Good Ass Game of the week

#AGoodASSWeekend

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Spent the weekend up in the “Larry” for Friday nights Florida-Kansas matchup. It was an 8 O’clock game, which is usually plenty of time to get turnt up on that drank. We got a little flaskE dub hit the E-Dub a little and followed this big booty girl up to the Fieldhouse. We stumbled upon some good seats at face value for a cool hondo, thinking it was a good deal, until we ran into the guy’s brother-in-law, who was practically giving his away for 20 bucks. Turns out 100 dollars was NOT the cheapest offer we would find, our man “Mack” swore up and down the cheapest we’d find would be 200 bones. #lessonlearned.

Wigs

It seemed longer than 8 months since my last visit to Allen Fieldhouse, the Texas drubbing that culminated with this dunk.

With more than an hour to go I couldn’t figure out why bro-in-law couldn’t get rid of his tickets. An hour later, and minus a buzz, the stadium looked like this
allen.

The first half was dominated by the Gators, their guards kept penetrating into the paint and dishing off to their big men for easy dunks and layups. When the Jayhawks did get stops, they’d undermine their efforts by failing to get a defensive rebound. Kansas’ Frank Mason hit a shot at the buzzer, but the team was down by 18 points at the half. As listless as the Jayhawks looked, I knew that all they had to do was quit giving up penetration, get some rebounds, and shoot better shots.

The second half didn’t start off that great, but a hustle play by Perry Ellis, and Frank Mason got the crowd into the game (standing ovation even though Florida maintained possession). The crowd got loud and things got realy hype once the Jayhawks knocked the lead down to single digits. It was the loudest I’d ever heard the crowd since I’ve been going to the games, and by the 2 minute mark, it was clear who was going to win. As hype as Allen was, the town was pretty chill for a Friday night. Even the college radio station was playing some sleepy, whiny indie music that was killing my buzz.

Watching the sloppy first half reinforced my bias towards NBA over NCAA–just a better product to watch. I mentally crossed off three games I had circled on the Jayhawks’ schedule, Texas (missing their pg and not looking that great either), Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State (I may still go just to see what a game in Gallagher Arena is like). I plan to be at the Big Monday game against the Iowa State Hoibergs. That may be the Big 12 good ass game of the year as far as I’m concerned. On to the Good Ass Games of the Week:

Monday
Boston just lost a 2OT game to Washington. John Wall went gangbusters, 26 points 17 assists, but i’m trying to finish this thing up so I can watch that Suns-Clippers game. It’s been a long day so I’m happy there isn’t much action to cover tonight. I plan to be in bed no later than 12:30 tonight.

Tuesday
Dallas-Memphis in the battle of the barbecue states. I’ll be watching this one fa sho.

Wednesday
I’m curious how Dallas will feel on the back end of this back-to-back, but the good ass game of the night will certainly be Houston at Golden State (I hear it is going down out in the Bay Area with all the protests going on out there and in D.C. and New York–more on that later)

Thursday
Lebron comes to Oklahoma City. Wait. I live an hour and half from Oklahoma City. Why aren’t I trying to go to this game? Oh that’s right. I don’t want to put any money into Clay Bennett’s pockets. I’ll be watching this joint on tv at my favorite pub.

Friday
Portland-Chicago The Bulls may end up being involved in the Good Ass Game of The Week two weeks in a row. I can’t wait for this one. If you really need to tap that vein, peep the Lakers-Spurs or the Cleveland-New Orleans game.

Saturday
Start the night off by watching Golden State-Dallas and then go get a drink to celebrate. That one is definitely going to be worth stopping in on.

Sunday
mmppphhhhhhh Oklahoma City-Phoenix If you miss it, at least catch the highlights on this one. I can’t say I will attend it, but if I did, best believe I’m getting my ticket off a scalper.

But in all seriousness, this police brutality shit has got me bugging on some somber wavelengths. I love basketball, but it is hard to separate my political leanings with the people responsible for militarizing the police. It has been an emotional couple of months, and it hurts to think about the families who lost loved ones unnecessarily due to police violence. It is crazy as it ever was, and we all gotta take time to just breathe. Shit has got to get better in this country.

Peace,

BM

WHAT’S GOOD?!!

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What’s Good?

Everythang!!!

There were a slew of Good Ass Games last week, including a B-Ball watching extravaganza on Friday. Six straight hours of watching basketball on a Friday night, and I couldn’t have been happier. Of course, once those games are over, reality sets in, and I realized that I made no plans for the late night tip. #poorplanning

Since I’ll be going to the Florida-Kansas game on Friday, let’s start with some college hoop. Kansas clearly has a lot of talent, but some of the pieces are not fitting. Bill Self recruits the guys to fit his system, and he always has talented big men, but there is only one basketball. If the ball is distributed evenly each player gets to touch the ball 20 percent of the time. The other 80 percent of basketball involves things other than scoring.

Obviously the Jayhawks are talented, but there is always someone bigger and badder on the block. Kansas ran into the big and bad Wildcats and got stomped. Part of that was talent (Kentucky is clearly the most talented team in the country), but Kansas also didn’t play that smart—which also contributed to such a lopsided score. Kentucky will be impossible to beat if a team is depending on isolation sets and one primary ballhandler. Kansas is not a very good passing team, and Kentucky just waited on the Jayhawks to drive to the rack so they could block their shot.

Michigan State didn’t fare as well defensively against the Jayhawks strategy. They fouled Kansas and put them on the free throw line. Every time the Jayhawks got fouled taking it to the rim, you could see an extra pass leading to an easier bucket. Kansas has to learn how to make that extra pass. Svia Mikhailhiuk gets it, and Frank Mason is looking more comfortable with each game (I really like that backcourt combo–I think they have good on court chemistry).

The problem with recruiting the “one and done” player is the constant turnover messes with cohesion. This is still a young Jayhawks team and the learning curve is almost as steep as last year’s squad. Roles have yet to be established and defined, and all the highly recruited cats come in thinking they are “the man.” Kelly Oubre has yet to look comfortable on the floor, and Cliff Alexander shows flashes of highlight reel potential, but they definitely play like Freshmen.

Cliff Alexander is definitely going to be ill, but I get nervous anytime the Kansas big men (outside of Perry Ellis)put the ball on the floor (do I have an affinity towards big men who can pass? Yeah you could say that). There are no “stretch fours” on the team and you see a lot of clogged lanes on the offensive end—not a good thing if your team doesn’t shoot well from the perimeter.

A basketball team is a community, and in a community different people take on different roles to make that community work. Some people do multiple things well. Some people are really great at one particular thing and mediocre at other things, but communities thrive when everyone is put in a position to succeed at what they are best at. By conference play, the Jayhawk players are going to have to figure out what roles to assume in order to help their team win.

Maybe Cliff Alexander decides that no one is going to outrebound him or get past him on defense, and whatever points he scores along the way is gravy (Kentucky’s Anthony Davis was the fifth leading scorer on that championship team but managed to control the game in every other aspect).

Maybe Wayne Selden decides that no matter how many points he gets on the offensive end (Can he be a “3 and D” guy in the NBA?) that his guy will get locked down on the perimeter. Maybe Frank Mason looks to drive and kick rather than drive and finish, with Svia Mikhailiuk there on the perimeter to keep defenses honest. And maybe Bill Self can get his guys to feed Perry Ellis 15-20 touches a game (he looked really good this weekend in Orlando).

Let’s switch gears and talk about that other team in Kansas–no not the Wildcats silly. I’m talking bout them Shockers. Despite losing Cleanthony Early to graduation last year, Wichita State is just as fun to watch this year. Ron Baker and Fred Van Fleet is the best backcourt combo that no one is talking about.

The way those two guys get their teammates involved is beautiful to watch. Van Fleet had 21 points on 6-11 shooting, 9 assists and ZERO turnovers. As a matter of fact, Ron Baker didn’t have any turnovers either, and he shot 6-14 with 19 points. Of Wichita State’s 25 made field goals, 18 of them were assisted.

People hate on the Shockers for playing in a less renowned conference against “inferior” competition, but if you like smart, beautiful basketball, then catch a Shockers game. They are a real treat to watch and play against Utah on Wednesday. I’ll be watching them play as much as possible this season (and possibly next if both Baker and Van Fleet come back to play with transferring guard Conner Frankamp).

GOOD ASS GAMES OF THE WEEK

Tuesday
OKC vs. New Orleans Would you believe it if I told you that I haven’t watched an OKC game since Russ Westbrook broke his hand. It feels good to put the Thunder on the Good Ass Games list again (for however long it lasts).

Toronto vs. Sacramento Damn. Demar Derozan……I hope he gets well soon. A groin tear sounds really painful, and I was just coming around to enjoy watching the Raptors play too. If you happen to catch this particular game, try to imagine playing an updated version of NBA JAM with these two teams. Which 3 players would you go with? I was thinking about this when I was watching the Hornets the other night (another good NBA jam team). You gotta admit, it’d be fun to play.

Memphis at Houston
Before the season began, both of these teams were my “bubble” teams. I’m still not sold on Houston’s role players just yet and I think they’ll come down to earth by March. As for Memphis, I’m not surprised by how well they are playing at all–Gasol has kicked it into another gear this year. What does surprise me is that they are healthy. It is a loooooooonnnnnggg season, so who knows what will happen.

But Memphis has been looking really tough. I also like that former Michigan State sharpshooter Shawn Respert is an assistant coach there, while Brevin Knight is a color commentator for the organization. It is little things like these that make me realize how fucking old I’m getting.

Chicago at Charlotte
I’m not crazy about the Hornets this year, but there is something very comfortable and relaxing about their announcing team of Steve Martin and Dell Curry. Listening to their play-by-play makes me want to eat Bojangles Chicken and drink sweet tea (or maybe I just had the munchies).

Also, how did no one tell me how hot the dance team was for the Hornets? I’ve been to Charlotte so maybe this shouldn’t have been a surprise but damn! i mean peep this photo from Carolinablitz.com, MAH LORD I DO DECLARE!!! ITS GETTIN

I just may peek in on Lakers vs. Wizards, if only to see that Washington backcourt knock Kobe and co. back to earth. But again, that may be a case of “doing too much.”

Thursday
Cleveland vs. New York It is always fun to see what Lebron will do when he steps onto the floor at MSG. Will his performance spawn inspiration for another rap tune?

Portland-Indiana This is the best I’ve seen Chris Kaman and Steve Blake play which leads me to conclude that Portland is a haven for white and light skinned players. Seriously, this demographic just thrives up in the Pacific Northwest. Imagine what Brent Barry’s career would have been like had the Trailblazers drafted him? then again it is too cold to surf up there, so maybe he wouldn’t have dug it.

New Orleans vs. Golden State This is going to be a good one, and I will probably only get to catch the highlights because I’ll be en route to Lawrence, Kansas. This one has “Good ASS Game of the Week” written all over it. in a couple of years, if Portland and Golden State play their cards right, these two teams could be jockeying for the Western Conference top spots for the latter part of the decade.

The Spurs will hit a small snag where they will be middle of the pack but still making the playoffs, and once Dirk retires, the Mavs will suffer a slightly worse identity crisis. There is nothing that anyone can say that can convince me that Westbrook and Durant are going back to OKC. Who will fill that power vacuum in the west?

Friday
Cleveland-Toronto Eastern Conference Finals Preview? Any takers? By the way, what’s up with this #mynorth commerical? #TorontoAINTHOOD

Memphis-San Antonio
Western Conference Finals Preview? Any takers?

Phoenix-Dallas You can tell Phoenix is really missing the spacing that Channing Frye (another light-skinned guy who flourished in Portland–he still has a home there) provided for the team. Everyone has to work just a little harder to get buckets. It’s so crowded that Gerald Green is throwing alley-oops to himself. Cue up the old ’05, ’06 playoff games NBATV. Those were the days!

Saturday
Clippers-Pelicans Two of the best power forwards. Going at it. ‘Nuff Said.

Golden State-Chicago No way in hell I’m missing this one. There are gonna be some sick dimes dished out in this one. The overused phrase of the night will be “Oooh Filthy!”

Sunday
Rest.

Basketball Movie of the Week:

Gunnin for That #1 Spot. Directed by Adam Yauch.

This is from the first Elite 24 game back in 2006. I first watched this movie back in ’08 when all these young cats were still in high school and college. Cole Aldrich, Lance Stephenson, J.J. Hickson, Tyreke Evans, Brandon Jennings, Kyle Singler, Jerryd Bayless, Kevin Love, and Michael Beasley were all apart of this event as high school kids. I watched it again this past week, and was struck by how so much had happened in 8 years.

These guys are all NBA veterans now. It is always interesting to go back and watch that kind of stuff with the knowledge of what their futures hold. It’s kind of weird. Anyway, it is worth checking out. There was a bonus disc with my copy of footage of a 2-on-2 pick up game with Beasley and his coach vs. Yauch and someone else. MCA had a little bit of game. I bet he was fun to play ball with. By the way, what is up with Beasley? He must have some serious stuff going on if he hasn’t been picked up by a team. Damn.

Big week of hoops. The first week of December is off to a good start. Enjoy these good ass games.

BM

A FEVERED DREAM

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Good Ass Games of the Week:

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


Wednesday

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

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

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

Thursday

Chicago vs. Sacramento

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

Friday

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

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

HOLLA!!!!

Don’t Believe the Hype

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

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

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

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

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

Good Ass Game of the Week:

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

Other games

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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