The Association

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!!!

Does Anyone Really Think Cleveland Will Lose Game 5?

By Craig Kwasniewski

Game 5, LeBron's last chance to save his MVP season... will he do it?  Will Cleveland save their season?  Will Mike Brown over annunciate every word during timeouts and show us that he's worth of coach of the year?  Will LeBron prove what everyone at ESPN is praying for... that he's better than Kobe?  Man, the drama is really intense!

Ummmm, not really. 

Cleveland wins this game easily.  So here's a quick message to all media members and fans begging to anoint LeBron "the greatest ever... ever... ever... (echo.... echo... echo)"... please spare us the 10,000 word love poems.  The Cavs are the top seeded team in the NBA, playing at home, with the 2008-09 NBA coach of the year and the 2008-09 MVP... they're supposed to win! 

Save all the "gritty effort, heart of a champion, Jordan-esque" and any other cliches you can think of... they're supposed to win!

The Cavs start two All-Stars and allegedly the greatest player in the next 25 years.... they're supposed to win!

Nike and especially ABC/ESPN have a lot writing on Cleveland advancing to the NBA Finals... they're supposed to win! 

So spare us all!!!!  Because Cleveland easily wins Game 5!

ESPN Orders Staff to Forget About the Lakers Sweeping the Cavs

By Craig Kwasniewski

I just intercepted a very interesting memo issued my ESPN to all their writers, bloggers and blowhards...

To: ESPN Staff

Subject: LeBron James

Whatever you do, do not mention that the Lakers swept the Cleveland Cavaliers this year. Any member of the ESPN family that mentions this will be punished accordingly.

Signed,

ESPN Management

Lakers Steal Game One from Denver

By Craig Kwasniewski  

Whew! As series go, one chapter down and this feels like the makings of an epic series. The Lakers overcame their now typical lackluster start and some very questionable officiating to pull out a 105-103 victory over a very confident Denver Nuggets team in Los Angeles. Here are a few thoughts from my seat high up in Section 316 of Le Stade de Staples:  

Carmelo Anthony wanted to send a clear message... LeBron, Dwight Howard and Kobe aren't the only superstars left in the playoffs. Remember last year when Melo called out the Nuggets for quitting? That player is long gone... Melo was straight up ballin' on BOTH ends of the floor. He held his own down the stretch, hitting clutch hoops and holding his own defensively.

Kobe v. Melo... The never told story. These two superstars really haven't had the famous one-on-one battles like Wade-LeBron or Kobe-Wade. Both guys went at it at both ends of the floor tonight combining for 79 and despite the high scoring, playing impressive defense down the stretch. Melo was able to keep Kobe on the outside forcing him into difficult and deep fadeaways late in the game (see the photo below). Kobe was only able to close it out on the freethrow line after an ill-advised reach in foul by K-Mart... Melo really didn't need help on the play. Anyway, rivalries and made in the playoffs and hopefully this series brings us more of Kobe vs. Melo. 

The "only so many points to go around" theory applies to Melo and Chauncey. Unless you're completely giving up on your head coach like New Orleans, the scoring ceiling the playoffs is usually around 110 points.  So people can always argue "well... just wait until (these several guys) get hot" but no matter what, they still won't exceed 110 points... Simply there's only so many shots to go around. Anyway, this is why we'll never see a game where both Chauncey and Melo get 30 a night. It's either one or the other. Tonight Melo dominated on offense but Chauncey was held in check... Well except for those sick threes late in the game.  Denver seems more dangerous when Chauncey is hot, I think the Lakers are willing to accept the occasional Melo scoring outburst as long as it's not late in the game.

The Lakers stole this one. Denver dominted the first quarter right from the tip, taking advantage of the Lakers now typical slow start. (BTW - these slow starts are VERY disturbing!  How hard is it to get motivated for the playoffs? CLEARLY the Lakers started off like this game's on a Sunday in November, this whole "let the game come to you" crap is getting old.  It wouldn't hurt to put a mentally weak team down in the early stages instead waiting 12 minutes to finally show up.)

But I digress...

Denver blew their chances at blowing this game wide open by missing early freethrows and not riding Melo's hot hand for the rest of the first half.  Clearly the Ariza/Walton tandem were being dominated by Melo, so why not play him most of the first half and grab a big halftime lead? (BTW - Luke Walton on Carmelo Anthony?  REALLY???? Did Phil bet on Denver?) Anyway, George Karl needed to get a feel for the game and adjust his rotations accordingly. 

The Lakers bench circa November finally showed up in the second quarter and rallied the Lakers back into the game.  Early in the season, the Lakers earned the reputation of having one of the deeper teams in the NBA from the stellar and enegertic efforts of their bench in the 2nd and late 3rd quarters.  Several times this year the Lakers starting 5 didn't open with the right energy and they relied on the bench to change the pace of the game, which happened again tonight.

The starting five showed up in the second half and the Laker rode a heroic effort by Kobe to steal the W.

Moving on to Game 2.  A big if still falls on the Lakers.  If the Lakers starters open with the same effort they did against Houston in game 7, they win easily on Thurdsay.  The Nuggets feasted on weak opponents this postseason and have yet to ever show resilience when trailing.  They know they lost a great chance at stealing game 1 and I'm curious how they bounce back.  One thing I do know is that you won't get a game where Bynum, Gasol and Odom all don't show up offensively.  I see a better effort from Gasol in game 2.

But if the Lakers follow their 2009 postseason pattern, they'll take Denver lightly and lose Game 2.  And like everyone else familiar with these Lakers anything is possible...



Melo got the best of Kobe on this one.  He was right in his face and forces Kobe to come up short.

A Look Back at the Playoff Preseason (First Round) - Eastern Conference

By Craig Kwasniewski 

Three weekends later and the first round is finally over.... finally! 

Remember the times when the first round was 5 games and was over by April 25th? Remember when the second round started as soon as the opponents were set?  Remember the excitement of 2 or 3 games a day no matter what with practically every game having some sort of meaning? Take away the ultra competitive Bulls - Celtics series and we were left with a bunch of yawners in the first round. I know the NBA will never reduce playoff games, but the first round looks more like a playoff preseason, even finishing behind the NHL in excitement. And the NBA should NEVER take a back seat to playoff hockey!!! 

Anyway, let's take a quick look back at all eight series in the newly christened Playoff Preseason: 

Cleveland beats Detroit 4-0: YAWN! (And that was from Piston fans who didn't sell their seats to Cavs fans.) If we're claiming the Bulls-Celtics series one of the greatest ever... ever...ever (echo-echo-echo) and making lists proclaiming it as such then let's to a list of the worst ever call this what it was: an abortion! Basically this was the worst playoff series since the Celtics-Pacers in 2004.  

The Pistons gave up on the season way back in November when Joe Dumars hired Michael "I'm afraid to stand up to my veterans" Curry and shipped their leader, their heart and their soul in Chauncey Billups to Denver for Allen Iverson's expiring contract. You gotta hand it to Joe Dumars, he not only killed one of the most successful teams in professional sports but he also ripped the heart out of Iverson and offered it to Kali Ma like that dude in Temple of Doom. The end result is collision of a team on a mission against a team mailing it in. I'm guessing Stern didn't consider this when expanding the Playoff Preseason to 7 games.  

Orlando beats Philadelphia 4-2: If these teams actually had fans this might have been a little more exciting. Instead the only entertainment factor was watching the TNT crew rip the Magic apart for their offense, their coach, their star players, their role players, their fans, their city... everything. When did the Orlando Magic become the Terrell Owens of the NBA? I get that their offense is bland and uninspiring and that Dwight Howard is not yet at the level of playoff superhero but take it easy fellas. The Magic CLEARLY aren't in the same category of the Lakers, Cavs or Celtics but just a level below with Denver (thanks to their GM Joe Dumars).  I feel they're headed in the right direction. I just think Orlando like NOLA last year benefited playing the role of upstart team and stole a few W's here and there (hello Lakers!). We'll see what happens next year when they play all season with a HUGE target on their back. 

Atlanta beats Miami 4-3: Again since we're now all about absolutes, is this the worst 7-game series ever? The closest game was 10 points! Even worse, those loud 4-letter bombs you hear are coming from the ABC and TNT offices after missing out on the ratings winfall of LeBron vs. Wade. How did David Stern let this pass? The 2006 Stern would give Wade 30 to 40 freethows, the 2006 Stern would have fouled out Mike Bibby AND Joe Johnson, the 2006 Stern would have had Joe Crawford give the Hawks three tech's... oh he did?... well it least he got that right.  The 2006 Stern would have found a way to make LeBron vs. Wade happen.    

Anyway, the only other thing I got from this series is Mike Woodson's "who just farted?" face. Call me crazy but if your coach looks confused, panicked and annoyed AT THE SAME TIME... well I'm not feeling too confident unless I have a ghost writer coach like Tom Thibodeau.

Boston beats Chicago 4-3:  The greatest series ever!  The greatest clutch-ness ever!  The greatest fans ever!  The greatest coaching ever!  (SCREEECH-CRASH!!!)

Okay stop right there!  This definitely was one of the most competitive series ever.  Five of the seven games went down to the last possession with each team showing extreme cantaloupe-sized balls.  But let's take a pause before rating this as the greatest ever.  As the TNT crew said, this series was close because of parity.  If Boston had KG this goes maybe 5 and we're all talking about how boring the 2009 Playoff Preseason was.   If Chicago had a head coach they win in 5 (seriously, how many times will Ray Allen be single-guarded with the C's down three?  And how many games did Del Negro lose because he ran out of TO's?).  If Derrick Rose actually knew how to play defense the Bulls win in 6.  If Paul Pierce wasn't so run down from carrying the Celtics to 60 wins, the Celtics win in 5.  But none of that happened and instead we witnessed easily the most competitive in the Playoff Preseason since the league expanded to 7 games.  But to call it the best playoff series ever is absolutely insane. 

The best ever are filled with drama, with stars, with destiny and a feeling of importance.  Take the 1981 Eastern Conference Finals between Celtics-76ers, you have the drama (five games decided by 2 or less), the stars (Dr. J near the end of his prime and Bird coming into his own) and you have the importance (playing for a Finals appearance).  Remember last year's Suns-Spurs Game 1?  At the time people were calling it the greatest playoff game ever, basically erasing 60 plus years of NBA history along the way.  But in the end the series fizzled in 5 with neither team having any relevance in the NBA title hunt last year.  Now Game 1 is just a 30 second commercial and nothing else. 

Let's see how Boston does for the rest of the playoffs before we rank this series in history.  If they somehow find a way to compete with Cleveland in the Eastern Conference Finals then we're talking a heroic effort along the likes of the 1987 Celtics, who fought tooth, nail and broken ankles through to the NBA Finals.  BTW - one of my favorite teams in NBA history and a true lesson on how to properly defend a title (2006 Miami Heat I'm talking to you!).  However, if they get bounced easily by Orlando, then the Bull-Celtics series will be easily replaced by whatever close 7-game series happens next year.  

One final note about this series:  Rondo was great, but not THAT great.  What I'm sayin' is that he's put together some very impressive numbers against ZERO defense.  The Bulls focused on shutting down Paul Pierce and sagged far away from Rondo, giving him a slew of WIDE OPEN jumpers.  Also, early in the series Derrick Rose played matador defense and leaked out for fastbreak opportunities.  We heard Doc Rivers pointing that out during a timeout and Rondo took advantage to the tune of a near triple-double average.  Before we start comparing Rondo to Isiah Thomas, Magic Johnson or even Chris Paul let's see what he does with defenses actually focused on him.  But WIDE OPEN is still WIDE OPEN and Rondo made the Bulls pay for not defending him one iota... so I guess he's got that going for him. 

One more final note:  Will Boston drop a banner and throw a parade for eliminating a 7-seed at home?

Kobe Goes Bladerunner in W Over Cleveland

by Craig Kwasniewski

Early in the 21st Century, THE TYRELL CORPORATION advanced robot evolution into the NEXUS phase - a being virtually identical to a human - known as a Replicant...

Special police squads - BLADE RUNNER UNITS - had orders to shoot to kill, upon detection, any trespassing Replicant This was not called execution. It was called retirement.

Did you see Kobe's hands? All I think about is Harrison Ford's character Decker in Blade Runner when the Replicant bends back his ring finger... it's all gnashed up and bent in like 75 places... THAT was Kobe's hands right after he dislocated his ring finger literally seconds into yesterday's Lakers-Cavs clash. Give LeBron the MVP but give severe big ups to Kobe for out-gritting LeBron with only 2 good fingers on his hand (have you forgotten the torn ligament on his pinky finger?) and leading the Lakers to a big 105-88 win over Cleveland. Here are a few thoughts from my seat in Section 316:

Kobe knows how to play hurt. Unlike Pussy Pierce and his wheelchair, Kobe goes old school when he's banged up; never let your opponent on to how serious the injury. Literally seconds into the game Kobe dislocates his finger! He slowly jogs over to Lakers trainer Gary Vitti for treatment. He has that "dayum this f-ing hurts!" Damn! We've been looking forward to Kobe vs LeBron for weeks and POOF! it's over (seriously, the way Kobe was playing it I seriously thought Kobe was done simply because be never let's on to the pain). Vitti gives the finger a once-over and Kobe returns to play decoy/facilitator for the rest of the half. Clearly with his shot waaaay off, Kobe found other ways to keep LA in the game by defending LeBron in his "lock-down corner" way and the Lakers bigs pounded the Ilgauskus-less Cavs to keep it close 50-49 at the half.

Lakers showed up tonight. Maybe it was the fear of a three game losing streak (yes) or the Lakers truely respect the Cavs (also yes), but the Lakers showed up tonight with the same kind of intensity as the Celtics game. The second unit of Vujacic, Ariza and Odom used length and intensity and exposed the short handed Cavs (without both Ilgauskus and Delonte West).

Orlando Magic is NOT a Contender. Btw - you're honestly telling me that over a very long 82 game season that opponents give Orlando the same intense effort as when they face Cleveland, Boston or LA? I went to both the Magic and Cavs games and there was a definite difference in attitude by the fans and players. Whereas the Orlando game was a date night (and trust me, the crowd was very "talented"), the Cavs game is a total guys night out... you never waste a great game like this on a chick! Anwyay, if advancing to the second round of the playoffs defines being a contender, then add in Orlando. But they lack that clear-it-out-and-take-over guy needed to win in the playoffs like a Kobe, Paul Pierce or LeBron.

The Lakers key adjustment.  Derek Fisher's play of late is killing the Lakers!  It's hard to say it considering that he's possibly the truest "good guy" in the NBA, but playing 40-plus minutes a game since Farmar's injury is taking a toll on his body.  Opposing point guards look like All-Stars (Jameer Nelson... are you kidding me??) and shots are clanging hard off the rim.  FINALLY, Phil Jackson made an adjustment and had Odom bring the ball up the court.  Seems like minor adjustment but that extra break along with reducing his minutes to 34 tonight was the right move as Fisher was fresh down the stretch.  Farmar's still 3 weeks away from returning so Jackson needs to do everything he can to keep Fisher to 30 minutes a night for him to be effective.

5 Predictions for the 2008-09 Season

by Craig Kwasniewski

The Association Blog is up a ready to go for the 2008-09 season! I'm rested, I'm rejuvenated and I'm just about over Game 4...

So let's get this thing rolling with 5 predictions for the 2008-09 season (BTW - for those of you keeping score at home, I was an embarrassing 2 of 5 in my predictions last season):

1 - Houston slightly edges out Philadelphia as most overrated. The easy pick for most overrated team is Philly. Elton Brand coming off a serious injury joining a team with zero perimeter shooting and a point guard notorious for being a great player on a bad team but a below-average player on a good one. That's an easy first round exit!

Nope, Houston wins the award for most overrated team of the season. Fresh off another yet another first round exit, destroying along the way all the good memories of that winning streak (seriously what was it: 17, 23, 87? I really don't know. All I know is I TOLD YOU SO!!!!!) the Rockets bring in Ron Artest.

Size up the rings, roll out the parade and drop a banner! Forget that the current dynamic duo is injury prone and have never advanced beyond the first round IN THEIR ENTIRE CAREER. Forget that their head coach while a good regular season coach is notorious for getting a case of sphincter-itis beyond April. Forget that the point guard should be running along side Tha Professor at Rucker Park instead of lining up against CP3, Deron Williams, Tony Parker and Steve Nash. Oh and forget that your NBA title hopes fall on the shoulders of Ron Artest.

2 - The Boston Icon Curse is VERY real! No I'm not talking about the quality of women from Beantown. The new curse involves the sporting icons from Boston. SNAP!!! Tom Brady blows out his knee, then POP!!! goes the Papi's wrist (along with a very clutch .186 in the postseason)... So which "icon" on the Celtics gets it? Obviously to everyone not named Paul Pierce (who's STILL thinks he's an elite player, though he somehow forgot all those "elite" seasons before Garnett bailed his ass out), a KG injury would severely hamper any shot at a repeat. Look I'm not wishing any injuries on the Celtics, but still....

3 - San Antonio's every other streak ends. If the pattern held to form the Spurs would be NBA champs in 08-09. They won titles in 02-03, 04-05 and 06-07 impressively with mid-February runs after coasting though the first half of the season. Manu's hurt, they lack that "it" energy guy they seem to always find and their veterans are O-L-D. The Spurs are at their best with Duncan resting through All-Star break riding Manu's energy through the first half. Now they have to hope Duncan has a full 82 games in him this year. I can't see it happening. We're two years away from the phrase, "Tim Duncan's corpse."

4 - LeBron James will win the MVP! Hard to believe but with all the Chris Paul love LeBron James is officially under the radar. It's like the NBA media is strictly monogamous, they can only drool on one guy a year. Last season they "dated" LeBron, then Kobe and CP3 now they're in a fully committed relationship with Paul and have issued an MVP Save the Date for May. Did they not see King James in the Olympics? The guy seems prime and ready for a massive season (like Jordan in 1987). Remember, the Cavs came a few minutes shy of knocking of the Celtics literally weeks after retooling their roster? Now LeBron gets a full season with this roster and he looks prime to take the MVP.

5 - Lakers will beat the Cavs in the Finals. Cleveland has the right pieces and more importantly the Celtics lost two HUGE components in James Posey and PJ Brown from last season's title. LeBron will prevail in a hard-fought 7 game series over Boston to earn a place in the Finals.

The Lakers will struggle early on trying to fit Andrew Bynum into the same roster that won the Western Conference but things will start to turn around in December. They have the deepest team in the NBA, despite being crushed by Tom Thibodeau in the Finals (come-on we all know Doc did nothing) they still have one of the best coaches ever, they got a full preseason of Pau Gasol and oh and by the way, they still have the best closer in the NBA. Do they have that toughness necessary to win a title? Can they win with two 5's on the floor? Will Kobe hold up after a long and busy off season? Will Odom's and Bynum's contract situations be distracting? Will the Buss family hold together or will they unravel like is years past? This is LA, there's always drama and the Lakers seem to rise above it. Their depth will allow Kobe to rest up and get them through the annual rash of injures that come in early January. And they will win the 2008-09 NBA Title!

Celtics Doing Something the Pistons Can't Do... Defend LeBron

By Craig Kwasniewski

This ain't Tayshaun Prince running away from LeBron!

It's no secret that LeBron owns the Pistons. Literally any time he faces the once vaunted Pistons defense, LeBron flies down the lane for uncontested layups and thunderous dunks. The infamous Game 5 from last season proves a point, LeBron's in their head. As a basketball purist, it's really frustrating to see a team that once thrived off of their defensive reputation simply give up. Embarrassing!

Well, big ups to the Boston Celtics for putting on a defensive clinic on LeBron last night, forcing him into the worst game of his career. And it really didn't take brain surgery, just hard work. The C's were always closing the lane on drives with multiple players, they were always in LeBron's face contesting every shot and the were quick to recover off the help defense, challenging jumpers whenever LBJ dished.

Mix in the thoroughly uncreative offense from Cleveland and you have one of the one of the league's best shooting a preposterous 2-18 from the field with 10 turnovers. Seriously, Mike Brown needs to wake his ass up on offense. The TNT crew and especially Charles Barkley were losing their minds watching LeBron struggle in their 1-4 set down the stretch. Basically it's LeBron at the top of the key and the rest of the Cavs spaced all over the floor opening lanes for LeBron to dive. This works against teams like Detroit, who don't challenge LeBron once he gets to the paint. But against the C's, LeBron's expending a ton of energy just to get a shot off, which explains those blown layups in the last 45 seconds... LeBron was simply gassed.

Brown needs to find a way to create easy shots for LeBron. How about running LBJ off some curls to get the ball on the wing or posting him up? Take the pressure off LBJ by not having him run the point so much. The Cavs have the talent to beat the C's, but they need their closer to have the energy down the stretch.

BTW - Mike Brown deserves every bit of blame for his uninspired offense, but I'm not calling him a bad coach. We all look at these Cavs as a modern day version of the Doug Collins-led Chicago Bulls with LeBron and his supporting cast. But Brown's done a fine job getting his team to buy into the LeBron-first offense, play hard and win (not an easy thing to do in the game today... dudes want to score and not be role players, which explains Larry Hughes being shipped off). But Brown's also done a fine job at making the Cavs one of the best defensive teams in the league. It's no fluke that both Paul Pierce and Ray Allen had their career worst games last night. Sure, some may argue that they both were tired from playing defense against LeBron, but we're talking a COMBINED 4 points from two of the big three.

Anyway, not a lot of teams have the talent make up of the Boston Celtics to defend a LeBron James like last night. But the Pistons do! Flip Saunders (or more like Joe Dumars), are you watching?

Even if LeBron splits KG and Parker Posey he still has Kendrick Perkins waiting to close the lane... textbook defense.

Write What You See: A Great Night in the Association

By Craig Kwasniewski

Okay this is not some long-winded gloat-fest about the Lakers win over the Suns. I'll save that for the playoffs. Instead, tonight was a night for all the hardcore NBA fans out there. You had major debuts, a sick game winning jumper, a triple double, a very smart trade and even a Clippers win... simply fantastic!

So let's just run with another edition of Write What You See:

Boom Dizzle hits a SWEET game winner against the C's: I gotta give Baron Davis and GSW Hoops credit for beating the Celtics without Captain Jack. Normally I'd try to find something negative in the W just to get under the very sensitive skin of the Oaktown fans, but you guys deserved this one. I thought the Celtics would come out on fire after their loss last night at Denver and I thought Golden State would drop a second loss in a row, but instead they rode the wave of their incredible fans and once again rallied in the 4th quarter for a huge win. That has to be something like 12 fourth quarter rallies by GSW this year. It's a damn shame that they currently sit 9th in the west. The NBA *NEEDS* this team to make the playoffs!

Spurs get Kurt Thomas: Once again, while other teams are making panic deals in trying to keep up in the wild west (read: Dallas and Golden State), the Spurs go under the radar and acquire exactly what they need: a defensive big. This is why the Spurs have been contenders since 1999 and will still remain in the title race for the balance of Tim Duncan's career. Tim Thomas offers veteran experience, a tough/east coast style of defense and he's a great teammate. What makes the deal even better is that the Suns have been reeling defensively since they let Thomas go in a money-saving deal. So as the Lakers and Suns are scary-big, the Spurs counter with additional front court help and gave up nothing in return. They match up perfectly with what the Suns offer and can probably hang with the Lakers.... simply a smart deal.

LeBron with a Triple-Double: With all the debuts and game winners is LeBron's triple-double against the Pacers. The ESPN guys were praising Kobe tonight as a top MVP contender, but I'm still giving it to LeBron. The guy is simply carrying a broken and not-that-talented team to W after W. They may run out of gas in the playoffs against the C's and Pistons, but what LeBron is doing is straight out of the 80's (Bird, Magic, Mj, Isiah) with that will to win.

CP3 to Kidd: Debut This! Chris Paul drops a major schooling on Dallas in Jason Kidd's debut. I'm guessing that the Western Conference leading New Orleans Hornets are getting tired of all the talk about everyone else out west the past week and were primed to send a message to the Mavs. I know Kidd only had one practice with his new team and I know they'll get better, but expect a lot of the top point guards to have great nights against Kidd. The guy's simply not the same defender he was a few seasons ago. And I can't state this enough (especially after the Kurt Thomas trade), the Mavs are not big enough to hang with Phoenix, San Antonio or Los Angeles.

Shaq's debut in Phoenix: No gloating here... just a few facts: Fact, Shaq played his ass off and clearly knows his role with Phoenix (defense, rebounding and size). Fact, Nash and the Suns will learn to play with Shaq. Fact, Shaq is no longer explosive, but is smart enough to make a difference. Fact, with Shaq eating space, Amare will get some seriously monster numbers.

However...

Fact, the Suns defense is not that good (especially with Nash, Shaq and Amare all poor on pick and rolls). Fact, the Suns will miss Marion's help defense (he was a great rotational shot blocker). Fact, the Suns will miss Marion's defense against Kobe (he split defense on Kobe with Raja Bell, who looked tired at the end). That being said, despite the loss at home to a Lakers team missing Andrew Bynum and playing the second of a back-to-back and despite blowing the season tiebreaker in a very emotional game, the Suns are still one of the teams to beat out West (three team race with the Lakers, Suns and Spurs).

That was a fun game to watch and I'll pay close attention to Shaq's "college basketball season" over the next few weeks just to see how it plays out.

Whatever happens, tonight was one of those "I love the NBA!!!!" nights.