offering more and have a better shot at making waves playing in the lesser Eastern Conference. But really, you could argue that the East had the two best teams in the league in Boston and Detroit. So even though the Wizards’ shot at making the playoffs and advancing further would be easier than the Warriors’, there’s still a bit of a ways to go for the Wiz. You could also argue that the Warriors have not only the better team, but the style that suits Arenas’ game best.

I don’t think the Warriors have the best shot to get him. I do think Arenas will stay in Washington. That city loves the guy. But kudos to the Warriors by going for the top guy available, after their own guy spurned them. It also says to Davis that he’s not even thought to be the best possible free agent by his own team.

I say this to Chris Mullin, which was first told to Mick Foley by Dominic DeNucci - you gotta a lotta ball(s).

Baron Opts Out

2008-06-30T23:11:00.000-07:00

In what was a surprise move at least to me, Baron Davis opted out of the last year of his contract, that was to pay him nearly $18 million this upcoming season. This is according to the AP via ESPN.com.

The reason why I never thought it would happen is because I didn’t think there was a market for Davis to make more than that.

What it means to me is that maybe Davis and his agent think that it’s not safe to play out the deal and risk possible injury and instead, market himself based on last year’s play. If he were to get injured this year, his reputation would suffer and his earning power could be cut drastically. But I’m not sure it’s even going to matter. If anyone saw Davis at the end of last year, he wasn’t even close to the same person he was in the first half of the season. To say that he wore down at the end of the season would be a fair statement.

The Davis camp must believe that there’s a secure deal out there. He gave up $18 million for the opportunity to find one. Now the Warriors need a point guard, whether it’s going to be Davis if they resign him, or someone else.

What about Davis for Elton Brand in a sign and trade?

2008 Team USA

2008-06-23T23:24:00.000-07:00

ESPN.com announced that the roster for Team USA was released.

Here is the squad.

Carmelo Anthony

Jason Kidd

Carlos Boozer

Chris Paul

Chris Bosh

Tayshaun Prince

Kobe Bryant

Michael Redd

Dwight Howard

Dwyane Wade

LeBron James

Deron Williams

What stands out immediately is that they are carrying 3 point guards on a 12 man team, and also have LeBron, Kobe, and Dwayne Wade, who all take turns at bringing the ball down the court. It looks like they are just going to try to run teams off the court.

They also seem a tad bit small with only Dwight Howard there to swat away shots. You’re going to see a lot of LeBron and Carmelo at power forward and because they are such good athletes, they’ll get away with it. What I worry is that if you play a team with two good post players, Dwight Howard isn’t going to be able to block every shot.

I’m sure I’ll be blogging a few of the Team USA games as well as the upcoming NBA Draft on Thursday.

Lakers vs. Celtics Game 6 - Live Play By Play

2008-06-18T22:56:00.000-07:00

The Lakers and Celtics faced off for the NBA title 3 times in the decade of the 80s. In 1984, the Celtics beat the Lakers in 7 games, while in 1985 and 1987, the Lakers prevailed in 6.

More than 20 years later, they are back at it in a close series. And right now, the only thing that favors Boston is that they are playing at home. I think the teams are close to even right now, which seems dumb considering Boston has a one game lead in the series. But let’s remember that the Lakers blew a humongous lead in game 4.

Paul Pierce is playing better than anyone else on the court, and you can’t even say that anyone else is outplaying their expectations. He’s outplaying Kobe and I’m not sure it’s really that close. But everyone else is sleep walking. KG had a terrible game 5. Big Play Ray is on and off, though I think that if you’re Boston, you’re a little more comfortable watching him take a big shot than you are KG. And for the Lakers, other than Derek Fisher and Kobe, who else do you want to see shoot the ball? And wake me up when Sasha Vujacic and Vladimir Radmanovic figure out how to play team defense. They are scary bad.

However, I think we’re going to get a classic tonight. It’s do or die for the Lakers in Boston and they have to play their best game in order to win here. And for the Celtics, do you really want to face Kobe in a game 7, no matter how up and down his game is right now? Didn’t think so. The pressure is on both teams and I think we’ll get a great game tonight. On to the game ...

1st Quarter

- Remember what I said about Kobe? He hits a jumper the start the game with a man right in his face. 2-0 Lakers.

- Garnett treated the ball like a hot potato twice when he had an open jumper and the Celtics had to settle for a three from Rondo. I don’t think that’s the shot they wanted.

- Boston is shooting 2-10, but the game is tied at 10. Even though he’s being aggressive, Rondo is shooting 0-4 and he’s not really close with his shot.

- Kobe just hit his third 3, puffed out his cheeks, grabbed the crotch part of his shorts like he was Michael Jackson, and lifted his shorts to expose his compression shorts. A fist pump would do Kobe.

- Luke Walton is in the game and Bill seemed so proud of him on Sunday. “Every day is Father’s Day.” Nice guy that Bill is.

- KG is starting to catch fire. He’s looking to shoot now. He just hit a turnaround jumper completely in rhythm and has 8 points. Celtics up 20-18 with a few minutes left in the first.

- KG just told a story about how before the game, he eats many peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Then Van Gundy said that instead of the Big Ticket, they’re going to call him the Big Loaf. Wouldn’t the Big Peanut have been better, especially if you’ve seen his head?

The Big Peanut

- KG and Kobe are playing well offensively, but Pierce only has two points. Gasol and Odom aren’t even really all that noticeable on the court right now. At the end of one, Boston is up 24-20

2nd Quarter

- There’s been a Big Baby sighting. I was wondering what happened to the guy.

- Posey and Kobe are starting to go at it a bit. That’s the match-up to watch. Vujavic hit a jumper by the way. Better shooting than play defense, he always says.

- Referee Joey Crawford just tee’d up Doc for complaining about the way Kobe got through a screen by Eddie House. House ran right into him without stopping. He looked like he was run blocking for Emmitt Smith.

- Ray Allen was poked in the eye in the mid first quarter and had to go back to the locker room. He hasn’t come back out yet. Jesus Shuttlesworth would’ve played without an eye ball if he had to. Especially if it was a game of one on one with his dad.

- Pau Gasol hit a running baby hook to get the Lakers to within three. You don’t know how badly I want to type Paul Gasol every time.

- Big Game James Posey hits a three that you saw developing the entire time. KG and Pierce played catch while the double team came. Pierce swung to Eddie House, who drew a double team, and he dumped it to Posey in the corner. Beautiful basketball. House just hit a three as well. Boston is up 38-29.

- Kobe hasn’t done anything since the first quarter and he’s getting frustrated. He tried to go to the hole and went behind his back and Posey poked it away for the steal. Then Posey hit the three on the other end.

- I think Gasol just figured it out. “You mean to tell me that when I’m the tallest guy on the court, I should use my size and length when I post up? Are you sure about that?”

- KG chose the right game to start turning it up offensively. He already has 16 points before the half and Boston is now up by 21 points.

- Pierce has 9 assists by the way. MVP anyone?

3rd Quarter

- Kobe still can’t get untracked. He’s not forcing the action or even a bit upset. I’m a bit worried for him.

- Big Play Ray just hit a three to put the lead at 27 points. Yikes.

- Rondo just got his fifth steal and kicked it out to Allen for 3. These guys are on fire.

- Gasol got the ball deep in the post right under the rim. Did he

A) go right up with it since he was 3 feet away?

B) pump fake and get the foul?

C) dribble and let Kevin Garnett strong man him and tie him up for the jump ball?

If you answered C, you’ve been following this series.

- Boston is now up by 30 and the announcers are talking about Boston being able to celebrate on their own floor. There’s still three minutes left in the third quarter.

- Van Gundy just said that John Havlicek was the definition of regal and then complimented how good he looked. He ended it with a “my goodness!”

- At the end of the third quarter, Boston is up by 29. My goodness!

My Goodness!

4th Quarter

- There’s been a Trevor Ariza sighting.

- Ray just hit another three and has 19 three pointers in this series, setting a new record. Go Jesus. Go Jesus.

- He just abused Vujacic again. He went through a screen, Vujacic went down, he was open, and Odom didn’t come out in time to stop him. Another three for Jesus.

- Right as I was going to write something else, Ray hit another three. I give up.

- Up by 36 with over 6 minutes left, I wonder when the Lakers start to get mad and stop leaving guys open for three and start trying to rebound the basketball.

- Odom tries to take KG to the hole, KG holds him and swats the shot away. Odom goes down hard and is upset. KG sticks his tongue out and grins widely. Celtics up by a ton. KG laughing. Odom walks away. Sheesh.

- Exit KG, Pierce, and Jesus. Enter Leon “Jason Richardson/Morris Chestnut” Powe, Eddie House, and Tony Allen.

- Did Sam I Am even get on the court tonight?

- Big Baby took the ball from half court, dribbled down court, split two defenders, and dunked it. The Celtics are up by 43 by the way.

- Don’t worry about Kobe. We can look back at this time and say, remember how MJ lost in the finals and was able to come back. Wait, we can’t say that. Let’s officially stop the MJ/Kobe comparisons. Please.

- KG just screamed “Anything’s possible!” I agree. Especially when Kevin McHale can trade Danny Ainge his best player as a friendly gesture.

- I guess Bill Russell doesn’t need to give KG one of his rings anymore.

- Paul Pierce is the MVP. Boston defeats LA 131-92.

- Before the playoffs started, I said Celtics over the Lakers in 7. Then the finals started and I said Lakers over Celtics in 7. I wish I had my DeLorean and could stick with my first pick. Like Ron Simmons says:

Lakers Hit "Rock Bottom"

2008-06-13T22:04:00.000-07:00

A few days ago, I e-mailed Eddy Zucko to see if he wanted to watch Game 4 of the NBA Finals somewhere. He responded back that we should and we decided to invite fellow basketball bloggers ShavedAsian and Young Randall. Yesterday, Eddy texted me to let me know that he was going to try to get a table at the new Hooters establishment in Campbell. Thankfully we had a Plan B because people in the Bay Area love their Hooters. There was a line and they were only letting folks in one person at a time. Plan B was Rock Bottom Brewery.

(My cousin Tomiko showed up later in the 4th quarter and decided to bash the women of the Campbell Hooters establishment saying that they were all butter faces and then bashed two women sitting at a table who she thought were speed dating participants because they weren’t wearing any makeup. Women are mean. Just so you know.)

Because I work in San Francisco and it takes me an hour to get to San Jose, I didn’t show up until half time. When I got there, I was surprised to see not only my three fellow basketball bloggers, but also the Coach and Priscilla. I was already happy. Just knowing that the Coach is going to entertain me by just being the Coach makes me smile. Pris was there sans the boyfriend and I think she was trying to out drink the Coach. Bad move there.

Eddy and ShavedAsian were on the side of the table where you could actually see the game, but the TV was very far away. I was on the other side, so after I ate, I decided to walk over to the bar to watch the game, which became the best game in the series near the mid third quarter after being the worst game in the series for everything up to that.

Here are some details of the night.

- Eddy had one beer and change and was seen laughing and saying, “I’m giddy!” over and over again.

- ShavedAsian, a UCLA grad, was cheering energetically for Trevor Ariza and Jordan Farmar. We then started dropping Toby Bailey, Ed and Charles O’Bannon, Kris Johnson, and George Zidek all over the place.

- Pris had to deal with my “where’s Tik” jokes. She was tired of it after the second one.

- Young Randall stayed eerily quiet. It was so unlike him. It was like I didn’t even know who the guy was.

- Our friend Stella came right around when the 4th quarter started and was immediately cheering vehemently for the Lakers. I asked her if she was a Lakers fan and she said no. Okay ...

- Eddy Zucko was a rabid Lakers fan on this evening. That’s what you get when you are raised by a Lakers fan named Teodoro who missed a family engagement to watch the game and no one blinked an eye.

- We were discussing how much Leon Powe looks like Jason Richardson. And I think Powe also looks like a great man named Morris Chestnut.

He’s Up All Night!

- We all wondered exactly what Luke Walton brought to the table and ShavedAsian concluded that they just want him out there because his last name is Walton. My idea was that he doesn’t screw anything up so it’s more of a precautionary measure to play him.

- Late in the game, Sasha Vujacic, who has become Eddy’s favorite player, guarded Ray Allen for 22 of the 24 seconds of the possession, and then seemingly let him go for an easy lay-up and looked at Pau Gasol as if to say, “Where were you?” This did it for me. After watching him literally throw his palms up in terror whenever he is called for a foul time and time again, I told Eddy that after his defensive spectacle, I simply can’t enjoy watching him. Great shooter. Terrible sportsmanship. And though I didn’t see this, allegedly, a terrible cry baby on the sidelines too.

- As Stella and I went closer to the bar so that we could get a better view, a young woman wearing a green sweater over her very revealing shirt asked me what the score of the game was. She was just as close to the television as I was. She let me know that she didn’t have her contacts on. In a matter of 10 minutes I learned that she was from San Diego, just finished college, sent out 20-30 resumes a day, and was there with her boyfriend who was wearing an Andrew Bynum jersey and she was quite worried that a Lakers loss would ruin her boyfriend’s weekend, thus ruining hers. At first, he seemed upset that she was talking to me, and when I figured out she was here with someone else, I continued to watch the game with Stella. But even after that, she kept talking to me while I was watching the game. And then Miko and Steph came and I was holding 4 conversations while watching the game all at once. I would say that was a shining moment for me. What would you call that? Ambidextrous?

I was about to say bi-conversational, but then that reminded me of a great Triple H quote when he said, “I’m bi a lot of things, but lingual isn’t one of them. Wait, did I just say that?”

- After Big Play Ray Allen proved that he could still jump, and after Kobe Bryant and Paul Pierce went mano y mano in a great display of “who has the biggest balls”, and after James Posey hit two big threes, and after Pau Gasol and Kevin Garnett posted each other up and scored, all I can say is that it was a great game and unfortunately for the Lakers, makes every game a must win from here on out.

As it was, we went back to Tomiko’s and Dan’s place and Dan invited some neighbors over and they discussed how to get a Russian neighbor, who plays his music too loudly, kicked out. I think the conversation ended with the thought that threats of violence would be the best way to go about it. Eddy tried to get Young Randall to go upstairs and threaten the man in only his boxer briefs, but Young Randall wasn’t up for it.

(The best laugh of the night was Eddy’s back and forth text messages with cousin, who determined that he didn’t want to go to Hooters. If Eddy wants to tell that one, I’ll let him do it in the comments section.)

We missed the Mystery Cow.

Update:

This latest commercial is great.

Are Lakers Fans Worried?

2008-06-10T22:10:00.000-07:00

Even though the Boston Celtics have a two games to zero lead in the NBA Finals, something tells me that even Lakers fans aren’t really worried quite yet. With the schedule the way it is, the Lakers have three straight home games to try to even up the score, and then possibly head back to Boston up 3-2. Even as Boston routed the Lakers in Game Two for 3 1/2 quarters, I don’t feel a sense of urgency. What I sense is that Lakers fans think Kobe Bryant is going to make it all better. Isn’t that what MJ would do?

But in my opinion, they should be worried. Boston has outplayed them since the third quarter of Game 1 on. Paul Pierce is playing like how you’d expect Bryant to play, since Bryant has a few rings to show that he’s been there before. Bryant had a terrible first game and an uneven second one. Late in the second half of Sunday’s game, he finally started to look comfortable on offense, but there wasn’t much pressure to succeed when you’re down by so much. I think we’ll see a much better Kobe tonight though. It’s almost a given that the Lakers will win tonight according to most fans. It’s almost like it’s scripted to be that way. I am very anxiously looking forward to see how Boston comes out. If they come out fast and hard, there could be some unhappiness in So Cal.

Give it up for Leon Powe. Nice to see a Bay Area guy having big games on the biggest stage.

Here’s what some of my fellow basketball bloggers had to say about the happenings in the first two games.

ShavedAsian: The Lakers were well on their way to evening up the Series until about 4 minutes into the game, when they subbed in Luke Walton for the “P.P. Stopper” Trevor Ariza. Kobe has been too passive early in the games, deferring to teammates and settling for perimeter shots. That might have worked in the earlier rounds against lesser teams, but this is the Finals. You’re not going to get the same output from role players like Vujacic (sorry Eddy). He needs to make a statement early in the games, much like MJ would in the Finals. From what I saw in the final quarter, it looks like Kobe is just about to turn the corner, and this is going to be an entertaining series. Lesson Learned: Never awake a sleeping rapist!

HJ: I am seeing that Gasol should get the no defense player award. The drive that Powe took to the basket and Gasol just got out of the way?Powe?s not that scary. Leon Powe dominating is not a good thing for the Lakers. Even though Powe is a good player, he should not be scoring so easily. He had like 4 easy dunks! I thought they had a chance to come back, but I had no idea what play the Lakers were trying to run at the end. They used way too much time. SWEEP IN LA FOR LA!

Eddy Zucko: Never wake a sleeping Slovenian. Vujacic is going to blow up in L.A. Mark my words, J. Vujacic will do his best Leon Powe impersonation. Leon Powe? Really? The guy’s got worse knees than Patrick Ewing. No way he has a game like that again in this series. We all know Cal guys can’t win an NBA championship. L.A. in 6 games.

Update: I nearly forgot. Rivalries never die.

Lakers vs. Celtics Preview

2008-06-05T22:15:00.000-07:00

I e-mailed some of my fellow basketball bloggers to get their predictions for the NBA Finals, which starts tonight.

If you remember, we did our predictions at the beginning of the playoffs and all did a great job predicting a very predictable finals. Only ShavedAsian didn’t pick a Lakers/Celtics finals. He thought that Richard Hamilton’s Face Mask and the Pistons would get to the finals instead of the Celtics.

There were three of us who picked the Lakers to win it all and two of us who chose the Celtics originally. Young Randall and I thought that at the beginning of the playoffs, the Celtics had the best chance to win it all. I think I’m going to change my vote. I tried getting Young Randall’s prediction earlier today but he’s in a cave somewhere and won’t return e-mails or text messages.

Here are the revised predictions:

ShavedAsian - Lakers in 6, with Eddie House as the MVP (I think it was between House and Leon Powe).

EddyZucko - Lakers in 5. Nobody else but Kobe is winning this MVP. It’s his season.

Jason Ha (didn’t contribute but may next year) - Lakers in a sweep and Kobe for MVP.

Hea Jin (isn’t really a basketball blogger, but we needed more predictions and she came through like money) - Lakers in 6. Take that Ray Allen (what did Big Play Ray ever do to HJ?). Kobe for MVP.

GG - Lakers in 7 and Kobe for MVP.

Mystery Cow - I imagine that all I would’ve got out of him would’ve been “fo, fo, fo, fo”.

I think that this series goes seven for a couple reasons, and I’m still unsure that the Lakers can pull off Game 7 in Boston, but oh well. I think Pau Gasol/Lamar Odom struggle guarding Kevin Garnett. You can say that they struggled guarding Tim Duncan and they still won, and that’s a fair statement. But I still think that KG is going to have a big series and the Lakers don’t have the bigs to stop him. Will he take over? That’s another question all together.

With the 2-3-2 format, I think the series is built for the home team to win it. The way the Lakers get over this is to simply win one of the first two and then win three in a row at home, but I think Boston is too good for that to happen. In the regular season, Boston beat them twice and Kobe had bad shooting games. I don’t see them keeping him to that, but they’ve proven, at least in the regular season, that they match up well.

But I still think the Lakers take it. They have the proven winner on their side and the guy is playing like a man possessed. They also have big game shooters and more playmakers. The Paul Pierce/Kevin Garnett/Ray Allen trio hasn’t been to the big dance. Kobe has. I think that makes the difference in Game 7.

The Wackness

2008-05-24T16:49:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-14T18:28:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-05-13T18:49:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-09T13:14:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-04T19:06:00.000-07:00

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.

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

Basketball Blog - Schadenfreude

2008-05-01T19:08:00.000-07:00

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.

My Take On The East

2008-04-29T21:54:00.000-07:00

By Young Randall:

NBA’s JV League

Well, well, well. What do we have here? It seems like the Eastern Conference Playoffs are trying to show that their side of the bracket can be entertaining in the first round. Series that seemingly were no brainer picks are quickly turning into interesting series. The only series that was supposed to be somewhat interesting (and the only one I picked the lower seed to win in) was the Wizards and Cavaliers. One, because of the LeBron James factor, and two, because of Deshawn Stevenson’s big mouth. Well that series is now at 3-1 with Cleveland in command.

As of last night the biggest surprise of the series has to be the Atlanta Hawks. Who would have thought after four games this series would have been even? I thought it would be over in four and the Celtics are wondering what the hell just happened. Doc Rivers had to tell his team in the locker room that they have to “make it happen” when they get back to Boston. Make it happen? This is the number one seed in the East and had an .800 winning percentage. Make it happen? I guess Boston thought they were just going to roll on Atlanta because they are The Celtics. I expect this to be a huge wake up call for K.G. and company and they will close out the series in the next two games (which will take two weeks). They will not be the Mavericks of this year.

The other big surprise is the Philadelphia 76ers. The 76ers are even with the playoff hardened Detroit Pistons after four games and they do not look afraid to go toe to toe with this Detroit. And they are doing it with their leading scorer, Andre Iguodala, averaging 10 points. Nine points below his season average. AI 2 is also shooting a measly 22% from the field. Eddy Zucko could go out and shoot 22% blindfolded. Philly has been lead by Andre Miller, Louis Williams, and Samuel Dalembert. They are all averaging double figures and shooting decent to good from the field (led by Miller’s 53%). But Philly is matching Detroit’s defense, holding the Pistons to under 90 points per game. While Detroit is matching this proficiency, Philly is giving themselves a chance late in games, and against a seemingly superior opponent, it gives them confidence that they can beat the Pistons. And they have come through twice. This series may well go 7 and at this point I would not be surprised if the Sixers pull it out. But I think Detroit will win in 7.

As for the other two series, I’ll let Eddy handle the Cleveland side show, and Orlando handled Toronto in 5 (which I predicted) with Dwight Howard asserting his dominance on and overmatched Toronto front line. As the kids would say “Dwight Howard is a BEAST!” Howard went for 20 points and 20 rebounds in 3 of the 5 games of the series. If that is not dominance I don’t know what is. I would be not want to be Detroit or Philadelphia who have to face Orlando in the second round.

Damn I wish I could change my East Finals pick.

WITNESS: TAKE 2

2008-04-21T23:35:00.000-07:00

By Eddy Zucko:

We all witnessed Lebron’s magical run to the NBA Finals last year. Well magical, until he ran into the Spurs. So the question in Cleveland is, can Lebron do it again? His team is supposed to be better, faster, stronger than they were last season. Making the big trade for Big Ben Wallace. Adding Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West for some much needed outside shooting. And getting a former #1 draft pick in Joe Smith as a throw in, in that trade. All they had to give up was the inconsistency of Larry Hughes and the beard of Drew Gooden. So are they better? Well no one has dropped faster from his all star status than Big Ben (expect maybe Zito). And the 3 other guys were all pretty much non factors as Cleveland limped into the playoffs with a record of 45-37. A record that would of kept them out of the playoffs in the west, but good enough for a #4 seed in the east. Sorry Warrior fans.

The playoffs began on Saturday with Cleveland and Washington up first. Lebron and co. playing a Washington team that got to the playoffs without the services of Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler for most of the season. But now both are back and for the first time all season, Washington has it’s full lineup at 100%. Which has most NBA analyst taking Washington to come out of this series. Trouble for Cleveland right? Well bring in Deshawn Stevenson, most famous for being accused for having intercourse with a 14 year old girl when he was 20. Deshawn did the one thing you don’t do to Lebron, he called him out. He called Lebron overrated. Which Lebron replied back by comparing Deshawn to Soulja Boy. As in he’s a one hit wonder. Which begs the question, “Deshawn had a hit?” Lebron’s not really the Rock when it comes to snappy comebacks. So he let his game speak for himself. To the tune of 32 pts, 6 rebs, 4 ast and a Cleveland win. Things were a little testy in the beginning of the game. A couple technicals were handed out in the first half in a very closely contested game. But second half belonged to Lebron, scoring 20 of those 32 pts, mostly on uncontested layups. Washington kept it close, but in the end it was Cleveland 1, Washington 0. Deshawn by the way was 1 for 9 from the field and had a total of 3 pts. He should really leave the trash talking to people who can back it up.

2008 NBA Playoffs - Predictions

2008-04-19T23:38:00.000-07:00

All of the Basketball Blog contributors sent me their playoff brackets. That is, except The Mystery Cow. He only sent me a message, which I will paste at the bottom.

Western Conference

First Round

(1) LA Lakers

(8) Denver Nuggets

Eddy Zucko - Lakers in 4

ShavedAsian- Lakers in 5

Young Randall - Lakers in 5

GG - Lakers in 4

(4) Utah Jazz

(5) Houston Rockets

Eddy Zucko - Utah in 7

ShavedAsian - Utah in 6

Young Randall - Utah in 7

GG - Utah in 6

(3) San Antonio Spurs

(6) Phoenix Suns

Eddy Zucko - Suns in 7

ShavedAsian - Suns in 7

Young Randall - Suns in 7

GG - Suns in 7

(2) New Orleans Hornets

(7) Dallas Mavericks

Eddy Zucko - Mavs in 6

ShavedAsian - Mavs in 6

Young Randall - Hornets in 6

GG - Hornets in 6

Color - We all agreed on each of the 4 West match-ups, except the last one. Young Randall and I went with Chris Paul and the Hornets, while ShavedAsian and Eddy Zucko are picking the upset. It’s crazy that we all picked the Suns. Aren’t the Spurs the defending champs? Haven’t they won the most titles in recent memory?

Western Conference Semi-finals

Eddy Zucko

Lakers over Jazz in 6

Suns over Mavericks in 7

ShavedAsian

Lakers over Jazz in 6

Suns over Mavericks in 6

Young Randall

Lakers over Jazz in 6

Suns over Hornets in 5

Lakers over Jazz in 6

Suns over Hornets in 6

Color - I think we’re all simply hoping to see Kobe and Shaq all over again. But truly, is that a bad thing to hope for? That would be one of the greatest spectacles in modern sports history and an exciting conference finals.

Western Conference Finals

Eddy Zucko

Lakers over Suns in 7

ShavedAsian

Lakers over Suns in 6

Young Randall

Lakers over Suns in 6

Lakers over Suns in 7

Color - No dark horses here, we’re all taking the Lakers.

Eastern Conference

First Round

(1) Boston Celtics

(8) Atlanta Hawks

Eddy Zucko - Celtics in 4

ShavedAsian- Celtics in 5

Young Randall - Celtics in 4

GG - Celtics in 4

(4) Cleveland Cavaliers

(5) Washington Wizards

Eddy Zucko - Cavaliers in 7

ShavedAsian - Cavliers in 6

Young Randall - Wizards in 6

GG - Wizards in 7

(3) Orlando Magic

(6) Toronto Raptors

Eddy Zucko - Magic in 6

ShavedAsian - Magic in 5

Young Randall - Magic in 5

GG - Magic in 6

(2) Detroit Pistons

(7)Philadelphia 76ers

Eddy Zucko - Pistons in 5

ShavedAsian - Pistons in 4

Young Randall - Pistons in 5

GG - Pistons in 6

Color - The only series any of us disagree on is the Cavs vs. the Wiz. Eddy Zucko and ShavedAsian believe that Lebron and 4 other guys are going to beat the Wizards, who learned how to play without Gilbert Arenas during the year. I think the match-up result is either that Lebron takes his game to another level (and that’s scary) and wills his team to victory, or that the Wizards have too many weapons for Cleveland.

Eastern Conference Semi-finals

Eddy Zucko

Celtics over Cavaliers in 6

Pistons over Magic in 5

ShavedAsian

Celtics over Cavaliers in 5

Pistons over Magic in 6

Young Randall

Celtics over Wizards in 5

Pistons over Magic in 6

Celtics over Wizards in 6

Pistons over Magic in 5

Color - No surprises here. We all think the top two seeds seeds are going to meet in the conference finals.

Eastern Conference Finals

Eddy Zucko

Celtics over Pistons in 7

ShavedAsian

Pistons over Celtics in 6

Young Randall

Celtics over Pistons in 7

Celtics over Pistons in 6

Color - ShavedAsian believes that the Pistons will represent the Eastern Conference in the finals, but everyone else thinks the Celtics are the team.

NBA Finals

Eddy Zucko

Lakers over Celtics in 6

ShavedAsian

Lakers over Pistons in 6

Young Randall

Celtics over Lakers in 6

Celtics over Lakers in 7

Color - We’re split right down the middle. Two of us believe the Lakers will win the title and the other two, the Celtics.

As for the Mystery Cow? Well, here was his quote.

Fo’, Fo’, Fo’.

Don’t matter who we play in the Finals, we’ll beat them in Fo’ too.

What he means for those who don’t follow is that he thinks the Lakers are going to sweep every team in the playoffs.

Staying Positive

2008-04-10T00:01:00.000-07:00

By ShavedAsian:

Okay, so it’s been about an hour since the devastating loss to the Nuggets (now coinciding with the devastating loss of Michael Johns). I have officially taken myself off of suicide watch, and I think it’s time to take a look at the bright side:

We still aren’t out of it. If we go 2-1 and the Nuggets go 0-3 , or we go a 3-0, and the Nuggets go 1-2, over the last three games, we can actually still make the Playoffs! Actually, it’s probably likely that Denver will go 1-2. But, it’s hard for me believe that we will go 3-0, seeing that we play the Suns on the road, and seeing that we haven’t won back to back games in almost a month.

If we miss the Playoffs, the Warriors shame live in infamy! A couple years from now, no one is going remember who the Hornets swept in the first round of the 2008 Playoffs. But they will remember who is the best team who have never made the Playoffs. Sorry that was a stretch…

If we miss the Playoffs, the beer goggles finally come off. The fool’s gold becomes piryte. Reality starts to set in. The jig is up! This team has had Baron Davis the entire season, and we still missed the playoffs. This should persuade management that something needs to happen. Fans won’t keep buying these Playoff Push Packages if they know the team won’t make it. Hopefully, they will start making some moves, and hopefully, it starts with shipping out Al Harrington. Here’s some wishful thinking, but what if the $10 million we received for the JRich trade actually gets put to use?

There is hope for next year. Making the Playoffs last year made me realize how much I missed the Draft Lottery. Anything can happen. In 1994, the Magic were the 13th team in the standings, and they still landed the top pick. Most likely, that’s not going to happen to us, but if we could land one of my beloved Bruins: Kevin Love or Russell Westbrook, that would ease the pain!

PT for the rookies! If Denver wins the next two games and/or the Dubs lose the next two, we could see Wright, Bellinelli, and O’Bryant get some major minutes… Seriously, I have been waiting all season for that.

This team has a such a bright future. Imagine a starting line-up of Monta, Westbrook/Love, Bellinelli, Beans, and Wright five or ten years from now. Monta will probably be an all-star next year. And even if only two or three of the other players reach their potential, this would be scary team, that you can pencil in for the Playoffs.

Man, now I’m going to feel like a douche if we actually make it to the Playoffs

Showdown in Little Roar-acle

2008-04-09T00:05:00.000-07:00

By ShavedAsian:

And here we are, more than 24 hours before the biggest game of the season… With four games left, this is a MUST MUST WIN for the Warriors. If they win this game, they’re in the driver’s seat.

The Dubs need to finish one game ahead of the Nuggets in the standings since the Nuggets hold the tie-breaker. If we win tomorrow, we are a game up on Denver. And I expect them to win two of the last three games of the season, against the Clips and Sonics. If the Warriors win two of three, then Denver will need to go 3-0 to get into the Playoffs. Since the Nuggets play both the Rockets and the Jazz, this will be a tough task. But, if the Warriors lose tomorrow, they would need to go 3-0 for the rest of the season (against the Clips, Suns, and Sonics) and pray that Denver goes 1-2 (Utah, Houston, Memphis). Now, that isn’t impossible but with the unpredictable play from both teams, you don’t want to count on a Denver loss.

The Warriors have lost all three of the previous Must Win games (Denver, Dallas, New Orleans) up to this point. However, what makes tomorrow’s game different is that this is a home game. This should make us the favorite, right? I mean, we are a great home team, have loud and intellectual fans(when they’re not doing The Wave during critical moments of a game), and Denver is a lousy away team… But being a Warriors fan for such a long time has naturally turned me into a pessimist. This is what bothers me:

Over their last ten games against the Top 8 teams in the Western Conference, the Warriors are 2-8, the only wins coming from the Gasol/Bynum-less Lakers, and the Dirk/Stackhouse-less Mavericks.

What genius scheduled a Western Conference game at 5PM?!?! This will certainly affect the home court advantage. Most people do not work 5-2, 6-3, or 7-4 shifts. I remember last year in the Western Conference Semi-Finals against the Jazz, Game 3 started at 6PM. For the first quarter, the lower bowl seats were about half to 2/3 full. And that was for a Playoff game! What makes our arena so valuable is that our team feeds from the energy of the fans. Will the Warriors feed off of a half-full stadium for much of, if not all, of first half? Heck, if this were a Laker game at Staples, fans would be filtering in until the game ended.

Our defense has been lousy. We allowed 132 points to the Kings last night, and this was without Brad Miller or Ron Artest playing. The only time we beat Denver this year was when we made an effort to play defense. The other games, where we tried to outrun/outscore them, ended in losses. Hopefully, the return of Pietrus should cause some problems for Carmelo, and Baron can bottle up AI.

I hope we win tomorrow, so I don’t have to make a “Scenario Generator” for the remaining three games. Some sort of makeshift flow chart on how the Warriors can get to the Playoffs (my God, I SO see this coming). But even if we lose tomorrow, and end up not making the Playoffs, I am satisfied with what has been a very entertaining season…. who am I kidding…they better WIN!!

The Number 8 spot: Who wants it less?

2008-04-07T00:13:00.000-07:00

After watching, my beloved Bruins for the last time on Saturday, my mood quickly lightened when I found out that the Kings upset the Nuggets to tie them for the 8th and final Playoff spot with the Warriors. When one of my teams fall, another rises to take its place! Much like the Sith lords in Star Wars.

Early the next day, I was treated to a Sunday Matinee. The Dubs were “fighting for their Playoff lives” against the number one team in the Western Conference, the New Orleans (yes, apparently, Louisiana is in the West) Hornets. I had great expectations for this game, especially after Friday’s game against the Grizzlies, where Marco “Rambo” Belinelli had, what I thought, was a breakout game. It was time for the Dubs to seize the 8th spot, and after 5 months of waiting, it was time for our first round draft pick to get some f’in PT!

The game started off the same way the Memphis game did. Baron and Stack Jack made an effort to find Andris Biendrins inside, running the pick and roll to perfection, and Monta Ellis started attacking the rim, like any big-time player should in such a pivotal game. Voila! Up by twelve! Finally, I thought. They are showing a sense of urgency! This game’s in the bag! Time to run this team off the court and sweep the final 6 games of the season!!

Then, in the 2nd quarter, the shit hit the fan, and it hit it hard…enter the obvious Warrior killer, Jannero Pargo?!?!?! Pargo put on his best Michael Jordan vs the Portland Trailblazers in Game 1 of the Finals impersonation, and scored 15 straight points without missing a shot. As Pargo continues to chip away at the lead, Baron, fueled by the boos from the Hornets fans, decided to turn the game into a personal vendetta against the city of New Orleans. Boy, did that backfire…he proceeded to chuck 3 pointer after 3 pointer, missing all of them. No effort at all was made to attack the rim, where Tyson Chandler had been crippled by three fouls, and was hessitant to challenge any shots. Actually I stand corrected… Al Harrington and Stephen Jackson attempted to post up, after Baron missed what seemed like his 7th straight three pointers. But those of us who watch enough Warriors games know that whenever Al or Stack Jack post up, with the sole intent of getting to the rim, disaster is soon to follow. Usually Al does an awkward spin move, and he either gets rejected at the rim or misses the lay-up. Stack Jack will get stripped of the ball and complain to the ref, as the opposing team waltzes in for a lay-up on the other end. If the Dubs were content with chucking up threes and turning the ball over, they should have might as well put their best three point threat (Rambo), in the game. But Sly never got a look. There was no “One more round” moment ala Rocky V.

With the combination of Pargo heating up, and Warriors’ selfishness on offense, the Warriors lead (along with my erection) soon evaporated, and the Hornets had an 8 point lead by halftime. And to my amazement, thanks to the exclusive half time locker room footage that ABC provided, I saw Nellie assure his distraught team that they were sticking to the game plan, since it was working. I guess the game plan was to attack the rim early to establish the lead. Then, once you have the lead, keep taking three pointers until you make one, no matter how many it takes.

In the second half, the Warriors started to look inside again, and they cut into the lead. But with awful games from just about everyone BUT Monta and Beans, they were unable to take control of the game. Every time they got within striking distance it seemed like someone would either miss a contested jump-shot or turn the ball over. I had to turn the TV off with three minutes left, where a lazy pass by Baron lead to a runaway dunk going the other way.

Now, call me bitter, but this game made me realize how much I dislike Chris Paul. He has this facial expression on his face the whole time where he looks like he’s on the verge of tears. And regarding that Wired segment they showed, where he was pleading to Byron Scott to play him the rest of the game… oh my God… has their ever been a more desperate attempt from an NBA player to brainwash the league into thinking he deserves the MVP trophy? He knew he was mic’d, and this would probably be the only nationally televised game he would be on before the Playoffs… Way to ham it up, CP-3PO! I compare that to Kristie Lee Cook’s “Please Vote for Me” AI performance of Proud to be an American.

This loss was completely discouraging. Almost as disappointing as the the Dallas game last week. This past month, the Dubs have been playing sub .500 basketball. What’s even more disheartening is that this same team went 9-1 last year on its way to the Playoffs. The general consensus is that the team is just tired, and once they are done with their back-to-back games, they’d return to form. And, now that they’re actually behind in the standings, they will start playing with the same fire as they did last year. But there is a huge difference between last year’s team and this years’ team. The body language is completely different. Al looks lost half the time, and it doesn’t look like Stack Jack and Baron have that same energy and hunger. Last year’s team played its heart out, like every game was its last. This year’s team is playing not to lose. They play each game as if, they’re saving their A game for a later time. Now, should be that time.

However, I can take solace in the fact that the Nuggets are playing just as lethargically. Last night they lost to the Sonics in double overtime, so they are still tied with the Warriors. They lost to a Sonics team, who’s second scoring option, at one point, was Damien Wilkins. Wilkins is not the son of NBA great Dominique, but that of the self proclaimed

“Jordan stopper” Gerald Wilkins.

I still remember MJ shouting at the Cleveland bench “He can’t guard me… he can’t GUARD me!” every time he abused Wilkins.

It doesn’t really seem like either team is playing like they want to be or should be in the Playoffs. But, hopefully the Warriors can beat the Nuggets this Thursday, and end the season winning one more game than the Nuggets.

Warriors Come Out And Play

2008-03-29T00:36:00.000-07:00

Man, this is going to be a tight finish and it’s going to be hard for me to believe that they don’t make the playoffs, but it could happen. Maybe this will inspire them just a bit.

Where’s the Utah footage? No comment.

Lick my balls

2008-03-25T09:38:00.000-07:00

By Albert:

after last night’s loss, the GSW fans this morning were a bit too happy. granted it was an exciting win, but three of our bigs were on the shelf and Phil keeps insisting on giving Luke Walton minutes. it was another win on a back to back night. something that’s been huge for the Lakes this year, a feat not accomplished much the last couple of years. still not attacking the zone with dives and cuts enough and Ronny is too passive when he does get the ball in the middle against the zone. that’ll change when La Bestia gets back. way to many minutes for Mamba and Lamar too. they should be taking nights off, but with the west so cutthroat lose a game here and there you’re suddenly out of the Dance. good game tonight, a playoff atmosphere sans a Jessica Alba sighting (did catch plenty of Stratton glimpses though). see you chaps in the playoffs, stop with the hate already GSW fans. can’t we just all get along?

the 88’ retro jerseys are tits, but those Golden State joints make me pine for a Xzibit, Ras Kass, and Saffir album to the end!

Chris Webber Is Set To Retire

2008-03-25T09:37:00.000-07:00

In January I wrote that we had to love Chris Webber or leave him alone. And left him alone I did. And I bet he was thankful because he brought absolutely nothing to the team. He wasn’t even a shell of his former self. More like a toe nail.

But, I will give him one thing. He didn’t let his injury linger and give the Warriors fans false hope. According to ESPN.com’s Marc Stein, the former All Star is set to retire tomorrow. While I have hated the guy since he left, and left him alone when he signed with the Warriors, it’s time for me to be ok with him now. He can’t play ball anymore and thus, I can’t hate him anymore.

NBA All-Star Game ‘08: Where’s B-Diddy?

2008-02-17T20:15:00.000-08:00

In the year after the Golden State Warriors shocked the basketball world and beat the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the playoffs, one would think that they would finally get their due, especially after winning 32 games in the first half of this year. But no. Not only do they have the third best record in all of basketball since getting Stephen Jackson back in the lineup, but they also have possibly the most exciting team in the league. They definitely have the most exciting back court duo. So when it’s Baron Davis’ turn to be on the All-Star team, he’s passed by. Maybe Baron will use the frustration to help him when the Warriors beat someone in the first round of the playoffs again. You know it’s happening.

Also, no Young Randall, no Eddy Zucko, no HJ, and no Luchadors. They were with me last year, but this year, it’s just little old me.

Predictions:

I think the West will win, Carmelo Anthony will win MVP, and Antawn Jamison will win the Tyrone Hill award for least minutes played in the game. Kobe could possibly win it, but I think he’ll play at least 10 minutes.

I’m not sure that the Western team’s b-boy pose after the introductions can be topped. The smile on Yao’s face was priceless. The NBA, where “what do I do with my arms?” happens.

And before we actually get to the game, we might as well show the best part of last night’s All-Star Saturday Night. Superman was in the house.

Every All-Star game I’ve blogged, the West has won. So you can pretty much bet the house tonight on the West.
I wonder if Jason Kidd will accidentally pass it to Dirk Nowitski, thinking that he’s supposed to be on the Mavs?
The East scores the first six points and all on dunks. Let’s just say defense isn’t on the mind of the Western squad.
Kobe only played the first three minutes and I’m not sure if he touched the ball.
So far, the story of this game is that the West likes to settle for jumpers and the East likes to dunk. Guess who’s winning?
Thanks to Melo and AI, the West is back in this thing.
Rip Hamilton is so old school, he caught an alley-oop and instead of dunking it, he laid it in.
TO is in the house, but I don’t see any tears. I guess no one made fun of Tony Romo.
David West is in this game? Oh yah, he took B-Diddy’s spot.
The youngsters Brandon Roy and Chris Paul are working it together. By the way, Roy and West are the two guys in this game I couldn’t pick out in a police lineup.
There’s been a Chest Hair Boozer sighting. He just grabbed a rebound.
The East just threw three alley-oops on one play. I think it was Joe Johnson to Jason Kidd to Lebron James to Dwight Howard.
David Aldridge mentioned earlier that it looks like the Jason Kidd trade is on. All they have to do is convince Keith Van Horn to play again after not playing for over a year as he’s a part of the deal. While they’re at it, why don’t they get Jimmy Jackson and Jamal Mashburn to come out of retirement and trade them as well?

Bring This Guy Back So You Can Trade Him

Rasheed just nailed a three pointer from the top of the key. No biggie right? But he shot it left handed.
At the half, Lebron has the Magic Johnson All-Star game stat line with triple double definitely in sight.
Looks like Kobe and his pinkie finger are done for the rest of the game.
AI is trying his hardest to keep the West in this, but Lebron and company have other ideas.
If Chest Hair Boozer would make his layups, this game might be closer.
Has Byron Scott always had the porn stashe going? Dude needs to buy some little scissors to trim that dirty thing.

The Dirty Stashe

Paul is bringing these guys back. Amare Stoudamire looks like the East Dwight Howard and Dirk is finally playing well. The West just took their first lead.
Big Play Ray Allen is killing it and wearing the new Jordan’s at the same time.
Brandon Roy is getting some definite crunch time play over AI, Melo, and Stevie Nash.
Thanks to a Lebron dunk in traffic and a D-Wade layup where he hit the floor and got the foul (what’s new?), the East is back up by four with 30 seconds to go.
Big Play Ray and LBJ put the game away, though the West made it fun in the end. Lebron is the MVP and he just missed a triple double. And my predictions were terrible.

Chris Webber’s First Game Back

2008-02-08T21:08:00.000-08:00

I know what’s exciting for GS Warriors fans who are looking forward to Chris Webber’s return. It will be that no look pass or that trail dunk or maybe that rebound and snarl. But for me? I just want to see Webber go at it with Joe Smith in the battle of former highly touted Warriors rookies who lasted on the team 3 years or less.

Let’s just say that Joe Smith played like a former number one pick and Webber played like someone who hadn’t picked up a ball in a long time.

The Warriors played terribly for the about the first 20 minutes of the first half. But in the last 4 minutes of the half, they played brilliantly. I’ve definitely been keeping up with them this season but have only watched them on TV a handful of times. The one thing that stands out is Monta Ellis’ confidence. There were two plays where he took the ball right to the hole and dunked, where last year I’m not sure he doesn’t either pull up for a short jumper or pass. Maybe last year’s failures in the playoffs helped in his growing up. With the exception of Baron Davis, he looked like the best player on the court. The Bulls played without Kirk Heinrich, Ben Gordon, and Luol Deng and played above their heads, some in part due to the lack of Warriors defense. In the second half, the game was more stable, but the same things that plagued the Warriors in the first half (terrible at stopping penetration and not getting into defensive position), killed them in the second. They even had the lead for a short time, but played lazy on both ends and couldn’t come back.

Superstar In The Making

As for Webber? He looked like a guy who hadn’t played in a long time. He looked achy. He looked like a guy who doesn’t want to run or jump. On offense, he can still pass from the post and get a blocked shot when you need it on defense. But the Warriors play so rag tag that Don Nelson is going to have to take Webber out when they need to change it up. And they always seem to need to change it up. Webber was a non-factor and I wonder how many times he’s going to be just that this year.

There was one telling play for Warriors fans that didn’t even mean anything in the game. Early in the first quarter, Joe Smith took a fade away sideline jumper that missed, but went to the free throw line because he was fouled by Webber. There were a lot of hopes and dreams involved in that play that seemingly went down the toilet when Webber forced his trade and when Smith turned out to be softer than toilet tissue.

In the end, the Bulls looked like the rested team, even though they were playing the second game on a back to back. Chris Duhon tried to be Michael Jordan and the Warriors didn’t do anything to stop him. The Warriors played defense like it didn’t matter. They had every chance to win it too. Every time they penetrated, it resulted in a great look or a layup chance. But for some reason, they wanted to shoot 25 footers all night. They’re going to give me a heart attack before this season is over.

Chris Webber: Love Him Or Leave Him Alone

2008-01-29T21:47:00.000-08:00

On Sunday night, John Cena came back to the WWE from injury, rumor got out that The New Kids On The Block were reuniting, and in the worst news of the three, Chris Webber was coming back to the Warriors.

I’m not sure that I’ve hated any non-LA Dodgers, non-Dallas Cowboys player more than I’ve hated Chris Webber. When my childhood basketball team, the Golden State Warriors were on the brink of greatness, he turned his back on the team and the fans, and forced a trade. Usually, I can understand the athlete’s point of view in these types of instances. But not with Webber. He feuded with Don Nelson over things that many modern day athletes feud over coaches with. But the bottom line was that he couldn’t get along with Nellie and decided that rather than do things the coach’s way, he wanted out. It killed me. It really was the start of what became putrid basketball in the Bay Area. They’ve had some good players come through the system since Webber like Gilbert Arenas, Antawn Jamison, and Jason Richardson, but none were so relied upon to change the face of basketball in the Bay Area like Webber was. Maybe he wasn’t ready. But how could he not be? He had a veteran club. You had Chris Mullin who was just two years removed from playing on the greatest basketball team ever assembled at the 1992 Olympics. Tim Hardaway was in his prime (though he did tear up his knee that year) and Latrell Sprewell was blossoming into a superstar. Everything was pointing in the right direction for the team. Until C-Webb couldn’t handle the pressure and forced a trade.

The Warriors brass at the time chose Nellie over Webber and most times in those kinds of situations, management chooses the star. I wish they would’ve this time because soon after Webber was gone, so was Nellie. And basketball was horrid in the Bay Area until last year. So now that the Warriors have a fun team again, who comes back into the picture? Mayce Christopher Webber III. I still don’t like the guy. But I don’t hate him as much as I did in the past. I remember that when he came back to play the Warriors as a member of the Washington Bullets, he hurt his shoulder and had to leave the game. I cheered wildly. The hate ran strong. But today, he’s not even half the player he used to be and all that’s left is a past memory for me. What I now worry about is what he can actually bring to the team. I’m not sure he can bring much. Matt Steinmetz interviewed Webber and it seems that Webber himself isn’t sure if he exactly fits in.

Steinmetz: How did all this come about?

Webber: At the beginning of the season I knew I was going to take a break to be with my family. I wanted to wait until later to think about where I wanted to go. Early on in the season I got a call from the Warriors, but I didn?t take it too serious. A month or so ago, they pursued me and let me know how much they wanted me, that it would be a good marriage and a good fit. Nellie and Mully won me over with their persistence.

If you have to beg a guy to play for you, what does that tell you? Well, I won’t jump to conclusions, but it doesn’t seem that he truly wanted to come here. I guess we’ll have to wait and see. I don’t have the same disdain for Webber as I once did, but I don’t love the signing. Until he proves to me that he can help them win ball games, I’m leaving him alone.