The Drubbing

Oh how far the mighty have fallen. Are the Pistons not the saddest team in the NBA right now? I know they’re not the worst at 11-22. All the teams with worse records like New Jersey, Minnesota and Philadelphia have been wrecked by injuries. And even the Pistons have had their own fair share of health problems, with Rip Hamilton only playing in six games so far this season.

But consider this. In 2004 the Pistons were NBA Champions. And in 2005 they were runners up to San Antonio. And they still won division titles in 2005-2008. That wasn’t that long ago. That was then, this is now (I feel like I’m channelling Denny Green).
Continue reading “What happened to the Detroit Pistons?” →

Today is a great day for NBA fans around the world. On a slow news day where one of the biggest developments is that Michael Redd is injured, again, there is one fantastic piece of news that has come out today. Our ears will be spared from further damage. Bill Walton will no longer be commentating on NBA broadcasts.

On behalf of NBA fans everywhere, I would like to thank Bill Walton for sparing our hearing for the foreseeable future. We wish him well on his continued recovery from the recent back problems he’s been suffering from and sincerely hope he can remain healthy enough to dedicate his time to the life of “service” he has intended to.

Thank you Bill, and best of luck to you.

Officiating in the NBA has gone through an intentional, systematic, year-by-year shift. The advantage tipping further and further in favor of the defensive side of the ball. The amount of offensive foul calls, all over the court, with or without the assistance of a defensive “flop” is officially outrageous. But his is nothing new.

Then there is the “clearing” foul, when an offensive player going up for a layup is whistled for a foul when they push away the arm of a defensive player that is trying to block their shot. However if an offensive player is dribbling the ball outside of the arc, they’re allowed to “block” an attacking defender’s advancing arms with their arm. This inconsistency came to light over and over again in the Orlando vs. Celtics series.
Continue reading “The NBA hates scoring, that’s why they’re ruining the game with offensive fouls” →

Rogue my ass

Sports lockouts are typically never a good thing, however in the case of the NBA, i think this may be a blessing.  Far too often, i have watched some horribly officiated games in the NBA over the past 5 years.  Add in the “rogue” official impacting games and i am ecstatic by this possible lockout with the Officials.  David Stern has far too long sided with the officials, never holding them accountable for their god awful, completely horrible calls.  We have been watching Joey Crawford and Dick Bevetta ref way past their prime (if they ever had one) and added in a female official that might as well make calls blind folded.

I want a officiating training camp, sponsored by the NBA.  I want young ref’s in their athletic prime, who can run up and down the court in a 3 person formation and be in position to make calls.  I am sick and tired of ref’s anticipating a foul or solely calling something based on the superstar that last complained.  You can’t honestly tell me Dick Bevetta can run down the court with Ty Lawson on a fast break and be in position to see the contact.  Maybe this lockout will allow a young, new breed of ref’s to get into the NBA and help make a great product and sport, even better.

…but I don’t see why Ricky Rubio would. Last week it was reported (we know how these things go after the Brett Favre saga) that Ricky Rubio has agreed to a six-year deal with FC Barcelona B
àsquet. The deal won’t allow him to be eligible for play in the NBA until the 2011-2012 season. The Minnesota Timberwolves will retain his rights but clearly he doesn’t want to play for them.

Continue reading “I would love to play for FC Barcelona” →

Ricky Rubio wasn’t ready for the NBA, but we knew that. According to an ESPN.com article, the Minnesota Timberwolves seem to have thought they had a deal in place with Rubio and his current team, DKV Joventut, to bring Ricky Rubio to the NBA this season, that’s the surprising part. The not-so-shocking part is that Minnesota Timberwolves president David Kahn says that Rubio and his family backed out of the deal, making way for Rubio to be traded to FC Barcelona, as was previously announced. It also appears that Rubio has admitted that he was not ready to play in the NBA.
Continue reading “Ricky wasn’t ready” →

The competition has been heating up for quite a while now. NBA teams have been clearing cap room in the anticipation of his emergence on the free-agent market (as well as the other stars that will be available that summer). Many fans, including myself, would like to see LeBron James stay with his home-town team and win a few championships for Cleveland. But the team’s management hasn’t made a great case.

LeBron had to give an ultimatum to management before they went out, spent the cash and surrounded James with some players that could help him win. And while he may have LeBron in his corner, if Mike Brown has proved one thing, it’s that he’s not capable of leading the Cavs to big wins. Nothing says you’re a coach with confidence like throwing in the towel and asking LeBron to go one-on-one for an entire quarter.

While there are many teams that will vie for James’ services there is one clear leader and it’s not for the players, coaching staff or front office. LeBron will go to the New York Knicks if for no other reason than all of the off-the-court opportunities. James’ aspirations go way beyond basketball and as was pointed out on EPSN a while back, there is no better place for him to set himself up for life after basketball than New York. It doesn’t hurt that the Knicks have a coach that is a proven winner, a GM with an excellent track record, and a core group of young players that put up points and play hard. And it doesn’t hurt that the ownership has always been willing to spend the money.

The 23 jersey was freed up after the Knicks moved Q-Rich. But for now it’s been claimed by rookie Toney Douglas. So for their next personnel move, the Knicks either need to cut or trade Toney Douglas. Because soon enough the 23 will be worn by the new King of New York.

Update: ESPN has penned an article predicting where LeBron James will be playing his 2010-2011 home games. They polled 52 of their writers to see what they thought. As expected, Cleveland was the top vote-getter. Also as expected, New York was #2. Interestingly enough, although the Los Angeles Clippers were mentioned by the author of the article, they received a grand total of zero votes. Very interesting.

Apparently I’m a couple of weeks late  to this, but it is way too bizarre to not share. Stephon Marbury has his new 24/7 live online tv show. In late July Starbury started a streaming broadcast of his daily life on Justin.tv for the world to see. It includes everything from him sleeping, to him helping his son get ready in the morning. Apparently he broadcasts from his home in Los Angeles so the six Knicks fans that still like him will have to put up with the three-hour time change. With no further ado, here is the madness.

Superstar or bust, that’s where most people land on the topic of Ricky Rubio. It’s clear that some of us here think that Rubio will be nothing short of an NBA superstar, eventually. I’m not so sure of his imminent rise to superstardom, but I’m not ready to write him off yet. So I’ll put myself in the cautiously optimistic category. I hope he becomes a capable starting NBA point guard, but I wouldn’t bet a paycheck on it.
Continue reading “Cautiously optimistic about Ricky Rubio” →

Much of my time these past few weeks has consisted of listening to ESPN radio commentators discussing Xavier’s Jordon Crawford dunking on Lebron. Nike apparently confiscated and censored said video. Upon hearing this, I assumed that this must be one of the most embarrassing incidents ever experienced by a professional athlete.

Video of this incident finally surfaced yesterday showing Lebron a step slow at moving out of his zone position to defend against Crawford’s drive to the basket. James was not defending Crawford 1 on 1. Crawford did not go directly over or even at James. James did not go down. See for yourself.
Continue reading “Much ado about a nothing dunk” →