NBA

A FEVERED DREAM

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Damn it! I missed what was probably the “Good Ass Game of the Night” yesterday because I was puking my guts out. I’m not sure what it was I ate on Sunday, but yesterday gave true meaning to having a case of the Mondays. When I wasn’t in the bathroom trying to avoid a hernia, I was passed out cold in bed, listening to Season 2 of David Simon’s Treme (Great show by the way–really underrated) on my laptop.

Boston-Phoenix was the game I really wanted to catch yesterday. Rondo vs. Phoenix’s three headed monster of Isiah Thomas, Goran Dragic and Eric Bledsoe was an intriguing match-up. Rajon is a triple double machine and he still doesn’t really have anyone to play with (sorry Celtics fans—but either build around him or trade him).

I was interested in Dallas-Charlotte also, but looking at the scores, looks like it wasn’t much of a game. The Hornets are a little slow our of the gate. Which is fine for them because they are in the Eastern Conference. Oklahoma City doesn’t have that luxury, and every game without Russ and KD is like watching a snapshot into the franchise’s future.

Thunder fans may find themselves in a world where Steven Adams becomes the face of the franchise. You know who is going to get paid this summer? Reggie Jackson. You know who will not be paying him? The Thunder. I’m wondering what team will sign him as a free agent. He could easily become Bobby Jackson 3.0 if he was of that mentality, but word on the street is that he wants to be a starter, and get paid as a starter. I do wonder how long that post-Westbrrok/Durant swoon will last. Drafting 3 of the top 10 NBA players in a five year span is almost unheard of, and it isn’t like OKC is a destination spot by an means.

Reggie, go to New Orleans and team up with Lil Brow Wow. Young Mr. Davis had another nasty line of 31 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 blocks, 3 steals, and 0 turnovers. But as I said before he needs help. Reggie Jackson isn’t the answer at point guard, but he can’t be any worse than what they have already. Last night’s game between Portland and New Orleans was another one I had circled. I caught the tail end of it, but not nearly enough to give some quality analysis. I will say this though, you know you have backcourt problems when Steve Blake is slicing you up.

I watched the 4th qtr of the Bulls-Clippers game last night. This ws the second Bulls game in a week I had caught and man do they look locked in. They have just the right mix of young guys and veterans on that team, and watching them pass is a thing of beauty. What helps the Bulls this year is their depth, and they finally have offensive threats.

Having 3 point shooters is helping them spread the floor like they were not able to do last year. Even when Joakim Noah was killing it last year, it was still difficult to watch them. Every point was a struggle , every game a grind. The Bulls are playing beautiful basketball right now. We’ll see how long it lasts. Coach Thibs has a way of running his teams down before the playoffs start. Let’s see if he can flip the script this year.

Good Ass Games of the Week:

Tonight in the Calipari Classic, “Boogie Down Production” Cousins vs. Lil Brow Wow. A big night for Kentucky fans with this one and the Kentucky vs. Kansas game (probably 12-15 NBA prospects seeing floor time tonight).
While I’m on the subject, I have not been so far down on college hoops in a long time. This year is pretty meh which may be a good thing. It’s hard living a normal life during basketball season.


Wednesday

Spurs-Cavs
This may come as a shock to everyone, but the Spurs will go wherever Kawhi takes them this year. When Kawhi is on the court, the Spurs are a different team. He has this subtle way of imposing his will on the game for stretches at a time. His facial expression never changes, but he will suddenly become the fastest player on the court.

Dallas-Washington
To quote a friend, Nothing special. Just “tapping the vein” at this point. There used to be mad debates in Dallas about whether the Mavs should have taken Paul Pierce instead of Dirk. Seems like a silly argument in hindsight, because clearly things worked out the way they should have for both players (and for Dallas and Boston), but in ’98 this was a real sports talk issue.

Memphis-Toronto
Why do I feel like Drake and Justin Timberlake will be watching this game in the studio while they cut a “Jay-z eats Fondue” fake diss track? This has the makings of an entertaining game or the Grizzlies may just smother the life out the Raptors and blow them out. I still haven’t watched any Memphis games yet, so this may be the one I actually tune in for. I’m still not on the bandwagon yet, its way too early in the season to crown them champs, but man they really know how to beat up on a team in the playoffs. Who’d have thought it would be not them, but OKC who would get hit with the injury bug this year?

Thursday

Chicago vs. Sacramento

Clearing the schedule already for this one. No way I’m missing it.

Friday

Cleveland-Washington
Dallas vs. LAL
The first game can easily be a playoff series come April. I have not had a chance to watch either of these teams play yet, so if I decide not to go out i will certainly tune in for it. I’d be more likely to catch the Lakers vs. Mavericks later that night. Kobe is getting them shots up, and the Lakers keep losing…….

Don’t miss the Kentucky-Kansas game tonight. I’m not sure how good of a game it will be, but if your favorite NBA team is going to be in the lottery, then it may be worth your time.

HOLLA!!!!

“A Quick One While He’s Away!”

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Yo Peep!

This one is a going to be a real quickie–the Spurs play the Clippers at 9:30. I just finished watching the Cleveland-New Orleans game in which Cavs finally reached .500 for their Win-Loss record. Bron-Bron vs. Lil Brow Wow was all that it was cracked up to be. Lebron put in some work with 32 points, 12 Rebs, and 10 Assists on 9/17 shooting. He had way more help than Anthony Davis–a force of nature (27 points, 14 points, 4 assists,4 steals, and 3 blocks)– with Kyrie Irving (who went HAM down the stretch of 18 points on 18 shots, finishing with 32 points on 21 shots, and 9 assists) and Kevin Love’s very efficient 22 points (7-13 shooting, 6-9 from three pointers).

Besides Ryan Anderson, the Pelicans don’t have anyone. Austin Rivers plays like a Buster! Tryeke Evans is a poor man’s Lance Stephenson. Jrue Holiday is decent, but he probably shouldn’t be starting. Eric Gordon is in the graveyard of players Bill Simmons thought was going to be raw. They suck. It’s depressing to watch them down the stretch of games. FREE ANTHONY DAVIS! Run BROW RUN! Go to New York and play for Phil, or go to Washington and play with KD, but don’t stay in New Orleans longer than this contract. Just ask Kevin Love what happens when you sign an extension with a bad team without doing your homework.

That being said, I’m going to have to watch more of the Pelicans in order to get my Anthony Davis fix. This dude is like Tim Duncan but with handles, and Kobe’s explosiveness.

Speaking of teams I’m going to watch more than I originally expected, I kind of like the Kings. I feel like they are a superstar away from being legitimate playoff contenders. They have a good core of veterans in the locker room with Carl Landry, Ramon Sessions, and Reggie Evans. Enough has been said of the effect this summer had on “Boogie Down Productions.” He has been killing it. I wonder what would have to be done to make a Rondo for Rudy Gay trade work.

Last night’s game between the Suns and Warriors played out as exactly as I figured it would. The game was a sluggish one–the refs threw the game out of rhythm with a high number of whistles early on. The Warriors shot well enough to start, but were spent by the end of the game. You could tell that the back-to-back games had taken away their legs. They were also without Splash Brother Klay who was nursing a sprained wrist. Phoenix ran away with it around the 9 minute mark of the 4th quarter.

Good Ass Games of the week:

Spurs-Clippers in about 15 minutes….hopefully they won’t wear those ugly ass jerseys that were worn on Saturday. Them shits were “muy muy feo!”

Tuesday
Hornets vs. Trailblazers Two nasty backcourts going head-to-head.
Spurs vs. Golden State You know Popovich will be sitting some starters–but at least Kyle Anderson will get some minutes.

Wednesday
Houston vs. Minnesota Wiggins and Zach Lavine make a pact to try to get on the cover of “Slam” Magazine by dunking on Dwight Howard.

Lakers-Pelicans Would have been great to see Randle v.s Davis matchup.
Denver vs. Portland The matchup for nastiest backcourts continues with Wesley Matthews-Damien Lillard vs. Arron AfflaloI-Ty Lawson. If I were a person visiting Colorado for an indefinite amount of time, I know I would be at this game.

Thursday

Chicago-Toronto Worth checking out for sure. There is a very strong possibility these two teams meet in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Friday
“Hey! Hey! It’s the Weekend babayyyyyy!!!” I’ve crossed the threshold now where if a girl ain’t down with hoop, then she ain’t down with me. It’s almost winter time and I’m already prepared to hunker down with some crock pot chili (or pot roast) and geek out on roundball for the next 6 months. There just isn’t enough time in the world for a high maintenance girlfriend and basketball. She be like “Ugh Sports. What’s so great about basketball Bobby?”
and I’ll say ” Look baby if you really want me to pay more attention, learn how to jump 12 feet in the air off one leg and dunk a basketball. Then I’d never take my eyes off you again girl. Can you do that for me? Didn’t think so. Next!”

Charlotte-Phoenix Damn. It gets no easier for Stephenson and Walker this week. Quite the gauntlet for the Charlotte backcourt.

Spurs-Lakers I’m not much into watching ass whuppings, but for some reason it gives me great pleasure to watch the “Lake-Show” go up in flames. It’s like going to a Siegfried and Roy show knowing that someone is going to get eaten. I haven’t been disappointed yet with the Lakers this season.

Minnesota-New Orleans In my best Drake voice, “Anthony Davis!!! A-Wiggins!!!!”

Saturday
Charlotte-Golden State Damn. No breaks for Charlotte this road trip. At all.
Phoenix vs. Clippers Who does Beige–I mean Blake Griffin punch this night? I’ll give you 2-1 odds on the Morris brothers and 3-1 on p.J. Tucker. This plot alone makes them game a must watch.

Sunday
Golden State-Lakers Kobe gets hurt trying to keep up with young bucks. I’m guessing its just a hamstring pull. He’ll be day to day for the next 5-7 games.

It’s exactly 9:48 pm and the Spurs-Clippers game is already underway. It’s deep into the first quarter–but you know what? It figures. I’ve never been good at quickies.

Don’t Believe the Hype

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You’re going to smell a lot of burning tire from the quick reversal of early season predictions. I still think Minnesota will do better than people think they will, but I must have been on one when I said they would contend for a playoff spot. Out in the west? This is what happens when I quit smoking weed, all logic just goes out the window. This week I’m almost certain the narrative will be “What’s wrong with the Cavs? Will the Cavaliers make the playoffs?” etc. etc. That is the thing about the media, they will create a narrative, then when the reality doesn’t live up to the manufactured product, they flip it.

With a first year NBA head coach in David Blatt, two megastars who have never been to the playoffs, and aging, and very thin bench, the hype was a little swollen. Now people are jumping off a bandwagon they should have probably never jumped on. It’s the first full week of the season folks Ya’ll needs to chilllllll. The Cavaliers will be fine, they need time to gel, make another move or two, and they play out in the East. There is nothing to worry about.

Now if I were OKC, I would be a little concerned. I initially thought that this early adversity would be good for the role players so they would learn how to play without their superstars. But as Zach Lowe pointed out in his column today (this is before Perry Jones III got hurt tonight), a slow start could impede this team winning the 49 games it usually takes to get an 8th seed into the Western Conference playoffs.

I have not been able to watch as much hoops as I hoped this past week and a half, but I’m scaling it back like Little Dragon. By next week I’ll be okay.

I completely missed the Cavs get beaten by the Trailblazers. My evening nap ran long and woke up in time to watch the last 8 minutes of the Lakers-Suns game. Phoenix is really fun to watch. They play fast and loose and aggressive defense. They have at least 4-5 highlight plays from that team. More on them later. Watching the Lakers lose is always fun, and watching Kobe just chuck it up is equally entertaining. The Kobe fans get what they want and Lakers haters get what they have wanted to see for years. Everyone wins.

Good Ass Game of the Week:

Golden State vs. Phoenix this Sunday. This is one of those games that I’ll hate myself forever if I don’t catch it. Believe me when I tell you this is gonna be a GOOD ASS game.

Other games

Miami-Charlotte (could be ugly with both teams coming off of a back to back)

Memphis-Phoenix (Memphis had tonight off and the Suns just played an intense game out in Los Angeles. Might not be pretty.)

Another candidate for GOOD ASS Game of the Week right here with Clippers-Warriors on Wednesday night.

San Antonio-Houston (I imagine my Rockets friends and Spurs friends will have a good time with this possible playoff preview)

Dallas-Portland will be fun for sure. Dirk vs. LaMarcus was a great match-up last year.

Washington-Toronto will be a good way to unwind after the work week. I may even have a beer while I watch.

Portland-Clippers, Golden State-Houston, and New Orleans-San Antonio on Saturday night. Watching Anthony Davis match up with Tim Duncan is a treat for the ages. NBA past against NBA future. Imagine if Anthony Davis is lucky enough to play with some champions on his team. That guy is quickly becoming a top 5 player.

Actually I change my mind, Wednesday is going to be the GOOD ASS GAME of the WEEK. Golden State-Phoenix is on the back end of a back-to-back.

MOUSE IN THA HOUSE!

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And just like that, the season is here. What a treat opening night was. The Spurs get their rings and eek out a one point victory against the Mavs in what definitely was a “Good Ass Game.” Both teams a little sluggish early on (My boy Boris A.K.A. “the Big Pastry” looked especially out of sync), but by the 3rd quarter they were grooving. For a brief second I wondered if the Mavs were going to ride Dirk’s hot hand all the way to a “W”, and they even had the final shot at the end.

Somehow they managed not to exploit the switch on the pick and roll, which left Danny Green guarding Dirk for about 5-7 seconds. Chandler Parsons chucked it up for one of his 8 misses (2-10 for the whole game) and the Spurs escaped what could have easily been an opening night defeat. Now I may be giving the Mavs too much credit here (San Antonio is a little banged up and missing their Finals MVP–Kawhi Leonard– with an eye infection), but this could easily be a Western Conference Finals preview–don’t sleep on that Rick Carlisle and Dirk tandem.
Kiss the Rings BITCH!!

I peeped the majority of the disastrous Lakers-Rockets game. If you like watching isolation sets and one on one ball, then this was the game for you (38 combined assists for both teams). Besides James Harden, the Rockets have no one who can consistently create points for the team. The only excitement throughout the game was the weird 5 minute stretch where Dwight and Kobe had a tiff, and then Julius Randle (get well soon man) broke his leg on a freak play. It was not the kind of game that left me with swooning with excitement.

One bright spot was seeing my man Tarik Black out there on the court in an NBA uniform. I think he will add a little class to that Houston Rockets locker room. Dude is seriously one of my favorite players to come out of Lawrence in a long time. With his positive outlook and great work ethic, he should never have trouble finding work in the league. Big Ups!

There are going to be some good ass games this week tho:

OKC vs. Portland (Illard vs. Westbrook)
Washington vs. Miami
Milwaukee vs. Charlotte
Lakers vs. Phoenix (I forgot how much I enjoy watching the Lakers lose. I find Kobe at this point in his career as entertaining as Barry Bonds’ own “%&$@ it” period near the end of his own career. I like that brutal honesty. I think its good for the game–keeps all these yahoo media types on their toes.

Golden State vs Sacramento
OKC vs. Clippers (Thunder will go 0-2 to begin the season but Russell Westbrook will have a combined 75 points for both nights)

Cleveland vs. Chicago Possibly a preview of the Eastern Conference Finals
Golden State vs. Portland (two of the best backcourts in the NBA facing off)
Dallas vs. New Orleans (Can there be too much hype surrounding Anthony Davis at this point?)

Memphis vs. Charlotte (Grimey!!!)
Chicago vs. Minnesota (I get headaches from watching Minnesota homegames–not from the players–but because that court is so damn ugly)

Lakers vs. Golden State (#asswhupping)

Charlotte vs. New York Knicks (Two of Brooklyn’s finest coming home. No way in hell I miss this one)

Milwaukee vs. Washington (why not?)

Free Trial with NBA League Pass so I will be on that tip. This is the year I finally purchase it for real. It is going to be hard keeping a girlfriend who doesn’t like hoop. She better be damn interesting–that’s all I’m saying.

Vindication

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I’m not sure what to say besides I told you so. It feels good to be right. That Heat bench was damn near nonexistent during this series. There was a certain point in the game where San Antonio’s bench had outscored Miami’s bench 30-2.
Lebron balled out so you can’t put this on him. He came out hard and put up 20 first half blocks and impacted the game early on. Well guess what? The Heat were still down by 7 going into the second half.

It was a good all around team game for the Spurs (as usual). Boris Diaw made a sick alley-oop pass to Kawhi Leonard, the Finals MVP. Ginobili made his presence felt the minute he stepped onto the court, mashing on busters like it was 2005.
Tony Parker and Tim Duncan didn’t have the flashiest of stats tonight but they made plays every time the Heat made a small run at them.

Seeing this unselfish, multi-national team put it on the Heat after such a heartbreaking loss was exciting and inspiring. They could have folded up like lawn furniture and let the championship window close, but they fought through it, let it motivate them, and everyone on the team did what it took to improve. Seeing how much those guys appreciate this and seeing how hard they worked to not only get back to the Finals, but to beat that ass in such a convincing manner puts tears in my eyes.

I’ll give Miami and Lebron credit for the 4 year run they have been on, and see no reason why they can’t get back to Finals playing in that weak ass conference they play in. As it is, you never know what the fuck will happen from year to year,and nothing is ever promised. The Spurs played a great post-season and should be remembered for one of the best playoff runs of all time. This was a fun team to watch. Congratulations to the NBA champion San Antonio Spurs, and I’m happy for every one of you Spurs fans out there who endured last year’s heart wrenching loss. It’s all water under the bridge. Enjoy this one. You earned it.

Lovable Losers: A new series [originally posted on sportsblog.com 8/28/13]

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I’ve been a basketball fan since I was about 12. I grew up in Dallas during the Mavericks worst years when they were owned by a guy who ran car dealerships and bowling alleys. The mavericks sucked and though I rooted for Popeye Jones, Tim Leger, and George McCloud to be successful, the brand of basketball they played was not in the least bit entertaining.

This forced me to open my eyes up to the national scene to find out what good basketball was elsewhere. 1992 was a pivotal year for me and sports: The Ticket radio station became Dallas’ first all sports station. The Cowboys won their first Super Bowl since I’d been born. My mom got me a subscription to Sports Illustrated. I had a Sega Genesis to geek out with Madden, Hardball III, NHL, and Bulls vs. Blazers. My obsession with sports began and here I am today, blogging about my favorite teams that did not win a championship (on a Saturday night no less).

There is only one team a year that can win a championship. Sometimes it doesn’t seem fair, especially when a team is thoroughly fun and the brand of ball is oh so entertaining. But entertaining doesn’t always win championships and doesn’t always bring accolades. So this is my way of honoring those teams that didn’t quite have what it took to win it all, but nevertheless won my heart (Yea I know–shit’s corny but it’s true. I guess I’m becoming sentimental in my old age). This will be a series of installments of teams ranging from NFL, to MLB, to the NBA to NCAA.

To kick this bad boy off let’s reflect on the 1992-93 Phoenix Suns.

Head Coach: Paul Westphal

Key Starters- Charles Barkley, Kevin Johnson, Dan Majerle

Key bench players- Danny Ainge, Richard Dumas, Tom Chambers

This was the first team I watched thoroughly during their playoff run in which they finally lost to Jordan’s (3-peat) Bulls. They were a lot of fun to watch. Dan Majerle and Danny Ainge with their long range threes. Richard Dumas and Cedric Ceballos were athletic slashers who could get to the rim. Charles Barkley of course was just traded to them and made them immediate championship contenders. The America West arena was a raucous place to watch a game with fans that went ape shit every time the Suns dialed one up from long distance.

I can remember the cover of SI that year and the feature story about Barkley (my favorite player in the world not named Chris Webber–the only pair of Nike’s I ever owned were Barkleys) finally having a legit chance to compete for an NBA title. He was at the peak of his game then and looking back its crazy to think that year was as good as he was going to get. That Finals was one of the best I’ve ever seen. Every game was competitive and entertaining. Though many point to that game 6 with the John Paxson shot that sealed the deal, I remember the equally competitive game 4.

Jordan took over at the end of that game (he had 55 pts that night and Barkley fouled Jordan on a layup attempt and couldn’t keep him from making the bucket and getting the And 1. The game was over after that and Phoenix had to eek out a 3 OT thriller just to force game 6. But they were in every game and could have easily won that series had it not been for timely mishaps and missteps which the savvy Bulls took advantage of (but I guess that is what separates great teams from championship teams isn’t it?).

If you go back and look at this roster, its easy to see why they didn’t have the horses to win. The Chicago Bulls had a better bench than they did and the Suns sucked at the center position. It was a 4 on 5 game pretty much the whole time Mark West and Oliver Miller were on the court. I have tried playing with this classic team on Xbox when me and my homey match-up and its a tough one to manage.

Usually I would play small ball with Tom Chambers playing center, Charles Barkley at the 4, Dan Majerle at small forward, Kevin Johnson running point and Danny Ainge at shooting guard. On offense this spread out the floor and opened up the court a bit (its actually pretty fun because there are so many 3 point opportunities). The problem was that defensively this lineup sucked and nobody could protect the rim and fatigue usually forced me to put in West, or Miller. They only went 8 deep and only 5 of those guys were legit offensive threats. So imagine trying to coach this team in real life instead of a video game. Paul Westphal had to get creative with that lineup.

I was incredibly annoyed to see Jordan rip their hearts out, but now with a little bit of hoops knowledge I understand why it didn’t happen for them. They were facing Jordan and Pippen and Phil Jackson, and they just weren’t balanced enough to win. Ce la Vie. I still remember the stunned feeling when this happened.

Bang! Season over that fast.

That would be the closest Barkley, KJ and company would ever get to sniffing a championship with that group. Dumas would never match the stats he put up that year (15.8 pts and 4.6 rebounds per game) and would end up finishing his career in Greece. Ceballos went on to create the “Lake Show” up in Los Angeles with Eddie Jones and Sedale Threatt. Chambers never did much after season and the core players left never seemed to get over the hump.

The Suns would bring in Danny Manning, and Waymon Tisdale to try and bring Phoenix a title, but it never happened. Mario Elie slammed Phoenix’s championship window shut with a 3 pointer in 1995. The Suns had commanding 3-1 series leads over Houston two years in a row and let them slip away twice.

In 1997 Barkley would try to team up with Drexler and Olajuwan in Houston, and that team almost made it to the Finals but someone let Stockton take a wide open 3. Once again Sir Charles was sent home to go fishing.

Though the Suns never won it all on the basketball court, some of the key players found success off the hardwood. KJ is the mayor of Sacramento and much to the chagrin of Supersonics fans was able to help keep the Kings in “Sad” Sac-town. Majerle is the head coach at Grand Canyon University according to Wikipedia. Danny Ainge helped rebuild the Celtics franchise and get them a title in ’08 as the GM (he is in the middle of another rebuilding job as we speak). And of course Barkley is ubiquitous. You see him on commercials, you see him on TNT. He is on every talk show being entertaining. So there you go, as Jalen Rose likes to say,”There is the score on the scoreboard and there is the score in the game of life.”

62 regular season wins and a thoroughly enjoyable playoff run, culminating in one of the greatest NBA Finals I have ever seen; I wouldn’t necessarily call them losers.

Basketball Orgasm [Originally posted on 11/17/13 on sportsblog.com]

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Something told me that I needed to clear my schedule and find a bar to watch the Golden State Warriors and Oklahoma Thunder play on Thursday night.

My instincts were correct. It felt like the Western Conference Finals that I wanted to see last year (before Russell Westbrook got hurt and derailed the Thunder’s chances).

The pace of the game was unbelievable. The Thunder started the game off 9 for their first 12 field goals. Both teams had put up 31 in the first quarter.

It’s early in the season but you will find it hard to find a more entertaining game to watch in the regular season.

The referees did a great job of not interfering too much with the flow and the pace was just up and down the court. For every ooh and ahh, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook provided, Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry came back with their own sizzling moves.

There were so many sick passes to gush over, great back cuts, and alley oops. Transition buckets were punctuated with good form, whether it was a dazzling dunk, or a step back long distant 3 pointer that seemed to float off the tops of the “Splash Brothers’ ” fingertips.

It was an incredible game that would have still been memorable without the “dagger” 3 by Westbrook, and the game winning jumper by Andre Iguodala.

My only complaint for the night was that we were at a bar that would only played punk music with the TV on mute. I had no idea how hype it was in the Oracle until I watched a replay of the game. I bet it was so loud in there (which may have hyped me up even more than I was–I was practically screaming at the top of my lungs every other play).

I’m almost certain that I may have to skip the Oklahoma State- Kansas game on my birthday in order to catch the Warriors-Thunder rematch on January 17th in Oklahoma City. Then again it may not come to that at all, maybe I can choose both.

Community Quick Hits [originally posted on sportsblog.com 11/24/13]

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Random basketball thoughts from last week:

1) Indiana’s Paul George must have been inspired by Larry “Legend” the other night against the Knicks. Certain players know how to really dial it up whenever they are playing Madison Square Garden. Anytime Jordan played there you knew he was going for 30 points (at least). Kobe was the same way. If Kevin Durant or Steph Curry go to MSG to play, I’m going to at least look and see if the game is televised. It may be time to add Paul George to the list.

What he did down the stretch of the 4th quarter and in OT against the Knicks was reminiscent of the way superstars take over the game. He played D on Carmelo Anthony and still managed to make tough shots down the stretch. It was pretty hype. I’m all in on the Pacers if they get more bench help. Injuries aside, I’m saying it’s going to be a Pacers-Spurs finals.

2) Most blowouts are boring to watch, but a KU blowout is still pretty fun. Friday night’s game against Towson was exactly the kind of game you want to see if you are a Jayhawks fan. They didn’t play down to the competition. They came out aggressive and when the opportunity arrived they went for the jugular and put the game out of reach.

I don’t expect many teams to lay down for the Jayhawks. In fact, with all the scouts and hoopla surrounding the team, they will probably get teams’ best shot. If I were a junior or senior, I would want to ball out and leave something for the NBA scouts to remember about me. I don’t expect many more blowouts like the one they had against Towson where the game was over 10 minutes in. On a video game you can hit reset or turn the game off. In real life you just have to take the ass whupping. Scouts take note of how well players respond when getting blown out like that–whether a player crumpled up like a folding chair and mailed it in, or if they left it all on the court.

John Wooden used to say that when you are playing basketball, you are not playing against an opponent. You are playing against your best self. I like the way the Jayhawks went into that game aggressive and never let off the gas. That’s the way championship teams approach things every night.

Towson didn’t play particularly well. Everyone seemed to be looking for their own shot instead of moving the ball and moving without the the ball. Towson started out like 1 for 7 in the first half and for every miss, the Jayhawks took the long rebound and pushed it for a fast break. I was hoping that they would hit a 100, but I knew that Towson would probably score more than 16 in the second half.

3) Joel Embiid probably won’t be around for long if he keeps playing like he has been. His numbers have been nice, but you have to watch him play to get the full gist of how good he can be. He flashed some serious signs of basketball brilliance in both games this week.

Against Iona he showed how athletic and graceful he is, impressing me with how fluid his movements were. Against Towson, he made me squeal with a couple of beautiful Duncan-esque outlet passes. Right now on some mock drafts, he is listed as high as #7.

4) Andrew Wiggins made an excellent decision in coming here to Lawrence. Had he gone to FSU, he’d be in the ACC with Jabari Parker. Though this sounds titillating to have that matchup twice in one year (assuming KU and Duke don’t face each other again in the tourney), he’d be playing on a mid-tier team in a stacked ACC.

Could you imagine Wiggins playing for Kenutcky? The Wildcats already have spacing issues with their difficulties hitting the deep shot. Wiggins would have just added to that. Randle commands a lot of space in the paint and there would be little left for Wiggins to work with. How would they have found enough shots for everybody?

Without Wiggins, this would be a pretty memorable team. With Wiggins, this team has a chance to be one of the all time greats. I’m not just talking about KU history either. I think that (injuries withstanding) people will reflect on this team like they talk about 1990 UNLV, the Fab Five Michigan squads, ’91 Duke, and ’06-07 Florida teams with Joakim Noah, Corey Brewer and Al Horford.

It is a long season which makes this talk sound a little crazy. The question becomes will this be one of the best NCAA teams of all time, or will they be one of the best NCAA teams to not win it all? I would hate to one day write a “lovable losers” essay about this team.

Bring on the Demon Deacons!

Good Teaching Moment [originally posted on 12/2/13 on sportsblog.com]

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The Lawrence Journal World typified the overreaction from Jayhawk nation when it ran the headline: “Paradise Lost” for Friday’s loss to the Villanova Wildcats.

You could tell that early on the boys looked sluggish and the combination of Villanova’s aggression, the dim setting for an “arena” (the ceiling was too low and the room itself reeked of a Las Vegas ballroom lounge), and Kansas’ body language gave me a bad feeling minutes into the game.

I think even Bill Self knew the score. The smirk he displayed during his sideline interviews was priceless. I’m not saying he knew that the boys were being boys on their all expenses paid trip to the Bahamas, but he had to suspect something right?

I’m not alleging that the team was getting ripped all weekend, and thus too dehydrated to compete effectively, but it does make you wonder.

The only guys who were able to bring it consistently energy wise were Joel Embiid and Frank Mason Jr.

Not to take anything away from the Wildcats. They played out of their mind and are a very good team. I would be shocked if they didn’t make the NCAA tournament in March. But they barely won and KU didn’t play even close to what they are capable of playing. I’m not worried in the least bit. I’d rather they lose now in such a manner than go undefeated and lose during the tournament. I hope this weekend teaches the team that they have to bring it every game because every team will be bringing their ‘A’ game to face KU.

From the look of things, they have a lot to work on, even Self himself says “that they got very little accomplished” during this trip to the Bahamas.

Seems like Self still hasn’t quite found his lineup just yet. 3 point shooting has been pretty hit or miss. When Selden, Wiggins, Thaarpe, Black and Ellis are on the court together, there is a bit of cluster going on inside the perimeter. Thaarpe, Selden, and Wiggins still don’t make enough outside buckets to keep defenders honest. Brandon Greene, and Connor Frankamp haven’t been good enough defenders to stay on the court for long stretches of time.

This is too bad because their outside shooting could stretch defenses out a bit and open up the lanes for Wiggins to drive and Ellis to get some space to work inside. Joel Embiid looks like he’ll soon be starting for the team (unless Self wants a legitimate scorer like Embiid to lead the second unit) by mid season. He has worked himself higher up the draft every game. As of the other night, I saw one draft board that had Wiggins going number 1 (debatable), Embiid as high as a number 3 pick, Selden at number 9, and Ellis as a fifteen pick.
Embiid is already my favorite player on this squad and by year’s end could make the pantheon of Jayhawks to ever come through Allen Fieldhouse. I’m digging it. He just needs to learn how to stay on the floor without fouling (Olajuwon had the same problem early in his career–so maybe the comparisons are apt).

Other noteworthy thoughts from last week:

I got a chance to watch some other teams this week.

The Duke-Zona game was interesting. I’m still not sold on Duke as a team. Besides Quinn Cook, Rodney Hood, and Jabari Parker, no one on that Duke team knocks me out. They will be a sweet sixteen team and maybe an elite eight, but the upper echelon teams will work them.

I like Arizona’s squad. Aaron Gordon didn’t particularly wow me as a scorer, but he surprised me with his passing. He’s a really good passer. I was impressed with a few of his dishes throughout the game. Someone (probably Bill Simmons) touted him as another Blake Griffin, but his game reminded me more of a finesse player (think Channing Frye with muscle). He may be the best passing big man I’ve seen on their team since Luke Walton. I could see them beating KU on the right day. Their pg TJ McConnell reminds me of Ohio State’s Aaron Craft and they play great defense. If they face KU in the tournament in March, look out!

Another team that scares me is Oklahoma State. Marcus Smart already has Kevin Durant’s ringing endorsement. I finally got a chance to see him this season the other night against Memphis. It was obvious that they had game planned especially for Smart and it was much more difficult for Smart to get to the rack. Every 3 pointer Smart jacked up was forced and contested and Oklahoma State ended up losing. Smart went 4 for 13 with 12 points and 5 turnovers. He did have a couple of sick assists and still threatened to take over down the stretch.

With Markel Brown, Le Bryant Nash, and Phil Forte, the Cowpokes have a chance to compete for the Big 12 title. I’m not sure if they have enough inside to challenge an opposing team’s big man on a consistent basis. Of course come tournament time, its all about the guard play, and this team may be just as good as the OSU team that went deep into the playoffs with Ivan McFarlin, Joey Graham, and John Lucas running the point. I can’t wait for that January 18th matchup. I’m going to have to find a 2nd job so I can afford tickets.

In the NBA, my award for Jayhawk of the week goes to Xavier Henry who has been down right balling for the Los Angeles Lakers. I’m pretty impressed because he came to Lawrence with so much hype and was even a lottery pick when he left school. I had kind of written him off as a bust. Just goes to show that some players take a little longer than others to develop (another reason why I preach to the Jayhawk faithful to be patient about Wiggins and temper the unrealistic expectations). I’m glad his talent is finally shining through. I’m sure he’s exchanging text messages with Matt Kemp and Blake Griffin about how the women in L.A. are even crazier than ones in Oklahoma City–but man isn’t the weather fantastic.

A quick shout out to Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide for blowing their three-peat chances in memorable fashion. Personal fouls, personnel screw ups, poor special teams, and some head scratching coaching decisions helped Alabama to a big fat L. It was amazing to watch A Nick Saban coached team uncharacteristically unravel. When the refs put time on the clock, and the field goal unit trotted onto the field, I could not believe my eyes.

It didn’t make sense to put a freshman kicker out there to attempt a 59 yard kick when he’d only kicked 3 field goals his whole career. The starting kicker Cade Foster had already missed 3 field goals that day. I figured they were going to call the Hail Mary play. That was like watching the end of a video game. I still can’t believe it. I was watching it live as it happened and my housemates thought someone had broken their foot, I was screaming so loudly. It was unreal. I saw the Music City Miracle as it unfolded, and this was much more spectacular than this. In my opinion this beats Kordell Stewart’s Hail Mary against Michigan, and Stanford-Cal’s kickoff return. Incredible. I bet the odds on Saban splitting for Texas now have increased by 33 percent.

Jayhawks go to Boulder and Gainesville this week. Let’s see how they bounce back.

Bowled over in Boulder and Other Icy Receptions [originally posted 12/9/13 on sportsblog.com]

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Much like most of the people in this region who are experiencing an early visit from the winter, I spent the majority of my weekend indoors. The football games, with the added elements were entertaining to watch, but I wouldn’t trade places with not a player nor fan this weekend. I felt rather lucky to be comfortably lying on the couch, vegging out on what turned out to be a spectacular sports Saturday.

Friday night found me at a buddy’s apartment, sitting in front of his television, praying that the Baylor-Kentucky women’s game did not go into a 5th overtime. Luckily I had taken a nap after work, and hadn’t lost all my juju, but I was worried that the delay would affect the quality of play with the Men’s game–played in a fairly empty JerryWorld.

I was happy to be proven wrong. Not long after tip off, both teams had traded dunks within the first five possessions. It ended up being a really entertaining matchup with Baylor’s front court length being too much for Kentucky.

Julius Randle still put up 16 and 8 but was not able to dominate the game like he had been for the past 2 weeks. Aaron Harrison “the knucklehead twin” had a decent game with 15 points and 6 assists. James Young continued his consistent efficiency with 14 points on 5 of 11 shooting (4-7 from 3 point land).

Kentucky only had 2 points from their bench. That will not cut it against a ranked team like Baylor. All that being said, Kentucky looks like they could be really good come March. This team reminds me of the ’08 Memphis squad that Calipari took to the Championship against the Jayhawks.

They have lots of length (I’m really feeling Willie Cauley-Stein’s game), inconsistent outside shooting, and their free throw shooting is pretty poor. A team can get pretty far with a makeup like this if they are blowing teams out, but the margin is much smaller in tightly contested games against good opponents.

John Calipari is a great recruiter but as X’s and O’s go, he’s been known to get out coached when the talent gap has been even between teams. I keep joking to my buddy, a lifetime Wildcat fan, that as soon as Calipari leaves (because of the inevitable sanctions that will creep up), Travis Ford will be his replacement.

Baylor looked really good. Their front court really impressed me. Isiah Austin and Corey Jefferson really brought it. The point guard Kenny Cherry had a great game as well, pouring in 18 points. I could see Baylor winning a couple of home games against Oklahoma State and Kansas on the right night. Their Achilles heel will be at the guard positions.

Cherry is decent but it took him 15 shots to get 18 points, and they had trouble getting the ball up the court without turning it over. They didn’t get very much production from Brady Heslip, Ish Wainwright, and Gary Franklin (5 pts combined from the 3). They messed up five consecutive pick n rolls during one particular stretch; either not seeing the open big man or messing the pass up altogether.

They’ll make the tourney but will get knocked out by a team with good back court and good head coach with a good zone defensive scheme (Syracuse maybe?). They shoot too many jump shots to be taken seriously as a contender.

*** I got to watch the Duke vs. Michigan game last Tuesday night. What a waste of time that was. If you want to know how Mitch McGary will look in the NBA, just watch the tape of this game. I’m not sure why everyone is so high on him. At best he reminds me of a poor man’s David Lee. McGary looked too slow for Duke’s pressure D and they took advantage of him and the Wolverines’ lack of an elite point guard.That being said he still managed to put up 15 and 14. If he learns how to play D at the NBA level and rebound he can be as good as Nick Collison, an energy and rebounds guy. Maybe I’m wrong, who knows.

Michigan looked horrible. The only one who showed up to play was that Levert’s nephew Caris.Quinn Cook and Rodney Hood got to the rack whenever they wanted to and Michgan couldn’t rotate fast enough to get out on the shooters. Duke made 8 – pointers but chucked up 23 attempts (many of them wide open it seemed). Had Jabari Parker shot been falling the game would have been a blowout. Let me tell you that the game never seemed as close as a ten point deficit. Duke was in control the whole time.

**** Saturday was a highly anticipated day around here. The KC Sporting were in the MLS cup championship and for the first time since I have been here, I was in a bar where the Jayhawks were second fiddle. Sporting fans would be rewarded for their diligence, with an epic win in overtime on penalty kicks.

KU fans were treated to a really exciting, but revealing loss to the Colorado Buffaloes. I liked how krunk the fans were in that building. I have been told that historically, their venue would joking be referred to as “Allen Fieldhouse West” The CU fans represented though. The ball players fed off it and it was definitely a tough environment.

I liked how the Jayhawks handled themselves. They didn’t fold up, they fought back to tie it, and almost came back and won a game they didn’t deserve to win. Wiggins came on in the 2nd half after playing sparingly the first half (picked up a careless reaching foul that put him on the bench very early). He had 16 second half points down the stretch (22 points on 7-11 shooting).

They needed his production too. No one else got close to scoring 20 points. Joel Embiid had only ten points as he struggled with foul trouble. Perry Ellis only had 10 points. Ellis only shot the ball 6 times .The team as a whole shot attempted 20 3 pointers and only made 5 of them. The team also only had 11 assists and were only got 8 offensive rebounds to the Buffaloes 15. These stats will tell you all you need to know about the game and why the Jayhawks were lucky to only lose by 3 points.

They made the Buffs look like a team better than what their ranking (currently unranked) suggested. Guard Jaron Hopkins was the only starter to not hit double digits in scoring. The Buffs found way to find the hole in the zone on almost every possession and seemed to hit every open jumper that was available. They looked in sync down the stretch, making the correct passes and getting the ball to the open perimeter player.

Spencer Dinwiddie (whose mustache and name suggest a future as a high school principal somewhere in the Denver area) played a great game. He had 15 points and 7 assists (3-8 shooting) and seemed to be in on every critical play (save the quarter court heave at the end by Askia Booker).

So bad officiating, foul trouble, and a little bit of luck and heroics conspired to hand the Jayhawks their second loss of the season to an inferior opponent. One could argue that this was the story line to the first loss out in the Bahamas (if you take away the distractions of alcohol, the holidays, the stomach flu, and the Bahamas).

There is no reason for Jayhawks fans to panic. The Buffaloes played out of their minds, good for them. We’ll see how good they are in March. I think this game on Tuesday will be a great revelation of what adjustments the team needs to make. Perhaps that means starting Embiid and Mason and going with a near all Freshman lineup. I’m excited to see how they do in Gainesville.

***** A quick nod to the NBA ballers who went HAM this past week. We’ll call it THACLICKPICKA’s ALL KOSHER ALL STARS for dudes who go ham throughout the week.

PG STEPH CURRY- BALLING!!!!

PG DAMIEN LILLARD- BALLING!!

SF PAUL GEORGE– Did you see his game against the Trailblazers last week? Bro went HAM!

PF KEVIN DURANT– dude was straight balling against Indy last night. FILTHY!!!

and lastly at

Center from Seagoville, Texas:

LAMARCUS!!!!!!!!