Oden

Can you imagine if he averaged 34 minutes instead of 24. Man's a beast. He needs to learn how to follow less.

To me, the fact that he can make freethrows, means he has a chance of being better than howard. I see him as a future DOP. But, only if he can stay on the floor.

The real Iran?!

A Hamed Haddadi sighting. The Clippers broadcasters got suspended one game for this exchange. Kinda humorous

Smith began a 40-second exchange by saying, 'Look who's in?" Lawler then answered, "Hamed Haddadi. Where's he from?" The exchange continued as follows:

Smith: "He's the first Iranian to play in the NBA."

Lawler: "There aren't any Iranian players in the NBA."

Smith: "He's the only one."

Lawler: "He's from Iran?"

Smith: "I guess so."

Lawler: "That Iran?"

Smith: Yes.

Lawler: "The real Iran?"

Smith: "Yes."

Lawler: "Wow. Haddadi -- that's H-A-D-D-A-D-I."

Smith: "You're sure it's not Borat's older brother?"

Smith: "If they ever make a movie about Haddadi, I'm going to get Sacha Baron Cohen to play the part."

Lawler: "Here's Haddadi. Nice little back-door pass. I guess those Iranians can pass the ball."

Smith: "Especially the post players.

Lawler: "I don't know about their guards."

A viewer apparently complained about the exchange and later received an apology from Fox Sports.

hou-atl

I liked the last play of their game. All the rockets stood there dumbfounded, except, of course, for Battier. He was the only person that knew that game wasn't over. His team finally ran down court after he told them too; but..too late.

Of course, 00.7 is not a lot of time; but it's doable.

p.s. tough loss, i am not trying to pour salt.

port v atl-refs?

I have never seen so many blown calls; and they were, each one, in favor of the hawks (roughly 8). If hwaks win this here.. A wide variety of blown calls, too.

Whoa! overtime.

Outlaw etymology

i was curious.

"This is quite a rare, and certainly a very interesting English medieval surname. It would appear to mean what it says and describe 'an outlaw', one who lived outside of the community, either by choice or edict. This at first glance would seem to be confirmed by the original recordings of Alan le Utlage in the Tax Rolls known as the 'Feet of Fines' for the county of Essex in 1230, and Robert Outlawe in the Subsidy Tax rolls of the county of Sussex in 1327. However in both cases it will be seen that these are recorded in tax registers. It does not take a brilliant mind to realise that the authorties would hardly be in a position to tax a person who was outside of their jurisdiction, and even less that the person concerned, should he even receive 'The Final Demand', would then actually pay it! The tales of Robin Hood, the most famous of all outlaws, are all about robbing the sheriffs, who were the tax collectors. The thought of actually paying them, would surely raise a wry smile to your average neighbourhood outlaw. Strangely perhaps this surname is almost certainly a nickname or even a personal name, for an actor. In that it is similar to surnames such as Bishop, King or Pope, and describe one who played the part of a bishop, king, pope or outlaw, in the travelling theatres of the period."

The Internet Surname Database

palming

jeebus, detroit has been called for palming 6 times, by the end of the 3rd. I have never seen that. I'm not contesting the calls; i can't tell on my monitor.

Afflalo

I'm watching last night's Den-LAL game.

And i'm stoked cause i just found out one of my favorite (former) Pistons is a stater now. For a team like Denver, no less! Arron Afflalo. For those that forget him, he is a defensive specialist and occasional jump shooter. When he got traded to Denver, i was concerned he would get buried on the bench.

Ben Wallace

..is good again.

I had thought he was falling off into decrepit-old-man'ness the last couple years. So far his D has been very good; better than it has been since he left detroit. Check out steals, blocks, and rebounds.: 1.5, 1.5, 9.5.

Crooked?

Degenerate Gambler turned tattle-tale or just looking for more money to blow at the craps table?

http://deadspin.com/5392067/

The NBA threatened to sue the publisher so it's been pulled for now.

Wasn't that military-dude from a couple years back supposed to change things? Is he a company-man now?

Was anyone else actually disappointed when they resigned the agreement with the old refs? I completely ready to deal with crappy officiating for most of this season if it meant less BS down the road...

Who is the most improved team this season?

Here are some teams that seem to have improved:

Orlando got:
Matt Barnes
Brandon Bass
Vince Carter
Jason Williams

and they lost:
Rafer Alston
Tony Battie
Courtney Lee
Hidayet Turkoglu

The Blazers got:
Juwan Howard
Andre Miller
Ime Udoka

and they lost:
Channing Frye
Sergio Rodriguez

The Cavs got:
Coby Karl
Jamario Moon
Shaquille O'Neal
Leon Powe

and they lost:
Tarence Kinsey
Aleksandar Pavlovic
Joe Smith
Ben Wallace

The Spurs got:
Keith Bogans
Richard Jefferson
Antonio McDyess
Theo Ratliff

and lost:
Bruce Bowen
Drew Gooden
Fabricio Oberto
Kurt Thomas
Ime Udoka


Honestly, I'm thinking Blazers. They barely gave up anything and got 3 quality guys. Tough
to ignore the Cavs tho. And the (not listed) Celtics. I like what the spurs did, but it's tough to see it as too much of a step up since they lost such solid guys.

What do you guys think?

bucketology

Beasley picked on Diawara because of his deep French accent. Diawara, a Pepperdine grad, shot back: “I’m an educated man. Put Pepperdine against wherever you went, college dropout. Did you even stay long enough to major?” Beasley, who spent one season at Kansas State before leaving to become the No. 2 overall pick in the 2008 draft, didn’t hesitate. “Yeah, I had a major. My major was Bucketology. You don’t know about that. I mastered in getting buckets.” Miami Herald

jordan's trainer..

And yet there’s no magic to Grover’s formula. It demands immense work. That’s why Michael Jordan thrived with him and why Kobe and D-Wade do now. Those are the trainer’s three clients for the ages, the standards for everyone else. And he must admit: Arenas surprised him a little this summer. Grover knew he was a great scorer, but ultimately unsure he had the capacity for completeness. “I put Gil right up there with those guys, if not pretty damn close behind,” he said. “All the things he can do – and he showed – I never knew he had all that.”



man, if jordan, kobe, and dwade's trainer is the same guy, and he says THAT about arenas... dang man...

More instant replay

Referees will now be permitted to use instant replay in the following situations:

• To determine at any point during the game whether a 24-second shot clock violation occurred prior to the release of a successful field goal attempt or prior to a foul being committed.

• To determine during the last two minutes of regulation play and the last two minutes of any overtime period which player last touched the ball prior to it going out-of-bounds or whether the ball was last touched simultaneously by two opponents.

article

---------

I alright with that.

neat pic

Manut-7foot7
Muggsy-5foot3

you talking about that eating Vaseline thing. You can't teach retarded.

ummm...

youtube stephon marbury.


wtf

shaq attack

NBA star Shaquille O'Neal is getting ready to multitask. The four-time hoops champion, who joins the Cleveland Cavaliers next season, will star in Shaq Vs., an ABC reality series that pits him against top athletes in their own sports. Filming begins Wednesday in Pittsburgh, where Shaq takes on Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in football. Future hour-long episodes will pit him against Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, retired boxer Oscar De La Hoya, St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols, tennis pro Serena Williams and beach volleyball Olympians Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh


Pretty cool idea. retired boxer oscare de la hoya best be careful though. if shaq even lands one hit, he may be in big trouble.

Varejao

Varejao agreed on a six-year contract worth up to $50 million.


Does that seem like too much for Varejao to you guys? 8+ million a year? Seems high to me. Maybe i underestimate him.

Rockets Rumor

Houston Trades: Tracy McGrady, Carl Landry and Shane Battier
Gets: Amare Stoudemire and Jason Richardson

Phoenix Trades: Amare Stoudemire and Jason Richardson
Gets: Tracy McGrady, Carl Landry and Rudy Fernandez

Portland Trades: Rudy Fernandez
Gets: Shane Battier

What are your thoughts on this trade?

spurs get mcdyess!

how does tom feel about this? i'm sure yer a big fan of antonio, since he gave you so many valuable minutes, but isn't it a little better to have him on a team that you can combine with his name so easily. san antonio mcdyess? come on its like it was destined to happen.

but seriously, with the additions of RJ and mcdyess the spurs are looking ok right now. all i could think when they picked up RJ was "man! why don't they get someone decent to back timmy up?! if they've got room on that roster, thats who they need to get!"
and now this. i like the move. i dont know if it makes them LAL calibur, but i like the move.

what about you guys?

speaking of 4s...

NBA.com is reporting (not very convincingly) that Artest and Ariza may be headed to Cleveland.
shaq
lebronald mcdonald
ariza
artest

thats a pretty stout 4.

boozer/millsap

Boozer is staying is Utah. Which means Utah has to either go into the luxury tax or get rid of Millsap. All i can say is, "Utah, Luxary taxes are baaaad. You should get rid of Millsap." Yes, i am drooling.

No whammy, no whammy, no whammy, Stop! Bill Laimbeer.

Curry is fired! Despite how bad things went. Public consensus was pretty sure curry would stick around one more season. I guess Joe is being honest when he says this season isn't for setting up the 2010 season.

http://www.nba.com/2009/news/06/30/pistons.curry.out/index.html

I don't have to even look at the post-artical comments to know that they are full of people clamoring for Laimbeer. Dumars (from my angle) has always been a little worried with the combining of nba prima donnas with the aggressing coaching style of Laimbeer. Do you take the risk? How much does what the fans are dying for affect the decision process?

My thought is, if the players can't handle a hard-ass stlye that knows how to win, to hell with them. I have a feeling the Detroit Shock didn't always want to hug and kiss Laimbeer. But, i think they enjoyed winning 3 titles, and respected him for knowing what he is doing.

I think Laimbeer is like a high risk/high reward scenerio. He seems possible of being a top level NBA coach, or possible for having many classic alpha male confrontations. But, how many of today's newer coaches can you see becoming a l brown, p jackson, popovich. (I got a good feeling about spolstra, i think he could be great. But, no one else. ) What better time for the pistons to gamble on a laimbeer hire, then during a time that is already such a trial.

If he became a lengendary coach, and it didnt' happen in Detroit, I think many fans would never forgive Dumars. especially since many of those finkle bastards still don't forgive him for Darko.

Yao is like China in a Bull Shop...

I'm sure you've all heard, but it may be that Yao is done....like forever. I'm still holding out hope that its worse than they are making it seem. Can't they just put adamantium in there or something?

yo jeremy

I've added to our ridiculously long news services thread. check it!

magic

They just got VC. got rid of Lee, Battie, and someone else.

So VC, Dwight, Turk, Rashard--that could work.

Though, i have not seen VC lately (who watches nets games?), he prob got some game still. I am glad he is on a real team. I had felt bad for him in jersey.

breaky

looks like my dreams may come true.
i just hope they don't have to give up landry too.

shaq

So the Big Cactus is moving to Cleveland.
I know he's kinda washed up, but i feel like they stole him by only giving up ben wallace and pavlovic. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Spurs wheelin and dealin

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4281291&campaign=rss&source=twitter&ex_cid=Twitter_espn_4281291

Looks like the Spurs just got better.

Richard Jefferson for scrubs.

soo...

this is not really a legit basketblog, i'll admit. BUT the season's over, sooo...

I was reading this article about how Wide receivers are all primadonnas, and here's what one guy has to say:


"I've always said that receiver is the closest thing in the NFL to being a basketball player. It's a 'me' position. Basketball players can try to win a game by themselves. But you really can't do that much in football. It's really a different phenomena, and you get a different type of personality that plays the position.''




wtf man? am i the only one that assumes this guy is a bonehead after reading that?
thoughts?

Tom's dream trade.

Rip Hamilton’s a name oft-mentioned as being on the block. Should the Pistons offer a package including Hamilton and its first round pick for Mac, the Rockets would be enticed to accept."

TMac for Rip? Tom would love that.

draft withdraws

everyday i see one or two reports of so-and-so withdrawing from the draft. And, now this. What is up with that? Is that normal? I have never noticed that any other year.

Bill Laimbeer quits Shock

Man, i hope this means what i want to mean.

I know you guys don't follow Detroit shock. but that team was 0-10 when they brought him in for his first season. they ended up winning the title, and have been perennial contenders ever since. He is a smart mofo, and i would LOVE for him to coach the pistons.

This artical doesn't say anything about where he might be headed, but i think it is reasonable that a guy that quits after the start of the season might already be talking to a team. Either that, or the WNBA is folding and he is getting out while the gettings good;).

Who knows, considering LALs season just ended a day before this announcement, maybe PJ is retiring and Laimbeer is coming in. yes, i know that is very farfetched. I'm jsut having fun.
--------------------
Who would LA bring in though, if Phil decides he is not healthy enough for another season. Do they got a an assitant ready to move up should that happen? I mean one that can be trusted to win a final?

bad form

What the heck? Sounds like Detroit during the 80s. Good ol' fashion celebration through lawless delinquency. Can you imagine this thought process?: "Wow, what a great series! I am so happy right now! I should start a fire!"

--"Police Sgt. Andy Mathes says one of the officers was taken to a hospital and the others were treated at the scene during the scattered melees that erupted late Sunday night before the crowd around Staples Center dispersed under orders from police.

What began as a lively but peaceful celebration took on a different tone for those remaining a few hours after the game. Some in the crowd vandalized buses and police cars, set small fires and threw rocks and bottles at police.

Officer Karen Rayner says about 25 people were arrested for disturbing the peace, arson and other infractions."

Over in 5

Grats jeremy! At least one of our teams got it this year. I'm jealous after the heart breaker series Redwings had this month. I enjoyed watching LA win a lot more than i did Boston. I guess cause i am a notorius Kobe fan, and don't like Peirce so much.

You still think Kobe is a bad leader? hehe. The only person i see come close to that amount of on-floor coaching is billups.

I'm glad this championship is over. so people will stop trying to get Kobe to say he wanted to win this one to prove he could do it without shaq. Everytime they lead him that way i cringed. Why do they think he would say that. If Kobe actually did think that, it would probably only be a small part of what comprised his desire for another ring. Just too much mentioning of Shaq in general last night and during the playoffs.

Wish the series could of gone longer, but at least we had a few thrillers.
----------------------

I think sometimes SVG is too quick to make adjustments. And the effect that has is total inconsistancy on how much and when players are on the court. One night a guy(like reddick) is playing over 20 minutes. then he isn't playhing at all. One night Nelson closes, one night Alston, one night neither of them play down the stretch. I think you gotta stick to a gameplan more than that, so the players can know what to expect and be (more) ready.

I actually have had my opinion raised of SVG this playoffs. I jsut think he reacts too much, and shakes things up too soon or too often. I have thought this before this series as well, but now i am more firm on the opinion.
--------------------

Considering Bynum and what i expect from him with a full healthy season. LA is gonna be tough as hell to beat.

Sounds like shaq is headed to Cleveland. He actually kinda came back to form this year, so that could make a huge difference for Clev. Stamina is down for Shaq, but he was ballin' when on the court.

Leroy

I actually saw a commercial for this during NBA Fastbreak...

http://www.getyourbasketballon.com/

I wonder what Chappelle's been up to?

Mourning basically dissing both coaches.

http://www.nba.com/2009/playoffs2009/06/10/mourning.on.lakers.ap/index.html

Made me chuckle. I wonder what his plans are. Maybe he wants to coach. I could see him taking an assistant coach/mentor position for some future big like Ewing is doing.

Blogging Etiquette

So, I was watching ESPN and this blogger was getting grilled for writing that some baseball player might be using steroids cause he's old and doing well. These two newspaper writers were tearing him a new one cause he didn't write with "integrity".

What do yall think? Should we really consider integrity when we blog? They were talking about how its a brave new world and everyone should have to watch what they say cause we're all connected now. I dunno, seems strange that I can't call Barkley a fatass on my own blog.

300,000,000 - 800,000

(You may have heard those numbers during halftime.)

The number of Chinese playing basketball - The number of courts being put up in China. /gulp

300 million people live in the US. So by pure numbers alone, they should dominate the sport eventually. There should be a bunch of Chinese in the league in a couple generations. In six generations, we'll prob be sending our best players to play in the, um, the Zhong Guo Basketball Assoc (i only know a handful of chinese words, basketball and assoc. aren't one of them.)

NHL vs NBA..

..as far is allowance for physicality goes.

Watching hockey on the same day as basketball is funny. Because of the enormous difference in physicality tolerated.

as far as rules go, obviously. Ones a contact sport, and one technically isn't. but, i mean more like during when play is dead and the way it is reacted to.

One example. there is like 5-6 guys scuffling. Once it lessens to two guys wailing on each other, the broadcaster says, the refs have calmed things down.

Sometimes, why guys are fighting, the broadcasters don't even acknowledge it; is so common place. Just last night (during nhl), they were talking about this year's draft. Two guys started punching each other. and the broadcasters just kept talking about the draft. Whereas, Reggie Miller would be shouting and bouncing out of his chair.

Plus, there is such a thing as a 10 minute major for fighting. Yet, they usually don't even give a 2 minute minor.

In the NBA, when guys look at each other, the broadcasters get all amped and blow it out of proportion. I'd say over half of the flagrants called should be non-flagrants.

The NBA has become too big of worry warts (is that how that phrase it spelled?) .

Kobe said he wishes they just reverted to 80s rules. Man, I wish.

Phil Jackson said: "This is the dawn of a new age, we were told in the last two years," he said. "Transparency, a wonderful word, was going to be used, and we're looking for that to help us. In that regard, we want to use all these aspects, whether it's called credibility or accountability, and use it to improve everything that can happen to this game, because it's a great game." This quote isn't really to my point. But, his response is a response to the myriad problems that have surfaced due to all the changes being made in an attempt to tighten the harness on players on the court, and the difficulty in doing that. Before these complications refs jobs were easier, and the grey areas between two opposite calls were smaller.

Really, i feel like it kinda went down hill with the Malice in the Palace. So it is all Ron Artest's fault, lol. Ever since then, the league has been overly determined to prevent a future such occurrence. But, they aren't just trying to prevent fights; they are trying to prevent anything that could possibly lead up to fight.

Unfortunately, some of the things that on rare occasions brought players past their boiling point, are things that make the game exciting. It would be like if NHL banned body checks, because sometimes that can lead to angry players, and sometimes angry people get carried away.
======

This, somewhat ties in with something i sometimes feel guilty about. It bugs me how the league has become the National Best-friends Assoc. Everybody is good friends with everybody now. really, i know it is good they can be mature and be friends with their rivals. But, some old fashion enmity for your opponent is a beautiful thing to me. I feel it heightens the competitiveness. Wouldn't you be more motivated to beat the team you hate then the one you are having over for dinner?

I say give up on all this new era shit. Admit it isn't going too great, and jsut go back to the 80's rules. Impossible, i know. but, that is what is what i want.

NBA needs to not be a bunch of weeneies.

That's just like, ah, my opinion , man!

Finals

I'll get this ball rollin' with the question i been thinking the last couple days.

Seems like everyday, reports are a little more favorable for Jameer Nelson returning in the Finals.
Is that a good idea? Seems risky.

I doubt they would start him off as a starter. But still, they been on such a good run, couldn't reinserting Nelson upset chemistry? He hasn't played since feb. 2, over 4 months!

Oh, and predictions. I'll say lakers in 7.

I do wonder if LA will come out half-stride again. La plans on not doubling, magic. If they can do that they should win. Even Detroit beats magic, just cause they are able to single Howard. R Wallace is getting bad a lot things these days. But, Howard is susceptible to stripping, and Wallace is one of the best at stripping posts. He gets him all the time.

barkley-amazing, dumber than i thought.

We all know Barkley isn't smart. But come on, how can you think it is a good a idea to call your producer a pussy on air. Not to mention..family program..yada yada yada.

Boozer (supposedly) heading to det or nets.

"Apparently, rising free agent-of-choice Carlos Boozer is telling confidants he's either going to Detroit or New Jersey -- only way the capsized Nets pull that off is by doing a sign-and-trade. Word has it Jersey will have but three assistants next season and all must take pay cuts."

I don't how much i believe this though. The only place it has been published (that i've seen) is hidden in the middle of a two page article of random thoughts my some NYPost dude.

would you stay in cleveland?

This is guy from ohio. Yet all his favorite teams are clubs that dominated, instead of home state heroes. Yankees of course, and his favorite football team is like cowboys or something.

For the nth season in a row. Cleveland failed to put guys around Lebron that are able to provide support. Lebron surely knows that that is odd. You'd think people woudl Want to play with him.

first, they had to get better than detroit. They did that. But, then boston beat them. So they got better than boston ( i 'spose), and now magic beats them.

I would think other pastures would start looking a good deal greener. Reggie is behind me now, talking about how great it was playing for a small market for 18 years. I am sure it was rewarding. But, Indiana never won it, sooo.

I guess he has another year to think it over. But if the 2nd and 3rd best scorers are Williams and West again, if next year plays out like this year, i would think him batshit crazy if he wanted to stay.

redefiniton

alright. this is a sematics argument again. Everyone on my idiot box keeps saying Lebron is the best player, but Kobe is the best closer. Well, that is The Reason i say kobe is best (though i feel like i am getting so clsoe to finally giving lebron the nudge, it all depends on how things play out this playoffs.)

My point isn't Kobe vs. lebron, though. I jsut think, the best closer in basketball, should BE considered the best player. For that is being the best when it matters the most. Wouldn't you rather have a guy that is the best in the 4th, than a guy that is the best in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd? Unless, you win every game by 20, i think yeah.

mo williams gets stitches

this is from hoopshype.com-

When asked whether the hit was a cheap shot, Williams replied, "Most definitely." "That was the second time -- you can recall the play when I dove out of bounds last game he gave me an elbow then," Williams said. Williams said he has no previous history with Johnson, a reserve guard for the Magic. "I've got bigger fish to fry," Williams said. "I've got to figure out how to make some shots. I could care less about Anthony Johnson. He plays 12 minutes a game, I could care less."



I watched that play more than once, and couldn't decide it was a malicious elbow. what did you guys think?

Also, how cold blooded is that last line? anthony johnson must be like 'ouch!'

He's right though, they got bigger fish to fry. Chad may be a prophet with that orlando shit..orlando is straight up out playing those fools.

best Lebron teamate

I was daydreaming about best teammate for Lebron and was thinking him and Dirk would be a friggin killer tandem. I just think their games would be very complimentary of each others.

The reason i'd go with dirk and not, say, howard, is cause howard would clog the lane, exaclty were lebron is trying to get. The other idea is a pg. Well, best pg is chris paul. They both usually have the ball so much, i can't see them sharing the court. I am sure they could and all. Jsut doesn't seem as good a match as lebron and dirk to me.

I see lebron drawing attention and dirk not even having to shoot fadeaways anymore.

pistons cont.

This was getting way too off-topic so i am moving a this response to jake to here:)
=================

"alls i'm saying is it wasnt a huge difference in my eyes to go from a crappy detroit team with chauncey to a crappy detroit team without him. " -Jake Fu


heheh, feels different. Last year detroit was still splitting with the best teams in the league. This year was basically as bad as things could possibly go. You do know the pistons publicly declared stuckey is NOT a pg, right? Officially a combo guard.

And now they are shopping for one. What? You thought we were shopping for bigs, cause we don't have any? True we don't, and yeah we were. But now we are shopping for a pg. Yup, no PG, no bigs.

There is also a good article in denver this week about how denver saw AI was slow in camp this season and they immediately set to trade him before anyone found out. bluffed to get that trade.

Dumars better pull off the miracle signing with all that paper he's saving. Or he will be considered much less clever i imagine, lol.

Oh yeah. And scariest of all. I keep hearing Ben Gordons name lately for who pistons are interested in. Jesus! He is not good enough. You might as well build a team around JR Smith.

Conference Finals

Wow, whata great couple of game 1s. I hope the rest of the two series are like that. The Orl-Cle game had me on the edge fo my seat the entire 2nd half. Great stuff.

Too bad Chauncey couldn't steal that game one. :D

Little Fundamental

Wait....this is Luis Scola, right?

Nick names are fun. Lately, i been thinking of Scola as The Little Fundamental. Not that plays like Duncan, though a bit. He just has great fundamentals, and excellent post moves. Oh yeah, and Yao Ming is Ow Ming. Is that an old joke? Seems like it would be.

----------
Artest and Odom played on the same team at age 11 or something. That is wierd. They are the only two guys their size that can do everything in the league. Lead a fast freak, shoot threes, create own shot, etc. Both giant, nimble men. Maybe they just have good handles and are good shooters cause they been playing a lot of ball their whole lives. Maybe Howard would be like that, too, if he grew up at playing at Rutgers.

-------------
This is the first time i've heard lots of artest sound bites in a short period. I am really strating to like him.

The FLakers

I got a few thoughts during this game.

Forgive me, but the lakers remind me of the pistons during their run. The pistons seemingly fell behind in every series b4 coming back and winning (except when they lost). Of course, LA would have to underachieve for at least a couple of more years to compare.

I give Houston a ton of credit. But, if LA could play with the effort Hou does, this series would be over. Hou is missing, both, their two best players and their first two centers. I didn't really notice Gasol or Odom trying to be big and make post plays to take advantage that. I don't really know if Odom is into posting up, but Gasol is, right? Seems like he should have been posting a lot more.

LA finished the game with Farmar. Brooks has been owning Fisher all series. Who do you think LA will have at the PG to close game 7? Who do think LA will start at PG next year? Is that Shannon Brown character that good? Fisher isn't gonna get any faster.

best glen davis picture ever

any takers?

Kobe Doin' Work

This is the title of the ESPN/Spike Lee Documentary that premieres on espn next Saturday. Looks really cool. They spend an entire day following him. Use 30 cameras, and have him wearing mic. From the clip i saw, it looked pretty insightful.

RIP Daddy Rich

I not going to wax poetic or anything like that, Though I'll admit i am tempted to talk about my childhood. Haha. But, it would be wrong to not at least post a picture of the great Chuck Daly.

I will say a couple general things i guess. It feels almost like the founder of a religion has died. Cause that is about the impact he has had for the civil religion of Detriot and for fans. Detroit pistons were a historically crappy club with a couple great past players as the only good in their historty. Chuck took on the mentality that all championships will be won by boston or LA until the end of time- and chainged the pistons to do so. He set the foundation for a basketball philosophy that still exists in detroit. The rules have changed much of play, but you can still see his handprints on the piston's style today. Well, not this season;)

Fisher Suspended?

Ok, here's the question again. Should Fisher be suspended? To me, this was a more malicious hit than Dwight's, but it didn't hit the head. To me, if they suspended Howard, they should suspend Fish.

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=4148285&categoryid=2459788

Anyways, its not like Fisher is gonna make or break a game.

Also, I don't think Kobe should be fined or anything for that elbow...but how the fuck was that a foul on Artest?

At any rate, I have changed my stance on this series after game 2. I now think Houston has a real shot at this series. They've shown more resilience than I thought they had in them. What'd yall think?

Den-Dal

"dullstone said... Hmmm, so you think Dallas would take Denver in 6? I think den would kinda dominate that series."

Booyah! Heheh. Of course, i could still end up being wrong. But, that is all the more reason for me to rub it in now, in case this is my last chance.
----------

Here is what i want to know about Dirk. How does someone that is 7' only weigh 85 pounds? Every time someone fouls him, he just goes flying, like he's made of rubber. There are many admirable traits about Dirk. Yet, there are just a few traits that make him always bug me and make me always root against him. I can't help it.
-----------

Game three is on saturday! What the heck it that? That isn't normal is it? 4 days until they play again?

-----------

I know this will sound like craziness, but i am actually starting to see denver as competition LA. They jsut look so good right now. Their offense has been effortless. And, their defense looks sharp. Even in the second period on gmae two. Denver was using very poor judgement on offense, and dallas was playing well. Yet, denver was still leading the whole period.

I know LA's defense is a whole different thing compared to dallas or NOH. But still, i can hope, right?

Before, i would have said it was impossible for denver to beat LA. Now, i am down grading that to just surprising.

Orl-Bos

I'm glad the visiting teams are winning. should make the playoffs more interesting.

Rondo seemed pretty much invisible this game, i thought. He usually starts off every game repeatedly getting in the paint and having 10 points b4 the period is out. I don't remember him getting to the rim in the halfcourt once. I guess that is probably mostly because of Howard.

We been talking a bit about how much we hate certain boston players. so i thoguht i mention the ones i like. I guess they are all bigs.

I was pretty impressed with what Big Baby was able to do under the hoop last year in the playoffs. But this year he didnt' just add a 18-19 jumpshot; he added a 18-19 foot jumpshot that is money. I guess i like undersized bigs that can outperform their conterparts. First Maxiell, then Millsap, now Big Baby (though Millsap is the best;D).

K Perkins. I think if Greg Oden weren't in the league people would make fun of how old KP looks. I thoguht he was an old vet. Though that is, perhaps, because he has some old school post moves that look like they are from a slightly older era.

Powe. I like Powe too. A man of tremendous character who had rather rediculous adversity growing up. He is not playing though; so nuts to him.

Rockets Vs Lakers

Ok, so the Lakers couldn't have played much worse, but the Rockets have still stolen home court. I'm not dilusional enough yet to think the Rockets can win this series. Lemme see how they do in game 2, and I'll give you a better opinion.

However, this begs the question:

If the Rockets beat the Lakers, are they the new favorites to win the title?

Dwight Suspension

Will he get suspended?

Should he?

Where will amazing happen?

Sometimes NBA has very good marketing campaigns. I guess (this years slogan) 'Where Will Amazing Happen' is not terrible. But considering last year was 'Where amazing happens' makes this year's retarded. Last year's is practically an answer to this years questions.

Where will amazing happen? Here. Where amazing happens. The NBA.

As the comedically challenged Carlos Mencia would say, "Derrr."
===================

The first round is always so tough to follow. Usually i can't check out the board cause i am still watching the prior night's games while new games are going on. I'm actually watching the houston portland game now (monday). I would be more behind but i didn't watch detroit, adn there were a couple blowouts.

Chi-Phi?

Just for fun. What are your picks in this series, since both these teams lead 1-0; and, none of us picked these teams.

Noh-Den

Anyone watch this game?

Chauncey is the man, man. Too bad the game was such a route; Chauncey had a good chance of tying or breaking the playoff 3-point record. He had 8, record is 9.

I really enjoyed watching chauncey kick tail. Makes up a little for what will happen to Detroit.

Hou-Por

Game 1: Houston dominates

I really think this win goes to Mr. Mutumbo. Sure, they were dominating before he came in, but Houston was beating the Mavs in the 3rd quarter too. This game, Yao went out and they kept the lead through really tough defense. Battier, Mutumbo, and Artest? Not to mention Lowery, who is a pretty good defender at PG.

JVG has called out the brooms. That would be awesome.

Det-Cle

Well, no surprises in this game. Detroit played an okay game for them. Their offense was decent; but their defense wasn't too hot.

Mo Williams listens to In the Air Tonight by Phil Collins to get pumped before games. How crazy is that!

I think, at this point, Will Bynum is a better point guard than Stuckey. But, Stuckey has a much much higher ceiling. So we gotta go with stuckey to get him better faster.

Chi-Bos

Man, that was a sweet first game for the playoffs. Too bad my tivo stopped with 35 seconds left. Rose was a ton of fun to watch. Seems like he is really good at tough runners.

And the first game was an upset to boot. Happy Joy!

NBA Playoff Bracket

If you guys are interested Jake, Patrick and I are doing an NBA playoff bracket.

Just send me your picks (after the match ups are set) for each series and then for the finals how many games it will go.

Points will be awarded as follows:

First round winner picked = 1pt (per series)
Second round winner picked = 2pts (per series)
Conference Finals winner picked = 4pts (per series)
Finals winner picked = 8pts

If two people end up with the same points at the end we'll use the number of games you said the finals will go as the tiebreaker.

Good luck!

Tie-Tie-Tie-Tie (Tie-Tie-Tie?)!!!

Ok... there's a number of 'ifs' in this scenario (which usually means that it ain't gonna happen) but tomorrow's games could yield a lot of fun.  Current standings:

If HOU, SAN, & POR all win tomorrow (also meaning DAL, NOH, & DEN lose) there will be a 4-way tie for 2nd-5th place, giving one team home court to all but the Lakers and another a road trip in the first round... Two look to be tied in each division (for the lead).  I also heard that if HOU & SAN both win tomorrow, their tiebreaker would go all the way to the 5th one!  I may be dumb... but even armed with this knowledge, I'm not even sure where to start with a 4-way tie.  do you compare the record of all 3 opponents?  

Further, though LAL is favored, if UTA wins tonight against them, there will be a 3-way tie for 6th-8th.  Again, I'm lost on the head-to-head comparison but UTA has a better Division & Conference record than NOH & DAL which, if it comes to those, would get them away from playing LAL in round 1.  So... coupled with the fact that LAL could rest some players, maybe a win tonight by UTA isn't hugely unlikely.

Riddle

I came up with a riddle a while ago, and just realized I should put it here.

How do you score two points while standing at half court?

If you know the answer, tell us you know it but don't say what it is.

Yao Vs Howard

Come on, Yao is a better center than Howard. I know no one wants to agree with me, but Yao has owned Howard every time they play each other.

	pos	min	fgm-a	3pm-a	ftm-a	+/-	off	def	tot	ast	pf	st	to	bs	ba	pts

D.Howard

C

38:10

5-11

0-1

3-9

-1

2

8

10

1

3

1

3

3

3

13

M.Yao

C

38:33

8-13

0-0

4-5

+15

4

12

16

1

5

1

0

2

0

20

Dwight has no post moves. His only plus side is that he can jump 15 feet in the air and he's built like a horse. Look at those free throws: 5-11. Thats terrible.

Now look at Yao's line: 8-13, 20 pts and 16 reb. I thought Dwight was suppose to be good at rebounding.

He scored 20 pts on 13 shots and he should be getting 20 shots, but the Rockets (Artest) is terrible at getting him the ball.

I dunno, I'd take Yao any day.

Who deserves a championship?

What player do you guys think deserves a championship the most?

I would assume it would be someone older, who hasn't quite gotten there, but has been close.

Up for consideration:

Mutumbo
Barkley
Iverson
Nash
Kidd
Kemp
Stockton and Malone

Who will rise out of the Southwest?

The Rockets’ win Sunday gave them a half-game lead over San Antonio in the race for the Southwest Division title. The two rivals’ remaining games:

Rockets (10)

Tuesday at Utah; Saturday vs. L.A. Clippers; April 1 at Phoenix; April 3 at L.A. Lakers; April 5 vs. Portland; April 7 vs. Orlando; April 9 at Sacramento; April 10 at Golden State; April 13 vs. New Orleans; April 15 at Dallas.

Opponents’ combined record: 332-321 (.508)

Spurs (13)

Tuesday vs. Golden State; Wednesday at Atlanta; Friday vs. L.A. Clippers; Sunday at New Orleans; March 31 vs. Oklahoma City; April 3 at Indiana; April 5 at Cleveland; April 7 at Oklahoma City; April 8 vs. Portland; April 10 vs. Utah; April 12 at Sacramento; April 13 at Golden State; April 15 vs. New Orleans.

Opponents’ combined record: 335-364 (.479)

Damn Hou!

They should called Yao Ming, Yao Ca-Ching!

Can anyone really beat the Lakers?

After watching the Lakers demolish everyone over the last few weeks, I'm not sure we need a power rankings or a standings or really any more games. they should just call this one early and give em the rings. They always say that getting hot at this time of year is really huge, and I think this season is going to be a perfect barometer for that adage.

Kobe is possessed. I hate to bet against some of these other teams; I really think there are more solid teams this year than there have been in a while. But do any of em look as good as LA right now?

Of course, as always, injuries are a huge part of this.

KG and Manu are the big stories here for me. Unless they get healthy 3 weeks ago and start getting into rythm, UTA, HOU, and CLE may be the only legit contenders left with enough depth to compete. And to be honest, I see all of these teams as underdogs. As much as I like these other teams, LA looks like they are in a league of their own to me right now.

jer? gonna take the bait? heh

Marbury a good idea?

Was adding Marbury a good idea? Apparently not.

Since he signed, Boston is -28 with Stephon Marbury on the court and +24 with him on the bench.

Also, what is up with the Celtics still in the to 10 of the power rankings? They've been terrible without KG. Stupid media.

Dwade is the best

That's right! I been leaning more and more this way for the last 6 or 8 weeks. and have long been considering making this post.

I been watching Wade a lot this season and he is basically incredible every single night. A year ago, i wouldn't have thought this discussion was possible. But, to me, he truly does seem better than Lebron and Kobe the last couple months. He just decideds he wants to win, and does whatever crazy things are neccesary to do so.

shane

been meaning to post this for a few weeks but had hoped to have time to write more when I did.  glad you guys are keeping the faith!  

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/15/magazine/15Battier-t.html

sheck it out

if you like coach pop, this article is pretty neat

Raef Lafrentz' Expiring Contract

So the following is a link for a very long article about how broke much of the NBA is, and other doomsday type talk. Some of is pretty speculative, but there are some real eyeopeners too . Below is a short excerpt of the part that probably shocked me the most. I recommend reading the whole articlem though. It's interesting.


"..Even trade talk -- normally a staple of any All-Star Weekend -- revolved more around themes such as, "They have to cut payroll," "They can't take on any money right now" and "They're too terrified of the tax to do anything.

"You know who was mentioned in more "Where do you think he's going?" scenarios than anyone besides Amare Stoudemire? Raef LaFrentz's Expiring Contract. That thing got mentioned so many times it could have hired a PR staff and an agent. Here's the kicker: Raef can't play. He's a basketball invalid. He has been injured since something like 1973. Portland's insurance company repays the Blazers 80 percent of his salary, making him a cap figure and little else. In the No Benjamins Association, that makes him a freaking commodity. Teams wanted to dump clearly superior players on Portland at the deadline just to get Raef's insurance money. Phoenix would have traded Shaq for Raef and Channing Frye's expiring contract in a heartbeat. Jersey supposedly offered Vince Carter and two protected No. 1's for Raef's contract, and Milwaukee supposedly would have given up Richard Jefferson and either Joe Alexander or a future No. 1 for it. Incredibly, the Blazers turned everyone down. And this is a team bankrolled by Paul Allen."

Billups coming home.

Alright. Billups finally coming home! I been eager for this game since the trade. I can't wait to see all the love he is gonna get during intros.

It was awesome when Iverson returned to Philly for the first time. This should be as big as that at least.

Lebron James, sweet pass

check it.

A Brooks.

I asked this on an old thread, but i wanna know what you think so i am giving it a thread.

How do you (patrick or any other houston fan that may read this) feel about sending alston to orlando and promoting Brooks? Brooks said he thought it was a joke when he heard it on the news, heheh. I remember a while back, you speaking highly of brooks. All i know is that he is fast as heck. Is he ready? whats the deal?

wtf happened in Detroit, Tom?

when Cleveland DEMOLISHED the Piston's 2 weeks ago, i wrote them off. i figured, ok there's always next season for Tom. I guess the AI thing isnt gonna work out. whatever.

i mean, i called it (the loss to CLE) a coach-canning loss i think. and i stand by that. it was a pitiful performance and there's no excuse to play at that low of a level in the NBA. Rasheed was just acting like a child (again) and nobody in a blue jersey wanted to play D.

But today in Boston i saw a completely different Pistons team. Detroit played well together and beat Boston in a really good game. in Boston. I'm interested in Tom's take on this as our resident Detroit insider.

first of all, i think it needs to be said that Boston was playing without KG and a few of their bench guys. Also they gave Mikey Moore and Stephon a lot of minutes, trying to introduce them into the Celtic's system. but even still, Boston was playing at home, and they are clearly playing at a higher level recently than the Pistons, even without KG.
and Detroit was playing without AI (back injury i think).

The East is Still Bad

Just because Boston and Cleveland are great people are talking about how the East is now better than the West.

I thinks not.

Number of teams above .500
East - 6
West - 9

Number of teams above .600
East - 3
West - 8

Team that would be #8 seed in the playoffs if they started today:
East - Milwaukee 28-33 (.459)
West - Dallas 35-23 (.603)

That one to me is the most telling. Dallas is so much better than Milwaukee. Also, the West has the team with the best record (Lakers).

The only counterpoint I have is that the West also has four teams with less than 20 wins and the East only has one. So you could argue that the West teams just beat up on those four crappy teams. Except that West plays East a lot, unlike Baseball or some other sports.

Rockets own Lebron

So much so that he faked an injury so he could stop the pain.

21 points on 21 shots. One rebound. Zero assists. That's what you have to do to beat the Cavs.

Doesn't sound that hard right? Well, it is if you don't have the likes of Shane and Ron.

Oh, and don't forget Yao's 13-15 shooting.

why are they so pissed?

is it because they are crappy coaches?

porter did what everyone was thinking was impossible-make the suns even worse at D. and he did it with the quickness too. does this mean that phx straight REFUSES to play D? i never heard of that, but i don't see another explanation.

and this other guy.. tom? what's your take here? i know the wound is still fresh, but did you (or anyone) catch that CLE-DET game the other day? SOMEbody needs to get shit-canned for that one. maybe the whole dang team. the score (cle wins by 20) is misleading... it was a supreme ass-stomping in every sense of the phrase. the only reason they only lost by 20 (yea, only!)is because CLE decided to let hickson and that other young guy run the 2nd half and DET was able to make up some ground (cle was up something like 67-34!). apparently they've lost a bunch in a row, but that one was really something. i mean, it was a coach-canning loss. seriously. if i was michael curry, i'd be working on my resume right now, and trying not to mention Detroit...

Rondo=chopped liver?

If i had Rondo, i would laugh at the idea of bringing in this guy. is he gonna be a million$ backup?

do you guys like this move? seems like the only dumb move they've made since trading for KG:)

but seriously, richard? do you (or anyone else besides shasher and tom) read this silly thread anymore? i'd like some input from a Cs fan. I've been watching them a lot this year and this just seems wrong.

Denver Sucks

Man, I was watching Denver-Celtics last night, and my word Denver sucks. Not only that, but their players have terrible attitudes.

Players on there that I hate:

Kenyon Martin
Carmelo Anthony
Birdman

Kenyon actually shoved Ray Allen into the bleachers. Of course, this was after the refs called 5 straight charges on the nuggets.

Anyways, their defense is terrible, and their offense consists of giving kenyon martin the ball and him handing it off to melo while setting a pick. Swear to god, thats all they did all night.

If they get out of the first round, i'll bite the head off of a snake.

D howard, big night

In overtime win against bobcats here is Howards line.

45 points (16-23)
19 rebounds
8 offensive rebounds
8 blocks

That is like Wilt stat line, da-dang.

durant, again

I predicted he would have 34 points in the rookie-sophomore(two threads ago). But truthfully, i had 40 at first and deleted it cause i figured i would just look overzealous. Plus, i remembered the games were shorter and that he would prob have cut minutes so others could play more. Anyway, he had 46. He played like 30 minutes or something, lol. Seriously, and i been saying this before. His career is blowing up crazy.

He seems to really have the complete game.. And his J looks so pretty (way better than lebron's :D). And i'm pretty baffled and how agile he is for 6'10" or 6'9".

predictions

ok tom and shasher, with this new bynum development, what's it gonna be? i've already decided who i think it will be, but i'm predicting YOUR picks first.

tom-
pistons over lakers

shasher-
rockets over cavs



well?

78 straight & bromance

Calderon hasn't missed a freethrow yet this season.

and seriously, coaches, put millsap in the allstar game. Or Durant. Durant is playing friggin awesome this season.

Iverson starts, Rip bench.

Well, it is official. Rip, the leading scoring in the DET the previous 6 seasons is a Bench player. And if we are to believe him, he is cool with that.

As you know, pistons have been extremely inconsistent. But, believe it or not, even this late in the season, the pistons still have a chance to play much better ball. Curry (pistons coach) decided he had to give a chance for a lineup with the 5 best players to work.

Perhaps he figured it would fail all along, but thinks, the pistons would question one of them becoming 6th man if they did not see for themselves ultra small-ball wasn't going to work. Obviously, curry knew the team was much better starting two bigs. I mean, with rasheed and rip out, we started Amir Johnson and Kwame and won 7 in a row. It seems, he figured they would come back to a big line up eventually. I hope so anyway, cause no one in their right mind could expect Taysaun to play in the 4 all season. Even if he is awesome, he is rail thin. And has admitted to fatigue being a factor for him during a couple post seasons.

**

"We've been talking about this," said Curry, whose team won eight of 10 games with a bigger lineup when Hamilton was out because of a groin injury. They lost five straight when he came back.

"We were 5-3 with the small lineup before Rip got hurt and I thought it was fair to give him an opportunity to see how it went when he came back. But we just weren't good enough, especially starting off games."

On defense, we never set the tone and we were playing catch-up from a defense and rebounding standpoint."

Starting the bigger, more traditional lineup helps defensively, while bringing Hamilton off the bench solidifies the rotation. Curry said Hamilton will start the second and fourth quarters, along with point guard Will Bynum and forwards Antonio McDyess and Jason Maxiell.

**

It seems like only a miracle could have detroit among orlando and cleveland right now. But, at the same time, it seems rediculous we are not. We have always friggin owned orlando. And personal-wise detroit still seems like they should. (though i am impressed with how much J Nelson has upped his game.) Another seed of hope is that detroit has had good wins over many of the top teams: LAL, CLE, SAS, ORL, DEN.

Anyway, today is significant for detroit fans. The team has FINALLY determined their rotation. I will keep track of their record from this point on, and i hope it is a big improvement. This kinda feels like our one last chance to not be a mediocre team. Cause the all the adjusting has finally been put to rest, and this is what we are going with.

Phoenix

so.. amare and shaq don't want to play D? is that the deal? wtf?
if i was a crazy suns fan i'd be SO pissed right now.

do you guys care about the suns? are they a joke? i kinda wanted to see amare and shaq act crazy but i guess they aren't interested..

lebron corleone

JVG claims he's easily the best in the league.

i didnt know what to think, but then i watched the CLE-BOS game the other day, and wow. that kid can really play some excellent basketball.


you guys been watching him this year? any thoughts?