Blazers

Endgame Begins Now….

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If I could have my way, the regular season would end today, and the playoffs would start next week. Last night’s “Good Ass Game of the Week” not only lived up to the hype, it obliterated any and all memory of this season’s good ass games.

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I was fortunate enough to not be in a public place and could scream as loud as I wanted after every made shot. There have been some good ass games this year (especially involving the Warriors), but none of them have matched the intensity, competitiveness, and drama as this one.

There was a major injury to the game’s best player at a key juncture. There was a halftime tirade by Draymond Green in the locker room. There was a mad surge at the very end of the game to even sniff a chance to foul and get possession back, but then Kevin Durant (after an incredible offensive night) threw the ball away at halfcourt instead of calling a timeout; after getting trapped in the backcourt. Then to compound things, KD fouled a 63 % shooting Andre Iguodala with 0.7 seconds left. Iggy had to hit 2 free throws and then the Warriors had to play defense in order to force overtime.

You knew once it got to OT, that it was pretty much over for the Thunder. You have to play perfectly in order to have a chance to beat the Warriors, and they’d given them new life. I thought if there was a game where it would be understandable for the Warriors to drop a road game–in a raucous Chesapeake Arena–then this would be it. It didn’t happen. Then to top it off, Curry hits and unbelievable jump shot (that everyone knew he was going to take) from 38 feet away from the basket, and iced the game. The playoffs came early, and if the NBA Final Four ended up being OKC-Golden State, and Toronto-Cleveland, I would not be disappointed (sorry Spurs fans–Andre Miller has no chance against Steph).

Well guess what hoop heads? They play again in Oakland on Thursday night. #goodassgamealert

By the way, if the season ended today, the same Western Conference teams that made the playoffs 2 years ago would be in again. This year proves that last year was in fact an aberration for the Pelicans, who definitely benefited from Durant’s season ending foot injury.

 

Monday

 

Oklahoma City-Sacramento

OKC takes off for the west coast after losing a heartbreaker of a game last night. Imagine playing that hard and that well, only to take an L. We know Russ and KD will show up for the game, but who else is gonna put in work? Sacramento may be able to sneak a W on the Thunder, if they come out #fullsass.

Indiana-Cleveland

This pick to click is on NBATV so I’ll only be able to watch the highlights of this one. Talk about getting schmoogled, League Pass is owned by the same company, Turner Sports, but you can’t watch anything on NBATV on League Pass. FOH!!!!

 

Tuesday

 

Portland-New York

Dame gets to take a huge bite of the big apple. I love when big name players go to MSG and turn it out. Don’t be surprised if “Dame Dolla” gets 46 in this one. Also, if you haven’t already done so, check out episode 9 of the Full Sass podcast on fullsass.com. Frequent contributor and Brooklyn resident,  Alex Knapp came on a gave some in depth analysis of the Blazers season. I expect to trade at least 20-30 text messages with him over the course of this game.

Orlando-Dallas

Craig Stein’s favorite team vs. his adopted babies. I like the Magic too. They really gave Golden State a run for their money up until this moment. Of course, the Mavericks are off limits this year due to area blackout, so I’ll be watching Sportscenter highlights at best. Needless to say, I’m definitely wavering on whether I want to get League Pass next year. The juice is almost not worth the squeeze.

 

Wednesday

 

Los Angeles Clippers- Oklahoma City

Russell Westbrook almost always goes HAM whenever he gets to play in front of his hometown peeps. To see him face off against Chris Paul is going to be a treat. Do yourself a favor and put money on the over for “number of scowls made after each whistle.”

Boston-Portland

Don’t look now, but Boston is in 3rd place in the east. If the season ended today, they would play the Pacers in what would probably be a 7 game series. Every hipster NBA writer would be drooling all over themselves, to wax poetically about the coaching minds of Brad Stevens and Frank Vogel.

 

Thursday 

 

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

If there were a way that someone could bottle up what it must have felt like for Steph to hit that cold blooded three, and rip the hearts out of everyone in that building, that person would be a trillionaire. I’ve seen some cold blooded shit in my lifetime, but it doesn’t get much nastier that shot. As soon as he launched it, you could tell it was good. You can’t manufacture the kind of confidence that the Warriors have right now.

 

Friday

 

Portland-Toronto

Flip a coin to determine which team is  the 2nd and 3rd best backcourts in the NBA. I’m happy that this an east coast game because I have plans later that night.

 

Saturday

 

Boston-Cleveland, San Antonio-Sacramento, Atliens-Clippers

Meh. So many things you could be doing other than watching these games. This is a good time to do those them.

 

Sunday

 

Portland-Detroit

 

“Please excuse this lame rhyme.

Don’t matter what the game time

Right around the same time

The 4th quarter is Dame time.”

 

~BMick tha Click picka, from his debut mixtape  “Tha Pick 2 CLick” 

 

Dallas-Denver

The Nuggets are my guilty pleasure. I still have yet to watch a full game, but I’m always checking for their highlights. HAHA get it? “High”lights. Nudge Nudge. Wink Wink. Sometimes these jokes just write themselves folks.

 

We are heading into March, which means that we have basically one month of regular season ball to go. Its only going to get more complicated from here on out. My advice is to avoid the NCAA tournament as much as possible, and save all that cache up for the NBA playoffs. You’ll thank me in April–unless of course, you live in a cold weather city–then you should probably stay indoors until Spring is officially here.

Have a great week.

 

Peace,

 

BM

#thisagoodassgame #fullsass

@clickpicka79

thisagoodassgame@gmail.com

 

All Quiet On The Western Conference Front Pt.2

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I wasn’t expecting much activity this trading deadline, but things were noticably dull this year as the clock struck 3pm on the east coast. Jeff Green going to the Clippers (oh word????) and Channing Frye to the Clebrons were the biggest items of note. I like the Frye pick up for Cleveland. Frye is a decent stretch 4, but I can’t figure out for the life of me why he relocated to Orlando.

Maybe the chance to make all those monies in a tax-free state was too good of an opportunity to pass up. Who am I to judge? I moved to Oklahoma for the chance to make way less than that. At least he can go to DisneyWorld whenever he wants. My biggest thrill is leaving the state every two weeks.

Nevertheless, that sounds like a good set up for both Frye and the Cavs. I haven’t seen Frye play since he left Phoenix, but he can’t have regressed that much in a season and a half can he? I’m sure he’ll get the hell out of town the minute the season ends. I can’t imagine staying in Cleveland during the summer when you have a sweet pad in a place like Portland.

I’m not as high on Jeff Green unfortunately. He’s a decent defender, and can score occasionally, but I doubt he makes much of a difference on that Clippers team. By the way, Austin Rivers (who is hurt) and Pablo Prigioni are the two backup guards for that team right now. I just wanna know who’ll get fired first, Doc the GM or Doc the head coach.

Since there wasn’t too much player movement via trade, let’s see whose contracts get bought out in the next week or so. I hear David Lee is about to become Raef LaFrentz 2.0 when he clears waivers and signs with the Mavericks. I’m kind of into it.

Rumor also has it that Joe Johnson wants to get bought out, but his desire for a multi year extension is going hamper his chances of landing on a good team. Am I the only one who thinks Joe Johnson doesn’t give a shit about winning?

The dude has already signed two max contracts in his career. How much money does he need and what does he need it for? Maybe he is trying to help pay for Kanye’s 53 million dollar debt.

On to this week’s slate of good ass games:

Monday

 

 

Toronto-New York

My pick to click for Monday night even though the Knicks have been trending downwardly lately. Toronto may be the only team that can give the Clebrons a run for their money come playoff time.

Boston-Minnesota

This will be a competitive game. I’m not sure how entertaining it will be. Both teams can be a tough watch if you catch them on the wrong night.

Golden State-Atlanta

Last this year this was one of the Good Ass Games of the year. Atlanta has been pretty meh of late though. Regardless, its always a basketball clinic when the Warriors lace ’em up.

 

“Tap That Vein” Tuesday

 

 

Denver vs. Sacramento

“Our state got the best weed in the country.”

“No OUR state  got the best weed in the country!”

“Oh yeah? Well prove it.”

[produces a lighter and puts flame to a pre-rolled doobie]

“Wait what were we talking about again?”

This is one of those “League Pass and Chill” kinds of games. You can invite someone over and watch it or not watch it. And if you end up missing it, guess what? You watch it on archive the next day.

 

Wednesday

 

Golden State-Miami

I just want to see if Hassan will be able to play this time. He put up 25 points, 23 rebounds last night, but Wednesday may be “Dray Day”

Toronto-Minnesota

The Rookies vs Sophomores game redux. Their last matchup did not disappoint.

Oklahoma City-Dallas

Speaking of trending downwards…….both of these teams have a couple of busters on their teams. Dion Waiters has been playing even shittier than usual, and I’m officially not a fan of Chandler Parsons. I have been on the fence about Gram’s nephew for quite a while, but this season has helped me make up my mind about him. But I will say this, the first time they played was a good ass mutha#@$%ing game.

San Antonio-Sacramento

My favorite team vs. my surrogate team. No doubt I’ll be watching this one.

 

Thursday

 

Golden State-Orlando

Two good ass backcourts squaring off. I think the Magic will keep it close for exactly one half.

San Antonio-Utah

Utah is the perfect place for Gordon Heyward to land–especially coming from a school like Butler. Talk about an easy transition. Homie goes from a small mostly white school in a small all white town to an all white state that feels like a small all white town. And now he’s got his homie Shelvin Mack on his side again. Those Butler squads were fun for a mintue eh?

 

Houston-Portland

Someone on Friday coined the term “Damegry” and I immediately hit  retweet. If he continues to get slighted like this, he’ll end up in the Hall of Fame. I knew the game on Friday with the Dubs would be a blowout, but not like that (I had the Warriors winning of course). Dame was on fire. The whole team played well, and they have been playing well of late; winning 13 of the last 16 games they have played. Dame and C.J.  are averaging 45.3 points a game this year. I fux pretty heavily with the PDX.

 

Friday

 

Orlando-New York, Cleveland-Toronto, Denver-Dallas, and Los Angeles Clippers-Sacramento

All of these games will be good, but I would recommend you do something else. Take your sweetie out to dinner, go see a movie, or a gallery opening. Cash in on date night another time. It won’t be worth it this evening trust me.

 

Saturday Night Fights

 

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

Did you see the way Oklahoma City got that head beat in this afternoon? Besides KD and Russ, who else on that team can you count on every night? They could have traded for Pau with some kind of package. I would be a fool to say this team is bad, because they aren’t, but this team is what I call “Oklahoma good”.

This is a term I reserve for things in this state that in a vacuum are not bad, but compared to things in other states, they fall short. This includes barbecue, Mexican food, football, and basketball. A ten rating in Oklahoma is equivalent to an 8 rating in Texas (And no I’ve never used  this rating system to rate women………..well okay maybe I have, but that’s another story for another day).

 

Sunday

 

Minnesota-Dallas

It’s games like this where League Pass pisses me off. You know how hard it is trying to find a clear streaming game on sites like “Milf Hunter” and “VIP Box”???  #Lisforlocalblackouts

Portland-Indiana

Monta ball vs. Dame Dolla.

Charlotte-Atlanta

I love both of these cities. I could see myself living in Charlotte under the right circumstances. Atlanta is a little too big for me, but if TNT ever came a calling, I’d make that move. I’m hoping that I can catch a game next year in Charlotte then hit Tobacco Road for a game in Durham, then a game in Chapel Hill. Anyway, this might be a decent ass game if you give it a chance.

 

Anyway, that’s all I got. I’m bout  to throw on that Utah-Portland game. From what I’m seeing on twitter, its a #goodassgame.

 

Peace,

BM

#fullsass #thisagoodassgame

@clickpick79

thisagoodassgame@gmail.com

 

Ready? Break!!!!

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I apologize for letting you down hoop heads. I took the weekend off to record a new episode of Fullsass, and decided to post today rather than Monday or Tuesday, since there were no slated NBA games until Thursday. There were some college contests the last couple of nights, but not what I would call good ass games (though Iowa State and Baylor was about as good as a college game could get).

Before get into this week’s good ass games, I just want to go on record and say Aaron Gordon got robbed. No disrespect to Zach LaVine–his dunks were on point, but saying Aaron Gordon’s dunks were on the same level as LaVine’s, discredits the difficulty and creativity that went into Gordon’s display. When Gordon dunked over that mascot on the hoverboard, he should have gotten straight 15’s. You be the judge.

As for the game itself, well its weird to say this, but watching three straight alley-oops thrown off the backboard can get a little…..tiresome?? All Star games sometimes play out like BET hip hop cyphers, huge and overblown, vulgar, repetitive and sloppy, but also kind of exciting at times.

I watched the first half with some friends, and no one argued against doing something else for the second half of the game. As much as I like Toronto, there is no way in hell I’d want to be up there this time of the year. It looked like everyone enjoyed themselves, and thanks to a longer break, I was able to recover from my long weekend.

I spent a lot of time thinking about this upcoming deadline. There are some role players around the league that could have a serious impact on the few contenders. Jeff Teague, Joe Johnson, P.J. Tucker, and Markieff Morris could really make a difference down the stretch if they go to the right team.

Outside of OKC, Golden State, Cleveland, and San Antonio, there aren’t any other teams who can realistically win it this year. Unless the players moved are game changers, it seems like it would be best to stand pat on any major moves (though I would love to see a Blake Griffin for Carmelo Anthony).

I plan to watch more games this second half (Although I’m certainly getting my money’s worth on League Pass); in particularly Utah, Portland, Boston, Toronto, and Denver. These teams are certainly better this year, and could make some noise in the years to come.

Now that all that is out of the way, let’s get to these good ass games:

 

 

Monday

Nada Wey.

 

 

Tuesday

Texas 85 West Virginia 78

Baylor 100 Iowa State 91

Don’t be disappointed if you missed these games. You can re-watch them on ESPN if you are really jonesing. I’ve watched about 5 full college games and only 1 of them lived up to the hype. That being said……..

 

Wednesday

Duke-North Carolina (Good Ass Game of the Week)

This is worth watching for the atmosphere alone. The first of this 2 game series is in Chapel Hill, and I have a feeling this will be as good as the time Austin Rivers hit that shot at the buzzer to upset the Tarheels. Plus, its Michael Jordan’s birthday. michael-jordan-sam-perkins2

 

 

Thursday

 

Los Angeles Clippers vs. San Antonio

Spurs still on the road. Clippers still without Blake.

By the way,  “Verse of the Year” so far goes to Kendrick Lamar on “No more parties in L.A.” He and Kanye did justice to that beat. #MURDEREDIT

 

 

Friday

 

 

Golden State- Portland

This may be a blowout, but you know C.J. and Dame will come with it. 2 years from now, if things continue to go well for both teams, this could be the Western Conference Finals.

 

 

 

Saturday

 

Milwaukee-Atlanta

New York-Minnesota Rising Stars Game Part Duex.

Los Angeles Clippers-Golden State 

This would be the “Good Ass Game of the Week” if Blake were healthy. Clippers may be able to hang with the Dubs for 3 quarters before it gets busted open.

 

 

Sunday

 

Utah vs. Portland

I think I would have a lot more respect for the Utah franchise changed their name. How many times have you heard people say, “There’s no jazz in Utah.”? Please! Send the name back to New Orleans (The Pelicans name may be exhibit #1 in Tom Benson’s capacity dispute case) and take on a more apt nickname. The Utah snowboarders, the Salt Lake City Punk with Matthew Lillard as an ambassador, or maybe even the Utah Squares…….Bring the Jazz back to New Orleans!

 

Cleveland vs. Oklahoma City

I’m curious what is going to happen between now and Sunday. Both teams need to bolster their bench. Otherwise,this game will only be as good as the role players’ contribution.

 

black-mamba

 

The Kobe countdown has officially begun. This is the last half of his final year. Enjoy it you Black Mamba sycophants. It’s about to be over. I wonder if he’ll be an analyst, and work with one of the major networks. I can imagine what that first year of retirement will be like. Can you imagine being a house guest at his spot and waking up with Kobe standing over you at 3:45 in the morning?

Kobe: “Sup dawg? You tryna hit these weights with me? There’s this 16 year old who wants to work out at UCLA.”

Friend: “Man we just went to bed 3 hours ago.”

Kobe: “C’mon bro. We gotta beat this traffic. After we get through working out. We’ll pick up the girls and go get some pizza.”

Friend: “Pizza Buona?”

Kobe: [laughs] “Nah man. We gotta fly out to Italy actually. It’ll be dope. On the way there we gotta stop in Germany to get my knee drained. C’mon dawg. We’ll only be gone for a few days.”

Friend: [sighs] “Fine. I’m getting up.”

Kobe: “Good. Bring your winter jacket too. I booked us a rock climbing lesson for when we hit Iceland on the way back.”

Dude has no chill.

 

It will be an interesting week full of good ass games. Enjoy the trading deadline. Hopefully some stuff pops off.

 

Peace,

BM

#thisagoodassgame #fullsass

@clickpicka79

YAY AREA!!!!

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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.

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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

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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?

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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

F#@$in’ up

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david20blatt

I can’t say I’m shocked that the Cleveland Cavaliers fired their coach midway through the season–a season where they only had eleven losses and are almost assured to come out of the Eastern Conference, but I am a bit surprised. I foresaw a panic move after last a loss to the Spurs, and a Warriors beat down on MLK day, but I thought that would involve a trade.

Blatt’s regular season record makes him the coach with the highest winning percentage to ever get canned in the middle of a season. The front office couldn’t even wait until All-Star weekend to quietly make a move. They wanted this guy out immediately.

Don’t get me wrong, I never thought Blatt was the guy for the job. I was shocked to see him return after all the sneak dissing thrown his way last year. So it makes me wonder what changed between June of last year (after they got that ass whupped in the Finals) and Friday.

This move reeks of desperation and dysfunction. It’s just such a “Clevelandish” thing to do. Unless you plan on suiting up Tyronn Lue as a player-coach (something I certainly don’t wanna see, I don’t see how this is going to help the team right now.

Is it David Blatt’s fault that the front office has whiffed on every lottery pick not Kyrie Irving? It isn’t a stretch of the imagination to say that Cleveland could easily throw out a crunch time lineup of Andrew Wiggins, Victor Oladipo, Tristan Thompson, Lebron James, and Kyrie Irving.

The Anthony Bennett pick over Oladipo was a major setback, and I’m not sure Kevin Love isn’t a “good stats,bad team” kind of player (a theory espoused years ago by the great Charley Rosen). The Cavs just don’t have the horses right now to keep up with the Spurs and Warriors. Phil Jackson could be coaching that team and they’d still get beat in the Finals.

As for Blatt, kudos to him for making the best out of a bad situation. He may be getting off lucky. No one should have to coach on a team where the superstar undermines your authority, and the front office won’t give you any support. In all honesty, Blatt seemed a bit overwhelmed anyway.

The good news is that he got the opportunity to get the hell out of Ohio. The best things to come out of that state are Raymond Bradbury, Bone Thugs N’ Harmony, and Ken Griffey Jr. Some sports cities just don’t deserve championships, and Cleveland may be one of those cities.

None of the major franchises there can keep a coach for longer than a season or two, they fire people before they have a chance to get a foothold on the team. That kind of impatience is a recipe for basement dwelling in any sport. But judging from the way the city’s infrastructure is run, this can’t be too surprising. This city is getting exactly what it deserves. I can’t wait to see their crying fans at yet another Finals loss in June. #$%# em!!!

 

This week’s Slate of Games:

 

 

Monday

 

Golden State-San Antonio (Good Ass Game of the Week) 

No Timmy D. No problem. But damn it if it doesn’t take a little bit of luster off the matchup. You can’t replace Duncan’s presence on the court, no matter how deep the Spurs frontcourt is right now. I doubt there will be a Boban sighting tonight, but then again you never know. Speaking of Boban–you figure he’d be the first choice if there was ever a Princess Bride redux right?

boban-crate

Geezus those shorts are scary! Alright moving on.

Tuesday

 

Oklahoma City-New York

Thunder players have 2 nights off in New York before this matchup. That is a lot of time to get into some stuff. Its always fun to watch KD come to New York, but now that the Knicks have Godzingis to complement their decent lineup, the Knickerbockers are suddenly watchable.

Los Angeles Clippers-Indiana 

Even without Josh Smith, this team still has too many busters in their locker room. Maybe they should try and trade Lance Stephenson to Brooklyn. that may be the only team crazy enough to take on that contract.

Sacramento-Portland

Speaking of crazy, the “Boogie Down Productions” crew in Sactown snuck up in that eigth spot. Cousins has 7 games of 30 plus points, 10 rebounds  this month. No one else in the NBA has more than one in January (thanks to my boy Phillip for hippin’ me to that stat).

This battle of Rondo vs. Lillard will be a fun one. I will certainly be all curled up in bed watching this one.

 

Wednesday

 

Los Angeles Clippers-Atliens

If you are really jonesing.

Houston-San Antonio

As if Houston weren’t busterish enough………that being said, they’ve been winning of late. Who was that one guy who said don’t overreact to the early trend of the East playing better than the West? Some blogger–I hear he moonlights as a teacher or something like that? I hope he doesn’t dislocate his shoulder patting himself on the back for pointing out something so obvious.

Dallas-Golden State

Speaking of misplaced self-fellatio, the Mavericks are low-key trending downwards. They have beaten a few decent teams. I think I placed them appropriately as a middle tier team in last month’s power rankings. The bottom may fall out real quick in a couple of years once Dirk retires.

“Tap that Vein” Thursday

 

New York-Toronto

The Raptors right now are more entertaining off the court than they are on it.

 

 

Friday

 

Cleveland-Detroit

I think Van Gundy’s boys could push Cleveland to a six game series if they met in the playoffs.

Charlotte-Portland

Kemba vs. “Good Ass game” Dame. Lillard is the hottest player this month not named Demarcus.

Houston-Oklahoma City

You will need to take a shower after this game. This is like “Buster Brown All NBA Buster” showcase. If this were a real showcase, it would probably be

Josh Smith, J.R. Smith, Dion Waiters, and Nick Young vs. Austin Rivers, DeAndre Jordan, James Harden, and Evan Turner. They could run 4’s at the Staples Center with pickup ball rules. You wouldn’t be able to give tickets away to this game.

Saturday

 

San Antonio-Cleveland 

All six of the Spurs losses have been on the road. I could see them dropping tonight’s game and not even starting the major players for this rematch against Cleveland.

Kansas vs. Kentucky 6pm

Allen Fieldhouse will be rocking. People don’t know that John Calipari had a brief stint in Lawrence working for Larry Brown. I hope the score gets up into the upper 80’s. #loweredexpectations

Sunday

 

Golden State-New York

Knicks may hang an L on the DUbs this week. By the way, The warriors play the Spurs and Thunder a combined 7 times the rest of the season. I can see them losing 2–maybe even 3 games. It will be difficult getting that 74th win. I don’t even know if its worth it really. If they have to go through Thunder and Spurs on the way to the Finals, then I’d rather my team be well rested. Just a thought.

Minnesota-Portland

Could be a fun way to spend bye week Sunday.

Chicago-Los Angeles Clippers

It is hard to write this with a straight face. I don’t even enjoy watching these two teams play– you know what. Don’t do it. THe highlights will be better than the game itself.

 

As for the Super Bowl, don’t bother watching if you are rooting for a Manning win, or you are a Cam Newton hater. You’re bound for a long evening of disappointment. It is going to be a lot of people mad this year, because Cam gonna dab on fools. That Denver offense will be worth at least 3 turnovers. You may as well watch the Super Bowl from a couple of years ago, because it will be a similar result.  But you never know, anything can happen. I wouldn’t put my money on the Broncos though, unless you like giving away money.

Cam Newton

Enjoy the games this week. Tonight’s has the potential to be as memorable of a regular season game as you will ever see.

 

Peace,

BM

@clickpicka79

#thisagoodassgame #fullsass

thisagoodassgame@gmail.com

 

 

 

(Separation)Tried to Told Ya’ll

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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

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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

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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

Good Riddance to Bad Rubbish

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I’m still recovering from getting literally knocked into next week with a crippling sinus infection. I couldn’t even get out of bed yesterday. Luckily, I was able to pull it together enough to get some much needed work done, and bring you this post right before this week’s slate of games.

But before I do, I’d like to say good riddance to Kobe Bryant, who finally decided he’s gonna hang up the laces. As soon as he announced this was his last year,in a poem (much like his airness of course), then all the talking heads tripped over themselves trying to get in line to suck the off the “Black Mamba.”

Somehow people forget that Kobe gave himself a nickname that stuck (the only other time I remember a case like this is the episode of Seinfeld where George calls himself “T-Bone”), that Kobe was one of the worst sports of all time–petulant even (This is a guy who ran a forearm to Mike Bibby’s face and bloodied his nose to get to the basketball–and Bibby got called for the foul).

This new narrative also forgets how Kobe threw all kinds of static towards Shaq’s way when #8 Kobe got himself into some trouble for some extra curricular affairs in Colorado.  Kobe ran off Shaq from the Lakers because he wanted to be the “Top Dog”, and then cried like a little bitch when he was surrounded with sub-par talent.

All the shenanigans you see with Russell Westbrook today was groundwork laid by a young Kobe then. I can’t tell you how many times I saw Kobe get fouled, then push away an opponent’s hand when they tried to help him up after the foul.

This is the same dude who said he wanted to win, but wasn’t willing to sacrifice his money, his points, or his “status as top dog” in order to do so. He talked major shit about the majority of his teammates, and sure he could pass, but only when it was convenient for him (People forget about that series against the Suns where he ALLEGEDLY just let his team get behind big to prove a point).

Fuck Kobe Bryant’s 6 for 24, Finals MVP having ass (when it should Pau Gasol–even though he should have been called for pushing Rondo in the back during a critical rebound in game 7–Falcon Mike knows I’m right).

Now. All that being said, I can now say that the dude was a bad man, and definitely one of the baddest motherfuckers to ever pick up a basketball. Homie was like a jazz guitarist on the basketball court, a “me first” primadonna; but he also made the behind the scenes bullshit stop once the performance started.

I have always had mixed feelings towards Mr. Bryant. I was beginning my  senior year in high school when he declared for the draft, and it fascinated me that someone roughly my age was about to get PAID. It was easy to keep tabs on him after that. I told my little brother that game 4 of the 2000 Finals was his coming out party, and sure enough he proved me right. # 8 Kobe was one of the sickest mothafuckas I’d ever seen play the game, and he deserves all the accolades (and yes there were many versions of Kobe).

The man is a 17 time All-Star, 12 time All Defender, 15 Time All NBA-er, two time Olympian, 5 time NBA Champion, snazzy dresser, multi-lingual, player who left everything on the court. As an old man, I respect him still going out there and getting his head beat in for the love of the game (shit I do it for free), but the part of me who wants to watch good product just wants him to quit already.

Big ups to Kobe, for his long and brilliant career, but can’t send him out the door as if the guy was a sterling example of the kind of ballplayer I’d want my (fictional) child to be like. Big salute to the second best shooting guard to ever play the game, just as long as the salute is a middle finger. And for the record, I still have not seen the 81 point game.

This week’s Slate:

 

Monday

 

Detroit-Charlotte 

Two teams in the east that have been loads more entertaining this season as opposed to last. Big ups to Reggie “I don’t like OKC fans anymore” Jackson for getting Eastern Conference Player of the Week. One day two junior high school kids will be in a gymnasium shooting baskets, and one of them will say “Did you know that Reggie Jackson used to be Russell Westbrook’s backup on the Oklahoma City Thunder?”

Then the other kid will say, “There was a team in Oklahoma City?”  I’m kind of kidding. That would be the second biggest tragedy to ever hit that city.

Bulls-Suns

Two really fun backcourts.

Dallas-New York

Dirk vs. The Zinger.

Portland-Milwaukee

Tap. That. Vein. I’ll be watching the condensed version of this tomorrow during my plan period probably.

 

 

Tuesday

 

Hickory High vs. Warriors (Good Ass Game of the Week)

If you saw last week’s Hornets-Warriors affair, then you were in for a treat. Sometimes the “Good Ass Game of the Week” isn’t always a buzzer beater. Sometimes it means a player just goes crazy in a quarter and his shot montage burns itself into your retinas. I missed the Cleveland-New Orleans game on Friday when Lebron got 24 in the 4th, but I’m okay with that. You know why? Because I got to see Steph Curry pour on 40 in 3 quarters of play, while only missing 4 shots. By the way, it was Dell Curry night in Charlotte, and Cam Newton (this year’s NFL MVP) was in attendance.

If the Warriors are going to lose on this road trip, this is the prime place for them to get plucked.

OKC-MEMPHIS

Never a dull moment with these two teams.

 

Utah-Sacramento

Did you ever as a high school upperclassmen, sort of pick a fight between two freshman? and then when it was over, leave with a little respect for both participants, like “Yeah you little busters got some heart. Respect.”?  Ummm. Me either.

But that’s how I feel about this particular game.

 

 

Wednesday

 

Spurs-Raptors

Even without Kawhi it’ll be a good ass game.

Atliens-Mavericks 

Sure. Why not?

 

 

Thursday

 

New York-Sacramento

People may not admit this, but Willie Cauley-Stein really adds some length on defense. I don’t think it is an accident that they having been giving up even more points since he broke his finger.

 

 

Friday

 

Golden State-Boston

My homie says this is when the Golden Shower stops.

Milwaukee-Orlando

The last time someone tried to do magic on a dead animal this happened.

 

 

Saturday

 

San Antonio- Atlanta

This time I promise it will be competitive.

Golden State vs. Milwaukee

When I say this is going to be the longest game in recent memory, I don’t mean the duration. Both squads have very long wings and very tall backcourts. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Bucks took the Warriors to the precipice of losing.

 

Sunday

 

Minnesota-Phoenix

Tap That Vein if you must. But be aware that there is a world out there waiting for you to show it your beautiful face.

 

Big Ups of the Week:

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Goes out to Luke Walton for winning NBA Coach of the Month after going 0-0 in Steve Kerr’s absence. This son of NBA Hall of Famer Bill Walton (whose enthusiasm for basketball inevitably rubbed off on me–read his autobiography–it ain’t bad.) went to U of Arizona and played for Lute Olson (like the coach he is subbing for), then got to the NBA and played for Phil (much like the coach he’s subbing for).

The dude also has a pretty good tie game. He has yet to wear a bad suit on the sideline this season. Gotta give it up to the guy, plus he was one of my favorite passing big men to play the college game. I’ve got nothing but respect for the guy (even though I would have tried to talk him out of this photo shoot–but hey who didn’t do regrettable things when they were 22?).

 

May the “good ass game alert” texts never stop coming this week.

 

Peace.

 

BM

#thisagoodassgame #fullsass

@clickpicka79

bobbymickey@gmail.com