A Tough Break

You know me ... and you know that I L-O-V-E the NBA Draft

The excitement I had that the Jazz would have the possibility of a talent like Brandon Rush fall to them in the mid 20's of the draft was just amazing. We are in the Western Conference Finals and a guy that fills a major void on our team with HUGE UPSIDE (pardon my Hube Brown) would come to my lovely team.

Then ...

Brandon Rush plays a pick up game, tears his ACL, withdraws from the NBA Draft to play at Kansas again next year and will come out after his Junior year and be a possible lottery pick.

I guess I can't complain with the fortune I have had

It's just an ... OUCH

A Touch of Gold

I keep hearing about a USA Basketball Team that is going to win gold in the next Olympics.
I keep hearing about a USA Basketball Team that is going to be put together for the International Game.
I keep hearing about a USA Basketball Team that will be made up of unselfish basketball players who match up well against the International Teams.

WHY?

Was our original Dream Team made up of a team to match up well?
No.
Was our original Dream Team made up of a team due to rules over there?
No.

Our Original Dream Team was made up of the best players in the USA and we steamrolled them because we are just better.

The same could be said for today's talent. The problem is that the world has caught up and learned the game of basketball. Well good for them. The world does not have the talent to beat us like they are. Our problem is that we are taking very talented basketball players and making them play a game of basketball they are not used to. Why aren't we making the International Teams play a game of basketball they are not used to? Why are we changing for them when they should be changing for us? Why are we not playing a physical play from the post muscle you down half court game mixed with a run it down your throat dunk on you fast break? Why are we not "D" ing up and shutting them down because we are so much longer and more athletic than them?

Here is my proposed solution to this mess.

Play our game with the best we have and lets see who is better off in the end. Plain and Simple.

PG - Jason Kidd and Chauncey Billups
SG - Kobe Bryant, Micheal Redd and Ray Allen
SF - LeBron James, Teshawn Prince and Stephen Jackson
PF/C - Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, Rasheed Wallace and Shaquille O'Neal

Come Fuck with This

We have veteran leadership and we have outside shooting.
We have great passers and we have incredible interior defense.
We have some head cases but we need to get in their heads.

and we have two trump cards above everything else.

We have Shaq who is the only player on the planet that still intimidates all of the time. There is no other player like him and we have him. He also loves the fact that he will be looked on as the guy who saved USA Basketball ... its right up his alley.

and...

We have Kobe. He is far and away the best offensive player in the world and the guy who wants to be a good guy again. He has his chance and he will make the best of it. He is also the most competitive (except maybe KG) and will not let us lose.

Is Dirk going off on this team? Nope
Is Peja going off on this team? Nope
Is Manu going off on this team? Nope
Is Yao gong off on this team? Nope

We won before because we had a team that they were intimidated by. This team intimidates. Sending over nice guys to give them a chance and the occasional 3rd team All NBA guy doesn't do that. And the studs we do send are young.

I'm not taking anything away from the teams in Europe, but we cant play Euroball. But they sure as hell cant play USA Ball. We wont dominate like we did in 92 and 96. But we sure as hell will win.

Time to take our Gold back.

Right Now...

I have dry eyes and sneezing like crazy due to allergy's.

and...

I had Jack/Ten suited with spades. The flop comes out and Jack, Five, Four come out. All mixed suits. I raise a measly $100 and Jeff goes all in. I call his bluff and the mother fucker has pocket Jacks. The only way I can win is with two spades coming out. 4th street is 8 of spades and I scream my ass off. The river is 8 of hearts, I get nothing and Hammer walks away with a full boat.

I Hate Poker (until next Tuesday)

Just a Quick Response

OK,

I know I am getting ahead of myself a lot and I will surely be struck down by lightning but if Utah wins Saturday night against Houston they will move on to the second round against Golden State who doesn't match up well with them and if they beat them they will most likely move on to the West finals against San Antonio who Utah beat 3 out of 4 times this year. Just worth mentioning.

Second, I really am not gonna mail it in on Dirk just yet but if he doesn't pull out one hell of a season next year and play with that angry sneer all year long I will start to have doubts.

I was looking at Chad Fords mock draft yesterday and the guys he has going in the 22 - 27 range (where Utah falls at #25) don't look like late first round talents, I am very excited. Also about the draft ... if Atlanta doesn't get a top 3 pick Phoenix ends up with 3 first round picks this year. Talk about the rich getting richer.

** That Timbaland song with Nelly Furtado and Justin Timberlake, HOT**

And now for my random Fantasy Baseball question of the day.

Goldman sent me a trade yesterday. He wants Vernon Wells and Brandon Phillips from me for Lance Berkman, Dan Uggla and Ervin Santana.
Now, I wouldn't mind Santana cause you can always use a quality starter. Also I only have Phillips on loan right now until Howie Kendrick comes back from the DL anyways. The real question comes down to is Lance Berkman gonna break out and is he going to out produce Vernon Wells this season? I like that Berkman has 1B availability as well as OF but he is slumping right now and I'm not sure I should take the risk. Let me know what you think.

Cant wait to see you Saturday Night

LETS GO DE LA HOYA ... FUCK A MAYWHEATHER !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thursday...

NBA
Yeah, the playoffs have been very entertaining thus far:

• Yeah, I picked the Heat... usually, I ride the champ until they lose. And in this case, I was VERY wrong. Chicago really had the antidote for Shaq and Flash. Something tells me that we're going to see some wholesale changes down in Miami.
• Toronto has a shot. But they're going to have to get it done in NJ on Friday night or it's curtains for the Raptors.
• I think we saw the sweeps coming (to a certain extent) for both Detroit and Cleveland.
• Utah is going to have break through on the road, but if they continue to hold serve at home it's going 7.
• Golden State better not blow this... hahahahaha

On to your points:

1. Dirk: his problems are more mental than anything. But yes: he's getting exposed right now. I still think that when you're a 7 footer, you should be posting up. Especially when you're as versatile and athletic as Dirk is, you know? He should be using the post-up game to free everyone else up. And then he can float and start burying jumpers. Just my opinion.
2. He was never 'bad', but yes: he's looking scary good right now.
3. Matt Barnes' neck tat scares me. The faux-mohawk scares me. The funny thing is that homeboy was really clean cut when he played at UCLA. What happened? (Stephen Jackson happened...)

NFL Draft
I'm not too high on JaMarcus either, but:

• They HAD to get this kid. He's bigger than Quinn, can get out of the pocket, has a cannon for an arm... it's tough to say that that they should have taken someone else when they have a ton of holes to fill already. QB is a hole they had to fill, and they took one of the two best QBs available. Can't be mad at that.
• They couldn't take Calvin because they wouldn't have had anyone to THROW to Calvin.

Personally, I think Quinn dropping had less to do with him, and more to do with what teams thought they needed. I think Minnesota and Miami made a mistake though: they should have drafted him when he was staring them in the face. Kudos to Cleveland for getting a lineman (which any team needs) and then rolling the dice to get back into the 1st round to get the QB they wanted all along. Shrewd thinking. Cause had they taken Quinn originally, they weren't drafting the guy they wanted on the line as well.

Lastly, if the Pats weren't the favorites last week, I would have wondered what rock you were living under. This week? If they win less that 13 games in the regular season, something has gone horribly wrong.

Commercials/Randoms

• Jessica Alba is an attractive young lady who should be commended for her acting talents. :)
• That Wade/Chuckster/'sexxxy' commercial is hilarious too.
• That Subway 'thunder thighs and a badonkadonk butt' is off the hook too.
• Hip Hip, Jorge! Hip Hip, Jorge! (yes, I do like the Posada/Papi one as well) The best one to me is Ladainian sorting through mail... or maybe even Big Ben rescuing people out of the buidling when it's only a fire drill lol

One!

It's Tuesday and I'm Bored

I have a couple of things to touch upon tonight.

First things first. The NBA playoffs have been pretty entertaining so far. I knew that the Bulls would take down the Heat, but definitely didn't see the sweep coming. I still think Toronto has a shot if JKidd stops throwing up a triple double every game. The Nuggets/Spurs series has been hard fought like I predicted and the Pistons and Cavs took care of business like we both thought. TMac pissed me off last night and now Utah is in some trouble. I think its going 7 still but I am a little nervous about it. Houston is such a good team but they have nothing if TMac is held under control. I forgot what it was like to be really involved in my team in the playoffs again. As far as the Mavs series, no one expected this but I have to say, I am not THAT surprised. I always thought the Mavs were not as dominant as their record indicated and the Warriors have had their number all year. It has been very entertaining to say the least. I have 3 things coming out of this series so far.

1. Dirk is not as good as advertised.
2. Stephen Jackson is a lot better than I thought.
3. Matt Barnes kinda scares me

**side note**
Bill Simmons really has something against Karl Malone. I love the guy but he needs to leave him alone. God damn does he tear him down about his "lack of dominance" in the playoffs. Get over it!

The NFL Draft was a little nutty. I'm not sold on JaMarcus Russell at all. Sorry Oakland. I was high on Brady Quinn so good for Cleveland. He may not become the next Payton Manning but if the other pieces are there he is good enough to get you deep into the playoffs. Putting him with Joe Thomas is only gonna help. Detroit gets Calvin which I am happy about, but I feel like we could have traded up to get Quinn or addressed more needs. All in all, we will be picking back in the top 8 again next year and we are in the weakest division in the NFL. God they suck.

New England is going out of its mind. Addalius Thomas is nasty and that really makes their D more athletic, something that they needed to do for a while now. Wes Welker and Dante Stalworth were just what the doctor ordered for Tom Brady, he actually has weapons now. Corey Dillon is gone now and that hurts a bit and so is their tight end, but that offense is gonna be Madden scary this year. And that brings me to ...

RANDY "FREAKIN" MOSS
I don't know about you, but I actually think this is going to work out. Now, I have always been a Randy Moss fan and I know he has been the Vince Carter of the NFL but there is something about him that I love. I always have felt that on pure talent he has been the best wideout in the NFL for the past decade. I also remember the guy that was a good guy and a good teammate when he was in Minnesota with Josh Reed and Chris Carter. He has always needed discipline and when he has had it he has been amazing. When he is surrounded by talent and winning he has been amazing. I feel like he will have both in New England. I also feel like he will respect Tom Brady more than he did Dante Culpepper. I think Moss felt like he made Culpepper what he was and he knows that Brady has been the top dog with shitty wideouts. Throw in the contract year and the chance to play with a dynasty and I think it is going to be a good year for the Pats and Moss.

A few random thoughts.

- the commercial with Posada and Big Papi on ESPN is awesome. I really hope you have seen it.
- the commercial with Wade and Barkley in Barkley's basement where Wade makes fun of his short tight shorts and says "sexxxy" is equally awesome.
- Jessica Alba going to Warriors games now should be enough to sell that place out every game.
- Fuck Cash Warren.

I'm Out