Bulls

No Alarms and No Surprises Please

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[Takes a Deep breath]

AUSTINRIVERS,CHRISPAUL,JOSHSMITH,DEANDREJORDAN,

JAMESHARDEN,DIONWAITERS, DWIGHTHOWARD, and ROY HIBBERT.

[And exhale]

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

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

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

 

Monday

OKC-ATL 

Dallas-Sacramento

Spurs-Bulls (Good Ass Game of the Week)

 

Tuesday

This a good ass day to get some work done.

Wednesday

Golden State-Charlotte 

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

Toronto-Atlanta

Playoff preview?

Milwaukee-San Antonio

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

Thursday

Oklahoma City-Miami

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

Spurs-Grizzlebees 

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

 

Celtics-Kings

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

“Black Album” Friday

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

Saturday

Golden State-Toronto

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

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

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

Cleveland-Miami 

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

Kings-Rockets

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

Blazers vs. Teen Wolves

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

Sunday

Kings-Thunder

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

Dallas-Washington

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

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

Peace,

 

BM

bobbymickey@gmail.com

fullsass.com

@clickpicka79

#thisagoodassgame #fullsass

 

 

 

 

 

 

Easin’ into the Grind

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I haven’t had as much time as I’d like to watch NBA this season. The number of games I want to catch up on are piling up. The bandwidth at my local Starbucks is weak, and I’m afraid that if I get internet at my house that I’ll become a hermit. By December, I’ll be a bit more adjusted, and will have caught my breath by winter break. I plan to devote at least 5-6 hours a day during this period to watching basketball. Only 4 more weeks until this is a reality. The marquee “Good Ass Game of the Week” matchups have been as good as advertised, but the biggest surprise to me is how much better ball is in the Eastern Conference. The quality of play is improved, and instead of 89-76 games, teams are actually scoring into the 100’s.

All that being said, I still fux with the Western Conference teams more heavily than the East–no doubt. Right now my favorite squads to watch are the Warriors (unreal the kind of ball they are playing. I don’t think an offense has generated this kind of round-the-league since the Showtime era Lakers), the Bulls (can actually stretch the floor with shooters), the Teen Wolves (could conceivably have two of the best 2 way players in the league someday with Karl Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins–I’ve watched more games by them this year than I have in the entire KG “Big Ticket” era), Kings (those throwback powder blue jerseys are sick), and of course the Spurs.

This week Kawhi supplanted Kevin Durant as my favorite player in the NBA. Curry stays on at #2, while KD slips to three. Steph and KD are both electrifying to watch, but Leonard is slowly building up his case for being the best 2 way player in the game (after Lebron of course). But Lebron won’t be around forever, and we’re only 3-4 seasons away from Lebron’s body betraying him, making him merely great rather than otherworldly. Who’ll supplant Lebron? Well it could be any of these guys in no particular order:

Andrew Wiggins

Victor Oladipo

Jimmy Butler

Kawhi Leonard

Anthony Davis

Paul George

Anthony Towns

The NBA product is in good hands for the next 8-10 years. Let’s get to these games:

Monday

Portland-San Antonio 

This will be close for about 3 and a half quarters if we are lucky. Seriously though, if you like to watch good defenders, and you haven’t been watching Kawhi, do yourself a favor and peep. First hit is free, after that…….

OKC-Memphis

Always a good battle with these two teams. No Durant adds more pressure on the supporting cast to step it up, because you know Hustle Westbrook is going to fill the stat sheet.

“Tap That Vein” Tuesday

Minnesota-Miami 

Young guns. This will be a fun watch. I’m especially looking forward to the Towns-Whiteside face-off.

Toronto-Golden State

Warriors  gonna rock the “Throwbacks” that night. MMMMMPPPPPPPHHHHHHHH!!!!

[If College hoops gives you that buzz, then get on those Duke-Kentucky, Kansas-Michigan State games]

Wednesday

Sacramento-Atlanta

Even when the Kings get blown out, it lends for entertainment.

Dallas-Boston

This strikes me as the type of game one would live-tweet while watching.

Chicago-Phoenix

Suns just aren’t a hoops sexy team this year. It’ll still be a fun game though. Its good toe See Doug McDermott out on the court this year. Homie can ball.

Thursday

Sacramento-Miami

Cousins vs. Whiteside??? Insert “banging in the post” joke here. GO!!!

Milwaukee-Cleveland pt. Duex

The Bucks match up well with the Cavs. Imagine the length of Golden State without the outside shooting threats. That’s the Bucks.

Golden State vs. Lol Clippers “Good Ass Game of the Week”

Good night to make some chili on the crock pot, and stare at the computer (or tv) screen. Warriors have Bogut back for this one. I’m not a betting man, but if I were, I’d put money on Blake Griffin getting a tech this game.

Friday

Detroit-Minnesota 

Some young talent in this one. Andre Drummond vs. Karl Anthony Towns. Remember when they said big men in the post were a dying breed?

Spurs-New Orleans

To quote the great Jordan Paladino, “New Orleans is trash.” The only way I’ll be watching the Pelicans again this year is if they play a marquee  game. I know its early in the season, but not only do they not look like they’ve gotten better, but it seems like they regressed. Its pretty disappointing.

Clippers-Portland

Lillard against Chris Paul sounds slightly amusing. Its hard to watch the Trailblazers even with their sick back court. When Lillard and McCollum are off the floor, it feels like I’m watching a pickup game at the Lewis and Clark Recreation Center–especially with Plumlee, Leonard, and Connaughton on the team.

Chicago-Golden State “Good Ass Game of the Week PART 2”

Last February’s affair was one of the “Good Ass Games of the Year” in my book. I have three words for you: HIGH LEVEL BASKETBALL. Plus two of my favorite college players from back in the day are now coaching against each other. That is correct, I am old enough to have seen the “The Mayor” play in college. #DON”THATECUZYOULATE

Saturday

Sacramento-Orlando

This week definitely has some bite to it. Good ass games every single night. Orlando is pesky. Scott Skiles knows how to get the young bucks fired up to play. Its the veterans who get tired of his overbearing style though. This is the perfect situation for him. In 4 years, maybe not. He is like the Buck Showalter of NBA coaches.

Memphis-San Antonio

Memphis looks a step behind this year. I’d be shocked if this were a double overtime affair like last season. Then again, so was this shot.

Sunday

Definitely the kind of setting that would precipitate a live-tweet session.

Big Ups of the Week to the person who designed this year’s Mavs’ jerseys. Those are the best looking ones I’ve seen in al the years they been rocking them shits.

I wish I could say the same for the Thunder jerseys. HELL NAW!!!

They would get the Buster of the Week Award in a regular week, but last week’s events (the bombings in Lebanon, and the shootings in Paris), have me thinking more sobering thoughts. In order for a tragedy of last week’s magnitude to occur, it takes multiple parties have to be complicit.

I’m not naive enough to think that international conflict can be avoided. Its unavoidable. But the fact that people can’t go to a movie, or see their favorite band without fear of being shot in a public place is discomforting. We have to figure out a way to be better people towards each other. There’s no way around it.

One minute you are ordering a dish in French for the first time, and in the next breath, there can be bullets whizzing by your head.Life really is that fragile.

#shoothoopsnotpeople

Peace.

BM

#thisagoodassgame # fullsass

@clickpicka79

Fullsass.com

bobbymickey@gmail.com

First Impressions: This Week’s Good Ass Game Viewing Guide

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If there were ever a year to get introduced to NBA League Pass, this is the year to do it. There are so many good players to watch on so many teams right now, and so little time. I don’t have internet at my apartment yet (we only get paid once a month in my school district), and the only time I can catch games is either at the bar, at work when I’m working late, or at the local Starbucks on their Wi-Fi. 17 more days of ducking and dodging, creeping and crawling, before I can start curling up in bed and falling asleep to west coast games.

The great thing about having that pass is that I can watch games retroactively. I’ve watched so many games retroactively that I no feel like less of a fan, and more like a university student doing homework. I can’t believe people get paid to just sit in dark rooms and watch film all day. There is an NBA Hardwoods Classic feature that lets you go back and watch classic games on there, but the best feature of all is the Condensed game; where you can watch what amounts to an extended highlights clip. This is the only way I can get through a Clippers or Rockets game, because their games take an extra hour because of all the whistles and flops.

A couple of weeks before the season started, a friend cautiously suggested that the Kings could make a run for that 8th seed in the West. I thought it was ludicrous because of the crazy front office situation, but I’ve watched at least a little of every Kings game so far, and they look good. Part of that has to do with Rajon Rondo. Anyone who has dated someone right out of a serious long term relationship, can understand that the Mavericks just ran into a buzzsaw. Here’s a guy whose formative NBA years were spent with one team–a team that won an NBA championship.

It wasn’t the best of endings, and before he even had a chance to process his feelings, he in another relationship with another team. This team thinks its found its point guard of the future, but Rondo I’m sure is looking at the roster thinking “I just left an old ass squad that is too slow to run with me, and I’m now I’m about to commit the remaining years of my prime to the same kind of team.”

Now Rondo is with an athletic team with the right mix of veterans and up and coming stars. That roster is loaded with talent, and is better than those Nuggets teams that George Karl was coaching with Carmelo. I slept on the Kings, but I’m sure taking them seriously now after watching their first 3 games of the season. They will be a hard team to blowout.

A few things crossed my mind during this week:

  • If there were an “NBA Face Time” team for guys whose play makes you want to punch them in the face, the Clippers would be well represented. It’d be like that one year where the entire starting five for the Pistons almost made the All-Star Team.
  • I should have studied the Milwaukee Bucks point guard situation more closely before I predicted they would be in Eastern Conference Finals. I’ve never been a fan of Jerryd Bayless (and not just because he’s light skinned). I guess if anyone is going to get the best out of that backcourt, it will be Jason Kidd. I do really like their uniforms though–they look pretty crispy.
  • New Orleans can’t afford to have too slow of a start out West. Their defense has not looked good in the first few games. After giving up 39 in the first quarter in their first game against Golden State, they gave up 40 to the Trailblazers (My boy C.J. had 22 of them in a 37 point effort). I feel like I have been saying this every year since 2008, but the West has only gotten better.
  • The Teen Wolves have been a fascinating story this year. Their season has an extra melancholic milieu to it with the passing of Flip Saunders. If Ricky Rubio can finally stay healthy, I think he can be the Spanish version of Tony Parker. I think Andrew Wiggins will be an All NBA defender within the next 3 years, and Karl Anthony Towns is my front runner for Rookie of the Year. What I really like about this roster is that they have KG, Tayshaun Prince, and Andre Miller in the locker room as player-coaches. This teams reminds me of the ’09 OKC squad that was right on the cusp of being in the playoffs. We’ll see what happens, but they may be a few off-season moves away from really giving teams some headaches next year.

Let’s get to these games:

“Tap that Vein” Tuesday

Atlanta-Miami (meh) Remember that condensed version mode? That’s how I’ll be watching this game.

Memphis-Sacramento Unfortunately our boy Boogie is on day-to-day status with an Achilles strain. The scrappy factor just went down a few notches because of that injury. Don’t rush back Boogie. WE NEED YOU THIS SEASON!!!!

Wednesday

Golden State-Los Angeles Clippers (GOOD ASS GAME OF THE WEEK)

Cancel. All. Your. Plans. This. Evening.

Thursday

OKC-Chicago Two rookie coaches from the college ranks facing each other for the first time. I like the depth of the Bulls this year. I watched them play Orlando the other night, and I couldn’t help but wonder how relaxed the atmosphere must have been at training camp this year. I don’t agree with the method, but a coaching change had to happen up in the Windy City. Thibs is a grinder, and that roster didn’t need that. Let’s talk about that backcourt for a minute. Jimmy Butler may be the best two way guard west of Lebron James, and Derrick Rose may be the perfect sidekick to Mr. Buckets (Yeah I said it).

Speaking of coaching changes, I realized last night that Billy D. may be the best coach that either Westbrook or Durant have ever had. That kinda makes me sad.

Friday

Houston-Sacramento Did you ever think that the Kings would be making the Good Ass Games list twice in a week?

Saturday

Minnesota-Chicago This will be a good gauge for the Teen Wolves. I’ll prolly be watching this one from a booth at Starbucks….grading papers or some shit to make me feel productive.

New Orleans-Dallas One of these two teams might miss the playoffs. For some reason this reminds me of the time I told my cousins that whoever won a fight between them could get next on the X-Box. Of course, I immediately felt bad afterwards and tried to play it off as a test of their character. By then it was too late, because one of them was crumpled into a ball after receiving a drop kick in the chest from his young brother. Needless to say neither of them were allowed to play the video games that day. #NONSEQUITUR 

Golden State-Sacramento 

This is gonna be an old fashioned ass whupping, but it’ll be way better than watching the snuff film that the will be the Clippers-Rockets game.

Sunday

Phoenix-Oklahoma City This game may get up into the 120’s. Running and Gunning. Gunning and Running.

Portland-Detroit if you really wanna tap that vein or avoid NFL (Is it the playoffs yet????).

Monday This will be the best day of the week for watching hoops.

Grizzlies-Clippers, Detroit-Golden State will be interesting (at this point I have to tune into every Dubs game just on principle). Ditto to the Spurs-Kings, and I must admit that I’m curious about that Hawks-Teen Wolves matchup.

Alright. Time to bounce before I burn up all of my planning period.

Peace.

BM

#thisagoodassgame

@clickpicka79

bobbymickey@gmail.com

Fullsass.com

THE JUMP OFF

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Its been a busy week for ya boi Bmick: Went to Austin to record a podcast with my Craig on fullsass.com, threw up a couple of blog posts (big ups to my boys Jordan and Alex for blessin’ the game), and last night worked my first private gig as a standup comic (also did my first clean set ever–who knew I had it in me?).

Out of all that activity, the most important thing I did was get that NBA League Pass. Its a game changer no doubt. Now I’m ready for “Tip-off Tuesday” So let’s get it:

TUESDAY

Detroit-Atlanta

Cleveland-Chicago

New Orleans-Golden State

Three good ass games that night. I’m curious how my boy Stanley Johnson plays. I was so hype on Justice Winslow this season that I forgot all about Stanley Johnson being on the Pistons. Detroit has interesting squad. If they were playing out West they’d be trash, but they benefit greatly from being out east. Later on in the season, I will tell you to avoid this game. But its “TIP OFF TUESDAY DAWG!!!!” We ain’t had no basketball in months. You gotta get it in!

Unless you napping, or peeping game 1 of the World Series, you should at least watch the second half of this game. Don’t get too up or down on either team for Cleveland-Chicago game. Media gonna be overreacting the next day no matter who wins. ESPN will have some bullshit narrative to run into the ground, as Bill Plaschke and other talking heads talk about early warning signs for the losing team. GUYS!! GUYS!! GUYS!!! Calm the fuck down. It’s only game 1 of an 82 season.

You best believe I’ll be up late  watching that Golden State-New Orleans game. Coach Gentry getting his ring will be a nice thing to witness for the Pelicans players, but minus Anthony Davis, they really don’t have anything. That is how good “Lil Brow Wow” is. He’s my MVP pick for the year.

Wednesday

Spurs-Thunder (Good Ass Game of the Week) 

I was supposed to work my second job this night, but I can already feel this developing cough coming on. [COUGH COUGH WINK WINK ELBOW NUDGE]

Dallas-Phoenix

Battle for the eighth seed begins.

Cleveland-Memphis

I’m not saying Cleveland is going to punk out, but this going to be a physical game on the 2nd of back-to-backs for the Lebrons. Go ahead and get that ice bath ready fellas. You’re going to need it. Speaking of physical:

Clippers-Kings 

Will be a game chock full of testosterone. If I were a groupie trying to get a meal ticket, this game would be circled on my calendar. There’s some young entrepreneurs holed now in some Sacramento hotel right now, poking holes in condoms and vacuum sealing the packaging.

Minnesota-Los Angeles

This game will be full of cool highlights, but will also have loads of stupid turnovers. This may as well be a Rookies vs. Sophomores game with KG and Kobe as the head coaches. I’ll fight off sleep just long enough to watch the first half. I like to leave the betting to Alex Knapp, but I’ll say that there will be at least 3 insane dunks that makes Sportscenter from this one.

“Tap that Vein Thursday”

You’ll have plenty of opportunities to watch the Pacers play, so unless you really need to see them unveil the

Hickory High uniforms, use the Memphis-Indiana game to be productive.

Side note: Am I the only one who thinks Memphis would be better off playing in the Eastern Conference? They would be beastin’ if they were over there (and they probably should be, they are no longer from Vancouver–also, how many Grizzlies are really in Tennessee?). If they were in the east they’d easily be a top 3 contender.

Dallas-Los Angeles Clippers

I don’t know about this one either. Use Thursday night to build up cache with your loved one. Its early in the season, but every little bit counts. Unless you and your wife are hardcore Mavs fans, and you want to brainwash your infant into being a Mavs fan too, I’d say do something else. Its only the first week. This matchup will mean a lot more as the season moves along.

Friday

Its going to be a busy night for the Mickster. The World Series will have moved to what is currently my favorite American city (Queens representin’), I’ll be showing my face at a Halloween party that night (dressed as you guessed it, an NBA ref), and there are a ton of games.

Houston-Golden State and Miami-Cleveland will be the main attractions, but with NBA League PASS, I can go home and watch the Portland-Phoenix, Lakers-Kings, and Bulls-Pistons games after the fact. #GAMECHANGER

Saturday

Its Halloween. Don’t bother. Golden State-New Orleans play again for the 2nd night in one week, and on the 2nd night of a back-to-back.In fact, everybody plays back  to back on Halloween. Do yourself a favor and go get liquored up and make a bad decision or two (nothing that you can’t videotape or that will get you thrown in jail).

Sunday (First of tha month)

Can you think of a better way to nurse a hangover than to watch the Spurs beat the Celtics?

Houston-Miami won’t be a bad watch either, and you could do worse things than tune in to Milwaukee-Toronto.

Monday

Oklahoma City-Houston

Runner-up to the Good Ass Game of the Week.

Memphis-Golden State

“YUP!!!!”

~E-40

Portland-Minnesota and Suns-Clippers 

are worth checking out during timeouts and commercials, but honestly the highlights will be better than the games themselves. No disrespect to the fan base of either franchises, but you know what it is.

Big Ups of the Week to:

Jerry Colangelo USA basketball committee for finally doing what is right. Gregg Popovich has done as much for the game of basketball as anyone not named James Naismith. This is a win for everyone involved, but most of all this is a win for the game of basketball. I’m getting choked up just writing about this. Big ups!

So that’s it. The NBA season starts on Tuesday, and I couldn’t be happier. Basketball season is finally here. GOOD NEWS. GOOD NEEEEWWWWWWWWHHHHHHOOOOOOSSSSSSS.

Shout out to the Mets and the Royals for what will be a classic World Series. I think the Royals will take it in 7. I’ll be happy for either fan base no matter who wins. Although,I’ll just be more happier Mets fans. Kansas City is in Missouri after all. And we all know how I feel about that state.

Be cool.

Bobby Mickey

@clickpicka79

#thisagoodassgame

fullsass.com

bobbymickey@gmail.com

When Good Becomes Great

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Besides this Clippers-Spurs Series, and this classic playoff finish, this first round has been a dud. With so many things happening since my last post, one week has felt like three.

Scott Brooks got fired and replaced by Billy Donovan. This seems like incredibly poor timing to hire a rookie coach who has never even worked in the NBA level to take this playoff team to a championship in his first couple of years. I think Billy Donovan will do fine in the NBA, but I don’t see how he is the answer to what has been plaguing Team OKC. Maybe I’m wrong, I just feel that organization isn’t on the level with their players, or the fans.

The best Jayhawk to come out of the 90’s has lived up to his nickname, trolling the Raptors fans, and handling up on the court as well. A dude like Pierce in the locker room is exactly what the Wizards needed.

Big ups to maybe the best Jayhawk to come through Lawrence, for winning Rookie of the Year, Mr. Andrew Wiggins

Just a good week altogether for Kansas fans as it has also been reported that Chieck Diallo, the #7th ranked player in this year’s recruiting class. Bill Self also picked up the #21th ranked player in Carlton Bragg. I’m sure expectations will be high in the Land of Rock Chalk, but what else is new?

Good Ass Series of the Week

Game 7 Spurs-Clippers This is going to be intense. #HEROBALL

Memphis-Golden State

Tough break for Mike Conley and the Grizzlebies. They were really starting to gel. I think Warriors smoke em in 5 games.

Chicago-Cleveland

This series will remind you of the first love you ever experienced. Sometimes there were really beautiful moments, and sometimes things were just as ugly. But the most memorable part was how intense it all was. This will be a draining series, no matter who comes out ahead. Bulls in six. Side Note: Wouldn’t it be crazy if Cleveland somehow plays better without kevin Love pouting on the sidelines, and the Cavs went all the way to the Finals? That wouldn’t look good at all during contract negotiations would it?

Hawks-Wizards will remind you of that rebound person after breaking up with that first love.
There may be some things that are unappealing going into this series, but it’ll still be pretty damn fun if you don’t take it too seriously. I feel like this one takes a full 2 weeks to settle. Hawks in 7.

Houston-Los Angeles games would take 4 hours complete. Just pray that Spurs win. If you think watching West Coast games are bad now, just imagine if the longest free throw contest in history
begins next week. As the great Jalen Rose says, “NOT GONNA BE ABLE TO DO IT!!!!”

Peace.

BM
bobbyickey@gmail.com
#thisagoodassgame
@clickpicka79

Finallly!!!!!!

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For all intents and purposes, the playoffs started on Wednesday when Oklahoma City needed a win over the Teen Wolves, and a loss by New Orleans to sneak into the playoffs. For as much hype (and deservedly so) as the Russell Westbrook show was generating, the Thunder were still losing–despite Westbrook’s Herculean numbers during this past month (He was named the Western Conference Player of the month for his efforts). He was getting 54 points and the team was still putting up L’s.

I’m actually happy that the Pellies got in this year(thanks to this shot of course). I just couldn’t bear the thought of watching OKC in the playoffs without my boy KD.

For all those people who are sad about not getting to watch Russ in the playoffs, imagine an NBA where all of the playoff teams get to borrow one player from each lottery bound team for the first round in exchange for their first round pick. It’d be like the waiver wire in order of worst team seeding. How crazy would that be? just a drunken thought I had late one night.

Speaking of playoff seeding, what about that crock of shit brewing out in the Eastern Conference? Cleveland’s Bitch asses would be a 7th seed in the West. With Thabo Sefelosha’s leg injury affecting what will be Atlanta’s perimeter defense, the Cavs have a relatively easier path to the NBA Finals. It’s crap. This is like the winner of the NIT tournament getting to play the winner of the Final Four for the National championship. It’s bollocks.

With the playoff series being a best of 7, this column becomes almost obsolete this time of year. I’ll cut it short and give you the clicks to pick for the first round.

This Round’s Good Ass Series of Good ASS Games:

Houston vs. Dallas

The I-45 beatdown. Houston has Harden (probably the Leagues’ MVP–though I agree with J.R. Smith that Lebron should probably win every year) and they finally got D-12 healthy, but Dallas has the 2nd best coach in the NBA. I’m going to say the Mavericks take this in 7 games.

Portland vs. Memphis

Both teams are pretty banged up right now. I think this will be a series of close games–albeit ulgy ones. I’ll probably watch every game this series, but only in the 4th quarter, unless I get some kind of Good Ass Game alert telling me to tune in for an early edition of “Illard Time.”

Grizzlebees in 6 games.

New Orleans vs. Golden State

This might be the quickest ending of the series, but I firmly believe that every game will be hotly contested, except for that last home game in Oakland, that will just get out of hand. It will be the most entertaining series north of Clippers-Spurs–but we’ll get to that later.

Golden State in five games.

Los Angeles vs. San Antonio [Good Ass Games of the week]

People are talking about the mine field that the Spurs have ahead of them just because they did not get the 2nd seed. It is as if they haven’t seen the pitfalls that await every team in the second round. the only team San Antonio should have been worried about facing in the first round was Memphis–who will beat teams up even if they don’t beat them. Otherwise its evenly matched. No one has an easy path to finals, no matter where they are seeded.

Besides, I think the Clippers are vastly ovverated. J.J. Redick is having the best season of his career, and the big three for LAC is formidable, but who is going to come off the bench for them besides Jamal Crawford?

I’ve got the Spurs in 6, and it may not even that close. I think every game will be competitive though. This kind of reminds me of that series back in the day when Spurs played against Chris Paul when he was a Hornet. I don’t know why. It just does.

“Tap that Vein” Series

Bucks vs. Bulls

I know my boy Mikey will be watching his C’s play, but if I’m going to spend any of my free time watching an Eastern Conference game, it will probably be this Bulls-Bucks series. It’s kind of like when you are walking down the street and you see two homeless people arguing in an alley. You should probably be doing something better with your life, but curiosity got the best of you for a moment. Then the reality of the ugliness becomes too much to bear, and you remember that list of unfulfilled goals you still have remaining. Fuck the Eastern Conference Playoffs.

Buster of the Week Award goes to:

Aaron Hernandez. Mr. Husky himself got life in prison with no chance of parole for the murder of Odin Lloyd.
He was accused of some other filthy shit, but wasn’t on trial for those other grizzly acts. The dude pissed away millions of dollars on some bullshit. If you ask me, all they had to do was pull out the tape of his touchdown celebrations to convince me that he did it.

Look at it. It is almost as if he is snitching on himself. And they say Richard Sherman is a thug. For the record, Ray Lewis was convicted of obstruction of justice, not MURDER. There is a difference, as Aaron Hernandez can attest to.

Big Ups of the Week goes to:

Anthony Davis and the New Orleans Pelicans for giving the nation of taste of what is in store for the next few years. Someday this may be Lil Brow Wow’s league.

Enjoy the first round. See you in a week or two.

Peace.

BM
@clickpicka79
#thisagoodassgame

Resting Up for the Playoffs

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From now until the 18th of April, every game will be a “tap that vein” game. Most of the playoff berths have been set, and now we are just waiting on the seedings to play out. I will be taking a vacation from the blog until the playoff seedings are set, then we can break down which series will be worth tuning into.

Western Conference Standings as of 4/6/15
1. Warriors

2. Rockets

3. Grizzlies

4. Blazers

5. Clippers

6. Spurs

7. Mavericks

8. Thunder

On the bubble: Pelicans, and Suns. Pelicans are only .5 games back of the 8th spot, while the Suns are barely hovering at .500.

Easter Conference Standings as of 4/6/15

1. Hawks

2. Cavs

3. Bulls

4. Raptors

5. Bullets errr Wizards

6. Bucks

7. Nets

8. Celtics

On the bubble:
Pacers, Heat, Hornets

the 6, 7, 8, seeds are all under .500…

There are 7 games left in the year. For the Bucks, Nets, Celtics, Heat, Hornets,and Pacers, every game will be a playoff game. The same goes for the Thunder and Pelicans. You want that playoff intensity, then watch any of the aforementioned teams. But like I said before, is it worth not being able to cancel date night in April because you wanted to see if the Celtics were going to squeeze into the 8th seed?

Well maybe it will be.

Good Ass Games for the rest of the season:

Monday

Duke vs. Wisconsin….Calipari’s no coaching ass got exposed again……people should start looking at 2012 as the aberration and not the norm. How many NBA prospects has he pushed out, and how many chips does he have? Exactly. Tonight’s championship game may be the “Good Ass Game of the Week”.

Tuesday
Golden State vs. new Orleans
San Antonio vs. OkC

Wed
Houston-san Antonio

Thursday
Portland-Golden State

Friday
Golden State-San Antonio

Saturday
Clippers-Grizzlebees

Sunday

Pelicans-Rockets

Monday-13th

OKC-Blazers
Clippers-Suns

Tuesday
N/A

Wednesday 15th

New Orleans-Spurs

In Russ They Trust

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Well homie did it again, this time posting a 30,11, and 17 (dimes!!!!) stat line. Oh and by the way, he also got 4 steals and a block. “Hustle” Westbrook collected his 5th triple-double in 6 games, and pretty much cemented himself into “must trust Russ” status.

Remember last year when KD was going fed on the “Real MVP” campaign. This run by Westbrook parallels that shit. Westbrook is averaging 34.3 points, 10.2 rebounds and 11.4 assists since the All-Star break. If you can’t enjoy this run for what it is, then maybe basketball ain’t the sport for you. Maybe you should find the closest private school, and start hanging with “Lax” bros.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZW9Ew_EpMM

Last week was a great week for Good Ass Games, possibly the best week of Good Ass Games thus far in the season. Some players really took it to another level. Some guys like Hassan Whiteside are doing it on the low key, while guys like Steph Curry continue to blow up the highlight reel.

We have 21 games left in the regular season, and it is a shame that we have to choose between seeing Anthony Davis, or KD and Russ in the playoffs. “Lil Brow Wow” had a nasty line in his return. Somehow his 39, 13, and eight blocks got overshadowed by everything else that happened the night he played.

Ideally this will be the time that all the teams get their best pieces back, and we see everyone healthy for the playoffs. If Oklahoma City somehow gets Durant healthy for the playoffs, they will be the scariest 8 seed in NBA history. They have been fighting for the playoff lives since December, and now they have as solid (or better) of a bench as they have ever had. Watch out……..

Good ASS GAMES OF THE WEEK

Monday

Golden State vs. Phoenix

This would have been a much better game two months ago, but I’m not sure how much worse the Suns are than with Dragic, and Isiah Thomas. Sometimes there is a such thing as having too many cooks in the kitchen. I still expect the Warriors to show out tomorrow night at home in the Oracle. Man I love the Bay area.

Memphis-Chicago

Two of the best frontcourts face off in this one. The Gasol brothers are going to go at it like it is driveway basketball. I’m into it.

Tuesday

San Antonio faces off against the Raptors in this “Tap that Vein Tuesday” showdown. Spurs are starting to get healthy again, and it has been easy to overlook them. Kawhi and his big paws are causing problems for teams as well.

But seriously, think about all the things a guy like Kawhi can do with hands that big. He could work in a hospital delivery room as a baby catcher. He could work for the police department and rescue cats out of trees. I’m sure he could be a hell of a bass player, if he wanted to be. If Kawhi were a super hero, his powers would be to enlargen his hands and smack fools in the face, like Dave Grohl in that Foo Fighters video
.

Wednesday

Houston vs. Portland

Someday people will say things like “Can you believe that Westbrook, Durant, and James Harden once all played on the same team/ How did they not win a championship together?” A damn shame about Wes Matthews’ Achilles heel tear. Tough break all around. Get well soon Wesley.

Los Angeles Clippers vs. Oklahoma City

If boths teams were all full strenght, this night would get the ringing “Good Ass Game of The Week” endorsement. It will still be worth your time though. CP3 vs. Russ. MMMMMMPPPHHHHHHH!

Thursday

Cleveland vs. San Antonio

Cleveland has the offense to win some games out east, but their defense is not championship caliber. It is too bad their only formidable opponent is Atlanta–who by the way, worked the Cavs last Friday.

Friday

Do you really want to give up date night for Clippers-Mavericks or Atlanta-Phoenix? I’m honestly kind of feeling the Minnesota-Oklahoma City game. A WIGGINS!!!!!

Saturday

Just. Don’t.

Sunday

Clippers-Rockets

If you like flopping, then this will be the game for you. Otherwise peep the Bulls-Thunder which would have won the Good ASS Game of The Week, had Lebron and Harden not gone into overtime last Sunday.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPF-j3QBAFI

Buster(s) of the Week:

I never liked the University of Oklahoma and my visits to Norman were always mixed at best. Now I understand why. Sigma Alpha Epsilon basically confirmed what I’d always suspected about the culture down on I-35. So thanks bros. I appreciate your honesty. I’m sure I’ll see you on TV at the Thunder games, sitting courtside with your daddys’ tickets.

Big Up(s) of the Week:

goes to the man, Craig Sager and them awful suits for beating Luekemia. Homie got a rousing ovation from the Chicago fans, and a pretty sweet jacket on top of that from Benny the Bull.

Another shout out goes out to Jason Richardson who did some damage against the Thunder (29 points on 8-19 shooting). I had no idea he was out of the leauge. Apparently he has been trying to come back from injury since 2013. Big ups J-Rich! You know us old guys are rooting for you man. Keep doing what you doing.

Enjoy these Good Ass Games, and peep some college ball if the weather is too bad for you to be outside with your loved ones.

Peace.

BM

@clickpicka79
bobbymickey@gmail.com
#THISAGOODASSGAME

Represent

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Congratulations. If you are reading this post then that means you are alive (or dreaming that you’re alive and reading this).

Fuck February. Last month saw us lose Dr. Spock, former Blazer great, Jerome Kersey, and as of yesterday, Anthony Mason. My man Mason played shut down D, had sick handles for a man his size, and had a low key good jumper. His game posessed an ugly beauty; one that neophytes like me could appreciate. Mason wasn’t the best. Nor was his game the prettiest, but the man embraced what he had and made a career for himself.

To me, Mason embodied the whole 1990’s New York Knick ethos. You can say a lot about those teams. They were marginally talented, they were bullies, and their games were generally an eyesore (especially compared to today’s game), but those Knicks teams had heart. They got every ounce of production possible out each other, and went as a team with marginal offensive talent can go. Hell they almost won a championship. Big ups to #14.

Good ASS Games of the Week:

Monday

Monday is a “tap that vein” kind of night.

Phoenix vs. Miami is marginally entertaining, and New Orleans-Dallas has real playoff implications. Maybe even “Lil Brow Wow” will be ready to play again (So many injuries to so many superstars this year).

Tuesday

Houston-Atlanta just may be the “Good Ass Game of the Week” . Houston ain’t messing around. I almost want to say they are more entertaining without old Dwight manning the 5 position.

Wednesday

Memphis-Houston

Catching Houston on a back-to-back may be the best thing for the “Grizzlebees”. Memphis hasn’t looked all that great post All-Star Break.

Portland-LA Clippers will be good. “Video Game” Dame (Big ups to Mikey!) had a yawner of a game the last time he faced off against Chris Paul. I’m sure he is chomping at the bit to get another shot at the “point God”

Thursday

Oklahoma City-Chicago Does anyone really believe that D. Rose will be healthy enough to play in the playoffs? Not I says the Mick.

Dallas-Portland I remember a certain basketball blogger getting hella krunk about a certain team from Texas acquiring a certain guard from the University of Kentucky. Well, I stand by what I said–even if Rondo hasn’t played all that well. But Dallas fans may have to face the fact that 2012 Rondo may not be walking through that locker room door, and that’s okay.

Friday

Cancel your plans on Friday, or bring them along for the ride, because the two best Eastern Conference teams face off. Cleveland-Atlanta give us a little taste of what early May brings out of the east. I NEVER get excited about games played in the EST, but if you were to stop in any game in that time zone, this is the one to cancel a date for.

Dallas-Golden State will be good too–if the Mavs don’t get blown out that is.

Saturday

Memphis-New Orleans will be an excellent “tap the vein” game, but I’d advise you to change whatever plans you made for Friday and move them to Saturday. Get your drink on, get your think on, or get your dance on. You have all of April to watch the Grizzlebees mangle the Pelicans.

Sunday

Toronto vs. Oklahoma City

Oklahoma City continues to be plagued by injuries, but they still keep fighting. Be afraid, be very afraid.

Clippers-Warriors on that matinee tip.

Chicago-San Antonio Remember that acronym NUTS, Never Underestimate The Spurs?
Well Never Underestimate The Bulls either. This will be a fun one.

BUSTER(s) OF THE WEEK AWARD

Any coach in the Big 12 not named Bill Self. Old Self is cementing his rightful place in Springfield, Massachusetts with every consecutive conference title he grabs. If there were a year, that his streak were more vulnerable, I can’t recall off the top of my head. The Iowa State Hoibergs had a perfect opportunity to snatch at least a share of first place and lost consecutive games this week.

The poor Longhorn faithful down in Austin have a politician posing as a coach, as the Horns continue to underachieve. Whenever I watch KU-UT games I imagine Nick Collison and Kevin Durant sitting on a couch in front of a television. Durant is hype the whole time because it looks like UT will finally get the best of the Jayhawks, and the whole time Collison is confidently thinking, “Rick Barnes is going to find a way to lose this game to Bill Self.”

It matters not though, who wins this conference because the UK Cats are kings this year. I’m not even all that interested in the tournament this year. I’d rather Kentucky take on the best 6 teams and play them on a neutral court, on some heavyweight title (or video game bosses) shit. There will be no reason to watch the NCAA tournament at all, except to see who will get drafted where in the NBA. Which I guess is reason enough isn’t it?

Well congratulations on still being alive. Can’t take anything for granted in this day and age. I hope we can do this again next week.

Peace.

BM

@clickpicka79
bobbymickey@gmail.com
#thisagoodassgame

A Brief Intermission

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I skipped All-Star Break to heal my bones and mind, and to catch my breath. While some of you were oohing and ahhing over Zach Lavine, and Victor Oladipo, I was drinking Brass Monkeys in the warm air of the Big Easy. The time off gave me a time to reflect on the first half of the season, and look ahead to the trade deadline and rest of the regular season. The playoffs start in less than two months, and the line between the contenders and pretenders is quite blurry.

I’m curious as to where Amar’e Stoudemire ends up after his buyout with the Knicks. Sometime last week I had a dream that he was in talks with the Golden State Warriors (to the point of even hearing the over the phone negotiations between Steve Kerr and Amar’e–a little weird to say the least).

What will the Thunder do to nail down a rotation to get them through this stretch run. They haven’t had a consistent starting nine all season, and the backup point guard has yet to play well enough to justify his demands to be a starter for a contending team.

Phoenix is not better this year much to my chagrin–I’m not ever sure if they are as fun as last year’s squad. Will their penchant for losing close games come back to haunt them down the stretch? Do the Pelicans have enough help for Anthony Davis to get New Orleans to the playoffs?

Before we get to the second half of the season’s Good Ass games, let us reexamine the season preview where I made some bold, and not so smart predictions.

First thing off the bet, I was incredibly wrong about the Atlanta Hawks. Not only did I not think they would be worth watching this year, I didn’t even think they would be legitimately good. Big ups to Al Horford, who made his team a contender instead of going elsewhere in pursuit of that “Chip.”

I also did not think Memphis was going to be as lucky with health as they have been. Besides Vince Carter (who is 63 and still suiting up occasionally) there have not been any lingering injuries to this team. I thought for sure Zak Randolph would miss some significant time. How could I have known they’d finally trade Tayshuan Prince for Jeff Green?

I was also wrong about the Timberwolves being a fun team to watch this year. I should have said they would be a fun team to play with on NBA2k15. Shabazz Muhammad is better this year, and Zach Lavine gives Wolves’ fans something to talk about near the water cooler.

Andrew Wiggins is making me look somewhat respectable by pretty much locking up the ROY award. Other than that, things are still as bleak in the “land of 1,000 lakes” as ever. I was expecting this year to finally be the year Ricky Rubio stayed healthy. WRONG!!!!

I knew that Steve Kerr would be great for the Dub’s, but I’d have had to been smoking some super-duper headbanger boogie herb to have foreseen what is going down in Oaksterdam.

Here is what I had for the standings during the season’s preview:

Eastern Conference
1. Cleveland
2. Wizards
3. Raptors
4. Chicago
5. Miami
6. Charlotte
7. Milwaukee
8. Atlanta

Western Conference

1. Clippers
2. OKC
3. Spurs
4. Mavericks
5. Warriors
6. Phoenix
7. Portland
8. Houston

Here is what the standings really look like as of today February 15, 2015

Western Conference

1. Golden State
2. Memphis
3. Portland
4. Houston
5. Dallas
6. Los Angeles Clippers
7. San Antonio
8. Phoenix

Eastern Conference

1. Atlanta
2. Toronto
3. Chicago
4. Washington
5. Cleveland
6. Milwaukee
7. Charlotte
8. Miami

With the right stroke of luck, Detroit could easily steal a spot from Miami or Charlotte. Other than that, I feel pretty good about my early assessment of the East, although based on the way Cleveland and Atlanta are playing, I think those are the two teams most likely to meet in the Eastern Conference Finals.

As for the West, I don’t think the standings matter. There are no cupcakes to face in any round for a team to face.

So about these Good Ass Games:

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday

NO GAMES SCHEDULED

Thursday

Starting the second half off right with two Marquee games

Oklahoma City-Dallas, and San Antonio-Los Angeles. After a whole week of not watching any hoop, I’ll be well rested and chomping at the bit. As my boy Busta used to say, “Gimme some MORE” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHHT7dTmw8U

Friday

Toronto vs. Atlanta for the “tap that vein opener” and Golden State vs. San Antonio. Remember that time “Pops” rested his starters and the Warriors still got beat? Yeah I’m sure Golden State remembers that too.

Saturday

Don’t plan your night around this, but Chicago-Phoenix will be a fun watch. If its between watching this and having some “relations”, I wouldn’t begrudge you missing this one. Especially if that someone looks half as good as this young lady. Klay be getting buckets!!!

Sunday

You got all day to clean house, cut the yard, do laundry, or whatever. Get that stuff done so you can watch the Portland-Memphis game. If you miss it, you’ll feel like the guy I saw down at Mardi Gras wearing an Austin Rivers jersey. He certainly would have gotten the Buster of The Week Award had it not been for the Penn State Student section.

This is exactly why they should have had their football program taken away. It didn’t take them long to get back on their high horses after the whole culture of “Ninny Lions” enabled a monster to repeatedly rape disadvantage little boys.

Pedo State, you guys are the true definition of Busters and the only Busters bigger than the JoePa defenders are the people who believe that taking money and paying players is a ‘crime’ significantly worse than allowing school facilities to be used as a grooming stable to RAPE LITTLE BOYS!!!. Find a mirror and look into it Happy Valley Alum. You guys are suckers! I’m out.

Peace.

BM
@clickpicka79
bobbymickey@gmail.com