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.

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.

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.