Joy to the League. Part II

Indiana Pacers: Jamaal Tinsley is still alive and they are 15-13 playing in the Eastern conference.

New Jersey Nets: Richard Jefferson is becoming a scoring machine thanks in part to the way Jason Kidd is playing (11.3 ppg, 10.3 apg, 8.8 rpg, 1.8 spg). They got back Marcus Williams this past month.

Seattle Supersonics: Kevin Durant. Jeff Green. They're going to be in rebuilding mode for the next 3 years at least but Durant ofensive proweness will help the cause, on an off the court.

Philadelphia Sixers: Billy King is out. Andre Miller's still playing for them so there is hope that once they trade him they probabbly get something good and valuable in return.

Houston Rockets: Yao Ming generates them lots of money. They are pretty good team when TMac is healthy.

L.A. Clippers: Chris Kaman will give them some comfort in case Elton Brand leaves. Rebuilding using a big man of the 2003 class as centerpiece is not that bad.

Sacramento Kings: Ron Artest hasn't gone wild yet. They are winning a fair amount of (11 -15) games without Bibby, Martin and Shareff

Washington Wizards: Caron Butler is playing more and more like a true star which is a very good thing because they need somebody to care more on winning games than self promoting his own ass (Sorry Gilbert the Basketball Gods are huge fans of your blog and your antics and everything you do, including your game, but they do know which is you priority)

Memphis Grizzlies: New coach, new system, new star. Rudy Gay is leading the team in points (19.6 ppg ) and showing some true leadership skills. Mike Miller have also been a bright spot this season. And Gasol is happy playing with his buddy Calderon.

Chicago Bulls: They had a shot at greatness for the second time in franchise history. Now they've fired their coach and their GM likes to give gifts to everybody around the league.

Minnesota Timberwolves: Al Jefferson and the rest of the team play hard night after night and they seem like a close team.

Charlotte Bobcats: Michael Jordan called out Felton and the rest of the team. They responded with 2 straight wins. That's the best thing MJ have done for a basketball team since 1998

Miami Heat: Wade appears to be headed to the All Star game and Riley still haven't abandoned the ship.

New York Knicks: Their fans can be very organized

Joy to the League

The Basketball Gods want to spread some joy in this very happy holidays remembering to all teams those little things that make them smile this passing year. They are aware that some teams don't seem to find anything to cheer about but hey! They are the basketball Gods, if somebody can find something good on the Knicks organizations are these guys:

Celtics: Anything. Just pick your choice: their record, the trade for KG and Ray Allen, the fact they are relevant again, the Pistons game which they lost but were damn close even though they didn't play their best game. Just let me tell you wy this guy should be smiling from ear to ear: they lost the lottery, they didn't get the chance to selecte either Oden or Durant which propelled them to get KG and Allen. The Gods work in mysterious ways

Spurs: They can be happy for a number of reasons starting with their fifth championship but they should also cheer that they current roster is as complete as any other in any of their championship runs getting good production from guys like Bonner and Udoka when given the chance.

Pistons: Everybody is expecting the year when this guys slow down. At the start of the season RIP and Sheed were a little injured and that slow them down and you started to wonder if this was the year. Well, nobody is wondering nothing with their current 11-2 stretch. I've to remind everybody that the Gods work in mysterious ways: Don't you think they have a chip in their shoulder after game 5 of the Conference Finals? That's the type of stuff that makes this team tick.

Magic: Finally Dwight Howard discover how good he can be.

Suns: Another team blessed in so many ways. Amare and Marion haven't kill each other yet, 27 games and counting and the seem like a happy and "we are on the same page" type of team. The biggest joy - not only for the Suns but also for the rest of the league - Grant Hill is playing and playing mighty good.

Mavericks:They had a 67 win season, that's a good thing. So what if Dirk can't smile anymore! Josh Howard is showing signs that they don't need to rely in Dirk "warm blood" to win a close game.

Golden State Warriors: They were the hottest team in the league for 6 weeks and got into the playoffs after a 12 year absense and make lot's of noice in the process. Nobody really thought that the Warriors could keep playing the way the played those 6 weeks - including me - and after that 0 -9 start I wasn't happy to be right. Now I'm happy to be wrong. Nellie ball rules.

Trail Blazers: They're achieving so much without their 40 year old rookie center. They can't take all the credit, it's bad karma, they need to thank Kevin Mchale and John Paxson for handing them Roy and Alridge for some other rookies... not that good. Let's leave it like that, I don't want to make anybody cry.

L.A. Lakers: Kobe's still in uniform and he says he's happy. If you want a Christmas miracle, you know outside Kobe being happy, just take a look at Bynum's progress and new found work ethic

New Orleans Hornets: None of their core players have missed more than 4 games (Peja Stojakovic ). It ain't that big of a thing but after what this guys went through last year, it is huge for them. By the way, the should also thank John Paxson for the Chandler gift. John Paxson is so good with the rest of the league.

Utah Jazz: Impressive playoff run that cemented Boozer and Deron Williams as more than up coming players, they are ready to play with the big guys. The new season brought them that old AK 47 they were mising so much.

Denver Nuggets: Thet won the Iverson sweepstakes and KMart seems to be getting back in track.

Cleveland Cavaliers: They had a easy path to the Conference finals and play inspired basketball against the Detroit Pistons including the 48 point perfomance by Lebron James. They should not only be thankful for having Lebron but they also must be appreciating this days, no matter what their record is, just a word of advice from the Basketball Gods. Enjoy this days.

Toronto Raptors: They have a Colangelo running things. Isiah Thomas used to run their team. Pretty good change, right?!

Atlanta Hawks: They are 14-12. Joe Johnson and Josh Smith are playing the more mature type of basketball we've seen from them. Al Hortford might pan out as the second best rookie of the 2007 class.

Milwaukee Bucks: They get to keep Yi and Mo Williams and they are in the Eastern Conference which means that it doesn't matter how mediocre they are they still have a chance to get in the playoffs.

Looking forward: West All Stars

Let's keep talkin about the deserving All Stars this time from the West. It's unbelievable the amount of players in this conference playing good to great basketball. There are 4 centers who could easily deserve the starting spot (There are 2 and half centers in the East)

Forwards:

• Carlos Boozer: The Jazz are struggling a little bit now, but Boozer always shows up and puts huge numbers ( 25.4 ppg, 11.7 rpg)
  
• Tim Duncan: He's having a quiet season but the Spurs are the best team in the West right now. His stock could be hurt by Manu's but I do se him playing for the West.
• Carmelo Anthony: Something happened in Denver. The last couple of week Melo doesn't seem like the top dog up in there. The change of the alpha dog role hasn't made a difference in the Nuggets record but it might change Melo's chances for his first All Start berth.
• Josh Howard: This is my theory: Avery Johnson is trying to create a go to guy in Josh Howard because Nowitzki, in all his skills, is very likely to choke under pressure. They need a much colder guy but that's just my theory.
• David West: This little known forward of the New Orleans Hornets should had been selected last year to the All Star squad and this year he's putting better number and the New Orleans Hornets and winning more games. Common sense, dude.
  
• Shawn Marion: The do-it-all for the Phoenix Suns is one of the best defensive players of the league but he might not get to be an All Star this year. Let's just hope he keep his eye on the grand prize and not let his ego force a trade to the Eastern Conference.
  
• Dirk Nowizki: A rather slow year for the David Hasselhoff fan. Shooting only 29% from downtown and averaging 21.2 - some 5 ppg lower than I expected - but life would be a lot harder for the Mavs and Josh Howard if Nowitzki weren't there.

Guards:

• Kobe Bryant: Right now he's the best player in the league. Lebron is like 3 eaten fingernails behind him. And his Lakers are totally overachieving thanks to no small part to Mr Bryant.
  
• Baron Davis: After last spring dismantle of a 67 win team I'd have think that the ring leader of the Warriors was going to get far more love. This Warrios might not seem like championship material but they can be pretty scary for anybody in this league. It all starts with the beard.
• Steve Nash: The Suns aren't still "clicking at all cylinders", whatever that means, but Steve is getting his numbers and the Suns have one of the best records in the league.
• Allen Iverson: Did he lost his confidence on Melo? Or he did just got tired of playing second banana? For whatever reason he return to his old scoring ways I'm glad! I just love to see Iverson racking up points.
• Manu Ginobili: The real reason the Spurs were winning so much games before this 1-3 bump, it's his line: 20 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 4.4 apg, 1.6 spg under 30 minutes per game.
• Chris Paul: The leader of the Hornets is averaging more then 20 ppg and almost 10 apg and leads the league in steals at 2.7. He needs to be selected I don't care if they build the roster with only one center.
  
• Brandon Roy: Everybody expected to the Blazers to roll over and cry Oden a river. They have won 8 straight games and playing inspired basketball. Roy's averging 24 ppg in that streak.
• Stephen Jackson: The Warriors were winninless before Capt Jack appeared. Now, they are fearless.
• Deron Williams: I just don't know where to put this guy. He's playing better basketball than Nash and Parker but even son he has less chances to get selected. Two issues are stading in DWill path to the All Star game 1) the Jazz are strugglinand and 2) the almost sure selection of Carlos Boozer. With the amount of candidates in the West -specially at the guard position - I don't think they'll select two players from a .500 team.
  
• Tony Parker: The third Spur in this list. He's averaging career highs in points (20.1) and assists (6.8) but even so he doesn't appear headed to the All Star roster.
• Tracy McGrady : Mr McGrady was on fire at the start of the season , but as he put it "teams have figured us out now". His great numbers and his popularity could earn him a roster spot

Centers:

• Yao Ming: He's been an All Star every year thanks to the 2 billion Chinese people that vote for him on daily basis but he's been deserving the spot the last couple of years. This year will be no diference.
• Marcus Camby: Three Nuggets on the All Star team. That would be cool. Camby's numbers back him up and the Nuggets are currently sitting at the top of the Norwest division.
• Amare Stoudemire: He's not a friend of rebounding or playing defense but he's a great offensive player and his game fit's with the running show of the All Star game.
• Chris Kaman: The former hippie have taken advantage of the little hole in the paint left by Elton Brand. It's a shame that the Clippers have more injury people than a ER chapter.

All this lead to my predictions:



Starters:

C Yao
F Duncan
F Boozer
G Kobe
G Nash

Bench:


Josh Howard
Carmelo Anthony
Baron Davis
Allen Iverson
Amare Stoudemire
Manu Ginobili
Chris Paul

Looking forward: East All Stars

Before the season started and I didn't had anything to write about I thought on writting something about the possible All Stars but I couldn't come out with something cool. Anyway, I was voting today and realized things are a bit different of how I thought they will be. This were the lineups in my mind, you know before the season:

East

C Howard

F KG

F Lebron

G Arenas

G Wade

West

C Yao

F Duncan

F Brand / Boozer

G Kobe

G Nash

Arenas and Brand are injured. Duncan is not putting All Star numbers and Wade is playing in the worst team in th East. The lastest two will probably made the team, though.

Let's pretend the All Star teams are not a popularity contest and take a look to the players that are really deserving a spot in the mid season classsic. Let's start with the East.

Forwards

• Kevin Garnett: He's not putting his typical KG numbers, but you can't really left out the best player of a 19-2 team.


• Lebron James: He's Lebron James. Just checkout his numbers.


• Chris Bosh: The heart and soul of a disappointing and injured Raptors team. Definitely one the best forwards in the East


• Caron Butler: This guy've really step up his game in the absense of Gilbert Arenas. He's averaging near 23 ppg, 7 rpg and more than 2 steals per game.


• Pau Pierce: More than 21 ppg. More than 5 rpg and more than 5 apg. Enough said.


• Antawn Jamison: Another Wizard stepping up for the lost of Gilbert but I don't think there's enough room for him

Guards:

• Jason Kidd: The Nets sucks right now but this guy is playing and amazing brand of basketball. Somebody have to rescue this guy from the swamps. Note: His avering 8.7 rpg which makes him 24th in the league. Check out all the big guys he's outrebounding.


• Chauncey Billups: Pistons fans are going to hate this but the Pistons have lost a step or two. Nevertheless they are one of the best teams in the East and they go as far as Chauncey take them.


• Joe Johnson: Can I dare to name a Hawk in an All Star discussion? The Hawks are 11-12 and Joe Johnson, even though he doesn't put up huge numbers, he's a huge catalyst for the Hawks. His case is not very strong but at least he has one. Note: His name is actually Joe Marcus Johnson. I don't know about you, but I were Joe Johnson I'll go by the name Marcus Johnson but that's just me.


• Michael Redd: Year after year the Bucks are called to be the "surprise team". I'm tired of waiting for the surprise. I wouldn't be surprise if Redd doesn't make the All Star team this year neither even though he's 10th in the league in scoring.


• Dwayne Wade: He's not a 100% following two offseason surgeries and the Heat is the worst team in the East. I'm just putting here because I know he's going to be there in February.

Centers:

• Dwight Howard: And to think once there was a discussion about who could be the better player, him or Emeka Okafor?


• Zydrunas Illgauskas: He's having his best rebounding season of his career and he's learn to do the small things to help his team win. He and the rest of the Cavs just need more Lebron James minutes.


• Shaquille O'neal: The Big Everything is having a Big Crappy Season. He's averaging 14 and 7 far from All Star numbers but he's still Shaquille O'neal. One thing I'm sure is that it can't be two players in the All Star team from the worst team. Please, don't let this happen.

So, this is my prediction

Starters

C Dwight Howard

F Kevin Garnett

F Lebron James

G Dwayne Wade

G Jason Kidd

Bench

Chris Bosh

Caron Butler

Chauncey Billups

Joe Johnson

Zydrunas Illgauskas

Michael Redd

Paul Pierce

Khalid Reeves is no longer in Costa Rica

I think I should give an update on the Khalid Reeves situation in Costa Rica. Apparently Mr Reeves went to Costa Rica as a favor to a college buddy of his, Joe Lear, that happens to be the GM and President of Saprissa Basketball. They are so close that Khalid is playing for free and he's buying game tickets for kids and everything.

He played for like a month with Saprissa before the playoffs started, this is when things got "messy". Saprissa lost the first two games of their first round which is to the best of five. Khalid scored 46 points in those games combined and got hard critics for the losses (I should also mention that Saprissa's best player , Henry Martinez, left the team and signed with a Mexican expansion team). Khalid never show up for the third game and Saprissa got swept.

So, right now I don't know where's Khalid Reeves but I don't think he's wearing no Saprissa jersey.

What have you done

I've been a NBA fan for more than 15 years. I've senn tons of young teams get built and eventually broken for whatever reason. Do you remember the old Clippers? The Elton Brand-Lamar Odom-Corey Maggete-Darius Miles-headband fisting Clippers? That was a promising team and one had the feeling that if that core sticks together, they’d be hell of a team. Remember Shaq and Penny? That Magic team had dynasty wrote all over. Zo and Larry Johnson had they chance in Charlotte, Vincesanity and TMac were going to be the next MJ and Scottie (although now you’ll wonder who was who ). The examples go on and on and every team got broken apart for different reasons but I feel a Basketball’s God true heart ache when I think that upper management could have done something different to change the destiny of this kind of teams.

The current Chicago Bulls team is actually playing better this days than last week but an idea keep playing around on my head: had this core of players give everything they, as a group, had to give? Did John Paxon miss the opportunity of building an eventual champion? I’m not only thinking this because of the current position on the standings let’s look back at the building of some of the past champions (I must get something out of the way; I’m not saying that this is a blue print to build a champion they are just examples to make my point).

• Back in 1988 the Bulls had a nice young team featuring on the best rebounders in the league, Charles Oakley. They traded him to get a defensive oriented center that was also a veteran voice in the locker room. Michael Jordan and Bill Cartwright won 3 titles together in the next 5 years.

• In 1999 the L.A. Lakers, lead by Shaquille O’neal, were coming from two nice playoffs appearances were they lost to the Utah Jazz. One could say they time was about to come but Jerry West thought different as he traded their best defensive swingman and second leader scorer, Eddie Jones, to the Charlotte Hornets for Glen Rice. The following year the L.A. Lakers won the first title in 12 years.

• In 1995 the Houston Rockets were the defending champions but they weren’t playing at a “championship level”. For some people a change was imminent and that change became Clyde Drexler. He was acquire in exchange for staring power forward Otis Thorpe. The trade didn’t exactly shoot Houston to contention but helped Hakeem get his back to back title against much better teams like Utah, San Antonio and Phoenix.

• You want a more dramatic example; look at the moves Pat Riley made 3 years ago to create a championship team in Miami. I know they are crappy now and they won thank in mayor part to the”DWade Free throw Parade” but they are the ones wearing the jewelry.

In the past two seasons almost every Bulls’ players have been involve in a trade rumor to get a player from Kevin Garnett to Pau Gasol to Kobe Bryant but John Paxson never pulled the trigger, he never saw a fair trade he never bumped into a trade that, according to him, would increase the team chances to become champions. And he stuck with this team and I think he ride this team for all it could offer. This core of players have reached a point were they are not clicking anymore they are not responding to Skiles’ screaming and mind games.

Since two seasons ago until this past off-season the Bulls and the T’wolves were talking trade. New reports, and facts, points to that Chicago never had a chance to get Garnett. McHale, on all his wisdom, rejected every package Chicago offered. Let’s say this wasn’t Paxson fault. The Kobe saga still very recent so we all know why that trade hasn’t happened and probably'll never happen. Kobe wants to play in a Bulls team that also features Luol Deng and the Lakers want’s Deng in exchange for Kobe. This wasn’t Paxson fault neither.

The leaves us with the Pau Gasol scenario. January of this current year was passing by us when the talks heated up between the Grizzlies and the Bulls, The Grizzlies were asking for a package of Tyrus Thomas, the contract of PJ Brown, New York's draft pick and someone from the Deng-Gordon-Hinrich core. You can add two more contracts in each side to make numbers match. Worst case scenario Chicago'd had to give Deng as the centerpiece of the trade.You can argue he's going to be a 25 ppg scorer in the near future but if you are paying like 17 millon dollars per year to Ben Wallace for the next 4 years ( 2 of them good ) you might wanna try to win now so adquiring a actual 20/10 post presence makes sense, right?. It wasn't like the Bulls were given the entire roster for Gasol, Hinrich, Gordon, Nocioni, Wallace, they all'd have been there. I seriously think this is were Paxson lost it all.

There's also the Chandler vrs Wallace issue. I supported Paxton because of:

1. PJ Brown contract was adquired to be part of a trade package to get either Garnett or Gasol.
2. Chandler wasn't goint to develop under Skiles tenure. Someone had to go and they needed point A, besides Skiles approach was still working. I don't think Paxson is savyy enought to see this coming
   
3. I thought that the Ben Wallace signinng was a good thing. I know he's way older and I don't know how many times more expensive than Chandler but he brings experience and a championship ring to the table. This is where things get bad, Wallace hasn't been the leader on the court at least not regularly and he hasn't been that veteran voice in the locker room neither.

When the last trade deadline came and went I knew Paxson blew it. Fine, they didn't get Garnett nor Gasol but he needed to so something with PJ Brown contract. Something! Anything! As everything come out Chicago traded Chandler ( a defensive monster ) for anything and that's no way to build a champion

The Knicks and the Bulls

They woke up this morning with a combined 7 -20 record with a 1-14 away record. They are both big disappointments in this young NBA season, specially Chicago they we're called to be a contender for the East title and the Knicks were expected to make at least a decent push to get into the playoffs. I never thought I would be writing a blog where I compare the Knicks to the Bulls, last year the Bulls were a perfect example of a team with great chemistry, a team with heart, a team fight each possession and that could defeat any team any given night. The Knicks in the other hand were the opposite: a team with bad chemistry, bad locker room influences and without a true identity as a team. This year they are awfully similar and their histories are linked together far before this season.


In 1984 Jerry Krause drafted a high scoring, electric shooting guard from North Carolina. We know what happened to this kid, he ended up reigning the league for an entire decade. In this reign he became the mayor obstacle for a lot of players and franchises in their way to the promised land, one of this franchises were the New York Knicks. In 1985 they got the prize of the year: a 3 time All-American 7'0 feet Jamaican center from Georgetown. Ewing was called the guy who was going to take one of the most important franchises in the league back to their hey days. The Bulls and the Knicks battled for the better part of the early 90's producing one of the best rivalries of that decade and some of the most physical games (Part II) in recent history. True be told, there was lots of hate between those two (Exhibit A, Exhibit B, Exhibit C , just head to YouTube and look for all the videos from the 92 and 93 playoffs series between Knicks and Bulls)





Rivalry aside, they also have helped each other. In June, 1988 the Bulls traded one of their most popular players, Charles Oakley, to the Knicks for 31 year old Bill Cartwright to have someone who can score in the middle but the main objective was to have a big body to defend the likes of Patrick Ewing, Hakeem Olajuwon and Moses Malone. The Knicks got a though defender, a mean guy if you want and helped the Knicks build that defensive and physical identity that took them to the upper scheledon in the Pat Riley era. As the nineties finished so did the rivalry, MJ retired for a second time, Scottie was shipped to Houston and the Knicks retooled to fight with the new breed of Eastern powerhouses: Indiana, Miami and Orlando.



New York went to finals in 1999 and to the Conference Finals the next year. After that they faded while Scott Layden started to economically dismantle the franchise highlighted by the trade of Patrick Ewing, their franchise player, to the Sonics. While Chicago was playing guys like Marco Fizer, Dalibor Bagaric and John Starks (couldn't find a picture if somebody have one of Starks in a Bulls uniform please, please send it to me).

Both teams went to a dark era at the start of this decade but the Bulls were the first team to see the light with a management crew lead by GM John Paxson and Coach Scott Skiles. They built a team filled with character players coming from either winning college programs or European teams, they built a team identity of defense, hustle and team work and in a matter of 4 years they were called contenders. Meanwhile the Knicks seems to like the dark era, they went from Scott Layden to the Isiah Thomas (how came from declaring CBA's bankruptcy) darker era. Deals like the aforementioned Ewing Trade, the Jerome James deal, tons of buyouts (Larry Johnson, Jalen Rose) and bad acquisitions (Marbury, Steve Francis, Glen Rice) had defined Thomas tenure in New York.



Among those senseless moves the Knicks found Chicago as a trade partner twice. First in the Jamaal Crawford trade and later with the Eddy Curry trade which, eventually, almost landed KG in the Windy City. These trades may seem ok and even fair on paper but the Bulls got rid of two defensive liabilities that didn't match with the team culture, let's not mention Curry's heart, while the Knicks haven´t been able to mesh as a team.




A year ago the Bulls went to win 49 games, defeat an half-powered Miami Heat team and lost to the Detroit Pistons. The Knicks have won 56 games the last two years combined and had mixed their on court failures with off court embarrassments. This year things seems to even out for these teams as the Bulls have "regressed in their progress" for whatever reason you might wanna think - Kobe's trade, contract extensions or they are just tired of Skiles - the true is they are not winning and they're not even close to do it. The Knicks had a nice offseason adquiring Zach Randolph from the Trail Blazers creating a more than decent frontcourt for Eastern Conference standards of Curry and Randolph. This is a team with a lot of talent and offensive firepower but as their record( 4 - 10) and their last game shows they haven't found a winning formula... in over 7 years.



In the NBA there's always somebody to blame and this franchises need something drastic to change their fortunes if they want to live up to their offseason expectations, expect some firing or trading coming from this teams, probably the earliest. In the other, they both look like they're going to have a great chance to get OJ Mayo. Go Knicks! Go Bulls!

TrueHoop's masterpiece

You need to read this. I know I've been making fun of the way how the league treated Dwayne Wayne in the 2006 Finals. I do think there were a lot of wrong and "suspicious" calls now I have the numbers the back it up. I was part of the old "Dallas got robbed" media frenzy although nobody reads this thing but it's out there. I thought that the last play of game 5 which ended with DWade on the free throw line again was completely bogus. I stand correct now because it was a good call, Wade got fauled not only one but twice on that drive. It was a very difficult angle and the refs did a great job catching it. You also have to admire the professionalism of Salvatore and his crew to make that call so late in a overtime game in the NBA Finals. Truly nice work.

Now, Henry Abbot and a couple of TrueHoop reader asked the same question I asked myself when I saw the video the NBA had that were used by Salvatore in his interview with Abbot: Why on the name of the Basketball gods they didn't release this video? Why don't they release all this videos of controversial calls, no matter if it's regular season or post season? I guess they don't want to make the refs look bad and question their decisions but in the case everybody is questioning the ref and the guy is right. Doesn't the league should do something about it? I don't have the answer to any of these questions but what I do know is that the NBA needs to changes this close door policy, they need to open up, the fans are calling for it. We are living in a post Donaghy era and every bad move the league makes it will be judge and scrutinize 10 times harder than 6 months ago.


I still believe there was a DWade Free Throw Parade but at least the most controversial call of the entire parade was right. Something's gotta give.

Preparing for the best: NY Knicks

I'm not very into other sports so I can't really say that James Dolan is the worst owner in the history of pro sports but he has to be in the conversation. Either Dolan has this weird man - crush with Isiah Thomas that's not letting him see things straight or he has a "there's no way I was wrong with this guy" stand that is burying the knicks deeper that we all think.

Not only they are in crappy salary cap position but their team chemistry is getting sour by each passing game and that's reflecting in their record. Everybody outside the Knicks organization knew for two years now that Thomas needs to go but he always had Dolan's and his players support, now he's missing the last. Allowing Mardbury's AWOL to pass only with a financial slap on the wrist ( I know he took away his starting spot but have you seen Marbury talk about it, he doesn't give a rat ass) producing some "discontent" with the rest of the Knicks players.

Look I've never played professional basketball, I'll never play professional basketball, but one thing I know for sure: If you don't trust your teammate, if you don't even like your teammates, there's no way in hell your are going to function like a team and if you want to win games you need some team cohesion and that applies to pretty much anything you do as a group. Bad chemistry have destroyed great teams and the Knicks are not a great team.

Sometime down the line Isiah will be fired, Marbury will be released or traded, Q, Jamal Crawford and Malik Rose among other will be traded for draft picks and young players with a "clean soul". The Knicks need to rebuild the right way and that way doesn't include Zeke. It is the time

Preparing for the worst: Cleveland Cavs

Who to blame? Danny Ferry? Anderson Varejao? New York Media?

I don't know but the truth it's that I don't feel good things happening for Cleveland in the medium run- say 5 year or so - this is Lebron's fifth season and nothing appears to be improving around him. Danny Ferry and his staff have only two more years to make a real run to get some real quality around King James before he leave and play for the Knicks .. probably...

Yes, they did reached the Finals last year but even Lebron has to realized their path to the Eastern Conference crown was a little, let's call it less rocky that any other one. A Wizards team minus Arenas and Butler, and Nets team minus Kritic and Jefferson and a old tired Detroit Pistons team. They need to thank the Basketball's Gods and the Chicago Bulls for that. But the chances of that happening again are very unlikely thats way Lebron needs help from his own organization.

Varejao is a important part of this team, and Danny Ferry's inability to sign this guy really worries me and put this guy ability to create a winning around Lebron on very thin ice. If the Cavaliers organization can not create a winning and consistent team in the next two years Lebron will walk. That's why Lebron signed a short contract extension ( ala Tim Duncan ) to press the Cavaliers to build a winning team pronto.

If the history goes as it's being told so far Lebron, and Wade (, are going to be playing for another team for the 2011 -'12 season.

Preparing for the worst: Chicago Bulls

Two weeks into the regular season and I'm not feeling good about some teams I really thought- and wanted- to do real good this year. As a fan, as a blogger, you want some things to happen: you want young teams to stick together and reach their potential together. You want franchise player to be a player that plays for only one franchise in his career that takes his team from lottery to the promise land.


I've seen three Chicago Bulls games so far this season and I say can without a doubt that they need help. Luol Deng needs help. The worst thing is that Kobe is not the solution sure he can help, he can help a lot but the Bulls need an inside presence. They need somebody that can consistently make baskets from the low post, draw a double team here and there and for the love of God, stop running an offense based on jump shoot and crazy uncontrolled drives to the basket.


They have lots of shooters but nobody to create space for them. They only have two inconsistent scorers in Deng and Gordon and calling Gordon inconsistent it's me being nice guy .This year, they actually have quality big men on Ben Wallace, Tyrus Thomas, Joe Smith and the rook Noah, but outside Smith they bring 0 (nada) offensive skills to the court. They are all great defenders and rebounders and bring a lot of energy and heart to the team but sadly somebody need to score in order to win games, you know that's point, right?


I do see Kobe playing with this team before February. I do see Wallace, Gordon, Noah and Sefolosha in a Lakers uniform. I do see Wallace in a Texas uniform before the playoffs. I don't see a championship in Chicago with Kobe in town

Kobe wants to run with the Bulls

If it's there somebody out there who can actually step up to the challenge of bringing the title back to Chicago and deal with the inevitable MJ comparisons, that's Kobe Bryant, you can even expect Kobe has wanted that scenario his entire career.

Since 2 or 3 years ago every superstar available is being linked one way or another to the Bulls: KG, Gasol, I could swear I read one about Iverson, and now Kobe. This is 'cause the young talent collection the Bulls have,but we all know that story. Kobe wants to play for Chicago, we all also know that, but this is what do the Lakers want?

1. Luol Deng. Probably everybody know that by now, but this is guy who the Lakers think could be a nice starting point for their "quick rebuilding process" (remember, you can't the Lakers nor the Knicks) . The year old is full with potential that's starting to show, last yea he averaged almost 19 ppg and around 52% from the field, and top of that, he's a good person.
2. Joakim Noah: Just a kid, just a rookie with limited offensive game but a lot of energy, and that makes him a fan favorite, and that's one of the factors the Lakers are taking in consideration, they need to sell Jerseys, and although they can't expect Noah's jersey to fly of the shelf as Kobe's does, they need to fill that void.
3. Tyrus Thomas: He could either be the next Shawn Kemp or the next Stromile Swift. An unbelievable athlete with some raw potential, once Kobe out of the way, he and Bynum could grow up together and loss a bunch of games in the process
4. Ben Wallace: He would be asking for a trade before the All Star break, but they might need their salary in order to get Deng
5. Andres Nocioni: Another energy guy and a possible fan favorite. But he's already in a big contract and his age is not very appealing for a rebuilding process
6. Kirk Hinrich: I don't know why there's no more interest around the league for Capitan Kirk yes, he could be erratic at times, but he's a good defender and a decent shooter. But mainly, he's a great decision taker. His lack of size and height may be not suitable for Phil Jackson, but lets be honest, how long is good ol' Phil going to hang around after Kobe is gone ?
   

It's been awhile

Long time no see.

I really lost interest in the NBA after mid September, I wasn't even checking the sites or other blogs, I really didn't wanted to read about Kobe trades, the Isiah trial, Miami's injuries or how ready are the Mavs for the next season. So, those were my reasons and I'm happy I get away for a month or so, I look younger and happier, maybe the NBA is not good for me, but that ship have sailed.

So, tip off is tomorrow night, and I having the feeling that's going to be a cool start of the season. We are going to have Kobe trade scenarios until the actual trade goes down. We are going to have articles and pieces about the Miami Heat and how Pat Riley is trying to turn the team around and Wade is working his butt off to turn around the then awful Miami Season.

Knicks, Magic, Nuggets and Rockets are expected to have a good or maybe great season. Dallas, Phoenix, Chicago and Cleveland are hoping to be the last one standing at the end. Boston is going to be the team to follow, the Big Three -version 21 Century- are not expected to gel right out of the gate, but they are expected to make a strong playoff push.

And we have the good ol' Spurs, are the going to win it again or continue their reluctance to repeat? Is Tony Parker 20 pounds lighter after a "busy" summer? Is Manu balder?

There's a lot stuff happening and thank God they all generate news to follow

Randomize

Is funny how the presence or absence of one word in a sentence changes absolutely everything. Some three weeks ago we found out that Oden was undergoing " exploratory arthroscopic surgery" In the same very moment we all went "Crap!". We knew what was going to happen, we just knew it. Now, Amare is putting himself through "undergo minor arthroscopic knee surgery". I don't know about you, but I don't smell anything evil cooking in the Basketball's Gods oven. Is funny, isn't ?


Update: Nothing new or shocking. Amare will only miss less than a month.



In other unrelated business, it's good to know I'm not the only one wondering what the hell is wrong with Stephon Marbury.



Just one more thought, after reading this note , can somebody explain me why they haven't trade Chris Duhon? (Thanks to BlogaBull for the link)

The Matrix and AK47

Ahhh… trade request, there’s nothing better to break a dull September than a millionaire professional crying for a trade. Andrei Kirilenko and Shawn Marion have gone public with their desires to change teams before the start of this upcoming season

You all know my stand of this type of request, but I can understand until certain point that a player wants out of a loosing team or a poor management situation. I can understand Jermaine O’neal, I can understand Kobe Bryant. But guys like Kirilenko and Marion whose teams have become contenders and the last three Western Conference finals have featured either of those teams. These are great teams, great organizations filled with a lot of leadership, players would kill small children and kittens to have a chance to play for teams like these.

Why are the looking to get out you may ask? Let's start with Kirilenko

Big money is obviously good, but I am prepared to make less. The size of my salary doesn't mean that much for me. The main thing is to play with a spark.

This ESPN article also reads:

He said he doesn't want to be a "robot" in Sloan's system. He longs to play in Europe, where he can be the man. Except he isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Unfortunately for him, neither is Sloan.

Look, Andrei, I know that the basketball level at Europe it’s great and everything. But if you want to be a MVP or a cornerstone from some franchise in the NBA, you better start working on you offensive game and develop some leadership qualities. And you need to play at that level for some 100 games, not just an short tournament but an entire NBA season with a deep playoff run included. Now go, become that player and then you can enjoy that spark with some other team.

What about Shawn “The Matrix” Marion? Dude you are playing with the best point guard in the business and a top three center. You are in the verge of a championship. You are earning like $16 million this year. You are a four time All Star. And yet, stuff like this crosses you mind:

His delicate psyche is never far from the coaching staff's collective mind. On the one hand, Marion is outwardly confident, cocky even, buying into that wonderful nickname, Matrix, given to him by TNT commentator Kenny Smith early in Marion's rookie year. The special-effects-driven movie was hot then, and "Matrix" was perfect for a player with an uncanny ability to suddenly materialize in the middle of a play (Marion seems to come from nowhere when he makes a steal, grabs a rebound or makes a quick cut to the basket) and leap from a standing start as if he's on a trampoline.

Sometimes Marion refers to himself as the Matrix, as if he has bought into the idea that he is a superhero who defies normal physical laws. His teammates call him "Trix."

On the other hand, Marion lives in a perpetual state of fear that he is being overlooked, underrespected, ignored, dissed, persecuted, singled out, patronized, whatever."

Number one, go see a shrink. Pronto. Number two, learn to dribble the ball. Number three, think Shawn, just think. The Suns championship is bound to happen, maybe this year maybe next but it will happen, unless Nash gets kidnapped or Gregg Popovich steals Mike Miller, Gerald Wallace and Dwight Howard. Just take the money for this two years, let Steve do his thing and give all of you that ring and then, ride to the sunset and go play for some other team. Trust me.

Greg Oden is not a rookie this year

There’s absolutely nothing I can say about Oden’s injury that it hasn’t been told already by a better blogger. It is shame I feel sorry for Portland’s fans, I’m not going to say they deserved a huge star, because they haven’t suffer enough. All the Jail Blazers stage wasn’t the like the Basketball Gods are plotting against them, when you sign guys like Isaiah Rider and Rasheed Wallace, well you kinda are asking for it.

Sam Bowie and Bill Walton, yes, they were unlucky with those two, but there are a lot of things that drafted or sign players only to see them head the injury list year after year.Grant Hill in Orlando, Jason Williams in Chicago, Bryant Reeves in Vancouver, there are plenty of cases.

2000 Western Conference Finals, we all know what happened there, but again tons of teams have been there, that’s the NBA. Sacramento collapsed against the same Lakers two years after that, Dallas had collapsed twice in the last two post-seasons, the Lakers finally did it against the Pistons at the Finals in 2004, and the list goes on and on.

My point is, Portland is not jinxed, Boston was. Portland knew who were they picking. The Basketball’s Gods do not hate Portland, they just have the same bad luck almost everybody have had

Darko is Free. English Translation

Darko is not a nice person; I can say that right now without any fear of being wrong. A person that talks like that has to have some serious issues, especially after a basketball game. I didn’t find any English translation of Darko’s “speech”, so I translate one spanish translation I found. As I don’t want blogger to close this thing I’m replacing some “adult” words with some more family like words I think SNL did this in a sketch, I’m not really sure

The “F” word will be replaced by pony. Princess will replace prostitute – he actually didn’t said prostitute he said a more rude word- and Twinkle will replace penis - same thing here -I can write “shit”, right?.

This is Darko’s finest hour:

Innocent Reporter: Darko, some impressions…

Insane Darko: Nothing. Those three pieces of shit, all of them, three sons of ponies, they stole us. They think they are great deal. I’ll go up and pony their mothers. Pony their princess Italian mother

Scared Reporter: Darko, calm down. I understand you are disgusted

Mad Darko: Pony! Those three can suck my twinkle, write that down

"Dear God, what I have done" Reporter: Calm down!

Pervert Darko: Pony! They officiated like scare princess. I’ll pony their mother … and if they have daughters, I’ll pony them too

Reporter (something something)

Weak Darko: We were out there working and fighting. I almost needed some IV serum

Los Dioses en España

This is my first September as an NBA blogger, I’ve to say it sucks! Since the All - Time teams posts I have had nothing big or important to write about, event the All – Time teams posts weren’t any news. But we have international basketball to save the day. Chris Sheridan was shipped to Spain to cover the Eurobasket tournament and he brought plenty of notes. All of the NBA-ers out there, Marco Belinelli's being the surprise, if Nellie stops fighting with yet another employer, he might get the chance of coach his finding.

By far, the coolest thing that have happened on the other side of the Atlantic (or Pacific… I don’t know) is Darko´s rant against the referee, but I will address this little topic with a post of its own.

What the hell is this? Oden is having an exploratory arthroscopic procedure ¡! A ‘right, it’s out, this guy is really 40, , two intervened joints and his nowhere near 20 years old. Amazing. If you are like me and don’t know what in the name of Britney's belly is this, here's a gross video that explains it. You can go puke now

My condolescence to Britney’s fans' families, I’m sure they all die this Sunday. Go ahead, go puke again.

Linkin Friday 6

Damn, even linkin friday it's going to be slow this week...


Use Hot Girls as your wallpaper


A very uplifting video. Wear Sunscreen


At Cavalier attitude, they are not happy with their team


Jeff, at CelticsBlog, it's a little bitter these day



NBA TV is airing today a special feature about Phil Jackson, to "celebrate this Hall of Famer’s playing and coaching career", I'm not sure if Andrew Bynum will be watching



5min is a great site, it's full with how to videos



Nice prank with a thong

Khalid Reeves is in Costa Rica

I have some "news" for you all. Remember Khalid Reeves? He played for Miami and Dallas, among other teams, in the second part of the 90's. He was traded like 17 times. Anyhow, the 35 year old point guard is now going to play for Saprissa basketball, one of the main teams of the very bad Costa Rican professional basketball league. As soon as I get my hands on a link I'll post it here.


Remember my ramblings about the comparisons between the current USA basketball team and the Dream Team? This is a real inside approach, love this note by Chris Sheridan. They hit a very good the point saying that this team is far more athletic than the 92 team, but still doesn't have quite the same aura. Although aura doesn't make a great team, it was part of that 1992 Olympic team, no matter if you were sitting behind the bench or watching the games miles and miles away, you must had feel it!



What is missing from this team? Duncan? KG ? Shaq? Lebron, Carmelo and Wade becoming bigger names? Whatever it is, we could definitely witness something special in Beijing next year, as a basketball fan I love to see a team that we could really compared with the Dream Team maintaining a straight face in the process.

I'm bored

My god, there's absolutely nothing to post about. Among USA Basketball and the soldier Yi improbable signing with the Bucks there's nothing to write about.

Why not give USA basketball a post? Well, they were supposed to win it all, I know that with the USA basketball recent history that wasn't a given, but they brought their A team, Argentina didn't and for me in this continent only Argentina could harm a good USA basketball TEAM (not a bunch of guys playing with the same jersey, a TEAM).

I'm happy they won and everything, but let's no call them a Dream Team just yet, although I'm impress with Lebron's shooting touch

NBA has opened Fantasy comissioner. A little earlier than usual, just to prove you that there's nothing happening



CNNsi writers did an evaluation of each team preseason. It's a good reading.
Pacific | Central | Atlantic | Northwest | Southeast




This was for linkin friday, but it's just too good (and there's nothing else). 11 guys you meet in pickup basketball at basketbawful.

Linkin Friday V

A weird online game, never got it but it's huge at the office



For those of you who likes cool pictures,you must take a look to these sites: DamnCoolPics, CoolBuddy and Bernd Nies' site

For every Simpsons fan this is coolest thing ever. You'll need a good and big picture of your face

We are not alone, well maybe we are, but we are creative as hell. Maybe after we died we can come back and scare the living shit out of everybody, so they don't have to make cool videos of UFOs to add some mistery to our lives.

Chuck Norris Rules, not always, like when he has a kid telling everybody stuff like this.

Skip to My Next Charge

The Basketball Gods have command me to write something even though they are not making anything happen. But I have something, Rafer Alston is insane, this guy belongs to the’96 Draft Class, in a couple weeks he was arrested twice. First he was charged with “misdemeanor assault and public intoxication in Houston” and now he decided to stab a man in New York. I wonder how this works in the whole-exultation-of-capturing-glory scheme.

Boston signed somebody without a thirst for a ring in James Posey, he just has a good old thirst for money. He wore his ring in the press conference; I guess it's intended to inspire his new teammates, that or to scare small children and to depress KG

Kevin Martin got big money, wonder when we will demand a trade

USA Basketball is blowing away everybody, I was thinking of making some type of relation with the ’92 Dream Team, but at Need4Sheed.com already did that. That's way they are who they are.