Why I Don't Really Respect Lebron...Yet.

#1. I just never bought into the hype. Has the guy been a tremendous ball player? No doubt. He's definitely earned ever contract. And if this was wrestling, then sure you'd kinda have to buy him as the next big thing. But in real live game? He's only impressed me once. last year against the Pistons. That was a real pro performance. I dig that guy. And we've gotten a bit more of him this year.

#2. But just like everybody downplays Kobe for his allegiance to Jordan you have understand that Lebron didn't understand the NBA til he spent a summer with Kobe. Remember, coach K didn't even want Lebron for the current USA squad. After the world championships the US coaches felt like Lebron was their biggest handicap, because they had to play him, while he had no idea how to play nice with others. This summer, Kobe's 1st in USA basketball, Lebron learned what it means to be the top dog. Kobe didn't have to take the most shots, or dominate the ball. But everyday in practice, and come game time he imposed his will. Lebron learned. I respect that.

#3. Lebron kills his teammates. Can't blame it on the coaching cause it was happening before Mike Brown, plus it's why they hated him in USA basketball. Name one player who has played better with Lebron..? Darius Miles, Ricky Davis, Donyell Marshall, Damon Jones, Smush Parker, Dsagana Diop, Larry Hughes, Drew Gooden, Wally Sczerbiak. The List get's longer every time he adds a teammate. Some of those guys were better before playing with him, some rebounded afterwards, but the key is that they sucked being on the same floor with Lebron. Everybody talks about how gifted a passer he is, but in the actual vibe of the game he kills guys. He destroys offensive systems as easily as he splits Detroit double teams. They talk about Kobe as a ball hog, but there's numerous guys (Luke Walton, Brian Cook, Sasha Pavolic, Smush Parker, all post-Shaq guys) who owe their careers to KB.

#4. I don't see Lebron as anything more than a big Allen Iverson. Understand, I believe AI is a first ballot HOFer and one of the greatest guards to ever play the game. But just like Philly eventually realized, there's only so much of a team you can build around this type of guy. defensive oriented, with a couple guys who can hit shots (remember Aaron Mckey and Raja Bell in AI's MVP year). Wow, and how shitty for Larry Hughes that he's had to play with both these guys?! He spent 3 years in between those two with Gil Arenas in GS and Was. and was damn near an all-star. And you saw what he was doing when he got minutes in Chi. Back to the point though, Lebron, at this point in his career, is an offense killer. Sure his numbers are sweet, but it's cause he eats everyone else's game. Face the facts.

So is the kid amazing? Absolutely! I don't doubt his skill. Can't doubt his skill. My issue is his effect. Sure he made it to the Finals, in a clearly shitty conference where he faced an injured Wiz (No Arenas. No Butler.), and the Nets (Lebron versus Vince, really?). Ugh, I just threw up in my mouth. It kinda taints my appreciation of the one series he did have against Detroit. I mean, this is the same conference where JKidd took Keith Van Horn and Kerry Kittles to back to back finals. When Kobe said "Put me in the East" it wasn't just about the numbers he'd put up, but the wins he'd put together. And as DWade proved, all you need is an opponent to choke...

Free Thoughts...

on the MVP race...

• There only been 3 guys who deserve discussion here: Kobe, Lebron, CP3. Period. No other players are more important to the NBA this year.
• Quite honestly, Lebron is in the convo but really has a limited chance. He's not doing anything Kobe hasn't done in the past couple years without being shout down. Over the past two seasons no one was more dominant, in live action, or in numbers than Kobe. The knock was that team excellence outshines individual excellence. That same argument disqualifies Lebron.
• If either Kobe or Paul win the West then that guy should get the hardware. You know who I'm pulling for...

on Houston's streak...

• 22 straight is amazing. I hope the fans enjoyed it. No way in hell this team wins a playoff series. Playing night to night against different teams in different situations is tough, so winning 22 straight demands respect, but playing 7 straight games against the same team is a bit different. It tends to destroy smoke and mirror gimmicks. Ask Steve Nash. Hell, as T-Mac!

on the Celtics...

• Those guys play ball. Smack them in the face, they're gonna smack back. And fortunately for them no one in East is capable of throwing more than one punch. I really hope to see them versus both Lebron and the Pistons for 7.

on Dwight Howard...

• How come this guy isn't dominating games? Sure he's young and all, but have you watched him? He can get awfully invisible for long stretches. I love his numbers, and he seems like a nice guy, but how is Hedo Turkoglu the leader of that team? Reminds me suspiciously of David Robinson.

This is some bullshit...

1. trading Shaq
2. trading Shaq without demanding Wade in return
3. trading Caron
4. trading Caron for Kwame
5. biggest free agent acquisition: Vlade Radmanovic
6. biggest trade acquisition: Maurice Evans

Building a winner huh?

If they fuck up this Kobe thing, the Lakers are dead to me.

Lost Education

Watching Tmac almost break into tears after his 6th first round failure really hurt me. I mean, as a Kobe fan, it's only natural that I'm a big Tmac fan also. I can remember back to his first playoff experience alongside Vince in Toronto when a young Mac outshined his superstar cousin while losing to the Knicks. While Vince began writing the first pages of Memoirs of the Nutless, Tmac showed signs of the killer that would eventually avg. 32 over a full season and carry an Orlando squad manned with Pat Ewing, Horace Grant, and Darrell Armstrong into the the playoffs.

Watching Mac repeatedly bang his head against the first round wall seems eerily familiar though. Didn't I see this happen to Magic, Bird, MJ, Isiah.....nah, no I didn't. Those guys learned their lessons in whole different arena. Now I'm not one of those guys who talks about how much college builds character or all that BS, but I do believe it helps to build winners. The college game is the first time guys get to match their team game against other quality teams. Sure high school ball was big shit for most of us, but how much of a challenge did it pose for Tmac? Lebron? Kg? Think about this, no matter how nice you swear you were in high school, how would you have matched up against Mac? Exactly, he woulda been doing NBA Live shit on any one of us. Then he turned around and actually hit the NBA. That's like going from high school science class to NASA.

I look at the big 3 guys from the '04 draft and it really proves the point. Lebron came from straight from the lil leagues and struggled like hell for 3 years just to get into the playoffs in the weak ass east. Melo spent one year schooling the Drew Gooden's and Nick Collison's of the college where he learned 2 big things: 1)How to match up against equally talented teams, and 2)How to be leader for your team. Coincidentally, Melo has made the playoffs in the ultra tough West every year. Then you come to Dwayne Wade. Who didn't start off as a walking hype machine. Wade spent 4 years at tiny Marquette learning how to be the man and picking up the ultimate skill of being able to elevate the players around him. Wade has made the playoffs each year. Understand, that first season was sans Shaq and he still made it to the 2nd round. As a matter of fact, this is the first year of his career that Wade didn't make it at least to the 2nd round.

"So what about Kobe?" you ask. And even though I'm the #1 fan, I'll be objective here. Kobe came in to the league alongside Shaq, so that makes up for a lot. In Kobe's first 3 years the Lakers flamed in the 2nd round while my guy avg 11.7 per. Over the next 3 years my man avg 25.2 and the Lakeshow took 3 straight trophies. During the same two terms Shaq's splits were 28.3 and 29.9. So obviously Kobe was the difference maker. But Kobe didn't go to school? True. Kobe was just lucky enough to join a franchise where he would be mentored on a day to day basis by Magic and the Logo. No other franchise can offer that education.

J.Oneal, drafted the same year as Kobe, went to a Trailblazer squad stacked with Scot Pip, Sheed, Sabonis and bunch of other quality support players. Coincidentally, he got an A+ education in how to talk big game. His Pacers teams are yearly underachievers, always making the playoffs but never living up to the hype. The difference between Jermaine and Kobe is the same as the difference between Magic and the Logo vs. Pip and Sheed.

The education these high school cats are missing out has nothing to do with books and essays. It's about leadership and domination. Think I'm bullshittin? Stephen Jackson. Drafted by San Antonio, the best franchise in the game right now, he learned from Pop, Duncan, and that whole squad of 3-time champions, look what he's doing with GS. Leadership and Domination. Sorry Mac. Time to go back to school.

BlackBalled? L.A. Lakers

Jerry West please come back! Honestly I need this guy in my life. Up until about 9 years ago I was a die-hard Clipper fan. My eyes still tear up remembering the wonderful years of Ron Harper, Danny Manning, Charles Smith, Ken Norman, Loy Vaught, Benoit Benjamin, Olden Polynice, shit I could go on all day. But here's the point, the current Lakers remind me of those teams with one major exception: Kobe. Kobe is the guy who transformed my youthful love of the Clips over to the darkside fandom of the Lakers. And just like those old Clips, these Lakers are loveable losers, except for Kobe. 24 is a force of nature that rapes and pillages small towns, literally! And I love him for it. Cause if I could I'd be doing the same shit! So what both Kobe and the D.I.G. need is the return of Jerry West. The Logo is kinda like Obi Wan Kenobe but better cause he partied with Wilt Chamberlain. With that said, I have to consider perhaps I am just overly distraught by the ball slap Phoenix just laid on my guys. But I can't help but be hurt seeing Golden State, a fellow Cali team, running around with their balls dangling all over Dirk's chin, while my guys sit in a corner waiting for their testes to drop. Believe it or not I actually cheered the Suns a little bit in hopes that they killed us quickly do I didn't have to be punished by the likes of Kwame and Smush any longer. Now I can actually enjoy the rest of the playoffs.
Even though the Logo will be in my dreams.

Typsy Tyrants: You really need to get of Jerry West's nuts. What they need to do is sell the whole team for KG. doesn't take a genius to know that.

D.I.G.: I would blow Rosie O'Donnell if it brought KG to the L.A.

Typsy Tryants: Honestly the biggest mistake wasnt taking Odom,Caron, Chucky Atkins for Shaq it was letting Caron and Chucky go for bums like Smush and Kwame. Not to mention drafting complete idiots. Kupchak is the reason for all this and no other person.

D.I.G.: Agreed, that's why I'm having wet dreams about Jerry West. Plus there's no way in hell Jerry would have traded Shaq and not gotten Wade as part of the deal.

Typsy Tyrants: Well West will be a consultant and people fail to believe Lakers can get anything but they have two 1st round picks and Mihm's expiring contract, Kwame, Odom, and plus the rest of the bums to trade. So i guess the Guru of trades can pull of a megadeal of some sort or at least some hogs that wont get ballslapped nightly.

D.I.G.: For sure they have the flexibility to make a something big happen. But Mitch can't be pulling the strings. I mean how do you move Shaq for Odom, Butler, and Brian Grant. Then move Butler and Chucky Atkins for Kwame, and do nothing with Grant's expiring contract. So basically he's traded Shaq, Caron, and Chucky Atkins for Lamar and Kwame. Ouch. I'm moving to Oakland.

Typsy Tyrants: Man this yr killed my soul if I gotta watch one more game with a Smush, Cook, or any type of bullshit name i'm officially movin on to greener pastures. But still got love for the man KOBE. True MVP.

D.I.G.: So here's the queston: Have the Lakers fallen to Nowitzki status and earned a spot on the
black list?

Typsy Tyrant: I must say its official. Until further notice.