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Here's today's podcast. Right click here and save it to your hard drive.

You know you love hearing my voice

The podcast from this morning's Bobcat Radio show is up today. Right click here and save it to the desktop or wherever. Congratulations to the 2007 NBA Champion San Antonio Spurs.

Who is Sam Presti?

I linked last week to news about the Sonics hiring Sam Presti to be their new GM. Well HoopsWorld.com has a great piece on how Presti go to be where he's at. If you don't think this guy is going to be successful, I don't know what to tell you.

Podcast

The podcast's are up. Well one of them at least. Here is the podcast from Friday morning's show (NOTE: right-click on the link and save it to the desktop, don't try to play it directly from the link). This morning's podcast should be posted sometime tomorrow.

Sonics on the right track

A big blow for all Spurs fans out there: Sam Presti is set to be named as the Seattle SuperSonics new GM today. Presti is one of the brightest minds in basketball right now and is sure to be one of the top GMs in the NBA soon. It's a great hire for the Sonics. He is the guy credited with first discovering Tony Parker.

Coming soon to an ABC station near you

As a response to my post yesterday where I linked to TrueHoop's breakdown of the Cavs-Spurs series, or more specifically, the LeBron James-Spurs matchup, here is a link to Bill Simmons' column yesterday where he takes more pro-Spurs stance.

I hope radio isn't really dead

Just to let everybody out there know, I'll be on my campus' radio station from 11 a.m. to noon CT Mondays and Fridays talking sports. The official show name is Bobcat Radio (Texas State's mascot is the Bobcats) and if you're in the Austin/San Antonio area it's 89.9 FM. If you're outside that area, you can stream it at KTSW.net. And trust me when I tell you it won't be just about Texas State sports. In fact, right now it's mostly going to be national sports. Especially basketball with the Finals starting.

We're also trying to get it set up so you can download the podcasts at anytime, so if we do that, I'll definitely link to it here.

Not so fast my friend

With everybody predicted the Spurs to easily defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals, I thought I would link to this TrueHoop article, the blog run by Henry Abbot which was picked up by ESPN.com a few months ago. Abbot breaks down his breaking down of the game film of both games the Spurs and Cavaliers (in which the Cavs won both, by the way) and explains that it might not be the quick series we all expect it to be.

Witness protection program

I was at the AT&T Center for game 5 of the Spurs-Jazz series on Wednesday night, but unfortunately, there's nothing more to say except the Spurs took that game. They jumped out early and never looked back, something they don't do enough. The real story during the conference finals has been the Cavs-Pistons series though.

These are slowly becoming the King James version of the playoffs. I wrote before game 2 of this series that I thought LeBron James was finally going to show us something special. Well, I was one game off. He did in game 3. And in game 4. And even more so last night in game 5. As you can read at any sports site, that was truly a performance to be cherished.

You can credit Detroit's lack of defense at the rim for part of that (who would've thought they'd miss Ben Wallace this much?), but mostly it was LeBron. All LeBron. You don't need to know the statistics; as incredible as they are, they don't begin to tell the story.

The work isn't done for the LeBron and the Cavs, they still have to win one more game against a better team. But if there's one player who can take down a team, it's him. And even if he doesn't, we'll remember these three games for what they are: special.

There were no games last night, so what the hell am I going to write about?

That is the one drawback to the games getting deep into the playoffs, the lack of games played. Very rarely since October have there been nights where there have been no basketball games played. So what do I do? Well, I write about tonight's game.

But there's a problem to that to. Everybody is writing about tonight's game. And it seems everybody has the same idea. Right after I decided what I was going to write about, I read Scoop Jackson saying the same thing, although, much more eloquently. And Sam Rubenstein at SLAMonline had pretty much the same idea too, although his relates to LOST.

It comes down to this. LeBron James had his team in a position to win on Monday night against the Pistons with not his best game. But at the same time, Chauncey Billups and Tayshaun Prince for the Pistons had bad games too. You can't expect that two games in a row.

LeBron has also had a fairly quiet postseason. And I don't mean quiet like Tim Duncan quiet, where nobody notices. I mean quiet like people are expecting more from him.

And yes, I do realize he's averaging almost 25 points per game along with 8 rebounds and 8 assists per game during the playoffs. But these are the Eastern Conference Finals now. He's four wins away from the NBA Finals. He's playing one of the toughest teams in the entire NBA. People are expecting something special from him on his conference's biggest stage.

People are expecting one of those performances from him where years down the road, they remember where they were and what they were doing that night. LeBron James is the type of player who inspires those expectations in people.

I believe LeBron James knows this.

And I think (I hope) tonight is the night he delivers.

Were the Western Conference Finals last round?

The Spurs took apart the Jazz again last night in a game that was nearly identical to game 1 in the series. I was there with my endless amounts of both basketball knowledge and "that's what she said" jokes at my disposal.

We got to the AT&T Center about 45 minutes before game time in hopes of watching the NBA draft lottery on the jumbotron in the arena. No dice. Thanks ESPN! TNT had no problems running their feed up to the jumbotron last week so we could watch game 4 of the Cavs-Nets series before the Suns and Spurs tipped off for their game 4.

Instead I was forced to try to look over Rick Carlisle's shoulder at the small TV on ESPN's set. From over 100 feet away I might add. I didn't find out until halftime who actually won the lottery.

Possibly responding to all of the (stupid) criticism the community of San Antonio got for not selling out game 1 of the series, the fans were out in full-force on Tuesday night. Great playoff atmosphere.

The Spurs did their thing in the first quarter, trying to establish their tempo and getting guys in a rhythm. Michael Finley started off hitting a quick three and getting the crowd into it early.

Usually the Spurs either make a big run during the third quarter or keep it close until mid-way through the fourth and put the game away. Not against the Jazz. In both games the Spurs have made big runs during the second quarter and gone into halftime with big leads. This might cause the team to become uninterested and lose focus during the second half, or the Jazz just need to constantly play with a sense of desperation.

Despite the 24 points, Tim Duncan never really got established on the low block. The majority of his points came off of dishes from Tony Parker (14 assists) or Manu Ginobili, or off of offensive rebounds. The fact that the Spurs can win as handily as they did without their best player in his rhythm really does help Jerry Sloan sleep at night. Shooting 13-26 from three-point range does have something to do with that though.

If Utah doesn't get other players besides Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams involved, I don't see this series going more than five games. Game 3 is Saturday night in Utah.

The curse of Red Auerbach

Even though I was at game 2 of the Jazz-Spurs series last night, I feel the need to address the NBA Draft Lottery first. First off, congratulations to the Portland Trail Blazers. The Blazers had a 5.3% chance at winning the lottery; compared to Memphis owning a 25% and Boston owning a 19.9% chance. Seattle gets the second pick, Atlanta the third, Memphis fourth, and Boston got the fifth pick.

Portland has a decision to make, because both Kevin Durant and Greg Oden would fit in their lineup. Obviously, I think you take Greg Oden first no matter what team you are, but Kevin Durant would not be a bad choice at all. The Blazers have the option of taking Durant because they already have Zach Randolf and LeMarcus Aldridge down low. Putting Durant next to those two and Brandon Roy would make for a talented young lineup. I still pick Oden in any case though.

I'm sorry to all the Boston Celtics fans out there. But hey, you guys lost the 1997 lottery and that turned out alright didn't it? You got Chauncey Billups and Ron Mercer out of it. Of course Mercer never really amounted to anything and Billups didn't become the player he is until he got to Detroit, but still. Oh and Sports Guy, don't do anything crazy.

I hate to mention karma, because everybody seems to have been talking about it the last couple of days (apparently that's the only way to explain why teams win the lottery; it has nothing to do with chance), but the Blazers really have their karma going. First, they do their best to get rid of the Jail Blazers reputation that had for the last few years by getting rid of most of their problem players and drafting some quality guys. Then they don't try and tank the season like the trio of Memphis, Boston, and Milwaukee did (who, by the way, got the fourth, fifth, and sixth picks respectively). What do they get for their troubles? The first pick, with their option of choosing either Oden or Durant. Congratulations Blazer fans.

I'll post later about last night's game.

Down with the King?

A lot of people are on LeBron's case today. You know what? I'm not. I'm going to break it down for you:

• Donyell Marshall is a very good three-point shooter.
• Donyell Marshall was wide-the-hell open.
• LeBron is a great passer.
• LeBron had about three good-to-great defenders coming at him when he got to the lane.
• The old saying is you go for the tie at home and you go for the win on the road. Well, the Cavs were on the road.
• Calm the f*ck down. If Marshall hits the three, the Cavs win and everybody is talking about what a great decision LeBron made to pass the ball.
• I've heard people say that Michael Jordan would've taken the shot. I seem to remember Money hitting Steve Kerr and John Paxson for game winning jumpers in his playoff career.

The draft lottery is tonight and the future decade for several franchises could be decided tonight, good or bad. My God I'm glad the Spurs are in the playoffs; I couldn't deal with that stress. But I'm excited to see what happens.

I'll be at game 2 of the Spurs-Jazz tonight and I'll watch the lottery there. I'll have my thoughts from both the lottery and game here tomorrow.

From one finals to another

The last few posts I had, I was looking forward to the regular season ending and the playoffs starting. Then, I would have some interesting stuff to post about. Then finals happened. The couple weeks I spent wrapping up classes and working on finals took up most of my time and completely threw me off my rhythm.

Now that finals are over and I'm sitting in front of a computer for eight hours a day, I think it's time I try to get back into that rhythm. And you know what? It's a shame that I haven't posted for the last couple of weeks, because I missed out on some good stuff. Here are some things off the top of my head that I missed:

• Tim Duncan vs Joey Crawford -- I will be campaigning for this to be on the undercard of the inevitable De La Hoya-Mayweather Jr. II fight.
• Golden State Warriors vs Dallas Mavericks -- The series paved the way for the Spurs to have possibly their easiest route to the finals ever. And it gave me something to harass 50% of my friends about until November.
• San Antonio Spurs vs Phoenix Suns (or more specifically, Robert Horry vs the city of Phoenix) -- The most controversy the Spurs have ever been involved in. Before that, it was Phil Jackson campaigning for the Spurs to have an asterisk next to their 1999 title. For what it's worth, the rulings against Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw were unfair considering the circumstances, but they clearly violated a rule. As much as it sucks for the fans of the Suns and that series, the right ruling was made. The rule definitely needs to be addressed in the offseason.
• LeBron James vs Expectations -- LeBron knows what he's doing. He didn't care when people criticized the way he was playing in the regular season, when he was saving a lot of energy for the playoffs. Now he's four games away from reaching the NBA Finals against a team that he almost single-handedly beat in last year's playoffs. The Eastern Conference playoffs might finally get interesting.

Hopefully I'll be able to keep on track now that I have the time. We'll see. Enjoy the conference finals.

Me and Mark Cuban vs. Sam Smith

I caught wind of an article by Sam Smith, a columnist for MSNBC.com and the Chicago Tribune, today on SpursReport.com. Smith predicts that the Spurs will win the NBA title this summer and and claims that the Spurs are his NBA champion from last season. I'll repeat that again for emphasis. Sam Smith claims that the Spurs are the real NBA champions of 2006.

I don't repeat that because I'm proud to hear it or want to rub it in the faces of Heat fans or Maverick fans or fans of any team that got past the second round of the playoffs. I repeat it because it's ridiculous.

Let's get one thing straight, the Miami Heat won the 2006 NBA Championship. There's no doubt about it.

Smith claims that the Spurs were the best team during the playoffs last year and only lost to the Dallas Mavericks in the second round because Mark Cuban intimidated the NBA's younger officials during that series, giving the Mavericks calls that should have gone against them.

I agree that the calls seemed a little lopsided in that series, one of the reasons I have a personal vendetta against Steve Javie, but I don't think Cuban's presence and antics had much to do with it.

Smith also states that the Spurs are a classy organization and won't complain about or blame their losses on officiating (which is true), and wonders what the Mavs would have done if those calls went against them.

Well they did. In the Finals.

I don't know if Smith remembers, but Dwyane Wade scored about half of his points from the free throw line in that series.

(And if you're wondering, yes, I am going to break down all of Smith's points in his article and counter them. Or at least the ones I disagree with. Why? Because it's a beautiful day outside and I'm stuck at work on a Saturday with nothing else to do.)

The main reason Sam Smith attacks the Mavericks and Cuban so blatantly in this article is probably his running feud with Cuban.

Later in the article Smith gives his reasons for why he thinks the Spurs will beat the Mavericks and win the title this season.

1. "(Gregg) Popovich has quietly kept playing time down for the entire roster."
2. "This Dallas team is haunted by that Finals collapse." (Against the Heat in last year's Finals)
3. "What we saw (last year) was that the Spurs could play the Mavs' game and have success. The Mavs can't play the Spurs' game"

Those are Smith's three main points in his article.

The only one of those points I agree with is the first one. I have been keeping an eye on minutes this season because this is a veteran (a nice way of saying old) team. The Spurs would have had a better chance of beating the Mavericks last year if they were healthier and I attribute those injuries to age.

But the coaching staff has done an excellent job of monitoring the players' minutes this season. In the games I have seen so far this season, Avery Johnson hasn't done as good a job with his players' minutes.

I vaguely remember a game this season where the Mavs were up by a good twenty or so points for the entire fourth quarter but player his starters through the final minute. I don't remember who they were playing but I remember thinking that he should have gotten Dirk Nowitzki and his other starters out of the game earlier.

Last season the Detroit Pistons had a regular season much like the Mavericks are having this season, albeit in an easier conference, where their Flip Saunders mismanaged his players' minutes during the regular season, and they flamed out in the playoffs against the Heat. I don't know if the Mavs will have a similar fate, but who's to say they won't?

As far as Smith's claim that the Mavs are haunted by their collapse during the Finals last year, who knows? They may talk about it a lot, but that doesn't necessarily mean they are haunted. Oftentimes something like that leads to motivation, which could explain the Mavs great regular season. But who really knows what's going on inside the Mavs' players' heads other than the Mavs? Definitely not Sam Smith.

Smith's final point is one I disagree with to a point. The Spurs can play the Mavs game. The Spurs can play the Suns game. The Spurs can play any team's game. They are one of the very few teams in the league with the personnel to excel at any style of play. But they play the best when they control the pace and play the game under their circumstances. Just ask the Phoenix Suns.

I think that the Mavs can play the Spurs game. After all, who knows more about the Spurs game better than Avery Johnson, who guided the team to its first NBA championship? The problem is, the Mavs can't play the Spurs game as well as the Spurs.

Smith's only criticism of Popovich was that he had the Spurs play the Mavs game during the series instead of the other way around. The Spurs had no choice. The Spurs won championships forcing teams to play their style of play and play big because they had two dominant seven-footers in the paint to stop the ball at the rim.

In last year's Spurs-Mavericks series, the center combination of Rasho Nesterovic and Nazr Mohammed was so ineffective that Avery Johnson and the Mavs were able to play a smaller lineup featuring two point guards. Had Nesterovic and Mohammed produced at all during the series, we would probably be weighing the Spurs' chances at winning three NBA titles in a row.

But because Nesterovic and Mohammed couldn't produce, the Mavs went small. When the Mavs smaller guys produced and the Spurs' centers couldn't, the Spurs were forced to go small. When the Spurs went small they couldn't protect the rim as well because Tim Duncan didn't want to get into foul trouble (because he was the Spurs' biggest offensive threat).

This gave the Mavericks easier opportunities to score in the lane and rendered the Spurs' defense much less effective than it is when there are two big men in the lane. And that, in essence, was the series. The fact that the Spurs took it to a game seven and were in a position to win that game, only to lose in overtime, should be a victory in itself.

If Fabricio Oberto and Francisco Elson can protect the rim and rebound the basketball in the playoffs this year you can expect the Spurs to win their fourth NBA Championship this summer and prove Sam Smith right, but for completely different reasons than he'll give you.

Wake Me Up When April Ends

I've had better days. I think I broke my foot playing basketball, but I'm tough and I'm fairly positive I can post with pain.

All I want right now is for the playoffs to start. This is bar-none the worst part of the regular season right now. The good teams are starting to rest their players. The bad teams are resting their players in hopes of getting a worse record so they can have better odds at getting one of the top two picks in this summer's draft.

The only exciting stuff going on right now is the race for the eighth playoff spot in the West and the jockeying between Denver and the Lakers for the sixth and seventh seeds.

As of tonight, before any games have started, Golden State holds the last playoff spot. The Clippers are just half a game behind them and New Orleans/OKC just a game back.

Personally, I'd like to see the Warriors hold onto the eighth spot. They would end up playing Dallas in the first round and, besides the Suns, nobody has played the Mavericks better than Golden State. They have beaten Dallas in both of their games so far this season, with a third scheduled for the 17th of this month.

In the two spots ahead of Golden State, the Nuggets currently sits in at the sixth spot and the Lakers are in the seventh spot. The Lakers are a game and a half back of Denver.

In their current positions, the Nuggets would end up facing the Spurs in the first round and the Lakers would play the Suns. I think everybody (me included) would rather see a first round matchup between the Nuggets and Suns.

The speed that these two teams have on floor would make for a very entertaining game. Who wouldn't want to watch two future Hall-Of-Famers in Steve Nash and Allen Iverson (and possibly Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire) go at each other for seven games. These are two of the fastest guys in the league; guys who never seem to slow down. Sounds like can't miss games to me.

I also think it would be more competitive than if the Suns played the Lakers, despite the seven game series the two teams had in last year's playoffs. Both teams styles of play make for an easily watchable series.

I think a matchup between the Lakers and Spurs would be a better series then the Spurs taking on the Nuggets. It also has an outside shot at reviving the on-life-support Lakers-Spurs rivalry of the early years of this century. A rivalry that all but died when Shaq was traded to the Heat. But it probably won't revive it, it might just bury it for good. Buy hey, we'll never know until it happens, right?

These teams also have styles of play that would matchup well and make for great basketball to watch. The Lakers and Spurs played one of the better games I watched this season when the Spurs beat the Lakers 96-94 in overtime on January 28th in L.A.

Me being in favor of a Spurs-Lakers first round series has nothing to do with my personal bias' (amazingly), I am just thinking which matchups would be more competitive and better for the fans to watch. Honestly.

As for the Eastern Conference playoff races, well, no one cares.

The Suns Own the Mavericks, The Spurs Own the Suns

The Spurs beat the Suns 92-85 last night in the late game on TNT. Watching the game, the Spurs dominated the pace of the game. Holding a team that leads the league in scoring at 110 points per game to 85 points is impressive.

The win by the Spurs brings the within two games of the Suns in the standings and home court advantage in the second round series between the two teams, if both teams get out of the first.

Steve Kerr brought up a good point last night when talking about home court advantage. Kerr said that even though both of these teams are great road teams, they want to have game seven if, should the series go that far, on their home floor.

Speaking of Kerr, he is easily one of my favorite color guys in the game. At the house I was at last night, I refused to let them turn on music over the game because I enjoyed hearing what Kerr had to say.

I'm very excited for the playoffs in the Western Conference to see how it comes down between the Suns, Spurs, and Dallas Mavericks. The Eastern Conference? Not so much....

Word just came out that Texas A&M head coach Billy Gillispie just took the head coaching job at Kentucky.

This is a big blow for Texas A&M, who was one of the up-and-coming programs in college basketball. I imagine after losing Gillispie, they will fall back to mediocrity in college basketball and return to being a football school.

For Kentucky, this is great. Gillispie has that great combination of being a talented recruiter and coach. Most of the great programs in college basketball have coaches are only good recruiters. But with Gillispie they get both and I imagine that they will be back in the Final Four in a couple of years.

Agent 0 M.I.A.

It's a shame to see that Gilbert Arenas' season is over. Arenas has been one of the best stories in the NBA so far this season.

From his anger over getting dropped from Team USA this summer and his subsequent decision to burn every team with a coach on that staff, to the YouTube clip of his shooting contest against DeShawn Stevenson for 20 grand, the trampoline dunk during a timeout in the All-Star game, his $10 bets with fans sitting courtside, and his numerous game-winners; Arenas has not just been a bright spot for the league this year, he's been the sun.

Arenas tore his meniscus last night in a loss to the Bobcats. He didn't start the game after being late to the team's morning shootaround and in his first minute in the game, Gerald Wallace went up for a layup and came down on Arenas' knee.

The news today is that Arenas needs surgery and is going to be out 2-3 months. With the injury to Caron Butler and now Arenas, I think it's safe to say that the Wizards will be an early exit in the playoffs. Antawn Jamison is a talented player, but not one with a reputation for carrying a team to the promised land.

Stranger things have happened though.

Big game in the NBA tonight when the Spurs take on the Phoenix Suns. With the Suns winning their last two games against the Mavericks, things are getting very interesting in the Western Conference playoff picture.

Keep It Moving

The Florida Gators are the 2007 National Champions. I predicted Ohio State to win, and I was wrong. Sounds about right.

Greg Oden did have a monster game, which was awesome to see. Or in my case, read about later on that night (stupid work!). Corey Brewer, who always reminded me of Josh Howard (mostly because they're both tall for guards and extremely skinny) and I always thought had the most pro-potential out of that Florida group, played really well throughout the tourney.

So to sum it up, FLA back-to-back. Very impressive.

Greg Oden may not have won a national championship or the MOP, but he's a winner in my book. As you can tell by the pic.

With the college season over the NBA playoffs are coming up. Which means we will have roughly six more months of basketball on our hands before the offseason.

What's that? The playoffs don't last that long? Sure seems like it. Either way, the fun doesn't stop now, it's just the beginning.

Work Sucks

Everybody seems to be picking Florida to win tonight. The game tips off in about fifteen minutes and I still have Ohio State winning. I am expecting big things from the Buckeyes tonight, especially Greg Oden. But anyone who reads this blog regularly knows I always expect big things.

But despite my predictions and what I expect, I won't even be able to watch the game tonight. That's right, I'm stuck at work, trying to keep the bills paid. I can't wait until I get paid to watch basketball and write about it.

My final score prediction is 73-67. That's what my bracket says at least. And speaking of my bracket, I am in first place in both of my brackets. And that means if, I mean when, Ohio State wins tonight, I will have finally dominated a March Madness pool for the first time in my life. I should have wagered some money. Enjoy the game, I wish I could.

Is It Saturday Night Yet?

Two posts in one day? I'm as shocked as you are. Actually, after my Greg Oden post earlier, I felt the need to type out some random thoughts like I usually do. So let's get it.

• I can't explain how excited I am for the Final Four tomorrow. I'm actually considering skipping my friends' toga party tomorrow night to watch the game. Well, maybe not skip, but at least show up late.
• When David Stern first instituted the rule saying players had to be one year removed from their high school graduating class to enter the NBA, I was skeptical to say the least. No more. I have loved watching the tournament so far this year, especially the later rounds, and I have no one to thank but the Don. I hope every tournament from now on is this competitive with this much star-power.
• I love how whenever people mention high school senior Kevin Love, who is headed to UCLA next year, they feel the need to emphasize his outlet pass. I understand that outlet passing is even more of a lost art than the mid-range jumpshot, but still, it makes me smile.
• Okay, just watched some highlights of Love on YouTube. Yeah, his outlet pass is pretty impressive. Moving on.
• I read the New York Times article on O.J. Mayo and his "recruitment" to USC. It took me a few days to figure out what I thought about it and I don't think I'll be able to explain it all in a short bullet point. I think it needs a post all to itself. (Note: you may have to register to view the article, so check out BugMeNot.com)
• With all of the teams in the NBA who have no hope at making the playoffs doing their best to unintentionally tank the season, I'm waiting for someone to come out and do it without denying it or showing any remorse. The Bucks came close the other night when Michael Redd was shooting 14-18 through three quarters and then they sat him down for the first nine minutes of the fourth quarter and refused to pass him the ball down the stretch in losing to the Mavs. One team should just shut down the rest of their talented players for the rest of the season and call up as many NBDL players as they can. See if that will draw a fine. That would say more to Kevin Durant and Greg Oden that we want you to come out now and play for us than sitting and having small talk with one of their moms.

This post was a lot more than random thoughts. Whatever, I can't wait for the Final Four.

Greg Oden > You

The more I think about it, the more convinced I get. Greg Oden is going to be one of the top-5 centers of all-time.

I can't really put my finger exactly on why, but nonetheless the feeling is there. The last player we saw in the college level with his combination of skill, potential, and mentality was Tim Duncan.

He turned out to be a little more than a bust right?

But here comes the scary part about that analogy. Greg Oden is taller than Tim Duncan. Greg Oden is better at a younger age than Tim Duncan was. Greg Oden is more athletic than Tim Duncan was. And last but not least, Greg Oden is meaner than Tim Duncan.

I think that last part says it all right there. Sam Rubenstein from SLAM summed it up best last week when he said, "He is a throwback to when the big man was mean and intimidating."

Tim Duncan isn't mean and intimidating and he turned out alright. Why does Oden need to be then to succeed? Well, he doesn't. He'd be just fine if he didn't.

But can you imagine seeing Tim Duncan with a mean streak? Can you see him going down four or five times in a row and punishing the other team, physically and otherwise?

You never will, because it's not in his game; it's not in his personality. But it's in Oden's. I can see it. And with that, I can see almost unlimited potential.

I am a little biased towards the big man. I myself played in the post when I played. I grew up idolizing Hakeem Olajuwan, David Robinson, and Tim Duncan. The player I respect the most in NBA history (well, second to David Robinson that is) is Bill Russell.

Because of those things I want to see Oden succeed. I want Ohio State to win the national title on Monday and Oden to get the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. I hope that he leaves after this year and enters the NBA.

Call me boring, but I want to see him get drafted by the Boston Celtics. In my opinion the Celtics have the best jerseys in all of sports and seeing Oden in a Celtics uniform will conjure up classic images of Bill Russell.

Will the titles Russell won come with those images? Probably not. But Oden is a surefire franchise player and multiple titles are not out of the question. New rules aside, winning titles begins and ends with a dominant big man and Greg Oden is the next great one.

Now that I think about it, I wouldn't mind seeing him jump ship to play for the Spurs when his rookie deal expires.

I'm Never Really Asleep Cuz Only One Eye's Closed

I haven't posted in a while, and frankly, I haven't had time. Well, that's a lie. I have had time but I've been really busy and I just haven't had the motivation to post. I have been taking care of somethings that might really enhance this blog, so keep your fingers crossed on that.

I am delighted to tell you that my NCAA tournament bracket is healthy. I was planning on taking a picture of me lighting my bracket on fire and posting it up here, but my bracket looks good. I picked three out of four of the final four teams with only UCLA not there and both of my national championship teams are alive.

Speaking of sports contests that I'm in and get no real benefit from winning, I'm dominating my NBA.com fantasy league and in second place in my Yahoo! fantasy league with a bye in the first round of the playoffs. Who's beating me in my Yahoo! league you ask? Amazingly, my dad. I'm as shocked as you are.

Back to the Final Four though. The more I think about it, the more excited I am. For some reason this Final Four seems amazingly strong. Maybe I don't know what I'm talking about; maybe I've been reading too much Bill Simmons; I don't know, but I'm excited.

My pick is still the Ohio State over Florida in the final. Greg Oden for MOP just because if Ohio State wins the NCAA will feel compelled to give it to him. I won't argue.

I haven't watched a lot of NBA this past week, my guess is I'm subconsciously saving my energy for the playoffs, or LeBron-Jamesing it, because I know I will be watching a ton of basketball when playoffs come around.

Speaking of LeBron, how about his new house? I'm thinking of faxing my résumé over there so maybe I can get a better paying job. Somebody has to work in his bowling alley, right?

That's about all for me tonight. I need more sleep these days.

Growing Up So Fast

Today is March 19, and by my calculations, that means I've been doing this blog for exactly a year now. Exciting stuff isn't it? So in honor of this being this blog's first birthday or one year anniversary or whatever you want to call it, I thought we might look at some of things I said in that first post:

This blog is going to be about basketball first and foremost. I will try to keep details of my personal life out of this blog just as much to maintain my privacy as to not bore you out of your skull. Whenever I feel the need to talk about something in the sport of basketball, I will probably post it here. The majority of these posts will be about the NBA, but occasionally college and other basketball will be discussed.

I think I've done a pretty good job meeting those criteria. I mostly talk about the NBA, I leave most of my personal life out of this, and I post my thoughts about what I see. All in all, an accurate promise.

My goal is to update this blog at least once a week. I am not sure if I will be able to stick to that plan, I have a habit of neglecting things after a while, but I will do my best. On here you will find game notes, articles, editorials, and other basketball news. I will even post links to stories and articles by me and other writers I find of interest.

This is where some of the deceit and lies begin. I honestly try to update the blog at least once a week. My real goal is to post Monday through Friday, but I think we all know that's not going to happen. The best part though is this line : "I have a habit of neglecting things after a while, but I will do my best." Ha! Yeah, I think the entire summer can be attributed to that sentence right there. I have done a pretty good job at posting some different things on here. I haven't done a full game notes in a while though, I should do that sometime soon.

The rest of the post just details some things in my personal life which I had said I wouldn't do right before that. And a little background info on the title of the blog. Good times all around.

Now on to real basketball stuff. The NCAA tournament so far can be described as mediocre at best. The one day where there were good games, I was nowhere to be found. Actually, I was at my sister's apartment playing Wii Sports and rocking out on Guitar Hero 2, so I

Here are some quick thoughts about the weekend in basketball:

• Yeah, Kobe Bryant scored a total of 115 points in two games this weekend, but don't people realize that he did it against the Timberwolves and the TrailBlazers?
• In my bracket, my national champion is still alive. In fact, my Final Four is still alive. In fact, my Elite Eight is still alive. Maybe this actually is a good NCAA tournament.
• How the Spurs follow up a 13 game winning streak in which they played excellent with back to back losses to the Bucks and Celtics, I will never know.
• On second thought, they did lose to the Celtics on St. Patrick's Day.
• There are only six more weeks left in the semester. Just thought you'd want to know.
• I really hope Greg Oden and Kevin Durant both stay in college for another year, just to mess with Memphis and Boston.
• Speaking of Durant, he should still be National POY.
• The NCAA needs a defensive POY. And if they already have it, they need to publicize it more.

That's all for tonight.

NCAA Tournament Day 2

Time to watch the second days games. The first day was rather underwhelming. I enjoyed the VCU-Duke game, mainly because Duke lost. Okay, totally because Duke lost. But no big upsets (because really, we all saw the Duke loss coming) yesterday. Day 2 starts off with Virginia-Albany.

• UVA jumps out to an early 13-2 lead. Not good for Albany.
• Albany almost gets a steal but the ball rolls out to a UVA player who drains a three. 19-2.
• Nike's Second Coming commercial still hasn't gotten old. I've got the song on my mp3 player. They should just have that song as the background music for every commercial.
• Back to back Albany buckets and now it's 21-9. But J.R. Reynolds for UVA answers back with a three. He's 4 of 4. 24-9.
• 5 of 5.
• 6 of 6. 29-11. Timeout Albany.
• 7 of 7. And just so you know, we're barely halfway through the first half.
• Both teams just trade baskets back and forth. It's 40-21 with three and a half minutes left in the half. No jokes to be found.
• I think every team in division 1 is required to have one shaggy-haired white kid who's only tall enough to play point guard, sits at the end of the bench in his long-sleeve warm-up top, and be the first player out on the court to slap high fives with everybody as they come off the court for timeouts.
• J.R. Reynolds has 23 at halftime for UVA who's up 45-25 at halftime. I'm going to the Georgia Tech-UNLV game to watch Thaddeus Young play.
• It's 25-14 late in the first half of this game, and there is hardly anybody in the crowd. What a waste of good seats.
• I just realized I don't know what Thaddeus Young looks like or what his number is.
• Just googled it, he's number 33. Now I know.
• GT was down by 14 buy they're climbing back in it by getting fouled and hitting freethrows. Note to everybody, that's how you get back into games.
• Halftime of that game with UNLV up 31-25, can't watch North Texas play Memphis, so it's time to go back to UVA-Albany, which is still at halftime.
• Lunch break. Left-over spaghetti.
• Just tuned into GT-UNLV again and it's tied at 40 with 15 mins left. Finally a good game.
• UNLV stretches it back out to a seven point lead, 55-48 with 7 mins left.
• Jeremis Smith, beastin'. Just like he did in high school. He got a tip-dunk to bring the Yellow Jackets within three, 55-52.
• Haven't seen much from Thaddeus Young yet, I'm hoping this will be the reverse-jinx.
• Right after I type that last sentence he air-balls a jumper from the freethrow line.
• First final of day 2, Virgina beats Albany 84-57. And the peasants rejoiced.
• UNLV gets bucket and a phantom foul off an inbounds play with 1:11 left to go up 61-59.
• GT turns it over on the other end with a 5-second call.
• Gaston Essengue for UNLV hits two freethrows to put UNLV up 4, 63-59 with 35 seconds left. Weird, I played against him in junior college. I forgot he transferred to UNLV.
  
• And UNLV holds on to win 67-63. Meh.

You know what, I'm tired of blogging. I'm done, I'm just going to watch the games for the rest of the day and possibly weekend. Adios.

NCAA Tournament Day 1

Some random notes during the first day of the NCAA tournament:

• Stephen Curry really impressed me during Davidson's first round game against Maryland. If you watched the game, you were beaten over the head with the fact that he is the son of former Hornets sharpshooter Dell Curry.
• Curry (the younger) was impressive with his obviously good shooting stroke, excellent passing, and big-game swagger. Watching him play I could hear Mike D'Antoni in Phoenix salivating. He's just the 10th leading scorer in college basketball, with a game that his perfect for his Suns' system, and oh yeah, he's a freshman.
• Speaking of Curry having an NBA dad, how come every time we watch a player whose parent, sibling, or other relative is a former star athlete, we are reminded of that fact whenever possible? How many casual basketball fans have actually heard of Dell Curry? I have, but I'm a nerd when it comes to things like that. I should know. But casual fans watching the tournament, if he didn't make at least one All-Star team, they don't care.
• I watched a little bit of Louisville's shellacking of Stanford and there was one thing I noticed, there has been talk of Stanford center Brook Lopez being a top 10 pick, but from what I saw, he was owned by David Padgett. I understand that Padgett is a junior and Lopez is just a freshman, but still. I need to see a lot more than someone playing well in the severely disappointing Pac-10 for them to be considered a top 10 pick, especially in this draft.
• It's a shame Davidson lost, they were fun to watch. They played very fast paced and played hard, but ultimately they got tired and Maryland pulled away.
• After the first wave of games (3 games) my bracket is perfect. I'm pretty sure I just jinxed myself.
• Next up: Belmont vs. Georgetown. Jay Bilas is commentating on this game. This won't be annoying or anything.
• While Verne Lundquist and Jay Bilas talk about Georgetown coach John Thompson III, a graphic comes up showing his record and the camera cuts to...the security guard. Well, he's black, so at least they got that part right.
• Bilas mentions that one of the players for Belmont can "hit an open shot if you give it to him." I'm pretty sure that 95% of the players in the tournament can do that too, but thanks for the expert analysis.
• Jeff Green = nice. And I mean that in the way New Yorkers use it.
• Georgetown center Roy Hibbert is a good passer out of the double.
• Actually, Hibbert is just a good passer, period.
• Jeremiah Rivers? Great, another kid with an NBA dad. (Doc Rivers if you couldn't guess)
• Georgetown starting to build a lead. Probably because they're playing Hickory High School, sans Jimmy Chitwood.
• Jay Bilas just said Belmont coach Rick Bird "likes to take you back door after timeouts." I feel violated.
• Looking at Georgetown's gray jerseys, I couldn't help but think that they should all be wearing the white/gray Air Jordan XIX's. Why? I don't know.
  
• Andrew Preston for Belmont looks like Dennis from It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia.
• "He's a scratch golfer and that one scratched his nerves." Verne Lundquist should be fired.
• Halftime of GU-Belmont, so I'm going to Oral Roberts-Washington State. James Brown is doing commentary? The Godfather of NFL Pregame Shows is working overtime at CBS.
• Oral Roberts has a guard named Ken Tutt. Awesome.
• Oral-Wazzu is boring. I wish I could turn to Texas A&M-Penn, but I can't because of local blackout rules and whatnot.
• Vealy, Tutt, Liberty, Oral Roberts has got some great last names.
• Wazzu has made as many baskets as Oral Roberts has shots taken so far in the second half (11/17 to 5/11), not good.
• Kyle Weaver (Wazzu) just smashed on somebody on Oral Roberts.
• With Wazzu up 55-47, I'm going back to GU-Belmont.
• GU swings the ball away from Hibbert, probably just to mess with him.
• Hibbert is Rick Rossin'. (Hustlin')
• GU is dominating. I'm moving to Old Dominion-Butler.
• Thank God for March Madness on Demand. I'd be pissed if I had to miss all these games because of work. Instead, I'm getting paid while I'm watching them.
• The best part of the first round is that there are too many teams playing for CBS to do the cheesy puff pieces already.
• Butler "makin' it rain" and pulling away from ODU.
• I just looked at the scoreboard and apparently Texas A&M is now losing to Penn. They've been outscored 21-6 in the 2nd half so far. No good can come of this.
• George Washington-Vanderbilt. Two schools named after dead white guys.
• GW's coach looks like a black Hannibal Lecter.
• I've got GW upsetting Vandy in the first round. Why? Because George Washington could kick Cornelius Vanderbilt's ass any day.
• If you don't have an angle from the block to the rim in the post, please shoot a hook shot. Please.
• A player for Vandy's last name is Skuchas (pronounced scoo-ches). I feel a Jay and Silent Bob reference coming.
• Vandy up 13-2 early.

Time to go home. I'm done with notes for today. Time to just enjoy the games.

March Badassness

I watched probably the best basketball game of the season so far last night when the Suns beat the Mavericks in double overtime. Everybody and their step-mother has already written about it today, I'll just say that it was everything it was expected to be and leave it at that.

There was one thing I was thinking during the game though. Whenever Phoenix gets scored on, they take the ball out of bounds and head up court immediately. They are obviously the fastest team in the league at going from defense to offense, thanks mostly to Steve Nash.

My thought was this: why don't teams try to slow down the Suns by pressuring the inbound pass off of a score? The man closest to the inbounds pass could pressure the ball. I'm not talking a full-court press, I'm just talking about something to slow down that inbounds pass to give you a chance to set up your defense before the Suns get down on offense.

I don't know, I'm not an NBA coach, obviously, but it's just a thought.

The NCAA tournament starts today, actually, I'm watching the Maryland-Davidson game on-demand as we speak. I'll have my thoughts on the first day posted late tonight or tomorrow morning. Not that they really matter, it just keeps me entertained.

Who's my pick to win? My bracket has the Ohio State University beating Florida in the finals, so by my calculations that means neither of those teams will make it past the Sweet Sixteen.

I saw 300 a couple of nights ago. Awesome movie. It's badass level was pretty much off the charts. One thought I had throughout the movie was that it was good to see John Amaechi get a start in movies:



Oh boy, I'm going to hell, no more gay jokes. Enjoy the tournament.

Madness

I'm on spring break right now, so things have finally died down. I actually have free time that I'm not spending asleep. I was able to watch a ton of college basketball this weekend but not much NBA. In my opinion, as far as basketball goes, this is probably the best time of the year. The conference tournaments and NCAA tournament in the college ranks and the stretch run before the playoffs in the NBA. It doesn't get much better than that.

I watched a lot of the Big 12 tournament mostly just to watch Kevin Durant play. The more I watch of him, the more impressed by him I am. He can score in pretty much any way. If he gets a look at the rim, chances are good that the shot is going in. He has a little trouble getting the ball sometimes, I think that's partly due to his lack of strength, but that's his main offensive weakness. That and his ability to set-up his teammates. I know he's not a point guard, but I haven't seen him make many plays for his teammates.

I got to watch some of Greg Oden this weekend also. Though he's not as spectacular to watch as Durant, I think if I was starting a team, I would go with Oden over Durant. I think it's better to build a team around a player like Oden than it is a player like Durant.

But what it really comes down to in the draft this year, assuming both leave college for the NBA, is the team you have right now. If the Celtics get the first pick, they should take a Durant. They've got a good low post presence with Al Jefferson. But if Memphis gets the first pick, I believe they should take Oden. They don't have a strong low post presence and pairing Oden with Pau Gasol would automatically give Memphis one of the best front courts in the league.

It all comes down to who you have on your team, how long you're going to have those guys around, and what style of play you are going to play as to who you draft first, Oden or Durant. But number don't lie, and dominant centers win more NBA championships than dominant swingmen, unless your name is Michael Jordan.

I Need A Vacation

Things have been busy the last week or so, and the first half of this week looks to be no different. I wasn't able to catch much basketball last week. I caught the Spurs playing the Magic last Friday as well as some of the Nuggets game on ESPN, but off the top of my head, I can't think of who they played. Whatever. I also saw a little of bit of the Spurs-Rockets game Saturday night. Other than that, nada. Hopefully in a couple of days things will slow down a bit and I'll get to relax and watch some basketball. Hopefully. By then I think I'll be in spring break mode.

Second Half Spurs

I don't really have time to post much tonight, got a busy week, but I just wanted to talk about the Spurs (what else is new?) for a second. They are now on a six game winning streak and are playing their best basketball of the season at the time they usually start to pick it up going into the playoffs.

The Spurs have always been a second half team and this year appears to be no different. I have believed throughout the year that the Spurs have been coasting through the season for the most part, even though I have been concerned with the way they have been playing, and are only getting ready for the playoffs. I think it's a safe bet to assume the road to the Finals in the west goes through San Antonio, again.

Something To Look Forward To?

The general attitude around the league today is not very good. With a trade deadline that had so much promise to be interesting a dud and the passing yesterday of Celtics great Dennis Johnson, today isn't the best day the NBA's had.

A lot of people were hoping that their teams would make a move or two to put themselves in better position to make a push for or through the playoffs, but for the most part there was disappointment.

Of the three deals that went down yesterday, none put a team in any better position. In my opinion, the only teams who the trade deadline really helped yesterday were the top teams. They don't have to worry about another team instantly getting better based on one move.

That means there probably won't be a lot of surprises the rest of the way. A coaching change could spark a team like it did for the Nuggets two seasons ago when they hired George Karl and went 32-8 the rest of the season. They eventually lost to the Spurs in the first round of the playoffs (the Spurs by the way went on to win the title that year).

And of course some teams could put together the pieces that they have a find a groove, much like the Nuggets have the potential to do this year with Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson playing together and even the Warriors with the new players the acquired after the 8 player trade earlier this season. These teams could find a rhythm and raise hell in the playoffs.

I expect things to stay pretty much the same the rest of the way though. The playoffs are where things are going to change, but until then, just enjoy what you see. R.I.P. Dennis Johnson.

Blogging the Trade Deadline

I'm going to try something new today. Since I'm here in my recliner in my living room watching the latest news on the trade deadline, I thought I'd live blog everything going on. So here we go:

12:09 - Stephen A. Smith is on Cold Pizza right now talking about the latest news. To sum up what he's saying, not much is going on.

12:11 - ESPN.com already has the news that the Hawks picked up Anthony Johnson from the Mavs for this summer's second round pick. Also, Portland has agreed to send Juan Dixon to the Raptors for Freddie Jones.

12:15 - Just read this from Chad Ford's live chat: Just talked to Kidd's agent, Jeff Schwartz, on my Daily Dish podcast. You can listen to the link from the ESPN.com NBA front page. He's saying that Kidd will be wearing a Nets uniform tomorrow. Sorry Laker fans.

12:26 - Because ESPN won't give me any special coverage of the trade deadline, I'm forced to scour the Internet for news. Not that that's a bad thing, I just don't like watching Cold Pizza. Thanks ESPN!

12:40 - No new news, and no television coverage, so I'm popping in Gangs of New York.

12:52 - It looks like Mike James is really close to going to Houston. Apparently for Bob Sura. I hope there's a draft pick involved in there somewhere.

1:00 - An hour until the deadline, and other than the two deals mentioned earlier, nothing else is official. Apparently the Cavs are still going hard after Mike Bibby and the Lakers are still trying to find a way to get Kidd without giving up Andrew Bynum.

1:16 - Nothing. I wish I had phone lines to work, but I don't.

1:36 - Still nothing. This has the potential to be one of the worst trade deadlines ever. Which is a shame because so many big names have been mentioned in the days leading up to today.

1:48 - About 10 minutes to go and Yahoo! says Bibby won't be traded, nor Pau Gasol.

2:01 - Trade deadline has passed. We'll find out in the next ten minutes if any deals went down right at the wire.

2:19 - Nothing. I would imagine that if any deals went down at the deadline, they would've been announced by now. I think I can call it a day. Hopefully next year there will be more activity.

A Couple More Things

Before I forget, there are a couple more things I want to talk about.

First, why is ESPN, on the day of the trade deadline in the NBA, having no special coverage about it? Don't they do that during baseball's trade deadline? Football's trade deadline is of no importance, but basketball's is.

Why are they showing NFL Live at three in the afternoon tomorrow, the exact time of the trade deadline? At a time when the NFL season is over and there is nothing going on, they're going to devote a half hour to talking about NFL news!

Instead they could be having some sort of half hour to hour long NBA special featuring any number for their talking heads discussing the trade deadline. Give me something! This is why the NBA is horrible at NBA coverage and should never be allowed to broadcast another game. Ever. David Stern should be ripping up that contract the NBA signed with ESPN and giving NBC their coverage back.

Second, I read somewhere that Pat "Nagaina" Riley admitted that he wouldn't have taken a leave of absence from the team if they had been playing better. What?!?!?!?!?!?!?! Are you serious? I'm not sure if this is true, but I'm going to look into it.

If it is, I will no longer have any respect for him. Ever. I don't care how many NBA championships you have, you don't quit on your team only to come back and try and steal the glory for yourself. Trust me, there's more to come on this.

Christmas in February

That's what the trade deadline is like. For someone who has more fun simulating seasons and doing all the offseason stuff in the Franchise mode of the Madden games, the trade deadline gets me all hot and bothered. Just kidding. Sort of.

I'm seriously considering skipping my 12:30 political science class tomorrow in order to keep track on all the goings on in the NBA, even though I have a five page paper due.

Do I know who's going to be moved and to where? Nope, I don't. I still the think the Beno Udrih to the Cavs for Anderson Varejao trade should happen. But I've also been hearing for quite a while from a friend who works for the Spurs a trade involving Udrih and Brent Barry to the Clippers for Corey Maggette.

Odds are neither of them happen, but it's still fun to discuss and think about what your team would be like if one of these moves happen. It's part of being a fan. Let's hope something interesting happens.

Now about that political science paper....

Fixing The Spurs

With the Spurs sitting in fourth place in the Western Conference right now and the Mavericks continuing to distance themselves in the Southwest Division, the Spurs need to do something by Thursday's trade deadline if they are going to challenge the Mavs and the Suns.

The Spurs obviously want to trade Beno Udrih. He's a very talented player, but Gregg Popovich is not happy with his toughness. I read a rumor this morning that the Cleveland Cavaliers are interested in Udrih.

It would make sense for the Cavs because of their lack of consistency at the point guard position. Eric Snow is aging rapidly and can't shoot and Daniel Gibson is still just an inexperienced rookie. Trading for Udrih would give them a solid point guard going into the playoffs.

Who would the Spurs get in return? If the Spurs are going to trade Udrih to the Cavs, they'd better get Anderson Varejao in return. Varejao is just 24 years old and provides a nice spark off the bench much like Manu Ginobili is currently doing.

His youth and energy would provide the perfect change of pace for when Tim Duncan comes out of the game. Robert Horry just doesn't have the legs that he used to and would be better suited to playing more limited minutes until playoff time.

The only problem with Varejao coming to the Spurs would be how he would fit in when Matt Bonner comes back from injury. But his athleticism and energy would be perfect coming off the bench for the Spurs and he would be the best defender they could throw at Dirk Nowitzki outside of Bruce Bowen in the playoffs.

For the sake of all Spurs fans out there R.C. Buford, make it happen. ESPN's Trade Machine says it would work.

Tired, So Tired

Yeah, I'm exhausted, and I didn't even go to Vegas. Unfortunately. The worst part about not going to Vegas for the All-Star game is reading everybody's stories on what they did in Vegas. It almost hurts inside. Basically, I really wish I went to Vegas this weekend. I really, really wish I went to Vegas this weekend.

It's probably a good thing though. Because I didn't have a wild weekend and I'm still dragging. I'm really not sure why I'm posting anything tonight, because the truth of the matter is there is not much going on today. ESPN and SLAM and everyone else has their recaps of All-Star weekend and their previews of the final third of the regular season. Me? I don't know what I have. Maybe I should just do a combination of the both.

I'll just say that the actual game was pretty lame. The Slam Dunk Contest was decent but could've been better. I missed Chuck vs. Dick but caught it on YouTube tonight. That, along with the East practice featuring the dance-off between Shaq, LeBron and Dwight(He deserves to go by just one name by now right?), and pretty much anything Gilbert Arenas did this weekend were definitely the highlights.

So where do we go from here? Eventually, the playoffs. First we've got the trade deadline coming up on Thursday, which is intriguing considering there are some big names being thrown around like Pau Gasol, Jason Kidd and to a lesser extent, Kevin Garnett.

But I would really be surprised to see any of those guys moved especially considering some of what is being offered in return for some of them. To put it this way, I could give the Nets more for Kidd than what I've heard is being offered for him.

Plus with his personal baggage that's being thrown around in the media right now and the fact that the Nets will get a (potentially) healthy Richard Jefferson in a few weeks, I'd be surprised to see him moved.

But then again, I have absolutely no sources whatsoever. I'm just thinking out loud, er, online. Anyway, I expect the trade deadline to be like the All-Star game, a lot of hype but in the end nothing special. I hope I'm wrong.

We'll start to see which teams turn it on to close out the season and which teams start to fade away. I'm wondering if the Mavericks are going to start to get burnt out. I haven't been keeping track of how Avery Johnson has been taking care of his main guys' minutes, but it's something to definitely keep an eye on.

What I'm coming to is that the rest of the way out is where things get really interesting. I expect to be up late many nights the rest of the season trying to say up and catch the west coast games. Especially since now TNT will be showing Tuesday games along with their usual Thursday lineup. The games start up again tomorrow.

All-Star Game Notes, 2nd Half

Here's the second half notes:

• Halftime show: What's with having people all around the stage on the floor. They do that for the Super Bowl halftime show too. We should just ban halftime shows. Or I could just turn the channel. Too lazy.

• Second half starts up. Finally.

• Amare Stoudemire with a backwards layup. Don't wanna say reverse because it wasn't, he was just backwards.

• TNT shows a graphic saying Eddie Jordan is a native Washingtonian. Don't know how to respond to that one.

• Craig Sager is doing some sort of Jeep Wrangler commercial/promo thing. Why is the Jeep black? Why can't it match his suit? That's just laziness on the part of Jeep.

• Gabrielle Union, SMOKING. Had to be in caps.

• Pick and roll with KOBE! and Amare, nice lob for the layup.

• Steve Kerr just said "fivesome." Hehe.

• Carmelo backing down Richard Hamilton. Hamilton keeps putting his hand on Melo's back and Melo keeps swatting it away. Reminds me of the beginning of Above The Rim where Shep is playing on the rooftop against Nutso. Can't wait for Rip to jump off the Thomas & Mack Center.

• Great pass from Chauncey Billups to Caron Butler, but Butler can't finish.

• Shawn Marion with a nice windmill dunk all alone. Full extension and he nailed the landing. 10's all around, even the Russian judge.
  

• These Sprite LeBron James subliminal message commercials are trippy. I think I need to bum some of those shrooms from the Gonzaga players to understand them.

• Milk carton: Defense.

• Eddie Jordan is upset with the East's defense? This is the same guy who coaches the Wizards right?

• While being interviewed by David Aldridge on the bench, Gilbert Arenas wonders aloud if Caron Butler can make a layup. As long as I wasn't the only one.

• 119-88 West after three. I'm starting to lose interest.

• Tony Parker on his wedding, "Eva's doing all the work, I'm just going to show up and say yes." Classic.

• Dwyane Wade spin, fade-away, off the glass. Sick.

• KOBE! still gunning for the MVP and I think he's got it.

• 4 minutes left and it's 140-117 West. This game's over. I can only hope for some nice highlights the rest of the way.

• That Nike Second Coming commercial still hasn't gotten old yet.

• KOBE! with an emphatic dunk to finish it off and put the MVP on lock. 152-132 West. Anticlimactic is an understatement.

• I think David Stern uses the phrase "One star that was brighter than them all" every year when he hands out the MVP.

That's the game. I'm tired, pretty not as tired as the people in Vegas, but tired nonetheless. I'm out.

All-Star Game Notes, 1st Half

Here's some notes on the first half of the NBA All-Star Game:

• Wes Unseld Jr. looks a bit like Chris Tucker.

• Starting lineups: Tim Duncan looks excited to be there

• KOBE! starts off the scoring

• Dwyane Wade answers back

• KOBE! with a nice dunk and Wade answers right back, finishing off an oop

• I hope Jason Kidd throws a cookie at someone during tonight's game.
  

• 6 minutes in and Dwight Howard throws down a big dunk, I'm kind of expecting him to have a David Lee like night with all his points coming on dunks.

  Next time down Howard misses a short jumper, whatever.

• Carmelo with the jumper, still my MVP pick. Everyone knows he should have been voted in as a starter and definitely should have been picked as a reserve, but it took the commish to get him on the roster. I think all the players on the west are going to make an effort to get him the ball so he can make a push for MVP.

• Lebron, air-ball, sit down.

• Memo Okur's goatee looks like a chinstrap.

• Vince Carter spins and dunks in the lane, nice, he should do that more often. Just one man's opinion though.

• Tony Parker with the short jumper over Dwight Howard, I'm surprised that didn't get swatted into the fourth or fifth row.

• 39-31 West after 1.

• That Dwyane wade Gatorade commercial with the heads over each of his shoulders is great. Just letting you know.

• Ray Allen, wet.

• Rip Hamilton streaking down the court gets a good pass from teammate Chauncey Billups for a dunk.

• Ray Allen, wet again.

• Shaq misses a dunk, gets it back, dunks it, then kisses Tracy McGrady on the side of the head. Literally. Seriously. Gotta love Shaq.

• The west is on fire from behind the arc in the second quarter

• Tony Parker brought his jumpshot with him to Vegas.

• Gotta love Marv Albert and Steve Kerr doing the game. Is there a better announcing team in all of sports?

• Nice give and go in transition between Carmelo and Tony Parker.

• Joe Johnson with a 3 with a minute left in the first half. Good to see him finally find his way on to the team, he deserves it. And I'm not just saying that because he's on my fantasy team. Or am I?

• 79-59 West at the half. KOBE! early front runner for MVP with 18 in the first half. Melo has 12.

Why The Dunk Contest Should Have More Than 4 Guys In It

Seriously, why are there only four guys participating in it? I know it would take longer, but is that really a bad thing? I guess only when it takes someone 10+ tries to finish a dunk.

I wish I could say that I watched all of All-Star Saturday Night, last night, but I didn't. Hadn't seen my sister and her boyfriend in about a month so family responsibilities took precedent. But I did catch the main events of the night though, thanks to Las Vegas traffic apparently.

From what I heard, the Detroit team won the Shooting Stars contest. Wouldn't know, didn't watch it. Unfortunately I missed Dwyane Wade winning the skills challenge. My pick Chris Paul didn't get it done for me.

I did get to catch the Three-Point Shootout and Slam Dunk Contest though. My selecting, Mike Miller, didn't make it out of the first round thanks to Dirk Nowitzki. Agent 0 Gilbert Arenas finished second to Jason Kapono. You'd think that I would pick the guy leading the NBA in three point field goal percentage to win the contest, but no, I over thought it and picked someone else.

The Slam Dunk Contest was where it was at last night though. Tyrus Thomas? Here's your $18,000 check and please go home.

I wholeheartedly believe Dwight Howard got the shaft. Jumping as high as he can and putting that specially made sticker on the backboard was genius. The actual dunk, I'll admit, wasn't that great, but the show he made out of it was great. That is why I love the dunk contest.

One of the things that I also liked about the contest was the judging. Even though Kobe Bryant and Vince Carter should be in the contest as dunkers, not judges, Having some hall of fame dunkers on the panel was great.

I especially liked how stingy the G.O.A.T. was with his scores. It seemed like every time he said, "I can do that, so you only get an 8." But I think he should've given Howard a better score for his second dunk.

Oh yeah, and I picked Gerald Green to win it. The only pick I've gotten right so far this weekend. Watch out for Carmelo tonight though. He's still my pick for MVP. I did hear and interesting theory on Tony Parker for MVP because of the lack of point guards for the West tonight.

Once again, TNT did a great job with the coverage the entire night. I'm near depression right now because I missed Charles Barkley's race with Dick Bavetta, but I'll get over it. Eventually.

Quote of the Night: "That was just like Grandma's Kool-Aid, cuz it was sweeeeeeeeet!" - Kenny Smith

My goal is to take notes on tonight's All-Star game and have them posted tonight or early tomorrow.

I Can Admit When I'm Wrong

While I was sitting here today thinking how awesome it would be if the NBA actually did raise the rim to 12 feet for tonight's Slam Dunk Contest for Dwight Howard, I was remembering back to something I said at the beginning of the season about Darko Milicic. It was a post I wrote as sort of a offseason recap/season preview. Anyway, here's a excerpt:

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.

Oops, maybe I was wrong. Or maybe I was right. About the first part at least, or the middle part. I mean, he had to get at least a couple of votes right? His parents had to have voted for him right? His teammates? Perhaps a significant other? Either way, I was way off.

On The First Night

I was all ready to have a post done after the Rookie-Sophomore game finished last night. Then I got distracted for a moment and all of a sudden I was on my shift on-air at the radio station and I forgot all about doing the post. So I'm going to go ahead and do it first thing in the morning instead.

The sophomores beat the rookies in the Rookie-Sophomore game (just like I predicted!). David Lee won the MVP (not like I predicted!). Lee was 14 of 14 from the field in the game for 30 points, with all of them dunks or layups, and he had 11 rebounds and four assists.

As you could probably tell, defense was not at a premium in this game. I think it went on vacation for the weekend with all the players who didn't make it to All-Star.

As for my MVP pick Danny Granger? 17 points and four rebounds. A pretty good line, but when you consider the sophomores scored 155 points, it kind of diminishes it a bit.

The Rookie-Sophomore game is never really the highlight of All-Star weekend, but it's a good way to kick it off. Saturday is really the meat and potatoes of the weekend, with the Slam Dunk, Three Point, and Skills contests.

One last thing, it made me very happy that the only thing from All-Star weekend that ESPN got the rights to cover was the celebrity game. If you really think about it, it's pretty fitting that that's what ESPN gets to show.

Anyway, good stuff on tonight. I'll try to have another post late tonight or early tomorrow. Peace.