Alright, alright, you’ve probably seen this by now. But how could we resist with all the other Asians doing funny stuff videos we post. Of course when the story of Georgetown getting in a huge brawl with Bayi of China last night, everyone was asking the same thing: where’s the video? First a couple of still photos leaked, and then finally someone broke through the great firewall of China and got the video up. Actually, the Chinese government likely only allowed the video since it gives the impression that the Chinese team f*cked the other guys up. I’m willing to bet this footage is doctored. What we didn’t see is the Chinese guys probably threw a bunch of cheap shots leading up to this, and there may have been some punches landed by Georgetown that were left out of the final cut. But that’s how the Chinese powers that be work. Get used to it….
Tag Archives: basketball
Kobe Spoof on Lockout Issues
I posted the original funny or die spoof when the Lakers got beat by the Mavs. I did like the first one slightly better, but this one was worthy of posting as well. He brought up the very important point of heating in arenas. Players shouldn’t have to be wearing sleves to keep themselves warm, that will be an interesting talking point as the negotiations heat up, if they ever actually do. While scouring the internet for videos, I also ran across this new Steve Nash commercial, which was pretty funny as well if you have another minute to kill…
A Spending Spree, Starring the Warriors?!?
Making it Rain like Uncle Scrooge in Oakland!
When Peter Gruber and Joe Lacob bought the Warriors, it was a wait and see kind of deal in my mind. Being a Warriors fan over the past few decades you rarely know what direction they are going or if they even have a plan to begin with. It feels like the new owners DO have a game plan that we are finally seeing put together. Not a whole lot happened last year aside from them trading for David Lee during the off-season. At the end of this year, I figured I’d give them at least one more season to figure out how the NBA worked and what it takes to build a winner, then I’d start getting critical. I was pretty sure they weren’t planning on making big changes to the team since we are pretty close to the cap and won’t have money to sign a bunch of free agents heading into the lockout, but much sooner than I expected they made some big moves that really impressed me. They didn’t make a lot of moves that effect the on-court players, but in the front office we’ve been significantly strengthened, and seems to have some stability for the first time in god knows how long. All the moves led up to today where they bought a D-League team, the Dakota Wizards, and capped off an impressive pre-lockout flurry of moves that shook up our whole front office, and made Warriors fans like myself believe that the owners aren’t the cheap bastard we used to have.
Their first major move was hiring on Jerry West as our main consultant. I’m sure he didn’t come to Oakland cheap. It ultimately gave the organization instant credibility, and an amazing sound board to bounce ideas off. Their second move was hiring Mark Jackson to man the bench. Not positive if he’s going to be a great coach, but he seems like he’d be great at teaching Curry and Ellis how to manage games better, and be consummate professionals. I hope he’s the next Doc Rivers, but you never really can tell. I mean if you gave Doc Rivers the W’s roster, would he be able to bring them to glory? Probably not… Shortly after hiring Jackson, they acquired a top assistant in Mike Malone, who they somehow outbid the Lakers on. Does that mean he didn’t get along with Mike Brown during his time in Cleveland? I dunno, I guess you’d have to ask him.
Fast forward to the draft last week. It’s been awhile since we had a draft that didn’t have one mind boggling decision in it. Our picks made sense. Our previous owner would sell our picks for cash from time to time, which is why this years draft was so surprising. They actually bought the rights to Jeremy Tyler the 39th pick for $2M (a huge project that could be nothing or could be an All-Star), but the fact that they were spending money instead of just trying to make money during the draft was amazing to this longtime Warriors fan.
Today it was reported that they bought the D-League franchise, the Dakota Wizards. It seems like a great move, because the Warriors seem to be calling up D-Leaguers more than any other team, and have been very successful in doing so! They are now one of only four teams that have a “farm system”. Seems like a perfect place to let Tyler develop into a player, right? It will also keep Jeremy Lin busy instead of riding the bench in Oakland. Now they can sign players that they just want to look at. With access to their own team in the D-League that team can be run with the same concepts as the pro team, which will help them immensely when players are called up to the NBA because of injury or a player X sucking. They also can groom coaches whether they are assistants or head coaches. The team won’t be moving to Northern California until after the upcoming season, and if the Kings move, maybe Arco PowerBalance Pavilion wouldn’t be a bad site for the team!
Lebron Loses WWF Mashup
Nothing like a good ol WWF mashup to explain why the Heat lost. From Lebron fighting Riley and his teammates to Barkley and Stern, then Dirk walking away with the belt, can’t get more classic than this.
NBA Mock Draft
Now that the season’s been over for a few days, I guess it’s time to do a mock draft! It’s been called a weak draft class by just about everyone, and I have no solid reasons to say it won’t be, but on the other hand you never really know until the guys start playing in the NBA whether they can survive or not. I mean all 5’6″ of JJ Barea started on a finals team afterall, so you never really do know. Looking at a bunch of other mocks online I’ve seen a lot of international players in the lottery, so I’ll put a few of those guys in mine as well. Pretty much every player in this draft looks like a crapshoot, so here’ show I think the lottery teams should draft, but it’s doubtful they will heed to my advice. It’s like thinking the W’s or Kings will actually get a top 3 pick…
#1 Cleveland Cavaliers – Derrick Williams, SF Arizona. Why would you draft Kyrie Irving when you already have Baron Davis!?! Ok, that question answered itself. Seriously though, DW is a beast. He’s the only player in this mock that I saw play live, and he truly looked like a man among boys. His tourney run was pretty impressive as well if you didn’t see all his dunks on the top ten plays maybe you should youtube them. Not sure what the downside is to drafting a guy with range, a post game, and the size of a PF packed in a SF body. Oh yeah, he plays above the rim too, I don’t see anything not to like.
#2 Minnesota Timberwolves – Kyrie Irving, PG Duke. Am I sold on Kyrie? Not really, and that probably goes back to him being hurt a lot in college, and not really seeing him play much. Wait till he runs into a meat wall like Dwight Howard, that’s going to cause a lot more pain than anything he experienced in college. You can insert pretty much any joke you want about the T-wolves taking a PG. Since Rubio probably won’t come here, and Flynn looks like a bust, so may as well pick another PG in Kyrie, the supposed can’t miss prospect. I feel like his career will be like Shaun Livingston’s, potential but injured all the time…
#3 Utah Jazz – Brandon Knight, PG Kentucky. The Jazz usually make smart decisions. While everyone seems to think Kyrie is hands down the best PG in the draft I feel like Knight is better. He feels like a more complete player from his above average jumper to the clutch gene he showed in college. Everything I’ve read says he’s a gym rat, so that’s another good thing about him. Having a 4.0 in college is another plus. He needs to work on his passing, but since I don’t think Devin Harris is the longterm answer in Utah, it would make a lot of sense to take him.
#4 Cleveland Cavaliers – Enes Kanter, C Turkey. He’s supposedly the biggest thing out of Europe in 10 years. Tough for me to judge how good or not good he is. He did put up 34 pts and 13 rebounds against team USA in a scrimmage last summer, and was finishing inside with the best of them. 7-footers with his skill set are pretty rare, so why not take him and pair him with Hickson and Varejao. If he turns out like Bogut, I’m sure the Cavs would be happy.
#5 Toronto Raptors – Kawhi Leonard, F San Diego State. The Raptors need help everywhere except SG and C. If Knight or Irving somehow falls to them, I’m pretty sure they would pick either of them, since Calderon digresses every year he’s in the league. I almost had them picking Kemba, but this team really needs someone that can play defense, and Kawhi can guard anyone from a PG to a PF. He doesn’t have a great shot, but they already have shot makers.
#6 Washington Wizards – Jan Vesely, SF/PF Serbia. A guy I don’t really know anything about. Sounds like he’s a project though, and why not take a chance at 6 to possibly get a solid two way player. I read that he might be a poor man’s Kirilenko, so I guess that’s a good thing?!?I just put him here more because I have no idea what he brings to the table and it sounds like the Wiz really liked him after workouts. Plus, I could care less what the Wizards do.
#7 Sacramento Kings – Jonas Valanciunas, C Lithuania. Another guy I don’t really know much about. Sounds like he’s a project though, and why not take him at 7 when he could possibly be the best player in the draft. Sarunas Marciulionis was one of my favorite Warriors growing up, and he was from Lithuania, so maybe he’ll be the next big thing out of that country. Since he is one of those “project” type players he can just sit behind Thompson, and Dalembert until their contracts are up while getting his learn on. I almost had them pick Kemba, but he’s way too much like Tyreke for that to work out imo.
#8 Detroit Pistons – Kemba Walker, G UConn. The Pistons need a lot of things. I don’t see Stuckey or Bynum working out in the long run, so you may as well bring in someone new at PG. Kemba was amazing in the tourney, and if he can make some of Detroit’s players passionate about basketball again, that’s a win, because they lack mental toughness, and Kemba clearly has that. I could also see them taking a SF to replace Prince who will be a free agent this summer.
#9 Charlotte Bobcats – Jimmer Fredette, G BYU. Michael Jordan will never be known for his greatness as a GM. He seems to like taking scorers over team needs. Maybe watching teach me how to Jimmer a few times and said what the hell, let’s take him, he can’t be worse than Morrison right?!? I’m sure he’ll compliment Gerald Henderson well in Charlotte.
#10 Milwaukee Bucks – Alec Burks, SG Colorado. This is probably who the Bobcats should’ve picked if they were going with a scoring guard, but that’s not how they roll. Burks is a perfect fit for the Bucks. They need someone to replace the never healthy Michael Redd, and Burks seems like he can fill it up coming off screens.
#11 Golden State Warriors – Bismack Biyombo, F/C Congo. Not really sure about him like a lot of the other foreign players, but he’s outstanding at protecting the rim. He put up a triple double with 10 blocks at the Hoops Summit in Portland. If the W’s are really committed to defense, this would be the guy to pick to show that they are making that commitment. Not sure I believe he’s the next Dikembe, but I’m onboard with them taking that chance on him! He’s got to be better than Biendris was last year (not saying much).
#12 Utah Jazz – Marcus Morris, F Kansas. I should’ve saved Jimmer for the Jazz, but it was too tempting for MJ to let him get past the #9 pick. Marcus is a very polished forward that can play the 3 or 4. I don’t see AK staying in Utah past this last year on his contract, so starting Morris and Millsap at the 3 and 4 is going to be tough for any team to guard. I think he’s a little better than his brother Markief, so that’s why the Jazz took him over his brother.
#13 Phoenix Suns – Tristan Thompson, F Texas. The Suns are looking for someone to replace Hakim Warrick, errr, I mean, Amare. I’m skeptical to think he’ll be the next Amare, but he’s got a huge wingspan and did shut down Derrick Williams in the tourney as well as one can shut that guy down. He’s super athletic, which is something that a player will really need playing with Nash.
The All-Time Dallas Mavericks Team
The Mavs are about the same age as I am, and they beat me to an NBA Championship. Even still, I think of losing when I think of the Mavericks, as a result of their first 20 years in the NBA. Their first coach, Dick Motta, took them from 15 wins to 55 in 7 years, but then he left and the team was in the cellar for the next 15 years. The bulk of those losing years were headed up by Richie Adubato, with Quinn Buckner doing a one year cameo and flirting with the all-time losingest record. Fortunately, the Kings were there to help the Mavs break losing streaks of 15 and 16 games. Sadly, neither of those were the longest streak of the year. They reached 20 consecutive at one point. I’ve been in attendance for a 20th consecutive WIN before, but I can’t imagine what they felt after a 20th straight loss. That season has since remained the benchmark season for the franchise in my mind. But despite all the losing, they’ve had some pretty good players pass the through the tunnel at Reunion Arena. Here is my all-time Dallas Mavericks team, PRE-Dirk and Don Nelson……
G – Rolando Blackman
G – Derek Harper
C – Shawn Bradley
F – Sam Perkins
F – Mark Aguirre
Bench – Roy Tarpley
Bench – Herb Williams
Bench – Jamal Mashburn
Bench – Jim Jackson
Bench – James Donaldson
Bench – Popeye Jones
Bench – George McCloud
Inactive List – Brad Davis
Inactive List – Terry Davis
Inactive List – Sean Rooks (gets the nod over Samaki Walker)
Mama, There Goes That Man….. To Oakland
Who better than the Doin Work crew to weigh in on the new hire?…..
MCeezy – It’s too bad that my first reaction to the Golden State Warriors’ announcement of Mark Jackson as their new head coach was, “THANK YOU, now we don’t have to hear that silly catch phrase during every ABC or ESPN NBA game!” It certainly wasn’t the worst announcer’s phrase there ever was, but I’ll be a much happier person without ever having to hear it again. Let’s just hope the good people in the Warriors front office don’t turn it into some marketing campaign. You can’t be too surprised by the hire, since Jackson’s name was openly floated around as a serious candidate for the job. I really thought, however, once the Lakers hired Mike Brown, it was pretty much opening the door for either Brian Shaw or Rick Adelman. The primary knock against Shaw was that he had no head coaching experience, and most believed that the Warriors were set on hiring a guy who had been a head coach before. That had me thinking an Adelman return to the Bay Area was imminent, but then it seems like Jerry West came in and advised the W’s front office that they needed “a young coach to grow with the team.” I’ve got to believe that when you go out and hire Jerry West, you’re going to have to take his advice on your first decision.
Hand up, man up! Jackson will bring much needed toughness to the GSW
So, Jackson it is, and I must admit I’m feeling pretty neutral about it. I think I’ve always assumed an older coach is better, because he’s owed more respect. But I guess these days, even the younger guys are getting pretty old. Anyone who I watched play still seems 40 or younger to me. Although if you’re Stephen Curry, you were born during Mark Jackson’s rookie year, so I guess he seems pretty old. Having said that, I don’t see Jackson having any problems winning over the respect of the team. As a player, he went to the playoffs in all but two of his 17 seasons. He was a leader on every team he played for, even when he was far from the best player. Add to that, his knowledge of the game is pretty highly regarded from every person I’ve heard talk about it. When you compare him to guys like Lawrence Frank and Dwayne Casey, it’s easy to say that Jackson is the last guy I’d worry about players wanting to play for. I wonder if he can bring Jeff Van Gundy with him to be an assistant…..?
By – Although I wouldn’t have minded giving Keith Smart one more crack at turning our franchise around, I totally understand why the new ownership ultimately decided on a coaching change. Once Smart was shown the door, the Rick Adelman and Brian Shaw buzz started circulating. Most Warrior fans I spoke with would have been accepting of either, but upon further discussion and thought, I began to sell on the idea of Adelman returning to Nor Cal. I don’t believe he would fit in with the makeup of our team as it is. I definitely still welcomed Brian Shaw, whom I most notably remembered for being one half of the “Shaw-Shaq Redemption” duo back when “The Big AARP” was still in Orlando. I felt it couldn’t do us any harm to hire someone who got to saturate in Phil Jackson’s winning genius. I assumed the Lakers wouldn’t let him walk though. When Mike Brown arose as a potential Warrior head coach candidate, I nearly collapsed. Thank god the Lakers have given up on winning championships, and snagged him. At this point, I remember speaking to my friend about potential coaching candidates, and I threw out Mark Jackson’s name. I told him the one thing I wanted on our new coach’s resume, was he be a former NBA point guard. And one with little to no athleticism at that. Kevin McHale, Lawrence Frank, Dwayne Casey … all names that came and passed, thankfully. Then tonight, we finally got our man. The man whose name I threw out.
C'mon Dubz fans, you know you're excited about CoCo being at our home games!
I’ll tell you why this will work. As I mentioned earlier, I truly believe the Warriors needed a former NBA point guard with little to no athleticism to be our coach. These are the type players who depend on court awareness and intelligence to succeed in this league. This is why Magic Johnson was a terrible coach. Not to say he was unintelligent, or had a lack of court awareness, but he relied a lot on athleticism to gain success. Imagine him trying to coach his point guard. “What do you mean you can’t run a full court break, split two defenders on the way, and drop an under-the-legs-behind-the-back pass to your trailer in stride for the dunk!? And why aren’t you 6’8”!?!?” The players who don’t rely on athleticism understand how to be successful through fundamentals, both offensively and defensively and are better suited to teaching it. It’s the key to their survival. Marc Jackson didn’t just survive, he thrived as an NBA point guard. The Mark Jackson’s of the world end up being an extension of their coaches on the court , so whether they knew it or not, they gained some form of coaching experience, just by playing. This is why I believe someone like Chauncey Billups will be roaming the sidelines in the future. Another thing about Jackson is, in my opinion, he’s the perfect age for the job, and Jerry West happens to agree with me. Being that the foundation of our team is built-in our back court, we needed a coach who was young enough to relate to our baby studs, Steph Curry and Monta Ellis, but old enough for them to still respect, and fear him … yet, young enough for them to still remember what a terrific player he once was, and remember the numerous playoff battles and rivalries he was a part of. I think Mark Jackson fits that description. Or at least he’s as close as it get. Ultimately we won’t know how capable he is of leading our team until we see him do it. But hey, at least we didn’t hire Mike Brown.
Chappy – To say I was surprised is an understatement. Maybe I wasn’t paying attention to the coaching search, but for some reason I thought they were going to take longer to pick one. Anyways, I think it’s a decent hire, and agree with everything that both of the guys above me said. I’m happy he won’t be announcing games anymore, and liked the way he played when he was in the league. I am not going to jump to any quick conclusions about a guy that has never had a shot at coaching a team. Off the top of my head when Mark Jackson announced games, he always talks about defense over and over. It’s a concept that our team has been allergic to for many years. We usually give up the most ppg in the league, but atleast we’re among the leaders in points scored as well. Small consolation prize that isn’t that fun after awhile. If Jackson can figure out a way to annoy them to the point that they start playing defense, we know it was a good hire. Random excitement update if this Igluodala-Ellis deal happens to go through. Jackson will really have a team that can defend. So judging Jackson, is going to be solely on the defensive end. If he can’t get them to play some D, then he wasn’t the right hire….
Lebron vs. Jordan
I don’t get it, where is all this Lebron is better than Jordan talk coming from? Why are guys like Scottie Pippin saying things like this? Does he still have some animosity towards MJ? Are youtube videos like the one above being made, because there’s nothing else to debate about at the moment? Personally I don’t understand why it’s even a debate. For years we compared Kobe to Jordan, and over the last couple years we’ve seemingly put that argument to bed, aside from a short sighted Lakers fan here and there. Now Lebron is better than Jordan when he hasn’t won anything yet?!? Jordan was 6 for 6 in his career in the finals, and won 6 Finals MVP’s while Lebron is 0 for 1 with a sweep in the finals to his name. Wake me after Lebron has a single three-peat, and we can maybe start this argument. Hell, Dwayne Wade has more “Jordan-like” credentials than Lebron with a 1 for 1 in Finals appearances, and earning a finals MVP. I understand that a lot of us want to see another Jordan, but in reality I doubt we ever will see anyone with the drive that Jordan had. He made it so everyone around him would never give up, because he wouldn’t let them. I can’t say the same for Lebron at any point in his career so far. Lebron doesn’t seem to mind losing while Jordan died a little inside every time he lost a meaningless regular season game, and that my friends is what will separate these two for eternity. I think we should be comparing Lebron to Kobe first, then Magic, then maybe Jordan if he ever gets that far. It feels like we skipped a few legitimate and major steps in our comparisons with this guy. It’s scary to me this is going to be a debate for the next 10 years regardless of how many titles the Heat do or don’t win…
Memphis vs. OKC: Their Futures
The theme of the NBA playoffs seems to be the youth movement. Aside from the Mavs, all three teams left are fairly young, and look like they’ll be around for years to come, which had me thinking more about the future than this year. Today I was looking at the Memphis and OKC rosters for the next few years, and there was one thing that stood out to me, how can they keep these cores together? There’s a couple of reasons I think a team like Memphis has a better chance than OKC at sustaining success for the next six years like say Miami and Chicago probably will too. The reason I decided to compare Memphis and OKC is because they are both small market teams that are very young.
I’ll start with the Grizzlies, since it’s a team that for some reason has grown on me a lot over the season. What made Memphis successful this season? Their size and scrappiness on defense. Their size with Marc Gasol and Z-Bo is tough to match for any team. Z-Bo already got his extension, and obviously Gasol is going to be making more than $3M next year and every year after that, so Gasol is priority #1 for them this off-season. They have a bargain PG in Conley locked up for five years, who seems to be slowly getting better even though barely anyone had faith in him (myself included). They will also have Rudy Gay back in the lineup next year. He’s been labeled over rated, but if you saw him play much this year you’d know that isn’t the case, and he might even be worth his huge contract when it’s all said and done. The media talk about Gay has bugged me, because everyone seems to think he is Joe Johnson part II, when a) he’s five years younger than Joe, and b) he gets more steals, rebounds, and blocks than Joe (ie. plays defense). Am I the only one that thinks it’s obsured that people think they need to trade Rudy Gay? After Gay played with team USA on the gold medal run this year, he seemed to get it, which is a time when normally players seem to figure it out (mid-20’s) or be destined to never figure it out. Unfortunately for us (and him), he broke his arm during the last month of the regular season, so he wasn’t around this year in the playoffs, and now he should be traded!?! Really!?! My question for those people calling for them to trade Gay is, are you really putting a lot of stock in OJ (I play no defense and am a little crazy) Mayo. That’s what you’d be replacing Gay with in the long term if they’re building from in house talent. Tony Allen and OJ Mayo both feel like 6th men types to me, and you can find them elsewhere if you need to. Tony Allen is a shut down defensive guy, but is limited in offense. OJ is great when asked to help out the offense, but doesn’t play defense as we saw Harden torching him over and over. Gay plays both ways, and no, I’m not sure on his sexual prefrences, but I do know he works as hard on defense as his offense. He also made a few game winners this year if you didn’t remember, don’t you think he would’ve helped in that triple OT game when they needed a clutch bucket from anyone badly? I do, and think this is a team that hasn’t reached it’s full potential as Gay, Conley, and Gasol will all improve. As I said in the past, Memphis has a bright future for at least the next five years.
The curious case of OKC. They currently have a roster that has ALL their big names at or under the age of 22, which seems great on the outside looking in. It’s amazing to me that everyone thinks that everything will be great for them for the next decade when there will be a ton of franchise changing decisions on the horizon. It’s a team that has dealt with little as far as basketball careers go, since almost all of the important players except Perkins and Durant are still on their rookie contracts. What I understand about this team is this, Durant works harder than anyone on the team, he’s their best player, it rubs off on everyone else, etc., but does it rub others the wrong way on how he’s mister perfect? I’m asking Westbrook this question as I go along, because he’s the main player that you have to question within this team. Forget all the ill-advised shots he took against the Grizzlies, the real question becomes does he want to be Robin or does he want to be Derrick Rose (aka Superman) on his OWN team?
It's all fun and games till someone wants more out of the relationship than the other one does.
Does Westbrook have the Scottie Pippen and Lebron gene that says “I’m okay being the sidekick”? From what I’ve observed, I feel like Westbrook has more of an alpha type personality than Durant as far as being demonstrative on and off the court. At times we saw him ignore Durant during the game, which begs the question if we have to pick one, who is it? If you didn’t pick Durant your fooling yourself. Yes, I understand that the way this team was built was genius, and the envy of the league at the moment, but how sustainable is this team? They picked Ibaka, Harden, Maynor, and Westbrook all in the top five, and all of them are going to be asking for their paydays once they are done playing for these very friendly rookie contracts they are currently in. I think Ibaka just started playing hoops last week and is getting better by the game, so aren’t he and Westbrook going to command top dollar? Would they stay to play with Durant for the sake of winning or do either of them think they can do it on their own elsewhere? That might not even be the biggest question for them moving forward. Money is a funny thing that can lure anyone away from anywhere, and I’m sure Ibaka has some homies that need help in the Congo. Westbrook was born and raised in LA, and doesn’t it seem likely with his alpha type character he’d want to try to spread his wings on his own to see if he can lead a team like Derrick Rose is? I’m not saying that this team is going to get blown up for sure, but you have to wonder in a small market like thiers how big is that window. You’d think with them all being so young it would be a decade long window, but at the moment I just don’t see it being anywhere near that long. The Heat and Grizzlies both have their cores locked up for a lot longer than the Thunder do. The 2012-13 season might be their last hurrah as a group together, and if that’s the case, Miami and Memphis will still have their cores locked up for three more years after that. All I’m saying is that this groups window might only be three years, and I’m praying I’m right since I’d love to see Durant getting frustrated and leaving so his paychecks aren’t signed by Clay Bennett anymore…
Lebron in Spacejam
Awesome video. I usually get a kick out of the college humor website. I’d love to play with Stegosaurus and that Purple Guy, they sound like beasts! I couldn’t figure out if Taz was supposed to be Delonte or not, but either way that part made me laugh…
Playoffs Getting Interesting…
It’s been a entertaining NBA playoffs thus far. Teams that we thought were favorites aren’t turning out to be the powerhouses that we originally thought they were. Like I said back on 4/20, there’s a changing of the eras in the NBA. I didn’t think it would be this year, but thought it was on the horizon. More and more it’s looking like this year is the year of change. Another good thing is I don’t think any of these series are rigged so far. Well done Stern, usually we can tell!
Mavs 2, Lakers 0 – As they say once the home team loses the series really starts. I think someone forgot to tell the Lakers that the series started after game 1. Last night’s Lakers game was disturbing to the fans down here in LA, much to my enjoyment. It’s fitting that this is the first year I was somewhat rooting for them because I didn’t want any of the Eastern Conference teams to win it all. I can’t believe I admitted that, but yes, I was rooting for the Lakers a little. I am enjoying that some Lakers fans said they would win the series in 3 games against this soft Mavs team. Obviously, that can’t happen, but it was an indication of how they overlooked Mavs in general. Maybe the players were listening to the radio shows and got full of themselves or maybe this team is just plain dysfunctional. I won’t call this series done, because the Mavs have a long history of choking in the playoffs when the pressure is at it’s highest. The pressure of closing the Lakers out is going to be big, and close to the pressure of closing the Heat out in the Finals four years ago. That Mavs team was much different though, they have only two players from that finals roster, and were much softer without Chandler. This version of the Mavs feels a lot better, but I won’t believe it until they close out this series. Either way, the winner will lose next round to one of the young guns in the changing of the guards.
Memphis 1, Seattle 1 – Everyone thought the young team that would make an impact out West was going to be the Supersonics when it’s really been the Grizzlies who have shocked the world. I didn’t pick the Grizz to win that first series against the Spurs, especially without Gay in the lineup, but did think they were a good team all the way back in November when I regretted leaving them off my playoff predictions. Both franchises have figured out how to build a contender, and they have one glaring thing in common, size. Size matters in the NBA, just ask Steve Nash. It was always the Lakers biggest advantage for the last three years, and what do teams have to do to knock them off? Get bigger. Memphis did that through free agency and trades (Gasol, Z-Bo). Seattle did the same (Perkins, Ibaka), and now both teams look like they could beat anyone with solid role guys and their stars knowing exactly what is needed of them to be successful. I’m going to say whoever wins this series will be representing the west in the finals. I’m rooting for it to be Memphis, because I still have a hard time rooting for Sam Presti to succeed on any front.
Miami 2, Boston 0 – The team I picked to represent the East is looking about as good as it has all season. I thought that Boston was in trouble before this series started. Wade ALWAYS gives Boston fits, and that’s going back to when Wade was the only player worth anything in Miami. Last year I think he dropped close to 50 one playoff game in Boston to help the Heat avoid getting swept. Now that he has Lebron and Bosh who can also give Boston fits, he no longer has to put up 50 to will his team to a win. What’s even scarier about this Miami team is they look more comfortable playing together than they have all year. The Celtics on the other hand look a lot like the Lakers this postseason. They haven’t really looked good for more than one or two games the whole second season. They know it’s their last shot with their great coach, and might be pressing a little too hard or could just be old. Is it a lame duck coaching situation for Boston and LA that’s getting them down? Are they not playing as hard because they know there’s a new coach on the horizon after this season? Probably not, but I have to throw it out there. I guess this series hasn’t started yet since the home team hasn’t lost, but this video seems to sum up how high people are on the C’s right now…
Chicago 1, Atlanta 1 – Of the teams left in the playoffs, I’ve probably watched these two teams the least. I’m not sure why, but I was never totally sold on Chicago. Derrick Rose’s ankle is what this series hinges on, and personally I think getting the MVP is a jinx. No guard since Jordan has won a title the year they won the MVP. This day in age only big men that win the MVP get championships. Like I said before, I haven’t watched Chicago a lot, but is there anyway their defense is overrated a little? Indiana and Atlanta aren’t exactly offensive juggernauts ranking in the middle of the pack in the NBA, but are putting up over 90 in the playoffs where scoring is usually down against the unbreakable Thibodeau defense. Atlanta is the toughest team for me to figure out. They blow teams out, and get blown out just as much. You’re never really sure what you’re going to get from them. I can’t figure out why they went away from Jeff Teague, who was lighting Chicago up in game 2, but that happened, and they didn’t come close to winning. I actually like a lot of Atlanta’s players, but for some reason just can’t seem to talk myself into rooting for them. Don’t they feel like they are Mavs of the East? Good enough to be in the playoffs every year, but not good enough to go very far…
Danilo Does What?
I was thoroughly confused when someone sent me a link to this clip above. It was funny, but didn’t make much sense. After checking out the Facebook site it all made sense when I watched Lebron take a sheet!
Warriors End Their Relationship With Smart
The Warriors announced today that they are parting ways with their coach Keith Smart. I wasn’t overly impressed with the job he did coaching, but didn’t feel he did enough to get let go, and wouldn’t have been upset to see him at the bench one more year. It’s probably for the better though. The new owners need to move as far as they possibly can from the old ownership, and so far they haven’t really done much maybe this is a sign of changes to come. I’m pretty realistic about my teams, and I didn’t think the W’s would make the playoffs this year as their roster was constructed at the beginning of the year, which I guess isn’t much of a bold prediction since they rarely do anything. Maybe if everything came together perfectly they would’ve had a shot to make the playoffs, but that didn’t happen, and management decided it was time for their first big change.
Smart did a few things that I questioned during the season, like keeping Biendris out there when he obviously didn’t have anything to contribute. Sure, we didn’t have a lot of options at center, and the team is paying Biens a ridiculous $9M per season, but Smart should’ve seen what we all saw, a player that just didn’t have the heart or desire to be out there more than ten minutes a game. His second mistake in my mind was playing Ellis way too many minutes. Sure he was out best player, but 80% of the time at the end of the game he’d be too tired to make an impact. His elevation wasn’t there because he played about 5 too many minutes, so we’d lose. I loved how Smart was a players coach, but maybe he was a little too much of a players coach. I mean, he let Acie Law talk himself into the lineup regularly. You just can’t let that happen! I wish Smart the best of luck, and hope he finds another home. He was our assistant from 03-09 and our head coach last year, which is actually a pretty long tenure in the Warriors organization.
I have no idea who they will end up with as their coach for next year, but I’m hoping it’s Rick Adelman or at least someone proven. I’d hate to give the job to someone that has no experience again. We are a very young team that needs someone that can keep their attention and respect. Not so sure Smart had that from them. He had their respect, but not so positive about their attention.
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