Blazers

YAY AREA!!!!

Posted by

0

It was a festive weekend out in the Bay Area. The Super Bowl was in San Jose, and all the celebs and big time ballers were in town to take it in. When you’re rolling in dough it makes sense to peep the “Good Ass Game of the Week.”

Just because a game is close doesn’t mean it was a “Good Ass Game.” The “Roaracle” was strangely silent Saturday night, and it took me half the game to figure out why. I was thinking the game would be ridiculously hype, but then I realized that a lot of the real fans got priced out. The average ticket price online for Warriors-Thunder was $1400 bones (rumor was that it was easier getting into the Super Bowl).

With Drake, Bey-Z, K-Dot, Pharrell, and Wallace from “The Wire” in attendance, the game took on the feel of an event than a regular season game (Beyonce dropping her new video and tour announcement only added to the hysteria). I have a friend who went to both games (I’m giving him some time to cool off because he is a Panther’s fan), and he said it felt like he was at the Staples Center Arena. It was weird for sure, because I’m not used to it being so quiet there. Someone on twitter said it was only a preview of what games will be like when they move across the bridge.  God I hope not.

calddtywaaaba6b_zpslqwn62yj

The game itself was decent. A lot of people are ready to say the Thunder can run with the Warriors. I’m not one of those people. Its weird to say this, because Steph Curry almost had a triple-double, but the Warriors backcourt struggled a bit; offensively. Curry missed 16 shots, and he and Klay Thompson were a combined 2-15 from the 3 point line.

I’m not saying that the Thunder can’t get lucky and win one or two games in a seven game series, but it is laughable to come away from that game with any sense of a moral victory.

By the way, I find the fake indignation coming out of the Thunder locker room laughable. The Thunder have casually become of the more busterish teams in the NBA. When I hear Durant and Westbrook say things like, “We’re not scared of the Spurs or the Warriors” I just shake my head. No one expects NBA players to be intimidated by anyone else’s team  in the league, but can we just at least be honest?

Admitting there are some fundamental problems in the way your team plays isn’t being weak–it’s just being real. How can you say stuff like that with a straight face, when your bench was outscored 42-17? The Thunder can go into the next game against the Warriors with that same attitude,but the next time Dion Waiters is the leader in +/- ratio with a +1 rating , the result will probably be a blowout.

This week’s slate of games:

 

Monday

 

Sacramento-Cleveland

Tonight’s pick to click in the NBA. Besides the various in game matchups between Rondo and Kyrie, Boogie and anybody Cleveland throws out there, this game becomes even more intriguing because this may be George Karl’s last as the Sacramento head coach. By week’s end, Karl could be joining Jeff Hornacek, David Blatt, and as of today, Derek Fisher on the unemployment line. The Kings are a bit messy right now.

OU-Texas (Good ass game of the week)

I think this will be the hypest game of the week from a crowd standpoint. Oklahomans have a lot of panhandle envy, and the only reason they are relevant in sports is beacuse they get all the Texas players not good enough to stay in state. This (for good reason) creates a lot of resentment. I can’t tell you how many Okies hate Texas and Texas teams (outside of the Cowboys–they love the ‘Boys) but have spent little time in the Lone Star State . Most Texans barely bat an eye at this.

The dismissive attitudes that Texans have towards Oklahoma only adds to the resentment. Having lived in both states for a number of years, I can honestly say that Wacklahoma is only vaguely different from Texas. Texas is only better because it is bigger and has more money. They are almost the  same place politically, and if you took away Austin, then Texas would really suck. I’d still take San Marcos and Denton over any college town in Oklahoma though. OU sucks, and you won’t catch me going to Stillwater after the sun goes down. #Hookem

 

Tuesday

 

San Antonio-Miami

The beginning of the Rodeo trip for the Spurs. Usually this 8 or 9 road game swing is indicative of what kind of team San Antonio has. No Timmy. No Manu (poor guy) for at least a month, and Tony Parker is looking his age. The young guns are going to have step up if the Spurs are going to make the Western Conference Finals.

 

Warriors-Rockets

I don’t know how the Warriors even take these guys seriously. You know a team is busterish when their own fans don’t defend their players. They know what it is (right Phil?).

 

Wednesday

 

 

Charlotte-Indiana

Mildly competitive, this will be one of the best Eastern Conference games you will watch this week.

 

San Antonio-Orlando

This could be one of those L’s that Pops penciled in on the calendar. The good news is that Boban may get some serious run that night.

Toronto-Minnesota

This will be the Rookie-Sophomore and Slam Dunk Contest all rolled up into one game. Also, I didn’t realize that Kyle Lowry has been in the league so long. It must be that baby face of his.

Los Angeles (Clippers) -Boston

“Get that shit out!!!!” Celtics might fuck around and get a #2 or #3 seed in the East.

Golden State-Phoenix

Its a long season and you gotta take things one blowout at a time.

Houston-Portland

Man, Portland has been a lot more entertaining to watch than I gave them credit for. It is a slippery slope with west coast basketball. One day you’re staying up later than normal to watch C.J. and Dame get buckets, then before you know it you’re dropping all your  plans to watch Oregon and Washington fight it out for the Pac10 Pac12 title.

 

 

“Tap that vein Thursday”

 

 

Thunder-Pelicans

I don’t even think I can stomach this one. I’d like to talk you into it, but as your attorney I advise you to use this as a catch up evening.

 

All Star Weekend

Refer to last week’s post if you are on the fence about this weekend’s activities. I’ll be taking the weekend off from watching basketball in order to catch up with old friends. I suggest you do the same. I’d rather play a pickup game than watch one.

 

Buster (s) of the Week Award goes to the Carolina Panthers offense. Wow. They really spit the bit. Not to take anything away from the Denver Broncos defense–they were animals– but how can you not make any adjustments to get Cam out of the pocket?

The amount of mental errors they made in the biggest game of their lives, was unfortunate. Fumbles, false starts, drops, interceptions, and sacks will do any team in, but this was the wrong time to do that. The last game of the season is supposed to be your best game.

As John Wooden says, “being at your best when your best is needed” is part of being a champion. Too bad. The Panthers’ players will feel nothing but regret when they think about this season, and know they were better than the Broncos–who did just enough on offense to help that savage D. They had a great defensive game plan. On offense, they were meh (Carolina’sD played well.Special teams–not so much).

Honorable mention still goes to Pete Carroll who didn’t give the ball to Beast Mode in last year’s Super Bowl, and now Marshawn Lynch is retiring. Ya’ll some bitches too Seahawks. Don’t think I forgot about ya’ll because the Panther’s played like some busters in a weak ass Super Bowl. That game ending interception was Wackarnold’s for real. Anyway, have a good week, and enjoy the All Star break. If you fumble the ball in life, at least try to get it back. Don’t just stare at your mistakes like you are stuck on stupid.

 

Peace,

BM

thisagoodassgame@gmail.com

@clickpicka79

#thisagoodassgame #fullsass

 

 

 

Upon Further Analysis

Posted by

1

What a crazy week eh? Spurs get their asses kicked twice in once week, social media got to witness an epic meltdown in real time by Kanye West, Blake Griffin (Buster of the Week?) broke his hand on a smaller dude’s face, and the NBA did everything it could to ruin yet another All-Star Weekend.

First of all, I’ll be honest, I usually don’t even mess with All-Star Weekend. Rookies-Sophomore game is mildly interseting, but everything else is corny.

The Slam Dunk contest is played out, but I understand why they still do it. The 3 point contest always sounds better than it ever is, and I’ve got no time to watch 2 ball, HORSE, or “Around the world”.

The All Star Game itself is almost as bad as the NFL Pro Bowl (coincidentally being played today), in that no one really tries on defense, and the only time your interest is piqued, is the very last 4 minutes of the game. Even though baseball is boring as hell to watch, they still get it right, in that everyone tries, and no one has to worry about getting hurt. You actually get to see pure competition throught the game from start to finish.

So why am I bitching about All Star Weekend? Because I can. First of all, how you going to have an All Star Game in New York Lite Toronto and hire Sting for the gig?

cz14jvdueaaiekb

This move typifies what the NBA All Star weekend is really about, which is corporate sponsorship and schmoozing. All the corny ass events and games, are really for the owners to drum up money, and make connects with other corporations.

In exchange for the paid trip to said city chosen, players get to hit the clubs and exclusive parties with other all-stars. No doubt Toronto will be lit that weekend, and a lot of money will be made for the city (especially at the strip clubs). As for the groupies, well, let’s just say the hotel lobbies in town are going to look like the Player’s Ball. #don’tgetcaughtupfellas

Back to my point about Sting, this goes to show you just how out of touch the NBA owners are with the black audience. I doubt players are going to be hanging out by tunnels to watch Gordon Sumner sing “Desert Rose.”

They don’t make Beats commericals with Kobe banging “Roxanne” on his headphones to get hype for games. This is for the big check writers, and the potential big check writers, and their wives and girlfriends, who will be sipping port and scotch in the luxury boxes, snapping their fingers off beat (or doing yoga poses) to the performance.

To be honest, I figured they’d let that one light skinned child actor do the show in his hometown. You know that guy who is a poor man’s L.L. Cool J. What’s his name? Drowsy? Droopy? Drizzy? Oh yeahhhhhhhhhh Drake. Maybe that was too obvious, but you can’t say that young people don’t mess with him. People do love his music, I don’t get it, but I’m old. I don’t have to.

As for the All Star selections themselves, I don’t really have a problem with with who made it (for the most part). It stinks that having a not so good this year Kobe Bryant on the team robbed my boy Dame Lillard from a deserving spot.

If the NBA is insisting on letting old guys play the game for their farewell, just create a grandfather spot for them. They can put a rocking chair on the bench, get a little bit of burn to appease the fans, and then sit their old asses down.

The fan voting needs to be curbed. Its obvious that the casual fan doesn’t know shit about basketball, and the All Star voting process only exacerbates this fact. Do you know we almost had ZaZa Pachulia’s ass in the starting lineup?

I’m not saying the league should wrestle the fans’ voting rights away completely. It is after all, for the fans, but too much money is tied up in making the All-Star team. Anthony Davis almost got screwd out of 23 million because of this nonsense. Why not split a  1/3 of the voting power between coaches, players, and the fans? This seems to me the most balanced way to get the All-Star teams right.

Lastly, how is Toronto coach, Dwayne Casey not representing during All-Star weekend? Tyronn Lue had 4 career victories, and has never coached in the playoffs, and he is coaching the All-Star game? #fail

Anyway, enough of the bitchfest. Let’s get to this week’s games:

 

Monday

 

Dallas-Atlanta 

Just go with it.

San Antonio-Orlando

Tough week for Spurs fans. Watching them get beat like they did this week TWICE, is akin to feeling of dating someone for 5 months, and somehow only just finding out that they have no desire to ever have children. This of course is fine, if you are just enjoying the process and don’t care about the outcome. But if you are a fan expecting a championship (or a child if you want to continue the analogy), then you kind of already know how this is going to end.

I alluded to this in episode 4 of the FullSass Podcast when we did a brief NBA preview, when I mentioned I was worried about the health of Tony Parker–and the point guard position in general.

Five of the Spurs’ seven losses have come at the hands of speedy guards with nice handles. They couldn’t contain Kyrie Irving last night (who I’m sure will crack a ribcage sneezing sometime during the playoffs), and we saw what Steph Curry did to them on Monday. Westbrook lit them up for 33 on opening night, and John Wall and Bradley Beal did some damage during that L they took in D.C.

Tony Parker has never been the best defender, his height (or lack thereof) creates mismatches when they are on defense, but now he is old, and can’t even stay in front of dudes.

He is still at times electrifying to watch, but if anyone remembers those “Six seconds or less” Suns teams, Steve Nash would get abused on the defensive end. There is just no hiding Parker against those teams, but “Pops” can’t afford to not have him running the offense. Its a tough spot to be in, and it is something I’m not used to seeing for the Spurs. I was waiting for that other shoe to drop, and it finally did this week. You never know what can happen during a season, but outside of major injury to one of the key Warriors players (Steph, Klay, or Dray), I don’t see this being the Spurs year to get the chip.

 

“Tap that Vein” Tuesday

 

Milwaukee-Portland

This could be fun. I’m already putting aside that money I’m going to lose on the Bucks making the conference Finals. My FullSass partner suggested that maybe Jason Kidd isn’t a good coach. I’m not ready to give up on him yet. We’ll see what they are made of in year 3 next season.

 

Wednesday

 

Orlando-Oklahoma City

You never know with this Thunder team. Their role players are trash, and I feel more foolish by the day that I picked them to come out of the west. Kevin Durant and Westbrook are still fun to watch though.

Chicago-Sacramento

I hope Boogie feels better by this game, otherwise the Kings are going to struggle against the Bulls’ frontcourt.

 

Thursday

 

New York-Detroit

This will be a not so bad game, or it can be a #goodassgame. I’m not sure if there will be an in between.

Toronto-Portland

Two really good backcourts facing off.

 

Friday

 

Chicago-Denver

Don’t be surprised to see the Nugs’ on here. Will Barton has been Gerald Green 2.0, and Mike Malone is coaching these boys. They are going to ruin a team’s playoff chances late in the season.

Memphis-New York

Godzingis vs. the Spanish Bear. I’d buy that for a dollar!

San Antonio-Dallas

Este el noche cuando mi sobrino “El Gordo” le vuelve una aficionado de los Spurs. Buenas suertes “Los Mavs”

 

Saturday

 

Oklahoma City-Golden State (Good Ass Game of the Week)

Hey Russ, is anybody going to show up for this game besides you and KD?

Portland-Houston

“Dame is gonna Dame. Busters gonna Bust. All the Rockets fans. Left up in the dust.”  I almost feel sorry for Rockets fans. Almost.

 

Sunday

Sunday afternoon games should be banned from the league. Anything played before 4pm is usually sloppy and lethargic. Don’t do it. Spend some time with your significant other before you ignore them for 3 hours during the Super Bowl. By the way:

Panthers 45-Broncos 17 

Is this how black people felt when Doug Williams was the QB for the Washington Racists? #dabonemCam

 

Enjoy Super Bowl Week.

 

Peace,

BM

@clickpicka79

#thisagoodassgame #fullsass

thisagoodassgame@gmail.com

(Separation)Tried to Told Ya’ll

Posted by

0

Thursday’s Finals preview between the Cavaliers and Spurs gave us a glimpse into what we can expect in June (Next Monday will give us a glimpse into what we can expect during the Western Conference Finals if the Warriors and Spurs meet). I am convinced that there is no way that Lebron James woke up Friday morning and thought to himself,”We have the horses to beat San Antonio or Golden State in the Finals.”

Like most teams, the Cleveland  1-5 starting lineup can run with anyone. You can roll out Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love, Lebron James, and 2 role players against any team, and 9 times out of 10 will result in a W.

What the average fan doesn’t realize is that championships are won with players 4 through 9. Once teams are deep into the playoffs, the 1-3 matchups are more often than not nuetralized by the other team’s superstars.

This will be Cleveland’s fatal flaw if they run out the same role players for the NBA Finals. Matthew Dellavedova is a decent player, but his deficiencies get exposed if he is on the court for longer than 15-20 minutes a game.

If this were 2002, I’d be impressed with Richard Jefferson coming off the bench for the Cavs. I’m not sure if Timofey Mosgov is hurt or not, but he hasn’t been playing all that well either. He’s only averaging 4 rebounds in 15 minutes, the last 10 games he has played.

The Cavs frontcourt thins out after Lebron and Tristan Thompson, and Kevin Love looked like a major defensive liability the other night against the Spurs.  If the Cavs are serious about winning in June, they will need to make a deal or two during February.

It was a good week for Los Spurs however; their home winning streak is still intact. They are also on a 10 game tear after smashing on the Mavericks last night.

If anyone is equipped to knock off the defending champs, it is San Antonio. They are deep in the back court, their front court has David West coming off the bench (who by the way really changed the game once he came onto the court against Cleveland on Thursday. I’m a huge fan of West).

Never forget the ever refined Boris Diaw on the second unit. Not only does he rebound, pass well, and can score anytime he wants, but the man keeps an expresso machine in his locker. Jordan made people want to be better ballplayers. Diaw makes me want to be a better man. He is like the Gordon Parks of hoops.

I understimated how good the backcourt for the Spurs would play. They are deep and at times long. Jonathan Simmons and Kyle Anderson complement Patty Mills quite well on the wings.

And of course, my pick for this season’s MVP, Kawi Leonard played a spectacular 2nd half against Lebron on Thursday. James still put up his stats, but he had to put in some serious work to get 22 points. Kawhi is the only player I can think of who can hold Lebron under 30 semi-consistently.

The Spurs are lucky to have such depth, to the point wherre Tim Duncan and Lamarcus Aldridge don’t have to get 20 and 10 every night for a win. Having that kind of depth lends to a well rested team come playoffs. A lot can happen between now and then, but I’m hoping for everyone’s sake that all of the elite teams have their superstars when the big money games begin.

To be continued.

This Week’s Good Ass Games:

 

 

Monday (Good Ass Game of the Week)

 

Golden State-Cleveland

This will be a good test for the Warriors, who to me, seem a little bored the last couple of weeks. Ever since they lost their first game, the aura of invinciblity around them has popped. They are like Super Mario after he loses his invincibility star. I doubt this will be as bad as the Christmas game.

 

 

“Tap That Vein” Tuesday

 

Oklahoma City-Denver

I watched my first Denver Nuggets game of the year last night, and somehow forgot that Mark Malone was their coach. They play an entertaining brand of ball. Despite playing in hoops obscurity, Kenneth Faried is still bodying dudes. Will Barton had some highlight worthy plays last night against the Pacers.

Malone seems to bringing along the youngster Mudiay, and Randy Foye hit a couple of timely shots. They may get murked by the Thunder, but I think this will be a better game than Milwaukee against Miami.

Speaking of Oklahoma City, I finally got to see them in person this year. Russell Westbrook got ejected in the 2nd quarter, but it didn’t matter. The Mavericks sat all five of their starters. The Mavs are a pretty thin team this year, especially in the front court, and they got drubbed.

Dion Waiters was feeling himself too, slicing to the rim during garbage time and post dunk posing for the crowd. The problem with that he did this during a live ball, which led to a 5 on 4 fast break, and someone had to foul to stop the ball.

Then about a minute later, this joker starts making snow angels on the court after getting fouled for an “And 1”. Dion Waiters strikes me as the type of dude who habitually leaves a woman hanging because he “got his.”  I mean, look at this cat.

 

the-cleveland-cavaliers-shocked-everyone-by-taking-dion-waiters-4th-overall-in-the-nba-draft

Good luck leaving your woman alone at the table if this guy is in the restaurant.

 

 

 

Wednesday

 

 

Golden State-Chicago

This will be some high level basketball. Golden State will either be licking their wounds after that Detroit loss and tear into the Bulls, or they will ride their momentum into tearing into the Bulls. I don’t care how many points Jimmy Buckets gets in a game (53 to be exact), I can’t bring myself to watch the 76ers.

Atlanta-Portland

Two teams I haven’t had a chance to watch enough. I may have to make time to peep. Lillard is balling right now. By the time you read this, he may be the conference player of the week.

Charlotte-Oklahoma City

Kemba vs. Russ. L.A. vs. New York. I expect this to be a decent run just from this matchup alone. I think it will at least be entertaining even if it isn’t close.

Minnesota-Dallas

This will be a fun one to watch, but it bums me out watching the Timberwolves. Like most young teams, they keep finding ways to lose. I’m still not convinced Zach Lavine is their third dude. There is a guy on my rec team who went to UCLA during the Lavine, Shabazz, Jordan Adams, Kyle Anderson era.

When he told me that Lavine is an extraordinarily nice guy, I initially winced. I almost felt bad talking shit about him until I realized that I didn’t say anything over the line. It isn’t like I said I wanted to punch the dude in the face. I just want to see him pass more. Nothing personal.

 

 

Thursday

 

 

Clippers-Cavaliers

I have as much interest in this game as I had in watching the Steelers-Broncos yesterday. Kyrie vs. Chris Paul is a very seductive matchup though. I’d rather just watch highlights. Too much whining, and too many fouls, and too many scrubs at the end of the bench.

Atlanta-Sacramento

Even if the Kings landed the number 1 pick, I’m not sure they would do the right thing with it. I’d rather see them get knocked out in the playoffs than Utah. Who doesn’t want to see Boogie and Rondo in the first round? It would be a fun and new narrative no?

 

Friday

 

Indiana-Golden State

A good week to watch the Warriors. They’ll have to be attentive this week, because they could easily take a couple of L’s if they try going half sass on this road trip.

Oklahoma City-Dallas

I love me some J.J. Barea. Dude is fiery, and he refuses to get pushed around. At 5’8, I figured he was kind of a novelty act–basically a Puerto Rican Mugsy Bogues, but homey can ball. I love that he didn’t back down from Russell Westbrook’s horsehshit. Off the Court, Russ is closer to Kirk Cameron than he is Cam’ron. #faketoughguys

russell-westbrook-shirt

Los Angeles Clippers-Knicks

Don’t sleep on the Knicks. This will be a physical game. I hope it gets chippy.

 

Charlotte-Orlando

Kemba vs. Elfrid? I’ll take it.

 

 

Saturday

 

Chicago-Cleveland

You’ll get plenty of this matchup during the playoffs. If you have to choose between Friday and Saturday as your “date night”  I would advise you to go out Saturday.

 

 

Sunday

 

Dallas-Houston

Ugh. Poor Rockets fans. Making the playoffs is “Fool’s Gold.” Blow the team up. Just start over. Your window has closed.

Los Angeles Clippers-Toronto

Meh.

 

Enjoy your what is left of your holiday weekend. Championship weekend will be worth tuning into as well. Have fun this week.

 

Peace,

BM

#fullsass   #thisagoodassgame

thisagoodassgame@gmail.com

@clickpicka79

Powerball

Posted by

0

Things are pretty keyed up for a lot of people right now. NFL playoffs started on Saturday, and there are a couple of midwestern fanbases whose teams let them down in typical disappointing fashions.

As a (recovering) Cowboys fan it is hard to empathize with either Vikings or Bengals fans. Anyone who knew anything about the history of either franchise couldn’t have been surprised at the way both teams melted down in the clutch.

image-16_zpsb36114b7

In other news, by the end of the week, someone is going to win enough money to buy their own sports team (sounds like a great premise for a movie–NBA superfan wins a billion dolllars in the lottery and buys his favorite basketball franchise).

Last week had its share of the dramatic, I nailed the Good Ass Game of the Week pick with the OU-KU triple overtime game. Big ups to Buddy Hield, who put in some work on a team that really only goes 7 deep (46 points).

Big ups also to the Jayhawks upper classmen for stepping up during winning time. I’m not sure if any of them will get much run in the NBA (Selden maybe if he can prove to be a good perimeter defender–but I’m still not sold on his shooting), but they look like they are ready to make a legitimate run in March.

The game was everything I was hoping it would be, evoking memories of those old Big Mondays from the early 2000’s when the Big 12 was easily the best basketball conference in the country. It was an instant classic, and I was proud of the Allen Fieldhouse faithful for showing up and being loud.

I’ve been disappointed with the crowd participationover the last few years–even once being asked to sit down by an usher during an intense non-conference game against Georgetown a couple of years ago.

Everything about this night screamed #Good Ass Game, to the point where even the Jayhwaks fans had to give a standing ovation to Buddy Hield well after the end of the game. I don”t know how the Kentucky game can even come close to atmosphere in this contest–especially after seeing how weak they looked against LSU on Tuesday.

Speaking of LSU, I only got to se about 30 game time seconds of Ben Simmons, but I’m convinced he is the real deal. He might be a light skinned Lamar Odom (minus the pension for candy and dramatic Persian families).

He is so good that any of the following lottery teams: the Knicks, Hornets, Magic, Blazers, Kings, Teen Wolves, Pelicans, Suns, and Lakers, could end up in the playoffs if they draft him. He even has Magic Johnson’s endorsement.

Simmons didn’t even get loose like he could have and they still beat Kentucky. That says a lot about both how god he is, and how weak Kentucky is playing right now. That being said, I’m still trying to get in the building come January 30th.

We are in for a treat this week. This week’s slate of basketball is going to be really good, and of course the Divisional Playoffs for that barbaric game with the oblong leather object begin on Saturday. So let’s get to it eh?

 

Monday

Golden State-Miami 

We finally get to see Draymond Green and Hassan Whiteside settle their debate over “smallball”. It should be good.

 

 

Tuesday

San Antonio-Detroit

Just the first of many tests this week for what I believe is the league’s best team. Detroit is going to give them some good run.

Boston-New York

We are a far cry from these days. But it will no doubt be a good ass game.

Cleveland-Dallas

Cleveland doing the Texas trifecta this week. Teams rarely come out of this unscathed. We’ll find out what kind of team they have after this week.

Oklahoma City-Minnesota

Just for Funzies….. I can almost guarantee that Zach Lavine is going to try and do too much in this game. I hope Russ takes his fellow alums out for dinner, and on the ride out to Mickey Mantles or KD’s, he plays Zach a song from the Yeezy catalog. Zach thinks he is ready, but he aint’ ready. It’s okay man, we’ve all been there.

 

Wednesday

Dallas-Oklahoma City

I’ll be in the building for this one. Normally I’d take a pass, but a buddy of mine happens to be passing through and really wanted to see the “Hustle Westbrook” live in the flesh. I can’t let him do that by himself can I? Those nosebleed seats can be tough to navigate at the “Peak.” Besides it’ll give us something else to talk about when he makes an appearance on the next episode of the “Full Sass Podcast.”

Atlanta-Charlotte

I of course won’t be able to watch this one, but it may be worth keeping an eye on in the 4th quarter.

 

Thursday (Good Ass Game of the Week)

San Antonio vs. Cleveland 

Drop everything for this one. I know what I said during the NBA preview, but this will probably be the NBA Finals preview. Kawhi vs. Lebron is worth the stop through alone. Unfortunately, there won’t be any garbage time. The Spurs are the only team I actually enjoy watching the bench guys during garbage time. I’m trying to tell you, this team is DEEP!!

 

Friday

Dallas-Chicago

Always a good time. You can double down on the Timberwolves-Thunder if you didn’t get enough on Tuesday. #tapthatvein

 

Saturday

New York-Memphis

Knicks have been balling of late, and they were a couple of inches away from ending the Spurs home winning streak the other night. I fux with the 3-6 Latvia. Porzingis is the real deal. Dude does not get fazed. He ready!!!!

fullsizerender-30-1-640x663

Golden State-Detroit

Man who am I kidding? The only reason to watch this game is to see what kind of crazy shit that “Curry the Conductor” orchestrates.

Sacramento-Los Angeles (Clippers)

Speaking of balling, Boogie “Down Productions” has been putting up some monster numbers. He is the best big man in the game. There really is no excuse for the Kings not making the playoffs. The 8th spot is up for grabs and it would be a shame if they didn’t take it. While my Full Sass partner, Craig Stein, loves the Orlando Magic, my surrogate team is the Kings.

I know. I know.  Rondo is a renowned homophobe, and Boogie is a malcontent, but what can I say? I’ve always had a soft spot for the problem children. Besides, next to the Pendejos Clippers, they look like choir boys. The Kings are at least amusing. The Clippers are just annoying.

 

Sunday

 

Dallas-San Antonio

This could very well be another playoff preview, but more importantly, I’ll probably be watching this one alongside other #fullsassers. This may call for a dual live tweet as the game progresses. I may be more excited for this one than I am about the #goodassgameoftheweek. 

Miami-Oklahoma City

I took a break from writing this post to tune into the last 7 minutes of the Trailblazers-Thunder game, and I’m glad I did. On one hand you could say OKC blew it down the stretch, or you could Lillard went into #illard mode and destroyed them with 7 second half three pointers. Earlier this week I said I didn’t think he was an All Star this year. I gladly take that back. “Video Game”Dame is no joke. Respect.

 

“Buster of the Week Award” could go to a lot of people this week. There were definitely a lot of candidates. Maybe this is not the platform to say something so #fullsass, but I’m going to give it to Mr. President Barack Obama.

I’ll admit that nothing about politics surprises me, but I must say that this push for gun control mystifies me. If Obama pushed half as hard against the obvious imbalances in our justice system as he has about gun control, I’d have more respect for his time in the White House.

I feel like we are ignoring this gigantic elephant in the room by ignoring the violence perpetrated by the police and “stand your ground” vigilantes.

“When guns are outlawed, only the Government will have guns. The Government – and a few outlaws. If that happens, you can count me among the outlaws.” Edward Abbey

I’m not saying I’m cool with “Open Carry” laws either. I was in Texas last week, and that was just as weird, trying to guess who was packing and who was not. Believe me I know where every exit is no matter if I’m in a restaurant or movie theatre.

As a black man in this country, it would be dangerous not to be hypersensitive about this issue. I think gun control is important, but to invite this discussion without also talking about (a sometimes overzealous) law enforcement’s access to guns is irresponsible. I think the Tamir Rice tragedy deserves just as much attenton as the Newton shootings.

#shootbasketsnotpeople

Honorable Mention: Paul LePage, Adam “PacMan” Jones, Vontaze Burfict, Adrian Peterson, Jeremy Hill, Blair Walsh

Enjoy all the games this week, and stay warm.

 

Peace,

BM

#fullsass #thisagoodassgame

thisagoodassgame@gmail.com

@clickpicka79

 

 

 

Analyze This: NBA Power Rankings 1/2

Posted by

1

We’re basically a quarter of the way into the season, and though it is too small of a sample size to reach any final conclusions, we can still identify some trends that have revealed themselves this year.

You still can’t convince me that the Eastern Conference is better than the Western Conference, but I’d be a fool not to admit that the East is better this year, and the West is worse than they were last season.

I do think that things will right themselves as the season goes along, and certain teams will come back down to Earth. This is however a perfect time to do an NBA Power rankings based on what I have seen so far.

We’ll probably revisit this during the All-Star break to see what changes have occurred. From everything I have seen, any team not the Warriors or Spurs need to be tweaking something if they want to be taken seriously as championship contenders.

So in honor of Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs chart, I bring you Bmick’s first NBA power rankings of the season. If you just want this week’s slate of Good Ass Games, just scroll down to the bottom.

400px-maslows_hierarchy_of_needs

 

Bottom Tier, i.e. Teams in Survival Mode:

Organizations that are in a period of dysfunction. Decisions made for the franchise are based on fear of losing paychecks and job titles. These are the teams with no long term plan other than draft players, sell tickets, and create cap room for in hopes of signing a big name free agent.

76ers, Kings, Wizards, Nuggets, Pelicans, Rockets, Nets and the LOL Lakers

You have to feel for these teams’ fanbases (well not the Lakers because lets be honest 80% of their fanbase don’t really know anything about basketball–they just like the scene and wearing the merchandise).

Sixers fans have been sold a pipe dream for decades, and it still looks like the front office has no idea of what they are doing. They just keep drafting (or signing) big men and trading away draft picks. Their latest franchise face was on TMZ last month and has been in the news for all the wrong reasons.

The only player close to being called a veteran is journeyman point guard Kendall (Kbutter5) Marshall. No one wants to play in Philadelphia, one of the most notoriously racist sports cities outside of Boston, people just end up there because its still the NBA , and they need a paycheck. Personally, I’d probably rather go to Europe than play in that city, for that organization. The fact that Iverson spent the bulk of his prime in the NBA there is enough for him to get my Hall of Fame vote. #respect

Sacramento definitely has the talent to make it into the playoffs, but shit is too hot right now. Even the most professionaly of players can’t deal with the madness (word on the street is that Caron Butler is about to get traded to a team where he can get some minutes). I don’t doubt that everyone’s heart is in the right place in Sactown, but the problem is that there is very little organization within the front office, and it is affecting their product. The best teams have well defined roles and job security, and the hiring and firing of head coaches signaled just how dyfunctional things really are. Under the right leadership, they could make a playoff run this year……..but you know what they say about if’s.

The Houston Fuckboys   Rockets on paper are .500 and would be in the playoffs if the season ended today. But when a coach is fired not even 10 games into the season, and you have a certain moody big man who may or may not want to get traded, I think its safe to say this team has some f%&*ing problems (and not the good kind that afflict A$AP Rocky).

The Nuggets have sucked ever since they sacked George Karl, but Denver fans are too stoned to notice. Also, at this point can we stop pretending the nuggets they are mining are “gold”? Just own it Denver.

Don’t be surprised when Mikhail Prokhorov sells the Nets and punishes himself by getting married.

Wizards went from a half second away from making some serious noise in the playoffs to zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Something is wrong in New Orleans. Other than Anthony Davis, they are worse than they were last year. Last season’s slip into the playoffs may have actually been “Fool’s Gold.”They didn’t make any major upgrades during the off-season and their roster looks pretty weak. I would hate to see Lil Brow Wow’s prime wasted playing with NBA D-leaguers and scrubs. Get that guy some help. It is one thing to lose, but usually a coach talking to the media about “lack of effort” is only a precursor for his house going up for sale. Some strange things a brewing in the “Big Easy.”

The LOL Lakers aren’t so funny anymore. In fact, it is sad to think they are heading to yet another lottery AND they just got pasted last night by 40 points by the Thunder. The thing is though, they have to be pathetically bad in order to keep their top 3 protected pick. Otherwise Philadelphia gets their lottery pick for the upcoming draft. Somehow lucking into drafting Ben Simmons and Luke Walton as next year’s head coach could be a true reversal of fortunes.

 

The Love/Belonging Tier: Playoff teams figuring out their identity, but heading in the right direction.

Knicks, Timberwolves, Jazz, Suns, Mavericks, Bucks, Blazers, Hornets, Magic, and Pistons

The Knicks have surprised many people this year, and count me among those who thought Phil Jackson was pulling a Dumars when he drafted Porzingis over Justice Winslow. They are not entirely awful, sitting at .500, we’ll see what happens over these next 25 games if they are one of the fall to Earth teams I talked about earlier.

Timberwolves are right where they need to be. The other rebuilding teams need to take note what is going on in the Land of a 1,000 Lakes. Play your young guys as much as you can so that you can evaluate them effectively,and sign a good core of veterans to mentor them. From the looks of things, Flip has succeeded in creating a family atmosphere in that organization.

Portland has some pieces to build around. They seem to be right where they are now, every 3-4 years. They can’t seem to get players to stay, or stay healthy, but they are usually just good enough to dangle some hope out there for Blazers fans. I personally feel like NBA is a better league when Blazers fans have something to get excited about.

The  Utah Jazz are competitive, and currently in the 8th spot with an 11-14 record. I don’t expect that to last. Coach K disciple, Quinn Snyder has them scrapping, and no game in the Salt Lake mountains is a gimme win (They are like the Western Conference Pacers). I think they will continue to win at this rate, but I don’t think that 44 wins will be enough to get into the Western Conference playoffs.

I’m upset about my pick for the Eastern Conference Finalist pick. Milwaukee looks like shit some nights, and then other nights they turn into streakbusters. A friend of mine said before the season that they lack shooters, but that doesnt concern me, what bothers me is that they got their brains beat in by the LOL Lakers one night after a few key players thought it was wise to hit the strip club.

Maybe they need more veterans on the team. I Kidd’s old teammate “Tuff Juice” would be a good locker room addition, plus he’d get to return to his hometown. While they are at it, why don’t they see if they can get Ben McLemore too.

I must admit that I haven’t watched much of the Suns this year, partially out of laziness, but also because they have slowly regressed from the really fun NBA League Pass team everyone was talking about 2 years ago. Phoenix plays hard. They always compete, but their bench is really thin, and they have no legitimate game changers. Eric Bledsoe is a really good player, but I don’t know if he is the dude you build a franchise around. They have to get some pieces for Jeff Hornacek to work with.

I don’t need to go into how I predicted the Mavericks would make the playoffs do I? I’m sure I haven’t talked ad nauseum about the underated Dirk/Carlilse combo as a duo you can’t sleep on. It really is the perfect storm right now. Deron Williams was finally humbled enough by life to start listening to his coaches. Raymond Felton is fortunate that he is still in the league and not playing in the Rikers Island Recreational league. Zaza is well……..Zaza..zaza4

Their frontcourt depth is a little shaky, and you can never have enough ballhandlers in this league. But they’ll be a tough first round out, and that will be considered a successful season. #Respect.

Take one look at the Pistons depth chart and you’ll see that they are overachieving. Take one look at Stan Van Gundy, and you can tell the dude can prolly make a mean chicken salad out of chicken shit. I bet SVG can go into any pantry in America and find a way to salvage something for dinner. “Wow Stan!!! I’ve never had Spam chutney on a bed of green beans before. How do you do it???!!!!” Reggie Jackson for the All-Star Team. Retweet if you agree.

I slept on the #MisoHornets, I really did. They are like a lightweight Atlanta Hawks. Is it a coincidence that they let Lance “Born Ready” Stephenson go, picked up two quality locker room guys in Jeremy Lin and Nicholas Batum, and they got better? Frank Kaminksy ain’t half bad either. The Hornets don’t have a superstar, but they have a decent sqaud.

The Orlando Magic have surprised me at how fast they have developed.  To give you an indication of how close they are to being in the next tier of playoff contenders, just imagine if Anthony Davis was in that starting lineup, with Channing Frye coming off the bench. “BEAST!!!” 

Scott Skiles has a way of rubbing players the wrong way after a couple of seasons, but he is a great coach to have for a young team. In the dating world, he’d be what women refer to as a good starter D@#$, good for a couple of seasons, but after a while, the horseshit starts to become a grind. He is a great coach for a rebuilding team (remember the Baby Bulls?), but players on his previous teams just outgrew him. He’d probably be a great college coach.

TO BE CONTINUED……………..

Here’s this week’s slate of games:

 

Monday

 

Clippers-Thunder

Magic-Knicks

Pacers-Spurs

 

 

Tuesday

 

Mavericks-Raptors

Pistons-Heat

 

 

Wednesday

 

Spurs-Timberwolves

Jazz-Warriors

 

Thursday (Christmas Eve)

No games

 

 

Friday

 

Cavaliers-Warriors (Good Ass Game of the Week)

Bulls-Thunder

Spurs-Rockets

 

 

Saturday

 

Bucks-Raptors

Knicks-Hawks

Heat-Magic

Cavaliers-Trailblazers

Bulls-Mavericks

Grizzlies-Hornets

Celtics-Pistons

 

Sunday

 

Pistons-Knicks

Trailblazers-Kings

 

Part 2 (Buster of The Week Included) will be posted tomorrow morning.

 

BM

#thisagoodassgame

thisagoodassgame@gmail.com

#fullsass

No Alarms and No Surprises Please

Posted by

0

We’re only a month into the season, but I’m already feeling silly about some of my preseason predictions. I wanted to be edgy with some of my picks and may end up looking foolish for my Milwaukee Bucks analysis.

Aside Note: Staring into Jason Kidd’s eyes is like staring into the abyss. No disrespect to the legend, but if he were anything but a basketball genius, and NBA coach, I’d be nervous interacting with him. Imagine being a woman, and having J-Kidd as your gynecologist. Or imagine if J-Kidd was a manager at a cell phone store. He could either talk you into buying all kinds of unnecessary upgrades, or he would creep you the fuck out. If Jason Kidd were your EAP appointed shrink, would you go back and see him? I bet he practices hypnotism on the undercover.  You could tell me anything about Jason Kidd and I’d probably halfway believe it. The guy has had some notable public (and not so public) fiascoes  in his time.

As much as I want to perform self fellatio over my pre-season Mavs pick, I can’t help but feel stupid for buying into hype on the OKC Thunder. Dion Waiters is doing to basketball what Puff Daddy did to hip-hop in the late 90’s. It hurts me to my soul to watch that guy play basketball. Which makes it doubly tough to watch Thunder games. That guy couldn’t spell pass if you spotted put a P right next to Kim Kardashian’s booty. I’m not sold on the role players on their squad. I know its early, but as of today, 11/28/2015, they don’t look like NBA Finals material.

Spurs look good. The problem is that we haven’t seen them play too many good teams yet. You can also tell they are still trying to get the new guys acclimated to their system of play.

I seriously underestimated the Warriors though. As of last night, they are 100-20 for the last 2 seasons. I already said enough on them last week, but 17-0 is some video game shit. I could do that on NBA Live, but the sliders would be skewed and I would have certainly hit reset on a few of those games. Watching them play is a spiritual experience, and Steph Curry is the most exciting player in the game right now.

The biggest surprise has been how well the East has looked this year. Scoring has been up this year, and every team in the top 8 has a winning record as of today.  The Hornets are not as bad as I thought they would be.The Pistons are putting up a fight, Orlando is pesky with their talented backcourt, and even the Knicks are playing respectable ball (who is this Porzingis kid everyone is talking about???).

Although the Spurs and Warriors are looking good, and the Mavericks are surprising everyone but me and my podcast mate, Craig Stein, the West has become surprisingly buster laden. Think of the biggest busters in the NBA, and I can rattle off at least five off the top of my head. Don’t believe me?

[Takes a Deep breath]

AUSTINRIVERS,CHRISPAUL,JOSHSMITH,DEANDREJORDAN,

JAMESHARDEN,DIONWAITERS, DWIGHTHOWARD, and ROY HIBBERT.

[And exhale]

Four of those guys play on the same team, and another set of two play on the Rockets. Enough said right?

As it stands the 7-7 Utah Jazz would make the playoffs as an eighth seed. Of course I don’t expect this to last, but it does make for a very interesting start to the season. We were ready to just hand over the Eastern Conference title to the Heat Cavaliers. It may not be such a cakewalk.

On this week’s slate of games, its slim pickings for the first week of December. Maybe that is a good thing:

 

Monday

OKC-ATL 

Dallas-Sacramento

Spurs-Bulls (Good Ass Game of the Week)

 

Tuesday

This a good ass day to get some work done.

Wednesday

Golden State-Charlotte 

Go ahead and mark an “L” for the Hornets, as Steph Curry comes home. Do yourself a favor and listen to the away feed, as his dad, Dell will be calling it as a color commentator. Someone in the East will gain a game on Charlotte if they take care of their own business.

Toronto-Atlanta

Playoff preview?

Milwaukee-San Antonio

Worth checking out for sure. I’ll probably be at work late this night, catching up on work, so this is the perfect storm. I may as well bring a cot to my classroom.

Thursday

Oklahoma City-Miami

Interesting front court matchup here. I’d bet the over on blocks swatted this game.

Spurs-Grizzlebees 

Who knew that the missing piece for Memphis was a guard from Kansas?

 

Celtics-Kings

I know my boy Falcon Mike will be on this one. Rondo vs. his favorite team? MMMMPPPPHHHHH

“Black Album” Friday

It is a long season. Get out of the house for a change. Spend some time with that special someone. Big ups to one of the greatest to ever step in the booth.

Saturday

Golden State-Toronto

This game will almost certainly be a beige-out. Every light skinned dude from Hamilton, Ontario to Concord, California will be tuning in for this one.

People always ask me, “Bobby Mickey why don’t you like light skinned people?” Well for the record, I have nothing against light skinned people–my mother is light skinned, my granny was light skinned, if you know anything about my proclivities, there is a really good chance my kids will be light skinned.

But light skinned people are a breed of folk of their own. A lot of them think they are better than dark people because they are light, and they also think they are better than pale people because they have permanent tans (the notable exceptions to this are Chris Arnold and Stephen Curry). If you don’t believe me, just ask one of them. They will guiltily laugh because they know its true. I ain’t lying!!!

Cleveland-Miami 

This will be a hard fought affair, and then Wade, Bosh, and Lebron will all go out to a steak and shrimp dinner and talk about the old days. Then they will do “not one, not two, not three, four, five shots” of really expensive tequila, before tearfully hugging goodbye.

Kings-Rockets

If my man “Boogie Down Productions” is playing, there is good chance there may be a fight/and or ejection. I’m a mild mannered guy and the Rockets piss me off. Imagine a hot head like Cousins having to put up with Harden’s FuckBoyShit. 

Blazers vs. Teen Wolves

I can’t wait for my boy Bobo to get back from Europe so I can start texting him about the Blazers again. This game is definitely group text worthy.

Sunday

Kings-Thunder

I could see this one getting testy too. I don’t know if this is Good Ass Game of the Week material, but I guarantee you its gonna be some ice grilling going on. By the way, I love me some Russ, homie is perpetually sour.

Dallas-Washington

Talk about tapping that vein. Wizards are boring and basic as fuck. I’m sure there are 1,000’s of reasons to watch this game, but I can’t think of any.

A lot of shade being thrown in today’s post. I hope I didn’t offend anyone. These are just jokes folks. Life is too short to be getting butt hurt over every little thing. There are issues to worry about in the world.

Peace,

 

BM

bobbymickey@gmail.com

fullsass.com

@clickpicka79

#thisagoodassgame #fullsass

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 35/55 Rule : A Guest Post by Alex Knapp

Posted by

0

Let’s get one thing straight. I’m a Portland Trail Blazer fan. I WANT them to win.
I’m not going to hide my bias or pretend I don’t care about the outcome of a game, or even the ten thousand variables that went into said outcome of that game (if a Pat Connaughton flaps his wings).
In fact, I’m going to use this bias and knowledge of the team to better inform my predictions of their success this season. After all, this is the team I read about and watch the most – shouldn’t I be relatively knowledgeable about them? And aren’t I capable as a rational human to formulate thoughts that aren’t only purely based out of emotional feelings towards the success of the team?
“THE BLAZERS ARE THE BEST CUZ I LIKE THEM A LOT.” – dumb fan with zero basketball knowledge or insight
Therefore, I wrote in my previous guest post – and will continue to believe that they win less than 27.5 games this season (the Vegas over/under).

Now we are 5 games into the season and the Blazers are 3-2. Fans are scoffing at the 27.5 win line, with most eyeing a 35-40 win season, and the select few who wear Rose city colored glasses lamenting an 8th seeded playoff berth – “Listen, CJ is a top 5 SG in the league and Ed Davis is a skinny Z-bo. WE ARE GETTING THE 8th SEED!”

Yet, I’m holding strong.

I don’t think the Blazers have the horses to consistently put up enough points in the stacked west. I think our team is made up of unproven, slightly above average – mismatched  pieces, with horrible perimeter defense from our starting guards, and a general lack of rim protection behind that. I think we lose a lot of close 4th quarter games, and are always at risk of blowing a big lead that we get early in the game. Make no mistake, this team is lottery bound. AND THAT’S OKAY!!!!! 

Now that we’ve got that out of the way…to why we are actually here….

The 35/55 rule.
I’ve developed a simple theory/mathematical equation to predict the probability of the Blazers success this season. By keying in on a few simple box scores numbers, I believe I could successfully tell you the outcome of a game, without having the final score revealed to me.

This theory revolves around the scoring of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. Separately and in conjunction.
Why? because their scoring is the single most consistent thing about this team, or at least fans of them winning hope it is.
It’s also the greatest predictor of our offense putting up enough numbers to be even competitive in any game.
The difference between Aminu putting in 6 and 18 points essentially has no baring on whether we win or lose.
Ed Davis playing solid defense and snagging 12 rebounds isn’t a strong enough correlation to us winning games.

Simply put no one else on this team impacts the game enough to make a difference – other than Dame and CJ’s scoring output.

So let’s look at some numbers:

Game 1:  37 + 21  = 58  = W
Game 2:  16 + 24  = 40  = L
Game 3:  15 + 23  = 38  = L
Game 4:  18 + 34  = 52  = W
Game 5:  27 + 35  = 62  = W

Are we noticing a trend…..?

It’s really simple guys, the first column is CJ’s points that game, the second column is Dame’s points that game, and the third column is their combined points.

Each time one of them scores close to 35 points, and combined they score close to 55, they win.
Each they don’t do both of those things, they lose.

Let’s take a second look with everything labeled:

               CJ     Dame     Both   Outcome
Game 1:  37  +   21      = 58     = W
Game 2:  16  +   24      = 40     = L
Game 3:  15  +   23      = 38     = L
Game 4:  18  +   34      = 52     = W

Game 5:  27  +   35      = 62     = W

My prediction : They will continue to win whenever the 35/55 rule is reached, and will continue to lose every game it’s not.
Now this isn’t an exact science, if Henderson comes back and puts up big numbers or Aminu gets hot and puts in 25+ one game (allowing CJ to take a night off), then those nights the rule won’t be reached and the Blazers might get the Win. I hope they do.
However, I truly think around 85% of games this year (70 games) will fall under the 35/55 rule, and it will become the easiest predictor of success for the Blazers this season.

This is also why I believe Lillard has a punchers chance of the Points Per Game title.
He will need to average close to 28 ppg if this team is going to win any where close to 30 games.
Take a gander at the box scores every night and do the math in your head…you’ll start to see I’m right. I’ll post another update to this rule every 20 games or so just to show the progress.

Alex Knapp is a Portlander living in Brooklyn, New York for the past 7 years.
A filmmaker and actor currently working in HR to pay the bills, Alex is an avid NBA basketball fan who likely has an opinion on every team and every player, seriously – try him.