And speaking of dumb, the Heat have the most dominant player in the game in James and for whatever reason at the end of the 4th Quarter, they stop having him drive to the hoop.  They deserved to lose...now onto Game 7.  If the Heat win, the Spurs only have themselves at the free throw line - and their coach - to blame.

 

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

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.  

 

I think Coach Karl has done a great job with Javal McGee, a center acquired from the Wizards for the 2012 playoff run.

 

Nugs finish sixth in the West

 

Three division winners: LAL, OKC, Spurs

remaining five: Memphis, LAC, Nuggets, Utah, Memphis.

 

I'm keeping my eyes on the Suns, although that's dangerous.

 

I like Scola & Gortat around the basket.

 

I rarely watch basketball, and the NBA even less since it coincides with the NHL season and that takes priority but once the playoffs start I’ll watch the Celtics and of course root for anyone playing LeDouche and the Miami Heat. James makes it easy to hate him, this entire Thunder team makes it really easy to love them. Here are some observations I’ve made in this post season.

 

Watching Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook in press conferences it’s obvious to the eye they’re younger than Wade and James, but I think they’re more mature, because this isn’t’ about them individually, it’s about the team and that alone is refreshing to watch. There’s no “Showtime” or “LOOK AT ME” vibes given off by Thunder players, it’s all you ever see around the Heat. Arrogance? C’mon, if James is King of anything it’s arrogance. Remember last year’s season ending press conference when he said those that spend their time hating on him and wanting him to fail would have to wake up the next day and would have to go on with the lives they had, as if to say, it’s way better to be me than you miserable bastards, ring or no ring? Who didn’t want to hit him in the head with a brick and say, “This is the reason why you will never be loved, and the hater’s will now have a reason to wish you even more failure you dope”!

 

I saw a post game video today of Thunder coach Scott Brooks , Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook walking off the court and shaking the hands of little kids and fans on the way to the dressing room, when do you see the Heat give their fans the time of day unless it’s to turn to them and pound their chest in some cancer curing dunk they’re supposed to make anyway? It’s clear the Thunder truly love their fans and they embrace them, they play terrific at home and it shows, they haven’t lost there in the playoffs. You can’t say that about the Heat.

 

How about the ESPiN poll yesterday, EVERY state picked the Thunder to win with the exception of Florida. Hater’s or is it because this Thunder team is simply a better team? Maybe it’s a combination of both. The Heat have a few guys that can deliver, but they rarely do so consistently, the Thunder seem to be a well oiled machine with a great starting five and a bench that gives stars minutes to rest without coughing up leads or letting the game get away from them. Even when the Thunder are down by double digits it doesn’t faze them they just kick it into another gear, how many times have we seen this Heat team or James just give up? There's a lot of character on the Thunder, there are a lot of characters on the Heat…advantage Thunder.

 

Another side story in this NBA finals is Kendrick Perkins, a former Celtic big man who Danny Ainge sent packing in a contract year after he had reconstructive knee surgery. When Perkins came back and Ainge didn’t feel he’d ever be the same off Perk went, and he didn’t’ like it, he loved Boston and Boston loved him, they still do and would take him back in a minute. But watching him succeed again now in his 3^rd NBA Finals it’s not hard to root for this comeback story either, just one more reason to want the OKC Thunder to win it all. Can they? You betcha! Will they? Oh, I think so. Look, I know the Thunder are only up 1-0 but I don’t think they lose game 2 either and if the aged, broken down Celtics as they’re called can take their talents to South Beach and kick the snot out of LeDouche and Co. what evidence is there this Thunder team can’t do the same? They’re peaking at the right time, the Thunder have sent the defending champion Mavs packing, disposed of Kobe and the Lakers and polished off the Spurs who hadn’t lost a game in 50 days!!! If I’m the Heat, I’m concerned, if I’m James, I’m trying to figure out how to shut that little voice in my head up that’s saying, “here we go again, no ring”.

 

Cheering for the Thunder to win, rooting for the Heat to lose…it’s not often you get the best of both worlds, so I’ll be enjoying every second of this series!  

 

 

 

A cool 50 years ago today, the man I believe to be the greatest scorer in NBA history did something no other man in the history of the league ever did. Respect.

​When the NBA decided to strike on the heels of the NFL walkout or whatever it was called,  this really got to me wondering,  if I would watch another game.    That is,  until Jeremy Lin came onto the scene.  What he did was a testimonial to his hard work and determination,  not some preference given because he is of Asian-descent.   And even if this plays into,  which it does,  it does not dismiss what he has done.   Amare Stoudemire and Carmelo are the headliners but they are more me-first kinds of players.   Now with the acquisiton of J.R. Smith,  I wonder if Lin's time will be reduced?  Additionally, those who are gate-keepers of anti-Asian rhetoric,  love to point out his turnovers.   But that is noted and accepted as reality,  so why complain too much.

​Instead what we are seeing is the outright racial bigotry and stereotypes.   Perhaps realizing his mistakes,   Jason Whitlock has apologized.  Further still,  a few established players have said that Lin is the real deal.  A real player who belongs.   That is a star.

But what is painful is the characterization of Asian genitalia as small or what the word 'spinner' even means as it regards small Asian Lady.   The term 'chink' is used rather prolifically as I showed in the UCLA parodies of the white girl in the Youtube Video.

​I actually feel sorry for her to some extent.  The fact that she shares a certain amount of misinformation with her elders and peer groups.   Asians try to assimilate.  We try to speak the language and we work hard to be considerate.   But naturally as we have a role model of sorts,  it is sickening to hear the verbiage from certain people.   

​I've heard things like,  well what Asian has ever really invented things?  When I say talk about Michio Kaku,  they say, "he is the exception".  Oh really!   It is pretty safe to say we do very well in school,  so that we esteem ourselves well in most people's eyes.  Asian people love sports too and in the Philippines,  we love the game too of basketball.

If Jeremy is around a long or for just awhile,  most players are here for just awhile and even those who make a long career are here and gone before you know it.

Oh ching chong...   Ling Long ...lol

As I write this..   Lin has 10 points,  3 assists early in the FIRST QUARTER.   LOL

​As to the name,  Linsanity.  That is a two-edged sword.  Not only from the detractors but how the pressure on him to perform begins to wear on him.   But he is in New York and public pressure by the media and fans is a common thing,  so perhaps this helps him in the maturation process.  His English is very good but he did grow up here.

​On the last play of the first half he was motioning for activity  but the players were flat-footed waiting for the action to come to them.   He subsequently turned the ball over on the drive but finished with 12 pts, 6 assists and two steals and only one turnover..  Not bad,  I say.

 

Why is it when that a player would rather not make a few concessions, instead of being greedy and wanting more? The players already make more money for 82 games, then most of us will ever see in our lifetime so why not go out there and play for the love of the game like the founding fathers did (most had to work other jobs) just to feed their families during the offseason.On the other side though, I can see the owners will sit this out for the long haul because after all this is saving them money the longer these lockouts continue. I just feel for the lower paid rookies who didn't sign or have the opportunity to sign for the kind of money that the higher draft picks did, even though in most cases whatever new agreement they do reach will benefit them in the future, how will they survive? I know I would not do so well if I was on strike, bills don't pay themselves they still keep coming anyway. We all know, that the owners will write this off as a loss if their is no season in either sport, because they won't have the extra stadium and television revenue from the games played, however, they will still survive as will most of the smart players who did not blow their millions of dollars that they make during the season.

 

Just a quick question or poll for you to chew on, who are your top ten players any position in MLB? I will give you a short list of who I think fit in:

 

C- Victor Martinez, Alex Avila

1B- Adrian Gonzalez, Miguel Cabera

2B- Robinson Cano

3B- Placido Polanco

SS- Starlin Castro

OF - Granderson, Ichiro, Heyward

 

P- Hamels, Verlander, Sabbathia, Lester, Romero, Rivera (even though he is older now, his cutter is still the best). Polanco has the best glove in baseball and hits nearly .300 every year at his position. These are just a few of my thoughts, feel free to compare notes......

To be called the best in any sport means you’re the type of player that is clutch, not just during the regular season but all the time. When we look back at the greats in the NBA, the one I used to watch before it became WWE-like, such as Bird, Magic, and Jordan, no one ever made excuses for them, they never made excuses, they went out and showed why they were called great. Bird and Magic’s battles were well known, we never heard them complaining, we never heard the media asking why it is they were having issues scoring because they never did, the bigger the game, the bigger the stage, the better they played. You can’t say that about James, not even close, yet the media finds themselves baffled by his ineffectiveness. As I type this Michael Wilbon is saying that James needs someone to pick him up, like Dwayne Wade. Why is that? Why does anyone have to make him play in a game where the Heat have found themselves one game from a very long vacation, where all we’ll hear for 5 months is what happened to “The Mission”?

 This is not new with James, we all witnessed him quit on his team last season against Boston, so now he goes to a place where he thought the championship ring would already be sized and waiting for him, sorry moron it doesn’t work like that. He wonders why there’s so many “haters” that are critical of him, well maybe it’s because he’s put himself on such a high pedestal, one he doesn’t deserve to be on. He’s not as great as he thinks he is, or he’s fooled everyone into believing. If I’m Dwayne Wade I’d smack him in the face and tell him if you want to win a fucking championship get off your high horse, stop chewing on your fucking mouthpiece and put in some effort. When I‘ve watched these games or any part of them James name is mentioned non-stop, yet it’s Dwayne Wade who makes the Heat the team they are, not James. Then there’s Dirk Nowitski, the other night he had a 102 temperature and he still schooled James most of the night, and took him to the hoop in the last play of the game. That’s a great player right there. He knows what it takes to win, and no one is going to stop him from doing whatever it takes to accomplish his goal. He’s got heart, he has guts, he’s got what it takes to make everyone on the floor with him better, all things I’ve yet to see “the best in the NBA” exhibit.

If and when the Heat lose this championship I’d love for the right questions to be asked, I’d love for the media to stop coddling James and making excuses for him and say it the way it is, he’s not a team player, he’s no champion, he doesn’t play like a champion and until he EARNS the right to be called the best all of them need to shut the fuck up about how great he is, he clearly isn’t great, and with the way he’s played in the finals he’s not even close to mediocre!  

 

With Shaq’s announcement on Wednesday via Twitter that he was retiring from the game of basketball, I think it is only poignant to spend some time remembering the man.

 

Sure, we can wax intellectual on what the man delivered to the game during his nineteen-year career, but every blogger on the planet will be doing that. Instead, I thought it more fitting to remember the man’s career through the numerous sound bites he contributed both on and off the court.

 

Enjoy.

 

-         “Everything happens for a reason. I'm used to it, I prepare for it. Like I say, at the end of the day, those in charge of their own destiny are going to do what's rights for them and their family.”

 

 

-         “I am the number one Ninja and I have killed all the Shoguns in front of me”.

- “I knew I was dog meat. Luckily, I'm the high-priced dog meat that everybody wants. I'm the good-quality dog meat. I'm the Alpo of the NBA.”

 

 

-         “When you flop, that's just another message that you don't know how to play me. Stand up and take your medicine like a man.”

 

 

-         “I'm tired of hearing about money, money, money, money, money. I just want to play the game, drink Pepsi, wear Reebok.”

 

-         “The stats win nothing.  I’m still sexy. I’m still great.”

 

-         “If you go 72-11 and don’t win (the championship), it doesn’t mean anything. Actually it does. It means you’ve cheated and played an extra regular-season game.”

 

-         “Look up the word role in the dictionary and you’ll see it means playing a part. That’s why I call myself a real model. The best quality about Kobe Bryant? You want me to be honest? I don’t know. I’ll tell you why. I open my arms to everybody. But he never stepped forward for the embrace. So I never really got to know him. I don’t know anything about him, and it’s kinda sad.”

 

-         “I’m going to be on a mission. I’ve handled my personal vendettas and handled them well. Every challenge you put in front of me, I’ve handled it, dismantled it – ate them, dropped them off in the bathroom and flushed them away.”

 

-         “I am aware that most people only see me as Shaq…the guy on the court. But there is another side to who I am, Shaquille O’Neal. And Shaquille O’Neal wants to explore every part of life. He wants the opportunity to pursue all of his desires.”
 

 

Sources:

-         NBA Center Shaquille O’Neal Announces Retirement, USAToday.com

-         Shaquille O’Neal Quotes, Thinkexist.com

-         Shaquille O’Neal Quotes, brainyquote.com

2011 Baseball Predictions

He can sink a shot from far away, well past the three-point line. He can drive past many of the power forwards of today for easy scores. He can post in the blocks and score on anyone in the game.

All those parts of his young game are still developing, but Kevin Love has always been able to gobble up rebounds by the bushel since he got on either an NBA, collegiate, or high school hardwood. On both ends of the floor with a steady consistency not seen for years.

After averaging over 15 rebounds in high school, Love stopped by UCLA for just one season. The 6'10" power forward was an All-American who was named Pac-10 Player of the Year after averaging over 17 points and 10 rebounds in 2007. He also had 23 double-doubles as the Bruins reached the Final Four before losing.

He seemed on his way to finding his name next to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Walton, and Gail Goodrich on the long list of Bruin legends who are long considered amongst the best basketball players in NCAA history. Yet Love was looking ahead, so he eschewed his last three years of college in favor of the NBA.

Four NBA teams decided not to draft him in 2008. Derrick Rose, Michael Beasley, O.J. Mayo, and UCLA teammate Russell Westbrook were chosen before him. While Rose is having an MVP caliber season right now, and Westbrook is an All-Star, both Beasley and Mayo have been traded and Mayo was almost traded again recently.

The Memphis Grizzlies selected Love, but wanted Mayo. They traded Love to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Mayo. While Mayo scores 16 points a game for his career, the Grizzlies were recently trying to trade the shooting guard, now coming off the bench, after he fought with teammates and was suspended for steroid use.

Beasley is now Love's teammate, having been a salary cap casualty of the Miami Heat's signings of LeBron James and Chris Bosh. With Love handling the post, the athletic Beasley is currently averaging a career high 19.2 points per game.

Beasley still gets his average of just over five rebounds per game, but the Timberwolves do not ask him to circumcise his game by staying in the blocks the way Miami did. On a roster were just two players are older than 25-years old, most are trying to find their niche under the guidance of head coach Kurt Rambis.

Love just broke a doubles-double record set by the incomparable Moses Malone, who set the record in his 1979 MVP season. Malone, who led the NBA in rebounds five times in his career, was coming off a 1978 season where he had an amazing career high of 1,444 rebounds. He was credited with 51 straight double-double games in 1979, the most since the ABA and NBA merged in 1976.

One of the 50 Greatest Players of All-Time, Malone was a 13-time All-Star who never fouled out of a game in his career despite being an upper echelon defender and unstoppable force on the offense end and all over the boards.

Love says his new record should be respected as far as the post-merger modern game, but he certainly understands the history of the game extends well beyond 1976. He understands his place as well.

Now Love has his eyes set on yet another member of the NBA's 50 Greatest Players of All-Time. Elvin Hayes, considered by most the greatest power forward in the history of the NBA, had 55 straight games of double-doubles on 1973.

Hayes was a 12-time All-Star who led the league in rebounding twice and scoring once in his superb career. Though most might recall how no one could prevent the "Big E" from scoring his patented turn-around jumper that had him score 47 or more points five times in his career, Hayes was a great defender with seven games of 10 or more blocked shots as well.

The 1973 season where Hayes had his 55 games, he averaged over 18 rebounds a game. It is the third best average ever by anyone since Wilt Chamberlain retired. Hayes would take his teams to the finals three times in his career, winning once.

“Whether you put it as a modern-day or an ABA-NBA merger, I would say yes (his new record should be respected),” Love said. “But if you’re looking at the grand scheme of things, you’ve got to look at that 227. The Big Dipper. Wilt the Stilt. He’s something special. You’ve got to look at that. Why not go for Elvin then?”

When one tries to describe the greatest player in NBA history, words are not enough to encompass Wilt Chamberlain. Those 227 straight double-double games are a minimum mark that could be doubled, but there are some scorecard issues stretching back that far.

While fans quickly recall the "Stilt" scoring 100 points in a single game in 1962, some forget he averaged an astronomical 50.4 points and 25.7 rebounds per game the season before. It wasn't an anomaly, because Chamberlain averaged 44.8 points and 24.3 rebounds per game in 1962.

The "Big Dipper" led the league in rebounding 11 times in his 15 seasons, including his last year. Chamberlain also led the league in points scored seven times. When people tried to say all he did was score, the legendary "Stilt" quieted critics by leading the NBA in assists in the 1967 season.

What set Chamberlain far and apart from any other fans choice for "Greatest Player Ever" is the fact the NBA desperately tried to stop him with a mountain of rules changes that were directly aimed at him in hopes of slowing Chamberlain down.

Love knows it is highly unlikely he will come anywhere near Chamberlain's 227 games, but passing Hayes on the double-double list would be amazing in itself. Unlike Hayes, Malone, or Chamberlain, Love is accomplishing his feat on a team with 16 wins in 66 games on a team that gets very little media coverage.

He is just 22-years old and in his third season. Love is on pace to get over 1,200 rebounds this year after averaging over nine and 11 rebounds per game in his first two seasons. He is the leader of a young team filled with talent that will only get better with experience.

Love has been playing on a sore knee, but it has not stopped him from trying to do his best. Love said,"Nothing’s really changed about how I feel about the double-double streak or the situation. I just go out there and play hard.”

Maybe when his career ends, fans will still be speaking of him in the same breath as Moses Malone and Elvin Hayes as they are now. Yet Malone and Hayes certainly have to proud of this youngster continuing the legacy of hard work that isn't seen much in the game anymore.

What Love has accomplished is historic, but the most impressive part is seeing a young man grounded in knowing his place and the trail-blazing players before him while not running around with the bloated ego of a pampered prima donna thinking his feces doesn't stink like so many have before him.

A young star who isn't a head case thinking he is the team. These are the players the NBA needs to promote. Especially one who understands, respects, and revels in the history of the game.

Here They Come

Crying Down The Street

Shooting Plenty Of Commercials

While They Steadily Get Beat

The only surprise going on in the city of Miami is finding those sheep who actually once believed the team Pat Riley bought could win. As these fair weathered fans hide for cover, it is apparent Heat owner Micky Arison allowed Riley to purchase the "Marx Brothers of Basketball".

Desperation is flying over the franchise like a vulture who thrives off the scraps of hot air and pop references. Ready to swoop when the inevitable conclusion appears much faster than expected.

This vulture has been around since day one, knowing a steady meal will always be readily available unless the team wakes up and humanely kills this Frankenstein they created.

While at Riley has enjoyed success as a coach, his general manager skills need to be questioned. Putting three ball hogs who abhor defense and rebounding on one team is recipe for disaster. Never before in the history of the NBA has this formula worked.

Some teams have tried. The Philadelphia 76ers found this out in the 1970's when George McGinnis and World B. Free fought for shots, while Julius Erving was doing what Dwayne Wade is doing now in trying to make it work by sacrificing parts of his own game for the sake of teamwork.

Instead of whining for help last year, perhaps Wade should have packed up his talents and gone home. Though Chicago has less women in bikinis running around their streets than Miami, the duo of Wade and Derrick Rose probably would have worked much better than things are now with Wade and LeBron James.

Arison and Riley wanted Wade happy for good reason. He is the leader of the team who pours his heart and soul into the game. He has been beat up throwing his body in the paint, but it did help the Heat win a title in 2006.

Some critics think those aches and pains have caught up to the 29-year old, but Wade has adjusted his game to appease two newcomers who were missing the key phrase "winner" on their resumes. This strategy may pay off down the road, but the holes the team has widens each time Wade takes a back seat.

When James pompously stated he was "taking his talents to Miami" in an overblown production number thrown by paparazzi instead of journalists, this group of media immediately anointed the Heat champions and went as far to predict the team would set records yearly for wins in a season.

This noise increased because Chris Bosh had gotten on board the day before James right as Wade committed to staying in Miami. Yet through all the blustering hype, no one chose to look at the obvious weaknesses.

Not the weaknesses of the rest of the roster, though some paparazzi liked to say it didn't matter who filled those roles for the new unstoppable force in the NBA, but the deficiencies on their three highly paid players. Especially meshed together.

The problem with the signings is that Miami basically hired three shooting guards. Though Wade and James, who love to caress the ball for long periods of time, can do an average job in short spurts at the point, both are at their best crashing the paint off the wing.

Bosh might be near seven foot tall, but his game is far away from the rim to avoid contact to his slight frame. He can help rebound on defenses in inconsistent stretches, but he is not the guy a team wants posting up in the blocks.

While Bosh probably has the best jump shot, none of the three are exactly good shooters. James and Wade thought they would spend this year crashing into the rim, but the good teams just pack the defense in and wait.

The desperation mode in Miami has gotten so bad that Mike Bibby was recently brought in. He can join Juwan Howard, Erick Dampier, Eddie House, Zydrunas Ilgaukas, Jamaal Magloire, and Mike Miller on the long list of Heat players who best days were long, long ago. If this was 2001, instead of 2011, the Heat would have quite a team.

While the fair weathered fans point the blame at the helpless Erik Spoelstra, no head coach could get these three to mesh without at least a season under their belts together. Though a strong return by injured power forward Udonis Haslem would be a big help for Heat rebounds, it may not be enough.

Yet Haslem may end up being the real leader of the Heat. He was a free agent before this season, being offered upwards to $10 million more by other teams, yet he decided to remain in Miami in hopes of winning a championship.

Meanwhile the media will keep calling them the "Heatles", an obvious reference to the legendary musical band The Beatles. But the Beatles were fresh, creative, flexible, and ever changing. They always sought new avenues despite reaching a level of stardom never seen before or since.

Miami has the "Heatees", which is in reference to Beatles rip off band The Monkees. A quartet that late comedian Sam Kinison liked to say,"wasn't even a real group!"

The Heatees aren't even a real team. They are swimming in fluff and unearned hype concocted by a few greedy P.R. men. While not everyone was buying into the image day one, more jump off the rickety band wagon by the day.

The best thing for the Heatees is for their season soon so the superstars can go look in the mirror and decide to dedicate themselves to winning a title by working on their weaknesses in the offseason so they can be at their best and fulfill all expectations next year, including their own.