Playoff Preview: Magic vs Bobcats

(2) Magic vs (7) Bobcats

Am I the only one thinking the Magic may have some problems handling this Bobcats team? In my book Charlotte is an awfully tough team. Jax really gives them an edge and is not easy to outcoach Larry Brown you know? Stan Van Gundy is a pretty good coach and the mere quality of the Magic -and their best player- is going to give them the series. Orlando is playing amazing basketball and they haven't miss a beat since the All Star game.

Charlotte has a nice collection of big bodies to throw at Howard and getting under Howard's skin is a good way to get him off his game. Brown would make sure Wallace and Jackson attack the basket, and Howard, any chance they get.

What about Vince? Everybody have been waiting for this moment to critize and attack good ol' Vince. I like Carter. It sucks he doesn't have the thrive for glory like Kobe has. A real shame. I just hope that for a couple of months he discovers some type of hunger, like he were in a contract year, a play aggresive, smart and efficient basketball. 2 months. 1 ring. Players have been playing hard for a decades without a real chance of getting a title. It can't be that hard

This is not going to be a pretty series. They are both defensive teams so you know what that means. Hack-a-Howard is going to be in place. MJ is going to be there playing cool. Best case scenario: Jax goes all Nellie ball on Brown and ends up in the bench for the last couple of games.

Basketball Gods Prediction: Orlando in 5

Win Scale (From 1: "The refs gave them that game. Are they really this bad?" to 10: " This is the best team ever! Make me yours" ) 7

Drafts 1984-1989

1984

This is the draft that really changes the landscape of the league in the 90s. The Rockets obviously takes MJ with the first pick, the Blazers ignore Sam Bowie and wisely take Hakeem and the Bulls ended up with Charles Barkley. We can’t forget about Mr. John Stockton being headed to Dallas instead of being ignored by 15 teams until Utah grabbed him.

Championship Builders: Rockets, Blazers, Bulls, Mavs
Biggest Jump: Jerome Kersey from 46 to 9

Pick Order. Picking Team --Player Selected ( Original position drafted)

1. Rockets -- Michael Jordan (3)
2. Blazers-- Hakeem Olajuwon (1)
3. Bulls-- Charles Barkley (5)
4. Mavs-- John Stockton (16)
5. Sixers-- Sam Perkins (4)
6. Bullets-- Alvin Robertson (7)
7. Spurs-- Kevin Willis (11)
8. Clippers-- Michael Cage (14)
9. Kings-- Jerome Kersey (46)





1985


The first ever lottery draft was fixed for the Knicks (according to some conspiracy theorists) and they walk away with one of the greatest power forwards ever , taking the Jazz from contention for the next 12 years, hence Ewing falls in the lap of the Indiana Pacers. This is a tough draft class featuring enforcers like Oakley, A.C. Green, Mario Elie. Terry Porter, Ty Corbin and the X Man.



Championship Builders: Knicks, Pacers
Biggest Jump: Mario Elie from 160 to 12th.

Pick Order. Picking Team --Player Selected ( Original position drafted)

1. Knicks-- Karl Malone (13)
2. Pacers -- Patrick Ewing (1)
3. Clippers-- Chris Mullin (7)
4. Sonics-- Joe Dumars (18)
5. Hawks-- Detlef Schrempf (8)
6. Kings-- Terry Porter (24)
7. Warriors-- Charles Oakley (9)
8. Mavs-- Xavier McDaniel (4)
9. Cavs-- A.C. Green (23)
10. Suns-- Wayman Tisdale (2)
11. Bulls-- John Williams (45)
12. Bullets-- Mario Elie (160)


1986

I like to call this class the “What If?” class. Just putting out there the idea if Len Bias actually plays in the NBA is he named in the same class that Dr J. , Drexler and Kobe ? Maybe a notch lower with Vinsanity, Pistol Pete and Joe D? Is he the guy that was supposed to really challenge MJ as Bill Simmons once said? Another “What If?” for u: Sabonis is in this class but he didn’t go to the States until 1995. If this guy had played in the NBA a decade earlier would he had been remembered as a top 5 center of all time?
What if Drazen Petrovic doesn’t die? What if Dennis Rodman is kept away from Rick Mahorn and Bill Laimbeer? Does he learn to rebound like he did? Does he go psycho on us?....

Championship Builders: Cavs, Celtics
Biggest Jump: Drazen Petrovic from 60 to 7th.

Pick Order. Picking Team --Player Selected ( Original position drafted)

1. Cavs-- Len Bias (2)
2. Celtics-- Brad Daugherty (1)
3. Warriors-- Chuck Person (4)
4. Pacers-- Arvydas Sabonis (24)
5. Knicks-- Mark Price (25)
6. Suns-- Ron Harper (8)
7. Mavs-- Drazen Petrovic (60)
8. Cavs-- Dennis Rodman (27)
9. Bulls-- Jeff Hornacek (46)
10. Spurs-- Scott Skiles (22)

1987


Perhaps the biggest effect in the remaking of this draft is on the Bulls. They are not getting Scottie Pippen nor Horace Grant. Instead of that they are getting Derrick McKey and Sarunas Marciulionis to team up with Michael Jordan.


Championship Builders: Spurs
Biggest Jump: Sarunas Marciulionis from 127 to 8th.

Pick Order. Picking Team --Player Selected ( Original position drafted)

1. Spurs-- David Robinson (1)
2. Suns-- Reggie Miller (11)
3. Nets-- Scottie Pippen (5)
4. Clippers-- Reggie Lewis (22)
5. Sonics-- Mark Jackson (18)
6. Kings-- Horace Grant (10)
7. Cavs-- Kevin Johnson (7)
8. Bulls-- Derrick McKey (9)
9. Sonics-- Kenny Smith (6)
10. Bulls-- Sarunas Marciulionis (127)
11. Pacers-- Reggie Williams (4)




1988

A whole lof of role players in this year, no major effects redoing this one!

Championship Builders: None
Biggest Jump: Anthony Mason from 53 to 9th.

Pick Order. Picking Team --Player Selected ( Original position drafted)


1. Clippers-- Mitch Richmond (5)
2. Pacers-- Rik Smits (2)
3. Sixers-- Danny Manning (1)
4. Nets-- Hersey Hawkins (6)
5. Warriors-- Dan Majerle (14)
6. Clippers-- Rod Strickland (19)
7. Suns-- Rony Seikaly (9)
8. Hornets-- Charles Smith (3)
9. Heat-- Anthony Mason (53)
10. Spurs-- Rex Champman (8)





1989


This is a class hard to read, there is no clear cut number one guy - or even number 2 – but there are very good solid role players. Some of them had their moments. I’m just putting Tim Hardaway up at number one because he is a clutch point guard. You can’t find too many of those

Championship Builders: None
Biggest Jump: Shawn Kemp from 17th to 2nd.

1. Kings-- Tim Hardaway (14)
2. Clippers-- Shawn Kemp (17)
3. Spurs-- Glen Rice (4)
4. Heat-- Vlade Divac (26)
5. Hornets-- Sean Elliot (3)
6. Bulls-- Nick Anderson (11)
7. Pacers-- Mookie Blaylock (12)
8. Mavs-- George McCloud (7)
9. Bullets-- Danny Ferry (2)
10. Twolves-- B.J. Armstrong (18)
11. Magic-- Pervis Ellison (1)
12. Nets-- Dana Barros (16)

Rewriting history

Well hello there ...

Yeap, trying to come back here so instead of commenting about current events or ground breaking news that chocks everyone i decided to go against common sense and go ahead and write about boring and old stuff. These upcoming three o so posts I'm redoing every draft since 1978. Why 1978 u might ask? From this draft on players that really have an effect on what we know as the NBA started getting into the league. Legends like Bird, M.J. , Drexler, Scottie, Isaiah got drafted by difference teams that the ones where they build their legacy.

The ground rules are that players are selected where they should had been selected. No Sam Bowie, no Michal Olowakandi, no Darko Milicic in the top 5. Stockton and Malone don't go after the 10th pick and Manu gets selected in the first round. Just put yourself in the shoes of Joe Dumars in 2003 knowing everything you know right now. Did you pic Melo o Wade before Darko? Do you select Bosh insteand? In the cases where the players had similar careers or similar impacts in their respective teams the way to break the "tie" would be which players fullfills better the needs of selecting team at the time.

Linkin Friday XIII

NBA Videos

Remember the Jordan's failures video?



Kids doing MJ's moves - who hasn't done that!




Become Legendary



The Showdown. Larry Bird and MJ Mac's add




Nike's Freestyle




This last one has to fire you up. It's the Jeremy Piven commercial for last year playoffs

Linkin Friday XI

Let's go down memory lane

Scottie over Ewing

Shawn Kemp stops MJ

Kevin Johnson vrs Hakeem. This one reminds of this one: Baron Davis vrs Kirilenko

Kenny Smith vrs Shaq ??? WTF!

Starks raising over the Bulls

Welcome to Zo's blocking partyyyy

Poor Shawn "Is that me on your poster?" Bradley...

Guide to the Casual NBA Fan

This is the second part of this post, this one is meant for the casual fan. This is the first one

Here we go


1. MJ is gone. Do the league need somebody to take his place?

Basketball Gods: Yes MJ is gone. The league has spent more than 8 years recovering from that. Once the league hit the "mainstream" - popularity wise - in the 80's they haven't face a challengue like that. When Bird and Magic retired there was MJ. When MJ went to swing bad pitches the league had Penny and Shaq, Malone and Stockton and the Knicks. They hold the fort for those couple of years. When he left in 1998 (he wasn't the same when he played for the Wizards) all those personalities and high profile players felt short of taking MJ's torch and the league suddenly didnt't know how to sell itself and everybody had this "I miss the 90's" type of feeling.

In some way the league is still looking for MJ's replacemente but in a diferent way: no more it's waiting for the next high scoring charismatic shooting guard, now we are just waiting for the next dominant force.


2. Is Tim Duncan overrated?

Basketball Gods: You know last year I was asking myselft that very same question. There are several factors going agains Tim Duncan: First, he plays in San Antonio, Texas. Second, Tim Duncan is a quiet and introvert individual. Third, his game is no flashy, is fundamental as hell. Add all those things together and it's pretty hard to sell the guy to the average fan. Another factor is that he's not a clutch player, he's a post up player. Is quiet difficult to have a post player taking the last shot of the game.

Taking all that in considerations, the guy is as good as they come. His defense one on one, his team defense, his rebouding, he demands a double team every time he touches the ball because of his array of post up moves makes him a 30 point game waiting to happen if single coveraged. His game make the game of Tony Parker and Manu Ginobilig happen. He makes the Spurs happen.

So, no he's not overrated. His game isn't easy to the eye,that's it.


3. Why there are a more good teams in the West than in the East?


Basketball Gods: Again, there's a bunch of factors. Luck, good management and CAP management are the main reasons. Luck because the have won the lottery or they have high draft picks and they have been able to select the right players. They have scouted and found hidden gems with low draft picks or in the second round. Let me explained you with examples:

• Duncan was the first pick in 1997. Philly (East) took Keith Van Horn with the 2nd pick while Tracy McGrady and Chauncey Billups were available.

• In1998 Dallas picked Dirk Nowitzki with the 9th pick. Same spot that Phoenix found Shawn Marion the next year.

• In 1999 Ginobili was drafted with 57th pick..that's in the second round!

• In 2001 Washington (East) won the lottery and select Kwame Brown (and total bust so far). Memphis traded for Pau Gasol, selected 3rd and Portland grabbed Zach Randolph with the 19th pick.

• In 2002 Yao was the first pick. Chicago (East) selected Jay Williams with the next pick. Amare Stoudemire and Tayshaun Prince were available
  

I'm not saying all East teams draft bad and all the West teams are genius, that's why I say there's a little of luck involve. Good CAPmanagement also comes to the table. Take Phoenix as an example, they traded Mardbury and Penny Hardaway to the Knicks (East) to have enough money to offer to Steve Nash. With Nash the Suns have won an average of 59 games per season. The Spurs have signed Parker, Ginobili and Duncan for long terms contracts but still have room to make key adquisitions like Michael Finley year in and year out and make trades without going over the CAP

Smart people are sucessful no matter what business are they in.


4. The Knicks have sucked for awhile now. What's the deal?

Basketball Gods: Isiah Thomas. Worst GM in the history of that franchise ...by a long shot. They also have an owner, James Dolan, that doesn't really care about the basketball side of the franchise. According to Forbes the Knicks are still the most valuable NBA franchise despite that they haven't won a playoff series in 9 years and they haven't even qualified to the last four years.


5. I heard the Bulls were winning again. Can they win it all?

Basketball Gods: Three years ago a young and scrappy Bulls team took everybody by surprise and won 47 games (out of 82) . They did it with defense and outworking pretty much everybody night in a night out. They have a couple of good years after that even going to the second round of the playoffs last year. But this team lacks 2 major components necessary for winning in these league: a post up player and a superstar that takes control when game is on the line.

The Bulls are fill with young talented players. Their names pop up almost every year in trade rumors in exchange for a big name post up player (Garnett, Gasol, Jermaine O'neal) but management had never pull the trigger. Now this team looks tired and frustrated despite being the younger team in the league and their record is showing it (25-38 as this morning). There's still a chance of salvating this Bulls but if history have taught us something this management group, lead by ex player John Paxson, won't be capable of doing it.


6. Vince Carter. He looked as the next big thing! Why I haven't heard anything from him?

Basketball Gods: Carter is probably one of the most talented and gifted athletes in the league. His problem: work ethic. Plain and simple. Vince has never been the hard working type of guy it shows in his game , it shows in his body and his teammates know this. He could be as good as Kobe if he had that same work ethic. As a fan, I think we could had something special.


7. Is the Chinese giant that good?

Basketball Gods: I guess you are talking about Yao Ming. Yes, he's that good. For the last two or three years he's been a top three center in the league.


8. Which foreign players are better between latin americans or europeans?

Basketball Gods: In general terms: europeans. They have more fundamentals, better shooters and have shown a lot more discipline that latins. If you change that question and ask me how's better between argentinians and europeans, I'll have to say argentinians. I just feel they are smarter, more blue collar and most important they are way more team oriented.


9. Give me a reason to go back

Basketball Gods: You'll be a little harder to convince that the Ex NBA fan becuase you have an idea of what's happening. What I can say is that there is more real talent right now that in recent years. There are more competitive teams. The competition is harder.

But my strongest allegation here has a name: Lebron James. This guy is too damn good. You can look in this blog for information about him or the web ( there's a google box on your right :) ) or whatever. This guy is 23 years old, has been in the league since age 17. He's 6'9 , 260 (something like Karl Malone) , he's fast, strong, excellent court vision and can fly with the best of them. Has a career average of 27.3. Lead a crappy Cleveland team to the NBA Finals las June. Just look him up.

Remember how MJ surpassed Magic, Bird. This guy will surpass MJ. I think you might wanna be witness of that.

Guide to the Ex NBA Fan

Since I'm considering myselft a blogger these day, don't know really why 'casuse nobody reades this blog (yeah...It's too early I'm being a little dramatic here ), a lot of friends ask me things , sometimes mindblowing, about the state of the league and some random stuff.

I have three types of persons :

1. The Ex NBA Fan: This person gave up on the NBA when Jordan retired. Really, my generation grew watching MJ and Scottie collecting rings. When MJ left - for the second time - most of them stop following the league and from time to time read a headline like "3-Peat. Another Laker dinasty", "Carmelo or Lebron", "Shaquille Traded", "Riley, Heat won in 6 ", "Shaquille Traded". Stuff like that. They have lost track of the league but once they were avid fans.
2. The Casual NBA Fan: They know what's happening. They know Lebron. They know Duncan and Iverson. They know Karl Malone retired years ago. They even know that the west is better than the east. But they knowledge is limited to what they actually read on the local newspaper ( where probably the person writting the NBA notes is the same who writes about beisball, NFL, Champions Cup and water polo). When this person is bored and is surfing tru the channels and finds a NBA Game, he or she would maybe watch it.... if the game is in the fourth quater
3. The Real NBA Fan: One that ask me questions that I can answer. Example "Are the CAP limitations ruinning the grow of young teams?". I hate those guys.
   

Well this guide is for the second and first type of followers. If you think some of this questions are stupid you're probably a type two fan and you want to read the next post. If you think all questions are dumb, you are level 3 fan and I can't help you.






1. Is Shaquille O'neal still playing? Is he inmortal?

Basketball Gods: Yes, Shaq is still playing. No, he's not inmortal. He was drafted in 1993 at the age of 20. He's now 35 years old and for the last couple of years he's been declining, meaning he's not as good as he was


2. Are the Lakers the champions?

Basketball Gods: No, the current champions are the San Antonio Spurs. The last championship of the Lakers came in 2002 with Shaquille O'neal and Kobe Bryant leading them. This current season they have a pretty good team with a good chance of contending.


3. Are the Bulls good again?

Basketball Gods: No. The Bulls were good for a couple of years but thanks to a bad GM ( John Paxon, you might remember him from the Jordan - Barkley finals. He was the white guy the made the winning basket. Yes, he is the General Manager know) they suck right now


4. What about the Celtics?

Basketball Gods: The Celtics are good again. They got a couple of strong players in the summer through trades, including Kevin Garnett, and they have been playing fairly good this season. And no, they haven't win any championships since the last time you checked.


5. Is there any team out there dominating and winning every championship?

Basketball Gods: Since the Bulls last title in 1998 the Lakers won 3 straight at some point and the Spurs have won 4 times. Those are the only repeatears but there's not quite a dominating team though


6. Is Muggsy Bogues still playing?

Basketball Gods: No. His last stop was in 2001 in the Canadian city of Toronto


7. How are the Canadian franchises doing?

Basketball Gods: Well, one of them (Grizzlies) moved to Memphis. The Raptors are still in Toronto. They'd had good times and bad time, mostly bad, but now they are a regular in the playoffs.


8. Who's the next Michael Jordan? The Kobe kid?

Basketball Gods: Good question. Kobe Bryant and Lebron James are right now the most popular characters and two of the best players in the league. Kobe is 29 years old and have won 3 titles with the Lakers. Lebron is only 23 years old but he's mighty good. Kobe lacks the charisma MJ had .The jury still in for Lebron

9. What happened to Rodman?

Basketball Gods: Since the year 2000 he has been out of the league. I think he's still alive


10. Olajuwon ? David Robinson? Mutombo?

Basketball Gods: Retired.Retired. Playing at the age of 42.


11. Is Pat Riley still coaching?


Basketball Gods: Define "coaching"


12. What about Phil Jackson?

Basketball Gods: He's coaching the Lakers. Still one of the best coaches in the league.


13. Give me one reason to go back


Basketball Gods: First let me congratulate you for missing an dark age in the league that expaned since the retiring of MJ to last year. Second, if you had ask me that question a year ago there was no way I could convince you of coming back because, althought I was following the league closely, it didn't had any appeal to the casual fan. But now there's a new generation of really, really good players and the league is fill with a new brand of basketball and competitiveness, thanks in good part of all the European an Latin talent that reached the league in the last 10 years.


The biggest improvement of all is that for the first time in years nobody is trying to be like Mike. The league has learned that they have players and organizations that can carry the league without looking back to the 90's. That's huge. It really is. You left when Vince Carter was being tagged as the next Mike. Kobe talked like Mike. There's no more "like Mike" stuff.

You might also saw a crappy 1999 Knicks team reach the NBA Finals. Eventhough I can't say to you that something like that won't happen again, what I can say without fear of being wrong is that there are a greater number of good talented teams these days. Games are just more entertaiment and fun to watch.


Give it a go you might ended yo surprise

Scottie Pippen

In the last month or two a lot had happened with Scottie Pippen. Since last year there's had been rumors about Pippen been short of cash, sort of speak. Pretty hard to believe somebody that, according to basketball-reference.com made around 62 millions the last 5 years of his basketball career, is broke. Pippen is a family man he's no MC Hammer. If you ask me the issue here is that Scottie has nothing else to do. He tried writting a blog, it didn't work. He worked for ESPN for a little while but he hasn't returned to the broadcasters lineup over there. He obviously is not a savyy business man. All Pippen has it's basketball.

Last year he tried to play in the NBA but nobody gave him a shot. This year he went oversears to Finland and Swedden where he pretty much schooled everybody there and left a great impression . Pippen is not trying to return to the game for the love of it or for being an greedy bastard looking for more money, he's doing it for the sake of doing something with his life. Maybe a middle age crisis. Maybe not.

I should notice, just for my inner peace, that I loved Scottie Pippen's game. Back in the 90's it was really a joy for me to watch Bulls games, Sure, there was MJ putting 30 to 35 points a game with grace, style, a marketing smile and a killer instinct that would even affect his own teammates. But the guy in the background that made all that happened was Scottie. It wasn't just the overall game and the lock down defense, things that made Scottie Pippen so "social valuable" (A note here, you always hear over and over again in the press about a certain part of a player game, ignoring to a point other facets of his game which are as important as the others inside the system he plays. Example, Tim Duncan and his fundamentals and defense, you don't hear about his passing that creates space for himselft and other Spurs. Allen Iverson, he leaves everything on the court and creates shots for others. What about his ability at reading passing lines?. Those very publized skills are what made a player "social valuable"). Scottie did all the small things for those teams specially getting other players not named Jordan involved in the offense and orchestrating team defense. For me was a thing of beauty seeing this guy play as he generated offense and defense without generating numbers.

Said that I don't see Pippen as a skilled individual when it comes to comunicate with others. He also might be a little egocentric and a very proud individual who's very confident of this basketball IQ, and he should be. The problems for him arise when he tries to comunicate that wisdom. When Scott Skiles was let go by the Bulls on Christmas Eve Scottie saw an oportunity to be the head coach of the Chicago Bulls. He made a pitch for it not before ripping the entire team including players who he played with like Kirk Hinrich. Why would somebody looking for a job critized the people he or she has to work with? Not only he'd had to work with them his job pretty much would depend on their performance. Maybe it was just the Scottie way of letting them know that he knows them, knows his shortcomings and that he could find ways to fix them.


Everything came out wrong. He couldn't get his point through.


This is exactly why I don't think Scottie can coach.First he needs to learn some comunication skills. He has a better feel of the game than Byron Scott, Sam Mitchell, Phil Jackson or Pat Riley. He can't reach the players like those guys can. It's like a crazy scientist that becomes a bad teacher, he has all the knowledge of the subject and the experience to back it up. If he isn't able to convert all the stuff he has in his head into words that rationalizes and explains that mess we all could thoughts then he's useless as a teacher. That's Pippen as a coach.


Then there's is the Michael Jordan shadow

"I think people love me just as much as they love Michael," Pippen said. "The fans who understand the game, the GMs and coaches. I think they'd rather have a Scottie than a Michael. Because I'm an all-around player. Coaches would rather have a Scottie-type player than a Michael. I was an all-around player. I made people around me better."

-- Scottie Pippen



In some way Pippen is still trying to win something without Jordan. As Sam Smith wrote that's why the Blazers' collapse in game 7 of the 2000 Western Conference Finals were so painful. He needed that seventh ring. He needs to prove himself and the rest of the world that he's more than a "sidekick". As proud as he is that must be as important as any type of money he could earn in the process.




Scottie knows he's as responsable to Michael sucess as Michael's to his. He only wants the recognition. He only wants to be a part of the game again.



I said he deserves both.

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

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!

Discussion 2: Three All Time Teams.

The topic of next discussion post is something I’ve think about for awhile and actually had the idea from the Baseball’s Dream Team piece that CNSS did. I noticed last week that they did one for the NBA. Those bastards, they stole my idea that I copied it from them in the first place. We are going to try to put together 3 All – Time Teams, not only taking in consideration their stats or good each player was, but also thinking in what their bring to the team, what’s their strong facet, chemistry issues, if the legend wants to come from the bench, etc, etc. We are going to try to build a team ala “Colangelo – Coach K”, but with stars, no role players.

For this discussion post, we are going to make a little tweak to the rules; I’m trying to make the “discussion” a little less chaotic than the last one. There’s going to be subjects to discuss, instead of letting this subjects come to us, for example we are going to work with a list of 6 players per position, instead of thinking about this players on the spot. This gives us time for prepare our statements, and hopefully creating an more “readable” post.

I’m putting each list, discuss the list, assign a team and move to the next position. I’m including stats and rings, I’m not putting awards ‘cause we all know that’s very open to interpretation (Malone in 99?)

Rusty is going to select the Centers, the PFs. Yours truly is going to select the PGs, the SFs and the SGs

Centers:

Bill Russell (1957 – 1969)

15.1 PPG, 22.5 RPG, 4.3 APG, 42.3 MPG

11 Titles: 1957, 1959 – 1966, 1968, 1969

Wilt Chamberlain (1960-1973):

30.1 PPG, 22.9 RPG, 4.4 APG, 45.8 MPG, .540 FG%

2 Titles: 1967, 1972

Kareem Abdul Jabbar (1970 – 1989)

24.6 PPG, 11.2 RPG, 2.6 BPG, 3.6 APG, .559 FG%

6 Titles: 1971, 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988

Hakeem Olajuwon (1985-2002):

21.8 PPG, 11.1 RPG, 3.1 BPG, .512 FG%

2 Titles: 1994, 1995

David Robinson (1990 – 2003):

21.1 PPG, 10.6 RPG, 3.0 BPG, .518 FG%

2 Titles: 1999, 2003

Shaquille O’Neal (1993 – Present)

25.9 PPG, 11.6 RPG. 2.5 BPG, .580 FG%

4 Titles: 2000- 02, 2006

Morgan: Rusty, it’s all yours.

Rusty: Thanks. We promised to look beyond the stats, and that is way I’m cutting Wilt from the first team, his career was filled with retiring treats and egomaniac stuff. Said that, I’m selecting Bill Russell as my starting center for the first Team.

Morgan: You can’t cut Wilt the Stilt. He’s the greatest scorer the game has seen. You supposed to look beyond the stats, but no ignored them

Rusty: He focused too much on stats, only 2 titles with the kind of stats!. Something was wrong

Morgan: Nothing was wrong. Russell and the Celtics were just too good. I do agree in your selecting of Russell as the starting center. For the backup I’ll say either Kareem or Hakeem.

Rusty: I agree half way, Russell doesn’t bring too much to the table offensively so we need somebody who can score and can dominate inside. Every player on that list can do that, but I feel Kareem is the more versatile.

Morgan: Hakeem would need fewer touches

Rusty: So? Are touches an issue?

Morgan: I’m just saying, we need to think about it

Rusty: Ok, you are right. We should stay away of players like McHale or Kobe, who need lots of touches to be effective. But let the coach figure out the offensive scheme

Morgan: Fine, fine. Second team?

Rusty: Hakeem First. Wilt Second

Morgan: Do you think Chamberlain is going to agree to come from the bench?

Rusty: If he doesn’t like it, he can walk. We have Hakeem waiting on the sidelines.

Morgan: It would kill you give him the starting notch?

Rusty: Fine. I’m starting Wilt. But I’m changing Hakeem for Shaq. I like the idea of those two together

Morgan: Me too. I think is easier talking Shaq into accept a backup role than Wilt. Dream starting for the 3^rd team?

Rusty: Yes, sir.

Point Guards

Bob Cousy (1951 – 1963, 1970)

18.4 PPG, 7.5 APG, 5.7 RPG

6 Titles: 1957, 1959 – 1963

Oscar Robertson (1961- 1974)

25.7 PPG, 9.5 APG, 7.5 APG, 42.2 MPG, .485 FG%, .838 FT%

1 Title: 1971

Walt Frazier (1968 – 1980)

18.9 PPG, 6.1 APG, 5.9 RPG, 37.5 MPG

2 Titles: 1970, 1973

Magic Johnson (1980 – 1991, 1996)

19.5 PPG, 11.2 APG, 7.2 RPG, .520 FG%, .848 FT%

5 Titles: 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988

John Stockton (1985 -2003)

13.1 PPG, 10.5 APG, 2.2 spg, .515 FG%, .826 FT%

0 Titles

Jason Kidd (1995 – Present)

14.5 PPG, 9.2 APG, 6.7 RPG, 2.0 spg, 37.4 MPG,

0 titles

Note: I’m leaving Isaiah out of this list, ‘cause there’s a little too much controversy with this guy, he couldn’t play with MJ, Stockton, Malone, Duncan (Popovich/Bowen stuff). Besides, we have to blame him for the current state of the Knicks

Morgan: Magic Johnson, there’s nothing to say here against this guy. He’s one of the best all time, no matter position, time or dimension. For the backup of the first team I’m selecting John Stockton: He’s a quiet guy and highly effective player. Perfect for a backup rule

Rusty: Congrats for an easy selection, Morgan. But you dropped the ball with the backup; Oscar Robertson is perhaps the most complete point guard of all time. I love John Stockton, he was a great shooter and a brilliant player, but Robertson is in a higher level.

Morgan: We need shooters

Rusty: Magic was a decent shooter. We know Michael Jordan and Larry Bird are going to be in the first team, there are enough shooters.

Morgan: Big O was as complete as a player can get, but also Magic. Besides, Stockton was a better defender, at least a smarter one

Rusty: He had better number defensively, remember you rule Morgan: look beyond the numbers. Stockton was only 6”1’. Robertson was 6”5’. You can have a team with 6”5’ and 6”9’ point guards. That’s very versatile.

Morgan: Point Taken. I’m switching to Big O as the 1^st team backup. For the second team, now I’m giving John Stockton the start and give me Walt Frazier to be the backup

Rusty: If I were you, I would switch that. Frazier was an unbelievable defender, Stockton was a good one. Both were good passers and winners, but I give Frazier a notch over Stockton

Morgan: In the second team we have Shaq and Wilt to open the court We need shooters more the scorers

Rusty: You and your shooters. I’ll let you have this one, besides we are arguing about playing time. Let the coach worry about that.

Morgan: Another victory for me! For the 3^rd team, I’m starting Kidd, using Cousy as a backup. I know very little about Cousy, but for what I can see Kidd is more complete

Rusty: You are right, no matter how much we get to know about Bob Cousy, Jason Kidd ranks as one of the most complete point guards up there with Magic Johnson and Oscar Robertson.

Power Forwards

Bob Petit (1955 – 1965)

26.4 PPG, 16.2 RPG, 38.8 MPG

1 Title: 1958

Kevin McHale (1981 -1993)

17.9 PPG, 7.3 RPG, .554 FG%

3 Titles: 1981, 1984, 1986

Charles Barkley (1985 – 2000)

22.1 PPG, 11.7 RPG, 3.9 APG, .541 FG%

0 Titles

Karl Malone (1986 -2004)

25.0 PPG, 10.1 RPG, 3.6 APG, 37.2 MPG, .516 FG%

0 Titles

Kevin Garnett (1996 – Present)

20.5 PPG, 11.4 RPG, 4.5 APG, 38.3 MPG

0 Titles

Tim Duncan (1998 - Present)

21.8 PPG, 11.9 RPG, 2.5 BPG, 37.5 MPG

4 Titles: 1999, 2003, 2005, 2007

Rusty: Tim Duncan, right now he’s at his prime, he still have 2 to 3 years left playing at this level. His accolades will only increase with time. He’s the Bill Russell of this generation with a bigger offensive repertoire. He will be perfect playing alongside Russell. For the backup, I’m a little torn between Malone’s offensive prowess and Garnett versatility.

Morgan: Lot’s of big words! Nice choice with Duncan, I would go with Pettit for the backup, he was as good as a scorer as Malone and he was a better rebounder. KG might be a nice pick; he can work in any scheme and with Duncan and Russell we would have the foundations for an amazing defensive team.

Rusty: Garnett sounds like the logical choice, but I don’t feel he deserved it, not yet.

Morgan: What’s that have to do with anything?

Rusty: This are the all time teams, right?

Morgan: Yeah, so?

Rusty: We are talking about legends here. I still feel that KG needs to prove he can win, at least one Finals appearance

Morgan: Whatever, man. It’s your choice…

Rusty: We need a “bodyguard”, we need a tough guy. Malone it is

Morgan: Are you calling KG weak?

Rusty: Don’t drag this, Morgan. To answer your question: Yes, I am. Starting for the second team I’m picking Charles Barkley and Garnett as his backup. With Chamberlain and Shaquille already selected I think Barkley’s size wouldn’t be a problem. Besides, outside Wilt and Russell he’s the better rebounder on the list.

Morgan: I like those picks. I’m guessing Pettit to start for the 3^rd team and McHale as a backup

Rusty: Again, you are right, sir.

Small Forwards

Elgin Baylor (1959 – 1972)

27.4 PPG, 13.5 RPG, 40,0 MPG

0 Titles

John Havlicek (1963 - 1978)

20.8 PPG, 6.3 RPG, .815 FT%

8 Titles: 1962 – 1966, 1968, 1969, 1974, 1976

Rick Barry NBA: (1966, 1967, 1973 – 1980) ABA: (1969 – 1972)

24.8 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 2.0 spg, 37.4 MPG, .893 FT%

1 ABA Title: 1969

1 NBA Title: 1975

Larry Bird (1980 – 1992)

24.3 PPG, 10.0 RPG, 6.3 APG, 38.4 MPG, .376 3P%, .886 FT%, .496 FG%

3 Titles: 1981, 1984, 1986

James Worthy (1983 – 1994)

17.6 PPG, 5.1 RPG, .521 FG%

3 Titles: 1985, 1987, 1988

Scottie Pippen (1988 – 2004)

16.1 PPG, 6.4 RPG, 5.2 APG, 2.0 spg

6 Titles: 1991-1993, 1996-1998

Morgan: The only easy part of this position is selecting Larry Bird as the starting small forward for the 1^st team, after that it’s all fucked up! This has to be one the hardest positions to choose. Every player is so versatile, so we have to choose between a defensive specialist and an offensive machine. I’m leaning towards Rick Barry but I feel I’m missing something in letting go a defensive player like Havlicek or Pippen.

Rusty: Nice list indeed. If you look the players selected so far for the first team we still don’t have a perimeter defender and neither of those big guys can go outside and defend a wing player. I would select either Scottie Pippen or John Havlicek.

Morgan: Rick Barry is perhaps the second best small forward after Larry Bird. He was an impressive scorer and pretty good ball handler; he was the first “point – forward”.

Rusty: Ball Movement is a good issue to address here. The shooting guard is going to be a scorer and this team needs another player, besides the point guards, that moves the ball around and outside – inside. Duncan and Malone are great passers out of double team; it will be nice to having somebody to make that extra pass, besides the selected Bird.

Morgan: We know MJ is going to be in this team. We also have Malone, Kareem and Bird; I think we have the offense well covered. So, as hard as this is because I think Barry is the best small forward remaining, I’m selecting my personal favorite Scottie Pippen as Bird’s backup.

The second team is getting almost the same quality at small forward as the first team: Barry as the starter and Havlicek coming from the bench

Rusty: So, you selected Pippen instead of John Havlicek because of personal favoritisms?

Morgan: Yeap

Rusty: How unprofessional!

Morgan: I’m a blogger, pay me. Although I’ll still select Scottie, I’ll give you some “professional” reasons. Do you like the selections for the second team?

Rusty: No, I don’t like them. I think this team isn’t as strong offensively as the first one so, I would select Baylor as the backup. As I told you “off-camera”, Baylor for me was a power forward, I know you did your homework and found reasons to put him in the small forward list. But seeing the “roster” for the 2^nd team Baylor matches here like a charm. The backup power forward is Kevin Garnett and he can easily move to the 3 and Baylor to the 4 is the situation requires the transition.

Morgan: Damn you, Rusty. Ok, the second team’s small forwards are Rick Barry and Elgin Baylor

Rusy: Thata boy!

Morgan: So, I finally get to select Havlicek. I’m not sure where to put him, because I get the feeling the third team is going to be running up and down, so I might get tempted to start James Worthy, but Havlicek’s talent tell me to start him

Rusty: You are right in one thing, that team is going to run. You know the style of play of a team is set to the quality of the point guards. Cousy and Kidd would not work in a half court scheme. Robinson and Olajuwon could run the floor with these guys and Pettit was a skinny guy who would be happy running the floor, I don’t see any problem with this team running. But, you still need some serious offense and Havlicek was a better offensive player than Worthy, and a better defensive player. Don’t get confuse here, Morgan. You are not going to select Shawn Marion over Larry Bird just because of a fast paced scheme

Morgan: You are right, I’m very sorry; I’ll go back to my hole now. Damn it, whose selection was it? I feel robbed

Rusty: Make smarter selections and I won’t correct them

Shooting Guards

Jerry West (1961 – 1974)

27.0 PPG, 6.7 APG, 2.7 spg, 39.2 MPG

1 Title: 1972

Julius Erving ABA: (1972 – 1976) NBA: (1977 - 1987)

24.2 PPG, 8.5 RPG, 2.0 SPG, 1.7 BPG, .506 FG%

2 ABA Titles: 1974, 1975

1 NBA Title: 1983

George Gervin ABA: (1973 – 1976) NBA: (1977 – 1986)

25.1 PPG, 5.3 RPG, .504 FG%, .841FT%

0 Titles

Clyde Drexler (1984 – 1998)

20.4 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 5.6 APG, 2.0 spg

1 Title: 1995

Michael Jordan (1985 – 1993, 1995 – 1998, 2002, 2003)

30.1 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 5.3 APG, 2,3 spg, .497 FG%, .835 FT%

6 Titles: 1991-1993, 1996-1998

Kobe Bryant (1997 – Present)

24.6 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 36.2 MPG, .838 FT%

3 Titles: 2000 - 2002

Morgan: Reinvidication time. Easiest selection of the entire post; starting for the 1^st All Time Team, His Airness, Michael Jordan. I really don’t have to say nothing about this guy, we all know he belongs here. I would love to have a 3 point shooter as his backup, but the only one is Kobe and I can’t have Kobe and Malone in the same team, besides I have the opportunity of pairing Dr J and MJ, you can’t beat that.

Rusty: I agree with Kobe Bryant, besides the 1^st team may have enough problems sharing the ball with Kareem and Karl Malone in the second unit. I would love to see either Jerry West or Clyde Drexler lacing them up for this team.

Morgan: The Glyde is very similar to Scottie and Big O who are already in the second unit, I know he can play in the first unit following the coach’s wishes and the balance would be uncompromised. But, Dr J won at every level, he could score over 5 defenders making it look easy, he’s a “less dramatic, more focused” version of Kobe.

Rusty: Not a shooter, Bryant can be a shooter, so Jerry West and Clyde Drexler

Morgan: Hmm…you are right about Jerry West, he was a great passer and even a greater scorer and I think he was a better shooter than Dr J (couldn’t find anything that proves me wrong).

Rusty: I don’t know neither is Jerry West was a good shooter; I do know that Erving didn’t have much of a “shooters touch”

Morgan: Mr. Clutch, welcome to the 1^st All Time team.
For the second team I’m picking Dr J as the starter, so far the real only scorer on the wing is Barry, both KG and Baylor are not typical wing players. Besides, along with Frazier and Stockton it creates and amazing defensive backcourt

Rusty: Garnett and Baylor are not wing players at all. I like the selection. Bench?

Morgan: The Glyde; versatile, good defender, good shooter, great scorer. You can’t loose bringing a guy like that from the bench. In the 3rd team I’m putting Kobe and Gerving backing him up.

Rusty: I suspected that. I was reading about Gerving in anticipation of that post of your. You said that Julius Erving was a better version that Bryant, I think George Gerving was the better version of Kobe, I know you didn’t use those exact words but that point remains. I don’t like the player Kobe Bryant has become, although I know the reason why you put him in the list, he is a great scorer, can be a great defender and once he matures he will become a greater player and a true leader, just watch the evolution of Tracy McGrady, that’s something I hope it happens to Mr. Bryant.
My point is Gerving is far better that Bryant, if we are putting them in the same team, let’s do the right thing and give credit where credit is due.

Morgan: Wow. A Kobe Hater in da house. Seriously, I understand what are you saying about Kobe but I don’t see that in his plans. But well, let’s continue with THIS discussion. You have investigated about the Ice Man, was he a better defender than Kobe?

Rusty: No, but this team is not filled with defensive stalwarts, you can only count Olajuwon and David Robinson as great defenders, it’s too late to worried about perimeter defense now.

Morgan: “too late to worried about perimeter defense now “. Who are you? Don Nelson?.
Kobe in the starting lineup will help a big deal defensively. Besides at the end of the day, I feel Kobe will be perceive as a better player than Gerving

Rusty: The day hasn’t finished.

Morgan: I know we are arguing for who takes the starting spot, they both will play for the 3^rd team, but for Kobe, believe me it cares a lot

Rusty: That’s precisely why he should be benched

Morgan: You have something against Kobe, that’s very unprofessional.

Rusty: I made my point about Bryant; I feel George Gervin should start for this team. It is your selection, Morgan, make the call

Morgan: Kobe is starting.

There your have it, 3 teams, 30 players. Once again, let me remind your guys we weren’t trying the team with the biggest names, although everybody is a big name, we considered things like chemistry, team balance between offense and defense, versatility, etc.

About the list, in case you were wondering, I just pick 6 of the best players in each position; I had some tough omissions like Moses Malone, Tiny Archibald and Elvin Hayes. The division between power forward and small forward was kinda hard, ‘cause in the old days it was no distinction between this positions. I hoped you guys and girls liked, it was way more fun than the Spurs discussion, drop a comment, criticize us, admire us, if you are hot girl, send me a picture.