The Association

Thoughts On a Crazy Day/Night of Trading

By Craig Kwasniewski 

Can we replace the dunk contest with a live feed into the board rooms of the 30 GM's at trading deadline? Seriously, how much more entertaining would it be to see a desparate Donnie Walsh nervously work his poker face with Daryl Morey, who holds all the Mac's I mean cards.

Anyway, trading deadline is still hours away yet the last 24-hours have been very crazy as several title contenders and not-even-pretenders hoped to improve their chances at dethroning the Lakers. Here are my thoughts on the recent trades (including the crazy T-Mac to Sacramento??? trade that happened in the early hours, which by the way interrupted my Olympic Curling viewing in HD.): 

The Cleveland Cavaliers acquire Antawn Jamison. In a three team deal Jamison and Sebastian Telfair go to Cleveland; Zydrunas Ilgauskas, the Cavs 2010 first-round draft pick, the rights to Emir Preldzic and Al Thornton go to Washington; and Drew Gooden goes to the Clippers. 

First thoughts? Whew! The Cavs could have had a younger more athletic Amar'e Stoudemire filling the lane and reigning terror a-la Shawn Kemp from 1992 to 1997. They could have gotten bigger, younger and more athletic and completely whiffed because they didn't want to part with JJ Hickson?!?  Whew!  LeBron would have been hoisting a trophy for the next FIVE years.... WHEW!

Lemme get this straight, the Cavs have been rolling over every opponent (including the defending champs) with size and defense so they trade size and defense away for smaller and offense (who's also a little long in the tooth at 33 years old). I attended the Lakers-Cavs game on Xmas Day and the Lakers had no answer when Mike Brown put both Shaq and Ilgauskas on the floor at the same time. Gasol and Bynum never had to face a frontline bigger and stronger than them and they backed off as Cleveland blew out the Lakers.  Weeks later the same thing happened in Cleveland as the Cavs size especially threw Gasol off his game. 

How is a smaller mid-range guy with no defensive skills going to help? He's only made it out of the first round once in the playoffs, he struggled when on a contending team (2003-04 Dallas Mavericks) and he can't play a lick of defense. I can't stress this enough, Mike Brown made his bones as a defensive coach, he's quite possibly the least creative offensive coach in the history of the NBA yet he's still LeBron's coach because he calls a hell of a defensie game. How is a guy who played his entire career on offense-first ZERO-defense teams going to blend with the Cavs? Yeah maybe he'll be a 20 and 8 guy every night, but everyone who plays with LeBron is capable of that. Why? Because freakin' LeBron James is there and he'll create more easy baskets than you can imagine. But really, offensive stats aside the Cavs got worse in this deal on the most important end of their floor: defense and size. 

BTW - oh and what about Shaq? Is he capable of splitting Z's minutes with Varajao? Does he have the energy to play out the season with the extra minutes? He's no longer with the chemical brothers (Phoenix's training staff) to help squeeze every last bit of energy out of him. I'm real curious to see how the Cavs front line reacts on the floor now that Z is gone. 

The Clippers found a way to dump salary and are expected to buy out Gooden right away, leaving them a major player in the summer... well except that their owner hates black people, which may chase away like every single free agent.

The Wizards... I haven't seen a team blown up this fast since the Lakers in the summer of 2004 when they traded away Shaq, Rick Fox and Gary Payton and let Karl Malone, Derek Fisher and Phil Jackson go. I feel for ya D.C.!  I'm just curious how Ernie Grunfeld still has a job.  

The Rockets send Tracy McGrady to Sacramento for Kevin Martin.  The full deal has the Rockets sending McGrady, Carl Landry and Joey Dorsey to the Kings for Martin, Sergio Rodriguez, Hilton Armstrong and Kenny Thomas. 

Okay this trade went down late last night and completely took me by surprise.  All week we were hearing T-Mac to the Knicks is imminent, it's happening, the Knicks will be serious players this summer now that they can shed T-Mac's huge expiring contract.... (insert crashing car noise here)... BAM!

Daryl Morey got tired of negotiating over draft protections with Donnie Walsh and found a better deal in Sacto.  When healthy Kevin Martin is a very good shooting guard that knows how to get to the freethrow line.  (He once scored 20 points while going 1 of 8 from the field!)  It doesn't hurt to have a guy who can get to the freethow line anytime, especially in the postseason.

But what DOES hurt is that he's injury-prone (he missed 84 games the past three seasons) and of any team in the NBA, the Rockets are the last franchise that needs yet another injury-prone player.  But given a choice between the stink that the Knicks were offering and this deal, it's safe to say Morey came out ahead... and Donnie Walsh is left staring at his phone hoping someone, anyone will take Jared Jeffries contract.  I'm starting to understand why the blogosphere loves Morey.  

The Kings get a hockey player trapped in the body of an NBA player, Carl Landry.  I love pairing him up with Nocioni, a pair of balls-out grinders who don't give a damn about stats.  Good guys to have on your team. Oh and they get massive cap relief in T-Mac's expiring contract.  The downside is that they lose Martin, but he wasn't working out well with Tyreke so something had to be done and this deal ain't all that bad for Sacto.

Will they give T-Mac some minutes to prove that he's worthy of a contract this summer... who knows?

The biggest question of all: did Ainge acquire the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders in the deal? 

Celtics trade Eddie House to the Knicks for Nate Robinson.  The Celtics need to throw in another player to complete the deal, possibly J.R. Giddens. As of last night this was a done deal.

Like Cleveland, the Celtics needed size and defense.  So they go out and grab 5'-9" Nate Robinson for instant offense off the bench.  Yeah I get it that the C's go though these excruciatingly long scoring droughts late in games and Robinson seems to be the right type of energy off the bench.  HOWEVER... does this deal make a difference against the Lakers, Magic or Cavs?  The C's need more big bodies to deal with those three teams.  But maybe the worry is more about getting a top three seed than actually competing for a title.

The Knicks... they're reeling bigtime after failing to get T-Mac.  D'Antoni supposedly wanted Eddie House, so there you go Mike.  Enjoy getting a decent three point shooter who talks serious smack while the Knicks lose 65 games and lose any chance of getting LeBron, Wade, Bosh or Joe Johnson because of the failed T-Mac deal. 

As a Lakers fan, the two deals by Cleveland and Boston don't worry me at all.  Both teams got smaller and worse on defense.  But most importantly of all, A'mare does not go to Cleveland where he would have been a monster for the next 5 to 6 years.  WHEW!

Photos: Kobe's Game Winning Three

By Craig Kwasniewski 

Here are a few photos of Kobe Bryant saving the Lakers from an embarrassing home loss to Sacramento by knocking down a game winning three right in front the Kings bench. Fourth quarter stats or not, I'd rather have Kobe Bryant taking my game winning shot over anyone else in the NBA. 

BTW - What the stats do not "analyze" is a player's willingness to take that shot. For every Kobe Bryant missed jumper you have the Chris Webber/Karl Malone's of the world literally sprinting away from the ball with the game on the line. And THAT my friends is why I always prefer the whole naked eye test. Stats can easily be manipulated to prove any point you want to. But in the end the only number that I really care about is the final score and last night the Lakers beat Sacramento 109-108. 

Anyway, here are the pics (check out Kings coach Westphal looking at Kobe's heels, checking to see if he was in bounds (which he was)).  Also, check out the smile on Odom, biased writers from Boston love to assume Kobe's teammates hate him... not a lot of hate on Odom's face is there?:

Ball Game!        

Andrew Bynum's "Bad Form" Continues as Lakers Eeek Out a W

by Craig Kwasniewski

In soccer they call it bad form, in baseball they call it a slump and in golf they call it "not hitting the mark." Whatever it is Andrew Bynum's going through it as he played his worst game since the Kobe Video Guys era. That and a few other thoughts on the Lakers 112-103 win over Sacramento from my seat in Section 316:

Bynum's "slump" continues: At the 9-minute mark of the second quarter Andrew Bynum had 2 points and 4 fouls and was done for the half. At the 4 minute mark of the 4th quarter he fouls out with a WWE takedown flagrant foul of Spencer Hawes which enabled Sacramento to cut a once-huge 15-point lead down to 3. I wrote on Thursday that Bynum looks out of shape and I read that he's bitching about sitting on the bench during crunchtime. Hey, way to respond Drew! Way to earn the coach's respect by comitting a TON of dumb fouls (including that horrendously Ill-timed flagrant) and doing nothing offensively (6 of his 8 points were off alley-oops because the defense stopped worrying about Bynum's lacadaisical offense. I'm starting to understand all the coded "hints" from the other Lakers about playing hard. They're talking about Bynum!!! Enough of playing Benoit Benjamin ball (trailing late on fast breaks, hanging out at halfcourt on offense and NOT rebounding or rotating defensively).

Jackson is still searching for a reliable lineup: Lakers' PF Josh Powell got a lot of productive minutes in the 2nd quarter. It was actually refreshing to see a big rotate over to close off the lane to penetration. Weeks of watching Bynum simply watch on defense made me forget what an actual defensive rotation looks like. Unfortunately, Powel put up a house of bricks from the freethrow line, going 1-5 from the stripe. Whatever... to me more Powell is a good thing. He's really the only Laker capable of playing a bruising Eastern Conference-type of physicality. Maybe Walton, Odom and Bynum can learn a thing or two defensively from the guy.

Radmanovic continues his Luke Walton impression: Vladi Radmanovic, meet bench! I'm reading that PJ never mentioned to Vladi that he's getting relegated to the best seats in the house. Has he not watched tape of his game? Maybe PJ's finally tired of the mental mistakes or maybe PJ's sending a message to everyone not named Kobe, Pau or Dereck: play hard or I will Luke Walton you!

Boston looms on the horizon: They way the Lakers are playing, I can't see them even hanging with the C's or Christmas Day. Where's the passion? Where's the heart? Where's the defense? It could get ugly on Christmas Day.

Sacramento's Future: Quick advice to the Kings front office: Keep Reggie Theus! Despite the youth and the lack of playoff-contention talent, the Kings play hard for their coach and look headed in the right direction with the likes of Salmons, Garcia, Martin, Udrih and Hawes. They're record reflects more on key injuries to Martin and Garcia than coaching. The Kings are just a productive low-post threat and one more season of experience as a team away from an eighth seed.

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.

Shockingly, We Have Video of Knicks Fans Booing the Gallinari Pick

by Brett Edwards

And by "shockingly," I mean, "completely predictably." Still a funny clip though, and at least they seemed to be a little calmer than fans of the Sacramento Kings were last night.

The Kings Lose, but the Maloofs Win

By Craig Kwasniewski

Is she part of the $6,000 Carl's Jr. Meal deal at the Palms? Talk about luxury box in the luxury box.

Something tells me that the Maloofs are okay with the Kings 100-93 loss to the Spurs last night as long as they get to go Chinese finger cuffs with Eva.

Since I have nothing else to add here, Phoenix better watch out for San Antonio come playoff time. The Spurs are one of the few teams that won't get sucked into their run and gun style of play and their vets are getting a lot of rest this season.

The Clippers And Ron Artest

by Chris Tagawa

What a horrible time for a winning streak. Just when it looked like the Clippers might pull off a great trade and get Artest, they (the Clippers) reel off three straight home wins against three horrible teams (Boston, Sacramento & New York) and all of a sudden everything is okay again. Talk of the chemistry is coming around and the big men are finally getting healthy means no more deal for Artest. Not more than a week ago I was hesitant to get too excited about trade rumors, but this one really got me going. Here's why the deal would make sense:

1) The Clippers have been missing the defensive fire they showed during their 2005 playoff run and Artest could have sparked that.

2) Offensively, Artest is averaging 16 pts and 7 boards a game on a team with arguable the biggest ball-hogging black-hole in the league (Mike Bibby).

3) It's been a while (maybe never) since the Clippers have had a player with a nasty edge. The closest player I could think of was Michael Cage and he might just have been nasty sporting his geri curl.

4) Sacramento gets to unload a ticking time bomb in Artest for a slightly lesser talent in Maggette (something is better than nothing). Sacramento stated "Greater" for "Lesser" equals no deal. Someone should explain the "Addition" by "Subtraction" theory to Sacramento brass. Just wait until something sets this bomb off. Also, it's not like Maggette is chopped liver (15 pts & 5 boards a game). Not much difference in season averages.

However, the argument is futile, because, the Clippers are on a six game road trip against five sub-.500 teams and will probably win at least four if not all six games. Add the fact that Artest just dropped 39 against New York, strengthening the reasons for not doing this deal in each franchise's minds.

I just wanted to vent a little about the trade that was never going to happen.

*EDITOR'S NOTE: Chris is a friend of The Association, as well as a lifelong L.A. Clippers fan who knows his hoops. The opinions expressed by Chris are his own, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the rest of us at The Association. We sure like reading them though.

What to Watch

By Craig Kwasniewski

Thursday night on TNT and the schedule has a very November feel to it. Meaning that on the must see scale of things, tonight's games rank a 4 out of 10. Whatever, it's good time killer while camping out for the PS3.

(BTW - Not to play the whole grizzled vet card regarding Holiday hype, but feel free to wait like 4 months to get the PS3. Every year, the "it" gift is under-supplied to increase demand and hype. Soon you'll see crappy parents paying $1,500 to buy little Skyler's happiness. Just wait! Okay so you're not the first barista to get the PS3, but at least you're the most sane one.)

Back to the preview (all times Pacific):

Chicago at Houston (5:00 PM): Chicago's chuck and duck offense versus a kinder, gentler Jeff Van Gundy. The Rockets are starting off on the right foot at 5-3, with nice wins over Dallas and Miami. However, their Van Gundy-ness showed in a loss to San Antonio on Tuesday. They scored 9 freakin' points in the 4th quarter and blew a 19-point lead.

Anyway, Chicago's offense is basically heave the ball and crash the boards hard. If Yao stays out of foul trouble, this should be a relatively easy win for Houston.

Sacramento at Golden State (7:30 PM): Wow, get Nellie as a head coach and suddenly you're TNT material. This game offers a glimpse into the future of Sacramento hoops. Seek the Oracle (Arena)! No seriously, download directions to the Oracle Arena in Alameda, California because that will be the closest NBA team to Sac-town in 2 years. I'm not buying into the sudden effort by David Stern to save Sacramento. It comes down to simple money. As long as small-ish towns continue to whore themselves out to professional teams (Oklahoma City), you'll see smarter cities like Sacramento getting screwed. Big props for Sacramento-ians (Sac-ians, Sacramento-ites... screw it: No-Cal) for voting down a tax initiative to give the Maloofs a free stadium.

This should be an up-tempo game with Golden State playing typical Nellie Ball (read: absolutely zero defense!) Side bonus: watch for Kenny Thomas and Shareef Abdur-Rahim try to throw elbows at each other. I know they're on the same team, but they absolutely hate each other... good times. Anyway, that long roadie from Sacramento to Golden State could wreak havoc on the Kings, but they'll still win.

Kings Setting Up Move To Vegas

by Brett Edwards

The Maloofs, owners of the Palms Hotel in Las Vegas and primary sponsors for this year's All-Star festivities there, have been trying to get the state to pay for a new arena. Sacramento voted down yet another arena financing sales tax yesterday, this time by an 80% margin. The most telling quotes from the story:

"The Maloofs are committed to staying in Sacramento if they possibly can, and there's certainly no interest on the part of the NBA in moving the team. But we can't figure out what to do next," said the NBA's Harvey Benjamin, who participated in ultimately unsuccessful negotiations with the city, county and the railyard developer for an arena.

Joe and Gavin Maloof issued a written statement saying they would "seek guidance from the NBA and hope they can provide suggestions about alternative means of achieving our objectives in Sacramento."

OBVIOUSLY this is the Maloofs way of saving face when they do yank the team and move them to Vegas. They will just say "Hey, we tried over and over to get an arena financed, and YOU didn't vote for it, so you're at fault and now we have to leave."

This is a bunch of crap, as we know that billionaire owners of an NBA franchise and a successful hotel and casino could easily afford the new arena. The truth is that these playboys would much rather party it up in Vegas with their NBA team than in the cow town that is Sacramento. It's hard to blame them, but please let's not say this is because of money or failed state ballot measures. This is a selfish move by a spoiled ownership group that is intentionally screwing over their fan base, plain and simple.

Eric Musselman Motivated To Drink, Part 2

By Craig Kwasniewski

"First let me say that I'm sorry, I'm embarrassed and ashamed. I'm well aware of the seriousness of the situation. It's not representative of how I live my life and I will never take it lightly. It was a huge mistake on my behalf."

Eric Musselman apologized for getting caught for his DUI charge Saturday night. (Musselman apologizes to team, bosses, family and fans, from yahoo.com)

But let me send a hearty "thankyou!" out to the new Sacramento King coach. Thankyou for giving me the use of the "what are you dunk!?!" jokes that I'll beat to death this season.

I included the photos from Musselman's press conference, which screams "let's get this done now when everyone else is watching football and HGH enhanced sports the World Series!"

Would this be a bad time for Musselman to plug his motivational video?

BTW - Yes, that's Ron Artest, a veteran at these type of things, in the last photo standing on stage in support of his coach.