NBA

Picking Up the Pace [originally posted on sportsblog.com 2/17/14]

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What more is there to say about the TCU game that hasn’t been tackled? It’s really hard to learn anything from a blowout when you are the winning team. The first half didn’t look so great. Kyan Anderson had 21 first half points (he only score 2 buckets in the second half). Perry Ellis only missed 2 shots the whole game on his way to getting 32 points. He also threw a couple of sick oops to Andrew Wiggins. TCU is terrible and it wouldn’t surprise me if they get relegated from the Big 12 in a couple of years. It seems like the sports program still hasn’t recovered from the “drug scandal” it had a few years back. Kansas goes down to Lubbock to face the “Tortilla tossers.” It could be a long and ugly night. It’ll be interesting to see how they play in that dusty environment. Hopefully cooler heads will prevail en route to a win. It would be unfortunate for them to lose that game because they were looking ahead to Saturday’s rematch with Texas.

The All Star Break is over and the lack of notable games (well except for Kentucky-Florida–which was a pretty good game–with the way UF plays D and their efficient offense, I wouldn’t be shocked to see them in the Final Four) this weekend allowed me to recuperate some of the sleep my body has been lacking. Three quarters of no defense was all that I could endure of the All Star Game (it may as well have been the official dunk contest with all the uncontested dudes were banging away at the rim). I turned the game off and caught up on some sleep (sort of).

The 3 point contest was meh, though I was happy to see Marco Belinelli win it. I like that the NBA is trying new things, but I was not feeling the East vs. West format. Seemed a bit corny to me. The dunk contest was WEAK SAUCE, but the dunk/dancing by champion John Wall was almost worth the $ 4.00 beer I had to buy to watch at a local bar.

Overall, I was a little underwhelmed with the festivities and presentation of the whole weekend. I think it would have been cool to have a local brass band do a NOLA rendition of “America the Beautiful”, and maybe Harry Connick Jr. do the national anthem. I would have loved to have seen Juvenile, Manny Fresh, and Lil Wayne do a Hot Boyz reunion rather than see Pharrell during the pre game ceremony. It just seems like the NBA failed to take advantage of all the local flavor that was available to them (Then again, I don’t know what kind of contractual obligations they had with sponsors. And there is a reason someone is getting paid to make those decisions, and I’m writing a sports blog for free).

Probably my favorite item from the whole thing was the “Happy Birthday” wishes for Bill Russell. It was so cool to see NBA ALL Stars all pay their respects to the greatest winner to ever suit up in an NBA uniform. I couldn’t help but tear up as it was happening. It was pretty touching.

Some really good games coming up this week:

That really nice Syracuse backcourt heads into Cameron Indoor on about 30 minutes before the Texas- Kansas (which will probably determine the Big 12 regular season title) game Saturday night. Michigan-Michigan State matches up on Sunday,if there is nothing better to do, I will probably watch that too. Oh yeah, Duke and North Carolina play on Wednesday, if you’re into that sort of thing.

In the NBA, the Spurs look to finally beat a winning team when they play the Clippers on Tuesday night. Most likely, “Pops” will sit his starters the next night against Portland. If that is the case I’ll just flip to the Warriors and Kings game which is on at the same time.

Thursday will be great viewing, as KD and Lebron face off again, then the Brooklyn Nets come to Oracle arena to face the Warriors.

Sunday evening gives us a John Wall vs. Kyrie Irving match-up, while the matinee game is Thunder-Clippers. Two items about this game. Russell Westbrook might be back as early as Thursday, so this could be two fully equipped squads going at it. The other part is that Blake Griffin will be coming home to Oklahoma City, and he always brings it when he plays at the Ford Center. Oh man. What was that I said about catching up on some sleep?

Final Four

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We’ve got our Final Four and for all my bitching about seeding and who had the easiest path, it still played out how most people predicted; Oklahoma City vs. San Antonio and Indiana vs. Miami.

It didn’t look like the Pacers would make it this far early on, with Roy Hibbert (the disappearing 7’2 black man) having the worst playoffs of all time for an All-Star (I’m 5’11 and I can get 2-3 rebounds on accident–how he goes an entire game without getting one is beyond me). But he recovered and so did the Pacers and now they finally have home court against Miami. No excuses, this what the Pacers and now they have it. This scenario reminds me too much of ’93 Knicks vs. Bulls. Knicks had home court and didn’t make a lick of difference to Michael Jordan, the greatest player in the game at that time. The Pacers have home court, but the Heat have Lebron James, the greatest player in the game now, as a wise man once said, “That shit don’t mean fuck” to Lebron.

Heat in Six

Before we get in to the Spurs-Thunder, let’s just wish a Bon Voyage to the Los Angeles Clippers. They had a great season and dealt with some ill timed distractions, but fuck those guys. Chris Paul is the best point guard in the game but on that John Stockton “sneaky dirty” tip. He whines, he complains, he fouls, and gets pissy when calls don’t go his way. Fuck him. Fuck J.J. Redick (still) and fuck Blake Griffin. Those dudes are a bunch of floppers and they get what they deserve for signing contracts with the infamous Donald Sterling. Only dudes on that team I respect are Jamal Crawford (so smooth with it) and Matt Barnes (keeps it grimey). I’m glad they got eliminated in the second round. As my homey Adrian (a lifelong Lakers fan) says, “Fuck Clippers for Life!”

The Thunder should have eliminated them in 5 games, they blew game 4 and now have to face the Spurs without Serge Ibaka because he injured his calf in the extra game they played. I would have predicted Spurs in 7 had they had a healthy Ibaka “blocka flame”, but now without him I say Spurs in six.

Scott Brooks as a coach is like the kid who comes over to play video games and he picks the best team and just shoots with the same players over and over again. He may beat you, but not because he’s a better gamer, but only because he is running with a better squad. Put Scott Brooks on the Orlando Magic, and there is no discernible difference in the win-loss records. I’m not saying Scott Brooks is a bad coach. I just don’t think he is an elite coach and he has been getting out-coached all playoffs. He also just happens to have the two best players in the Western Conference on his team. He’s a good coach though, a good personnel guy, but his in game strategy is sorely lacking.

Personally, I’m rooting for a Spurs-Heat rematch. I think the Spurs have the best chance of beating the Heat of the last teams remaining. They have the best coach, and Tony Parker is the best point guard left playing. The Spurs also have the best role players. They are better than next last year’s team based on that alone. A healthy Spurs would have smashed the Heat in six games last year (Parker was hobbled that whole series after game 1). I want the Heat to earn it if this is going to be the three-peat year. The hardest path for them would be through San-Antonio. I think this is what Spurs fans want as well, they’ll take their chances running it back against a Heat team that hasn’t gotten better (besides Lebron) but only got older.

Eastern Conference Finals begins in about an hour and a half. Bring it!

Lastly, Big shout outs to Mark Jackson, for handling his ouster from Golden State with grace. I don’t like the way it was all handled, and Mark Jackson deserved better. I hope he chills on them checks he gonna be getting til the perfect situation opens up for him. He’s a good coach who will someday be a great coach. Its obvious now that his firing had nothing to do with basketball. All that being said, I think Kerr is the perfect replacement for Coach Jackson. Kerr is really intelligent person who will certainly be a “player’s coach.”
I think his style will be a breath of fresh air for that camp. Of course, coaching is not why they lost in the first round. Their roster wasn’t nearly as good as last year’s and yet they managed to win more games this year than they did last year (this year’s conference was arguably tougher). A coach still needs players, and if Golden State trots out the same lineup next year they will NOT make the playoffs next year. The Lacob clan need to look in the mirror and decide how serious they are about becoming an elite franchise.

Have a good weekend and let’s pray for no more series turning injuries the rest of the way……. well unless they happen to the Heat.

Stretch Run [Originally posted on sportsblog.com 2/20/14]

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A big day today for this hoops fan. It is Sir Charles Barkley’s birthday (my nephew also born on this fine day 3 years ago). The NBA trade deadline ends in roughly 2 hours. Duke and North Carolina play tonight at 8pm, but the big boys throw down in OKC. KD vs. Lebron II: The return of Russ. If that isn’t enough, Golden State and Houston face off at 9:30 pm. I’m clearing off my schedule and unless there is an emergency, I’m not leaving my bedroom past 7 pm central time, except to eat and use the bathroom.

N.U.T.S (Never Underestimate The Spurs)

I should know by now that even if the big 3 of the Spurs aren’t playing, that Popovich will have his team ready to compete. The highlights were awesome and the game went down to the wire. I’m actually less surprised about the Spurs winning as I am that the Blazers still played relatively well without Lamarcus (out for a week with a groin injury). I’m sure Damien Lillard chipping in 31 points helped keep them in the game.

I had the choose between the 9 pm tip-offs of the Golden State and Sacramento game and Spurs-Blazers. No “Boogie” no problem right? Maybe I should have watched the Portland game, but the Dubs are one of my favorites (I kind of feel like the Kings are this surrogate delinquent child that I want so badly to see succeed) Isiah Thomas had a nice heat check moment (he put up 26 points 7 assists) that made me text my old roommate a University of Washington alum, and he responded that the Spurs game was amazing.

The Kings kept coming at the Warriors, but by the last minutes, the game was practically over, with Warriors up by 10. Curry wasn’t even the star of the game; it was David Lee with a “ho hum” 23 and 11. The most memorable part of the game was Jermaine O’Neal getting T’d up by the refs because he chose to let a ball (one he could have easily grabbed and retained possession of) go out of bounds, and the refs awarded it to Sacramento. I thought this was silly because the refs judgment would not have entered the picture had he just grabbed the board, but his tech allowed Sac to help cut down a shrinking Warriors’ lead, and got the Sacramento crowd into the game.

It was during the game that I saw that the Dubs had traded Kent Bazemore and Marshon Brooks for Steve Blake. I’ve always been kind of cold on Steve Blake ever since he missed a breakaway dunk that cost Maryland a sweet sixteen game back in 2003. He’s a good backup, I think I had my heart set on Golden State acquiring Andre Miller–no matter how unrealistic that was. He will definitely help the Warriors down the stretch. If they can find another big man on the cheap to play defense, they might be able to sneak into the Western Conference Finals.

Suddenly Everything Has Changed

There are 5 games left on the regular season schedule.

Kansas has 2 games on the road, one in Stillwater, the other in Morgantown. With the 3 home games against Texas, Oklahoma, and Texas Tech. I think if they beat Texas on Saturday and go at least 4-1, the conference title streak is easily intact. 3-2 will be pushing it, and KU fans may be rooting for other teams to lose. Backing into a regular season title doesn’t leave me feeling good about the Jayhawks chances of making the Final Four. I never thought it would be easy, but I also didn’t think the Jayhawks would struggle this much to score either.The offense this year has been just as ugly as last year’s squad, where it seemed like players didn’t know what to do. I do have to admit that I found the Andrew Wiggins baseline dunk amusing, for no other reason that invoked that scene from “Friday” (a wise Jaye Crockett moved out the way –making him Pooh’s dad–cut to 1:29 on that scene). Embiid’s baseline move early in the second half was pretty ill too. This hasn’t been the most cohesive unit ever put together, but you’re almost guaranteed a Sportscenter moment or two every game.

Texas could really put some pressure on the Jayhawks with a victory on Saturday. Their remaining games are Baylor and TCU in Austin, and games in Lawrence, Norman, and Lubbock. Even with a win in Allen Fieldhouse, they would still have a tough road ahead of them.
Iowa State is still a dark horse, but they have 3 of their last 5 games on the road, and would need a lot of help considering that KU already beat them twice, and they split the games against UT. Oklahoma would need a LOT of help as well, with a 4-2 conference record. I didn’t realize they were 19-7 for the year. I would be surprised if they didn’t make the tournament.

I’m still trying to talk myself out of going to the game on Saturday. If the atmosphere is anything like the OSU game on Januray 18th, then its going to be loud. There is a lot more on the line than revenge for this Saturday’s game. I wonder how the Longhorns are going to respond when they walk into the Fieldhouse and feel all that pressure. Saturday is simply the denouement of a hype week for hoops. Tonight is the apex. Enjoy!

Woodenesque? [Originally posted on sportsblog.com on 2/25/14]

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20 years from now, how will Bill Self’s legacy be perceived? Ten straight conference titles in ANY sport is a major accomplishment–especially in the post Wooden era of “one and dones”. I would put Bill Self up there with Coach K, Jim Boeheim and Rick Barnes (just kidding) as best coaches in the game right now. I got into the Texas game on Saturday (for a pretty reasonable price) and if you had told me the Horns would get smashed by 30 I would have looked at you crazy. But that’s what happened isn’t it? Of course, I knew there was the possibility of an emotional letdown come Big Monday; even with the chance to clinch the Big XII title in front of the home crowd. OU came with it, but it wasn’t enough. One major goal down, now its time to finish the season strong, remain healthy, and gear up for the Madness of next month. Here are a few random observations from the past few days:

Reintegration

Everyone knows that the Thunder need a healthy Russell Westbrook to be a legitimate threat to the Miami Heat, but the Thunder have lost the last two (big) games with him back in the starting lineup. Keep in mind that Westbrook has missed almost two months of hoops action due to his knee injury. Anybody who has even just played pickup ball can tell you that even a two week layoff can make you feel rusty. So imagine what 2 months can do to someone’s game. I’m curious about the thought process with Russ, Coach Brooks, and the front office about how to get him back involved with the team. He has been playing on a 25 minute limit basis, but with the way the team and Reggie Jackson have been playing, it makes you wonder if they considered bringing Russ off the bench with the second unit, until Russ got his legs and timing back. It is one thing to be out of sync against the Celtics or Bobcats, but the World Champs? Kinda dicey to throw Russ in there with such high expectations. Glad you’re back Russ. Can’t wait to see you at full speed.

While we’re at let’s talk about KD vs. Lerbon II

The stats from this game are a bit deceiving. Lebron had 33 points (15-22), 3 assists 7 boards and 4 steals (he also had 8 turnovers), while KD had 28 points (10-22) 8 boards, 3 assists and 2 steals (5 turnovers for Durant). You could tell Lebron was locked in from the tip, he made the first 10 points for the Heat and didn’t let off the throttle until Serge Ibaka Blocka Flame broke his nose. You could jump to either conclusion that a) Lebron outplayed Durant. or b) that the numbers were a pretty much a wash.

But either conclusion would be insufficient without taking into account that Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade scored 24 points a piece. KD’s crew of Ibaka (14 points) and Westbrook (16 points) could barely muster 30 points between them.

The Heat looked more locked in, they shot 54 % and Oklahoma City only made 2-20 from 3 point land. The passing just wasn’t there for OKC, and settled for way too many jumpers (which is practically begging Miami to fast break on your team).

Let’s also put to bed this whole “OKC has the best crowd in the NBA” myth. I have been to many games at the Ford Center. They do get loud. But from my experiences the OKC faithful get loud at to start of the game, then they quiet down until something cool happens to get them loud. The Warriors fans out in the bay are a bit more involved, and sometimes directly affect plays with the level of noise they create (one can even use this same corollary with the Duke fans vs. Jayhawks. Cameron Indoors is always going HAM, while Allen Fieldhouse seems so dead sometimes when I’m there–though I don’t think it was always this way).

Boeheim Going Fed

I’m feeling this newly borne rivalry between Syracuse-Duke. The level of play of both games has been extremely high, and the pedigree both schools bring to the table amp the games up to a higher intensity. Its like watching a Final Four game without a neutral setting. Dick Vitale says that the first meeting this year was one of the five greatest games he’d ever been associated with. I cannot wait until they meet in the ACC tournament.

As for Boeheim losing his s#$% over that call, I can see why he did it (I got a chance to watch the replay last night). There was a lot of inconsistency in the officiating. One particularly error was a missed bump on CJ Fair that resulted in a traveling violation being called. The blocking call that gave Jabari Parker the AND1, was the exact same situation that went against Syracuse when Rodney Hood got the benefit of the charge. All that being said, Syracuse still had a chance to foul and get the ball back with a chance to tie it (depending on if Duke makes the ensuing one in one free throws). His ejection gave Duke four points plus the ball and thus ended the game. A tough way to end such a highly competitive game. If I’m a ref I don’t think I make a call that late, and let the game get decided on the court.

I went away from the game thinking that perhaps Syracuse is the best team in the nation, and even though the Jayhawks are the most talented, Syracuse would be a nightmare matchup for KU. Syracuse’s backcourt and disciplined big men could create a frustrating night for the Jayhawks and Bill Self. KU fans better pray this match up doesn’t happen until the Final Four in Dallas.

Jayhawks of the week:

Andrew Wiggins for his monster first half against Texas

17 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists to begin the game on Saturday. The game was all over by halftime.

Tarik Black

There is no way to describe what it felt like to be there in person when EVERYONE collectively lost their minds.

Thomas Robinson
In a game where he put up 14 points and 18 rebounds. It was this block that made Jayhawks fans oh so proud.

This week is a real lull in the basketball week. KU goes down to Gallagher Arena on Saturday. Friday night Steph Curry goes up to MSG (not sure if you know this but players love to play in Madison Square Garden). Other than that, there isn’t much I’m hype for. I guess this means instead of watching basketball, I’ll be playing it instead. It never stops………….

Nuclear Winter??? [Originally posted on sportsblog.com 3/5/14]

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Senior Night tonight at Allen Fieldhouse. Texas Tech comes to town. It will be undoubtedly be an easier game than the last one. Home court advantage has to be worth at least 5 points (If I were betting on the game), I personally think it’ll be a double digit victory.

The regular season title has been won outright, and even if the loss in Gallagher Arena wasn’t a surprise, it still was disappointing that they didn’t nut up and wrestle that game away from Oklahoma State on Saturday–in front of Danny Manning and half the OKC Thunder team. It would have been a big statement to go into Stillwater and rip the heart out of everyone wearing black and orange. Instead, they let the Cowpokes hang around, and once it got close, Marcus Smart took over. Once again, the difference between a veteran team and a young squad. As I said before, there is no reason to panic, but when the Jayhawks aren’t hitting from the outside, it just gets ugly. I think no matter what, the season is a success. Teams rarely lose all five starters from a season ago and then go on to win conference–not in this era of college hoops. From the way they have looked all season, nothing outside of a first round knockout would surprise me. It’ll be interesting to watch for sure.

Maybe it’s this whole Ukrainian uprising/invasion that has me feeling sour. But I’m tired of fighting it and I’m just gonna be negative for a few paragraphs:

I’m not digging on Wiggins’ flailing his arms out every time he drives the lane. I wish he’d just play basketball and get stronger–quit worrying about the refs and just start banging on fools son! Every time I see someone slap the ball out of his hands, Wiggins attempt at getting to the line makes me think of this.

As happy as I am about Joakim Noah’s play the last few weeks, I still can’t bring myself to watch the Bulls play. The ugly offense they throw out there reminds me of those old school,early 90’s Knicks’ squads. Lots of heart and effort, but not at all aesthetically pleasing. On Sunday a twitter update showed that Noah was well on his way to a triple double, and I still couldn’t bring myself to turn on their game. I just couldn’t do it.

I’m not digging recent talk by media heads that the MVP award is suddenly Lebron’s again because he scored 61 points against the Charlotte Bobcats Hornets. Yes he is the Best Player in the League. But it isn’t the “Best Player in the League” award, its the MVP award. Without Kevin Durant’s ice cold January, the Thunder would have fallen back into the back once Russell Westbrook (He’s baaaccccccccck) went down with that knee injury. Durant plays in a vastly superior conference, where there are rarely any nights off, and he has done it without his top 5 point guard. When Lebron takes a night off, Miami still has Bosh, and sometimes Wade. Just stop it already folks, and give KD what he deserves. Oh and by the way, KD only played 3 quarters last night and put up 42 points (on 20 shots), 9 Rebounds, 3 assists, 2 stls and 1 block. Lebron played almost the whole entire game the other night when he got his 61 points (on 33 shots–THOUGH admittedly James was extremely efficient).

Good Games This Week Dawg

Tonight of course there is the KU-TTU game which may not be as good as the SMU vs. Louisville game. But in the NBA, I might stop in on Golden State-Boston, just to watch Rondo pass to a bunch of scrubs.

Thursday gives us Spurs-Heat; Thunder-Suns

Friday is Portland-Dallas, and Indy-Houston

Sunday is Phoenix-Golden State (my favorite of the day)Indy-Dallas, Miami-Chicago, and OKC-LAL.

For the college kids we have:

UCONN-Lousiville, Duke-UNC, and Kentucky-Florida. All on Saturday.

Hopefully developments in the Ukraine won’t look as bleak by then. If only they could just settle the territorial/governmental disputes by a series of home and away games, instead of all this recent and potential bloodshed. Shoot baskets,not people.