Just when I thought I couldn't hate basketball anymore than I already do a team does something that stands out and shouts…"Yeah, We're Douche Bags". For the second game in a row the NY Knicks all showed up at MSG wearing black suits for what they described was the Celtics funeral. Now this is hardly the first time we've seen a team be cocky or more than arrogant predicting a win in a series or a championship game. I remember Anthony Smith from the Steelers talking shit about how he guaranteed they were going to knock off the Patriots in a playoff game. That not only didn't work out too well for Pittsburgh, but I think Anthony Smith is the guy that asks what scent you want at the car wash now. The Texans went to New England wearing Varsity jackets and found out that doing something like to the Patriots is a sure way to be embarrassed on national TV by Brady and Co. 

But with what just happened in Boston at the Marathon this move was extremely tasteless. Given the hospitalization of a number of victims, the loss of life, the still unfinished business of searching for suspects and the motive of this cowardly act, not to mention 3 more arrests were made the same day of this game this really disgusted me. How did this work out for the arrogant douche bags? Not so good, again…the Celtics forced a game 6 back in Boston. I don't give a hoot about basketball and it's predetermined winners, but I can't think for a minute that Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce heard this and had anything positive to say about it the first time around, but doing it twice, this just makes you look like a bunch of fuckin' morons and you could have just motivated this old guard to eliminate your ass out of principal…oh how I'd love for this to play out that way. It would be the best UP YOURS card ever for that punk Carmelo Anthony, and you can bet he's going to hear it at the Gahden on Friday night. 
But let's get real, the NBA and their predetermined winners protocol will never allow this to happen. I'll say it right now, if the referees start to see the Celtics overtaking the Knicks they'll be blowing whistles on Garnett and Pierce and forcing them to the bench so the Knicks can easily redeem themselves, because the NBA wants to work the Knicks into a matchup with the Heat. It won't matter if it happens in game 6 or game 7… but I'll say game 7 because it's what works best for the wallets of all concerned. 

Regardless of how this plays out, the Knicks put on a demonstration of arrogance that's so rampant in the NBA it's the reason it has become known for a bunch chest thumping punks, acting like their dunks are some great feat, or that they sunk a free throw and it was another act of outstanding athleticism. You run up and down a court and throw ball through a hoop, not much intelligence here, and not much competition when it really boils down to one or two key guys, the rest are a bunch of role playing schmucks who never get any credit from the prima donna's who make the bucks. This league is a complete joke.

....and the Oscar goes to Dwight Howard for sometimes posing as someone who cares about playing basketball.

My Nuggets w/o Gallo cruised by the Lakers last night and still the chat rooms are filled with Kobe Amnesty talk and Pau injury reports.

Lakers are 3GB of the final playoff spot, yet their trivial expectorations steal  headlines from the Thunder, dull Spurs' news, & even toss ice on Heat explosions.

Hey ESPN get off the Lakers c^^k

It has been an eventful week in the NBA.  

Greg Popovich, coach of the Spurs, decided to act out against the NBA scheduling the Spurs to play 4 games in 5 days on the road by benching his stars against the Heat on Thursday.  The Spurs were also without Kawhi Leonard and Steven Jackson due to injury and only dressed 9 players.  

Stern immediately issued a statement saying " I apologize to all NBA fans.  This was an unacceptable decision by the San Antonio Spurs and substantial sanctions will be forthcoming."

Friday, Stern issued a $250 000 dollar fine to the Spurs.  The third largest fine in the history of the league.

In my opinion, Stern has once again proven that his interests lie solely in ass kissing to fans that know nothing about the game other than the fact they paid money to watch the game in question.

What he isn't realizing is the fact that if Pop did not do as he did, the fans could very well be not seeing one or more of these aged stars play in the near future.  I understand that these guys signed a contract to play 82 games a year and are responsible for showing up for every game that they are physically able to but 4 games in 5 days for an athlete of any age or sport is risking physical health.

In my opinion, the only people that lost out are the people who refused to attend the game.  They probably should have taken a look at the schedule and figured out that this game was set to be a blow out.  The Heat were coming off a 5 day break and playing the oldest team in the league that happened to be ending their second horrific road trip in the first month of competition.  What the fans who showed up got instead was a competitive game that basically went down to the wire.  What kind of fans does the NBA value most?  The type that shows up to a game to merely be graced by Tim Duncan's presence or the type that shows up wanting to see a close, hard fought game?  If I were Stern, I would realize that the leatter fan is more important.

The people that gained the most are San Antonio Spurs fans!  The Spurs will now head into their game with the Conference leading Grizzlies as a healthy and rested squad.

I say kudos to Pop and I hope Stern takes notice of this when he schedules the next season.

Another issue Stern has to deal with was a scuffle that broke out between the Celtics and the Nets on Wednesday night.  Rondo and Kris Humphries were at the core of the shoving match that also included Garnett and Gerald Wallace.  

I think Stern hit the nail on the head when dealing with this one... Rondo ended up getting a 2 game suspension, Garnett and Wallace were fined $25 000 for their role in mediating the conflict (lol).  Hump got off scott free!! Maybe they feel sorry for everything Hump is already going through?  I dunno.  He actually was the worst for wear out of everybody, he posted this pic on Twitter asking where to get Tetanus shots in Boston.

The NBA  has kicked off it's 67th season and there are storylines all over the place.

Not Surprising

I'll start with the team that every NBA hater and part time NBA fan loves to talk about... The L.A. Lakers. 

They have started the season losing 4 of their first 5 games.  ESPN and the rest of the media world have already been inciting panic with numerous articles stating that L.A. fans are and should be in panic mode.  Others say Kobe is fed up (lol).

My beef with this is plain and simple. 

When Nash and Howard joined the Lakers, the whole NBA hating world claimed that this team is a super-team.  The idea behind the hatred was that creating a team in this way creates even less parity in what most people would agree is a league that boasts only a handful of elite teams. 

So now I ask... have you changed your mind?  Do you now get that this team will not run the table and take away the close competition that we, as sports fans, require in order to stay interested?  Yes, Nash is hurt... I know.. but at 38 years old, you have to expect age to catch up with him. 

When all is said and done, I believe this Lakers squad has a chance at winning a title this year... but it's the same chance that any other team has other than the bottom few like Toronto, Sacramento, Charlotte, Washington etc.. have. 

Surprising

There are some pleasant rookie surprises in the early going.

An injury to Jameer Nelson has opened up a starting opportunity for E'Twaun Moore and he has fully taken advantage of it.  Moore has averaged a very surprising 14 points on a Magic team that is a surprising 2-2 to open their Howard-hangover season that everyone thinks will spell top 5 pick in next year's draft. 

Dion Waiters looks awesome so far.  He hit 7 3-pointers in Cleveland's upset of the Clips last weekend.  The kid can handle the ball and quite simply puts the ball in the basket.  A lot of comparisons to Wade and Eric Gordon floating around.  Kyrie Irving is proving to be unstoppable.  I see Cleveland having an improved record and maybe the 8th spot in the play-offs this year.  That is, of course, barring injuries.

Lillard and Anthony Davis have lived up to billing.  I see one of those two guys as R.O.Y. this year. 


One other mention-worthy event that has happened this week is Sir Charles Barkley announced that he will retire from broadcasting this year.  Of course, Shaq and the crew made a lot of fun of him last night... Shaq brought him Depends and they had a cake and all.  I liked Charles as a broadcaster.  I think the simpleness of his opinions and his lack of fear of reprisal is what made TNT the leader in NBA games.  I hope they replace him with more of the same.

They ran a public poll on what Charles should do with his life after he retires... the winning answer by a landslide was be the GM of an NBA team.  

 

David Stern has announced he will retire on February 1, 2014