Tyrese Rice was Michael Jordan for 20 Minutes

When Boston College and UNC laced up this afternoon, everyone was talking about the North Carolina win that would help them keep pace with Duke. It would also put them as the likely #1 in the country Monday. Tyrese Rice and The Boston College Eagles had other plans.

Jumping out to a 16-2 lead behind the shooting of Rice the Eagles slammed a scare into the Tarheels. By the time the first 20 minutes was up, the Eagles had sustained that scare. The buzzer sounded with the eagles leading by 14 points. No matter what the 'Heels threw at Rice he was working his way for open shots and making the ones that weren't open. Rice started the first half by going 5-for-5 with 4 of those from behind the arc. He kept that going finishing the first half with 34 points and 8 buckets from behind the arc.

The Second half; NC came back and then some winning the game by. Even with that comeback in the game Rice's first half was still that show stealer. He dominated that 20 minutes more than any player I've ever seen. Rice finished the game with 46 points. His coach closed the game nicely by subbing Rice out with 46 seconds left so the Boston College crowd could show give him the appreciation that he deserves.

Yao Ming's Injured; Who's To Blame

ESPN is reporting that Lee from Dream Shake is giant jinx. Ok that not exactly what they said but I'm paraphrasing here. Maybe I am the jinx for metinong Dream Shakes Nostradamus skills. In either case Yao Ming is is out for the year, with a stress fracture in his foot.

Over the last few weeks Lee, over at Dream Shake, has been predicting win after win. I found it quite impressive, so impressive in fact that when the Rockets finally hit that tenth win and Lee's prediction was completed, I decided I'd give I'd give credit where credit was due and acknowledge his brilliance with a post of my own. Unfortunately I showed my lack of brilliance by crediting Dave who also writes for Dream Shake. Lee left me comment to clear things up. Now that we have all that cleared up though I can't help but wonder. Does Lee really want credit for jinxing the Rockets right out of the playoffs.

Yao is going to miss the rest of the year, including the playoffs-along with the rest of the Rockets now. An MRI revealed fluid around one of the bones in Yao's foot, upon further examination, the teams doctor think Yao should have surgery. There is an alternative to the surgery but either way the recovery time is 4-months. In related news that I could care less about that means that Yao will be available for the Communist Reds uhhh I mean China for the Olympics

NBA Trades in 2008: You Make the Call

I've listed the major trades below and a couple are entertaining because of how pointless they are. My top three trades became my top three teirs as I realized some of the moves were on equal footing.

Celtics are still the one-A impact leaders. Garnett's a top 5 player the NBA and the intangibles he brings to Boston make him even more valuable. Paul Pierce no longer loafing on defense, Rajon Rondo playing up to the confidence KG has shown in him, and the emergence of Big Baby. None of these things would be happening, at least not as much, without the trade for Garnett. The Lakers are pulling a strong one-B right now. Bynums fit when he returns will determine the legacy of the Pau Gasol trade.So far the Lakers have lost one gaem in the Gasol era. Gasol is not only bringing his game to the Lakers, he is bringing up the game of the guys around him.

The Kidd and Shaq deals are the second impact teir. Their age limits their impact to some extent. Kidd will have a larger impact, but it still wont be enough to put the Mavs over the top. 3 years from now, when Devin Harris is a top 5 NBA point guard; the Mavs will be talking about having mortgaged the future, only to be disappointed. Phoenix wont find any more success from their trade, but they didn't give nearly as much either. Marion is more talented than Harris is, but he had one foot out the door already.

The Spurs move, seemingly minor, bringing Kurt Thomas in ,could have the biggest impact.He may be the little bit the Spurs need to put them over the top. His hieght and physical presence on defense and the boards will help the Spurs match up with the large front lines of the west.

What about you how do you rate the different moves?

Boston/Seattle & Boston/Minnesota

• Celtics get Ray Allen and the rights to Glen Davis. Seattle Supersonics get Delonte West, Wally Szczerbiak the rights to Jeff Green.
• Celtics get Kevin Garnett. Timberwolves get Ryan Gomes, Gerald Green, Al Jefferson, Theo Ratliff, Sebastian Telfair, a 2009 first round draft pick (top three protected) and a return of Minnesota's conditional first round draft pick previously obtained in the Ricky Davis-Wally Szczerbiak trade and cash.

San Antonio/Memphis & San Antonio/Seattle

• Spurs Sign Damon Stoudemire a week after he was released by the Memphis Grizzlies to make room for Mike Conley at the starting spot. (Not really a trade but it's a move)
• Spurs get Kurt Thomas from the SuperSonics in exchange for Francisco Elson, Brent Barry and the team’s 2009 first round draft pick

Los Angeles/Orlando & Los Angeles/Memphis

• Lakers get Trevor Ariza trading Maurice Evans and Brian Cook to Magic
• Lakers receive Pau Gasol and a 2010 2nd-rounder. Grizzlies gets Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, Pau's brother Marc Gasol, and Aaron McKie(signed for the trade), and 1st-rounders in 2008 and 2010.
  

Phoenix/Miami

• Suns get Shaquille O’Neal. Heat receive Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks

Atlanta/Sacramento

• Hawks get Mike Bibby from the Kings who get Anthony Johnson, Tyronn Lue, Shelden Williams, Lorenzen Wright and a 2008 second round draft

Dallas.New Jersey

• Mavs get Jason Kidd, Malik Allen and Antoine Wright from Nets in return for Devin Harris, Degana Diop, Trenton Hassell, Moe Ager, Keith Van Horn, a pair of draft picks and cash

Chicago/Cleveland/Seattle

• Bulls get Drew Gooden, Larry Hughes, Shannon Brown and Cedric Simmons from the Cavaliers who got Joe Smith, Ben Wallace and Chicago’s 2009 2nd-rounder. The Cavs will also get Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West from Sonics who will receive Ira Newble and Donyell Marshall from Cavs and Adrian Griffin from Chicago(Who goes where)

Denver/Portland

• Nuggets receive Taurean Green from the Trailblazers who get Von Wafer.

Toronto/Detroit

• Raptors get Primoz Brezec and cash from Pistons who receives Juan Dixon.

Houston/New Orleans/Memphis & Houston/Minnesota

• Hornets receive Bonzi Wells, Mike James, and cash from Rockets who get Adam Haluska, Bobby Jackson, Marcus Vinicius and a 2008 2nd-rounder. As part of the three-team deal, Grizzlies get involved and a bunch of europeans you've never heard of move around.
• Houston also got Gerald Green from Minnesota for Kirk Snyder, a 2010 2nd-rounder and cash.

NBA Where Debut-tiful Happens

After Mike Bibby's debut last night, as well as Shaquille O'neal and Jason Kidd putting sweat on those new unifroms tonight, it should be an interesting couple of days. Mike Bibby's performance against the Lakers was certainly not what he was hoping for. You can't jump to conclusions after one game. That will also be the theme after Shaq's debut tonight. Kidd on the other hand, might "be who we thought he was"(Thanks Denny Green)

Mike Bibby and the Atlanta Hawks were in LA for the Lakers Home return from a 9 game road trip. The Hawks played like they were the ones that were road weary. Through a series of turnovers and poor shot selection the Hawks gave the Lakers a 73-37 edge at the half. Mike Bibby certainly wasn't an exception to the Hawks poor play. Managing 5 points 3 assists to 2 turnovers. I'd blame this on him only logging 16 minutes, but he seemed plenty capable of racking up 4 fouls in that short time.

It is just one game. Without even seeing Shaq's performace tonight I know it will produce the same mantra. It is just one game. Shaq will come out like gang busters; showing the pride and passion he has been missing all season. He is old though, that body can't give him that game-in and game-out. The new team has always brought out the pride and passion in Shaq. Tonight he will have that as well as the revenge motivation. Shaq wants nothing more than to prove that Kobe and the Lakers were wrong to send him packing.

Jason Kidd is the likely exception tot he just one game rule. He still has the body. He has played unmotivated basketball all season and still managed quite a few triple doubles. He is right now getting a whiff of the ring that Dallas fell short of last season. He will step up his effort and intensity--which is a scary thought--and be best fitting missing piece out of all three of these deals.

Kidd can't help but be motivated when he hears team owner Mark Cuban saying things like "..He is the reason I bought season tickets and started watching the Mavs". The unspoken end of this statement is "...and then I bought the team"

All Star Dunk Contest

It wasn't that what I saw was amazing. It was that the dunks were unbelievable. Not unbelievable in the sense that we normally use it. I mean in it was unbelievable in the sense that I literally couldn't have thought of some of the dunks that were pulled off.

All totalled Dwight Howard, the eventual winner, puled off four dunks. Every one of them would have been a winning final dunk in most years of the contest. Though it is good he brought them this year, because he needed all of them. Gerald Green had a final dunk type of performance on all but one dunk.

Dwight Howard Round 1 Dunk 1

• Howard came from behind the glass bouncing the ball of the backside and coming under to dunk the ball.

Gerald Green Round 1 Dunk 1

• Green had teammate Rashad McCants place a cupcake with a lit candle on the back of the Rim. Green than ran up, catching the ball in mid air from McCants, blew out the candle and thendunked the ball without disturbing the cupcake.

Dwight Howard Round 1 Dunk 2

• Dwight Howard stripped off his Magic uniform to reveal a superman undershirt. He then put on a red cape. He took off without the ball from mid court and flew from just inside the freethrow to catch the ball in mid-air. He may have made it to the basket to dunk, but he decided not to risk it by throwing the ball down from about 4 feet away

Gerald Green Round 1 Dunk 2

• McCants climbed to the top of a ladder and held the ball out. Green elevated to take the ball from him and throw it down windmill style.

At thie point the first round ended and I knew already this was the best dunk contest I have seen. Magic also made a funny comment regarding the scores the 5 judges were handing out. "3 of us have never dunked." 2 of 3 has to be himself and Karl Malone. I am guessing he meant dunked with style because Darryl Dawkins was the 3rd that he was referring to and the only dunk he knows is the backboard breaker.

Gerald Green Round 2 Dunk 1

• Gerald Green pulled off the Vince Carter style alley-oop between the legs and windmill in dunk. It was good but a re-do of a past duk wasn't gonna get it done, today.

Dwight Howard Round 2 Dunk 1

• Howard left from midcourt lobbing the ball off the bounce to himself in the middle of the key caught the ball with his left hand then threw it back of the glass and dunked with his right. It seems like I left out the part where he went down and jumped back up. That is because he pulled off all of that while still in the air.

Gerald Green Round 2 Dunk 2

• Green pulled off the same dunk he had for the first one this round. The big difference was he took his shoes off and signed them for the judges, then performed the dunk barefoot. Darryl Dawkins didn't think much of it though, he knocked the shoes off the judges table.

Dwight Howard Round 2 Dunk 2

• Howard took a nerf type Orlando Magic mini rim and stuck it to the backboard. He then placed the ball on top of it. He came from the side grabbed the ball from it's mini hoop and slammed it through the real hoop. Though it did take a few tries.

Howard ended up winning not only the 5 judges over, he won the text in fan vote 70/30.

Kidd to Dallas "imminent": Why The East Just Won the Finals

According to ESPN the rumors that the Kidd-to-Dallas deal was imminent, which beacme the rumor that the Kidd-to-Dallas talks have stalled, are now back to the rumors that the deal is about to happen.

I would love to see this move happen. It would take a team that has been on the cusp of great, and push them over the hump. I also love how competitive that the West has become, though it is certainly at the expense of the talent in the East. This may however help the Eastern Conference Champ more than it helps any team in the West. We are back to the point where you almost know that the NBA Finals will be anti-climactic. Who ever wins the West will likely be beat up over consecutive 6 or 7 game series. While the winner of the East will probably have coasted to a finals meeting between Boston and Detroit. Which ever one wins will probably have a lot more rest than the winner out of the West.

In the proposed deal in return for Kidd, Dallas would send 24-year-old point guard Devin Harris, veteran swingman Jerry Stackhouse, and a bunch of expiring contracts to make the money work.

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Shaq to the Suns The Fallout

As the reality of the Shaq trade is coming to fruition. It seems like we really ought to consider the ripples, that are bound to come when you drop a stone that big into the NBA pond.

Mike D'antoni is gone. I mean he will finish out this year, he might even start out next year. But soembosy write it down a calendar year from today D'antoni wont be coaching the Suns. When the trade cam up Tuesday morning, D'antoni said on his radio show that no deal was close. Hours later the trade is confirmed and Shaq is on a flight to check out his hip. Steve Kerr who is sporting some Championship hardware that D'Antoni is lacking, is pulling the strings in Phoenix and he just doesn't seem to mesh with the current coaches philosophy. (I posted yesterday about Larry Brown's desire for another coaching gig, interesting to think of him in Phoenix)

The Mavericks now have another thing to contend with while they try and figure out what the hell is going on there. One thing you can be sure of A guy like Mark Cuban is not about to sit around and hope things get better. Did you see him in Dancing with the Stars, the man is ultra competitive. You know that last years early exit is still gnawing at him. Look for the Jason Kidd trade talks to take on a little more heat. The situation basically went from Kidd is available so why wouldn't the Mavericks take a look. Now it has become more of a situation where the Mav's need to keep up the the Jones's Lakers and Suns.

The other development which I touched on the other day is the combination of the Kobe-Shaq rivalry and the Lakers-Suns rivalry. If you think that both those guys don't know that the post-trade Championship count is currently Shaq:1 Kobe:0. Kobe has a team that is set up well to make a run at a few titles now. Shaq knows if he is going to win tis race he better get a big lead over the next two years. I'll be interested to see if the SUns are willing to extend Shaq beyond the two years he has remaining.

There is a lot of people who say that the NBA season isn't interesting until the All-Star break. This year they may be right, but it has more to do with how good the second half will be not how irrelevant the first half is.

NBA All-Star Game Is All Wrong

I could rant on and on about the injustices of who is on the all star teams and who isn't. I am not going to. In reading up about this topic today I realized where the problems lie with this whole set up. The problems do exist and they are present both on the player side as well as the coaching side and yes some of it is even on us the fans.



As for the problems well lets start with the players. Upon finding out that his team mate Al Thornton hadn't been selected to the Rookie Sophmore game. Casell magnified the players slightly biased opinion with the following "There's a conspiracy going on. We must be in the state of Florida now. Did they watch that game, Jersey against the Clippers? Did they see Al Thornton that night?" Really, Sam. Do you want a second to pull that back. ONEGAME!? you want to know if they looked at one game. The simple fact that you pointed to one high performance as a signature game and all he really did was manage to lead for that one game. Well Sam, thats a sign the rest of his work really isn't that impressive.

As for the coaches, I don't know if they are right or if they are wrong but the perspective of the coaches became clear when Stan Van Gundy said "Shaq sort of is the All-Star game, sort of what the All-Star game is all about,'' Van Gundy, who coached O'Neal in Miami added. "It's celebrity and the people the fans want to see and everything else..." When you look at that it pretty much clears a lot of the decisions that they make as far as I am concerned.

As far as the fans culpability in all this. That is the white elephant in the room. The All-Star game is not about talent. It is clearly a popularity contest. So when the balloting comes out and we all start to debate why one guys play is better than the next guy and who got snubbed. We really need to settle down. Yeah it isn't always (or ever) a true representation of the best talent in the NBA but it is usually fun (less and less lately but I think this year we'll see a turn around). So let's just enjoy it for what it is.

Here is a great article on who made it and who got snubbed from True Hoop



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Trailblazers Use Tech Toys to Promote Brandon Roy

The Portland Trailblazers sent out 75 iRoys. What is an iRoy, you ask. It the their own iPod Nano that is pre-loaded with Brandon Roys clips and clips of people endorsing him. The Trailblazers are doing this in an effort to get thier man into the All-Star game. I love to see Technology creeping in to other aspects of our life. I think this is a great marketing scheme, now lets see if it works.

Here is an opposing view that I found interesting

Mark Cuban Courting Clippers #1 Fan

For those of you who don't see Clipper games, (that would be just about everyone not on the team). There is a Clipper fan, Clipper Darrell AKA Darrell Bailey who wears a half blue and half red jacket with a whole Clippers color scheme in his clothing. He goes out of his way to get the fans involved and cheering at the right times. He also is very loyal he is working a 280+ streak of home games. He creates such a stir in the stadium that he came to Mark Cubans attention in a game against the Mavericks.

Now he has met with the Mav's marketing department about the possibility of performing the same duties in Dallas. He would all of a sudden be paid to do the task he has done out of passion in the past.

There are really quite a few ways to look at this and I can't really nail down even what my own opinion is. So you're getting all of em.

Mark Cuban: Once again this Maverick (Ahhh I am hilarious) of sports franchise ownership, has siezed on a brilliant opportunity. I am not a real big Mavs fan, but you have to acknowledge what their owner brings to the table.

Clipper Darrell: This is where my feelings start to get torn. I mean is your fanhood for sale. You probably can't say because I doubt anyone has ever offered you a job to switch your fanhood. The simple fact that his fanhood was at such a level that someone is basically offering him money for it, puts him beyond being questioned in my book.

Donald Sterling: Now here is the real goat in all this. Where is Sterling, why not step in and give the guy a position similar to what Cuban has proposed. You know he would do it cheaper in the city he currently resides, for the team he really loves. Instead of stepping up though in typical Sterling fashion, he is sitting back with his lips sealed tight and his purse string even tighter

Help Rudy Gay win the Dunk Contest

Rudy Gay is asking for your help. So break out that 8 foot rim and show him what you've got.

I like this clip and this clip if he could pull it off

Sasha Pavlovic enrolls in the Lebron James school of sprain recovery

I wrote the following towards the end of the two weeks Lebron missed earlier this season after spraining his finger.

Written December 08, 2007 - I hate to disappoint but this is not Gilbert Arenas’
new blog. I am not a professional athlete. I cannot speak to the toil of an
eighty-two game season. But I have sprained my finger before. Either LeBron
James is very soft, or there is something more severe going on. In either case
the situation as it is currently is terrible. You can’t miss like 2 weeks with a
sprained finger on your non-shooting hand. Sam Cassel 15 years older and is only
missing two weeks with a strained calf muscle. Man up and be the leader you are
supposed to be LBJ.

Now Pavlovic is going to miss 8 weeks with a sprained foot. Really!?, 8 weeks. You are going to have to be a little tougher than that, especially in the East.

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NBA Midseason recap (Eastern Conference)

Boston - I am not as impressed as I thought I would be. I know they are leading the NBA but it is a long season and the longer the season the more pronounced the lack of depth becomes an issue.

Detroit - Looks like they Pistons aren't quite ready to pass the Eastern conference over to the Celtics just yet. Which is a good thing becuase Flip Suanders is coaching for his job this year.

Orlando - Ladies and gentleman your up and comer in the east. Led by the emergence of Dwight Howard, the revival of Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglo. I am sure Seattle and Sacramento are glad to be rid of all that dead weight.

Cleveland - Speaking of up and comers I'll bet King James and Mike Brown wish it was a year ago. All these pieces can't seem to fit together and what do the Cavs do. Extend Mike Brown, I heard a lot of how this was an endorsement of Mike Brown because they must have cleared it with Lebron James. First off I hope that isn't how decisions are made, by running them through James. If it is I still don't by the endorsement. I am more likely to think that means James wont be there long. If he is leaving anyway who cares who runs that team.

Washington - As Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison have risen to the occasion and then some, since Gilbert Arenas went down with an injury. Now with his looming return the question becomes, whata boutthe fact they were winning a lot more often since Arenas went out.

Toronto - While they definately need to solve the point guard question. They have the entertainment question answered between breakout Jomario Moon's high energy act on the court and Chris Bosh's High comedy act off of it.

Atlanta -They're not there yet, they probably wont get there this year, but they are so young and so talented across the board. The future is as bright in Atlanta as it has been since Dominique left town

Indiana - Between O'neal making his mediocre presence felt in only about a third of the games played, and the fact that Jamal Tinsley can't seem to make it home before 3 in the morning. The only real bright spot has been how well Dunleavy has played in O'neals absence.

New Jersey - All of a sudden supposed headache the Jason Kidd missed a game with earlier this season has become a very real one due to the Nets poor play.

Chicago - First the players get the coach bounced (on christmas eve no less) then they decide a fellow teammate needs tohave his suspension extended. Dear (whoever is coaching the bulls by the time I hit post), please stop letting the inmates run the asylum

Charlotte - With the addition of Nazr Mohammed, looks like Jordan might finally be turning that losing as a manager trend around. Also Jason Richardson seems to be fitting in very well. Though that Emeka Okafor versus Dwight Howard comparison seems to be developing a Grand Canyon between the two of them.

Milwaukee - Don't worry at leat you guys are number one in China. Oh, whats that... Houston. Hey number two ain't bad

Philadelphia - Larry Brown is basically begging in public for a coaching gig. But he felt the need to specify that he was interested in caching the team he currently works for. Not a good sign.

New York & Miami - Who will win the don't finish dead last track meet.
Miami

NBA Mid-Season recap (Western Conferance)

New Orleans -Chris Paul has managed to find the Tyson Chandler, we all expected him to be. As a duo the two have combined to more than double the next pair in ally-oops. Not the most solid stat but it does show Paul's direct involvement in Chandlers emergence .

Phoenix - I love to watch em play and that offense is fun, but I doubt the Suns sit down every year in the offseason and say "I really hope we entertain bloggers everywhere" No they are in it to win, and they really need to accept the fact that their system just wont take it all the way, and it isn't getting any better with age.

Dallas - Avery Johnson said last year they were spent by the time the playoffs cane around, and he wanted to pace himself. So far so good. Maybe mix in a pinch more rest (see:losses)

Denver - Not impressed there in 4th in the division. I am impressed they are there with the string of injuries.

Los Angeles Lakers - Everything was roses until Andrew Bynum went down. Now let's see which Kobe leads them through this stretch. GO GET CHRIS WEBBER. I don't think he is the cure-all that everyone seems to think he is but he is sure better than DJ Mbenga.

San Antonio - Every year they turn it on later and later. Seems like this might be the year it is to late.

Portland - Thanks to the addition of Greg Oden, Even with out Oden, Trailblazers are going to be a force in the west. How nice does this get when next year they add Oden into the mix.

Golden State - Ever since the return of Stephen Jackson , the Warriors have been rolling. Who knew all those Captain Jack jokes would fall so flat. Jackson has even had the good sense to defer the praine to Baron Davis, who is a headcase very emotional player

Utah - In need of spark for the team, the Jazz went out and signed... Kyle Korver?? Really, that is your big solution. Keep on trying. I love Jazz coach, Jerry Sloan, (if you find the opportunity, watch film of him playing. TOUGH) but you have to acknowledge the fact that he is not getting the potential from all the talent he has. The game may be past him.

Houston - I am not a Rocket(s) scientist. But even I can see simple math. Yao is a great player. T-Mac is a great player. T-mac and Yao are an average (I'm being generous) team. Trade T-mac, get what you can get and move on.

Sacramento - With all the injuries the team has suffered, the Kings have to be happy to be where they are. Now that Kevin Martin, Mike Bibby, and Ro Artest are back, thing are looking good. with a strong push, they are playoff bound. I also think they could get a good return on trading Beno Udrih in a PG point league.

LA Clippers - The most interesting thing for LA's step child is the developing drama between, owner Donald Sterling and Coach Mike Dunleavy. Sterling all of sudden decided that after 20+ years of mediocrity now he needs a winner and if Dnleavy can't do it then there will be changes. Really you have been in the bottom of the NBA for my entire life and now that you have two major players in Elton Brand and Shaun Lvingston out for the year and Sam Cassell missing a few weeks with back problems. Now he expects success. Stering, go back to sleep.

Memphis - Pau Gasol is starting to play the pre-season hype predicted. Instead of like he has the last few years. At this point it is to little to late. When you are supposed to be one of the top players in the league, you shouldn't get outplayed by a guy on your own team. Rudy Gay is talented but he shouldn't be leading your team.

Seattle - Kevin Durant will be really exciting to watch. As he fills out a little to help his defense he will be a real force. Notice all these statement are future tense, see you next year Sonics.

Minnesota - Whew, thankfully you unloaded all the Kevin Garnett baggage. Seriously, does Kevin Mchale get another ring if the Celtics win.

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Heat reach lucky number 13 AGAINST THE KNICKS

I covered the Heat spiraling out of control in this post. I wont go re-rant on all that I have covered there. However I must say this is just ridiculous. 13 in a row? Against the Knicks? I would have been less surprised if the Heat team that one the championship had lost to these Knicks. At least then we could have looked to the playing down to your competition, or underestimating your opponent angle. I just don't see what the justification is.
Part of their performance comes down to leadership. I appreciate the fact the Dwaaaaaaaayne Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaade (you don't get announcer voice 'til you start winning again)Dwayne Wade is not 100% recovered from his shoulder injury. But you know what I don't want to hear out of my leaders mouth "Just our luck, man," Wade said. "The ball bounced. That's been our season, been our luck." Wade said this referring to a ball that got away from him and Udonis Haslem to be rebounded by David Lee.
I am sorry, what!? Don't give me luck. Don't tell me about how the ball bounced. I wanna hear that from the guy in the third row. Fans get to pull the luck card. But I am thinking guys like Chris Quinn and Dorell Wright need a little stronger message from the Captain than that.

Huge Chris Kaman Block

Huge Chris Kaman Block
One of the better blocks I have seen and certainly the best I have seen by Chris Kaman...Here

SC and UCLA show off Love'n Mayo

The football wins are nice, they are. It’s the football losses that really matter though. I mean honestly I expect the Trojans to beat UCLA in Football. So when it happens, that’s not a special day, it’s a Saturday. Now when Pete Carroll and the boys manage to lose the UCLA that is devastating, because it is so unexpected.
I imagine that is how the UCLA faithful are feeling right about now. I mean they had to expect that they were going to win. If you’d have a told the Freshman super hero OJ Mayo would be scoreless in the first period, I am sure they would have guaranteed it.Especially with the Trojans having to play at Pauley Pavillion. None of them would have predicted the 72-63 final score in the Trojans victory. The game actually was closer than the 9 point margin (I hate that expression but if you saw the game, you know what I mean).
As much as I would like to say that Mayo dominated the match up with Kevin Love. I’ve been anticipating this game since conference play started. It delivered a great game, for completely different reasons. Love and Mayo combined for one good game but Love was mostly first half and Mayo was all second half.
The game was taken over by rookie Davon Jefferson. After scoring a career high 25 points, he told reporters "My mom told me she had a dream -- we won and I played well," adding. "I didn't know the game was over 'til the game was over. That's how crazy this was."
UCLA head coach Ben Howland paid a compliment to his cross town rivals saying. "They outplayed us," Howland said. "They're a team that will be in the NCAA tournament." That would be a rare occurrence for the Trojans

The Good News About the Miami Heat 12 Game Slide

As the Miami Heats rapid decline continues I sat down to review the situation and figure out a solution. Here is a post a put up previously

Written Dec 19, 2007
Gather round kids, I want to tell
you a story of a slick looking leader. Who took his young star point guard, a talented starting Shooter, as well as a PF, and SF, a few strong bench players he could occasionally rotate into that starting rotation in order to match up well , and one aging center who is still hanging on to prove he still has it. They had won before, they had dominated before, but now it was nearing the end. What would become of their final
run together, you ask? They had a strong season and made a small push into the
playoffs. Nice story right. Well look there is a sequel.
I want to tell you a story of a silver haired leader. Who took his young star point guard, a few talented starters, a few strong bench players he could occasionally rotate into that starting rotation in order to match up well, and one aging center who is still hanging on to prove he still has it. They had won before, in fact they had been champions before but now it was nearing the end. What would become of their final run together, you ask?
Lets wait to see. Riley seems to have infinite patience with aging centers. I do not see him pushing Shaq out, but the time is rapidly nearing when that Lakers trade is looking less and less foolish. Yes the Heat got their Championship and Kobe has
yet to see a ring since Shaq left but the whole argument at the time was that
Shaq wanted this long deal so he could hang on forever. Well how long is all
that weight going to hold Miami down, at least the Lakers are on the up swing,
Shaq and his contract still has the Heat moving the wrong direction and I think they are a year from hitting the bottom and that they will spend 2 more years there
before they turn it around.

In re-assessing this situation it has gotten both worse and better. Since the situation has continued to spiral towards terrible. Instead of at least leveling off at really bad. It is obviously worse.
This is actually the best thing that the Miami fans could hope for. If this were to become a tolerably bad situation, the Heat would continue to look at minor tweaks and band-aids in order to improve. At this point I think even Pat Riley would have to acknowledge this situation can only be solved with some High Explosive.
Look on the bright side, Heat fan your next game is against the knicks

How NBA players view each other

Just a quick link to a interesting story that shows how NBA players view each other...here

Arizona Cardinals Offseason

Arizona Cardinals - will find themselves in unfamiliar territory come draft day this year. Outside the top 10, for the first time in the last 5 years. I am sure they are happy to lose that early pick with the improvements the team made under first year coach Ken Wisenhunt. Had they not suffered as many injuries and nicks at WR they might have done even better.
The Draft needs analysis for the Cardinals is a good news/bad news situation. The unfortunate bad news is that they have quite a few areas of need. The good news is pretty good though, they don’t have a lot of need anywhere, and they don’t have needs at the skill positions that are so hard to predict who will be a success in the NFL. QB is obviously covered between Matt Lienart and Kurt Warner. WR is set with Boldin and Fitzgerald, they also have a strong 3rd in Bryant Johnson but he did so well this year filling in for Boldin and Fitzgerald that he will probably be getting a starting job somewhere else this year.
Even if the Cardinals were willing to slap the franchise tag on him (which they probably wouldn’t do, as he is not on that level yet) they can’t since it seems they may end up using it on Karlos Dansby who along with Calvin Pace made for a solid line backing core. While both are free agents and are currently negotiating, things are moving forward much faster with pace.
In the defensive backfield they are a little thin with the starting spots well covered but no back ups. Malcolm Jenkins and Mike Jenkins (no relation) are the top corners that will be available at this point, which is a more likely draft than safety due to the teams’ interest in moving Antrell Rolle inside to safety. I personally think Mike Jenkins is the better of the two however he played his college ball at a smaller school (USF), which leads to questions about the competition he faced. The Cardinals are a team on the bubble of making the playoffs, not a place to start taking risky picks in the hopes that you might make a big splash. Just go with the safe bet.


Outside Shots

Isaiah Thomas
Maybe you did bump the official, maybe you didn’t. "Isaiah, you know the league has no love for you so why give them the opportunity". I am shocked they did not hammer him. I have to give credit to Commissioner David Stern (and you are not going to hear me give Stern credit often) for not just unloading on him, which you know he must have been tempted to do.

Slick Rick
Michigan Stars Ryan Mallet (transfer), Mario Manningham and Adrian Arrignton (NFL) - They are all gone, but really I mean these are the guys that led your season that you had last year so don't be to upset Michigan Fan. My only real issue with this is the fact that Rodriquez was pushing them out the door before they had even decided anything. I also don't like the way Rodriguez is fighting the 4 mil penalty. If Rodriguez doesn’t start making the decision to handle things with a little class, he might find he isn’t as welcome on some of those living room couches where he has to convince some protective momma to trust her son to him. That concern aside, he is a good coach, if he can upgrade WVU the way he did think what he can do with Michigan’s recruiting base