The Association

NOLA's Jeff Bowler is Quite the Bower... Wait What?

By Craig Kwasniewski

Some people fit the look and some people look the fit... NOLA's head coach Jeff Bowler ooops Jeff BOWER looks almost tooooo happy at Peja Stojakovic's third annual Charitabowl celebrity bowling event.  Rumor has it he doesn't bowl on Shabbos.  I say Bower just owns it for the rest of the season... coach every game with a bowling shirt and a Miller High Life in hand. Don Nelson used to coach in Milwaukee with fish ties so why the hell not?

Seriously, how can his players ever take him seriously after seeing this?

BTW in another photo, here's the New Orleans Hornet pulling more chicks than Tiger Woods these days. It's all in the stinger baby... all right, terrible joke.

And finally, how can you go with a bowling reference and not quote Walter Sobchak:

Walter Sobchak: I told those fucks down at the league office a thousand times that I don't roll on Shabbos!

Donny: What's Shabbos?

Walter Sobchak: Saturday, Donny, is Shabbos, the Jewish day of rest. That means that I don't work, I don't get in a car, I don't fucking ride in a car, I don't pick up the phone, I don't turn on the oven, and I sure as shit [shouts]

Walter Sobchak: don't fucking roll! Shomer shabbos!

The Dude: Walter...

Walter Sobchak: Shomer fucking shabbos.

Photos: So Which One is A.I.?

By Craig Kwasniewski

Boy am I glad they put out name cards for Allen Iverson's re-introductory press conference in Philly. Just imagine the embarrassment if someone from the Philadelphia media accidentally asked the bald white guy, "What's it like to return to a place where you played 10 1/2 seasons?"

Do we really need name cards for one of the most recognizable players in the history of the NBA let alone a Philadelphia sports icon having a press conference... in Philadelphia?  But just in case you forgot... he's the guy on the left.

Whatever, I'm just glad to see Allen Iverson back on the floor.  I've tweeted, blogged, emailed, screamed and mimed that he still has too much game to retire.  After several questionable non-deals (hello New York... you really chose Larry Hughes over Iverson???), it's retro-refreshing to see Iverson return to the city that he poured his heart and soul for... needless to say I am thrilled and can't wait to see the Sixers when they come to LA.

Is Kobe's Low Post Game Hurting the Lakers Offense?

By Craig Kwasniewski

Back to back losses against Western Conference playoff contenders can really, as they say in the futbol world, turn things all pear shaped (I'm still not sure what that means, but it has a nice sound, like I'm some kind of English commentator).  So let's get right the the problem... the Lakers offense.  Brett BEFORE the Houston loss on Sunday pretty much nailed what's wrong with the Lakers offense, but I'd like to take it to the next level...

Kobe's low post game might be hurting the Lakers offensively.  Now understand, things can easily change as soon as Pau Gasol returns from his injured hammy, but right now the old Triangle Offense is looking like something Mike Brown might draw up while losing to Orlando in the Eastern Conference Finals... all cluster F-ed. 

With Kobe starting down low and clapping for the ball the whole 24 seconds there's nobody left to stretch the defense. The upside to the Radmanovic trade last spring was unearthing the hidden gem in Shannon Brown but they lost their best perimeter shooter in the deal. Before this season, when Kobe attacked from the wing, the help side defense rotated over to the freethrow line extended creating weakside space for players like Odom to slash or post up.  But with Kobe down low, defenses are packing it in (Houston did this all Sunday night) and the Lakers are left with non-perimeter shooters like Artest and especially Odom standing around with their hands up and defenses daring them to shoot.

Let's take it one step further, when Jordan moved his game to the low post in the late 90's the Bulls' roster was loaded with quality mid-range shooters to stretch the defense.  Guys like Luc Longley, Jud Buechler and Steve Kerr were dropping 8 to 12 points a night simply because they found the right areas to spot up in the Triangle Offense. 

The Lakers don't have the players with consistent mid-range games.  And please don't mention Sasha Vujacic, he conned the Lakers into an extension by having a career year in... shocker... a contract year.  The guy shot 39% from the field last season, which is EXACTLY his career field goal percentage. 

Anyway, the Lakers best five (while Gasol is out) is Artest, Odom, Fisher and Bynum... three guys who are low post scorers and Fisher... who's VERY long in the tooth.  But nothing to prevent defenses from doubling, tripling or quadrupling Kobe.  So while it's VERY impressive to see Kobe transform his game into late 90's Michael Jordan and compensate for all the mileage on his legs, it may not be the best thing for this Lakers roster. 

I'm not saying Kobe should completely scrap the low post game, because it really is the best option for a player with his experience, but maybe he should split the post/wing attack to a more 50-50 mix like a run pass attack.  Until then expect more defenses to emulate Houston and pack it in down low. 

Of course things will change once Gasol, one of the league's smartest offensive players, returns.

BTW - You can't win too many games when you best defensive big man and most versatile player is COMPLETELY mailing it in. Odom got the ball swiped from him from behind while holding the ball above his head waiting for Kobe to get open. Odom just shrugged and pointed his man (who has a clear layup the other way). AWFUL!

BTW 2 - Artest is very good in the post, again more reason why Kobe needs to go 50-50 in post/perimeter attacking on offense.

BTW 3 - Phil Jackson will eventually fix this, but not until late December because he's lost his fastball.

BTW 4 - Derek Fisher is O-L-D.

Message to Lakers Fans: Byron Scott is a Terrible Coach and Should Never Be in LA

By Craig Kwasniewski

Byron Scott was fired this afternoon as head coach of the NOLA Hornets. Really it was never a matter of if or even when but more like it's about damn time. Two teams, two firings, two times having feuds with All-Star point guards, two times with the locker room eventually tuning him out... this is a pattern not a matter of diminishing talent in either of his stints with New Jersey or New Orleans.  Byron Scott is a terrible coach plain and simple.

And I haven't even mentioned his X and O's skills.  Let's just say, he's very Mike Brown on the offensive end of the floor.  The Hornets literally ran one single solitary play with the high screen and roll with the center.  It worked a lot two years ago simply because of Chris Paul's immense talent and the chemistry between him and Tyson Chandler.  But better coached teams like San Antonio and the Lakers eventually exposed their bland offense game plan. 

Hell he even ran zone last night against the Suns, who by the way happen to be the best three point shooting team in the NBA.  To the surprise of nobody the Suns killed NOLA last night.  Come on people!

And now to my point... Lakers fans for the most part are excited at the notion of Byron Scott "coming home" to LA to coach the Lakers once Phil Jackson retires.  Are you kidding me?  The guy has been fired twice for basically the same reason... this is what we commonly refer to as a pattern.  Being a member of "The Lakers Family" doesn't mean they should roll out the red carpet and hire the guy.  In fact, if we're talking Byron Scott and family... we'll this is the one time I'll accept a little domestic violence.  There's no way in hell a franchise like the Lakers should waste any time on Bryon Scott as a coach. 

Five Questions About the Phoenix Suns

By Craig Kwasniewski

The Phoenix Suns roll into Staples Center tonight to face the Lakers and who better to probe into the NBA's early season surprise than Phoenix resident and current Suns media member, Brett Pollakoff (oh and the co-founder of this here site). Let's get it rolling... five questions about the Phoenix Suns with Brett's responses in italics:

1 - So is Channing Frye looking like the Trevor Ariza lite that I suggested when they acquired him? (I've been carpet bombing Brett with emails claiming Frye could be the next Ariza... we'll see how that plays out this year.)

Um, not defensively. But for a center to be able to step out and shoot threes, it really opens things up. He's shooting a much lower percentage from downtown on the road than at home, but he's been solid shooting 20-footers either way.

2 - If PHX squeezes out a 50 win season will Nash get his second "I didn't expect this from Phoenix so because of that I'll give their leader the MVP" MVP award?

Yeah, no. HOWEVER ... he has singlehandedly had more assists than the other team in 3 of the Suns' 8 games so far, and he has two 20-assist games already this season. He only had 5 20-assist games in his entire career, so it's safe to say he's feeling rejuvenated.

3 - But seriously, we both expected a good season but not this good of a start.  (No seriously we both felt the Suns would improve after Shaq left because they have the right blend of talent, coaching and experience, but we both felt they were more of a 7 or 8 seed.)  Are they deep enough to keep this up?

The Suns have had 4 different players lead the team in scoring, so they're versatile and deep. The key will be for them to keep playing with high energy, and for their bench (guys like Jared Dudley, Goran Dragic, and Lou Amundson) to continue to produce. But the strong start is only building those guys' confidence.

4 - Will the Amare trade talk at the deadline mess this up?

I just found out that Amar'e has a player option after this season for 1 year and $17.7 million. If the team is winning and he's happy, the team doesn't need to trade him, and he can choose the big payday in PHX for one more season before doing the whole free agency thing.

5 - And finally, we're talking coach of the year stuff if they win 50 because of the same "I didn't expect this" factor that the media always rides.

Coach of the Year usually goes to a top 2 or 3 team in the conference, so the Suns would need to keep this up all season. There's a long, long way to go, but he would have to be in the conversation given the way he's gotten the team to play together and especially the way he's getting the most out of a group of unheralded players off the bench.

One last thing, Brett's been grinding it out and blogging constantly on the Suns the past year and a half and was dutifully rewarded with full media credentials with photo ID.  It's VERY cool when you actually see it.  To go from jerkoff blogger to fully credentialled media member in a two-year span is amazing and a testament to all the talent and hard work... congratulations Brett!

The NBA is Decades Away from a Franchise in the UK

By Craig Kwasniewski 

I just got back from a two week vacation in England and let me tell you (without question, no doubt about it, and all the other sportstalk radio cliches... this is what happens when you don't write for like months, you end up sounding like some clunky ex-football lineman... but alas...)  

Two weeks in the UK with the rain, cold, warm beer, clotted cream (awesome on biscuits, but don't confuse it with ice cream... seriously), bangers & mash, bubble & squeak, driving on the wrong side of the road, rugby, footie... 

and no NBA. 

None whatsoever, not a tee shirt, nothing in the sports shoppes, nothing on ESPN (which in the UK stands for Every Single Possible Night covering hockey) and not a mention anywhere.  Well none except the 1-inch listing of the previous days scores in the middle of the newspapers and the occasional scroll along the bottom of Sky Sports News at like 3 AM, but that's it.

Wasn't it just a few weeks ago that the Bulls and Jazz played a preseason game in London?  Wasn't it just a few years ago that David Stern envisioned an All-Star game in Paris?  Didn't he follow up with ideas of franchises in London, Paris and Spain?  I'm just not seeing the type of international exposure the we are led to believe.  Shouldn't there be a little hype or at least a spill-over effect from the preseason games just weeks ago?  

So when I hear David Stern talking about having a possible franchise in London in the near future I just don't see it.  England is a soccer, rugby, cricket and bar sports (darts, snooker, drinking... a lot of drinking!) country first before any American sports.  And while I do see the NFL, MLB and even the NHL occasionally on the telly, I have yet to catch any NBA action.  Trust me, I would love to have a chance to follow the The Association when I'm on vacation in Europe, even catch a game live, but I think we're years even decades away from that happening.

Review: Converse Weapon Evo

by Brett Pollakoff

Most of you will remember the Converse Weapon, the iconic shoe worn by the likes of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson in the 1980s. (In case you don't, here's a refresher.)

Today, Converse has gone back to what once was, by officially releasing the Weapon Evo, a shoe the company calls "an all-new, court-ready, basketball shoe evolved from the original Weapon, which was worn by superstars during the game’s 'Golden Age.' "

The shoes certainly look virtually identical to their predecessor from an era gone by. But with a redesigned upper and cushioning system, these are actually court-ready kicks, even by today's more demanding standards.

I was given a pair to try out, and have been playing in them for the last few weeks. Read on for a complete review.

Lakers Front Office Dropped the Ball in the Return to the Forum

By Craig Kwasniewski

The Lakers flat out dropped the ball in their return visit to the Fabulous Forum. Did you even know they played last Friday at the Forum? Turns out, not many people did as the old lady sat half full as the Lakers got rolled by Golden State in an early preseason game.

Look at that pic, there are waaay too many empty seats for a return to the Forum.  And this was far into the third quarter, beyond the typical late arriving LA fans factor.  So what went wrong?  Where was everyone?  Where was the hype, the celebs or even the Laker legends?  How is it that the Dodgers sold 100,000 tickets in their return to the LA Coliseum just 18 months ago and only about 10,000 fans show up to the OG home of Showtime and more importantly the birthplace of the Laker Girls.  How is this not a slam dunk?

It had a very promising start with Derek Fisher welcoming everyone back to the Forum to a warm reception. Jeffrey Osborne (who opens every Lakers regular and postseason) belted out his typical magical rendition of the National Anthem...  and that was it.  From that point on it was a typical preseason game.  The Lakers came out as flat as the crowd and wilted in a 100-91 blow out loss. The only thing of note was Steven Jackson getting FIVE fouls in the first quarter and being sent to the showers by Nellie late in the first quarter. 

The Dodgers spent an entire offseason promoting the Coliseum game, offering relatively affordable tickets with all proceeds going to charity. I didn't go to the game, but it was fascinating to watch on TV.

The Lakers put up a few ads in the local newspapers and charged regular season prices with all proceeds going to the Lakers coffers.  I know they are desperate to make up as much $$ for the luxury tax, but would it hurt to lower prices just a tad in these economic times?  What about making it a charitable event and give away tickets in the upper Colonnade Section to local schools or at least lower those seats to $10 each?  Would it hurt to honor the 80's Lakers teams before the game?  Roll out Magic, Worthy, (soon to be fired) Byron Scott, (should be fired) Michael Cooper, (soon to be unemployed) Kareem and (should be deported) Mychal Thompson for a celebration.

The box score showed a sell out of 17,505 for the game but TRUST ME the place was 60% full at best.  It was still fun to return and catch a Lakers game in the arena where I first started watching the NBA (and rooting against the 80's Lakers by the way), but the whole experience left me wanting a little bit more.  Maybe in another 10 years the Lakers front office will have more respect for their history and their fans and make the return more of an event. 

I sat baseline 8th row (BTW - a great deal for preseason games if you don't mind the angle, usually baseline seats are 30% of the sideline seats).  In 10 minutes Kobe Bryant gets under Steven Jackson's skin, leading to his early departure and eventual 2 game suspension. 

And finally, walking up for probably the last Lakers game ever at the Fabulous Forum.

How To Get Girls By Expressing Sympathy For Allen Iverson

by Brian Spaeth

Once upon a time, I was a veteran of the NBA blogosphere, primarily through this website.

Bear with me, because I'm doing a little blog tour with a bunch of my old NBA blog friends, and frankly, I'm a bit rusty. It took me four days to write this first post, and there's zero substance to it. (This actually isn't much different from what I used to do - I just was much faster back then.)

Anyway - I'm here today primarily to do two things:

1) Promote a movie. (Don't panic - Who Shot Mamba? has legit NBA/basketball ties.)

2) Have some sadness about my Allen Iverson and his possible signage with the Memphis Grizzlies.

The former is because I want people to watch the movie, and then later, buy the DVD of the movie. That way I can make lots of money at that, and go around being famous with a niche audience of +/-1500 men between the ages of 15 and - I dunno - 75.

The latter portion of my agenda is far more clear. Back in like May I said something on Twitter about how the end of Iverson's career was making me sad, and this girl who I'm in love with said that it showed a sensitive side of me she wasn't previously aware of.

This was a big day, because I'd never told anyone about my sensitivities for the career of Allen Iverson, and had no idea the type of euphoric effect it could cause for females. Pretty much all I do now is go around to hot yoga classes with a mildly sour look on my face, wondering out loud why Allen can't go chase a ring as a gunner off the bench for a contender.

This is how I say that:

This is fun yoga...why can't Allen Iverson go chase a ring as a gunner off the bench for a contender.

Now, I must step away for a moment and note that this post was actually supposed to be an tempestual list of 27 teams Allen Iverson should sign with and why.*

That's when I took a break to go get a picture of Allen Iverson for the Allen Iverson post. That's this post.

Did he get a little doughy.

So, and in conclusion, the first trailer to for Who Shot Mamba? came out today on the Facebook Page. Tomorrow I'll be at Both Teams Played Hard, being sad about the Philadelphia Seventy-Sixers logo, and explaining how I use that to pick up girls at karate class.

* The Cavaliers, the Timberwolves, and the Grizzlies were the only teams I couldn't find a reasonable justification for signing Iverson.

Brian Spaeth is the writer and star of Who Shot Mamba?, a Broadband Motion Picture debuting October 13th on Koldcast.tv. He has also published two novels, and writes regularly at his own blog. He frequents Twitter in a big way.

How is AI Still a Free Agent? The Knicks Should Sign Him!

By Craig Kwasniewski

How the hell is Allen Iverson still a free agent? Literally one year ago he was the second leading scorer on the offensive-minded Denver Nuggets. He was still on every opponent's "Big Ticket" package, the NBA's version of hockey... a player waaayyy more entertaining in person than on TV. Yet today he sits by the phone during the official dog days of the NBA calendar waiting... waiting... waiting for a chance to show the NBA world that last year was an aberration and not the decline of a superstar.

How is A.I. still a free agent? Maybe I'm a little biased because I ALWAYS looked forward to seeing him play in LA. The guy's a freak! The energy, the skill to go right at the hole with reckless abandon, the high runners, the smooth jumpers... the energy! A dude his size should never have dominated the NBA offensively like he had for the past 13 years.

How is A.I. still a free agent? Sure, watching opponents play the Lakers, I always got an opponent's A game. They know they're playing in the number 2 television market with all the celebs sitting courtside against one of the league's marquee teams. So I never saw those moments where A.I. broke off offensive plays or when he"relaxed" on defense or any of the famous battles with his head coaches. For lack of a better word, I was just happy to be there.

So when I heard that the Clippers were interested in bringing Iverson in as a free agent, needless to say I was intrigued.  Why the hell not?  The Clippers have spent two years destroying what's left of the NBA's most loyal fans and at this point anything is a good thing.  (Seriously, why 10,000 people continue to buy season tickets to a franchise that's ALWAYS terrible with ZERO hope in the future is beyond me.  Their marketing is terrible yet they still have a very strong and very vocal group of loyal fans that the Mike Dunleavy era is slowly destroying.)  So why not bring in one of the most entertaining shows in the NBA?  I guarantee a back court of B.D. and A.I. would match the previously legendary (in Clippers lore anyway) 1994 team with Mark Jackson and Dominique Wilkins and the high flying 2002 squad.  Isn't professional sports part result and part entertainment?  But in a very Mike Dunleavy-type of move, the Clippers passed on A.I. and instead traded for Mark Madsen.  Have fun with that!

Here's my point... the Knicks should sign Iverson.  The Knicks have spent the past two years clearing roster and salary for the Big Free Agent Class of 2010.  But for the time being they're stuck with D-League talent playing Mike D'Antoni's Seven Seconds or Less style.  So they'll score a ton of points but lose 75% of the time.  Sure it might be entertaining in the sense that scoring is entertainment, but New York is also a star crossed city and I seriously doubt people in this economy want to continue to pay big bucks to see Mardy Collins drop a 20-spot on Charlotte.

The Knicks should offer A.I. a one-year contract at the mid level exemption.  They get a superstar in the twilight of his career without risking the big picture.  A.I. would/should jump at a second chance to prove his doubters wrong on a nightly basis (always a GREAT motivation) in front of the MSG faithful.  You're telling me Knicks fans wouldn't love seeing AI go at it?  He's PERFECT for New York, a guy who wears his heart in his sleeve, who gives his all on the floor, a comeback story who can drop 20-30 points in a style that hides his defense problems.  Maybe D'Antoni is worried that A.I. is more Starbury than Nash... which is a HUGE concern.  But maybe, juuuuust maybe A.I. also realizes that he's down to  his last chance to prove he's willing to compromise. 

With very little to risk (wins or losses in New York aren't a factor as Utah has their first round pick in 2010), the Knicks should sign Iverson and give their fans something to look forward to... at least until LeBron turns them down in 2010.

 

Thoughts on the Draft Day Trades

By Craig Kwasniewski

I'm not really up on all the players drafted yesterday since the only NCAA hoops I watched all year was from the Las Vegas Hilton on the first weekend of March Maddness... Basically my knowledge on the college scene falls somewhere between Stu Scott and Rick Kamla (or Vanilla Scott as I like to call him).

So here are my thoughts on the trades from the past 48-hours:

1 - Shaq to Cleveland:  Props to the NBA media for not overreacting and proclaiming the Cavs the 2010 NBA Champs. Props to Danny Ferry for going "all in" and taking a chance on Shaq, hoping to convince LeBron to re-sign in 2010.  And props for Donald T. Sterling 2.0 for completely ruining one of the NBA's greatest franchises and killing Steve Nash's final years as a player.  This trade has way more questions than answers. 

Will Shaq play second fiddle to the league's biggest alpha dog?  He thinks Kobe was bad but LeBron runs EVERYTHING in Cleveland.  His teammates, his gags, his front office... this is LeBron's team.  From Penny to Kobe to Wade... all three All-Stars were young and didn't have the locker room pull that LeBron has.  Kobe was stubborn and always battling Shaq to be THE number one, but Shaq always had the Lakers roster and coaching staff on his side.  Shaq is clearly the outsider in Cleveland, will his ego accept being a number #2?

And don't tell me that he settled in with Phoenix as the #2!  Just one season in, the Suns were slowing things down and dumping to Shaq just like all the previous teams he played for.  Now we're hearing that Nash requested the Suns trade away Shaq.  He's 37 years old and he's never changed his demeanor as a player.  Why would he change now?

Will Shaq have patience for Mike Brown, the guy who was thoroughly out-coached by Mr. Master of Panic Stan Van Gundy?  As the Eastern Conference Finals showed us (and as I've been literally screaming for years!), the Cavs have one play in their offensive playbook.  Just one!  High screen and roll for LeBron where his options are: 1) step back for a three, 2) drive down the lane, 3) pass to the corner for a three, 4) hit the rolling big man to the hoop.  That's it!  But LeBron is so damn talented that he normally overcomes defenses (well expect when playing the Lakers, Orlando or Boston, but NOBODY seemed to remember this during the regular season DESPITE THE LAKERS SWEEPING THEM!!!)  Anyway, Mike Brown is CLEARLY the worst head coach that Shaquille O'Neal has played for (and yes that includes Terry Porter and Del Harris).

The Cavs now have their first low-post option since a pre-lockout Shawn Kemp in 1998.  Will Mike Brown add a second page to his offensive playbook and post up Shaq?  What happens when they face Orlando during a regular season game and start trailing?  Will Shaq DEMAND the ball during timeouts or will Mike Brown freeze up (like in the ECF's) and just ask LeBron to save them?  How soon before Shaq realizes the huge gap in ability between Mike Brown and Stan Van Gundy?

Does this trade make LeBron Tom Hagen?  Or is he Connie?  One of Shaq's best quotes was his comparison of his superstar teammates to the Corleone Family.  Penny Hardaway was Fredo (hilarious), Kobe was Sonny (temperamentally very true) and Dwyane Wade was Michael (maybe).  There's really only two left, Connie and the adopted Tom Hagen.  The way I see it, Steve Nash and LeBron is Tom Hagen who was one of the smarter and more appearance-savvy members of the Corleone Family... much like LeBron.  Nash as Connie totally makes sense considering Connie was the least valuable sibling in the Corleone family (BTW - Nash and Shaq combined for ONE playoff victory)... HOWEVER her actions did lead to Sonny’s death. And Nash did eliminate Kobe twice in the playoffs.

2 - Vince Carter to Orlando:  The Magic gave up virtually nothing and got a former All-Star to add depth to the defending Eastern Conference Champ AND/OR a quality back-up plan in case Hedo leaves.  A brilliant deal!  If Orlando gets 80% of Vince Carter from his All-Star days AND they re-sign Hedo you're looking at the favorites in the Eastern Conference.  They added scoring and athletic depth and another player that will force defenses to spread out and give Howard even more space to score from down low.  If Howard expands his low-post game (which he will), the look out, this might be the next NBA Champs.

If Hedo leaves, they are still one of the top contenders.  With Carter they'll get a player like Hedo who can clear out defenses and iso during crunch time.  But I think Hedo will stay in Orlando.  Now all of this depends on Carter's motivation... which should be high now that he's closer to a NBA title than ever before.

Here's my question... With Cleveland and Orlando making major moves, will Boston try to counter?

3 - Richard Jefferson to San Antonio:  Spurs get Richard Jefferson for left-over garbage (Bowen, Oberto and Thomas).  I guess Popovich is no longer complaining that the league needs a trade czar because this is almost as one-sided as the Gasol trade last year. In fact, one could argue that the Grizzlies got more because of Marc Gasol... a promising big.  The Spurs trade old size and defense and get a proven athletic scorer in Jefferson.  This trade gets the Spurs back in the second round of the playoffs but it doesn't counter the Lakers size.

Now if the Spurs can somehow find a way to sign Rasheed Wallace, then they become the odds on favorite in the West. 

4 - Jamal Crawford to Atlanta:  Wow another high-scoring player with ZERO basketball IQ!  Just when you though the Hawks were the dumbest team in the NBA, they just found a new level of supid-itude (a way of saying suckitude except with stupid).  I really can't find a proper word for how dumb this team is... but what do you expect from a team whose head coach's game face is the "who farted??" look!  Such a MEH trade!

5 - Amare to Golden State:  This isn't official until July 8th (or until EVERY Phoenix Suns season ticket holder skips town) but it looks like a done deal.  So in two seasons the Suns go from the SSOL, high-scoring, high-impact, fun to watch and with several All-Stars and a major contender to NOTHING.  What a shame!  Robert Sarver IS Donald T. Sterling 2.0 make no mistake about it.  

Initial trade rumors have the Warrior sending Curry over with Biedrins, but now I hear they're keeping Curry.  So why give up a relatively young annual All-Star with a very exciting game for absolutely nothing? 

Knock on the Clippers all you want but since they moved into Staples Center they've at least tried to assemble a team with talent.  Mis-guided efforts aside, every season Clippers fans at least have a small glint of hope when they look at their roster (Barron Davis, Marcus Camby, Eric Gordon, Blake Griffin... these are players with talent!).  But teams like Phoenix, Memphis, Sacramento and Charlotte don't even try... they're a lottery team BEFORE October!  Why plunk down hard earned $$ to even watch this crap.

Watching Phoenix dissolve into this garbage is sad.... Screw you Sarver!

LeBron Let's His Tee Shirt (Not His Game) Do the Talking

By Craig Kwasniewski

Imagine the outrage if Kobe did this.  Instead of having his game do the talking, LeBron decides again to let his shirt do all the talking instead (from TMZ.com)...

This is the second time this week that LeBron is wearing his insecurities on a tee shirt.  Is LeBron having a ego melt-down?  Did LeBron realize that Cleveland has no chance as long as Mike Brown is their coach?  Is he feeling inferior to the likes of Kobe, Duh-white Howard, Paul Pierce... all on more talented teams?

But more importantly, just imagine the outrage if Kobe Bryant was caught with the same shirt.  Boston Sports Guy Bill Simmon's head would explode at the sight of it... leading to another 10,000 word crapfest about how KG is a great guy and Kobe is the devil.  Kobe would be nailed to the cross in "I knew he was selfish!!!" articles all over the place.

But since we live in LeBron's world, just to make King James happy, let's to do exactly what he's asking us to do...

2009 NBA Most Valuable Player
2007 NBA Eastern Conference Champion with the Cavaliers
2006 & 2008 NBA All-Star Game MVP
5-time NBA All-Star (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009)
5-time All-NBA (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009)
1-time NBA All-Defensive (2009)

And ZERO rings!!!

Kobe Has a Lakers Flag on His Car?!?!

By Craig Kwasniewski

Awww man... just when I thought getting a fourth title put him clear of all the critics and haters, Kobe puts a one of those damn Lakers flags on his ride.  Dude, I'm a 10-year Lakers season ticket holder and I've NEVER put one of those silly things on my car!  All they do is add fuel to the fire for every smart-ass Lakers hater.  I'd just rather we stick to the normal NBA Championship things like greeting the team at the airport, a downtown parade and celebratory riots.   And who doesn't love the occasional run in with the riot squad?

Anyway, I'll give Kobe a pass... after all he did just win the 2009 Finals MVP Award, but the flag better be in the attic next week!

Next thing you'll tell me that the Lakers charter flight has a flag on it!

Awww man!!!

Five Adjustments the Magic Need to Win Game 3

By Craig Kwasniewski 

Leaving Staples Center last night Lakers fans all around me had the feeling that this was the last Lakers game they would see in the 2008-09 season. All that was left is the trophy, the parade and the ring ceremony. Put this series in the fridge as there's no way the Orlando Magic rally from those two games and makes this a series.... or do they??? 

Stan Van Gundy pulled out all the stops, made the right adjustments and came within a missed layup from putting a real scare in the Lakers. So who's to say he won't push the right buttons in Game 3 and direct the Magic toward their first W of the series? Well Stan, I'm gonna give you five tips/adjustments for the Magic to virtually guarantee a win tonight: 

1 - Continue to go big: The rule of thumb for most NBA teams today is to go smaller and smaller, stretch the defense, create seams and space the floor for the drive and kick game... that is unless you face the Lakers. LA is long, tall and long (did I mention that they're long?). Going small works if you have a quality point guard that can consistently break through the Lakers defense... and really even then teams like Utah, New Orleans and Houston had those guards and STILL they came up on the wrong end of the scoreboard. 

The Magic needs to go big! Play Gortat at the 4, move Lewis to the 3, Turkoglu to the 2 and rotate Alston, Nelson, Lee and Pietrus at the 1 depending on the situation. Gortat and Howard are too strong down low and their mere presence have held the Lakers low post game in check. SVG played Gortat more in Game 2 and the Lakers lost their low post rhythm. Gasol and Odom had trouble posting up Gortat and eventually gave up and stayed on the perimeter. Sure Orlando loses an outside shooter and clogs the lane a little on offense, but they'll still find points as long as Turk, 'Shard and Howard are on the floor. 

2 - Defend Kobe with Turkoglu (especially in the 4th quarter): Kobe's biggest weakness is long and strong defenders. James Posey last year and Tayshaun Prince in 2004 were both long and strong defenders that held Kobe in check, basically shutting him down in the Finals. Turkoglu's size will counter Kobe's very effective post game and he's quick enough to stick with Kobe in the perimeter. Plus Kobe's competitiveness will cause him to scrap the Lakers offensive game plan just to prove to Turkoglu he can score on him all day. This especially happened in 2004 and we all know what happened. The risk is that the Magic's best 4th quarter option will be run ragged chasing Kobe but at this point it's worth the risk. And TRUST ME Turkoglu will get enough under Kobe's skin. 

3 - Don't worry about NOT playing your PG's down the stretch: For some reason SVG caught flak for benching BOTH Alston and Nelson late in the 4th quarter in game 2. Why? They weren't doing a damn thing offensively and Turkoglu's very capable of bringing the ball up court like Scottie Pippen or Odom. Plus it's not like Fisher's an offensive threat to force Orlando to adjust defensively. In essence SVG went Phil Jackson by playing a small forward at the point and size at the two with Lee/Pietrus... and it almost worked.  At home it WILL work.

4 - Bench J.J. Redick: This is not brain surgery, you got past Boston and Cleveland with Redick stuck in DNP-CD mode so why mess with success? Sure he hit a HUGE three late to tie Game 2, but the Lakers also doubled off him most of the time he was on the floor. Remember those key steals late by LA... all by guys leaving Redick wide open. Duke guys should do what they're best at doing, getting all the calls in the college game and having overrated NBA careers. 

5 - What the hell am I doing?  I'm a 10-year season ticket holder and I want another damn NBA title. No more free advice for Stan Van Gundy!  

Game 2 really put a scare in all Lakers fans.  Game 1 made us all think this was an easy sweep and the parade is just a week away.  But give all the credit in the word to SVG, he made the right adjustments and all the Magic needed was just a tiny bit of production from the PG spot and this series is tied.  Playing at the O-Rena (we will not use pyramid schemes here) will definately help the Magic's slumping outside shooting.  But fare thee be warned, the Lakers are the best road team in the NBA and in each of the three previous series they were able to lock down mentally, play with extreme focus and resolve and get a clutch win.  Hopefully the mere sent of a NBA title will draw out the same efforts that we saw in Game 4 against Utah, Game 3 against Houston and Game 3 against Denver... we shall see.

Will the Lakers pattern of huge road wins continue for Game 3?

Finals Prediction

By Craig Kwasniewski

Just a very brief prediction on the NBA Finals... Lakers in 6.

But here are some other things I hope to see:

-The real hedgehog sitting courtside for the game. Just how cool would it be when the Lakers do that "Hollywood Nights" celeb montage and we see a split screen of Stan Van Gundy and Ron Jeremy!

-Kobe winning the first "Bill Russell Memorial" Finals MVP award and temporarily silencing his critics with an NBA title. I say temporarily because, let's be honest, media members outside of LA can't wait to start the LeBron era and will continue to belittle Kobe's efforts (6 NBA Finals appearance, 4 NBA Titles, 3 All Star MVP's, one league MVP.... etc, etc, etc). Yet somehow despite all those accolades, we kept hearing how LeBron has bypassed Kobe like somehow Kobe has turned into Washington Wizards Jordan. Kobe's gonna be around for awhile folks. He's too smart and too much in tune with his body to see the type of production drop-off as we've seen with Duncan and Garnett.

And by the way, can we stop naming NBA awards after dead Boston Celtics players? Not for nothing but I believe there are 29 other teams in the league.

-Phil Jackson passing angry Red Auerbach in NBA titles.  Red has said that Phil never built a team from the ground up, but Red never had to compete for NBA titles with 29 other teams.  Red never had to deal with the NBA draft.  Red never had to deal with salary caps, player entourages, media scrutiny.... basically the modern NBA.  Can a Red Auerbach deal with the likes of Dennis Rodman or the Kobe/Shaq feud and get a combined 6 NBA titles out of them?  Phil getting his 10th NBA title ends all of that discussion.

-The beginning of the Dwight Howard era!  I know he's been around for awhile but I'm giddy about him taking his game to the next level for the next 10 years.  People gasp as the prospect of LeBron's peak years, well Dwight hasn't even started his near peak years.  This guy will DOMINATE the east for a long time, and we'll start to see teams adjust their rosters to counter him much like the NBA did when Shaq was at his peak.