The Legend Of Sleepy Floyd

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.

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

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 - Opening Day

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.

Lakers vs. Celtics Game 6 - Live Play By Play

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"

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?

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

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:

 

The Wackness

By Mystery Cow

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fantasy indeed.

Alexander The Great

by Mystery Cow

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

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

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

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

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

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

2008 NBA Playoffs - Predictions

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

GG

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

GG

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

GG

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

GG

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

GG

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.

Lick my balls

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!