Golden State

Winter Flurries

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Say hello and goodbye to the busiest trading deadline in NBA history. I updated my favorite websites every 20 minutes to catch up on any breaking news. Every 1 of 3 texts was NBA related from other junkies like myself. It was an exciting day. So who got better?

Oklahoma City may arguably have the best bench full of role players the team has ever had. Kyle Singler and Steve Novak should help stretch the floor the Thunder. I’m sure D.J. Augustin and Kevin Durant were hype to find out they’d be playing together again. Enes Kanter was a quality big too who was underexposed in Utah. He is already putting up numbers–getting 20 points in the first two games playing there.

More importantly, they shed some dead weight in Kendrick Perkins and Reggie Jackson. Both guys had put in some work during their tenure in OKC, but it was just time.

Detroit got a good deal in bringing Reggie along. Pistons look poised to take the 8th seed from Brooklyn, while Miami will certainly suffer with the loss of Chris Bosh (despite the crafty work of Pat Riley to get the Dragic brothers for next to nothing).

Finding minutes for a talent like Arron Afflalo is a good problem to have for Portland. They gave up very little for that acquisition. I was surprised there were no takers for his former backcourt mate Ty Lawson.

It looks like Phoenix is throwing in the towel this season by trading away half their team. Who knows? Maybe they’ll get lucky and draft Stanley Johnson, Jalhil Okafor, or Willie Cauley-Stein.

This Week’s Good Ass Games

Monday

Memphis-Clippers

It’s a shame that Blake is out for this one. I really enjoyed seeing him and Z-Bo tussle in the paint. The only game worth checking out tomorrow night.

Tuesday

“Tap that vein Tuesday” continues with Toronto-Dallas. Watch this game because you’re a fan of either team. I personally don’t enjoy watching Toronto play, but by all means tap that vein if you need it that badly.

Wednesday Between Dallas-Atlanta, Houston-LA Clippers, and San-Antonio-Portland, there should be no excuse for not finding a Good Ass Game to watch on Wednesday night. If I could only watch one of these games, then ATL-DAL would be my pick to click.

Thursday

Golden-State-Cleveland is the “Good Ass GAme of the Week if Steph Curry is healthy enough to play. I just got chills thinking about the possibilities.

Phoenix-Oklahoma City will be competitive, however Phoenix made themselves slightly less watchable by trading away Isiah thomas and Goran Dragic. It will still be worth watching it to see Russ Westbrook get them buckets.

Friday

Golden State-Toronto for the undercard, and then finish the night off with Portland-Oklahoma City.This one might get nasty.

Saturday

San Antonio-Phoenix gets the selection by default. I will personally find something else to do that night. If the game were in San Antonio, an earlier tip-off would allow a person to watch the game and have a Saturday night. 9:00 to 11:30 is a critical period in a person’s Saturday night. You have to commit to either staying in and vegging with your favorite pint of ice cream, or going out and socializing. I’ll have to check the weather channel before deciding.

Sunday

Cleveland-Houston Ugh. Why can’t they both lose this game?

Clippers-Chicago Remember when people use to debate who was the better point guard between D.Rose and Chris Paul? Those people scattered faster than you can say “#1 draft pick Greg Oden.”

Buster of the Week Award:

To anyone who watched the Oscars over the Memphis-Portland game tonight. As my man from “Unforgivable” says, “That’s a Mistake!!!.

See ya’ll next week.

Peace.
BM
bobbymickey@gmail.com
@clickpicka79

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

“We’re Going Streaking!!!!”

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Atlanta tho!!!

The Hawks who I slighted in this year’s preview, have yet to lose in 2015; winning 19 straight and are 40-6 for the season. I tuned in to the watch the Atliens play Portland the other night and was impressed with how krunk it was. I guess I should not have been surprised, since it is the birthplace of Krunk music. What bugged me out though was the arena organ player throwing down some French Montana during a key defensive stand.They beat the Blazers and continued their streak. Hawks are fa’real ya’ll.

Good Ass Games This Week

Monday

Atlanta-New Orleans

This is contingent on the health of “Lil Brow Wow” Anthony Davis. He is supposed to play tonight. We’ll see. Otherwise you’ll have to watch Memphis-Phoenix. If you are trying to watch some college hoops (which I rarely recommend this season), get down on some Iowa State-Kansas on the four letter network. Allen Fieldhouse should be hype, that is if the old people in the building don’t make the young fans sit down so they can see. TURN UP!!

Tuesday

Slim Pickings that night, but you can tap that vein as Golden State takes a trip down I-80 out to “Sactown”. Warriors will be getting it in versus the Kings. We know what happened last time don’t we?

Wednesday

Dallas-Golden State
Oklahoma City-New Orleans
Washington-Atlanta
Chicago-Houston

Bulls-Houston may be the best bet of the night. Oklahoma City has been struggling to get on the same page of late, and I’m convinced it isn’t just health. Their offense is explosive at times, but also highly predictable.

Good teams know how to D up for the Thunder. They don’t do anything fancy, they just try to out run, out shoot, and out jump teams.This strategy has its limits, and when the superstars sit down for any length if time, their offense becomes an eyesore.

I look at Atlanta as if they are a west team these days, so if you can sit through a Wizards game, go ahead and tune in to that game.

Golden State-Dallas would be a lot more sexy if Rondo was playing. Get well soon Rajon.

Thursday

Clippers-Cavaliers

Two really good teams that I really don’t like to watch play. Will I watch? Hell yes. Will I enjoy it? Maybe. I can’t lie though I was impressed with Kyrie Irving’s 55 point game. Bro was relentless against Portland. His game is nice for sure, but I’d much rather watch a certain light skinned brother out of Davidson play ball–but that’s just me.

Speaking of Portland, How did my man “Late Game Dame” get stuck on the outside looking in. Bro is an All Star and a sure fire lock to make first team on Bobby Mickey’s “Non-Kosher All Star Team”. Reserved for the ballers who have been going HAM!

Portland-Phoenix will be an up and down affair (big shout outs to the Jayhawk alumni who’ll be playing that night) with some elite guard play.

Friday

Miami-San Antonio

Should be a good one. I’m liking this Hassan Whiteside kid. He’s been a double-double machine since he got into the league (he even got a triple double one night–posting 12 blocks). After I found out he played high school ball with Iowa State legend, Deandre Kane, he was dope by association alone.

Clippers-Raptors and NOLA-OKC if yoy really wanna tap the vein, but nothing will be ass good as

the Good ASS GAME OF THE WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!
Golden State vs. Atlanta If you are a pretty girl who don’t like basketball and you see me at the bar; transfixed to the TV screen, just keep walking. If you ain’t messing wit hoop, I ain’t messing wit YOU.

Saturday

Dallas-Portland and Chicago-New Orleans will be entertaining, but I wouldn’t sacrifice a Saturday night (and your significant other’s wrath) for either of these games. If the only thing you tryna tap that night is them veins……. well this will certainly do.

Sunday

Atlanta-Memphis will overshadow all the other games on Sunday’s slate. Will the Hawks still be soaring by Sunday? Will they get mauled by the Grizzlebees? The only thing that would make this game better is if these teams were playing on Martin Luther King Day.

It is only when the Clippers come to Oklahoma City that I remember that Blake Griffin is a native okie.

Portland-Houston will be fun and the Raptors will give the Spurs a good run that night.

This is the first Sunday in a long time there will be no football to distract me, which brings me to the

BUSTER OF THE WEEK AWARD:

Pete Carroll had a chance to cement the Seahawks dynasty and spare everyone from a bukakke of “Tom Brady and Bill Belichick are the greatest coach and QB” headlines. I’ll give the Patriots their due. Sure they cheat, but that had nothing to do win Pete Carroll letting 53 grown ass men down when he decided to pass the ball from the 1 yard line; instead of handing the ball off to the best back in the NFL today. Everyone on that team did their jobs but Pete.

The margin of error is so small during the playoffs, and Pete Carroll had finally convinced me that he’d stop doing Pete Carroll type of things. #Baddecisions. The Seahawks lost that game more than the Patriots won that shit, and the blame starts and stops with Pete Carroll trying to be a rocket scientist instead of a football coach.

I can’t imagine what it feels like to be him, and I don’t want to.That was the most devastatingly bad decision I have seen on such a national stage. Unforgettable. Unbelievable.

People talk about Nelson Cruz’s missed catch in the 2011 World Series, or Bill Buckner’s gaffe. I remember where I was when Scott Norwood missed the game winner against the New York (football) Giants, and the Chris Webber timeout in 1992. This is way worse than any of those events. Never have I seen a coach pluck defeat from the jaws of victory on such a grand and national stage. Pete Carroll, you sir; are the BUSTER OF THE WEEK.

Alright, enough of that nonsense. Football season is over. I’m about to get down on these Good Ass Games.

Peace,

BM

bobbymickey@gmail.com
#thisagoodassgame
@clickpicka79

Just the Tip

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Things are starting to get pretty interesting out on the roundball court. There were some good ass games this past week. The Cavaliers-Lakers game was weirdly entertaining. It felt like I was watching a really fun pickup game. Nothing was at stake, it was just a regular season team between two losing teams. It was cool just watching Kobe and Lebron interact throughout the affair–laughing and joking during timeouts and in less active transitional periods.

Clippers-Blazers won the “Good Ass Game of the Week” award by default, barely beating out Phoenix-Cleveland from Tuesday night’s slate of games.

I got a chance yesterday to watch some college hoops, and though Duke-Louisville let me down, I was certainly impressed with Jahlil Okafor’s game. He dominated the post in the second half of that game yesterday, with most of his scoring coming after the half. He has great footwork and soft hands. He is clearly the first pick in next year’s draft. I think Montrezl Harrell can carve himself a niche in the league too. Bro just looks built to ball.

Kansas-Iowa State was a great affair, and the cyclone fans were HYPE!!! during last night’s engagement. I enjoyed it thoroughly. It was about as loud and adverse and atmosphere that a team can go into. Kansas played sloppily and the Hoibergs made them pay with every mistake.

Their guard play was pretty phenomenal, Naz Long put up 20 points and had 5 boards. 6 Iowa State players hit double figures in scoring. Even after the Jayhawks scored, the Cyclones were already pushing the ball up the court with crisp outlet passes–rather than trying to dribble the length of the floor.

They are a good passing team, and should be respected. Fred Hoiberg is legit, and he’ll be bringing his boys to Lawrence the first week of February, in a can’t miss affair.

Good Ass Games of the Week:

Monday

What better way to celebrate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther (the) King than by watching bruthas make millions of dollars for playing the most beautiful game ever created.

It would be dismissive of me not to include a couple of Eastern Conference teams on this slate, both Detroit and Atlanta have been playing great ball of late. Atlanta has won 12 straight and has a 10-3 record against the West this year. They are legit. I was one last year who was kind of skeptical of what “good” meant in the east, but the Hawks are the real deal.

Their games are fun to watch too. They pass the ball as well as the Spurs, Warriors, and Phoenix Suns. They have some ballers in Paul Milsap (who I thought the Thunder should have made a run at years ago), Al Horford, Kyle Korver (the 50-50-90 club????), and Jeff Teague have made it impossible for me to ignore their ballclub. ATLIENS, I stand corrected.

Denver-Golden State Speaking of balling, Golden State smacked Houston on the second end of back-to-back games. 131-106.

Dallas-Memphis If Mike Conley played in the Eastern Conference, he’d be a sure fire All-Star. Unfortunately the West is loaded right now. How do you sort that out? Kobe will probably get voted in since its his last productive year, which takes up another guard spot. We’ll see. The Grizzlies backcourt matches up well with the Mavericks’ Ellis and Rondo.

Sacramento-Portland will be highly competitive, and might be better than the Chicago-Cleveland game that night. Neither the Cavs or Bulls are playing all that well of late (the last 5-7 games).

Tuesday
Thunder-Heat Thing were turnt up in OKC on Friday. Durant shot 14-18 and scored 36. Westbrook had an insane stat line of 17 points, 17 assists , and 15 rebounds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zg0wPW0fEVw

They are poised to make a run soon, and it looks like Dion Waiters may be a good fit after all. Word on the street is that “Perk” and Reggie Jackson will be the next pieces moved. Does this mean Brooklyn is willing to part with Brook Lopez for a big man, a draft pick and a little Reggie thrown in for good measure? Stay tuned.

Wednesday

Toronto-Memphis I’ve always wondered what a fight between a Grizzly Bear and a dinosaur would look like.

Houston-Golden State
Yes. Please.

Portland-Phoenix Oh so much good ass basketball this week.

Lakers-Pellies Only if you are desperate.

Oklahoma City-Washington
Worth checking out only because the game is in D.C.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VlGyMG0ksg

KD goes HOME.

Thursday

Spurs-Bulls
 There are going to be some sick dimes thrown in this game. If you like big men who know how to pass, don’t put an ad out on Craigslist, just tune in to this game. Trust me. I was a doctor for Halloween once.

Friday

Happy Hour can’t get here soon enough with this Oklahoma City-Atlanta game to kick off the weekend.

Houston-Phoenix will be a game that gets into high 100’s for both teams. Sacramento will get slapped by Golden State. In case you forgot about this game

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9L-u_Zk_VY

‘Nuff Said.

Saturday

Wizards-Blazers. The best matchup of backcourts you will see that night.

Sunday
HEY! DO I HAVE THE HANGOVER CURE FOR YOU!!!!!!!

Oklahoma City-Cleveland
Clippers-Suns

What else you gonna do, watch the NFL PRO BOWL?

BUSTER OF THE WEEK AWARD:

Oh it pains me so much to do this. This is a man’s whose career I have followed since he was running the show in Las Vegas. I watched him with the Knicks and Blazers, and enjoyed his voice as a basketball analyst for CBS and TNT.

My man Greg Anthony got busted Friday night on charges of soliciting a prostitute when he was in D.C. He was supposed to call the Maryland-Michigan State game and decided to see more than the usual tourist sights. CBS has suspended him for the rest of the year, and so has Turner Broadcasting. The only way this story can get worse is if Marion Barry and Rob Ford were hiding in his bedroom with cocaine and a videotape.

Now I don’t know what happened. Apparently he just picked the wrong day to get a pro.There was a sting operation by the police. We still don’t know if she was a streetwalker or an escort, but I figured my man had more game than that. I’m not one to judge.

Things happen, and I’ve been to Amsterdam so you can probably guess what my opinion is on prostitution. I guess the law is the law. It’s terrible news though, this man’s career is in jeopardy because he is accused of trying to purchase sex. Maybe my sympathies are in the wrong place, but I feel for him. It can all be taken away so easily.

Enjoy this week’s slate of games, and remember to make good choices. As these NFL Playoffs have shown, there is a very thin margin of error that separates the winning and losing locker rooms.

PEACE.
BM

#THISAGOODASSGAME
@clickpicka79
bobbymickey@gmail.com

Basketball is my Girlfriend

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It is what it is. I’ve missed my window for finding something warm to curl up with for this winter, but at least basketball season coincides with this time of the year. I’ll never be lonely as long as I got hoop on my mind, though the springtime will be a different issue, as the warm weather and hormones work in tandem to create a need that basketball alone can’t satiate.

In college there was this young lady in my linguistics class that I became acquainted with. She was tall, brunette and besides a little bit of acne, she was gorgeous. She worked as a volleyball coach at a local high school, and she also happened to love basketball. We got along swimmingly despite her being a Duke fan. One particular Thursday night in the midst of the playoffs, we had a date planned. I realized early that afternoon that the Rockets (back when they had T-Mac) were playing and there was no way I could miss it.

She wasn’t old enough to get into the bars, so I had a dilemma on my hands. This wouldn’t be the first (nor the last)time I’d break a date in favor of watching basketball. I called her up about 4:55 and was setting her up to let her down, when she suggested I come to her dorm room and watch the game. Problem solved.

Later that night, while watching what was a blowout game, we made a bet about the 2001 Blue Devils roster. I knew I was right and could have easily bet something a little less innocuous than a back rub, but anything more than that seemed icky (Things that are great independently don’t always mix so well).

So we checked the internet, and of course I was right (I think the bet was if Chris Duhon played on that championship team). I got a fantastic back massage (which is way rarer than good sex), while the Rockets beat down the Mavericks, and then later……well let’s just say it got a little warm in that single dorm room.

I was too young then to know that I was experiencing joy in its purest form, but I knew that moment was a pretty special one. If something like that happened to me now at 35 (soon to be 36) I’d probably lock that down with the quickness. But I was a young cat, and I had a lot of places to visit, and things to do. She had no intention of ever leaving Texas I think– I don’t know it was never that serious–we were on that casual tip. She did hit me up about a year and a half later.

I was living in Austin and was about to leave Texas forever in less than a week. Now that I think about it, I should have hooked up with her one last time before I left the state. She was a fun gal. But most importantly, she understood that basketball was my girlfriend and she was just my mistress. She knew how to give, and she knew how to share. And if you understand those principles in life, then you understand basketball.

Enough reminiscing, let’s talk about these Good Ass Games of the Week:

Monday

Spurs-Portland These aren’t the same fresh faces that got swept in the playoffs last year. The Spurs are a little banged up and Portland has looked pretty good so far this year. If this gets out of hand late int he third or early in the fourth quarter, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Popovich pull the starters. San Antonio has a week of tough opponents ahead of them.

Tuesday

Golden State vs. Memphis This would be THE GOOD ASS GAME OF THE WEEK if not for Thursday night’s game. With no Bogut, or David Lee, the match up plays into the Grizzlies’ hands. Bogut and Lee are both big men who can force Z-Bo and Gasol out of the paint, and open up the floor. Plus that is more fouls to use against the Memphis big men. Tony Allen vs. the Splash Brothers will be a fun thing to watch too. I hope these two teams face each other in the playoffs with healthy rosters.

OKC-SAC later night. As of tonight, Sacramento is half a game out of eighth place and they just fired their head coach Mike Malone. Maybe Shaq can provide some insight on TNT this week.

Wednesday

Memphis vs. San Antonio Griz on the second end of a back-to back. Don’t read too much into this one, because the Spurs may just run them out the building. San Antonio has been spanking them ever since Memphis knocked them out of the playoffs a couple of years ago.

Milwaukee vs. Phoenix as a backup plan. Phoenix has not looked anywhere as good as last year. The way the roster is set up now, I don’t think they have enough to make a deep run into the playoffs if they somehow sneak in. They may need to make a trade. Ryan Anderson would be a perfect fit on that squad. Brooklyn is also trying to get rid of some salary too, if the Suns are serious about this year, they need to get on the phone and make a move.

Something I heard from Jalen Rose a couple of weeks ago that I totally agree with, is that they don’t seem to have a leader. After watching a few of their games this week, I’m almost completely sure that this is going to have to be Eric Bledsoe’s team. If they go into the playoffs with no one who can take the big shot at the end, this will end up looking like the Blazers of yesteryear (1999-2000 was a fun team but whose team was it?). Stay tuned.

Thursday

Oklahoma City goes to Golden State. This is will probably go down as one of top ten Good Ass Games of the Year. Last year this happened,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GT0kE3LlgFg

Believe me when I say this game will be worth breaking a date for.

Friday

Chicago-Memphis will be a dogfight. The only thing standing between me and this game will be Dave Chappelle at the Brady Theater. I can’t lose! The show starts at 7:00, so maybe I can catch the 4th qtr of this one (unless by chance we catch one of those marathon affairs that he is known for).

Portland-San Antonio also in the early round of games. Two games in one week almost guarantees this game will be a tight affair. I expect a physical game and lots of loud “GO SPURS Go” chants. If I had a mistress, we’d definitely be having a basketball threesome at AT&T Center. If that gal starts actin’ up I’ll just take her friend!

What’s the Word?? LAL? More like LOL!!!!! Oklahoma City goes to Los Angeles to play the Lakers. The Thunder have pretty much owned the Lakers since the days when KD and Russ were just neophytes and were susceptible to Pau Gasol put backs during that 2010 run. Russ loves going back to L.A. and going HAM for his hometown folk. Hustle Westbrook gets no less than 38 points this game because the Lakers have no one who can stop him. If you like Laker beatdowns, and seeing Kobe getting pissed off and barking at his teammates, then this is the game for you.

Saturday

Spurs-Mavericks I was so hype for this game until I realized that the Spurs were also playing the Friday night before. This is a classic “Popovich sits the starters” game. I was even thinking about buying tickets for this one too. WOMP WOMP WOMP!

If you have nothing better to do on a Saturday night, you can peep Bucks-Clippers, or Phoenix-New Orleans, but honestly this may be one of those nights to take one your less interesting chicks on a date. You can even take them to a bar where the game will be on with no sound. You can halfway listen to your date and occasionally glance at the score on the television. Everyone wins!!!

Sunday

Lakers-Kings and Pelicans-Thunder are worth stopping in on if and only if “Lil Brow Wow” and “Boogie Down Productions” are playing for their respective teams. If not, then take Saturday night’s date to brunch, drop her off at her crib and then get some rest for Monday. With the holidays approaching, you can get away with not calling her for a while, but the great weekend you shared will still be fresh in her mind. Hell, keep it on ice til New Year’s and I guarantee the champagne won’t be the only thing to get popped on Dec. 31st. Trust me on this, I’m a doctor.

Before I go, big shout out to “Maple Jordan”, Andrew Wiggins for winning “Rookie of the Month.” Keep it up young man, and you’ll make the both of us look good (forget what I said about the T-cubs–I did say A-Wiggs would get the ROY award or at least share it with Jabari. And don’t say they don’t give it to players on losing teams. The Sixers tanked last year and they still gave the award to Michael Carter-Williams). Until next week, I’m OUT!!!!

BM
@clickpicka79
bobbymickey@gmail.com
#thisagoodassgame

“A Quick One While He’s Away!”

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Yo Peep!

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

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

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

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

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

Good Ass Games of the week:

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

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

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

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

Thursday

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

MOUSE IN THA HOUSE!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lakers vs. Golden State (#asswhupping)

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

Milwaukee vs. Washington (why not?)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A Chance to Catch my Breath [Originally Posted on sportsblog.com 2/3/14]

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A wild week of basketball orgasms left me spent and I slumped into bed almost immediately after the Seahawks destroyed the Broncos last night. On Saturday I fell asleep in the middle of what people called the game of the year. I woke up just in time to see Syracuse outlast Duke in OT, but I was too tired to even be sour about missing the game. I saw the highlights, I was into it as much as my serotonin would allow; but I have Feb.22nd circled on my virtual calendar for the rematch in Cameron Indoor (also for KU-Texas but we will get to that later). As it is, I’m in recovery mode from a wild week and an even more enlightening weekend.

First off, how about a second to process what we witnessed from Kevin Durant last month? When I said last post I went on record as saying KDTV was must see until the streak was over, I never considered that he would shoot himself out into breaking it. His performance on Friday was a work of art. He shot 10-12 with 26 points in 30 minutes of action. Serge Ibaka shot 12 for 12, and by the end of the third quarter, it was obvious that OKC was going to pull their starters early into the last quarter of the game.

What has been so amazing about “Iceberg Slim’s” (credit Jalen Rose for the best nickname anyone can think of for KD) streak isn’t just the points he’s been scoring, but how easy the points have been coming. Anyone who ever watched Kobe or Allen Iverson play in their primes, can attest to the sheer volume of shots that both players put up to get high numbers. Kevin Durant is much more efficient and has not forced many of his shots. Many of them seem to come in the flow of the game. He almost always makes the right basketball play, passing the ball when necessary and getting his teammates involved. For the month of January he scored 550 points and had 90 assists. The last person to do that was Michael Jordan, and that was in 1987.

I actually missed the majority of the Kansas-Iowa State game on Wednesday to see KD go head to head with Lebron. KU is undoubtedly the reason I live in Lawrence right now, but I couldn’t forgive myself if I missed my favorite basketball player on the planet go up against the BEST player on the planet. I was not disappointed to say the least. The hype and atmosphere of the match-up felt bigger than a playoff game, and this sequence in the third quarter confirmed that feeling.

Even when the thunder were up big, it still felt like Miami had that final run in them. I must admit that I was wrong about this OKC team. Jeremy Lamb, Perry Jones III, and even Derek Fisher are playing better than I imagined at this point in the season. I knew KD would step up, but I didn’t think he would get much support. How much of this is KD being a great leader and making his teammates better? Does the absence of Westbrook, and Durant’s ability to take his game to an unbelievably high level mean that he is this year’s NBA MVP? I would like to think yes. Look at the record. Look at the conference OKC is playing in and then think about how many other players could do what he is doing. I thought Presti was a fool to let Harden go for so little, but a year removed from the trade and the Thunder look as dangerous as ever.

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It’s been fun watching some of these lottery bound teams and trying to figure out what player in the draft would be a great piece of the puzzle for such teams. Teams like New Orleans, Los Angeles, Minnesota, Philadelphia, Orlando, Dallas and Sacramento could be one player away from being playoff contenders next season. Seeing what happens to these teams will be almost as interesting as seeing who will dethrone the champs this year.

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I really wanted to see Demarcus Cousins and Lance Stephenson on this year’s All-Star Teams. It would have been that much more entertaining weekend. If missing the teams make them improve even more, then look out NBA. I thought “Boogie” and “Born ready” were deserving this year though.

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This week I experienced a bit of lull in my Jayhawk fandom. I had to watch the Iowa State game on replay, and the Texas drubbing left me (and probably the rest of Kansas and Missouri) stunned.

The Iowa State rematch was about what I thought it would be. The game anchored out at around 11-12 points. I had given someone 17 points thinking the blowout would be in effect because of the home crowd, but ISU actually showed up. I like DeAndre Kane. He plays like a grown man (how about that block–not a foul on Embiid early in the game?) and I hope he gets to play in the League next year. He has this “take no guff” attitude that I love. I think his aggressiveness and swag will get him far in life–even if its outside of basketball.

Iowa State may become the regional rivalry that has been missing since Mizzou took the money and ran to the SEC. KU fans respect the Hoibergs, much more than the ‘cats in Manhatten, and they actually make the Jayhawks sweat. A third game against the Cyclones in the Big 12 tourney could turn out to be really competitive.

As for the Horns……..well they done up and snuck up on everybody. I hadn’t had a chance to watch them this year, but I figured with Rick Barnes and the lack of NBA talent on the squad, they would be an after thought. It is never a good sign when a team out-muscles your team, out-hustles your team, while your team whines to refs and looks around for foul calls.

I don’t know if the team got a taste of that Austin nightlife or what, but they admittedly were not ready for Texas had to bring to the game. Cameron Ridley and Isiah Taylor were awesome. Texas was not intimidated in the least bit by the Jayhawks. They took it to them. The problem with having such a young team is that some games that team will look unbeatable, then the next game can look like a bunch of DIII players.

Consistency is something a team aims for but usually doesn’t achieve until they reach a certain level of maturity. Senior laden teams usually prepare better, because they know talent can only take a team so far (ask the 2010 Kentucky team if this is true). This butt whupping is exactly what KU needed. They looked soft on defense and on the boards, but take nothing away from Texas. This is a team that can actually push the Jayhawks for the Big 12 title. They a legit point guard in Isiah Taylor and they have a bruising front court. I was planning on going to a Shocker game on the 22nd, but Saturday proved that I need to stay in town and get tickets for when the Longhorns come to Lawrence.

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Quick Big Up’s to:

Golden State’s second half D vs. Portland/L.A. Clippers a few nights ago. I know Portland hasn’t been playing all that well and the Clippers came off a back-back, but Golden State put on a show in both games. They scored a lot of points, but a lot of points came off turnovers as well. They are twice as much fun to watch when they play defense, because of the increased number of fast break points created. Seeing Iggy and Steph run that break is a thing of beauty.

How about LSU’s Johnny O’Bryant III against the Kentucky front line? 29 points and 9 rebounds. He gave Julius Randle and Willie Cauley-Stein the business. He single handedly put LSU on my must-watch list.

We’re expecting snow tomorrow night. Tuesday will be a good night to curl up and stream some hoops and not drink whiskey. Some cola beverages will just have to suffice.