The Association

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?

Monday Morning Point Guard

By Craig Kwasniewski 

March Madness eat your heart out! One weekend down and there were several upsets, a few stinkers and a couple expected results. As much as I love the whole one and done March Madness thing, you don't get the physical play, the adjustments and strategy that a 7-game series offers. Here are a few thoughts with one game down in each series: 

Boston vs. Chicago - Is there room on the Derrick Rose bandwagon? The Bulls were the one team I regret not seeing in person this year. Anyone with an eye for hoops can appreciate the full range this rookie brings to the Bulls but what I didn't notice until Saturday is Rose's quick and explosive LAST step. Most players have that quick first step to blow by defenders but Rose explodes right at the rim at his last step. Also, his extremely calm nature works well with the youthful Bulls. Game 1 against the defending champs and he has the heart rate of a librarian and it's contagious as the Bulls weren't phased at all. I still think Boston wins, but the Bulls should make Rose the GM, coach and owner and build around him for the next 12 years. 

Cleveland vs. Detroit - Are we done yet? Are we done yet? Are we done yet? SWEEP! 

San Antonio vs. Dallas - One quarter in, Duncan had springy legs and looked very 2007, I was on the brink of writing a "Mavs should have kept Maquis Daniels instead of Josh Howard" piece and Nowitzki was in foul trouble... basically it didn't look good for Dallas. I left home, went out thinking the Spurs would win easily and I caught the last few seconds at a bar as Dallas... PULLED AWAY FOR A W??? What the hell happened? Suddenly Dallas looks like a very legit Western Conference finalist and San Antonio looks old.    

Portland vs. Houston - This really looks like a match-up problem for Portland more than anything else. Maybe their inexperience cost them a W as they didn't have that fifth gear or maybe they're just happy to be there.  All I know is Yao played the best playoff game of his life and showed EVERYONE that the problem was always T-MAC. 

Los Angeles vs. Utah - No Okur, no chance for Utah... it's just that simple. But the real story is the referees killing the entire second half of the game. It's no surprise that Joey Crawford was the lead ref in the worst called game of the weekend. Does the NBA pay him by the fouls? Does he really think the fans pay to see him ref? Is he out to single-handedly ruin professional hoops?  There were SIXTEEN fouls in the 3rd quarter alone and a free-flowing game became a possession-by-possession freethrow festival. Terrible! 

Orlando vs. Philadelphia - I've said this all year, Orlando doesn't have the go to guy necessary to make a deep run in the playoffs. C-Webb pretty much blew a gasket ripping on the Magic not riding Dwight Howard all game. But does Superman really want to be "that guy" with the Magic or is he content with monster numbers, monster dunks and showmanship? NBA Champions all have the definitive alpha dog and an understood chain of command. The Celtics heart lies with KG but crunchtime went Pierce first and Sugar Ray second. The early 00's Lakers had Shaq for 3 1/2 quarters with Kobe as the closer... what about Orlando? 

Atlanta vs. Miami - The Hawks put together a Special Edition Double-DVD set of highlights on the Heat on Sunday. Instead of 2006 Kobe and the Lakers with their near upset of the #2 seeded Phoenix Suns, the Heat resembled the 2007 edition and the very one-sided 4-1 loss to Phoenix. But we'll see what kind of road playoff team Atlanta is in games 3 & 4. 

Denver vs. New Orleans - Denver put together a sick 21-0 run late in the 3rd early in the 4th to put away what was a close and very physical game. Chauncey Billups went retro looking like a 2005 version going 8 of 9 from three on his way to 36 points. NOLA basically gave up at the end of the 3rd quarter so this blowout doesn't really mean the Nuggets will sweep. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if NOLA steals game 2. This really feels like a very bitter and very physical seven game series.

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!

Iverson Trade: What a Letdown!

By Craig Kwasniewski

Two weeks of non-stop AI trade talk and this is what we get? Iverson to Denver for a starting point guard, contract dead-weight and two first round draft picks.

Count me as one who thinks this trade simply sucks. Not just that Philly got screwed out of a better deal, but who really cares that Denver got the prize in Iverson? Anyway, here's my take on the whole trade situation:

In the short run this trade will work for the Nuggets. You'll read stories about Iverson being a mentor to Melo. Both Iverson and Melo will be on the cover of SI in March. Denver will run off a 10 game winning streak in the spring. Everyone will pick the Nuggets as a dark-horse pick to win the NBA title (Which officially no-longer makes them dark-horse. I hate when NBA experts all pick the same dark-horse teams as though they are some genius. Bro, you went with the mainstream!)

So what happens in the playoffs? The Nuggets get bounced in the second round at best because they can't hang with the front-court depth of Dallas, San Antonio or Phoenix.

In the long run this trade will turn for the worse:

-Both Iverson and Melo are alpha dogs, who's gonna shoot the ball with the game on the line? What happens when Iverson misses his first potential game winner? Who will become the number two option, Melo or Iverson? Unless the NBA decides to use two basketballs, they both can't be final options.

-Melo and J.R. Smith will have to give up some scoring. It's not like the Nuggets will suddenly drop 140 a night.

-George Karl can't coach egos. One year after making the ECF, he threw the Bucks players under the bus on their way to missing out of the playoffs. Let's look at first round busts in the George Karl post-season hall-of-fame: 1994 and 1995 in Seattle, 2003 in Milwaukee and 2006 with Denver. His playoff winning percentage is .449!

-Who was the coach for Team USA in their worst showing ever in the 2002 World Championships? George Freakin Karl.

-Denver didn't even address their frontcourt problems in the trade. Injuries to Nene, Martin and Camby (not yet, but he ALWAYS gets hurt) have made them very thin in the frontcourt. Who's going to match-up with Garnett, Nowitzki, Duncan and Amare?

- Plus, they aren't a good defensive team. Melo can't play defense and Iverson simply won't play defense. Will they turn back the clock and rock it Paul Westhead style losing every night 165-145?

Overall this trade is a disappointment. I was hoping that the Clippers or Minnesota would get Iverson. Instantly both of those teams would be WCF contenders. With AI going to Denver, all this brings is a second round loss and the eventual George Karl implosion in the spring of 2008.

You heard it here, Karl will not last past the 2007-08 season.

A.I. Stays a Sixer

By Craig Kwasniewski

Damn, what a huge letdown.

It looks like A.I. will not get traded after all. I guess the Sixers are content with 35 to 42 wins each season for the rest of A.I.'s career. Too bad.

The two serious trade scenarios were very interesting. One had A.I. going to the Clippers for Maggette and some of the Clipper Spirit. This would have guaranteed the Clippers top billing in a Los Angeles. (BTW - Make no mistake about it, LA is a Laker town through and through, especially since the NFL left in 94.) The continuing subplot would have been A.I. and Sam Cassell with two heavy Alpha Dogs going at it each night. The league needed this type of drama with the only other controversy being the Isiah Thomas Euthanasia watch.

I never considered the A.I. to the Clippers trade a realistic choice, but at least it kept the screamers at local talk radio distracted from baseball talk, and who really wants to talk about chemically enhanced sports anyways.

The other trade was shipping A.I. to Boston. This would have almost guaranteed Doc Rivers being fired as he would have found a way to squeeze 34 wins out of a team with two hall-of-famers. Still with two players who demand the ball every possession, I couldn’t see this deal working. I can see by year two Pierce and A.I. going at each other in the media with subtle "pass the fucking ball!!!!" hints.

Still, the Boston trade would have made the C's a major storyline again. And the NBA is always a better league when the C's, Knicks and Lakers are relevant. Instead, the C's marketing department can go back to killing whatever's left of the franchise pride with some mascot or male cheerleading troupe.

So that leaves the Sixers with A.I. and Webber for another season. Halfway through last year I thought the Sixers had a good mixture of youth and veterans and would be a playoff team. (I was wayyy off with that one!) Since the Eastern Conference is worse than last season, I see the Sixers falling into the 6th seed and losing in the first round. This is what Philly has to look for the next 5 years... enjoy it and remember to thank your local GM, Billy King.

Bid for a Table Dance at NBA Auctions

By Craig Kwasniewski

The NBA is offering up VIP table dances!?! Dude, where do I sign up?

At least that's what I thought when I first saw the link at the NBA Auctions Website. Just mix in a trip to Vegas and you have the Ultimate NBA Trifecta: Hoops, Gambling and Strippers! Like my friend Philipp said, "NBA and strippers is like Mack and Cheese."

(We'll just have to wait for All-Star break for the real Ultimate NBA Trifecta.)

Much to my dismay, the NBA is not auctioning off strippers. Instead, the auction is for a VIP Table at the 2006-07 Sixers Dancers Final Auditions. The description is as follows:

Bid now on a VIP table for 6 people at Chickie's & Pete's Restaurant in South Philly for the 2006-07 Sixers Dancers Final Auditions.

Cheer on your favorite dancers at this exclusive VIP Table, located right in front of the dancer's performing area and next to our panel of local celebrity judges. Package also includes Chickie's signature appetizers and soft drinks, plus Sixers gift bags.

Don't miss out...bidding ends July 12th, 2006. Proceeds benefit Sixers Charities.

Front row seats as hot Philly women (is there such a thing?) shake their asses while trying out for the Sixers' Sluts or whatever they call their dancers. Being able to write off the whole experience makes up for the fact that they aren't naked. After all, it's for charity.

Now if only I can find a reason to go to Philadelphia.

Anyway, here's the link for the auction: VIP Table at the 2006-07 Sixers Dancers Final Auditions

Fire Maurice Cheeks

by Brett Edwards

The Sixers need some serious help finishing out games. Tonight at home against the Nuggets, the game was tied with 33 seconds left, and the Sixers' awful defense allowed Carmelo to go baseline right past 3 defenders and make an uncontested reverse layup to give DEN the lead. How the hell could the Sixers not be prepared for this, when they gave up a similar game-winning layup to Stephen Jackson of the Pacers just 4 freaking days ago?!

The Sixers still had plenty of time (17 seconds) to tie the game, but they were just as inept on offense. Now we've all seen enough basketball to know what to do in this situation, right? You get the ball to your superstar, who should run the clock down as much as possible so if he does score, there's no time left for the other team to get a shot off. We all agree on this, right? Well, all of us except A.I. He went by his defender with 11 seconds still left on the clock, and he had his layup attempt blocked out of bounds. OK, Philly dodged a bullet, now maybe they'll play for the last shot. They did (sort of), the only problem was that this time their token white guy Kyle Kutcher Korver drove into the heart of the Denver defense, and of course had his weak ass shot rejected by Marcus Camby, who only leads the league in blocked shots.

JESUS, that was bad basketball. And in case you were wondering what the Sixers did between the Pacer loss and tonight's loss, let me fill you in. They blew a 7-point lead with about 2 minutes to go in the game to lose to the Celtics on Wednesday, getting outscored 14-4 to end the game. All of this can be simply summed up in two words: bad coaching.

Wednesday Wrap Up

by Brett Edwards

Lots to talk about after last night's games, so here are some thoughts on what went down:

- Kobe dropped 40 on NOOC in what he deemed a "playoff game" in basketball's return to New Orleans. Unfortunately for you gamblers out there, Mr. Bavetta was unavailable and three no name refs were assigned to work the game. Yesterday's prediction inspired a wide variety of responses, including Gary Coleman bashing, references to xxx films, and people losing their house on the game. Maybe we should leave point spread picks to the professionals.

- Paul Pierce is going crazy. He survived the flying birds from two nights ago to get his 6th career triple double and lead the Celtics to a come from behind home win against the Sixers. Pierce is trying to single-handedly carry the Celtics into the playoffs, and he just might if this keeps up. BOS is only 3 1/2 games behind the struggling Bucks for the final spot in the East. Pierce is averaging over 33 a game over his last 14, second only to Kobe. Definitely make some time to watch Pierce in the next few days, he's playing at an incredible level right now.

- In a game facing teams heading in opposite directions, Sacramento went and beat Milwaukee, and finished their 5 game road trip with a 4-1 mark. Sacramento has won 8 of their last 11 games, while the Bucks have lost 7 of their last 9. I did predict that SAC would make a run and get into the playoffs, which they are on their way to doing. I also picked the Bucks as a surprise team that could make a run, so hey what do I know?

- There's no D in Washington. The Wizards gave up 118 in a close road loss to the Heat. D Wade dropped 40, and was pretty much unstoppable in the Heat win. In their last 5 games, the Wizards have allowed an average of 111 points and have gone 1-5 in those games. I know the Wizards pride themselves on their scoring ability, but come on guys, you gotta play a little D if you want to get into the playoffs.

- The Pistons got back to their winning ways, taking out the Bulls. This game was very un-Piston-like, as DET trailed by 7 at the half before storming back in the third. This was a pretty entertaining game, as CHI was able to put up 37 in the 4th quarter on the league's best D. This is where David Stern sent Dick Bavetta, no doubt to ensure the Pistons would stop getting screwed by the refs. Not surprisingly, there were no technicals this time around.
- For the second time in two games, the Cavs beat the Raptors. Toronto's MoPete hit a 3 with 5 seconds left to put the Raptors up 2, and proceeded to whoop it up with the rest of his team like they had just won the title. Maybe they should have saved some energy for defense on the last possession, as the Cavs' Damon Jones got a wide open look from the corner to win it. Hopefully Damon was able to get some consensual sex after the game.

National TV Takes

by Brett Edwards

Just to get rid of the obnoxious post we had most recently, I thought I would give my takes on the two nationally televised ABC games we had on Sunday. In case your local affiliate screwed you, here's what went on:

- Pacers at Sixers: This was the third time this week the Sixers were featured on national television. The first time was against the Rockets, where they came back to get a 5 point win on the road. The second time was against the Wizards, where they managed to hold off Washington in a high scoring affair. In Sunday's game against the Pacers, they couldn't get their third straight. C-Webb had a bad game, shooting only 7-22 from the field, including letting the shot clock expire with the ball in his hands down the stretch, and missing a 3-pointer at the buzzer. The Sixers really should have won this game, but allowed Steven Jackson to get an uncontested layup with 2 seconds left. Once again, let me remind you that the Pacers are winning without Jermaine O'Neal, and with both Jeff Foster and Scot Pollard in their starting lineup.

- Suns at Mavericks: The Mavs lead for most of this game, but much like the game against the Spurs earlier this week, Dallas' second half defense left something to be desired. The Mavs allowed 64 second half points at home to let the Suns snap their 16-game home winning streak. Somewhat disgustingly, the Mavs gave up 34 points in the 4th to the Suns, en route to getting outscored by 16 in the quarter to blow the game. The highlight was when Nash took best buddy Dirk to the rack and made a circus shot over his head and over Dirk for a key bucket with 43 seconds left to put the Suns up 4 and effectually seal the game. It should be noted that the Mavs were without Josh Howard and Keith Van Horn, but they had the 8-point lead to start the 4th at home and should have sealed the deal.

Kobe Returns with 48

by Craig Kwasniewski

After sitting out two consecutive losses to Utah, Kobe returned with a very efficient 48 points in a 119-93 victory over Philadelphia at Staples Center. Here are a few observations from my view high up in the rafters:

-Brett, you called it right with Kobe dropping 40 and the Lakers winning. Heath Ledger is dropping by for a courtesy reach-around.

-Kobe had a very effective shooting night. All of his points came within the flow of the game. Plus it didn't hurt that he got scorching hot from downtown in the second half (7-7 for the game). Easily, Kobe could have had 50 plus, but he sat for much of the 4th. No surprise that one year after running Rudy Tomjanovich's chuck-and-duck offense, Kobe isn't complaining that the Triangle Offense is boring.

-It's really tough to see C-Webb struggle under the boards. The guy just can't jump anymore. Hard to see the likes of Brian Cook and Devean George (???) lock him up down low. Four years ago this guy had one of the quickest hops in the game. He used to run roughshod in the paint, dunking put backs left and right. He's still a good player, just not the man-child of the Fab Five days. (Another Fab Five Pic)

-I forgot the added bonus of Philly fan when the Sixers come to town. Like A.I., they always bring their A game to the arena; loud, sporting colors and popping off. Their noise died down as Kobe was banging threes in the 3rd quarter.

-The Kobe-A.I. feud didn't materialize. A.I. had a good game (31 points off 11-22 from the field), but the game wasn't close enough to get their blood boiling. Smush Parker matched up on A.I. for most of the game.

-I actually like the mix of talent that Philly has. Staring with the veteran scoring and leadership from A.I. and Webber, they mix in young athletic talent in Iguodala, Dalembert and Salmons plus Korver's shooting. I hope GM Billy King adds some depth to the bench and gives this team some time to gel. They could be very good next year.

-Finally, the previous post was our 100th so far. Thanks to everyone that has stopped by to take a look at the infant stages of this thing and thanks to all for the links and participation. Congratulations Brett!