Friday, June 29, 2007

Draft Wrap

So I've been taking a lil time off seeing as that baseball was the only thing going on (and my Met's where losing any damn way!). I don't know about you guys, but I got sick of the media and other blogs basically just rehashing the same old stories. So the NBA draft (and start of free agency on July 1) came right on time. So here's my take on what teams really put in work yesterday.

PORTLAND TRAILBLAZERS: This is how the fuck you rebuild! Takes notes Mitch Kupchak. In the one year span between last year's draft and this year's the Blazers have turned a booty, bottom feeding roster into THE team of tomorrow. A little while back I said I feared Portland might become, but now with it here in my face, I'm kinda in love. (This is very important considering my possible fan free agency, depending on how the Lakers handle the Kobe situation).

Oden and Aldridge are gonna be the shit. Both of them are tremendous rebounders with natural shot blocking tendencies. And they're athletic! Those guys are gonna make the rim disappear for opposing offenses. Then you bring in Channing Frye? Brilliant Move. Another Mobile big guy who you can bring off the bench to spell either one of the towers. Thing about Frye is that his game is different enough to make a difference. He's more of a face up guy, with tremendous range and solid post moves, while still being above average on the boards and defensively. The so called experts are saying it's just duplication of skills and that you can't give all three minutes. Bullshit. Aldridge and Oden can avg 30-35 mins/game with Frye still getting 30 off the bench. Meaning whichever two you run in crunch time will be fresher than guys playing 40+ minutes. This also means you have virtually no drop off in case of foul trouble. It's like the big man equivalent of the Isiah-Dumars-Microwave rotation that won the Pistons a couple of rings. Let me stop now before this turns into a Blazer post. Oh and you can bet your ass Francis is either gonna get moved or bought out, he has no role in this youth movement. Neeext.

BOSTON CELTICS: Danny Ainge has been getting bashed (more than usual) over the Ray Allen. Personally, I think it was a good move. If you're gonna keep Pierce, which obviously they plan to, then you have to bring in someone on a similar time line as him. Bringing in more youth wasn't going to help. So they traded basically 3 role players for the best shooter in the L! What's there not to like here? Their starting five's gonna be Rondo, Ray, Pierce, AlJeff, and basically any warm body that can grab a board. With Ryan Gomes and Gerald Green coming off the bench. That's a playoff team in the East. Hell, with a little heath that could be an Atlantic Division crown. Plus you finally have somebody to properly groom Gerald Green on what it means to be a deadly shooter in the NBA (Szcerbiak just wasn't getting the job done). The big knock by all the media types is that the C's are leaning on two aging stars. But then again these are the same guys who are slobbing NJ.

NEW YORK KNICKS: I honestly don't even know who they drafted. But I trust Isaiah. If nothing else he makes tremendous draft decisions. But the biggest move for the Knicks was trading away brokedown Stevie Franchise for Zach Randolph. Their bad contracts balance out, but Francis is a has been and Randolph is a legit 20-10 guy. Zach is motivated version of Eddy Curry, so there will be some issues with having both guys on the court at the same time, but above all else this deal accomplishes two things the Knicks needed. 1)Brings in a hardcore rebounder with offensive game, nobody else on the Knicks roster fits that bill. It's kinda like If Curry and David Lee had a baby. 2)Kept Zach away from other Eastern Conference teams. It's addition by addition mixed with addition by subtraction! Plus I'd pay good money to see Zach and Curry battling for post game meals.

SEATTLE SONICS: They got Kevin Durant. That's all that counts. That kid is gonna be MAJOR. It looks like they're already trying to shape the roster around him, except it's weird. They have a shitload of 1's, 3's, and 5's. At least four guys at each spot. Something's gotta give. I see big changes going on with them in the next few months. Regardless though, they got Durant. That's really all that matters.

ATLANTA HAWKS: They addressed their two major needs, post offense in Al Horford, and a floor leader in Acie Law. Now if then can manage to switch out Childress and/or Shelden Williams for a shooter then they've got something going on. They're still not gonna make the playoffs, but at least they can talk about it in the future now.

A couple other Items:
  • The J-Rich trade was a beauty on both sides. Charlotte has never had a go to option like this before. G.Wallace picked up a lot of junk points, he wasn't a true go to guy. J-rich is gonna improve that team. Brendan Wright is gonna love Golden State where all he'll have to do is run and jump. Well, assuming he doesn't get traded for Yi.
  • I love the Clippers picks. They're back in the playoffs next years. Thornton fits perfectly coming in behind Maggette. And Jared Jordan is good floor leader, he'll surprise some folks.
  • The Bulls are dumb. What does Joakim Noah bring that Ben Wallace and Tyrus Thomas don't already do? Plus they're gonna have to give minutes to Michael Sweetney or whatever big man they use as a post presence. So Noah's seeing heavy bench basically til Ben's contract ends. Why not flip that pick for somebody with a post game?
  • I'm sorry Rodney Stuckey went to Detroit. He's got a ton of talent that they're gonna waste.
  • I'm not gonna talk about the Lakers. Free agency starts July 1. That's when teams can do sign&trades, and all the real player movement picks up. We'll see what happens then.

Thursday, June 14, 2007

NBA Wrap

No pics, no vids. Just a wrap on NBA, at least til the draft in a couple weeks.

SPURS ARE THE SHIT. PERIOD. Lots of talk out there about if they are a legit dynasty or not, or if they need to repeat. I say this: 4 ring in nine years. Right now Larry Bird is jealous of Tim Duncan. As is Kobe. Shaq is rocking himself to sleep with whispers of MDE. Magic, MJ, and Pip are hearing foot steps.

LEBRON SHOULDA WENT TO SCHOOL. Yeah, and then you're gonna say, but he's only 22! Then I'm gonna ask you did you see him getting schooled? This isn't the easy anymore, Toto. One good player can win the East. But that shit don't run in the West. Ask Kobe. What was especially weak, though, was that Bron showed no real 48 minute soul. AI took one from the Lakers. Kidd never took games from the Lakes and Spurs. Hell, Wade held Shaq's hand and personally shitted on Dirk. But in '07 where was Lebron?

Lakers are fucked. #1 do not overpay for O'neal. You can move Odom for him, but not Odom and Bynum. Move Bynum for Artest. Radmonovic for Bonzi Wells. Sign Kapono for the money you were gonna give to Luke. Either draft a point or trade it for Duhon. I'd love to see a starting 5 of Duhon, Kobe, Artest, Odom, Kwame. That's a defensive 5 for that ass. Plus everybody but Kwame is a threat. Then you bring Kapono, Cook, Farmar, Turiaf, and Mo Evans off the bench. That's a hardcore team that can bang with the likes of Dallas, Phx, and San Antone.

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

for those wondering what Dirk's been doing with the extra vacation time...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVf_7UYrliQ

Oh, and if Lebron gets swept, he's back on the board. Fuck it, you know what, he's back on anyway....

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

J.R. Smith: Menace to Society


For real. This dude needs to go to jail. For a long time. To get into an accident is one thing. I can understand that. I think most of us who drive have been involved in some tiype of accident or another. And we've all definitely had our moments when we were not the best driver on the road.

But J.R. Smith, just like on the basketball court, is flat out reckless. All of the time. This is the same guy who had his license suspended 5 times in a one year span. Smith amassed 27 points against his license from April 22, 2005, to Jan 10, 2006, with eight violations on seven dates. Five of the citations were for speeding.

So it was not surprising to hear that Smith was involved in a serious car crash this past weekend. What's surprising are the circumstances of the accident. Smith swerved around a car, that was already stopped at a traffic sign, and charged into the intersection causing a head-on collision with another car. Of the three passengers in Smith's car, he and good friend Andre Bell were not wearing seatbelts and were ejected from the car. Bell, who was thrown from the backseat of the GMC Yukon, suffered severe head injuries, and spent his last days in a coma before finally succumbing to his injuries.

Smith was quoted as being "devastated by the loss of his good friend." He should be. As a matter of fact, not only should he be devasted, but also incarcerated. He has a history of violent, reckless behavior behind the wheel of a car, which lawfully is considered a deadly weapon. Remember, this is the same guy who was involved in a "fender bender" while driving Carmelo Anthony around in one of Carmelo's vehicles. So it's not like he only drives crazy in his own cars, or just when he's in the car, or just when the road is empty. No. This man really truly does not give a fuck. Now he has claimed his first victim. J.R. Smith needs to go to jail.

thanks to the AP for providing background info for this post.

Thursday, June 7, 2007

Spurs in 5

I just wanna get this out there before the games actually start. Because for all of the media's slurping of Lebron there's still the fact of basketball. And the facts are that the Cavs probably wouldn't have made the playoffs in the West. Honestly would you take Lebron over Kobe for 82 games? And the facts are also that Duncan has 3 rings all while facing the likes of Shaq, Kobe, Dirk, Nash, Amare, Melo, AI, Webber, KG, Sheed, Stockton, Malone, Pippen, Yao, T-Mac, it goes on and on. Really, think about all the premier teams from the West over the last 10 years. And Duncan has beat them all. So as much credit as Lebron deserves for closing out on the Pistons, let's not slurp him too hard and remember this basketball, not the movies.

Oh damn, as I write this, Schilling just gave up ass on the perfect game...like I said, this ain't Hollywood.

Sunday, June 3, 2007

Jordanesque

Indeed. He went through Detroit. Now he faces the team that has, more or less, dominated the Western Conference over the last 10 years with one of the games all-time greatest players and strong supporting cast. Rumble young man rumble.

Friday, June 1, 2007

KOBESQUE

that's what it was. Helluva game. But he's still on the list til he closes out the series.