Free Agency. Day 5

The news of the day wasn't exactly "new". Amare finally shook hands with the Knicks. The contract is reported to be almost $100 million thru 5 years.

For the Knicks is a great move. Number one they now have something to show to their fans after two years of shredding salaries and some very bad Knicks teams they put it with. If they happen to get Lebron or Wade this Amar'e move is going to be even better for obvious reasons...which I don't see happening but still is an plausible option.

New York now has its star ( he is by far their best player for now ) a player that knows D'Antoni system and thrives on it. Somebody that can sell jerseys and put butts on MSG's chairs. Does an Amare-led Knicks team , as currently build ,can create some noise on the East? It depends what you mean with "noise". They are not going to be 50 win team but something in the range from 40 to 45 wins is not an inconceivable idea, and that is a great leap for this franchise that has struggle for more than 10 years. Also gives them a solid selling point for next year free agents , or possible free agents, like Carmelo Anthony, Tony Parker or Greg Oden. However you see its a good step forward for Walsh and company.

In the other side of the coin we have the Suns. They know have lost their second best player and only inside presence. The Nash era Suns have prove me wrong so many times but I don't know how , as currently build, they can content in the West.What's next for Nash? For Hill? For Barbosa? Are we expecting a fire sale of the Suns' roster? I just hope Nash lands in a contender. Not the Knicks.

Playoff Preview: Suns vs Blazers

(3) Suns vs (6) Blazers

Brandon Roy will be a no show for this one. The overachievers Blazers goes to war against the hottest team in the West without the best player. What a fucking shame. I'm serious, I love this Blazers teams. IMO with Roy they would had a real chance to move on to the next round but without him they have nobody who can control the tempo of the game and they are going to fall right into the hands of the trigger happy Nash led Suns.

Is there any difference between this Suns are the ones who got bounced again and again this past years? Nash is older but no slower. Amare is better offensively but not defensively. Their three point shooting attack is not as powerful but their inside games has improved .What does all this means? It means they are going to the next round with Roy or no Roy in the other side.

It's not going to be easy. Miller is big enough to slow down Nash, Camby is good enough to bother Amare and if there is a team out there who wont just roll out and play dead is this Blazers team.

At the end of the day the cruel reality tells that talent wins over heart. The Suns have the talent.

Basketball Gods prediction: Phoenix 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" ) 8

Drafts 1996-2000

1996

Well, well, look who is not selected by the Lakers. Kobe gets drafted by his hometown Sixers. Do the Sixers accept Vlade Divac for Kobe? Probably not, they were in full rebuilding mode at the time, unlike the Hornets. The Answer gets shipped to Canada and Steve Nash doesn’t have to be the play behind Kevin Johnson, Jason Kidd and Sam Cassell as he becomes the starting point guard for the powerful Vancouver Grizzlies. So, the Lakers don’t get Kobe nor Fisher but the immediate impact of this draft would be Peja’s selection by the Pacers. This is a 52 win Pacers team that already had Reggie Miller and Ricky Pierce as their shooters. A team that attempted almost 17 threes per game was obviously a 3 point shooting team; you couldn’t find a better scenario for rookie Peja

Championship Builders: Sixers, Twolves ( Pairing Jermaine O'neal with KG could had been interesting)

Biggest Jump: Four players jumped 12 spots (Kobe, Nash, JO and Fisher)

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

1. Sixers -- Kobe Bryant (13)
2. Raptors -- Allen Iverson ( 1)
3. Grizzlies -- Steve Nash ( 15)
4. Bucks -- Ray Allen ( 5)
5. Twolves -- Jermaine O’neal ( 17)
6. Celtics -- Marcus Camby ( 2)
7. Clippers -- Stephon Marbury ( 4)
8. Nets -- Shareef Abdur-Rahim ( 3)
9. Mavs -- Antoine Walker ( 6)
10. Pacers -- Peja Stojakovic ( 14)
11. Warriors -- Zydrunas Illgauskas ( 20)
12. Cavs -- Derek Fisher ( 24)

1997

This is a pretty crappy draft class; a 3 player class headed by Tim Duncan. Now picture this: 18 year old TMac playing with 19 year old Kobe. I love this post

Championship Builders: Spurs, Sixers

Biggest Jump: Stephen Jackson from 42nd to 4th

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

1. Spurs -- Tim Duncan (1)
2. Sixers -- Tracy McGrady (9)
3. Celtics -- Chauncey Billups (3)
4. Grizzlies -- Stephen Jackson (42)
5. Nuggets -- Tim Thomas (7)

1998

With the number one pick in the 1998 NBA Draft, the LA Clippers select: Dirk Nowitzki. Sorry Dirk.

Championship Builders: Clippers

Biggest Jump: Rashard Lewis from 32nd to 5th

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

1. Clippers -- Dirk Nowitzki (9)
2. Grizzlies -- Vince Carter (5)
3. Nuggets -- Paul Pierce (10)
4. Raptors -- Mike Bibby (2)
5. Warriors -- Rashard Lewis (32)
6. Mavs -- Antawn Jamison (4)
7. Kings -- Al Harrington (25)
8. Sixers -- Matt Harpring (15)
9. Bucks -- Larry Hughes (8)
10. Celtics -- Jason Williams (7)

1999

These are the rookies of the lock out shortened season. If you sit down and analyze this players careers so far ( how good they are, injuries, character issues, impact, success) you are going to find a “but” in most of these guys. Everybody has issues, right?. Look at BDiddy ( injuries, clashes with coaches, not always “there”) Manu (injuries) Brand (injuries and a record breaking skills diminishing pace), Artest ( Being Artest), Kirilenko (Cry baby). This is actually a deep class fill with quality players, great players to have as your second or third option...but with issues.

Championship Builders: None

Biggest Jump: Manu Ginobili from 57th to 2nd

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

1. Bulls -- Baron Davis (3)
2. Grizzlies -- Manu Ginobili (57)
3. Hornets -- Elton Brand (1)
4. Clippers -- Lamar Odom (4)
5. Raptors -- Ron Artest (16)
6. Twolves -- Shawn Marion (9)
7. Wizards -- Richard Hamilton (7)
8. Cavs -- Andre Miller (8)
9. Suns -- Jason Terry (10)
10. Hawks -- Andrei Kirilenko (24)
11. Cavs -- Corey Maggette (13)



2000

Worst class since 1991. Amazing, 11 years in the league, 58 players, 2 All Star selections ( Kmart and Redd in 2004).
Fun Fact: Michael Redd is the lowest selection to be “re-selected” as number one ( so far)

Championship Builders: None

Biggest Jump: Michael Redd from 43rd to 1th

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


1. Nets -- Michael Redd (43)
2. Grizzlies -- Kenyon Martin (1)
3. Clippers -- Jamal Crawford (8)
4. Bulls -- Hedo Turkoglu (16)
5. Magic -- Quentin Richardson (18)
6. Hawks -- Mike Miller (5)
7. Bulls -- Eddie House (37)

Overview: Spurs vs Suns

I expected an epic series. All I got was this lousy T-shirt.

Seriously. When I wrote the "prognosis" for that series I knew one thing they were going to play all 7 games and as I wrote that post I convinced myself that the Spurs were going to win that they team just because of home court advantage and Manu Ginobili.

It never ocurred to me that Tony Parker will dominate the series and matchup between him Nash. The idea of D'Antoni not making any adjustements never crossed my mind. Amare dissapearing at least half game every game was not an realistic option. And how about the hunger in Tim Duncan's eyes, were you expecting that? Really? 'Cause I didn't

Bottom line is that the Spurs really wanted this series. The Suns were hurt by their lack of fire and will. Shaq was supposed to add that this year. It wasn't there. They had a chance in a least three games they lost but they never took it. You can see it the other way around, the Spurs took them from them. Same difference

Whose fault is it ? Steve Nash. He's the leader, right? He wasnt't the same dominant guy and he had to defend Tony Parker and took a lot from him. But still bad decision making in the last quater cost them a couple of games.

NBA Playoffs Day 3

I didn't post anything yesterday 'cause first of all, I hate teams and players that talk and talk trash and then don't even show up to the game and know everybody is asking questions about the Wizards toughness and mentality. Let me give you a piece of advise coming from above: Stop talking, stop trying to kill Lebron and start playing some freaking D ( You were supposed to be playing better D this season, remember?)

The other reason is that hoped for a good Rockets' postseason they are soooo overtmatched that I feel bad for TMac I doesn't have a shot this year.

Last night was another story completely. Both Chris Paul and Dwight Howard gave more than impresive playoffs performances for the second straight game. They both protected their home court and that's always a good start specially for young teams as those. If I were the Raptors I'll be very worried right now, Orlando was one of the best teams league-wide on the road. It's time for Bosh to step up and stop Howard. Good luck, Chris. Just a little side note, what were the Mavs thinking (Via TrueHoop)


And then there was the old guys aka Spurs grabbing a 2 - 0 lead on their series. Right now I have a couple of concerns - from the Suns' standpoint:

1. Steve Nash is not dominating anymore. He's there but he's not the same.
2. Amare and Shaq had good games, stayed out of foul trouble but even so couldn't get the win
   
3. Amare is talking like the series is over
4. Duncan is not going to lose this series

The work is cut out for you Suns specially that you are the "better team"

First Round: Spurs vs Suns

3. Spurs (56-26) vrs 6. Suns (55-27)

Regular Season Series: PHO 3-1

Point Differencial: PHO +6.5

This one it's all about will. Who want it harder? Who will be the one with look "There's no fucking way I'm loosing this game" contest after contest?Passion, desire, all those untangibles are going to set the mark in this series. The Spurs offense has been mediocre at best over the last month and most times it looks too much for Manu Ginobili shot creation. Their shooters have been mediocre. Stoudamire and Udoka haven't been that hungry component ala Michael Finley last year. They do still have three player capable of taking control de any game at any time. They still have one of best defenses of the league and one of the best post players and defenders alive.

If the Spurs depends heavily in Manu's acrobatics the Suns put their life on the hands of Amare Stoudamire. Yeah, they have the Big Cactus and the Great Nash but in order to put up points they need Amare Stoudamire. Nash makes them go and Shaq gives them that rebouding inside prescence they have been laking since Nash got there but their rely on jump shots and fastbreak ( Fastbreaks which has become boring and not that sucessful with the departure of Marion) when Amare is not in the court and that is a lot due to his recurrent foul trouble. Phoenix can't let themselves to fall in San Antonio's mind games (More like Popovich's mind games) as they failed to do in previous years. This is where Shaquille O'neal cames in. The Suns bring him for two reasons: 1. Defend Tim Duncan and 2. Change the team mentality.

Calling this is like flipping a coin. If Amare dominates and Shaq is midly efective the Suns win. If Manu dominates and Tim Duncan gets to handle Shaq as a defensive liabiliy Spurs Win. If the 3 ball is falling for Phoenix, Suns win. If the 3 ball is falling for the Spurs they win.

X Factor: Shaquille O'neal. Plain and simply: This is the main reason he's now the big cactus: to stop Tim Duncan.

Basketball Gods' prediction: SAS 4-3

NBA: Where stupid trades happens

I suppose to analized this and come out with an intersting and smart reason of the Shaquille O'neal trade I dont get it. I don't catch Kerr's drift

A'right, the Suns need some attitude and muscle to compete with the rest of the west. I agree that their run and gun show is not bringing no titles as they have been sent fishing by better defensive teams in the playoffs but in order to fix this you don't trade your most versatile player and second best defensive weapon for a 35 year old injured center. No. No. No. You trade Marcus Banks for Jaamal Magloire or any of the Seattle centers. Something smart.

The Suns are expecting that Diaw replaces Marion and that Shaq rejunates himself and be the diference maker agains San Antonio, Dallas and New Orleans. I really don't see that happening. This is Diaw's second bad year. This is Shaq's second bad year. I really don't get it. Worst case scenario the Phoenix Suns are going to get outrun by the rest of West with the exception of San Antonio and Houston. Best case scenario, Shaq is going to be a monster thanks to Steve Nash and the attention that Amare draws and the missmatches. I say the first has the better odds.

Phoenix needed to do some trade, Nash have been complaining about team chemistry for awhile now but this wasn't the trade to make. Not Marion at least not for Shaq

I don't get it


Ps: My condolescence. It's a shame

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

Linkin Friday 3 (Special Edition: Linkin Saturday)

Yeap, nice goal for Beckham. This is a nice recompilation of videos featuring the beauty of soccer... the goal. By far this is the best goal I have ever seen, Roberto Carlos vs. France

And here is a nice recompilation of video of the crappy part of soccer...fake injuries

ARod vs. Bonds. Gee, what would happen if steroids didn't existed

The future is now

Elvis is alive, if u see him, tell!

At GoldenStateofMind they hate cheerleaders. I don't know about u, but I still love them

We all like to hear histories about what players were doing before hitting the NBA, we all know about Tim Duncan's crashed dreams as a professional swimmer, we know about Michael Jordan being cut from his high school basketball team. And now, I'm revealing you what young Steve Nash was doing in Canada before getting body check by Robert Horry.He was dancing in a N'Trance video, of course!

Ladies and Gentleman, I give you Steve Nash

Discussion: Pop are we a dynasty?

A couple of months ago the San Antonio Spurs won their fourth title in 9 years in one of most boring and one sided series in recent memory. Between Lebron missed jump shots and Tony Parker impossible scoop shots, everybody was talking about that if we can considerer the Spurs a Dynasty. Right here me and Rusty boy are going to tackle this issue without any clear ideas or any resemblance of good old thinking.

Morgan: I’m starting taking some ammo away Rusty. The fact that they haven’t been able to repeat, doesn’t take anything away from them. Four championships are four championships, no matter if they are spread around a decade or 6 years, when u look back to the post MJ’s Bulls era, the most dominating team have been the Spurs followed by the Lakers.

Rusty: Being a treat, being a contender year after year is really amazing. I take my cap off for teams like the Spurs and the Pistons, both great examples of continuity and good management. Said that, that doesn’t mean they are a dynasty, the do need to repeat, they need to make a statement and said: “This is my league, and you are not taking it away from me “

Morgan: Do you consider the ‘89 and ’90 Pistons a dynasty?

Rusty: No, that’s only two titles. For my appreciation, they need 3 or more titles.

Morgan: Straight?

Rusty: They need to defend their title at least once.

Rusty: Is taking you a long time to answer. Are you bouncing of the walls?

Edit Note: As I wrote on the previous post, we are trying to make this as fluid as possible. It took me like 13 minutes to post the next replay

Morgan: My dog ate my reply.

Rusty: Lets say that Detroit wins two more titles in the next 3 years, that’d give them 3 titles in 6 years. Is that a dynasty for you?

Morgan: Yes. First of all, they would be repeating at some point, right? Secondly, we can’t underestimate 3 championships, we don’t have any idea of how hard is to win one, we can’t just say: “Buuu…just 3 rings”

Rusty: They would be repeating, but there’s no sense of domination from that team. A dynasty supposes to be dominating team, not only a contender.

Morgan: What if they go 16-0 and 16-1 in the playoffs? Does that change your opinion?

Rusty: That’s a lot of ifs!

Morgan: You're right. Let’s go back to the not repeating thing, everybody considers Larry Bird’s Celtics a dynasty. They won 3 rings without repeating, but still it’s a team that always comes up in dynasties discussions.

Rusty: Good point. Perhaps the factor that separates them, at least in my opinion, is the consistency of their roster. Those Celtics teams shared Larry Bird, Robert Parish, Kevin Mchale and I think ML Carr too. The only common character between the San Antonio’s four championship teams is Tim Duncan. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, they had to evolve because the league change of styles and rules in those 9 years but I’ve always thought that the 99 Spurs championship team is completely different to the other Spurs teams that won championships

Morgan: The Bill Russell’s Boston Celtics are the gold standard for a dynasty. The won 10 championships in 12 year, including 8 in a row, only have Russell as their “common character”. Does this mean they are less of a dynasty now?

Rusty: You can compare 10 titles to 4!!! And they defended their crown SEVEN times.

Morgan: I’m not comparing, I’m just saying no matter how the roster looked like in the different championship teams, they were still a dynasty. You want a more obvious example; Chicago 6 championships run only included MJ and Scottie as they “common characters”.

Edit Note: Double post. Sorry!

Morgan: You know what, I just love basketball-reference.com . I just checked and realized Birds’ Celtics won their 3 titles in 6 years. :D

Rusty: Damn it. Maybe the factor of the “common characters” wasn’t that good, I’m loosing this thing!

Morgan: So, are they a Dynasty?

Rusty: Perhaps they are lacking the respect that teams like Birds’ Celtics and Magic’s Lakers have received all this time. They just don’t have the cultural impact this other teams have

Morgan: True, but it’s not their fault that Tim Duncan is not a brand and San Antonio is not a “big market”. If we stick to basketball, you cannot take anything from them

Rusty: Basketball wise; they are a great team unbelievably well managed, lead by a perhaps the best power forward ever to play the game, genially coached. But you consider a wining team as a dynasty without taking in consideration the cultural impact.

Morgan: What about this? Teams around the league are copying, I mean, following the Spurs model of basketball, until a point that they are hiring any persona that even mop the floor at the SBC Center. Are Carlesimo, Presti and Ferry just coincidences? Statements of "spokespersons" the Cavs and Sonics , saying they want to become the next San Antonio, isn’t that a cultural change? Isn’t that a big impact on the league?

Rusty: Sacramento and New Jersey started running and winning games, achieving deep playoff runs at the start of the decade. Phoenix started running and winning with the arrival of Steve Nash and have been a contender ever since. Now, a bunch of teams are “following that model” , is that a cultural/ league change or just a trend?

Morgan: Tim Duncan have 4 rings and Steve Nash none. That’s the difference between creating a trend and a creating a cultural change.

Rusty: Well said, not true, but well said. Is easy to want to copy a successful model, I don't see GM's looking for the next Duncan as they looked for the next Jordan or Magic.

Morgan: They are always looking for fundamental big men with 4 years of college.

Ok, Rusty, I think this is getting to long for the reader, we are not ESPN here, you know. So, we might continue this next week or change the topic. Is there's any reader, besides my mom and my dog, leave a comment, let us know what you think.