Caron Butler must have been reading the roomofzen yesterday when he saw me question his clubbing habits with his wife. Not only does he redeem himself with a game-winning shot, he turns around and single-handily brings the Wizards back into this series. Amazing. Thank you very much, Caron. Your name is now back to Tough Juice and no longer the guy with Grim Reaper Tattoos who goes to clubs with his wife at 2 am the night before games guy.
Having Lebron miss the game-winning shot definitely changes this series and gives momentum back to the Wiz:
- Now we go back to DC where the crowd has been excellent (surprisingly)
- Now Gilbert is on the sideline, hopefully not messing up the rotation, and letting his team win like they have been all season
- Now Lebron James will question himself when he has the game winning shot on the line (he may have been questioning himself before when he passed it to the mediocre Delonte West as an aside)
- Now the Wizards can tie it up at home, hope Lebron has a bad game 7, and come away with the series.
In all truthfullness, I can't say I predicted this outcome. It just wasn't likely with the way Lebron has been playing. But if the Wizards win this series and the Celts somehow progress, this blog will explode.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Avery Johnson Takes the Fall for Cuban's Incompetence
As the owner, Mark Cuban obviously has the right to do anything he wants with the Dallas Mavericks. And, if he wants to head in a new direction, then maybe it's the right move. However, if he is looking to drop the hammer on someone for the disappointing way the Mavericks' season turned out, there is only one appropriate person for him to fire: himself. Seriously, I've been saying it ever since it happened, the Jason Kidd trade was a basketball crime fueled by nothing more than a desire to sell tickets and jerseys. Cuban gave up the future, made the team smaller, paid out 30 million in luxury tax dollars, and brought in a new player at the most important position on the court more than halfway through the season.
Seriously, think about this trade:
The Mavericks get: Jason Kidd, Malik Allen, and Antoine Wright
The Nets get: Devin Harris, DeSagana Diop, Trenton Hassell, Maurice Ager, 3 million bucks, Keith Van Horn's decaying corpse, and TWO FIRST ROUND DRAFT PICKS (2008 and 2010).
TWO FIRST ROUND PICKS! For a first round playoff exit!
I understand that the Mavs weren't playing up to their potential at the time of the trade, and I understand that the moves the Lakers and Suns made left other Western Conference fans calling for their respective teams to beef up. But, in these situations the burden is on the team executives not to get swept up by the hype. This trade was absurd. Jason Kidd did not provide the Mavericks with anything that Devin Harris could not have during these playoffs. The 35 year old Kidd was outplayed by Chris Paul every night and was even ejected from Game 4.
Let's not forget that this is the same guy (Cuban) who had a falling out with Don Nelson because of his refusal to match the Suns offer for Steve Nash. Now, it seems that Avery Johnson is the next coach to be the scapegoat for Cuban's missteps.
I don't mean to harp on this trade every week, I just can't believe how ridiculous it is. All I ever hear about is what a great owner this guy is. And he has turned that franchise around. But, this move was horrible. Totally unthinkable. It wasn't a roll of the dice gone wrong, it was a large, metal door slamming shut on the Mavericks future.
Again, if Cuban wants to move in a new direction, then I have no problem with the firing. However, I think it will be hard to move in that new direction when you're without a first round pick in two of the next three drafts. Johnson cannot be blamed for the way this season ended. This was not a championship team.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go to the TD Banknorth Garden and heckle Al Horford.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Megadeth
It's taken me about two days to recover and compile my thoughts on Saturday's Megadeth concert. As some of you may know from experience, heavy metal concerts tend to kidnap your brain, beat the crap out of it, and finally set it free with a nasty hangover as ransom. The aural onslaught which waterboards your cranium and leaves you begging for mercy is, of course, purely voluntary and even expected when you pay good money to see Megadeth live. But Gigantour featuring Megadeth was no exception to the rule of metal concerts just kicking ass beyond all belief and leaving your senses in utter disarray. In fact, it was one of the best concerts I've been to in a long time and my soul is finally being mailed back from the gates of hell, postage paid for 666 cents. Here is why:
Megadeth is one of those rare bands which simply performs better live. It's hard to explain this concept if you haven't experienced it, but some bands just sound better when they're wailing away on a five minute power rift being amplified 1,000 times by on-stage speakers. For the imaginary fan, this guitar solo doesn't sound the same when you're blasting it on your car's stereo system, and the true energy or meaning of the song is oftentimes lost in translation. As Metallica would say, “Sad but True."
But Symphony of Destruction, Megadeth's seminal ballad which propelled them to fame and metal hysteria among the uneducated masses, took on a whole new level of awesomeness and intensity when I heard it blasting from Mustaine's customized Les Paul. It was as though the snarling lyrics:
You take a mortal man,
And put him in control
Watch him become a god,
Watch peoples heads aroll
Aroll...
...just propelled the crowd into total mayhem and chaos, and yet strangely left Mustaine in control of an army of metal supplicants. Imagine over 5 thousand Megadeth acolytes head-banging in unison, screaming the lyrics with blood-thirsty cries, and quickly unfurling mosh pits of insansity even wrestler Mankind would be hesitant to enter. And then imagine the gates of hell opening wide and the maw of Satan's lair becoming visible to the crowd in the springtime dew. Think Indiana in the Temple of Doom when he looks down on the cult sacrificing that innocent worker.
And then suddenly you hear the Symphony ringing through the quickening darkness, Dave Mustaine’s siren call to his followers, which prompts his minions to enter the maw which gapes wide and beckons for your entry. This is scary stuff when you hear it blasting at 100,000 decibals on a temperate Saturday evening and Mustaine just kept delivering like a madman. It was fucking unreal, no doubt about it.
As you can probably imagine, the song and the gates of hell had a huge affect on the crowd. They quickly bowed down to Mustaine and as the song hit a finale, he literally morphed into a god of rock and roll before our very eyes. After the song I looked over to my friend Nick, his eyes wide and pupil's dilating, and he said:
"Dude, Mustaine sold his soul to the Devil to play like that."
I replied, "My thoughts exactly."
You can’t buy that shit on an album....you have to see them live. Take my word for it.
Megadeth is one of those rare bands which simply performs better live. It's hard to explain this concept if you haven't experienced it, but some bands just sound better when they're wailing away on a five minute power rift being amplified 1,000 times by on-stage speakers. For the imaginary fan, this guitar solo doesn't sound the same when you're blasting it on your car's stereo system, and the true energy or meaning of the song is oftentimes lost in translation. As Metallica would say, “Sad but True."
But Symphony of Destruction, Megadeth's seminal ballad which propelled them to fame and metal hysteria among the uneducated masses, took on a whole new level of awesomeness and intensity when I heard it blasting from Mustaine's customized Les Paul. It was as though the snarling lyrics:
You take a mortal man,
And put him in control
Watch him become a god,
Watch peoples heads aroll
Aroll...
...just propelled the crowd into total mayhem and chaos, and yet strangely left Mustaine in control of an army of metal supplicants. Imagine over 5 thousand Megadeth acolytes head-banging in unison, screaming the lyrics with blood-thirsty cries, and quickly unfurling mosh pits of insansity even wrestler Mankind would be hesitant to enter. And then imagine the gates of hell opening wide and the maw of Satan's lair becoming visible to the crowd in the springtime dew. Think Indiana in the Temple of Doom when he looks down on the cult sacrificing that innocent worker.
And then suddenly you hear the Symphony ringing through the quickening darkness, Dave Mustaine’s siren call to his followers, which prompts his minions to enter the maw which gapes wide and beckons for your entry. This is scary stuff when you hear it blasting at 100,000 decibals on a temperate Saturday evening and Mustaine just kept delivering like a madman. It was fucking unreal, no doubt about it.
As you can probably imagine, the song and the gates of hell had a huge affect on the crowd. They quickly bowed down to Mustaine and as the song hit a finale, he literally morphed into a god of rock and roll before our very eyes. After the song I looked over to my friend Nick, his eyes wide and pupil's dilating, and he said:
"Dude, Mustaine sold his soul to the Devil to play like that."
I replied, "My thoughts exactly."
You can’t buy that shit on an album....you have to see them live. Take my word for it.
Paranoia
Hopefully it is just a passing feeling. But, first of all you have to wonder a little about what's happening to the chemistry. Why aren't they moving the ball well? Why are we chucking three pointers? And why is Doc changing shit up? Why didn't he put Tony Allen or James Posey on Joe Johnson? Sure, Johnson had a great fourth quarter, but we gave them an obvious mismatch when we left Ray Allen on him for the entire time. Tony Allen would have been a great option. Why do we hardly see any Eddie House? Is Paul Pierce hurt? And, if so, how badly is that back bothering him? Something was missing last night, as it was on Saturday night. Why does Sam Cassell continue to not look at all to pass, and then take bad shots? For now, all we can do is hope for the best. The Cs could take this series easily in the next two games, and this feeling might be a distant memory. But, one thing is for sure, the road to the finals has become much longer and windier than any of us had anticipated. There are chinks in the armor that we may not have seen before. Hopefully, a decisive win at home tommorow night can get this team back on track.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Goddamit
It will be domination Wednesday night in Boston.
I don't want to sound like Tommy, but I've never seen such bad officiating. The no-call when Rondo got put to the floor, the BS offensive foul on Pierce, the fact that Bibby was warding off defenders with that arm all game. A disgrace.
Also by far the worst performance that we have seen from Sam Cassell since he joined the team.
Hopefully these last two games were part of a neccesary wake-up call.
I don't want to sound like Tommy, but I've never seen such bad officiating. The no-call when Rondo got put to the floor, the BS offensive foul on Pierce, the fact that Bibby was warding off defenders with that arm all game. A disgrace.
Also by far the worst performance that we have seen from Sam Cassell since he joined the team.
Hopefully these last two games were part of a neccesary wake-up call.
Roger Clemens: The Other Woman
Do not crowd the plate against the Rocket, Mindy..
I had almost begun to forget about Roger Clemens, but alas, I guess we're not that lucky. In the newest chapter of this strange and laughable saga is an alleged "relationship" that Clemens has had ongoing with Country Music artist (?) Mindy McCready, shown above after taking batting practice with Clemens in 2001. The claims have been brought out of the woodwork at the worst possible time for Clemens. One of the few shreds of dignity that he was left hanging onto after the release of the Mitchell report was his supposed "family man" image. It is tough to maintain such an image when there is an alleged adulterous affair with a 15 year old lingering in your past.
.
McCready's rap sheet is impressive; more or less what you would expect from a girl who rose to short lived Country Music stardom and then dropped off the face of the earth. If you don't yet own an Album of hers: congratulations. I can honestly say that I had never heard of her before this report surfaced, but then again, I'm not really up to snuff on who was opening for George Strait in the mid 1990s. But something about the story intrigued me, so I did a little legwork and by watching a few of her videos on YouTube, it is evident that McCready was obsessed with Roger Clemens, deriving her greatest inspiration from her life as his Gumar.
.
Take for example her heartfelt epic: "Maybe He'll Notice Her Now". In the song McCready spins the tale of a lonely woman who is taken for granted by her man. The images in the video draw heavily upon a woman sitting around in a nice hotel room waiting for a starting pitcher to arrive from his post game shower. Her distress is palpable, the song is terrible.
But that's just the beginning. McCready even draws heavily on the Steriod Issue to create her opus "Guys Do It All The Time". It is not that far of a stretch to say that what she is talking about is not going out and drinking and partying with the girls but is in fact a word by word transcription of a telephone conversation she had with the Rocket in 1995:
McCready: "So Roger, I hear that some of your teammates use performance enhancing drugs?
Clemens: "Yeah Mindy, Guys Do it All The Time."
McCready: "You're going to leave your wife right, you told me you were going to leave your wife...don't you remember?"
Clemens: "No, you must have mis-remembered."
The video (yes I really watched these) shows a pool scene that is eerily similar to the now infamous Jose' Canseco pool party. If you look very closely you can see a young Alex Rodriguez coveting a mullet headed Hispanic man's young wife. The Video even takes a shot at the side effects of steroid use by women as McCready is shown shaving her face on several occasions. This is clearly a shot at Clemens' wife, an admitted user of performance enhancing drugs. This is her way of saying, "Hey, I'm banging your husband." By the way, this song went to #1 on the Billboard Country Music Charts in 1996. Looks like Major League Baseball wasn't the only entity to have its statistics inflated by the Steroid Era.
Finally I came across the gem "All I want Is Everything". Apparently Roger did not listen carefully to this one. What does it take to keep McCready quiet? Listen and you will know; Cars, diamonds, you name it. How many men have gotten blackmailed by their mistresses via a country song? I guess you would have to be a dominant pitcher from Texas to have that on your resume.
Ultimately, we will have to wait and see how this all turns out. McCready will have her day in court (again). As for Clemens, no news is good news, and this is news. So, regardless of what comes out of this strange sideshow its not going to help his rapidly crumbling legacy, especially if McCready has any of the Rocket's "DNA" lying around on old tissues. For McCready however this opens the door for an amazing comeback, I'd say that the chances are very strong that we'll see an album from her in the next six months. Look for the singles "See...Guys DID do it all the time" and "I'm so Glad I could Help Ruin Your Life".
Go Long Or Go Home
Since I can't seem to find the footage of John Daly playing a round of golf shirtless, without socks or shoes on, this little clip will have to suffice. How come this didn't air during this years coverage of The Masters? As far as golf commercials go this one has to be up there in the top 10, if there are in fact at least 10 badass golf commercials out there.
The Stevenson-Lebron Spat
For those of you who haven't been following the recent Deshawn/Lebron drama, you can read about it here and here. Apparently the following things happened:
1. Lebron said something bad about Deshawn Stevenson and the Wizards; the comments were made within earshot of Deshawn's best friend (Drew Gooden).
2. Gooden relayed those comments to Deshawn who responded by saying: a. these comments were intentional and b. Lebron is "overrated."
Regardless of whether or not Lebron said something inflammatory, I have to ask the question: are we still in third grade? Are we playing a game of phone tag? What the hell is going on here? Did these guys graduate from kindergarten?
"Did you hear what Lebron said about you?"
"I can't believe he said that about me! I have to get back at him!"
Deshawn's "overrated" comment sparked a media frenzy leading up to the playoffs and things quickly got out of hand when Jay Z, a good friend of Lebrons', decided to get involved. Jay Z apparently made a rap song dissing Deshawn which got played a local DC club the night before Game Four. According to the Washington Post:
"witnesses at the club said that the DJ gave the microphone to Cavaliers reserve Damon Jones. Jones allegedly made some unsavory comments about Stevenson and the Wizards, according to people in attendance. And just before 2 a.m., the song was played...One of the people in attendance at the club was Caron Butler. Stevenson said Butler paged him and told him about the song and was so upset that he walked out immediately."
Ignoring the ridiculous fact that Jay Z went out of his way to make a song about a Wizards role player, why on earth was Caron Butler at a night club the night before Game Four? Even worse, why was Lebron hosting a party at 2 AM and having Jay Z play inflammatory music in their opponents home town? A few things to note here:
1. Last time I checked, staying out late the night before an important game is a punishable offense by most teams and coaches. Why? Not getting enough sleep negatively affects your performance unless you are Allen Iverson.
2. Caron Butler's performance has been noticeably lacking during this playoff series. Maybe it's because he's hanging out in nightclubs at 2 AM during the playoffs! Just a guess!
3. Jay Z clearly has some time on his hands if he's making raps about Deshawn Stevenson. I would think that between dating Beyonce, managing a trillion different businesses, rapping full-time and part-owning the Nets, Jay Z would be fairly busy. I guess he and Lebron really like he each other. Beware Cavs fans!
4. I'm half expecting Stevenson and Lebron to start fighting if this bravado continues. Unfortunately for Stevenson Lebron is 6'9, 250 and probably has a longer reach. I wouldn't count out the little guy, though. Stay tuned for a massive brawl if this continues.
1. Lebron said something bad about Deshawn Stevenson and the Wizards; the comments were made within earshot of Deshawn's best friend (Drew Gooden).
2. Gooden relayed those comments to Deshawn who responded by saying: a. these comments were intentional and b. Lebron is "overrated."
Regardless of whether or not Lebron said something inflammatory, I have to ask the question: are we still in third grade? Are we playing a game of phone tag? What the hell is going on here? Did these guys graduate from kindergarten?
"Did you hear what Lebron said about you?"
"I can't believe he said that about me! I have to get back at him!"
Deshawn's "overrated" comment sparked a media frenzy leading up to the playoffs and things quickly got out of hand when Jay Z, a good friend of Lebrons', decided to get involved. Jay Z apparently made a rap song dissing Deshawn which got played a local DC club the night before Game Four. According to the Washington Post:
"witnesses at the club said that the DJ gave the microphone to Cavaliers reserve Damon Jones. Jones allegedly made some unsavory comments about Stevenson and the Wizards, according to people in attendance. And just before 2 a.m., the song was played...One of the people in attendance at the club was Caron Butler. Stevenson said Butler paged him and told him about the song and was so upset that he walked out immediately."
Ignoring the ridiculous fact that Jay Z went out of his way to make a song about a Wizards role player, why on earth was Caron Butler at a night club the night before Game Four? Even worse, why was Lebron hosting a party at 2 AM and having Jay Z play inflammatory music in their opponents home town? A few things to note here:
1. Last time I checked, staying out late the night before an important game is a punishable offense by most teams and coaches. Why? Not getting enough sleep negatively affects your performance unless you are Allen Iverson.
2. Caron Butler's performance has been noticeably lacking during this playoff series. Maybe it's because he's hanging out in nightclubs at 2 AM during the playoffs! Just a guess!
3. Jay Z clearly has some time on his hands if he's making raps about Deshawn Stevenson. I would think that between dating Beyonce, managing a trillion different businesses, rapping full-time and part-owning the Nets, Jay Z would be fairly busy. I guess he and Lebron really like he each other. Beware Cavs fans!
4. I'm half expecting Stevenson and Lebron to start fighting if this bravado continues. Unfortunately for Stevenson Lebron is 6'9, 250 and probably has a longer reach. I wouldn't count out the little guy, though. Stay tuned for a massive brawl if this continues.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
New Jordan Commercial
Say what you want about MJ, but this commercial is bad-ass and takes me back to the days when this guy was awe-inspiring every time he stepped on the court.
Bow down to King James and his Sidekicks
When Delonte West beats you from three point range and shuts down your three time all star, you probably don’t deserve to win a playoff game, let alone an entire series. No offense to Celtics fans, but Delonte West is really not that good. Yet the Wizards let him dominate and drive a steak through their hearts, which effectively ended our chances to either win or climb back into this series. To be blunt: three all stars couldn't stop a former Celtics bench player.
The domination pretty much started and ended with the Wizards pissing off King James and the resulting fury he unleashed on his unwitting opponents. Hard fouls, trash talking fans, Deshawn Stevenson calling him “overated.”
What on earth were they thinking?
This is the third player in NBA history to average 30 points, 8 assists and 7 rebounds in the regular season. Guess who the other two guys are: Jordan and Oscar Robertson, two of the best players of all time. King James answered the Wizards challenge with 34 points and a near triple double. Nice try, said the King.
Playing good defense is one thing and Game Three proved how the Wizards could mitigate King James by denying him the paint. But trying to intimidate, bloody or even psyche-out Lebron has proven to be disastrous thus far and he really made the Wizards pay for their cheapness and petty tactics. For instance, Deshawn took a vicious swipe at Lebron in the 2nd quarter and risked being thrown out of the game for unsportsmanlike conduct. And then Deshawn started talking more trash after he got the flagrant foul! Deshawn has played excellent basketball this year, but now people will remember him as the guy who talked Lebron into kicking our asses four times in a row.
The domination continued with atrocious rebounding. The Wizards couldn't rebound if their lives depended on it and the Cavs scored about 30 points on second-chance shots. On the strategy front, the third quarter could have been a time to play guys like Blatche, McGuire, and Songaila (some guy as babcock likes to call him) who can actually rebound. But Coach Jordan didn’t think to “go big” until the 4th quarter and by then the damage was done by his smaller lineup. Smaller players = terrible rebounding for the Wiz.
But I’ll give credit where credit is due: King James, Gibson, and Delonte West really played well and they essentially ended the Wizard's hopes for an 7 game series. 1/20 teams, down 3-1 in the playoffs, come back and win. And judging from today's performance, Game Three really just looked like an abberation which sucks because they really got me excited with that blow-out.
Pending a miracle, this series is over. And to think of what the Wizards could do against Lebron when they're not talking trash or making cute passes makes me wish next season was here already.
The domination pretty much started and ended with the Wizards pissing off King James and the resulting fury he unleashed on his unwitting opponents. Hard fouls, trash talking fans, Deshawn Stevenson calling him “overated.”
What on earth were they thinking?
This is the third player in NBA history to average 30 points, 8 assists and 7 rebounds in the regular season. Guess who the other two guys are: Jordan and Oscar Robertson, two of the best players of all time. King James answered the Wizards challenge with 34 points and a near triple double. Nice try, said the King.
Playing good defense is one thing and Game Three proved how the Wizards could mitigate King James by denying him the paint. But trying to intimidate, bloody or even psyche-out Lebron has proven to be disastrous thus far and he really made the Wizards pay for their cheapness and petty tactics. For instance, Deshawn took a vicious swipe at Lebron in the 2nd quarter and risked being thrown out of the game for unsportsmanlike conduct. And then Deshawn started talking more trash after he got the flagrant foul! Deshawn has played excellent basketball this year, but now people will remember him as the guy who talked Lebron into kicking our asses four times in a row.
The domination continued with atrocious rebounding. The Wizards couldn't rebound if their lives depended on it and the Cavs scored about 30 points on second-chance shots. On the strategy front, the third quarter could have been a time to play guys like Blatche, McGuire, and Songaila (some guy as babcock likes to call him) who can actually rebound. But Coach Jordan didn’t think to “go big” until the 4th quarter and by then the damage was done by his smaller lineup. Smaller players = terrible rebounding for the Wiz.
But I’ll give credit where credit is due: King James, Gibson, and Delonte West really played well and they essentially ended the Wizard's hopes for an 7 game series. 1/20 teams, down 3-1 in the playoffs, come back and win. And judging from today's performance, Game Three really just looked like an abberation which sucks because they really got me excited with that blow-out.
Pending a miracle, this series is over. And to think of what the Wizards could do against Lebron when they're not talking trash or making cute passes makes me wish next season was here already.
Ask Raja: The All-Celebrity Edition
The Suns website has this Ask Raja segment regularly. In this one, he reveals something about Steve Nash that I really didn't think was true...
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Friday, April 25, 2008
A Game for the Ages
An epic struggle occurred at the Verizon Center last night and a victor emerged tempered by the flames of Hades and near defeat. The Wizards, facing almost certain extinction from the first round and circles of NBA respect, stood tall at the fiery gates of hell and took on their 12th labor against a mighty, three-headed beast. To slay the blood-thirsty Cerberus and prove once and for all that they were not a team of false promises or regular season hype, they had to wrestle Lebron into submission and capture the haughty Cavaliers on the battlefield. Centuries from now the Muses will ask, “how did the Wizards fight their way out of the third circle when their best player fell silent in the first quarter?”The Wizard’s first task was to visit Eleusis and learn how to thwart King James with guile and cunning. How else could they traverse Game Three with a chance for glory and fame? Their fearless leader (Coach Jordan) navigated these waters brilliantly by instructing his motley crew to crowd the paint, double team when possible, and force King James into jumpers. They key to this strategy was denying King James access to the rim where he torched the Wizards for 32 points in Game Two. Instead the Wizards plotted on forcing King James to shoot jumpers and threes, effectively taking him out of his element and into uncharted waters.
One could argue this decision was akin to fighting the Scylla when the Wizards could have easily passed through the Wandering Rocks by letting Lebron continue his quest to the basket. But those who let Lebron drive to the paint suffer defeats like Game Two, so Coach Jordan had to take his Argonauts elsewhere. Facing the Scylla ultimately prevailed because while guys like Haywood picked up fouls and worsened their league reputations for dirty play, King James could not convert from the field (Cavs went from shooting 52 percent to 37 percent and Lebron could not get his jumper started). The monster still reared its ugly head (22 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists), but the Wizards passed through to victory virtually unscathed. If only Jason’s six Argonauts were so lucky.
The Wizard’s second task was to go on the offensive and restore the temple of Apollo after King James and his vile myrmidons had pillaged and dispatched the unarmed Wizards in Game Two. Improved shooting from the field and three point lines proved to be the elixir and the Wizards delivered, shooting 42% from three point range and 52% from the field. Doubling your three point and field goal percentages from one game to the next was important, but a whole new level of teamwork was needed to row the Wizard’s boat out of the river Styx. Once again the Wizards delivered and over five different players scored in double figures (this is in stark contrast to Game Two where only three players were in low double figures). As predicted two days ago on this weblog, Antawn Jamison led this charge with a heroic performance and a game for the ages. He was beat down, battered, and bloodied, but the aging warrior slogged on and willed his team to victory. It was incredible to watch and I bow down to greatness.
So where do the Wizards go from here and how will they pass through the Peloponnesian caverns to face Boston in the Second Round? Coach Jordan would give you the following sage advice:1. Continue to play solid defense and force Lebron to either pass the ball to open teammates or shoot the jumper. Lebron's perimeter game is his weakness and having the Cleveland Cavaliers beat you is much better than letting Lebron run wild. In fact, take away Lebron and you have a very average team which is beatable by the Washington Wizards.
2. Continue to pass the ball and only take open shots. Games one and two were punctuated by nervous play, adrenaline, and vile tempers. Sit back, relax, have patience, and take your shots when they're open. Do not force possessions or shots. Do not panic. You are better than this team if Lebron is contained. Take a deep breath and play your game.
3. Continue playing like the Detroit Pistons and do not be afraid of a seven foot white guy. Hitting Lebron in the mouth will intimidate him and elbowing Z will throw his game off. Continue the hard fouls, but do not commit flagrant fouls. Make the Cavs pay when they drive to the paint and rebound like a bat out of hell.
In closing, I'd like to leave you all with a little bit of excitement and awesomeness. This video basically describes how I feel right now, so enjoy:
Thursday, April 24, 2008
U2 Is Not Classic Rock Vol. II
Well, it was only a matter of time before I was back with another edition of U2 Is Not Classic Rock. As I mentioned in the first edition, I don’t need an excuse at all to purchase albums, in fact when I have an excuse (such as an upcoming roadtrip, or say, the fact that it is a Wednesday) I tend to go a little overboard, which is evident by the first album up for review today: As always, I’ll keep this to two paragraphs or less, and grade on a scale of 0-3 Cocks, or roosters, if you will…
Patti Smith “Horses”
I can’t tell you how many times I have heard this described as a “groundbreaking” , “revolutionary”, “quintessential” album. I bet its at least three or for times. Well, I have a tendency to act on such adjectives, so I saw this album and thought, ‘what the hell? Ill give this a shot’. What the hell indeed. Do you have to be a chick to appreciate this? I think maybe you do.
First off, if you are like me you are thinking ‘hey Patti Smith, didn’t she sing that really sick 80s jam “The Warrior” that was featured prominently during the Charles Barkley montage in the ‘NBA Superstars’ VHS that came out in like 1988?’ Well that happens to be PATTY SMYTH and her band Scandal. This is Patti Smith; a strung out punk rock chick reading… er…singing…poetry about horses and the oceans. Her artwork has been described as extremely vaginal. Ok, I stole that line from the Big Lebowski, but it fits here. The actual music isn’t that bad, but I lose all interest when Patti starts yelping about this or that. Also I saw her in an interview on some documentary and I swear to god she had a moustache. This just isn’t my bag. ½ a Cock.
Joe Walsh “The Definitive Collection”
A couple of weeks ago I was complaining about relying on “greatest hits” albums to fill up your musical library with well known artists, so I’ll be the first to kick myself in the balls for going out and buying a “definitive collection” a few days later. What a hypocrite you might say…however, my point was only that if all you ever buy are greatest hits records than you are selling yourself short, ESPECIALLY when it comes to older artists and groups. So there’s a couple of reasons that I bought this particular Joe Walsh album: 1) I have wanted to get a James Gang album for a long time (that’s his earliest band) but I haven’t been able to find one in a record store around here (Gaithersburg, MD at the moment) and this album has a mix of his early James Gang recordings as well as his solo stuff. 2) There was a decent mix of songs that I knew and didn’t know from many albums; this allows me to pick and choose future albums based on which tracks I liked the best. 3) This was the only Joe Walsh album at the store I went to.(Sidenote: you are thinking “two paragraphs or less doesn’t mean anything when you can just write really long run-on paragraphs”, you’re right, but I make the rules here)
In closing, it is clear to me that Joe Walsh kicks ass. There are so many great tracks on here from “funk 49” and “Walk away” to “The Bomber” “Mother Says” “Turn to Stone”, and a surprise track “Life of Illusion” which you will almost immediately recognize as the song playing during the opening scene of “40 year old Virgin”. It’s infectious. You’ll also get his radio staples “Life’s been good” and “Rocky Mountain way” so there’s something familiar there too. I won’t recommend these kinds of albums too often, but today I must. 3 Cocks.
And here's a little treat for you:
Next time on U2 Is Not Classic Rock: The Blues...Old School Blues.
Dem Boyz
Late last night I had the good fortune of reading Nick's excellent post on the Cowboys and Pacman Jones. Do yourself a favor and read it immediately. He brings up a host of good points, the most important of which is this: Pacman's signing is not out of character for Jerry Jones. In fact, if you follow the NFL, it should come as no surprise.
The Cowboys have a history of signing or carrying troubled players who either break the law (Irvin) or piss off their owners (TO). Take Michael Irvin for example. Irvin was arrested twice for cocaine (and once for drug paraphanalia), accused of sexually assaulting a woman, and apparently cut his teammate with a pocket knife "by accident." The cocaine arrest came on the eve of an important game, and when he went to court, he made a mockery of the system by wearing a full-length mink. Classy, Michael.
How about Nate Newton? Remember him? Newton was arrested with 200 pounds of weed in his van and after securing bail two weeks later, he was caught with another 175 pounds of weed. While it's tempting to laugh about a 300 pound lineman smoking weed and getting snacks, I really just find this absurd. 375 pounds of weed is not for person use; it's for drug dealing. So what was Jerry Jones thinking when he signed this guy? I promise you it was all about football and not about character. You don't go from being an upstanding guy to selling 400 pounds of weed in a few years...sorry.
Now the Boys signed Pacman Jones and Tank Johnson, two of the most notorious off-the-field-distractions in recent NFL history. For those of you who don't follow the NFL, let's review Pacman's rapsheet which is about as long as the line outside Chipotle every night:
2005: He's arrested on charges of assault and felony vandalism; incident occured at 4 AM at a strip club.
2006: He's arrested for disorderly conduct and public intoxication; a few months later, he's arrested for misdemeanor assault when he apparently spat in a woman's face.
2007: Late one night the police say Pacman and a stripper got into a fight over money. To get back at Pacman, the strippers took his money off the stage "without his permission" and Pacman got furious. In retaliation Pacman slammed the strippers head against the stage which prompted the security guards to get involved. A fight broke out with Jones' entourage and the guards eventually kicked them out of the club. A few hours later, the police say members of Pacman's entourage came back to the club and shot three of the security guards. Now one of the guards is paralyzed from the waist down.
A few months later, he's caught doing 80 in a 55 MPH zone.
See a pattern yet? Do I need to go over Tank Johnson's rap-sheet to get the point across? The Cowboys have no problem signing troubled players, so now the question is, "why?"
The easy explanation is that Jerry Jones will do whatever it takes to win and if that involves signing troubled players, so be it. Jones can easily say to himself: let's give this guy a chance, pay him next to nothing, and give him a way to redeem himself. The Cowboys organization will provide a culture which helps troubled players move beyond their bad habits and back into success. With mature leadership we can rehabilitate Pacman Jones into a contributing member of the team and society (okay, maybe not).
(The obvious assumption here is that the redemption players are very good to begin with. Why bother otherwise? It's only their lack of maturity, their questionable friends, or some sort of criminal streak which distracts them to the point of not being able to play professional football, right?)
The more difficult explanation is that Jerry Jones doesn't give a shit about anyone except his team and their W-L record. Everyone knows this and that's why the Boys signing Jones was no surprise. It's a very selfish mindset and unfortunately guys like Dan Synder emulate it. Let me explain:
The NFL suffers when guys like Pacman Jones and Tank Johnson are given second chances. Like it or not the NFL is a brand and a brand always has to be concerned about its reputation or appeal to consumers (fans). When the league gives a second chance to a guy with six arrests and a record of spitting in a woman's face, they run the risk of pissing off regular guys because this is unacceptable behavior; it's even repulsive as far as I'm concerned.
Other teams have to suffer from a diminished image thanks to guys like Jerry Jones who keep giving these guys second and third chances. Along the same lines, a terrible example is set for young kids when they watch Pacman and Johnson get millions of dollars despite their reprehensible actions. It sends a terrible message and it's basically an afront to fans: we know you dont give a shit about how these players act or carry themselves. We're assuming all you care about is wins at the end of the day, and regardless of how badly these players act, you'll just turn a blind eye or pretend not to notice. We know you don't care about the example these guys are setting, so we're going to sign him anyway.
What the league should have done is this: establish a policy that says if you are arrested more than twice, you are out of the league for good. You get one freebie and that's it. If you screw up again, you have no one blame except yourself and you're out.
No exceptions. And yes, I really don't like the Dallas Cowboys.
The Cowboys have a history of signing or carrying troubled players who either break the law (Irvin) or piss off their owners (TO). Take Michael Irvin for example. Irvin was arrested twice for cocaine (and once for drug paraphanalia), accused of sexually assaulting a woman, and apparently cut his teammate with a pocket knife "by accident." The cocaine arrest came on the eve of an important game, and when he went to court, he made a mockery of the system by wearing a full-length mink. Classy, Michael.
How about Nate Newton? Remember him? Newton was arrested with 200 pounds of weed in his van and after securing bail two weeks later, he was caught with another 175 pounds of weed. While it's tempting to laugh about a 300 pound lineman smoking weed and getting snacks, I really just find this absurd. 375 pounds of weed is not for person use; it's for drug dealing. So what was Jerry Jones thinking when he signed this guy? I promise you it was all about football and not about character. You don't go from being an upstanding guy to selling 400 pounds of weed in a few years...sorry.
Now the Boys signed Pacman Jones and Tank Johnson, two of the most notorious off-the-field-distractions in recent NFL history. For those of you who don't follow the NFL, let's review Pacman's rapsheet which is about as long as the line outside Chipotle every night:
2005: He's arrested on charges of assault and felony vandalism; incident occured at 4 AM at a strip club.
2006: He's arrested for disorderly conduct and public intoxication; a few months later, he's arrested for misdemeanor assault when he apparently spat in a woman's face.
2007: Late one night the police say Pacman and a stripper got into a fight over money. To get back at Pacman, the strippers took his money off the stage "without his permission" and Pacman got furious. In retaliation Pacman slammed the strippers head against the stage which prompted the security guards to get involved. A fight broke out with Jones' entourage and the guards eventually kicked them out of the club. A few hours later, the police say members of Pacman's entourage came back to the club and shot three of the security guards. Now one of the guards is paralyzed from the waist down.
A few months later, he's caught doing 80 in a 55 MPH zone.
See a pattern yet? Do I need to go over Tank Johnson's rap-sheet to get the point across? The Cowboys have no problem signing troubled players, so now the question is, "why?"
The easy explanation is that Jerry Jones will do whatever it takes to win and if that involves signing troubled players, so be it. Jones can easily say to himself: let's give this guy a chance, pay him next to nothing, and give him a way to redeem himself. The Cowboys organization will provide a culture which helps troubled players move beyond their bad habits and back into success. With mature leadership we can rehabilitate Pacman Jones into a contributing member of the team and society (okay, maybe not).
(The obvious assumption here is that the redemption players are very good to begin with. Why bother otherwise? It's only their lack of maturity, their questionable friends, or some sort of criminal streak which distracts them to the point of not being able to play professional football, right?)
The more difficult explanation is that Jerry Jones doesn't give a shit about anyone except his team and their W-L record. Everyone knows this and that's why the Boys signing Jones was no surprise. It's a very selfish mindset and unfortunately guys like Dan Synder emulate it. Let me explain:
The NFL suffers when guys like Pacman Jones and Tank Johnson are given second chances. Like it or not the NFL is a brand and a brand always has to be concerned about its reputation or appeal to consumers (fans). When the league gives a second chance to a guy with six arrests and a record of spitting in a woman's face, they run the risk of pissing off regular guys because this is unacceptable behavior; it's even repulsive as far as I'm concerned.
Other teams have to suffer from a diminished image thanks to guys like Jerry Jones who keep giving these guys second and third chances. Along the same lines, a terrible example is set for young kids when they watch Pacman and Johnson get millions of dollars despite their reprehensible actions. It sends a terrible message and it's basically an afront to fans: we know you dont give a shit about how these players act or carry themselves. We're assuming all you care about is wins at the end of the day, and regardless of how badly these players act, you'll just turn a blind eye or pretend not to notice. We know you don't care about the example these guys are setting, so we're going to sign him anyway.
What the league should have done is this: establish a policy that says if you are arrested more than twice, you are out of the league for good. You get one freebie and that's it. If you screw up again, you have no one blame except yourself and you're out.
No exceptions. And yes, I really don't like the Dallas Cowboys.
Kobe's 49 from last night
Watch it all...especially towards the end. 49 points, 10 assists, 4 rebounds
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Roomofzen Deportes: World Class Player in LA
For those people who do not know, there is a world class soccer player who now is involved in the MLS. He is known for great hairdos, facial hair and is an icon throughout the world. His name is not David Beckham.
His name is Ruud Gullit and he is the coach of the LA Galaxy. He was voted the best player in the world twice in the late 80's and if he was playing now in his prime he would have had much more of an effect on MLS soccer.
For non fans of soccer, the expectations for David Beckham were way too great for the type of player he is. He was never going to take over a game like Pele use to be able to or someone of Gullit's talent. This is not to say David Beckham is not good at soccer, he is just VERY good at specific things, such as free kicks, corners and crossing the ball. He is not the type of player who could dribble past 5 players or do a bicycle kick that would grab the attention of the common sports fan. He could be compared to Peja Stojakovic of the NBA. He can shoot three pointers superbly but he is not a type of player who is going to take over a game by himself. He needs players that can get him the ball when he is open. Ruud Gullit took over games and was a maestro of the soccer field.
David Beckham is more known for his marriage to former pop singer and spice girl, Victoria Beckham than his soccer skills. He has become one of the richest athletes in the world because of his hairdos and personal style. But seriously look at the mustache and dreads Ruud Gullit had when he played. Fohawks will go out of style (hopefully soon) but a great mustache never will not to mention sick dreads!
Americans don't understand that in England David Beckham is often the center of jokes and is on covers of many gay magazines. Surely as can been seen Ruud has much more timeless sex appeal than Beckham, he should be the one that is getting all the media attention. I will leave you with a video of Ali G making fun of Posh Spice and David Beckham at a charity event.
His name is Ruud Gullit and he is the coach of the LA Galaxy. He was voted the best player in the world twice in the late 80's and if he was playing now in his prime he would have had much more of an effect on MLS soccer.
For non fans of soccer, the expectations for David Beckham were way too great for the type of player he is. He was never going to take over a game like Pele use to be able to or someone of Gullit's talent. This is not to say David Beckham is not good at soccer, he is just VERY good at specific things, such as free kicks, corners and crossing the ball. He is not the type of player who could dribble past 5 players or do a bicycle kick that would grab the attention of the common sports fan. He could be compared to Peja Stojakovic of the NBA. He can shoot three pointers superbly but he is not a type of player who is going to take over a game by himself. He needs players that can get him the ball when he is open. Ruud Gullit took over games and was a maestro of the soccer field.
David Beckham is more known for his marriage to former pop singer and spice girl, Victoria Beckham than his soccer skills. He has become one of the richest athletes in the world because of his hairdos and personal style. But seriously look at the mustache and dreads Ruud Gullit had when he played. Fohawks will go out of style (hopefully soon) but a great mustache never will not to mention sick dreads!
Americans don't understand that in England David Beckham is often the center of jokes and is on covers of many gay magazines. Surely as can been seen Ruud has much more timeless sex appeal than Beckham, he should be the one that is getting all the media attention. I will leave you with a video of Ali G making fun of Posh Spice and David Beckham at a charity event.
The Jerry Jones Traveling Circus
Watching the Celts on Comcast, but obviously flipping to TNT at halftime to hear Sir Charles give us some gems such as "The Lakers are way too good of a team to be playing zone. Playing a zone is basically saying 'we suck on defense'". Love that the Celts are making Bibby look stupid after his comments, and love the energy. Hopefully we can put it away without Pierce having to play too many minutes with that back.
Real quick, I wanted to switch gears to the Giants and just say how happy I am to hear that the Cowboys signed Pacman Jones. Like Babcock, I am a big believer that Pacman would have been a good acquisition for New England. That would be a situation in which his distractions would be minimal, he would be around a group of guys that are focused 100 per cent on football, and Belicick would provide the structure and discipline that he would need. Dallas could not be more of the oppisite, and I can't help but laugh at what a circus my hated division rival has become.
Wade Phillips is the coaching equivalent to that dad who is a great guy and doesn't want to be too hard on his kids so he looks the other way on things like drinking or other clues in the form of innapropriate paraphanielia. Sure, more often than not his kid will end up alright. But, a really badly behaved kid will take advantage of him and could get into serious trouble. Nobody will want to blame the dad because he's a good guy and he loves his kid. But, at the end of the day everyone knows he should have stepped in somewhere. He is not the right guy to be coaching Pacman. Tank Johnson is a guy who, much like Pacman, seems to be totally self-destructive. These are two guys who have been given several chances by the league, and who have had a very clear picture painted of what their behavior should be. Both have violated it time and time again. It's completely unfathomable. Now, they are playing on the same defense. Between TO mouthing off and accidently overdosing on medication, Tony Romo running off to Mexico with Jessica Simpson, and Wade Phillips proving last season that he does not have much (if any) control over his players actions, it is very suprising that Dallas would take a chance on one of these two guys. But both of them! A roster of felons is nothing new for Jerry Jones, but I just don't think this team has the talent of the old Aikman/Irvin/Smith teams. It looks like a division title is in the cards for Big Blue next season.
I've posted this many times before. But, I'll never get sick of watching it:
Tommy just screamed at the top of his lungs "Bruce Willis almost caught that!" Can we please get a Heinsohn/Barkley duo? Just for one game. Please. I'll order it on Pay-Per-View if I have to.
Sunday Night Introductions
This is a video of the introduction from Sunday night's playoff opener. As long as I live I will never forget the energy in the building during this sequence.
Suns-Spurs
1. Amare Stoudemire crapped his pants last night. He scored 20 points in the first half and then virtually disappeared in the second, going completely ice cold from the field. In the first half he was making outside jumpers, fade-aways, and his patent slash and dunk plays to the rim. It was awesome to watch and I think he went 9/11. In the second half, however, he just kept throwing up bricks, going 0/6 in the third quarter and eventually scoring a few more points. What gives?
2. The Suns looked like Denver last night: A lot of scoring, a lot of pizazz, but virtually no defense. The result: Parker and Ginobili had clear paths to the rim the entire night, and made the Suns suffer. My sense is that the Suns coaching staff told their team to lay off the fouls last night. Shaq and Amare stayed out of foul trouble and the paint was virtually uncontested for the Spurs perimeter players. But this strategy backfired because the Spurs play good defense and completely shut down the Suns on offense. For this strategy to work, your team has to match the points you're giving up on defense.
3. Ginobili is a soulless robot. He actually looks like an alien, cold and emotionless, just sitting there on the bench doing math problems in his head. He rarely shows emotion, let alone a smile or even a scowl. His 6th Man of the Year award really drove this point home: he couldn't even smile or say thank you for the award when they handed it to him. At least look like you're happy, you damn fool!
4. Nash had a horrendous game and the Spurs completely shut him down. The best example of this was the way the Spurs shut down Nash's feeder passes from the top of the arc. Every time Nash brought the ball down court, Bowen and Parker smothered him and denied his initial passes or pick and roll opportunities. The result was Nash doing those stupid behind-the-back passes to Amare which he couldn't handle.5. Shaq is still out of shape and after 22 minutes, he looked gassed and lethargic. The Suns need to do a better job managing his minutes so he doesn't flame out in the 3rd quarter like he did last night.
6. Down 17 with 4 minutes left to play, I still thought the Suns could make it a game...and they did, but ended up losing anyway. Very frustrating to watch.
7. Diaw and Barbossa had terrible games, and for the Suns to get back into this series, they'll need help from these players.
The Chicken Bone
Last night after the Red Sox game, we left Fenway with the goal in mind of getting to the Baseball Tavern for some wings, beer, and the second half of the Suns-Spurs game. On our way down Boylston Street, a woman invited us to come inside The Chicken Bone , which had just opened two weeks ago. We stopped and discussed our decision with her. They had lots of room, which was very appealing (a crowded bar pre-game is nice because it helps you work up a figurative lather, but post-game I find it preferable to sit and relax), they clearly had wings, and they told us that if we sat in the right place, we'd be surrounded on all four sides by the NBA playoffs. Sold.
Overall, it was a very solid experience. The place is very spacious. There were a lot of tvs (enough so that we could have 4 for the Spurs-Suns and other people still had plenty of tvs on which to watch Red Sox post-game). There are a lot of seats at the bar and tables. They have a lot of really good beers on tap, and the wing flavors selection was very solid. We opted for 25 bone-in "just plain hot" wings, which is the plain buffalo flavor and 12 bone-in "garlic hot" wings. The wings were substantial in size and the flavors were really good. I would definitely opt for the garlic hot again. That flavor was really, really good. I'm excited to head back and try some of the others. If I had to make one critique, it would be that there wasn't enough Bleu Cheese with the wings. We had to have more brought several times. But, the staff was very friendly and accomodating to our requests, and in the grand scheme of things it is better to need more bleu cheese than to feel like you need more wings or beer.
WhileI would probably still hit the roofdeck at the Baseball Tavern on a really nice day, I can say that the Chicken Bone is a place I will return to often for some good wings and beer. If you are around Fenway and want to sit and eat, but don't want to be fighting through the crowds at some of the staples, this is a great option. I give it very high marks. You can also call in some take-out, which would be great if you're having people over for the playoffs.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Wizards-Cavs
Lets have a frank discussion about the Wizard's 30 point loss to the Cavs last night: there is absolutely no excuse for this to happen against a division rival in the playoffs.
I don't care if Gilbert's wrist hurt or the Cavs "got hot" down the stretch. This should not have happened under any circumstance, even during the regular season. When you think about it, this loss is flat-out pathetic considering how much trash the Wizards were talking before the series. You would like to think the Wizards could make it closer than 30 points after essentially calling out King James.
(Note: after last night's performance, I will be refering to Lebron as King James. I now know why everyone calls him that)
But instead we got a disaster of a game last night. On every single account the Wizards played badly against a Cavalier team with just one good player (okay, he's great). The big three combined for 28 points TOTAL; the team shot 18% from three point range (after shooting over 40% during the regular season); the team shot 38% from the field to the Cavs 52%; and the team was outrebounded 84 to 57.
Keep in mind this is a team with three players averaging over 20 points a game and a player who finished second in league scoring in 2006. This is also a team which beat the Celtics, Hornets, Magic, and Pistons by sound margins this year. But the box score I'm reading right now is what you would get if a WNBA team played the Lakers. Actually, the Mystics would have made this one closer than the Wizards last night.
The stats really don't tell the whole story. The game was a total disaster on all fronts. For instance, the Wizards were playing scared and seemed nervous at times. Roger Mason, usually an 80% free throw shooter, shot 45% from the line and looked visibly nervous. Butler and Jamison, usually the guys taking most of the shots down the stretch, decided to pass up on multiple possesions and failed to convert when the team needed them the most.
Making matters worse was good old Brendan Haywood flagrantly fouling King James not once, but twice. Gee thanks, Brendan. Now we don't have you and your shot-blocking ability for Game Three. Guess what? You'll be suspended under league rules for those fouls and now James can drive through the paint unimpeded.
The good news is that Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison probably understand what I'm saying here, and will most likely show up for Game Three. As much as I don't always trust guys like Haywood or Arenas to pull through in clutch moments, I really think Caron and Antawn can pull this one out through sheer toughness and leadership.
What Coach Jordan needs to say is this: start believing in yourselves, foul Lebron in the paint, relax at the foul-line, give the ball to our scorers down the stretch, don't take threes unless they're open, and crash the glass on every possesion. The big three also need to get their ass in gear and start putting points up. Home court should be good for the Wizards and Game Three is really just do-or-die as far as I'm concerned. If we dont win this next game and win it by a lot, then this series may be over.
We can only hope for the best.
I don't care if Gilbert's wrist hurt or the Cavs "got hot" down the stretch. This should not have happened under any circumstance, even during the regular season. When you think about it, this loss is flat-out pathetic considering how much trash the Wizards were talking before the series. You would like to think the Wizards could make it closer than 30 points after essentially calling out King James.
(Note: after last night's performance, I will be refering to Lebron as King James. I now know why everyone calls him that)
But instead we got a disaster of a game last night. On every single account the Wizards played badly against a Cavalier team with just one good player (okay, he's great). The big three combined for 28 points TOTAL; the team shot 18% from three point range (after shooting over 40% during the regular season); the team shot 38% from the field to the Cavs 52%; and the team was outrebounded 84 to 57.
Keep in mind this is a team with three players averaging over 20 points a game and a player who finished second in league scoring in 2006. This is also a team which beat the Celtics, Hornets, Magic, and Pistons by sound margins this year. But the box score I'm reading right now is what you would get if a WNBA team played the Lakers. Actually, the Mystics would have made this one closer than the Wizards last night.
The stats really don't tell the whole story. The game was a total disaster on all fronts. For instance, the Wizards were playing scared and seemed nervous at times. Roger Mason, usually an 80% free throw shooter, shot 45% from the line and looked visibly nervous. Butler and Jamison, usually the guys taking most of the shots down the stretch, decided to pass up on multiple possesions and failed to convert when the team needed them the most.
Making matters worse was good old Brendan Haywood flagrantly fouling King James not once, but twice. Gee thanks, Brendan. Now we don't have you and your shot-blocking ability for Game Three. Guess what? You'll be suspended under league rules for those fouls and now James can drive through the paint unimpeded.
The good news is that Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison probably understand what I'm saying here, and will most likely show up for Game Three. As much as I don't always trust guys like Haywood or Arenas to pull through in clutch moments, I really think Caron and Antawn can pull this one out through sheer toughness and leadership.
What Coach Jordan needs to say is this: start believing in yourselves, foul Lebron in the paint, relax at the foul-line, give the ball to our scorers down the stretch, don't take threes unless they're open, and crash the glass on every possesion. The big three also need to get their ass in gear and start putting points up. Home court should be good for the Wizards and Game Three is really just do-or-die as far as I'm concerned. If we dont win this next game and win it by a lot, then this series may be over.
We can only hope for the best.
Monday, April 21, 2008
The Babcock Report: Playoffs? Yes please.
It has been so long since I have been excited for an NBA postseason that I am not really sure how to react. I have managed to see parts, if not all, of every playoff game so far this year and I am legitimately enjoying it. For the sake of full disclosure I need to make a few statements before I continue with this post. First, I admit wholeheartedly that my renewed interest in the NBA is directly tied to the Celtics becoming relevant again. And, I admit that this is something that disappoints me. I was too young to appreciate the last great Celtics team (Because I was three and probably appreciating things like sugar, zoos, and the satisfaction that comes with being able to wipe your own ass) and for the most part, I have had a hard time staying interested in the NBA in general. There is a certain guilt that I did not take a more vested interest in the franchise during these trying times if only for the fact that the level of excitement I feel now would be greater, and perhaps more satisfying. But, there’s nothing I can do about that now. In all fairness I still watched and attended Celtics games fairly consistently, but I really didn’t follow them that closely. Losing to New Jersey and Jason Kidd with the Pierce/Walker show was our high water mark since the death of Reggie Lewis, so that’s depressing on many levels. (Sidenote: at least with Kidd in Dallas now we are guaranteed that we won’t have to see an insane number of crowd shots featuring Kidd’s “interesting” looking son at any Eastern Conference playoff games) Yesterday I watched the Michelle Tafoya interview of Garnett, Allen, and Pierce four times on television and once on Youtube. I’m not even kidding. The respect that these three guys have for the game and the legacy of the Boston Celtics is inspiring; if only more professional athletes took the same interest in the respective histories of their organizations (Obviously any expansion team from the 90s on that features Teal as one of their colors gets an exemption) If you watch the Garnet- LeBron commercial that shows half of each mans face you’ll notice that Garnett says that he “remembers seeing Bird win it”. Interestingly, LeBron refers to Michael Jordan, who single-handedly propelled the Bulls over the Cavaliers en route to a title.
But the success of the Celtics is not the only reason that I am excited for the playoffs. I feel like the NBA product is better this year than it has been in a long time. There are so many exciting players and teams in the league this year, and there has been no shortage of great storylines to go around. This makes it all the better for a Celtics fan. Not only is Boston playing great basketball, but the entire league is playing at an elevated level. I believe that this is true although without any numbers to support my claim I have nothing but my gut to back it up. (God knows that has been wrong before) Does anyone else feel this way? I just seem to recall a lot of god awful isolation offenses and embarrassing defenses over the past several years and there seems to be less of this (Denver’s defense would be an obvious exception; there are 40 year old claims adjusters from my men’s league who could probably drop 20 points on them, seriously…there are always exceptions). There is a great mix of “Stars” right now too, all in various stages of their “primes”, and some great younger guys too who are falling in line to take the torch from the likes of Shaq, Duncan, and Nash. (Read: Dwight Howard, Chris Paul, Deron Williams). Throw in LeBron, Kobe, and Garnett and you have a ridiculous number of legit great players in this postseason. Even the commercials are better. The ½ face (where two guys are reading the same lines about the playoffs only their faces are combined… trippy, awesome) and the “where amazing happens” advertising campaigns are great, and infinitely better than the “I love this Game!” stuff we were getting before. All I think of when I think of “I love this game!” is Ahmaad Rashaad, and I don’t like to think about him.
I was legitimately disappointed that I was going to have to wait until Sunday night at 8:30pm to see the first Celtics game. The day dragged by at a painfully slow pace. I usually dread Sunday evening like nobody’s business but yesterday was different. I can only imagine the electricity that was present in the Garden before tip off. It is actually sending chills down my spine thinking about it.
I was going to write my playoff predictions in a post but I’m going to skip that since everyone has played at this point and it would be a little like betting on a game in the third quarter. But for what its worth (and from what I’ve seen so far) I’m predicting and hoping for a Celtics-Lakers match-up in the finals. What could be better for the NBA? It would be the ultimate exclamation point to a great season…two of the leagues most storied franchises renewing a great rivalry that has been virtually non-existent since the glory days of the mid 80s. And then the Celtics win it in a dramatic game seven…I just went from 6 to midnight.
Random notes:
I have decided that while I respect the completeness of Kobe Bryant’s game and I enjoy watching him play, I just do not like the guy. No one will ever be able to convince me that he would rather win and score 7 points than drop 80 in a loss. Does anyone remember that this guy more or less blasted his team prior to the start of this season and demanded a trade? Somewhere I have a “Kobe is a Scumbag” t-shirt, I need to track that down stat.
Please God, somebody make this movie
New Orleans and Chris Paul continue to impress me. Paul for his size, has an uncanny ability to create shots for himself. And he is a great passer who rarely turns the ball over, despite having it in his hands the entire game. Even more impressive is the fact that he is not playing like a guy who has no playoff experience. He made Jason Kidd look like Jason’s kid: god awful. Great guard play is so awesome to watch and there’s no one better in the league right now. I don’t think that the Hornets can get past the Spurs or the Lakers, but if they can add another decent player in the off-season they could contend for a title in a year or two.
Two first names: Sketchy.
Lebron is a beast. I don’t particularly care for any of the Cavaliers, and let’s face it, he’s playing with a bunch of scrubs…and winning playoff games. As Ballgame pointed out, three all-stars from Washington couldn't stop LeBron. He single-handedly won that game (and probably every one of the Cavs wins this year), but I don’t think these guys can get past Boston or Detroit. As far as LeBron goes, if he is going to become the “next MJ” he has to improve his shooting. For now, since no one can stop him when he goes to the basket, he’ll be alright. I just can’t imagine him hitting a clutch shot from 16 feet out.
The Philly-Detroit game goes long so I miss the first 5 minutes or so of the Celtics game…so Disappointing. Detroit will win this series, look for them to win the next game big. (I’ll just say this about Detroit; I once saw an episode of Cribs that featured Rasheed Wallace’s house and he had a huge urinal in his master bathroom, I just think that is awesome.)
I really wanted to see the tip off and get a sense of the pregame buzz at the Garden. Oh well. The crowd sounds loud, very very loud. The first thing I see is Garnett posting up and dropping a little baby hook. The Celts play good defense and Pierce sinks one from way downtown, his third of the night only minutes into the first quarter. There is a bounce in the Celtics step. A swagger that is visible and nearly tangible to me, watching the game on television, in Maryland. I know already that there is no way that they are going to lose to this team. Even when the Hawks claw their way back into the game, I still am not worried. Rondo is playing with a confidence that might not have ever developed without the off season acquisitions. The degree to which Garnett has elevated the abilities of his teammates is one of the most impressive things I have ever seen in all of sports. Casell comes in and scores 7 points (great, GREAT, pickup for the Celts), and all of the bench players get some minutes down the stretch.
Even when the game was in hand I couldn’t look away. These guys are that good.
One note on Isiah Thomas. It is clear to me now that the entire Knicks organization is engaged in some sort of “Eyes Wide Shut”-esque cult. I am certain that there is a dead girl somewhere in Thomas and Dolan’s history. She most likely died while in bed with Thomas, but on Dolan’s heroin. This is the only reasonable explanation for Thomas still serving in any capacity with the organization.
A New York Knicks Corporate Outing
NBA
Terrific NBA weekend all around. Let's jump right into the action, starting with the firing of Isiah Thomas.
This has to be one of the most predictable coaching moves of all time and the Knicks probably should have done it months ago. But instead of being completely released and kicked out to the street, it appears the Knicks have only demoted Isiah from his coaching and GM responsibilities. In other words, he's still with the organization in some capacity. ESPN.com writes, "Thomas, the coach for two seasons, will remain with the organization in an unnamed role, reporting directly to Walsh." Wait, what?
(Will he become director of Truck Parties or Assistant VP for Terrible Draft Strategies?)
This is like finding cancer in someone, performing surgery on it months or years too late, and then only partially removing the growth. The fact that Isiah still has a job after sexually assaulting an employee and losing 59 games is really just an enigma to me. Maybe Walsh is being political and not trying to piss off Dolan who is in love with Isiah for some reason.
But let's give this decision some context here. If you were the CEO of a publicly traded company, then your performance would be on a referendum every quarter when your company reported earnings. Losing the equivalent of 59 games, or having your company report declining earnings or eroding profitability over the course of multiple quarters, would result in an almost immediate firing by the board (the owner(s)).
But let's say you're doing well as a CEO as your company is making money every quarter. If it became public that you were POTENTIALLY sexually harassing an employee, then you would be fired before the lawsuit even went to court. It wouldn't even matter if you were proven innocent or had the lawsuit dismissed. You'd be fired and kicked out of the building before you could even blink. Your CEO status wouldn't revert to VP or Executive Director. Or an "unnamed role" reporting to Donnie Walsh.
Want an example? There was a Boeing CEO two years ago who had an affair with his secretary. At the time Boeing was doing just fine as a company, but when it became public that this guy was having a work-place affair, he was fired immediately. Now substitute an affair with harassment and tell me the same thing wouldn't have happened?
Yet somehow Isiah kept his job and continued losing with Stephon Marbury sulking on the sidelines and throwing truck parties (I love writing that). I know the NBA isn't a public company and I know coaches and GM's aren't CEOs, but their actions are affecting an organization's bottomline. For example, would anyone like to argue with me over how many season tickets the Knicks will renew this year? I can assure you the retention rate is abysmal. So what is this team thinking? Is it the ego of the owner or who doesn't want to admit he's wrong?
Moving onto a more positive note, the Lakers and the Celts certainly proved why they're the number one seeds this year and watching a young Phillies team beat Detroit was pretty special. The Philly win reminded me of the Warriors last year and the Laker's win showed how good Gasol can be in the playoffs. The Celts also dominated, proving how valuable KG is to that franchise.
The Wiz-ARDS lost, and it pains me to write this, but three all-stars on the Wizards couldn't stop Lebron James on Saturday. In fact they failed miserably and looked like scrubs, relying on Roger Mason Jr. to shoot threes in the fourth quarter (granted the Wizards shot 25% from the field during the 4th quarter). Lebron James really just dominated us and reminded us why Deshawn Stevenson probably shouldn't be talking trash. It's fine for Gilbert, maybe, but Deshawn should really just shut up and play. I hope for the Wiz to turn it around tonight in Game Two.
The roomofzen will continue playoff coverage over the next few weeks, and we look forward to writing about the action. Stay tuned for some massive Celtic pride and hopefully a second round match-up with the Wiz.
(Sidenote: Can someone tell me why the MVP hasn't been named yet? If I remember correctly, it was announced before last year's playoffs...)
This has to be one of the most predictable coaching moves of all time and the Knicks probably should have done it months ago. But instead of being completely released and kicked out to the street, it appears the Knicks have only demoted Isiah from his coaching and GM responsibilities. In other words, he's still with the organization in some capacity. ESPN.com writes, "Thomas, the coach for two seasons, will remain with the organization in an unnamed role, reporting directly to Walsh." Wait, what?
(Will he become director of Truck Parties or Assistant VP for Terrible Draft Strategies?)
This is like finding cancer in someone, performing surgery on it months or years too late, and then only partially removing the growth. The fact that Isiah still has a job after sexually assaulting an employee and losing 59 games is really just an enigma to me. Maybe Walsh is being political and not trying to piss off Dolan who is in love with Isiah for some reason.
But let's give this decision some context here. If you were the CEO of a publicly traded company, then your performance would be on a referendum every quarter when your company reported earnings. Losing the equivalent of 59 games, or having your company report declining earnings or eroding profitability over the course of multiple quarters, would result in an almost immediate firing by the board (the owner(s)).
But let's say you're doing well as a CEO as your company is making money every quarter. If it became public that you were POTENTIALLY sexually harassing an employee, then you would be fired before the lawsuit even went to court. It wouldn't even matter if you were proven innocent or had the lawsuit dismissed. You'd be fired and kicked out of the building before you could even blink. Your CEO status wouldn't revert to VP or Executive Director. Or an "unnamed role" reporting to Donnie Walsh.
Want an example? There was a Boeing CEO two years ago who had an affair with his secretary. At the time Boeing was doing just fine as a company, but when it became public that this guy was having a work-place affair, he was fired immediately. Now substitute an affair with harassment and tell me the same thing wouldn't have happened?
Yet somehow Isiah kept his job and continued losing with Stephon Marbury sulking on the sidelines and throwing truck parties (I love writing that). I know the NBA isn't a public company and I know coaches and GM's aren't CEOs, but their actions are affecting an organization's bottomline. For example, would anyone like to argue with me over how many season tickets the Knicks will renew this year? I can assure you the retention rate is abysmal. So what is this team thinking? Is it the ego of the owner or who doesn't want to admit he's wrong?
Moving onto a more positive note, the Lakers and the Celts certainly proved why they're the number one seeds this year and watching a young Phillies team beat Detroit was pretty special. The Philly win reminded me of the Warriors last year and the Laker's win showed how good Gasol can be in the playoffs. The Celts also dominated, proving how valuable KG is to that franchise.
The Wiz-ARDS lost, and it pains me to write this, but three all-stars on the Wizards couldn't stop Lebron James on Saturday. In fact they failed miserably and looked like scrubs, relying on Roger Mason Jr. to shoot threes in the fourth quarter (granted the Wizards shot 25% from the field during the 4th quarter). Lebron James really just dominated us and reminded us why Deshawn Stevenson probably shouldn't be talking trash. It's fine for Gilbert, maybe, but Deshawn should really just shut up and play. I hope for the Wiz to turn it around tonight in Game Two.
The roomofzen will continue playoff coverage over the next few weeks, and we look forward to writing about the action. Stay tuned for some massive Celtic pride and hopefully a second round match-up with the Wiz.
(Sidenote: Can someone tell me why the MVP hasn't been named yet? If I remember correctly, it was announced before last year's playoffs...)
Sick.
It is going to take me some time to get to the point where I can articulate my experience last night. It was a beautiful day in Boston, the Red Sox came from behind to win, it was Marathon Weekend, and (most importantly) Celtics fans were preparing to watch their team take the first post-season step towards a seventeenth championship.
Until I can accurately describe the atmosphere at the Garden last night, you should read Chris Sheridan's article and imagine KG as an extension of the energy in the building.
A quote from Doc Rivers:
"It's funny. It's rare when you can hear the fans in the locker room when the teams run out. Today you actually could."
Sunday, April 20, 2008
The Day Has Arrived
I don't actually need to wake up for another 20 minutes, but I can't sleep anymore. Tonight the Celtics will be beginning their march towards a 17th banner, and I will be there in person. I don't imagine this game will be anywhere near as close as the games yesterday, and that's perfectly fine with me. I love watching those games, but obviously the easier the wins come for the Cs the better. But, I do expect the atmosphere in the Garden to be electric, and I'm sure this is something I'm going to remember for a long time.
I think this video really sums up my feelings about today:
I think this video really sums up my feelings about today:
Friday, April 18, 2008
The Calm Before the Storm
As I sit here on the eve of the NBA post-season, I can barely contain myself. I have felt this way before, but it has never been quite like this. Last year I spent this night weighing the matchups, looking rosters up and down, and making the final decisions about what teams I was going to support in each conference. When all was said and done, I decided that my number one team would be Golden State. I expected that they would beat Dallas (as did many, the Don Nelson thing was huge plus they had proven to be a tough matchup in the regular season). This would be ideal because they were very exciting to watch, they had a chance to pull a huge upset, and I could relish in that whole "nobody believed in us thing." I changed my desktop backround to a big warriors logo, and spent a lot of time on the Golden State message boards getting up to date. I still wore my Paul Pierce jersey during the games to avoid any real confusion. I was still a Celtics fan. But, during the 2007 NBA playoffs, I was a Warriors supporter.
This year will be different.
As soon as Utah knocked Golden State out, any pro-Warriors thoughts went out the window, and I settled for being able to watch Phoenix-San Antonio, and marveling at LeBron. When I see the Warriors play now, I have no special feelings about them. In essence, I rented myself to them for a couple of weeks. It didn't mean anything. Like a cheap whore, I gave myself up temporarily in exchange for the illusion of genuine playoff excitement. What choice did I have? Anyone who knows me knows that nothing would have made me happier than being able to watch some Celtics playoff basketball. It just wasn't in the cards. This wasn't the same, but it was the best option I had.
Looking back, I couldn't be more thankful for the opportunity that lies ahead. At this time last season, I never imagined the Celtics would be sitting in this position. A seven or eight seed? Sure, after all it is the Eastern Conference. But, the number one seed! 66 wins! The best team in the NBA! The transformation has been remarkable. As currently assembled, the Celtics are better and more championship-ready than I ever could have dreamed given the pieces that they had. What Danny Ainge and Doc Rivers have done has been remarkable.
Before I give my predictions, I would like to make a few comments regarding some statements that I have read today. I spent some time reading some Laker fan posts on ESPN.com, and soon became enraged. The comments alleged that the only reason the Celtics have been successful is that they were helped out by the "Good Old Boy Celtics Network." Obviously, whoever wrote this post believes that (A) The Celtics were only able to acquire Kevin Garnett because Kevin McHale wanted to help out Danny Ainge and (B) The acquisition of Garnett, and only the acquisition of Garnett, is what put the Celtics in their current position. So, in defending this Celtics administration, which has been outstanding, let me say the following:
First, the turnaround of the Celtics was not a one-year miracle. It was a five year process in which the organization did a great job of scouting, drafting, developing young players into valuable assets, and cutting money off the books. More often than not, this policy was unpopular. How many times have we heard Ainge blasted on the radio. How badly did we all want the Celtics to land Brandon Roy or Randy Foye in 2006? However, the Celtics came out of that first round with the ever-famous "Theo Ratliff's expiring contract" bargaining piece and were able to select Rajon Rondo later that round. How bad did we all want Allen Iverson last year? Would that have put us in this position? Judging by what happened in Denver, certainly not. Ainge had a plan in mind all along. Keep developing as many trading assets and acquiring as many big expiring contracts (Ratliff, Brian Grant, The Kandi Man) until the big opportunities come along. Despite the fact that many in Boston called for his head and made public pleas for him to start moving those pieces, he waited until the right time.
Second, Kevin Garnett WANTED to come to Boston. He wanted to come to Boston because we had Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. In order for us to get Kevin Garnett, we first had to make the move for Ray Allen. Think about it, no matter how expansive your "old boy network" may be, you can't acquire two well-established all-stars unless you're giving up something. Ainge did a brilliant job of dealing for Allen while still holding on to the right pieces (mainly Al Jefferson and Ratliff) needed to get Garnett. McHale wasn't just making Ainge happy. He was granting Garnett's wishes and helping his team out.
Third, the Timberwolves certainly got more from the Garnett trade than Memphis got from the Gasol move. The Lakers gave up nothing for Gasol. And, while we're at it, Gasol was a nice addition BUT he's not Kevin Garnett. Gasol is soft, and he doesn't bring one tenth of the intangibles that the Big Ticket does. We had the pieces to get KG while keeping our core intact. The Lakers didn't have shit to give. That's why we have KG and they have Pau Gasol.
Finally, I will say this, I have doubted Danny Ainge many times before. But, I can't argue with what he's done. I heard an interview with him recently on the Big Show, and I found what he had to say very re-assuring. In the interview, he made it clear that the Celtics were planning on trying to trade their 2007 draft pick regardless of where they fell in the lottery. "Imagine that" he said "If we had pick one or two, we really thought that we could have gotten Garnett without giving up Al Jefferson." He went on to explain why he had spent so much time developing players and why he had waited so long to make a move. His plan was ambitious. He wanted to blow it all up except for Paul Pierce, gather as many young pieces and expiring contracts as he could, and sit tight until he had a chance to make Paul Pierce a champion. If that opportunity never came, he could trade Pierce and continue re-building. The plan worked. So, if you are one of those who believes Ainge fell ass-backward into good fortune, I urge you to look back on the moves that he has made in his career with the Celtics. On their own, many of them are unimpressive. However, when you see how they all fit together, you can't help but feel re-assured about the future of this team.
Now that I have that off my chest, here are my playoff predictions.
First, Ballgame's picks (which he explains in his two posts below):
Boston over Atlanta in 4; Wizards over Cavs in 7; Boston over Wizards in 7; Orlando over Toronto; Detroit over Philly in 7; Detroit over Orlando; Celts over Detroit in 7 for the finals.
Lakers over Denver; Houston over Utah; Lakers over Houston in 7; Spurs over Phoenix; Hornets over Mavs; Spurs over Hornets; Lakers over Spurs for the finals.
Lakers win the title over the Celts, giving Kobe the Playoff MVP.
Babcock's picks will be out soon.
My picks:
Boston in 4
--seriously, did you expect anything else?
Detroit in 6
--Philly will make it tough
Toronto in 6
--this is my 2008 official "who gives a shit" series
Washington in 7
--looking forward to watching these two teams battle it out
then
Boston over Washington in 5
--payback for the regular season
Detroit over Toronto in 5
--we got a preview of this one last Sunday
Then Boston over Detroit in 5
--easier than people think
Out West
Lakers over Nuggets in 5
--The Lakers have that look right now
Hornets over Mavs in 5
--I hate what the Mavs have done this year
Phoenix over San Antonio in 7
--Shaq in the playoffs, Steve Nash out for blood
Utah over Houston in 6
--Utah is that team you don't want to forget about
Then Lakers over Utah in 6
--too much Kobe
Phoenix over New Orleans in 7
--I'd love to see the Hornets win, but I don't see how it could happen
Lakers over Suns in 5
--Again, easier than expected
FINALS
Celtics over Lakers in 6
--The other comment that pissed me off was a Laker fan predicting LA over Boston and saying "Do you actually think Boston can stretch this series out and make it close?" First of all, the Celtics are better than the Lakers, and anybody that watched the two teams play this year knows that. The Celtics are too deep, and the longer the series goes the more it favors them. To me, the Celtics winning in 6 would mean that the Lakers had played really well.
Playoff MVP: Paul Pierce
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