Scals
I call this photo "The Joy of the Human Victory Cigar."

The Detroit Pistons: There aren't any Bad Boys on this Pistons team. Heck, there aren't even any Moderately Rude Boys. (Okay, okay. Rasheed Wallace probably falls into the "moderately rude" category.) Basically, Detroit got pushed around and beaten up by the Celtics last night. You won't see it in the box score, but that's what happened. There was very little defensive toughness and even less in the way of interior defense. The need for Antonio Keithflen McDyess -- yes, his middle name really is Keithflen -- hadn't yet been so obvious and glaring. Rajon Rondo got to the cup at will. Boston got to the boards whenever they wanted. None of the Pistons were able to fight their way through a pick...and Allen Iverson kept getting knocked around like a ping pong ball by them (particularly when KG's butt was involved). Doug Collins said it best: Detroit is now a finesse team. I'm not saying it can't work -- it did against the Lakers and Cavaliers -- but it sure hasn't worked against the Celtics (as two losses by a combined 30 points can attest).

Honestly, I could probably write an entry for most of the Pistons (Rip Hamilton was 4-for-9, Tayshaun Prince was 2-for-9, Walter Hermann looked like Fabio's evil, greasy twin, etc.) But let's just focus in on...

Allen Iverson: He was torched so badly by Rajon Rondo (game-high 18 points, 7-for-11, 8 assists, 3 steals) that he'll probably be penciling in his eyebrows for the next six to eight weeks. It was stunning to see someone as quick as Iverson get beaten so badly off the dribble. He also made several unfortunate gambles for steals that aided and abetted some of the Celtics fast breaks. The 5-for-13 shooting and 4 turnovers didn't help either.

Rodney Stuckey: From AnacondaHL: "Rodney Stuckey was 1 rebound and 2 assists away from a 15 minute +11 suck differential (0-2, 5 TO, 1 BA, 3 PF)! DAMN IT!" Yeah. Remember, Joe Dumars expects Stuckey to be The Next Big Thing in Detroit. I guess the key word there is "Next"...as in "Not Yet."

KG burger
I don't care. I'm saying it: Om nom nom nom

Kevin Harlan: During the game, Harlan was presiding over a 'Sheed Watch, trying desperately to predict when Wallace was going to receive a technical foul...even though it never happened. After one call that didn't go his way, Wallace was calmly discussing the situation with an official when that official signaled that Boston had called a timeout. Harlan then exploded with giddy excitement: "Oh! He just got T'd up!" He sounded quite dejected when he had to explain that the ref had simply been signaling for a timeout.

shaq tongue

Robert Sarver, Steve Kerr and Terry Porter: I've tried to be patient. I've tried really hard not to overreact. But last night, watching the "Suns" play the Lakers, I became filled with a white-hot rage over what these three men have done to a team I used to love. In their desire to remake the Suns into the Phoenix branch of the San Antonio Spurs (a.k.a. Spurs: Part II), they have transformed something magical into something painfully, achingly ordinary. Apparently, they believe that a Shaq-centric offense is still the foundation upon which championships are built. It is not. And I guess they want Steve Nash to become a latter-day Brevin Knight, dutifully distributing the ball to the team's big men, spotting up, and shooting only when necessary or as a last resort. That's like only using your Lamborghini to do the grocery shopping.

Mind you, Porter claims his team is free to run. Selectively. But that's not how he's calling the shots, so when the Suns do run nobody is filling the lanes or spotting up the way they need to. Nash can't drive baseline or get anywhere near the basket -- which used to be the go-to maneuver from which he found many an open shooter or cutter -- because the paint is now chock-full of Shaq (and often times Amare too). Furthermore, Porter has, amazingly, managed to do something no opposing coach has been able to do for four years: Stop the Nash-to-Stoudemire pick-and-roll. Seriously, Sun Tzu used to get four or five dunks/alley-oops per game. Now it feels like ages between slick pass-and-dunks.

I'm officially living a nightmare...watching a once-beautiful thing suddenly become monstrous and ugly. It's like falling asleep next to Scarlett Johansson but waking up next to Alan Greenspan. Do not try to comfort me. I cannot be consoled. Not only is one of my all-time favorite teams dead, I only just realized that I missed the funeral.

By the way, watching the devolution of Nash -- which, make no mistake, has more to do with how the team is being forced to play than his relative athletic senescence -- made something pop into my head. During Steve's second MVP season, I got into a series of rather heated debates with the Kobe-4-MVP crowd. One of the main arguments that kept getting thrown in my face was Kobe's higher PER (28.0 to 23.3). This was supposedly an indicator that Kobe was making a greater overall contribution to his team's success than was Nash. But I've always argued that a player's PER can be deceiving because it is lowered by the increased productivity of a player's teammates. To wit: Do you know what Kobe's PER is this season? It's 23.3 -- the same as Nash's in '06 -- which puts him at 14th in the league...right behind Al Jefferson. Yet I would be willing to bet my collection of brass Larry Bird door knockers that the same people who used the PER argument against me would totally ignore the fact that Dwyane Wade (33.2), LeBron James (33.1), and Chris Paul (32.3) are light years ahead of Kobe in terms of PER this season.

Don't mistake me, here. I'm not even remotely trying to start an MVP debate this early. In fact, I'd punch myself in the groin if I were. I'm just expressing my continued annoyance at the people, and there are still plenty of them, who use PER without context or perspective.

Amare Stoudemire: I don't know whether he's Standing Tall And Talented after scoring 21 points on 21 shots, but he probably shouldn't be. He would be so much better if he could develop one post move. Just one.

The Phoenix "home crowd": Late in the game, the crowd was cheering for the Lakers and somebody tells me that there was an "M-V-P!" chant for Kobe. Dear God.

Pau Gasol: From Basketbawful reader Jordan G: "My eyes are burning out of my sockets, now oozing down my skin. WHAT THE HELL WAS PAU GASOL DOING?! Was I the only person in the entire world who saw Pau Gasol push Matt Barnes face-first into the hardwood while Stoudamire was at at free throw line? Straight up. Fourth grade bully status. And as he ran down the floor you could hear someone yelling out from the crowd "You pushed him!" and he just gave a shoulder shrug like "Yo no do nada, senor." You could almost read Gasol's mind as if he said, "Dude...you're arguing with the guy that got away with the Chinaman face...didn't you see the Chinaman face?" Yeah, I noticed. But I was too busy hating Terry Porter at the time to care.

kobe shaq love

Kobe Bryant: His final line looked pretty decent (24 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists), but he shot 8-for-23 (and 1-for-5 from distance). And, frankly, that percentage was only partly due to the Suns' defense (such as it was). I don't know if Mamba wanted to prove something to Shaq or whether he was having flashbacks to the 2006 playoffs, but he forced up some really TURRIBLE shots last night. Even the broadcast team noticed it. Kobe is currently shooting 44 percent from the field...his worst percentage since 2004-05 (the Lakers' first post-Shaq season). That strikes me as more than a little odd considering how talented the team is. Based on his level of skill and abilities, I would think Kobe should be shooting a much better than that. But, as has always been the case with him, that percentage is often an extension of the kind of shots he takes (read that: forces). Yes, I know he draws a lot of defensive attention, but what superstar doesn't? Even guys without jumpers -- D-Wade (48 percent), LeBron (49 percent) and Chris Paul (50 percent) -- are doing better than that. I'm just sayin'.

Sasha Vujacic: This is belated by a couple days. It's Sasha boning a breakaway layup during the Bulls-Lakers game. Many thanks to the Anonymous commenter who left the link.


Another stupid fan: From Basketbawful reader Alexis: "It's only the first quarter, but I'd like to vote for the guy sitting courtside wearing a Lakers' Shaq jersey. Maybe sit one row back and spend the remaining cash on a current jersey. Get it together." Agreed. He and the "Iverson Who?" fan should get together and have a pajama party. Update! I didn't recognize the fan, but Clifton did: "The guy wearing the Shaq #34 Lakers jersey courtside was Michael Clarke Duncan (picture there). And as far as I'm concerned, if Michael Clarke Duncan wants to wear a two-teams-outdated Shaq jersey, Michael Clarke Duncan can wear a two-teams-outdated Shaq jersey. Sir." Uh, totally agreed.

MCD
Awesome jersey! Love it! Wear it often, sir!

Gilbert Arenas, quote machine: Don't worry, Wizard fans! Gilbert will be back soon to save the day! Or...will he? From Basketbawful's faithful Romanian reader Alex B: "Not sure if you've seen this one yet, but here goes. From Gilbert Arenas' new book, Tanking 101 (via the nba.com website): 'I don't want to see them struggle,' Arenas said Thursday at Madame Tussauds, where his wax figure was unveiled, "but if this is one of those years where we don't make the playoffs or we finish in last place...that's what happened to San Antonio and that's how they got Tim Duncan and look at them now...and that's for the better." Uh, Gil, isn't it a little early to start thinking about tanking? Geez.

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30 Comments:
Blogger Clifton said...
The guy wearing the Shaq #34 Lakers jersey courtside was Michael Clarke Duncan (picture there). And as far as I'm concerned, if Michael Clarke Duncan wants to wear a two-teams-outdated Shaq jersey, Michael Clarke Duncan can wear a two-teams-outdated Shaq jersey. Sir.

'Side from that, I had to work last night, so I didn't get to watch the carnage live. *shrug* Like it's been discussed at length on here... this team is still struggling within itself to figure out which identity it wants to embrace. S'gonna be a long season. Kinda like in my fantasy football league, though, in which everyone makes the playoffs, I'm not concerned with how I do week-to-week (seeing as how I'm 3-8 on the year) so much as I am when the playoffs start. Even if they play this Jekyll & Hyde act all year, they'll still make the playoffs as a middle-of-the-road seed, and maybe by then they'll shake the kinks out.

Maybe.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
I know you tend to stick to the NBA, but I nominate the Texas Tech / East Central game from last night to be part of the WotN. Texas Tech won, 167 - 115. That is not a typo.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=283252641

Run and gun at its finest! Who cares about defense??

Blogger Wild Yams said...
Watching that Lakers-Suns game last night I realized something: the West is no longer the stronger conference in the NBA. You might be able to debate that the top 8 in the West are better than the top 8 in the East, but even that is tough to argue. In my opinion the top teams in the league right now and the ones with really legit title chances are the Celtics, the Pistons, the Cavs and the Lakers. The Lakers pretty well handled everyone in the West last year when all the other teams looked better than they have this year, and now the Lakers look even better so I don't know if anyone's really going to challenge them for the chance to represent the West in the Finals; and every other team in the West suddenly looks pretty average to me (or worse). In the East, however, some of the mediocre teams have come up from last year and the top ones are just as strong as they ever were. It's a shocking turn of events. If prior to the start of last season you'd said that in one year's time the only team in the West that could legitimately be considered an elite team would be the Lakers, nobody anywhere would have believed you.

Kobe played like utter garbage last night and seems to be sliding back into some bad habits he'd eschewed for the first 7 or so games of the year. Maybe it's a learning process where he needs to adjust to having actual good players around him, but I doubt it. Someone needs to slap him and say "look at how good your teammates are - quit driving it one on three and flinging it up there."

I think the Suns' biggest problem right now is the fact that Amare Stoudemire has zero post game (or post defense) whatsoever. Are there any other decent power forwards in the league who don't have a post game? Even Pau Gasol, whom you've dubbed "The Spanish Marshmallow" has a post game despite his, uh, lean physique. How is it that a guy as talented as Amare, who is as explosive as he is and who can shoot out on the perimeter can't put up a jump hook or execute a drop step with his back to the basket? Honestly, if Amare can't develop something like that then I think the Suns need to seriously consider playing Amare at small forward for a couple years, cause a guy who can shoot from the perimeter and prefers to slash to the basket but can't post at all is a small forward and not a power forward.

Kerr & Porter have tried to fashion the Suns into a half-court, post-centric, inside-out type team - and that's fine, that's proven to win championships; but the problem that Phoenix has is that on their entire roster they have only one player who can actually play in the post, and he's almost 37 years old, so he plays limited minutes and skips some games. If the Suns are going to play this kind of ball they have got to have more post players. Period. You can't go inside out if there's no one to go inside to first. I'd say that the Suns need to be sending Amare, Diaw and Lopez to the Big Man's Camp, but Pete Newell isn't with us anymore :(

Blogger starang said...
I almost had to call in for work today after watching my Team fall to Kobe.

I feel your pain basketbawful. I feel your pain.

Blogger Wild Yams said...
By the way, last night Luke Walton hit a three pointer, marking the first time he's scored any points since October 29th; and I could be mistaken but it looked like after he hit the shot he turned to the Suns bench and talked a little trash about it.

Also, since you brought up that Vujacic missed dunk from the Lakers-Bulls game the other day, I'm surprised nobody ever brought up yet another bonehead move by Lamar Odom which took place in that game: at some point in the 2nd quarter Odom had the ball under the basket and went up for a shot that missed, then he got his own rebound and went up again and this time he made it. But after the ball went through the basket, he grabbed it and as if in frustration for missing the first time he layed it up and in again, like in the way a guy might quickly put up another free throw attempt when they miss the first one. This was a clear delay of game violation that the refs called, and I don't think I've ever seen any other player do something like that, attempting a dead ball shot when the game is still live. I know this is kinda worthless without video to accompany it, but I'll see if I can dig it up this weekend so you can add it to your Lamar Odom's Greatest Hits compilation.

Clifton's right. And Nash even said as much two weeks before the season started. He said that it was going to take a loooonnnng time to figure shit out, possibly as far as January. He wasn't joking, either, so it might be that his belief then was more prescient than we all assumed.

And Clifton's also right about his awful 3-8 record in fantasy football. And he's fully aware that I'll be adding to that loss column when we play this week.

Blogger Michael Hsu said...
You got to post this.

In the one game Jose came back Toronto had 10 turnovers. The past 2 games they had 45 turnovers combined.

He was quoted saying
"If you don't see something clear, don't throw the ball there." — G Jose Calderon, with a rather simple explanation on how to keep turnovers to a minimum.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
Any mention of Shaq's quotes today in the Arizona Republic?

"At 36, O'Neal's bounce won't be there often, but the energy in his game has been better than expected.

"They (Suns athletic trainers) do a good job of massaging me and getting me ready," O'Neal said recently."

Really Shaq? thats quite interesting

-MikeS

Blogger Unknown said...
Wild Yams If you're gonna throw the Pistons in as a team that has a chance at the title, what about the Nuggets? they beat Boston on the road and their only loss since acquiring Chauncey was a loss to the Cavs on the road. I also think its definitely way too early to discount the Fantasy Team Killers err Utah Jazz who have yet to play their full starting lineup. It is worry time for the Hornets, Rockets and Spurs right now tho.

Right now tho the East does seem stronger based on the 31-21 record they have but if you look closer the Jazz have lost 4 times to the east (Clevland might be a loss even at full strength but Knicks, Wiz, Bobcats, they should win those easy with a healthy group), Spurs lost to heat and bucks, if you switch those around it could be tied. The East has closed the gap considerably at the end of the year I think the West will still have the better overall record (east has built 7 wins against klahma, while the November Tankers have only played 1 game against the West).

Also Odom's post game interview was one of the most understandable interviews of all time from Odom I think. I'll try and find a video.

Blogger Unknown said...
Oh another for wotn could be the Phoenix fans, Marv was saying the fans were chanting "Let's go Lakers" in the 4th quarter, I couldn't quite hear it but if its true Phoenix should definitely be up there.

Blogger Dr. Pym said...
I think you might want to correct that bit about Mike Breen. Did you mean Kevin Harlan or Doug Collins?

Blogger TheSumOfAllBeeRs said...
Hey Basketbawful!
You missed out on the fact that Chris Mihm was 1 Rebound and 1 Assist shy of a 4 trillion!

Isn't that at least worth a mention?

I mean...it's Chris Mihm, so you cannot except too much, but still...

Anonymous Anonymous said...
Yams: I've been saying all season that the West is no longer dominant. Welcome on board the reality train, Sir.

I would like to direct your attention to the comments of 11/10:

https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10135659&postID=3389763340161543450&isPopup=true

Basketbawful: I like the analogy of driving your Lamborghini to the grocery store- Nash has plenty of hop in his step still, but the "system" is limiting him considerably. You could say the same of many players, but because of Nash's recent successes and current doldrums, it's plainly obvious that he 1)is handcuffed in the teams current offense and 2)he is even more unselfish than we thought.

How many players would sacrifice their numbers and give up the style of play that made them MVP 2 years running for the good of a team that appears to be crumbling and putting all it's chips on an over-the-hill 400-lb center?

How long before Steve Nash becomes the starting PG in New York?

Blogger Austen said...
Hey now, with the way Nash and Brevin Knight have been playing lately, comparing the two is an insult to Knight.

But yeah, that crowd was horrible last night at the Suns game. I'd say at least half the crowd erupted in cheers every time the Lakers did anything. Some Home Court Advantage.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
Yo um the knicks just traded jamal crawford for al harrington... thoughts?


I have a pal who is a knicks fan who told me he wanted to kill himself. Crawford was one of the few knicks who tried the past few years when they were atrocious. Now they have a glut at forward

Blogger Wild Yams said...
Anthony, it's far too early to declare that the Nuggets are a legit title contender just because they're off to a good start after getting Billups. The Nuggets last year got absolutely clobbered by the Lakers when they had Camby and AI, and I'm inclined to think that just adding Billups in exchange for those guys isn't enough for them to suddenly beat the Lakers this year, especially since LA added Bynum and Ariza to what they had in May. The same argument goes for the Jazz, who weren't much of a threat to last year's Lakers, so I don't see how they'll be any more of a threat to them this year. Meanwhile the Rockets and Hornets are severely underwhelming so far, the Mavs and Spurs have fallen off to a shocking degree, Portland is still too young and the Suns, well you saw last night who the Suns are. Do you really think there's anyone else in the West who's gonna challenge the Lakers for a Finals spot? I'm not seeing it so far. Nuggets-Lakers tonight though, so maybe that'll give credence to what you're claiming.

As for the Phoenix crowd, the Lakers always have a lot of their fans at most road games. They've chanted for Kobe in Phoenix, Utah, New York and even Boston before. They're simultaneously the most loved and most hated team in the league.

Blogger Basketbawful said...
Clifton -- Good point about MCD. I corrected the post. As for the rest of what you said...the journey IS important to me. Look, at the end of the season, one team gets to walk away with the trophy and the rest don't. Which means, in reality, all you really have is the enjoyment of the season and how your teams play. The way the Suns are playing is ugly right now. Borderline unwatchable, expecially compared to what came before it. It's slowly but surely killing me.

TehJay -- Dear God. I bet that game gave Mike 'Antoni a four-hour erection. I hope he consulted his doctor.

Yams -- You're right. The West really isn't that fearful anymore. I guess that's the NBA teeter-totter for you.

I sort of wonder if Kobe's been thinking about giving his numbers a little boost because everybody's been talking about D-Wade and LeBron. I'm not sure Mamba wants to score only 20 PPG even if it means he's rested and his team is winning. He made a comment after last night's game that it's weird how much time he spends sitting on the bench. That might make him feel more pressure to get his points sooner than later. Remember, some years back Michael Jordan himself coached Kobe on when to get his points to ensure he'd still have a lofty average. Seriously.

Amare has never had a post move and he seems disinclined to learn any. It astounds me. I mean, just learning a little jump hook would open up his game so much. Just ask Chris Webber.

starang -- I wouldn't have blamed you.

Yams (again) -- Whoa. This is what I get for trying to write during games. I keep missing after-the-score action. Please send along that video if you can find it. It definitely belongs with Lamar's Greatest Hits.

The Filthy Logician -- For some reason, the fact that you're engaging in fantasy football smack talk in the comments here makes me happy.

Michael Hsu -- I will note that. Oh yes. A lot of NBA ballers could learn a few things from Jose's advice.

MikeS -- You know, Shaq, doctors make a little blue pill if you need help getting ready.

Anthony -- Yeah, the Nuggets seem to have potential, but they're still weak at several positions and in terms of depth. On paper anyway. As for the Jazz, it's like they're still in the preseason with all those injuries. Oh, and I added a mention of the Suns fans...which I had meant to put in originally Thanks for the reminder.

Dr. Pym -- Thanks, Hank. Meant Kevin Harlan. Just boned it. All I could think about was that Suns game. It's got my boggled.

TheSumOfAllBeeRs -- What? How could I possibly WotN Mihm in what was his best game of the season??

AK Dave -- You bring up a good point. I have said this more than once, but some Dallas fans used to bash Nash and ask why he didn't play like an MVP when he was there. And the answer, I told them, was simple: The coach didn't ask him to play like an MVP. Nash isn't a typical superstar in that he does what he's told with little complaint. He knows he's capable of more now, and he knew it in Dallas. But he doesn't rock the boat. It's not in his nature.

Austen -- Ouch. Be easy on Nash. Remember. He can swim faster than Sharks.

kazam92 -- My thought it this: They want money off the cap for the summer of 2010 when LeBron becomes available. Crawford's contract runs through 2011. That's the reason the Knicks made the trade: It's a salary dump.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
NBA 2k9 has Amare as a 99 in 'Offensive Post.' Maybe you can write a post about other grossly inaccurate video game ratings.

Although, I do recall him doing a nice spin move from the top of the key and finishing.

Blogger Stephen Robbins said...
Do you really want your team to win a championship by renting Shaq for a few years like Miami did?

I've been a Blazer fan my whole life. We've had a lot of good teams over the years, but haven't been able to get over that hump and win a championship since I've been alive. It's been frustrating in a lot of ways. But if you told me that we could trade LaMarcus Aldridge, Nicolas Batum, Sergio Rodriguez and Rudy Fernandez for Shaq, and be GUARANTEED A CHAMPIONSHIP THIS YEAR . . . I wouldn't even hesitate in saying no.

In other words, I'd rather have "our guys" and lose in the playoffs (fingers crossed for playoffs this year) than rent Shaq or some other washed up former all-star for a season or two and win a championship.

I realize that Marion was a malcontent, but was Shaq really the best offer on the table? They couldn't have made a run at Kirilenko? Or someone not-obese?

Blogger Unknown said...
My Nuggets assertion was based more on the fact that Yams included the Pistons as a championship contender, in my eyes there are only 3 teams right (Lakers, Celts, Cavalier) that are championship level.

Pistons beating Lakers and Cav are great but getting destroyed by Suns and Celtics (twice) and losing to the Nets sorta counteract those wins. The Jazz (w/ Boozer already on summer vacation) gave the Lakers just as much trouble last year than the Pistons did the Celtics last year.

My argument was more that the Pistons aren't in the top tier of teams, rather than the Nuggets and Jazz do.

The more important question regarding the trade is whether or not Jamal Crawford reduce the fantasy value of Azubuike and Morrow, I'm gonna assume Mr. Nelson will bury Morrow back on the bench similar to burying Brendan Wright after he gave a string of good games and Azubuike will still start until Monta comes back

Anonymous Anonymous said...
HOLY SALARY CAP BAT MAN! THE KNICKS JUST PULLED OFF 2 TRADES IN 2 HOURS GETTING RID OF THEIR TWO MOST PRODUCTIVE PLAYERS!

wow knicks are GAMBLIN!!!!


(but at the same time , d'antoni now has an ideal small ball team)

Anonymous Anonymous said...
I have a suspicion about why the teeter is tottering East. I think the West is just aging out.

And as for the Jazz losing to the East for 4 games, just a friendly and biased reminder that they had some injuries. And, they'll do what they always do. Go to the playoffs, make it tougher on other teams and exit out in the second round.

Blogger Wild Yams said...
Mr. Bawful, you may definitely be onto something with regard to Kobe suddenly upping the selfishness a bit. I would have thought after the Olympics that he'd be comfortable with just winning in a reduced role, even if he was still thought of as "The Man". If he's all upset about how many minutes he's playing or the shots he's getting, he needs to go talk to Luke Walton to get some perspective. I said it the other day: nobody on that Laker team should be taking more than 15-20 shots a game unless they're absolutely on fire. They just have too many weapons for any one guy to take that much of the offensive load by himself.

I've seen other teams that were loaded as top to bottom as this Laker team is, namely the Blazers in 1999-2000, and it doesn't always work for specifically this reason. The Lakers dodged a big bullet by having Odom accept a bench role, and so far guys like Luke Walton aren't griping about all the pine time; but if Kobe starts to think "I need to get mine" then that's gonna pull the whole house of cards down, cause no one else on that team who has made bigger sacrifices than he has are gonna want to hear him whining about "only" getting 25 shots and 25 points a game in "only" 35 minutes of PT.

I gotta question for you though, since you brought up Jordan's tutelage in this area: how would a 30 year old Jordan react if he was on this exact same team instead of Kobe? Would he be cool with getting 18 shots a game and playing 33 minutes or so?

Anonymous Anonymous said...
Holy shit. I just figured it out...Adam Morrison with the sketchy mustache beard thing looks almost exactly like V's Guy Fawkes mask from "V For Vendetta." I knew I had seen him somewhere before.

Blogger Clifton said...
As for the rest of what you said...the journey IS important to me. Look, at the end of the season, one team gets to walk away with the trophy and the rest don't. Which means, in reality, all you really have is the enjoyment of the season and how your teams play.

True statement. The only people who claim "it doesn't matter 'til the playoffs anyway" are (1) people whose teams are playing... well, about like the Suns right now, and (2) Spurs fans.

See, there's a silver lining for Suns fans after all. The Suns are about as fun to watch as two of your married friends arguing in a restaurant, but the Spurs are worse. The Spurs are like watching two of your recently-divorced friends argue over which one "has to" take the kid this weekend... in front of the kid. I'll take this fact to bed with me tonight and it shall keep me warm.

And yes, I'ma probably get drilled in Fantasy FB again this week... by The Filthy Logician. You know I've pitched in the towel when I picked up Steve Breaston and Tim Hightower to complement my already-retained Kurt Warner, Anquan Boldin, and Neil Rackers just so I could be lazy and root for the home team AND my fantasy squad at the same time.

C'mon, we're a four-team league. I can reload my squad with "real" guys before the playoffs. Honest.

Blogger Clifton said...
One other minor note: you're spot-on about Amaré and his lack of a post game.

Like the adage says... can you teach an old dog new tricks? I mean, Amaré isn't "old", but under the 'Antoni system, he didn't HAVE to learn any post moves. Defend? Post up with the ball? In the 'Antoni system?? S'why his midrange jumper is so good... it's all he ever needed to work on.

If this is the system they want to embrace, though... he needs to start thinking about it. It'd be like being suddenly dumped in France, knowing you'd be there for a few years, but refusing to learn any French.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
I saw the Lakers-Suns game on tv, and there were a lot of Lakers fans out there. Or maybe there were only a few, but they were really loud. Pretty unacceptable once you think about those two playoff meets these two teams had a few years ago.

And the Sasha vid was hilarious. "Sasha is NOT a dunker"

Blogger Wild Yams said...
Here's that video of Odom's latest boneheaded play, from the Chicago game the other day: link

Anonymous Anonymous said...
its a clay johnson jersey from 1982 he's wearing ;)

Anonymous Anonymous said...
"He also made several unfortunate gambles for steals that aided and abetted some of the Celtics fast breaks."

Always been the case for Iverson. It doesn't really show in defensive stats, which in one of several reasons why Denver with Iverson looked decent defensively on paper while sucking in actuality.

The guy is, has always been, and always will be about himself and his personal numbers. Somewhere in his youth he failed to learn that basketball is a team sport. Given that he has many millions more than I do, I'm guessing he doesn't care. But I can't believe that GMs miss this.