The end of the regular season is near, and most of the playoff positions are set. Here’s an opportunity to publicly perform self-fellatio for all the things I correctly predicted, and shake off the few things I got wrong. Illustrations by Louis Eastman

 

 Amin Elhassan has put in some solid work this NBA season, appearing on a variety of shows for ESPN (often daily), and always providing a unique perspective with the occasional quip that cut to the bone. He especially shines as moderator on the TRUE HOOP, Black “Opinions Matter Monday” Pod with “Big Wos” and a rotating cast of guests.

They are like the John Wall and Bradley Beal of podcast backcourts, controlling the tempo with content you won’t get on any other basketball pod. Check out ESPN’s programming if you wanna catch him on television or peep the website. They don’t pay me so I’m not going waste my time listing all the shows he’s on, but he’s definitely one of the few reasons to upload any content from the WWL. Keep your eye out for the “Pitino Game” during the elimination games next month.

     Been an interesting rookie season for ole Buddy Buckets. He started the year buried on the bench in New Orleans, as he struggled to find a role in Alvin Gentry’s offense, but his scoring has picked up since he was traded to the Kings for Boogie Cousins. During a 5 game stretch (2 weeks ago) he averaged 17.4 points and had a career high in scoring this (22 points)  in a loss to the Warriors. He just might be able to carve himself out an NBA career (in the right situation).

Despite not making any major off season moves outside of the Al Horford signing, and not making any moves at the trade deadline (much to my chagrin), the Celtics are in a virtual tie with the Cleveland Cavs for first place. Go figure. Outside of Isiah Thomas, they don’t have any reliable scorers. This may come back to bite them in the ass in the Eastern Conference Finals.

 

Draymond Green’s season has been nothing short of controversial. His ever expanding legion of haters means he must be doing something right. I can’t ever vouch for anything he says or does off the court, but this season has only highlighted how valuable he is to the Warriors’ success on the court. If you make a list of top 20 players in the NBA, and Dray isn’t on there then you are playing yourself.

Everybody is Eating  The owners had to come out of their pockets this season. Memphis and Dallas got the best value for the Mike Conley and Harrison Barnes deals. Both players lived up to their inflated values. While everyone else………well, just ask Portland fans if they think Neil Oshey spent money correctly. The market value of each player got skewed because of the cap, but owners had to pay. I’m sure some GM’s wish they could have a mulligan on some of these contracts

Finals ReThreematch Kevin Durant got hurt, and the Spurs were hot on the trail of the Warriors. I thought San Antonio had a better lineup top to bottom, but as Wednesday’s game showed, the Warriors still are the Click to Pick coming out of the west.

 Giannis has been nothing short of spectacular, averaging 23.1 points a game and making the “Sportscenter Top 10” pretty much every night he touches the court. Milwaukee looks primed for a post season bid sitting on a 40-36 record and homie was a legitimate All-Star selection to boot. I Bucks wit Giannis pretty heavily. Dude is going to be a fantastic player.

 

Harrison Barnes has averaged 19 points this year and has hit big shots when the Mavs needed him. Is he worth 94 million? Maybe not, but someone was going to give him that money, it may as well have been the Mavs. Lastly (slurp, slurp), wasn’t I right about Harry B. being better than Eric Montross and Raef LaFrentz? Huh Craig?

 

Iguodala looks really good. He hasn’t been hurt and has played well as the floor leader on the second unit. He, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green all chipped in on defense to hold Kawhi Leonard in check last Wednesday down in San Antonio. They will need him down the stretch for these next 2 months of playoff basketball. His back is the difference between beating Cleveland in 5 games, or losing to them again in 7.

(The J’s Reboot) Phil Jackson, Joakim Noah and Jeff  Hornacek

What a fucking mess.

  Klay Thompson is going to do what Klay Thompson does. He has caught fire more than a little bit during various points of his all star regular season. He also happens to still be an elite defender. Even though he started off the season with a shooting slump, you knew he’d break out of it with one of those Klay Thompson games. Expect at least 3 of those kinds of games in April and May. 

BM

To be continued…….

 

Clicks to Picks for the Week:

 

Monday

North Carolina vs. Gonzaga (NCAA Championship Game)

I really want to see how this plays out. I’m impressed that Carolina rebounded from last year’s most heartbreaking buzzer beater of all time to make it back to the Championship.

Tuesday

Memphis at San Antonio

Milwaukee at Oklahoma City (Good Ass Game of the Week)

Wednesday

Cleveland at Boston

Thursday

No Good Ass Games on the Schedule

Friday

Miami at Toronto (Good Ass Game of the Weak)

Saturday

Utah at Portland

Sunday

No Good Ass Games Scheduled

 

   Bobby Mickey is the alter ego of writer and poet Edward Austin Robertson. When he isn’t involved in some basketball related activity, actively looking for parties to deejay or venues to perform comedy, he can be found recording podcasts with Craig Stein at Fullsass Studios. Follow him on twitter @clickpicka79. For booking inquiries, send contact info to thisagoodassgame@gmail.com.