The Association

Monday Morning Point Guard

by Craig Kwasniewski

Time to roll out an old favorite of mine: Monday Morning Point Guard, which is five thoughts from the past weekend.

Z-Bo to the Clippers: Very rarely do I ever get a chance to write anything about the "other team" in LA so let's start it off with the Zac Randloph trade and how it affects the LA Clippers. First off, on paper the Clippers are loaded up front. Randolph, Kaman and Camby is a three-man rotation that could hang with the likes of the Lakers, Spurs (when healthy), Utah (also when healthy), Orlando, etc. And they got him on the very cheap as NY is selling off and clearing cap for LeBron (more on that later). The downside is by shipping off Cuttino Mobley they're every thin in the backcourt and are forced to give Ricky Davis a ton of minutes (who along with Andre Miller ranks as one of those great-on-bad-teams-but-awful-on-good-ones type of players).

And now the one BIG problem with the deal... Mike Dunleavy. Already clashing with Baron Davis over coaching styles how will Dunlevy's very hands-on approach on offense blend with Z-Bo and his reputation as a malcontent? With Rickey Davis, Baron Davis and Zac Randolph will there be an in-house revolt? Are there any deals in the near future for Chris Kaman (relegated to the bench because both he and Randolph are low-post ball-stoppers that won't mesh on the floor)? Will Camby and Boom Dizzle find the motivation to play the rest of the season now that the Clippers are playoff contenders (at least on paper)? If anything the Clippers are trying to bring in a winner "across the hall" in Staples Center... so big ups for the effort.

Crawford to the Warriors: Al Harrington for Jamal Crawford... The Warriors go from small to smaller. With Crawford the get a true three man (1 plus 2, meaning he'll call the play from the point and jack it up from everywhere) and the Warriors become the most exciting non-playoff team in the NBA. And that's just it... They're not big enough to hang with the Lakers, Utah, San Antonio, Phoenix, New Orleans and Portland and they're not deep enough to compete with Denver. So they're stuck competing for the eight seed with the Clippers and Dallas. But they'll have fun and the always boisterous Bay Area fans will enjoy this season... the regular season.

Knicks Dumping Salary: So Donnie Walsh did exactly what he came to NY to do, clear cap space and erase the Isiah Thomas regime. Done and done... and worthy of a standing ovation. A potential eight seed playoff appearance was scrapped (and rightly so) for a better shot and at THE free agent class of 2010. Here's the only problem, outside of Shaq in 1996 and T-Mac in 2001 no superstar has left his current franchise in his prime as a free agent. Read that again.

Outside of Shaq in 1996 and T-Mac in 2001 no superstar has left his current franchise in his prime as a free agent.

The Lakers tried to clear cap space in 2005 hoping to land Yao, Stat, Wade, LeBron or Melo and all of them re-signed for better $$ with their original teams. And the Lakers had a decent nucleus to build around with Kobe Bryant. Basically they all passed at a major market franchise and a title contention for extra $$ to line their pockets. What's to guarantee that LeBron, Wade or Bosh will pass up cash to play in MSG?

I would LOVE to see the Knicks back on the front pages of the tabloids for good reasons, but they better have a back-up plan in case those three take a pass. The worst case scenario is the 2001 Orlando Magic, where they dumped salary hoping to get Tim Duncan and T-Mac only to settle for Grant Hill, his injuries and an annual first round exit.

Eddie Jordan and PJ Carlesimo FIRED: One is a terrible defensive coach and the other had the worst talent in the NBA (along with the worst owner). With Jordan is was the case of it's about damn time. Wow he took a team with Gilbert Arenas, Carron Butler and Antawn Jamison to the postseason in the Eastern Conference... BIG... EFFIN'... DEAL!!!! Roll the ball out and get 45 wins from three NBA All Stars, anyone can do that! What he couldn't do was coach defense and the endless first round exits in the playoffs showed that.

Carlesimo got stuck in the middle of an owner dumping talent to move a once-proud franchise from the 13th largest TV market to the 36th market all to steal get a sweet stadium deal from a bunch of gullible rednecks politicians in OK City. The Sonics go from a division title and a second round playoff appearance in 2005 to dumping a very talented team for scraps just to lose fans in the Pacific Northwest. So how do they reward PJ for being a good soldier and coaching this crappy line-up the past two seasons... YOU'RE FIRED!!!!

Enjoy the NBA Oklahoma City!!!!

We're down 30 with 12 minutes to go. We're still in it... Sonics on three!!!!! I mean Thunder!!!

316 Report - Lakers vs. Sacramento: Not much to say from Section 316 at this game to merit an individual post so here are a few bullets:
-I'm digging the new goggles on Vlad Rad, the NBA needs more goggles!!!
-Spencer Hawes looks like The Machinist
-Lakers fans are more "talented" this year. Seriously, my head was on a swivel as hotties are once again showing up to Lakers games.
-Hoops-wise, the Lakers seem to be going to Kobe in the post more when the offense bogs down. Maybe we're seeing Kobe transition to a late-90's Jordan with more post moves and less hang time.

Free Agency Begins With Elton Brand and Baron Davis Opting Out

by Brett Edwards

As of midnight on July 1, the NBA's free agency (negotiating) period began, and did so with a couple of big names unexpectedly opting out of the final year of their deals. Elton Brand and Baron Davis both walked away from big money, a little over $16M and $17M respectively. Brand might very well remain a Clipper; he just wants to make sure the team signs some other pieces so they can compete for a playoff spot. Baron staying in the Bay area? That seems a lot less likely.

The other big name in question is Gilbert Arenas. He's expected to stay with the Wizards (for less than a max deal), but it seems his status may remain unresolved for a few weeks yet. Stay tuned.

Playoffs 2008: The List of Coaching Have-Nots

By Craig Kwasniewski

Is it me or have these playoffs established a wider divide between the coaching haves and have-nots? For every Gregg Popovich and Phil Jackson leading two well-oiled machines primed for a colossal showdown in mid-May you have Flip Saunders and Doc Rivers doing... well doing their best Doc Rivers and Flip Saunders impressions (read: not coaching). Since the haves are very obvious (Jackson, Popovich, Byron Scott, Jerry Sloan, the Hedgehog and Mo Cheeks) lets focus on the have-nots:

Mike D'Antoni: Honestly, Phoenix Suns fans should be even more pissed off at D'Antoni after Sunday's season-saving win over San Antonio. It only took all of three games for D'Antoni to finally make the key defensive adjustment by switching Boris Diaw on Tony Parker. THREE FREAKIN' GAMES!

When we finally look back at the 2006-07 Suns, people will point fingers squarely on Steve Kerr and blame downfall of the Suns on the Shaq deal. It was a huge gamble that, as Charles Barkley pointed out on TNT, the Suns needed to take a chance on. Sure, they probably needed more time to blend together as a cohesive unit and facing the second best team in the West in the first round obviously didn't help. But Mike D'Antoni cost the Suns this series. Let's even look at that epic Game One where Popovich ran circles around D'Antoni at three key moments:

1. D'Antoni had Leandro Barbosa guarding Michael Finley as he hit the first game-saving three at the end of regulation. Where was Grant Hill? He has same build and athleticism as Finley and is strong enough and has the basketball IQ to throw off Finley from the perimeter. Instead the Brazilian Blur, who's not know for his half-court defense, became the Brazilian Burned and the Spurs were given a second chance.

2. The second game-saving three was a pure miracle shot by Tim Duncan that never should have happened. The Suns should have fouled Ginobili when he was dribbling around the perimeter looking to create (or facilitate, the buzz word for 07-08) for one of the Spurs spot-up shooters. Instead, the Suns watched Ginobili dribble around and then the collapsed on him in the lane leaving Duncan wide open. Why collapse on a guy in the lane when you're up three? And isn't it a European thing to foul instead of playing defense? And didn't D'Antoni make his name as a hoops star in Italy?

3. But the game winner was pure Popovich! The Suns were out of time outs and Nash just hit a risickulous three in the corner to tie it up. Normally Pop would signal an immediate time out and diagram a play. He's notorious for saving all of his time outs for these situations, but the Spurs didn't stop the action. Why? Because the Suns took out all of their interior defenders for that last-second three and Popovich realized that Manu had a good chance at driving the lane for a game winner. Well... we all know how that ended and we all know that Pop CLEARLY dominated D'Antoni.

So the question remains, how many more postseason failures and late adjustments will the Suns' fans, front office and roster put up with? Or more importantly, how many more seasons do they have a relevant Steve Nash on the floor? Stay tunned!

George Karl: Rumors persist that the Nuggets are keeping Karl for next season.

(Time to play "Really" with Seth Meyers and Amy Pohler.)

Really? The Nuggets are keeping a head coach who's led the third highest payroll to a first-round sweep? Really? The Nuggets have a total of three playoffs wins in the last four years (BTW - such a low number that it's grammatically correct to write out the number) and you're keeping him? Really? Melo admits that the team quit in game three. Isn't it the job of a coach to motivate the players? Really? Really? The same George Karl famous for season-ending flameouts in Seattle and Milwaukee is being asked to return? Really? Karl will return to coach the team that "saved" Allen Iverson from 76ers. Isn't that the same 76ers that have at least two more playoff wins than Karl's Nuggets? Really? REALLY?

Avery Johnson: Before Sunday's loss to New Orleans, Johnson was on the 50-50 list along with Mike Woodson, Mike Brown (say what you want about his coaching, the guy pulls out W's), Sam Mitchell and Rick Adelman. But Avery Johnson made two mistakes that killed the momentum of the game and ultimately ended the series (Dallas just doesn't have the stones to rally from a 3-1 deficit.).

What the hell was JJ Barea doing in uniform instead of Tyronn Lue? I know he's injured with a back, but a broken Lue is eons better than Barea! And the Mavs paid dearly when Johnson put Barea in with a lead during the second period. Barea played like it was "win a spot on the Mavs night" and killed all of their momentum. That was the turning point of the most important game of the season and Dallas never really threatened the rest of the way. Why play the ball boy during the playoffs?????

Unlike Phoenix, people should point to the Kidd trade as the downfall of the Mavericks. It never should have happened and now the Mavs are way over the salary cap with Avery Johnson most likely fired this summer.

Doc Rivers: Until this guy actually wins a playoff series (which he hasn't in *NINE SEASONS* of coaching!) I can't ever consider him a good head coach. And the "best team in the NBA" just lost to the eighth-seeded Atlanta Hawks. Hey I understand... quality teams are allowed to stumble every now and then. As San Antonio showed us, good teams tend to lose focus. But what absolutely kills me is that this guy is actually in the conversation for his second coach of the year award. Really? (opps, I already did that!) So you're telling me that he's getting votes over nine-time NBA champ Phil Jackson or even Jerry Sloan (who deserves it more that anyone). The guy has never won a playoff series in *NINE SEASONS* of coaching!!!!!!!!!

Eddie Jordan: Two GLARING things with the Wizards: bad turnovers and worse emotions. A ton of HORRIBLE turnovers did the Wizards in on Sunday. But what's even worse is the lack of control that Eddie Jordan has on his players. Is it wise to piss of one of the best players in the NBA? Do you really need to motivate him even more?

Flip Saunders: Let's save the best story for last. On Sunday's telecast on TNT, Chris Webber confirmed what everyone in the NBA already knew but didn't know: that the Pistons tune out Flip Saunders. With Detroit losing to Philadelphia by 10 at the half, Ernie Johnson put a question out to the former Piston and new in-studio member:

Ernie: You've been in that locker room with Flip Sauders at halftime, what is the mood in there now.

C-Webb: Truthfully, no disrespect against Flip but it doesn't matter what Flip says because they take on the personality of Joe Dumars. So I'll tell you this: Rip, Chauncey, Tayshaun Prince, Rasheed and McDyess are very mad right now, they're probably not even talking and they're probably just saying, "okay we're going to go win this ballgame."

Joe will come down to the locker room though and tell everybody, "I don't know what y'all think you're doing. I'll trade all y'all today." Joe will do that.

So who's doing the coaching anyway... Joe D or Flip? This totally explains why under Saunders the Pistons seem bored during the playoffs. But if they were tuning him out last year (as C-Webb learned first hand), then why is Saunders still coaching them? Again, like the Suns, how many playoff disappointments under Flip Saunders will the Pistons' fans, front office, and roster put up with? Sheed, Rip and Chauncey are getting up there in age. Do they really want to do this again next season?

You can't hide bad coaching in the playoffs.

Photos: The Return of Hibachi!

By Craig Kwasniewski

Gilbert Arenas is back!

And just in time to save the Eastern Conference from a stale ending to the regular season. This automatically makes the Wizards the wild card team in the first round. Will there be enough time for Agent Zero to regain the form of last season? Will he fit in with the new defensive-oriented Wizards? Will he be "the man" during crunch time or will he defer to Tough Juice? There are too many questions and not enough time, but the Wiz will be very scary in the first round.

So *OBVIOUSLY* Agent Zero returns against the Bucks sporting a pair of Benihana x Adidas Hibachi TS Lightswtich GIL II ZERO's (the shoes have "Hibachi" on the front of them for crissake!). The kicks are one of 20 versions of Adidas's brilliant and ill-timed signature shoes for Gilbert Arenas in 2008. I'll definitely buy these when they hit the outlets in a few months (it's hard to promote them when you're injured so obvously sales are a little slow).

Anyway, here are a few photos of his return to action against Milwaukee along with the kicks... the blogosphere just got a lot more interesting:

A Good Sign for Adidas and Wizard Fans but Not Necessarily the Wizards

By Craig Kwasniewski

Here's a photo of Gilbert Arenas practicing with the team on Thursday. This has to be a good sign, right? Well definitely for the people at Adidas, who have 20 versions of his new signature shoe the Gil II Zero coming out this year. And definitely for blog fans and others who were thoroughly entertained by Agent Zero all last season.

But the real question... are the Washington Wizards (who sit at 22-18 with two nice W's over Boston) ready for the return of Gilbert Arenas? Will they be ready for a shoot-first point guard, especially with Antonio Daniels doing a fine job filling in for Gilbert and leading the Wizards to an 11-3 record in 2008 while starting?

I hope he returns soon. The NBA needs more personalities like him especially during the long middle months of the season.

We shall see...

Cookin' with Gil

By Craig Kwasniewski

Honestly, I have no idea what the blogging world is going to do now that Gilbert Arenas is out for at least three months. What's even worse is that Adidas rolled out a very creative ad campaign for the new Gil II Zero's for the entire season. Basically they designed 20 different editions with each one scheduled to be unveiled on the same day Gilbert Arenas wore them on the court (insert 90's "...NOT" joke here). They even filmed a bunch of Laugh-In-esque type of promos for his new website gilTV.com.

Here's Cookin' with Gil:

Actually, the Hibachi Shoe ("cooked up by Gilbert Arenas, serving Detroit 3-23-08") looks pretty clean. Check it out:

Personally, I just hope that Arenas is not the equivalent of a one-hit wonder and that he recovers to the level of basketball/entertainment he brought to the NBA last season. The guy was *THE* storyline and helped carry us hoops fans through one of the most boring seasons in NBA history (culminating with that Spurs-Cavs abortion).

Agent Zero to Train with D.C. United

By Craig Kwasniewski

Evidently, Gilbert Arenas feels he needs to work on his flopping game.

Accoring to Soccer Insider, Gilbert Arenas has expressed interest in training with D.C. United of the MLS (that soccer league in the US that you'll hear more about once David Beckham joins the LA Galaxy in July).

Now prepare for Agent Zero, Gilbert Arenas, who has expressed interest in offseason workouts with United at RFK.

Here is United's official take on things from vice prez of communications Doug "Blacksburg Soccer Rules" Hicks:

"The Wizards strength and conditioning coach has visited to observe some of the work we do to increase foot speed and quickness, among other things. Gilbert is said to be interested in alternative training methods to help elevate his game. While no date is set, it is our understanding that he hopes to train with us in the near future on a day that we work extensively on fitness and mobility drills."

Actually, I always felt all the years of youth soccer helped my basketball footwork. Soccer does use a lot of change of pace change of direction moves that are needed in hoops. Plus, maybe the coach will share some new flopping techniques.

Also, given that both David Beckham and Gilbert Arenas are Adidas guys, how soon before we see a "Fútbol vs. Basketball" commercial, like the new Fútbol vs. Football ones?

Photos: Durant Spoils Agent Zero's NBA Live 08 Party

By Craig Kwasniewski

Maybe Portland may want to reconsider choosing Oden over Durant after seeing this. Here are some photos from the EA Sports NBA Live launch party for the 08 edition with Gilbert Arenas on the cover.

BTW - Unlike Madden, there's no NBA Live Jinx. Kobe was on the cover last year, and the only jinx he experienced was suffering yet another season with Mitch Kupchak as GM. To me, putting Agent Zero on the cover was brilliant. The dude was THE storyline in a rather boring regular season. I'm hoping that there's a secret "hibachi" button in the game.... PLEASE!!!

Anyway, you can see early on he's playing for fun against a few EA reps (I'm laying even odds that they're losing on purpose). It's laughs all around and everyone's having a good time... very Agent Zero.

But then it gets serious. Future Oklahoma City Sonics star Kevin Durant goes head-to-head with Gilbert and wins. Check out the fist pump and the WTF??? look on Gilbert... classic. (Obviously he's pissed, after all Zero lost to a rookie at his own NBA Live party, with his grill on the cover of the game!) This is what separates superstars from normal players, that will to win no matter what. Much like Tiger Woods beating Bill Simmons in a promotional game of XBox 360 golf, superstars play to win at everything. I love the last photo, Zero looking pissed off as he's posing with Durant.

So Portland... Durant looks like the type of guy who'll race you down the aisle of a grocery store. You may want to think twice before passing up on such a competitor.

Ten Possessions of Agent Zero

By Craig Kwasniewski

Here's a video I shot of Gilbert Arenas from floor seats of the Clippers-Wizards game on March 24th. As I wrote in the game report, "Arenas took it to the hole almost every time he had the ball..." Here he does just that nine times with the other being a sweet fade away from the short seventeen.

There's a variety of Agent Zero action here; drawing a foul, dishing off for a bucket, eyeing the ref over a missed call, pushing off on a drive and a simple lay-up. Unfortunately there was no "HIBACHI!" on the night, but it's still very cool. Check it out:

Wizards at Clippers: Courtside Report

By Craig Kwasniewski

Got the hookup again from Brett and sat courtside for the Clippers-Wiz game on Saturday night. Here's a few very brief notes from the game (brief as in several libations were consumed and I'm a little groggy):

Where was Cassell? - Sam Cassell was bouncing all over the floor during the pre-game. We were hoping for an active Cassell yapping away with Agent Zero all night, but he never made it off the bench. Coach Dunleavy said it was a game-time decision, but if you ask us, he was very spry right up to the national anthem. Maybe his back tightened up, who knows?

Tunnel Vision - Knowing that the bathroom is right next to the entrance hallway for the opposing team, we timed our "break" to get some footage of the Wizards' pre-game huddle. (Follow the Wizards into Staples Center) I was able to trail them into Staples, going for one of those NBA Videos-type of shots. Instead, the quality is very Zapruder Film/Blair Witch-like with all the shaking.

Slow start for Arenas - Agent Zero opened the first half with a very quiet 9 points. Antawn Jamison was on fire with 17 and Gilbert spent much of the half as a distributor.

Correct postage for Tim Thomas? - Thomas continues to mail it in. He may have finished with an acceptable 13 points last night, but you really have to see him in person to see how much he coasts through games. As soon as he subbed in, the Wiz started dominating the offensive glass. Timmy just sat on the perimeter matching up with the nearest guard as the Wizard bigs kept crashing the boards. On offense, he just hung around the three point line looking to jack up a shot.

More minutes for Songaila - Darius Songaila was very impressive tonight. I've always liked Songaila's game. He plays hard on both ends of the floor and has a decent touch for a big. Three teams in three seasons is usually a red flag, but I haven't really heard anything bad about the guy. Tonight, he ran the pick and roll with Arenas to perfection, especially in the second half. The Wizards should be playing him more minutes.

Lounging at the Half - Grabbed a few drinks in the lounge in the tunnel. This is the place where the celebs attending Lakers games go to (cough-cough) relax. But since this is the Clippers, the only celebs there were the owner, Donald T. Sterling and Penny Marshall. For those of you under 35, she was Laverne the slutty chick from Laverne and Shirley. Obviously this was a very loooong time ago (pre-op). Somewhere Cindy Williams is smiling.

Agent Zero Awakens in the 2nd Half - Arenas took it to the hole almost every time he had the ball in the third quarter. Jason Hart (who the Clippers picked up off the waiver wire a few weeks ago) just couldn't hang with Zero on the defensive end. If (and that's a big if) the Clipper bigs rotated over to cut off the lane, Gilbert simply dished off for open shots. But mostly he got to the rack, keeping the Wizards in the game as Jamison got cold.

Gil Zero Closer? - It appears as though Arenas has a closer for his shoes. For the first three quarters, he was rocking the multi-colored Gil Zeros that he wore against Seattle. But in the fourth quarter he put on a pair of the light grey Gil Zeros to close out the game. Do they play "Enter Sandman" at Wizard home games when the light grey Gil Zeros come on?

No Buzzer Beaters Tonight - We were all pulling for Gilbert to keep the game close just to get a chance for last second heroics. Sadly, it was not to be as Chris Kaman was a difference maker, dropping all of his 17 points in the second half. Corey Magette sealed the game from the freethrow line as the Wizards lost 111-105. My only consolation was a low five from Agent Zero as he left the court, which was very cool.