The Sound Of Basketballs On Playgrounds And All...

Finally! A night where I was able to sit down and watch some basketball games. I was able to flip back and forth between the Nets-Cavs game on ESPN and the Spurs-Grizzlies game on Fox Sports Southwest. After that I was able to watch the tail-end of the Texas Longhorns and Arkansas Razorbacks game on ESPN 2, followed by the Mavs-Sonics game in the late slot on ESPN. It was a good night. And if you didn't know, the Nets, Spurs, Longhorns, and Mavs won. Isn't that simple? Anyway, I took some random notes throughout the night. Here they are:

• Mikki Moore looks like Spanish from Old School. If I ever meet Moore, I won't be able to live with myself unless I ask him if he trusts that I've provided him with enough rope so that his block will land safely on the lawn.
• The Grizzlies play a lot better than their record indicates. Although I'm going to attribute that to the fact that they now have Pau Gasol back in their lineup.
• The Spurs are quietly doing their thing this season. They are flying completely under the radar, they have the best record in the NBA and the best point differential and nobody is talking about them. They are right where they want to be.
• Jason Kidd probably has the best combination of reaction time and awareness in the league. It's amazing to watch.
• It's 70's night in Seattle? Where are the throwback jerseys? Where are the coaches in bell-bottoms? I remember when the NBA had "Turn Back the Clock Nights" about 10 years ago and the Sonics wore their old jerseys and George Karl dressed like John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever. Now those were the good, old days.
• Bob Hill's hair is in mid-season form.
• Speaking of hair, Mickael Gelabale from the Sonics has the same hair as MTV's Sway.
• I'm not totally sold on Kevin Durant yet. The potential is there (hate that word), he's got the size and athleticism, but I need to see more. He looks like a taller Josh Howard, which is a scary thought.
• In the first half, Luke Ridnour gets called for a foul because Jerry Stackhouse stepped on the back of his foot when driving to the basket. Didn't know that was a foul, I guess I'll have to study up on my rulebook this weekend.
• If the Sonics get the #1 pick in the draft this summer and take Greg Oden (which they should), they will have taken four straight centers with their first round picks over the last four years. Hopefully one of them will start to be of some use.
• With 8 minutes left in the third quarter, Johan Petro gets REJECTED (required to use capital letters for that block) by Devean George at the rim. Looked a whole lot better at game-speed than it did in slo-mo.
• Chris Wilcox would have a lot more points and rebounds in this game if he would just come down with a rebound and then go back up with it instead of trying to one-hand-tomahawk every ball that comes of the rim. As I write that last sentence, he finally converts one. Whatever.

So I finally got a good night of basketball watching in. And you finally got some game notes to read. We're all happy now aren't we? I thought so.

Playing A Little Catch-Up

Yeah, it's been a month. What can I say? I suck at this whole posting consistently thing. Worse things have happened in the world. I'm going to try, try, try to get on a schedule here when it comes to posting. But I apologize in advance for what will happen when I inevitably stop posting for weeks at a time.

On to the NBA, which is why we're here anyway.

A small scuffle broke out between the Nuggets and Knicks on Saturday night. Okay, so I'm under-exaggerating a little bit. It was the biggest fight we've seen in the NBA since Detroit in 2004 (I refuse to give the incident a corny nickname). But as bad as it was, I believe people are blowing it out of proportion. Stuff like this happens a lot in the NHL and Major League Baseball. But whenever the national media covers it, they treat it like something normal. But when it happens in the NBA, the league and all of the "thugs" who play in it are made to look ridiculous. I'm not saying it's a race issue one bit, but I am saying it's an image issue. One David Stern has tried to change, but nonetheless is still there. Speaking of the commish, David Stern and his "Family" (he is the Don after all), did a fair job handing down suspensions. Carmelo Anthony deserved about 15 games for the hit he landed on Mardy Collins. Collins deserved at least 6 games, I wouldn't have been surprised to see him get 10, just like J.R. Smith (who was originally fouled), and Nate Robinson. Jared Jeffries got four and Nene and Jerome James each got one game for leaving their benches. All in all, pretty fair penalties for the fight. And I think that even if Carmelo gets his suspension lessened to 12 games, it will still be fair. But you can never backpedal to your own bench after having punched someone across the face, not a smart move.

Allen Iverson is on the trading block (again) and it appears this will be for good. This excites me for several reasons. 1) I love Allen Iverson and I would die to see him on a championship caliber team again. 2) I love seeing big stars get traded and move to new teams rather than see them move via free agency. 3) I believe he'll have a bit of a rejuvenation when he gets to his new team. Although it's hard to imagine what a rejuvenated Allen Iverson will look like considering the current Iverson is second in the league in points per game, second in steals per game, and tenth in assists per game. Some in the national media have said that a trade for Iverson won't work not because of his contract or his attitude, but because of his style of play. A.I. does dominate the ball on offense, it's the way he plays. He also takes a lot of shots. Because of this many believe that he will be unable to coexist with another all-star caliber player if/when he gets traded. If he is forced to play along with another player who is used to controlling the ball on the offensive end, then yes, it probably won't work. As much as I'd love to see them play together, I don't think Iverson playing alongside Kevin Garnett would work. But trade him to a team with a player who doesn't need the ball in his hands to score, an unselfish player who rebounds well on the offensive end, a player like Dwight Howard. And as I write that last sentence, I find out that an agreement has been made to trade A.I. to Denver for Andre Miller, Joe Smith, and two 2007 first round draft picks, all of this according to ESPN.com. There's a reason why I'm not a GM apparently. Ugh, I'm done today.

I'm Here

Yeah, it's been a while. I apologize. I've been too busy for my liking these past couple of weeks, that and I'm pretty lazy, but with Thanksgiving this week and the end of my fall semester upcoming, expect more posts. And just in case you were wondering (and I know you weren't), I am no longer writing for ProBasketballNews.com. The site was sold and my and others' services were no longer needed. But that's the business and you gotta roll with the punches or whatever other generic sports cliche you can find to fit in there.

The NBA season is in effect. We're starting to see who the better teams are going to be and who the disappointments are going to be. We'll talk more about that later in the week.

Moment Of Silence

Red Auerbach died at the age of 89 on Saturday night. To be completely honest with you, I'm sad. There are very few people who when they die, you feel like the entire sport is worse, but he's one of them. He's one of those people that though he's only been associated with one team for his entire life, he changed the game. I look at Red Auerbach as the Godfather of the Boston Celtics, much the way I think of David Stern as the Godfather of the entire NBA (can't you tell I love mafia movies?).

After reading Bill Simmons' column today about remembering Red, I thought to myself, "As a Spurs fan, who would I look at as my Red Auerbach?" My first thought was David Robinson because he's spent his entire career with the Spurs and has been, and will continue to be, a huge influence in the San Antonio community. But I decided that it wasn't him, but Gregg Popovich.

Pop has influenced the Spurs in the exact same way that Red did the Celtics. Pop is a great coach, and has coached the Spurs to numerous titles, much like Red coached the Celtics to a record nine NBA titles. Pop is also one of the best front office executives, building contenders not by spending the most money, but by making smart moves and excellent scouting.

It's unfair to try to compare the two people, because Auerbach has had the type of influence that has reached throughout the game, not just the Boston Celtics, whereas Pop is limited to mostly just the Spurs. But nonetheless, I look at Pop much the way any Celtic fan would view Red Auerbach. Rest in peace.

Switching gears a little bit, THE NBA SEASON STARTS TONIGHT! That also means fantasy basketball starts too. Which means I begin my domination of friends and/or family members today.

Here are my quick picks for this season's awards:

Coach of the Year: Jerry Sloan (UTAH)

Sixth Man of the Year: Bobby Jackson (NOK)

Most Improved Player: Darko Milicic (ORL)

Rookie of the Year: Brandon Roy (POR)

Defensive Player of the Year: Bruce Bowen (SA)

Most Valuable Player: LeBron James (CLE)


Enjoy the games everybody.

Southern Hospitality

I was in the house last night for the Spurs preseason game against the Chi-Town Bulls at the AT&T Center. Because of various reasons (some of them funny), we didn't get to our seats until 10:28 left in the second quarter. By then the Spurs core players were done for the night. So I was treated to a heavy dose of Jacque Vaughn and Matt Bonner. High fives all around.

The Bulls on the other hand continued to play their starters throughout the game, which is why the 99-67 score was so lopsided. Some thoughts from the game:

• The Bulls guards, namely Kirk Hinrich and Ben Gordon, looked sharp.
• Ben Wallace is going to be a big help for the Bulls, especially come playoff time. I stand by my prediction that they will be in the Eastern Conference Finals.
• Tyrus Thomas might be better than I am expecting. I have been under the impression that Thomas will be the next Stromile Swift, but watching him last night, he could be something special. It’ll be interesting to watch him grow.

A pretty uneventful game all around, but how are you going to argue with watching NBA basketball in person? Exactly.

Last Call

It's almost here. Finally. Preseason is nearing the end and the regular season is right around the corner. I'm giddy (Yes, I really did use the word giddy to describe myself). The only time I'm more excited than this is either Christmas eve (because we open our presents on Christmas eve, that's how I roll) and whenever I get one of those chocolate malt crunch shakes from Jack In The Box. There's less than two weeks to go.

My first article covering the Spurs is up at ProBasketballNews.com. So make sure you check that out.

Rajon Rondo doesn't look too bad this preseason. I'll be honest with you, I don't know what to make of this. On the one hand, he can't shoot. On the other hand, he's been producing. I'm going to have to take the wait-and-see approach on him this season. ESPN.com's Bill Simmons likes him, but I'd imagine that has a lot to do with his Boston roots and all. But one thing is for sure, Boston has put together a lot of young talent around Paul Pierce. I wonder how long it's going to take for them to put it together and make a playoff push. Or how long it's going to take for Danny Ainge to destroy any hopes they have at all.

The Mavericks are 0-4 this preseason and the Raptors are 3-0. This is one of those if a tree falls in a forest scenarios. Does anybody really think that Dallas is going to suck and the Raptors are going to be elite? I know I sure don't. It merely reinforces my belief that the preseason doesn't mean a thing to anybody but the guys just trying to make the team.

I'll be completely honest with you. I don't see a clear cut favorite to win the title this year. Usually there's one team that makes some moves in the offseason to set itself apart from the rest of the NBA (whether they actually win or not is another story). Last year, it was the Spurs with their signings of Nick Van Exel and Michael Finley. But this season, I'm stumped. There is a small elite class of teams consisting of Dallas, San Antonio, Miami, and possibly Phoenix (Detroit, Chicago, and the Clippers are all a step behind). But out of those teams, I don't see one that separates itself from the others. I honestly wouldn't be surprised to see either of those teams win in June. Maybe I'd be surprised if Phoenix won, because I don't see their running style winning it all, but still. I believe it's a toss up this year, which makes me very excited.

Less than two weeks left before it all begins.

Offseason Review

So finally it's here. My Offseason Review. Basically, I sat and looked through all the moves made by every team in the league this offseason and gave them my amateur opinion. Sound Good? Good. So here we go.

Winners


Charlotte

Added: Adam Morrison, Walter Herrmann, Othella Harrington, health(?)

My Opinion: The Bobcats continue to build their franchise by getting players from winning programs, whether it be in college or international. It's not a bad philosophy as it's obviously paid off for the Bulls, who have done that the past few years. I doubt they'll make the playoffs like Raymond Felton said, but if they can stay healthy for a full season, I see no reason why they couldn't at least compete for a playoff spot, especially in the East.


Chicago

Added: Tyrus Thomas, Viktor Khryapa, Thabo Sefolosha, Ben Wallace, P.J. Brown, Howard Eisley

Lost: Tyson Chandler, Darius Songaila, Othella Harrington

My Opinion: The league best defense from last season just got better. It's not just my opinion, it's probably most people's. They've got plenty of scorers, they just don't have a go-to scorer. Despite that, I will be in shock if the Bulls aren't in the Eastern Conference Finals this season.


New Orleans

Added: Hilton Armstrong, Cedric Simmons, Peja Stojakovic, Tyson Chandler, Bobby Jackson, Rasaul Butler

Lost: Moochie Norris, Speedy Claxton, P.J. Brown, J.R. Smith

My Opinion: Adding Peja was the most slept on move of the offseason for any team. He's going to love playing with a guy like Chris Paul. Losing P.J. Brown is never good, but they made up for it by getting depth inside. The Hornets will lock up one of the last playoff spots this year.


Portland

Added: LeMarcus Aldridge, Dan Dickau, Raef LaFrentz, Brandon Roy, Jamal Magloire

Re-Signed: Joel Pryzbilla, JailBlazers Image

Lost: Sebastian Telfair, Theo Ratliff, Steve Blake, Brian Skinner, Ha Seung-Jin

My Opinion: This team took a big blow when they lost Ha Seung-Jin, but they countered it by picking up LaFrentz. Okay, so that last sentence was a huge lie all around. But this team did some pretty good things this summer when it came to basketball decisions, not so much on the extracurriculars. Rookies Aldridge and Roy will be solid players for them in the future.


Toronto

Added: Kris Humphries, Robert Whaley, Rasho Nesterovic, T.J. Ford, Andrea Bargnani, Fred Jones, P.J. Tucker

Re-Signed: Chris Bosh

Lost: Rafael Araujo, Matt Bonner, Eric Williams, Charlie Villanueva, Alvin Williams

My Opinion: Trading away Villanueva was tough. But don't sleep on T.J. Ford. He's a great choice at point guard if you want to turn into a running team like the Raptors do. Getting rid of Araujo was smart. Bringing in Rasho? Not so much. He won't fit into the running style of play at all. But their best move of all had to be re-signing Bosh. Good move.


Losers


New York

Added: Renaldo Balkman(seriously?!?!?!), Mardy Collins, Jared Jeffries

Lost: Larry Brown, Jackie Brown, Maurice Taylor

My Opinion: Do I really need to say why I think they sucked this offseason? I didn't think so.


Philadelphia

Added: Rodney Carney

Lost: John Salmons

My Opinion: They didn't move Allen Iverson. Okay, that's fine if you do something to put some better pieces around him. They didn't do that either. Instead, they added Carney, who plays the same position and does pretty much the same things as Andre Iguodala. Expect yet another season of mediocrity from the 76ers.


Seattle

Added: Saer Sene

Re-Signed: Chris Wilcox

My Opinion: Seattle went nowhere last season. Expect the same this year. In fact, the farthest I see this team going any time soon? Oklahoma City, perhaps.


Teams I Wish I Had League Pass For


Atlanta

Added: Speedy Claxton, Sheldon Williams

Lost: Al Harrington, John Edwards

My Opinion: The Hawks finally have a solid point guard in Speedy Claxton, except he broke his had and will be out for a while. But with Josh Smith and a most likely much improved Marvin Williams, this team will be fun to watch all season. I honestly wouldn't be surpised to find the Hawks in the hunt for a playoff spot late in the season.


Orlando

Added: J.J. Redick, Keith Bogans

Re-signed: Trevor Ariza

Lost: DeShawn Stevenson

My Opinion: Throwing J.J. Redick into a young core group that includes Dwight Howard, Jameer Nelson, and Darko Milicic was brilliant. Darko will surprise many people with his play alongside Howard this season, and might even muster up some All-Star votes. That's right, you heard it here first, Darko Milicic will compete for an All-Star spot. This team will improve as the season goes on, but I think they're still one season away from the playoffs. Nonetheless, this team will be fun to watch.


So there you have it, my offseason review. If your favorite team wasn't mentioned, it was because I felt like the moves they made didn't hurt them or help them enough to make much of an impact this season. If you've got beef with my report, great. Feel free to email me any comments you got.

Sports and Such

So once again it's been a while since I posted. But good news, NBA training camps open this week. With that, comes more posting from me. I am still working on my offseason wrap-up, so that will be up soon. I will be covering my beloved San Antonio Spurs for ProBasketballNews.com this season. And my first article should be up here either this afternoon or tomorrow morning, so look out for that.

Isn't October the greatest month of the year for sports? You've got baseball moving into the playoffs, the NFL is starting to get good, and the NBA is starting. I'm very excited. The only thing that would make me happier is if my Astros had made the playoffs and if my Texans didn't suck. Oh well, at least I've got the Spurs.

All Is Quiet

It's Monday morning, and it's a muggy one here in central Texas. It looks like it's going to start raining here in about the next five minutes or so. The NFL kicked off this weekend, and though this is a strictly basketball blog, there's just not much going on right now. My Texans lost, which really isn't that surprising. But David Carr had a pretty good day, at least in the first half. Hopefully they can bounce back next weekend.

The only real news in the NBA is that Pau Gasol is out about four months with a broken foot that he suffered in the semifinals of the World Championships. That's bad news for the Grizzlies, and bad for basketball, because now people are going to be up in arms about NBA players playing in tournaments during the summer and getting hurt. My thoughts? Stuff happens, get over it. I'd much rather have my players getting hurt playing basketball than doing something else. Yeah, it's a tough break for the Grizzlies, but he's only going to miss the first 2-3 months of the season. They should be good enough to stay competitive until he gets back, and if not, than it shouldn't make a difference whether he's there or not, because they're obviously not that good.

Lastly today, I want to send a huge thanks out to Sam Amico at ProBasketballNews.com for providing a link to this site on their main page. You can never get anywhere without help from others, so I appreciate him doing this. I'll be back in a day or two with my opinions on who did good and bad this offseason. Adios.

Void In My Life

The World Championships are over. Free Agency is for all practical purposes over. What am I going to do with the time from now until training camps open? Probably watch football and baseball. That doesn't offer much consolation though seeing as my favorite baseball team is the Houston Astros, who probably won't make the playoffs as a wild card. And my favorite football team is the Houston Texans. I just read today that Bill Simmons compared the Texans pick of Mario Williams over Reggie Bush to the Portland Trailblazers taking Sam Bowie over Michael Jordan. A haunting comparison in every aspect, and unfortunately, a just one. So all I can do now is hope that ESPN Classic airs more Shaq Days like they did this past weekend to tie me over until October. I'll update when updates become available. I guess it would be productive for me to make preseason picks and offseason grades. We'll look into doing that. Until next time, adios.

It's The End of The Worlds As We Know It

All my optimism was for nothing apparently. I was really hoping that Team USA would win these World Championships. It seems like everyone was against them. They were either supposed to lose, because they can't shoot or don't have this or don't have that, or they were supposed to win because we have the best players in the world. But it seems like nobody WANTED them to win. Nobody was cheering for them to win. I was. I know there were people out there who were. But all we heard was the criticism, the scrutiny. Too much celebrations from Justin Doom. Hater. They were doomed to fail from the beginning by Chris Mannix. Pessimist. When can we just cheer for our country's team and point out the good things that are happening? Carmelo Anthony is playing the best basketball of his career. Dwight Howard is turning into the second coming of Shaquille O'Neal. Joe Johnson has quietly one of the most complete games in the league. Why can't we talk about those things, instead of all the negatives. I don't know about you, but I'm excited for the season to start now. I'm looking forward to the Olympics in 2008. I'm saying it right now. The Team USA bandwagon is completely empty right now, but I'm riding shotgun. Who's rolling with me?

Must See NBA TV and The Warriors

Alright, back for the second time today. Only two things going on in basketball right now. First is the World Championships in Japan. The U.S. beat Germany by 20 on Wednesday morning. I wish I could say that I woke up/stayed up for an unprecedented 7th consecutive time to watch the live game, but I didn't. I was in dire need of making up for my lack of sleep over the weekend. But I did catch the replay last night. What are my thoughts? Well, in all honesty, the same as everyone else's. They couldn't shoot, but played enough defense to win. It's as simple as that. But these next games are must see basketball TV in my opinion. Argentina vs. Spain? USA vs. Greece? If you are a fan of basketball, whether it be international or NBA, you have to love those matchups. And then the final? I can't wait.

In the NBA, the only news lately has been the hiring of Don Nelson as the coach for the Golden State Warriors. I personally love the idea of Nellie coaching the Warriors again. I think he'll implement the style his old Warriors and Mavs teams used, back when the Mavs were continually knocked out of the playoffs in the second round by the Spurs (burn!). But as long as he can get the Warriors to have fun and make the playoffs at least once during his time there, I think you can consider it a success. We'll see how it goes.

I think that's all for today. I'll be back on tomorrow sometime to post my thoughts on Team USA's semifinal game vs. Greece. Have a good one.

Is This Thing On?

First off today, I want to give a HUGE, and I can't emphasize that word enough, shout out to Sam Rubenstein and SLAM Online for posting a link to this blog on their site. Now I don't feel like a crazy person who's only talking to himself. I might actually have an audience.

So to those of you (or all of you) who might be new to this site, welcome. The general idea here is that I post my thoughts on what is going on in the basketball world. It might be something somebody else has already talked about, and it might not. You'll never know, it's just how I feel that particular day.

One thing I would like to talk about right now is the title of this blog. On first glance, it seems like of lame. And after explaining it to you, it might still seem kind of lame. And if that's the case, bite me. Anyway, when I was in elementary school, everybody had those T-shirts that said "Basketball is life" and on the back it said "The rest is just details." That is sort of the idea behind this blog. And that phrase just takes me back to the time when I really fell in love with the game of basketball. So the name stays. That's all for right now, because I have to go to class. But I'll post some more later.

Getting Closer

In uneventful fashion, Team USA rolled past Australia early this morning on its way to the quarter finals of the World Championships. A 32-6 second quarter put the separation between the two teams and not much changed after that. My friends and I actually left and went to IHOP during the third quarter because the game was decided so quickly. But nonetheless, I always enjoy a win. Up next for Team USA is Germany, led by none other than Dirk Nowitzki.

Some notable standouts from the Australia game: Chris Bosh, who looks like he's finally gotten some confidence after putting up 20 and 10 against Senegal. Joe Johnson had 18 points, and of course Carmelo Anthony did his thing and scored 20 points. As much as I'd like to elaborate on how the game went, there's plenty of other sports sites that do that. But I think that the US is on its way to a gold medal. And I'm looking forward to seeing them play either Spain or Argentina in the finals.

It's Getting Crowded

Well the USA cruised along early this morning and beat Slovenia pretty easily, moving their record to 3-0 so far in the preliminary round. They will take on Italy, who is also 3-0, tomorrow morning at 5:30 AM central time.

One thing that I wanted to take the time to address today was the issue of Kobe Bryant, Chauncey Billups, and Michael Redd possibly taking spots on the team for the '08 Olympics. I read Sam Amico's thoughts on it a couple of weeks ago on ProBasketballNews.com and watched Ric Bucher from ESPN the magazine on ESPN News today talk about it. I decided it was my turn to weigh in on the subject.

A lot of people seem concerned that this current Team USA has great chemistry and adding one or all of those players to the roster will take away players who fit into the current team concept. I can understand where these guys are coming from, but I believe having any of them will make this team better. Bucher himself stated that his main concern with Team USA thus far is their ability to win close games, which they haven't had to deal with yet. If it becomes apparent that this team can't win close games in international competition, why would you not want Billups, whose nickname is "Mr. Big Shot", and Kobe Bryant, the most stone-cold killer in the NBA on the team?

I have in the past be a huge critic of Kobe Bryant, mainly because my Spurs couldn't seem to get past his Lakers for several years. But I don't think there should be any argument about his potential placement on the team. Kobe Bryant is the fiercest competitor the NBA has seen since Michael Jordan. I honestly don't see anybody in the NBA who comes close to his tenacity and mental toughness. Does he go overboard sometimes? Yes, but so did Jordan. Is he selfish? He can be, but I don't think that he has even been in a situation that he would be in playing for Team USA, playing with so many great players. Yes, the 2004 season he played with Shaq, Karl Malone, and Gary Payton, but there were already rifts in that team before the season even started. I believe that having Kobe Bryant on a team with this many great players, where he doesn't have to take all the shots, would not lose a single game. My thoughts here are kind of erratic and fragmented, I know. But my message is this: Team USA needs Kobe Bryant, Chauncey Billups, and Michael Redd. We can stand to cut Brad Miller or Chris Bosh, Kirk Hinrich, and Joe Johnson. Yes, in my last two posts I have sung the praises of those guys, but if everyone on the team is buying into the team concept the way everyone is saying they are, losing those guys will not have any negative consequences. But first things first, the preliminary round of the 2006 World Championships isn't even over yet. We've still got a long way to go until the Olympics. See you soon....

We Are The Worlds

So the USA is 2-0 so far in the World Championships. They looked very tight against Puerto Rico, especially early on, where they looked eerily like the 2004 Olympic team, bricking jumper after jumper against the zone defense Puerto Rico threw out. But early this morning against China, they looked a lot more comfortable and won easily. Team USA gets Monday off and plays again at 5:30 in the morning central time against Slovenia. I stayed up and watched all of Team USA's first game against Puerto Rico and watched the game through three quarters against China this morning before going back to sleep. I honestly believe this team is on the right track to win this tournament. Carmelo Anthony looks great out there. He's hitting jumpshots consistently and he is playing strong in the post. Both point guards, Chris Paul and Kirk Hinrich, are playing great out there. And the other people you would expect to do well, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, etc., are doing their jobs. And I don't think enough can be said for guys like Shane Battier and Joe Johnson. Both have been playing intelligently and unselfishly and have consistently knocked down perimeter shots, along with Hinrich, something that was sorely lacking from the '04 Olympics. As much as I wanted Bruce Bowen to make the squad instead of Shane Battier, because I'm a die-hard Spurs fan, I can't argue with what Battier is bringing to this squad thus far. I'm excited to see what this team does the rest of the way in this tournament, and two summers from now in the '08 Olympics.

One thing that has been bothering me so far this tournament though is the tournament itself. Why isn't a bigger deal being made about the World Championships? We had the World Cup of soccer earlier in the summer and it seems like it was the biggest news story in sports while it was going on. Even the World Baseball Classic was getting more publicity than these World Championships. Aren't the World Championships in essence the same thing as both of those events? Why is the extent of ESPN's World Championship coverage a 5:30 AM game and a small blurb on the bottom of the screen on ESPN News? I understand soccer is the most popular game in the world. But isn't basketball the second most popular game? Baseball is popular here in American, in Latin America, and in Japan. It is popular in select other places, but mainly in those three areas. Basketball is popular everywhere in the world. Here in North America, Latin America (Argentina was the Gold Medal winner in the '04 Olympics), Europe, Asia (The tournament is being held in Japan), Australia, and is growing in popularity in Africa. Soccer isn't even that popular here in America (unfortunately), and the United States was eliminated early on in competition. I believe that more needs to be made of this tournament. It's not like there are many competing stories in the sports world right now. Football is in the preseason (wow) and baseball is still over a month away from the playoffs. The only thing that should be remotely close to competing with the World Championships is the Little League World Series. But which would you rather watch: the best basketball players in the world competing for their country, or 11 year olds play baseball?

Guess Who's Back

I'm back, and for good this time. After a summer out in the boondocks with nothing more than a dial-up internet connection, I'm back in civilization and in the high speed world. As much as I would have loved to use the Jay-Z line "Allow me to reintroduce myself" as the title, I figured that would be too predictable and my creative ego would not allow me. So The Life blog is back and will be back for good. I don't see any breaks in the foreseeable future. When we first started here, I tried to have new posts up everyday, but with my schedule, I don't believe that will be feasible now. But there will be new posts up every couple of days, in no way will I neglect my duties here. Moving on...

The big news in basketball right now is the current Team USA and the World Championships. I have watched every televised warm-up game so far and I have to say, I'm very impressed. I was a little skeptical of the players selected to comprise the pool for Coach K to choose from for the Worlds and 2008 Olympics, and I was also very critical of Coach K as the choice to coach the team, but after watching this team play I am now under the impression that everyone involved knows what they're doing.

Coach K has these guys playing pressure defense and getting out in transition, all of which plays into Team USA's strengths of depth and athleticism. Who has impressed me the most thus far this summer? First and foremost, as most people have mentioned, Carmelo Anthony. When he came into the league he was being talked about almost as much as LeBron James. But after some bad decisions got his name in the headlines in negative ways and the rise of Dwyane Wade, he has been the forgotten man of the top 3 of '03. But after hearing rave reviews during the latter part of this past season from SLAM Magazine's Lang Whitaker, I began to pay a little more attention to him. Carmelo, to me, has been the best player on the court so far this summer. Wade and James have looked great, but Carmelo has been hitting consistent jumpshots and been able to create offense for the team. The majority of what I've seen from Wade and James is easy opportunities in transition. But regardless of how this team is scoring, they've been doing a lot of it and made it fun to watch at the same time.

Who else has impressed me so far? Joe Johnson has been a very excellent player thus far, and makes me wish I had League Pass so I could watch Atlanta Hawks games next season. Dwight Howard has looked like a beast, very reminiscent of a young Shaquille O'Neal as many people have pointed out, and I am interested to see how he will do playing alongside Darko Milicic for a whole season. Brad Miller has looked like he's loving the international game out there. I always liked Brad Miller, ever since he was asked what he would be doing during All-Star Weekend if he hadn't made the team and he responded that he'd probably be welding crap together. I even thought he should have been on the 2004 Olympic team as I wrote here for Insidehoops.com in 2004. But even now, after watching how well his game has fit into the international game, I'm surprised. He looks like he spent years overseas working on his game.

After watching Team USA play its warm-up games, I honestly believe they will win the Gold Medal at the World Championships. I believe with the exception of a couple of games, Team USA will roll through this tournament. Will I be surprised if they lose a game? Actually, yes, I will. I don't think any other team has the talent, depth, athleticism and maybe even basketball IQ of this team. As long as this team keeps playing tough defense, nobody should be able to hang with them, and we might even think of calling these guys a Dream Team. All that starts for real on Friday. We'll see you in a few days.

What's The Word?

I just wanted to make a quick post and apologize for the complete lack of updates, especially during the rest of the playoffs. I have been hampered by a horrible internet connection, so my posting abilities have been severely limited. But I will be back towards the end of August and I will have my thoughts on the NBA Finals (extremely belated, I know), the draft, and other offseason news along with my thoughts on the upcoming season. And with that, we will go back to having a semi-regular postings. We'll see you next month.

Beginning To Move On

Yes, the Clippers won last night. I'll let all the national sports websites let you know all about that, I'm just going to tell you that I have begun shopping for materials to build my shelter and if you know anyone who can help build it for cheap, email me here. The Mavericks continued the Grizzlies playoff torture last night, sweeping them 4-0.

But because all of the mainstream media is focusing on those two matchups from last night, we're going to talk about the other series. The Pistons beat the Bucks last night 109-99. Chauncey Billups had 34 and 6 assists including 16-16 from the freethrow line. Holy crap. Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince each chipped in 18 points. For the Bucks, Michael Redd had 33 points and T.J. Ford had 21. So now the series goes back to Detroit where the Bucks will not win.

As a Spurs fan, the Pistons honestly scare the ish out of me. This team is a lot more solid and consistent than it was last year. I still believe that their bench is weak and if they had an injury or two and/or got into foul problems, they could be in trouble. But so far, that hasn't happened. I believe that the Spurs can beat any team they face, except the Pistons. Not to say that they can't beat the Pistons. I just think that if they played every other team in the league in a 7 game series, they would win at least 7 out of 10 times. But against the Pistons, I think that they would split it. These teams are that good.

And despite what I think as a Spurs fan, I believe that this is great for the NBA. The league hasn't had a rivalry like this in while. There were the Kings-Lakers games from a few years ago, and the Bulls-Knicks during the 90's. But we haven't seen an interconference rivalry like this that should meet in the Finals year after year in some time. Off the top of my head, I can't think of one. You would probably have to go back to the late 80's/early 90's when the Lakers were at their prime along with the Celtics, Pistons and up and coming Bulls.

Even though the ratings for this Finals last year were bad and casual fans didn't appreciate the tough, physical, half-court style of playoff basketball that these teams played, a rivalry like this is what the NBA needs.

David Stern has done great job marketing the league, placing stars over teams, but there needs to be a balance. Great teams need to be marketed just as much as great players. And what better way for that to happen when these two teams meet in the Finals for the second year in a row.

Now if the Spurs can just do their part and finish off Sacramento.

Quality AND Quantity?

I'm sure everyone has heard the saying "Quality over quantity." It's a very popular quote. But so far through these NBA playoffs, we've had both. The first round of these playoffs have been some of the best games I can remember from any of the playoffs in the last few years. In only one series, Memphis-Dallas, has a team not won a game. Four out of the eight series are tied at two games apiece. This postseason is on pace to be one of the greatest playoffs ever. How many last second shots can you remember that have either tied or won the game already? Plenty. The playoffs this year are easily must see TV. And the best part? The NBA playoffs take forever. We'll be seeing these great games well into June.

I'm sure every saw or at least read about the Spurs blowing both games in Sacramento this weekend. They lost game three on a last second layup by Kevin Martin, and were blown out last night in game four. Big deal. As a Spurs fan, I understand that the Spurs possess a very soft killer instinct. They rarely every put teams away swiftly, whether it be in one game, or a series. They will let teams hang around, usually they win, but sometimes it comes back to bite them in the ass. But I'm confident in Gregg Popovich's ability to make adjustments for the team and put them in a position to close out the series in six games. Plus, have you seen how Tim Duncan has looked these last few games? I understand that Sacramento is no longer double teaming Tim Duncan, but that could be a problem because if Duncan can get in a groove like he has these past couple of games, he can easily carry this team to a title.

The series that intrigues me the most though is the Bulls-Heat series. The Bulls have been playing great basketball throughout most of the series, other than their defense in the first two games, but in front of their home crowd they have really gotten it going. I know I jumped the gun in writing them off after the first two games, but it happens. I'm sure 99% of the country wrote the Red Sox off two years ago when they were down 3-0 to the Yankees, and look how that turned out. The Heat are turning into the Heat that everyone was weary of at the beginning of the season. Many people questioned if throwing together too many big egos would cause chemistry problems, and it appears it may have. I don't think that it will be too big of a problem in game five, but it is definitely something to keep an eye out for.

Watch out for the Clip Show to close out Denver tonight. With the Suns down 3-1 to the Lakers, and the Clips up 3-1 on the Nugs, could we see an LA round 2 series? It looks that way. But even more shocking, could we see the Clips in the Western Conference Finals? The same Clips that up until this past season were one of the most embarrassing franchises in all of sports? The same Clippers that their biggest (and only) fan in a city of celebrities was Frankie Muniz? Surely it couldn't happen. But it might. If that is the case I will begin building my fallout shelter and stocking up on canned goods because that would be the beginning of the apolcalypse. And if they make the NBA Finals? There will be wireless internet in that fallout shelter and I will post from their, because there is no way I would ever see the outside world for fear of my face melting.

Revelations aside these playoffs are turning out different than anyone ever pictured at the beginning of the season other than the inevitable Detroit-San Antonio Finals rematch. If you don't tune in tonight, you're crazy. Until next time...

Wednesday Night Recap

Nothing really surprising last night. Unless you expected the Suns to sweep the Lakers that is. Kobe Bean Bryant scored 29 to lead the Lakers past the Suns. My favorite Lamar Odom had 21 with 7 rebounds and 5 assists. The only other Lakers in double figures? Kwame Brown and Sasha Vujacic.

For the Suns, Steve Nash had 29 points with 9 assists and even 7 rebounds, but also had 6 turnovers. And Raja Bell had 23. Did I watch all of this game? No. I watched the first quarter, and then I caught up on some sleep, which I had been severely deprived of this week.

Also last night, the Mavs looked strong against the Grizz, easily winning to take a 2-0 lead on Memphis. The question now is, will the Grizzlies ever win their first playoff game? My guess, not this year. The Grizzlies are not playing well at all, and the Mavs are. Simple as that. Maybe the Clippers were right to lose the last few games of the regular season. Look how they're doing against the Nuggets (who have suspended Kenyon Martin for two games). But as with my predictions, they're almost always wrong.

And for some reason, the NBA decided not to nationally televise the Pistons against the Bucks, much like the night before when the Pacers-Nets game was not shown. I don't care if they're going on at the same time, I want to be able to watch every game. Show one on TNT and one on ESPN, or one on ESPN and another on ESPN2. I don't care, I just want to have the option of watching every game without having to purchase League Pass. Come on NBA, feed me.

Oh, and the Pistons cruised by the Bucks. And if I'm a Pistons fan, I'm concerned that the Pistons are too good for their Eastern Conference competition. By the time the Finals come around, this team could be in cruise mode and not be able to adjust to playing close games. I'm not saying it's going to happen, Miami could easily give the Pistons a tough series, but the Spurs and Mavs both are going to have tough roads to get to the Finals, as they will most likely have to play each other in the next round.

I just remember my junior year of high school when we were in the playoffs. In the third round of the playoffs, it took us six overtimes to beat this school Reagan. And another team in our district, Clark, who we were going to play in the next round easily beat the team they faced. When we played Clark, we were so hyped up after our last game, even though it was three days before, we took it to them and won. Like I said before, I'm not saying it's going to happen to the Pistons, it's just something to think about.

Nets-Pacers, Miami-Chicago, and Clips-Nuggets tonight. See you later.

Luck Beats Skill

"Ron Artest is suspended for game 2 because of his forearm shiver of Manu Ginobili. That means that it will be even easier for the Spurs to score inside, and I expect them to win by about 20 tonight."

Yes, that is what I said yesterday. And yes, I was way off. But I have no problem making fun of myself or admitting when I'm wrong. It's fun actually. Either way, a great game was played last night with the Kings playing hard and taking the Spurs to the wire. I don't know what to say about the play the Spurs came out with at the end of regulation to tie it other than it was great. Gregg Popovich doesn't' get nearly enough credit for the job he's done with the Spurs this season and since he's been there. Something tells me that with three rings, he doesn't care one bit.

So the series moves to Sacto for game 3 on Friday night. I expect the Kings to come out with energy, Arco Arena to be very loud, and it to be a very close game. I wouldn't be surprised if the Kings win game 3, but I believe if they do, it will be their only win.

The Nets tied up their series with the Pacers at one game apiece. Everyone has talked about Vince Carter scoring 33 points, but more importantly, Jason Kidd was four points short of a triple double, and Nenad Krstic had 20 and 10. And unfortunately, Carter still does that motorcycle thing after every dunk he has. For the Pacers, Anthony Johnson was the leading scorer with 17 points, and when that happens, you know you're in trouble. Jermiane O'Neal only had 12 and 7 with six turnovers. I expect the Nets to take the next two in Indiana. But we all see what happens when I make predictions, so we'll see.

Also in the Eastern Conference, the Wiz evened up their series with the Cavs. LeBron James was brought back down to Earth after his first playoff game, but by no means had a bad game. But there were some bad stats in his game. 10 turnovers? Only 2 assists? Expect the Cavs to have a better game in game 3, but if the Wiz win, they can take control of the series.

Early news today says that Steve Nash is going to win his second straight MVP award. Congratulations to him. The Suns take on the Lakers tonight, the Pistons against the Bucks, and Dallas versus the Grizz. Make sure you tune in.

Playoffs Babeeeee!

No, I wasn't quoting Dick Vitale there. If I ever knowlingly quote Vitale, I will never write again. Anyways, finally we are in the playoffs which last almost as long as the regular season. Have you ever seen the movie "Baseketball" where Kenny Mayne is to explaining the playoffs to the television audience and it seems to go on forever? Yeah, he was explaining the NBA playoffs.

Some good games, some blowouts, and some surprises. First, we'll start with my Spurs who crushed the Kings in SA on Saturday. I don't expect them to play like that every game, but it just goes to show you how good this team is when everybody is clicking. Nazr Mohammed for three? Fabulous. Ron Artest is suspended for game 2 because of his forearm shiver of Manu Ginobili. That means that it will be even easier for the Spurs to score inside, and I expect them to win by about 20 tonight.

Cleveland is up 1-0 on the Wiz after LeBron James did what I can't even put into words. Let's just say that he's really good, and will most likely be the best ever. I don't think he does anymore is going to surprise me, unless it's bad, because I'm just expecting him to be the greatest now. I'm guessing the Wiz will win tonight to take a 1-1 series back to the capitol. I think this series will go at least six.

The Pacers beat the Nets on probably the worst call I've seen since Kobe Bryant threw his arm at Devin Brown at the end of the game against the Jazz early in the season and got three freethrows out of it. You absolutely do not make that call at the end of a game. Especially not in the NBA. Especially not in the playoffs. C'mon, I've seen middle school refs do a better job of letting the players decide the end of a close game. Either way, I don't see the Pacers winning more than one more game the rest of the series, they're really not a very good team.

The Heat are up 2-0 on the Bulls after winning last night. The Bulls best field goal defensive team in the NBA? Adios. Not in the playoffs. Thank you for playing again this year Chicago, enjoy New York's top 3 pick and we'll see you next year.

The Clippers are winning. In the playoffs! Yes, that sound you hear is hell freezing over. Could the Clips make it to the conference finals? Possibly. Could they make it to the NBA Finals? Nah. It's still interesting to think about though. My question is this, why do playoff teams keep clamoring to sign Gary Payton to make a run at the title when Sam Cassell is obviously the better choice? Oh well.

The Grizz need more than 0 points from Pau Gasol in the first half in order to make a game of it against the Mavs in game 2. Congratulations to Avery Johnson on winning the coach of the year. Everyone in San Antonio knew he was going to make a great head coach when he was the point guard of the Spurs. He earned it.

Detroit is going to finish off Milwaukee quickly, especially if Michael Redd shoots the way he did in game 1. Thanks for coming Milwaukee, enjoy your parting gifts.

Kobe Bryant a team player? I never thought I'd see the day. And you know what the crazier thing is? It almost worked. And it will work if he's a little more efficient next time he tries it. Lamar Odom is still one of my favorite players in the league, especially when he's aggressive.

Enjoy the games tonight, and we'll see you soon. Go Spurs go!

I'm Still Alive

Okay, I know I've been doing a horrible job of updating these last couple of weeks. And for that, I'm sorry. But I've got bad news. It's going to continue for another couple of weeks. Finals start next week for me, and I've got some college visits that I have to take care of. So the updates are going to be a little sporadic for the next two or three weeks. But not to worry, I will update tomorrow! I will have a whole lot of playoff stuff to talk about. So make sure you watch everything. I'll see you tomorrow.

The Best Advice I Can Give

Late post today. I've been forced to work the phones today. And I was doing it like a pro if I do say so myself. Well the sixteen teams for the playoffs are set. But, who is going to play who isn't. But after tonight, a lot of that could be resolved.

Today though, we're going to take a look at a lot of the college players who have declared for the NBA draft early.
LeMarcus Aldridge (Texas) -- Considered entering the draft out of high school, but thought better of it. After a hip injury prematurely ended his freshmen season, Aldridge came back for his sophomore season. He averaged 15 points and 9 rebounds per game. He will most likely be a top 5 pick, and I think that he has the tools to be a very good NBA player.

Josh Boone (UCONN) -- If he puts on some more muscle, he could be a good back up power forward for most of his career. I don't see anything that makes me think he will be a great player, or even an All-Star. I'd be surprised if he wasn't a lottery pick.

Guillermo Diaz (Miami) -- Probably should go back for his senior season. He's either a point guard who shoots too much, or a shooting guard who's too small. Either way, he's athletic as hell but I don't think he'll make a huge impact in the NBA.

Rudy Gay (UCONN) -- I think ten years from now, he's going to be the best player from this draft. There are a lot of question marks around him right now, many of them about his character and work ethic, but I believe he's the best player in this draft.
Adam Morrison (Gonzaga) -- I'm stuck on Morrison. I can't figure out if he's going to be a really good NBA player, an average one, or if he's going to have trouble adjusting to the league. I'm interested to see how he'll turn out. I don't think it's a bad move for him to enter the draft, I would've been more surprised if he'd stayed in school.

Rajon Rondo (Kentucky) -- Go back to school.

Mustafa Shakur (Arizona) -- Go back to school.

Tyrus Thomas (LSU) -- HUGE go back to school. I understand that his draft stock will probably never be higher than it is right now, but he should stay a year or two or three more in college to develop his game and mature. I think that if he stays in the draft this year, he's not going to be anything more than a Stromile Swift type player, someone who is an athletic big man who can dunk the ball and rebound pretty well, but doesn't do much else. Not worthy of the top pick in the draft.

So there you go. Some of the players that have officially entered their names into the draft. More will come in the next few weeks, and maybe we'll go back and do it again with those guys. Either way, email me and let me know what you think about what I've said or how you think some of these guys are going to do in the league. See you tomorrow.

Playoffs? You Want To Talk About Playoffs?

Happy belated Easter everybody. The NBA regular season ends this week. What does that mean? That means that the playoffs, which amazingly last even longer, start soon. But we're not going to talk about that. In an effort not to talk about what everybody else is talking about, we're going to discuss the Orlando Magic. The "white hot" Orlando Magic. The Orlando Magic who have won eight games in a row, including a win at San Antonio, where almost nobody wins besides the Spurs.

Yes, the Orlando Magic were eliminated this week from playoff contention. But ask yourself this, two weeks ago, did you picture the Magic even being mentioned in the same sentence as playoffs? Exactly. Of course, eight wins in a row will do that. But based on this streak that the Magic are on, they put themselves in perfect position to be a major force in the Eastern Conference playoffs next year. And don't get it twisted, these are the Golden State Warriors who put on a run at the end of last year, only to fall apart this year. This team is for real.

Dwight Howard, simply put, is a beast. There is no other way to describe him. He's 20 years old, and dominating in the post. I believe that, barring any injuries, he will be an All-Star next year and every year after that until he retires. He's that good.

Quick, ask yourself this question, who has been the best point guard from the 2004 draft? If you said Ben Gordon, you'd be close, but he plays more shooting guard than point. Devin Harris? No, he's been good, but injured a lot. The answer is Jameer Nelson. This season, Nelson has average 15 points and 5 assists per game. Since the Magic traded Steve Francis, Nelson has taken over the starting point guard spot and controlled the team, being a major contributor to the Magic's current streak.

Don't sleep on Darko Milicic. That should've been the title of this post, because he is the key to it all next year. Since coming over to Orlando from Detroit, he's been better than expected. Why is that? Well he's actually gotten a chance to play for one. He hasn't quite shown he was worth the #2 overall draft pick, and I don't ever expect him to. But I believe that he can be an All-Star a couple of times in his career. He has the talent to do it, and playing alongside someone who will be one of the top big men in the NBA next year, he should get his opportunities.

What do the Magic need to do this offseason to ensure their success for next year? A couple of things. First, they need a new starting shooting guard. DeShawn Stevenson is good, but he's not a starter. He'll be of better use to them coming off the bench. What else? They need to find a couple of serviceable veterans. A veteran post player who can come off the bench can create a great atmosphere for Darko and Howard. And another veteran wing player and a back up point guard can fill out the rotation and give the team depth, which they'll need for the long, 82 game season.

So watch out for the Magic next year. And make sure you watch the rest of the regular season and of course watch the playoffs. See you tomorrow.

The Playoffs' Top Ten List

A really late update today/tonight/this morning. For two reasons: 1) I've had a busy day and 2) There won't be an update tomorrow because of Good Friday and I don't feel like it. So instead you'll get an update in between the two days. I just finished watching the Suns hold off the Mavericks 117-105. The loss keeps the Mavericks 1.5 games behind the Spurs who also lost tonight, to the Magic 92-80. Steve Nash had an odd 6 points, 5 boards, and 13 assists. Shawn Marion was the same Shawn Marion that dominates a game and still gets overlooked.

Today, I wanted to come at you with my top ten list of players to watch during this postseason. These are in no particular order, and are just some of my thoughts on why you should watch some of these players during the playoffs. Without further adu:

1. LeBron James -- Why not? He's arguably the best player in the league at age 21 and it's his first playoff appearance. Not many guys can average almost 32 points a game, grab 7 rebounds per game and give out 6 assists a game. And even less can do it at his age with all the pressure and attention he gets. So give him a little more attention and watch him play.

2. Ron Artest -- Are you serious? Why would you not want to watch him play. The guy is almost a ticking time bomb, waiting to go off when his team needs him the most. He's like a whole season of 24 wrapped up into one person. Oh yeah, and he's pretty good too.

3. Ben Gordon/Andre Iguodala -- It's still not clear which player's team will get into the playoffs, so we're gonna put both of them in one spot. Iguodala is one of the more exciting swingmen in the game and you can practically watch him improve as the game goes on. Ben Gordon? Commissioner Gordon is the coldest fourth quarter scorer not named Kobe, LeBron, or Carmelo.

4. Rasheed Wallace -- See # 2. Although he has tuned it down some the last few seasons. The real reason to watch Sheed? The only player in the league who can guard Tim Duncan one on one. Watch Sheed's long arms, good position, and experience against Duncan frustrate Duncan into some bad shots at times. Plus he has one of the best inside-outside games of any big man, and maybe the best fadeaway jumper off the block in the league because of his long arms. And his tattoo is awesome.

5. Elton Brand -- Why Elton Brand? Because he just doesn't get enough shine. Plain and simple, a great player whom everyone knows is great, but he still doesn't get the recognition he deserves.

6. Smush Parker -- He has an awesome name. That's all.

7. Josh Howard -- If he's healthy, he's one of the most complete swingmen in the game. A very underrated player who does whatever the Mavericks need him to do. Part of that comes from playing as an athletic post player at Wake Forest. Nevertheless, one of the up and coming players in the L.

8. Andrew Bynum -- What were you doing when you were 18 years old? I'm guessing it was playing in the NBA playoffs, with one of the best players in the game, and making millions of dollars. I know I wasn't. Okay, so he probably won't play that much and is still a few years away from contributing a lot, and the Lakers will probably get bounced by either the Spurs or Suns quickly, but still, the kid looks like a teddy bear. Good enough for me.

9. Tim Duncan -- If you are a post player, or your kid is a post player, watch Tim Duncan. Especially now that he's got plantar faciitis and can't dunk. If you want to know how to score the ball in the post, TD is your man. He's got all the post moves, and he actually uses the backboard when he shoots. And he's one of the top four interior defenders along with Big Ben, Sheed, and Marcus Camby. The best pivot since Hakeem Olajuwan, and might even be better than the Dream.

10. Kobe Bryant -- If you or your child is a wing player, do not let them watch Kobe. He'll jack shots until his arm falls out of its socket. It's all well and good on NBA Live, but not in real life. But the potential to go for 80 or higher, and watching him do his best to imitate Michael Jordan, right down to the facial expressions, makes Kobe must see NBA TV.

So there you go, ten reasons to watch the NBA playoffs. As if you needed any right? We'll see you on Monday, happy Easter.

The Stealth Spurs

Last night, the San Antonio Spurs beat the Seattle Sonics 104-95. The win gave the Spurs their 60th win of the season. My point? My point is that with all the attention the Pistons have gotten this season, although they deserve that attention, they are on pace for their best season in franchise history.

In the 1994-95 season, behind David Robinson, Dennis Rodman, Sean Elliott, and Avery Johnson (Current Mavs head coach), the Spurs posted a 62-20 record. With four games left this season, the Spurs need to only win two of those to tie that record and win three to break the franchise record. Not even any of the Spurs three title teams have gotten to 62 wins (Although one season was during the lockout shortened, 50 game season).

Despite the injuries the Spurs have had this season, they are quietly having their best season. Manu Ginobili has missed 16 games, Tim Duncan has been bothered by plantar fasciitis, and Robert Horry has missed 19 games. But despite all of that, Tony Parker has emerged as an All-Star, Bruce Bowen has become one of the NBA's iron men in addition to its best perimeter defender, and Michael Finley has filled in where needed.

In addition to the injuries following the Spurs, this veteran team has had trouble playing in back to back games. 10 of the Spurs' 18 losses have come in the second game of a back to back. The Spurs' age coupled with the nagging injuries bothering key players in the rotation have lead to the majority of the losses.

With all of the injuries the Spurs have had, the aging process taking its toll on this them, and the consistency of the Detroit Pistons, the Spurs are still my, and many people's pick to win the NBA championship this season. And remember this, there are no back to back games in the playoffs. We'll see you tomorrow.

The King's Bandwagon

Everybody seems to be changing their MVP pick this week. For the first half of the year, most people had Steve Nash picked to win it again. Then, Kobe Bryant scored 81 points in a single game. And then the Suns kept winning, so Steven Nash became the frontrunner again. But now, LeBron James continues to prove critics wrong who said he couldn't hit the big shots. Last night, he hit a jumper with 0.5 seconds left to beat the Hornets.

Earlier in the season, the media tried to expose the major chink in the king's offensive armor by claiming that James was afraid to take the big shots, and when he did, couldn't hit them. He has responded with a stat that many writers have been throwing around since James hit last night's game winner. 19 for 29 from the field in the final two minutes of games with a score differential of three points or less. It sounds a lot more complicated than it really is. Plain and simple, LeBron is clutch.

With LeBron's late game heroics and the Cavs momentum going into the playoffs, many people are changing their MVP's picks to the King. Who should really win it? I don't know, the MVP is never actually the most valuable player, he's just the player with the best year according to the media, regardless of actual value. Who do I think will win it? It doesn't really matter. I don't have a vote and I definitely don't get paid for my opinions. So I'm just going to wait to hear who actually wins it.

But one thing is for sure, this year, it's wide open. Check back tomorrow.

Back Again

Sorry about last week. A number of things contributed to me being sporadic in my posts. This week should be more on schedule. Some things of note in the NBA right now:

• Just when the Spurs looked to have the West's 1st seed locked up, they lose back to back home games, including against the Mavericks. But they held on to beat the Grizzlies on Sunday, to maintain their lead.
• The Pistons continue to win so, barring any unforeseen collapse, they should have the NBA's best record and home court throughout the playoffs locked up.
• Get well soon Julius Hodge. If you hadn't heard, he had been shot several times on Saturday morning driving home from a club, but was released from the hospital on Sunday.
• The Bulls overtook Philadelphia for the last playoff spot in the East, don't expect them to give it up the way the 76ers are playing.
• It's been an impressive season, but the playoff window is closing by the minute for the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets. If they can pick up another veteran big man in free agency, they could seriously make some noise next year.
• The Pacers continue to slide, if they're not careful, they could end up in the 8th spot and have to play the Pistons in the first round, or out of the playoffs all together.

The regular season is winding down quickly, so the next week is going to be great. Make sure you can catch the games this week. See you tomorrow, I promise this time.

Basketball Games Galore

Lot's of basketball games last night. Did I watch any of them? No. As I said last night, I'm hooked on that new Godfather game, and it is sucking the free time right out of my life. But there are a couple of games on ESPN tonight, Wizards at Celtics and Kings at Spurs, and I probably won't have notes, but I will have recaps of the games.

Summing up last nights games, the Nets won, again. The Cavs won, again. The Nets' current winning streak is at 13 games and the Cavs is at 9. But I'll leave the mainstream media to shove that down your throat.

Boston beat Toronto, if anyone really cares. Detroit continues to hold onto the best record in the NBA by beating the Hornets. The Heat beat the Bucks, behind Shaq's 24 and 10. Memphis took advantage of the crappy Warriors and won by 25. The Bulls are making a strong run for the last playoff spot in the East by beating the Pacers. The Bulls play the current 8th seed 76ers in two games coming up. Dallas is trying not to fall too far behind the Spurs in the West, as they beat the Kings last night. The Spurs are forcing the Mavericks to keep winning, because they beat the Jazz last night in Utah. Seattle beat the Rockets in a game of no meaning. And the Clippers beat the Nuggets as Denver continues to slide after getting blown out by the Mavs on Sunday.

And the Wizards beat the Knicks last night. The Knicks, to put it simply, are a mess. To me, the New York Knicks organization, is like the Middle East. A lot of problems and no end in sight. Regardless of how bad any team's season is going this year, at least they can say that they aren't the Knicks. We'll see you tomorrow.

Running a Little Late

I try to usually do my posts sometime in the morning, afternoon at the latest, but today it was not to be. At least I got something posted, but it was still really late. Do I have a reason for posting later than usual? Sort of. It's been a weird day all around after having slept through my first class today. So that in addition to being addicted to the new Godfather video game has left me with no time or motivation to post something. But I fought through all that and here I am.

Last night's National Championship was very uneventful. Congratulations to the Gators and all, but make it a game or something. The game was practically over ten minutes in. With the college season over, we focus on who will be going and who will be staying for next year. I think that guys like Joakim Noah and Tyrus Thomas, two guys who really made their names playing in the tournament, should stay again next year and develop. But I doubt either will. The chances that their stock will be this high next year is unlikely, so I'm guessing both will be gone.

Some other big news from this weekend was the announcements of the Hall of Fame inductees. Charles Barkley, Joe Dumars, Geno Auriemma, Dominique Wilkins, and a pair of lesser known coaches made the cut. Luckily, Dick Vitale didn't.

I remember during the 1996-97 season when the Spurs were having one of their worst seasons in history, they were so decimated by injuries that they signed Dominique Wilkins for the season. He was so much fun to watch despite the fact that he no longer had the explosiveness that he was famous for. Even though he was past his prime, he still average 18 points and six rebounds per game. Then that summer, the Spurs drafted Tim Duncan, everybody got healthy, and the rest is history. Nique went on to play one more season with the Magic and then retire. But I'll never forget that season he spent with the Spurs. I was hoping that the Spurs would resign Nique to play alongside Duncan and David Robinson. But it never happened.

No NBA games last night, but plenty tonight. I'll try to have a post earlier tomorrow. Adios.

A Day Down in the D-League

Yeah, that's right, that was alliteration I used in the title. Some good basketball this weekend. Florida and UCLA advanced to play in the National Championship game tonight. Make sure you catch that game. I find it awesome that early in the season, not a lot of people mentioned these two teams making a play for a national title. All I really heard about was Duke, UCONN, and Adam Morrison.

In the NBA, the Spurs continue to distance themselves from the Mavericks in the Western Conference race, and the Pistons continue to come back and win close games, but how long can they keep that up? And how about that game between the Cavs and Heat where Bron went for 47, twelve boards, and ten assists and Dwyane Wade went for 44, eight boards, and nine assists. The Cavs won by the way, but I don't think anyone remembers that part. And why should they? This is what the NBA and ESPN wants, two of the biggest stars in the league putting up ridiculous numbers against each other.

Yesterday, I experienced my first D-League game. The Austin Torros beat the Fort Worth Flyers 106-95. I've got to be honest with you though, I wasn't that impressed. My guess is because it was late in the season and Fort Worth has already locked up the regular season title, while Austin on the other hand was fighting for a playoff spot. Some thoughts from the game:

• Some names you might recognize from this game -- Ndubi Ebi, Keith Langford and Aaron Miles from Kansas, and Pavel Podkolzin for the Flyers. Andre Emmett for the Torros.
• Despite recently named D-League MVP Marcus Fizer getting called up for the Torros, they played well throughout the game up until Fort Worth began to full court press. The Torros made a number of bad passes and even had an eight second violation.
• On the other side, Fort Worth looked terrible through three quarters until they started pressing and seemed to play harder. But at that point, the Torros had built a big enough lead that they were able to withstand the comeback attempt.
• It's easy to see why Ndubi Ebi was released by the Timberwolves. He was very quiet during the game. Despite his size, I don't think he could dominate in college right now, much less produce in the NBA. In this game he scored only four points and grabbed only five rebounds.
  
• Austin guard Ramel Curry had 25 points to lead all scorers. He shot an impressive 10-13 from the field.
• On Andre Emmett bobblehead day, he didn't disappoint. Emmett scored 14 points and displayed an excellent three point shot, something that wasn't shown when he was at Texas Tech.
• Former Jayhawks Keith Langford and Aaron Miles were also very impressive, with Miles scoring 22 points and six assists, though he also had five turnovers. Langford scored 19 points off the bench and had two steals and two assists.
• Ime Udoka had a strong game for the Flyers, scoring 24 points and grabbing 14 rebounds.

So there's the wrap up of my first minor league basketball game. I may have more notes on Friday when these two teams meet up again on Thursday night. Make sure you watch the championship game tonight. That's all I got. See you tomorrow.

Reggie Gets His Due

So okay, there is going to be a post today. The perks of not having class on Friday I guess. Every weekend is a three day weekend. Hooray for me. Only two games on last night because it was Thursday night and TNT had the games. The Suns, who have been struggling pretty well of late because they were playing even less defense than usual, beat the Pacers on the night Reggie Miller got his number retired. A very deserving honor.

A lot of people hate Reggie Miller. I think the majority of those people are either Knicks, Bulls, or now Pistons fans. I never really had a problem with him. For a long time I thought he was overrated. I'll I ever saw him do was hit threes. That was until I saw his all-time rankings for some of his career numbers. First all-time in threes made, twelfth all-time in total points, seventh in free throw percentage for a career, and sixth in total minutes. Just to name a few.

Obviously those are Hall of Fame numbers. But what he did in the clutch, what isn't measured as well by stats, was what he did the best. The most memorable coming against the Knicks in game one of the 1995 Eastern Conference Semi's when he scored eight points in about 8.9 seconds to give the Pacers the win. At the time I didn't think it would be, but that was one of those moments for me that I'll never forget where I was. I think I was only about eight years old at the time, and my neighbors across the street had it on. I sat down and watched it. I can't remember a single thing from that game, hell, I don't think I can remember a single thing from that summer, but I sure remember that. And I didn't even really care who won that game. I wasn't a Knicks or Pacers fan, I didn't even root for anybody in the Eastern Conference, I was a Spurs fan. But I'll never forget that moment.

In the second game last night, my Spurs picked apart the Lakers 96-85, but as with a lot of Spurs games, the game wasn't as close as the score makes it seem. The Spurs used a 19-2 run at the end of the third to blow it open and cruised through fourth for the win. I know Tim Duncan has been unhealthy for most of the year, but he looked great in the second half, going 7-9 from the field. Which makes me feel very comfortable that he'll be able to control games in the playoffs. With the Spurs winning and the Dallas loss the night before, the Spurs move two games up on the Mavs for the top seed in the west.

Kobe(or 8 or Mamba or Bean or whatever the hell he wants himself to be called) had 23 points and, despite outscoring everyone on the Spurs, had a down game. Much of that can be credited to Bruce Bowen, probably the best one on one defender in the league. The loss decreases the Lakers lead on the seventh spot in the west to 1.5 games over the Kings.

The Final Four is on Saturday night, so make sure you watch. I'll be watching some D-League basketball this weekend, so I should have notes or thoughts or something on Monday. Catch you all then.

The Happy Meal Game

I didn't know that the McDonald's High School All-American game was last night. But I was able to catch it nonetheless and flip back between that and the Jazz-Nuggets game. Some pretty impressive players out there in the McDonald's game. Gerald Henderson Jr., who is going to Duke next year, looked very good out there. Co-MVP Kevin Durant, headed to Texas, also was very impressive, scoring 25 points. National Player of the Year Greg Oden didn't play particularly well in this game, though it was noted that he was bothered by a bad wrist, but all the tools are there for him to be a very successful player. I wouldn't go as far as to call him a Hall of Famer already like the announcers of the game had, because he hasn't even played a college game yet much less an NBA game, but I won't be surprised if he has that kind of career.

Watching the McDonald's game, I couldn't help but think back to 2003 when LeBron James played and won the MVP. In that game, he looked like he was about three or four years older than every player out on that court, but beyond Oden's size, I didn't see that same maturity from him. But then again, LeBron James is, I believe, a once in a lifetime player. And I doubt we'll ever see somebody light years ahead of everybody else in that same manner again.

Speaking of LeBron James, I just finished reading King James: Believe The Hype by SLAM Magazine editor in chief Ryan Jones yesterday. It's really a great book. It details LeBron's high school years and his growth both as a player and cultural phenomenon. I definitely recommend any basketball fan pick it up. And if anyone has any hoops books that they recommend, definitely email me and let me know about them. Off the top of my head, some other books I can recommend are My Losing Season by Pat Conroy and Fab Five by Mitch Albom.

That's all I've got for today, I'll try to post something tomorrow but if not, have a great weekend and we'll see you on Monday.

Battle At The Top

Last night was an interesting night in the NBA. The Pistons defended their homecourt, something they'll probably be doing a lot of in the playoffs, and beat the Dallas Mavericks. At the same time, the Spurs won, putting the Spurs a game ahead of the Mavs in the western conference. The Kings lost, keeping the Utah Jazz alive in the race for the last playoff spot in the west, as did the Bulls, hurting their playoff chances. Also of note, the Suns have stated that Amare Stoudemire is out "indefinitely", meaning that he could be gone for the rest of the season including the playoffs. Phoenix responded by going out and getting blasted by the Bucks.

I took notes on the Pistons-Mavericks game last night. Here they are:

• I know Boris Diaw is probably going to win the most improved player award, and rightfully so, but DeSagana Diop has to get a couple of votes. He took over the starting job from Erick Dampier and has started a total of 34 games for one of the top teams in the league.

• I remember when arenas weren't allowed to play music during play. It's early in the first, and Queen's "We Will Rock You" is blasting as the Mavericks run their offense.

• Ben Wallace is 42% from the freethrow line? How are you a starter in the NBA and you can't shoot freethrows?

• A Rasheed Wallace three puts the Pistons up 13-10 with 5:25 left in the first. Timeout Mavericks.

• With Keith Van Horn in the game, I can't but help think about before the 1997 draft, when the Spurs were actually considering drafting Van Horn over Tim Duncan with the top pick. Today's NBA would be drastically different if it happened.

• After a technical foul, two freethrows, and a Van Horn dunk, the Mavs tie the score at 17. Timeout Pistons.

• A Dale Davis sighting! Who outside of Detroit knew he was still playing?

• A Jerry Stackhouse jumper puts Dallas up 24-23 at the end of the first quarter.

• 29-23 after Van Horn hits a three in transition.

• Erick Dampier's upper body looks way too big for his lower body. I'm surprised he doesn't tip over every time he gets bumped.

• Darrell Armstrong plays pretty good one on one defense. Granted, he's guarding Tony Delk, but still.

• Stackhouse is cold blooded, hitting jump shot after jump shot, the latest putting the Mavs up 37-30.

• 39-33 a Sheed three hits the front of the rim, bounces straight up and falls in.

• Great vision from Jason Terry as he hits a cutting Dirk Nowitzki for a lay up, and one. Mavs up 42-37.

• Another Sheed three ties the game at 42.

• I'm not sure why you would want Richard Hamilton guarding Dirk, but he was, and Dirk scored on a reverse lay up.

• A Chauncey Billups three gives the Pistons the lead 47-44 with 1:38 left in the half.

• You know your point guard(Jason Terry) is pretty good when he can get Keith Van Horn a dunk off a pick and roll.

• Terry hits a tough three with Billups in his face to tie it at 50 with about ten seconds left in the half.

• Billups hits two freethrows late to put the Pistons up 52-50, and that's the difference going into the half.

• Stackhouse picks up where he left off, hitting a jumper 1:40 into the second half, tying it at 52.

• Marquis Daniels picks up his fourth foul with 9:58 left in the third.

• The Dallas announcers are starting to get on my nerves because they are being very devout "homers." Mainly it's their analyst Bob Ortegel.

• Billups hits Ben Wallace for a dunk, and one.

• A 6-0 run puts the Pistons up 60-54. Mavs call a timeout with 6:59 left in the third.

• Tayshaun Prince makes a nice pass to Billups, putting the Pistons up 65-59 with 3:40 left in the quarter.

• With 3:04 left in the third, Detroit picks up just its third turnover of the game. That's why this team has won 55 games.

• A Van Horn three brings the Mavs to within three, 72-69, and the third quarter comes to a close.

• Another Van Horn three ties it at 74 in the early minutes of the fourth.

• Nowitzki gets a dunk in the lane to put the Mavericks up 80-78.

• These teams have been trading baskets since about 9:00 left in the game. It's now about 4:30 left in the game and Dallas is up 88-86.

• Fight! Actually, Jerry Stackhouse and Carlos Delfino just got tangled up and threw each other to the ground and had to be separated. Delfino got called for an offensive foul, but that was the extent of it. Should make for an interesting last four minutes.

• Shoe Alert: Richard Hamilton is wearing white, blue, and black Air Jordan XXI's.

• Never leave the shooter. Nowitzki helps on a pick and roll and leaves Billups wide open for a three before Jason Terry can recover. 92-88 Pistons.

• Ben Wallace's dunk is blocked at the rim by Erick Dampier. Don't see that very often.

• I don't think I've heard an arena this loud on TV before.

• Clutch. Billups hits a jumper with Dirk in his face, 94-90 Detroit.

• On the other end, Stackhouse throws a pass right to the arms of Tayshaun Prince.

• Tayshaun Prince hits one for two from the freethrow line putting the Pistons up 95-90.

• Dirk misses a three and Billups gets the rebound and is fouled with 13.8 seconds left, that should do it.

• Billups hits both freethrows and the Mavs turn it over to end the game. 97-90 Pistons.

So the Pistons stay atop the NBA's standings in a close game. Pistons play again tonight at Philadelphia on ESPN followed by the Jazz at the Nuggets on ESPN2. Be sure to catch the games.

Unfulfilled Expectations

Tuesday, one of the worst days of the week, right behind Monday. Today's post won't be that long, but there should be game notes up tomorrow because there is a huge game going down tonight between the Detroit Pistons and Dallas Mavericks. This game will have implications on both the race for the Western Conference number one seed and homecourt throughout the playoffs.

But today, I wanted to ask one question. What happened to the Portland Trailblazers? They currently hold the West's worst record and the third worst in the entire league. In the second half of last season, the Blazers seemed to show promise (I want to avoid the worst buzz word in the history of basketball, potential), and finished the season strong.

Sebastian Telfair averaged ten points and six assists per game after the all-star break. And the Blazers most important player, Zach Randolph put up 19 points and nine boards per game after the break. Former first round draft pick Travis Outlaw was showing flashes of why they drafted him straight out of high school and the team was starting to gel.

Everybody expected that with the addition of head coach Nate McMillan this team would make the jump and contend for a playoff spot this season. But it was not to be. Players have trouble responding to McMillan's philosophy and the team has not been able to put it together. The expected starting backcourt of Telfair and Darius Miles has been replaced by Steve Blake and Juan Dixon. Solid, but not exactly the tandem that is going to take you to the top.

This team has a long way to go, but it also has some young talent. Telfair should be one of the top point guards in the league in a few years, just as long as he focuses on running the offense, creating opportunities for his teammates, and keeps improving his jumpshot. And as long as he stays away from his cousin Stephon Marbury. Outlaw should continue to improve, Randolph is one of the more underrated big men in the league, and rookie Martell Webster can become a great shooter with some more experience.

I know it was said last year, but next season this team could be a force to be reckoned with in the west. The only difference is next year, no one will expect it.