Take it Personal

  oh!  woe to the Land of Cleve (that'd be Cleveland, Ohio).  another possible chance at greatness and another earlier-than-expected end to the sports season.  this time its the NBA's best (regular season) Cavaliers.  they met a team that they just could not defend.  a team that seemed to be built to be better than them - to expose all of their weaknesses (i guess that's how one team wins in a playoff series and another loses).  not that this Cleveland Cavalier team was a powerhouse.  they were what they were: the league's MVP (James) and a bunch of role players.  the role players could not step up to the talented 5 of Orlando (plus their bench).  

where Orlando was superior in every category to Cleveland (except for the "LeBron James" category), the Los Angeles Lakers are nearly superior in every category to Orlando except, perhaps, point guard (and possibly small forward with Turkoglu over Ariza).  the Magic do have Alston but he's 32 years old.  the Lakers have their vet in Derek Fisher with able (to a point) (pun not intended) back-ups Jordan Farmar and Shannon Brown.  the Lakers also have a huge advantage in some guy named "Kobe Bryant".  also Phil Jackson has 9 Championship rings as a head coach.  Stan Van Gundy is coaching in his first Finals. 

  

i was pulling for the Cavaliers and the city of Cleveland ... and LeBron James and his rag-tag bunch of over-achievers that play defense.  the Magic blew them out.  i'm a bit sad as i now have no rooting interest in the Finals but i'm used to that (CORRECTION: i am rooting for Orlando a little bit but i don't want to get my hopes up ... i don't think they have a chance against LA.  why?  Read On!, dear reader).  last year we had the Lakers and Celtics.  the Celtics crushed them ... what lay ahead for Kobe's Quest for Four?

probably number four (Championship rings).

and number 10 for Coach Phil.  and a lot of pats on the back for Orlando "you guys did good just getting here!".  i say this as an honest belief in the power of the Lakers (they did crush the Nuggets in Denver in Game 6 to clinch a trip to the Finals).  do i trust them?  no.  but i have come to not trust the Magic either (round 2 versus the Celtics) and they've never been this far.

i would like to have jinx'ed the Lakers like i did last year when i picked them over Boston.  but it just doesn't look good for Orlando.  the Magic can hope that LA loses focus some time after Game 1.  but i don't think that'll happen again this year.  they have last year's poor Finals performance and the success-hungry Kobe Bryant.  i don't feel anybody on Orlando is as hungry as those Boston guys last year (Garnett, Pierce, Allen, etc.).

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NOTE: in re-reading this post i typed "junx'ed" the Lakers instead of "jinx'ed" (as in 'i would like to have junx'ed the Lakers').  whoops.  i hope its a good Finals.  congrats to that Magic squad.

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NOTE #2: i forgot to post even ONE link.  here you go.

something is stinky

  as lots of folks are sayin':  the NBA officiating has been rather "odd" (or "stinky", "shitty", "crappy", "inconsistent", "bad", "awful", "confusing", "perplexing", "senseless", "putrid", "phony", "chaotic", "dumb").  take your pick.  the officials have made some good calls but nothing is consistent.  whether it be Technical Fouls, Superstar Calls, Flagrant Fouls (hey, anybody see Rajon Rondo punch Brad Miller in the face back in Round 1?  apparently you can do that and its not flagrant.  just don't bump Kobe Bryant too hard or you may face suspension ... if you're a non-star player that is).  anyways, the ref whining gets old - not only on the part of observers (or dumb blogger fans like me) but from the players themselves.  Dwight Howard has reached new heights in whininess.

the in-game personal foul calls are always weird especially in the playoffs when superstar players have the ball most often - especially in crunch-time (that's my second use of the word "crunch-time", check out the last word of the post below).  what i can't stand is the weird NBA Rules regarding suspensions (elbows thrown and landed above the waist, i believe) and the collection of Technical Fouls.  if a player gets 7 in the playoffs they get suspended for a game.  dumb.  and i'm totally confused in regard to "Flagrant 1" and "Flagrant 2" and how the league changes the classification after the game (upon further video review).  

its like reading tax law.

in defense of the refs, it is hard to make a split second call with so much on the line / so much scrutiny both in the arena and out.  they have no fans, no support.  my last question is:  why are they all so old?  it seems like every NBA ref is like 65 years old.

NBA Playoffs : X-Factor

  Quest for the Cup!  or Trophy as it were.  with the 4 remaining teams (soon to be three thanks to Orlando's 3-1 Series lead and Series domination of the woeful Cleveland Cavaliers) i wanted to pick an "X-Factor" for each team.  call it the unsung hero, or a possible key player to winning, or just an under-rated guy.  whatever one wants to call it, let's call it ... um, i don't know ... X-Factor?

LA Lakers:  this one is kinda hard as i haven't seen too much in the X-Factor department.  you have Kobe and to a lesser extent Gasol as star players.  then a bunch of guys under-performing.  one could say Lamar Odom epitomizes the definition of "X-Factor".  he shows up to play and the Lakers become a formidable juggernaut.  but too often he disappears (even though he's 6' 10").  so my choice is Trevor Ariza.  his defense, 3-point shooting, and aggressive drives to the basket encapsulate an X-Factor.  

Denver Nuggets: Birdman?  nah.  JR Smith?  nah.  its Nene.  he can pass for a big man, rebound, and hold his own defensively in the middle of the paint.  with Nene, Birdman and K-Mart can do what they do.  without him, Denver has a huge hole in the middle.  plus he lead the Nuggets in assists in their two (so far) victories versus LA in the Western Conference Finals.

Cleveland Cavaliers: i'm gonna go Anderson Varejao but its pretty lame pickings.  Cleveland has devolved into "LeBron ... and everybody else".  nobody has really stepped up to play alongside LeBron but i'm gonna go Anderson and his energy on the glass and defensive end.

Orlando Magic: Michael Pietrus.  the Frenchman has turned into a mighty good defensive cover as well as a big time 3-point shooter.  he has that swagger that the Magic have lacked a little bit (well, at least in the early rounds of the playoffs).  he comes off the bench but is always on the floor during crunch-time.

immediate reaction - Game 2 West Finals

  yes those are Chicken McNuggets (or to be true to my anti-big corporation beliefs, just chicken "nuggets").  the Denver Nuggets just beat the LA Lakers to even the Western Conference Finals at 1-1.  now Cleveland just has to win against Orlando in Game 2 of their series so everybody's all even steven.  the Lakers got out to a big 1st half lead (like the Cavs did last nite) but Denver crawled back (like the Magic) and the 2nd half was tightly contested.  i feel pretty confident in saying that any combination of the 4 NBA teams left could make the Finals.  but i don't think the NBA wants to give us Denver vs. Orlando.  

that said, Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups are doing everything they can to make sure Denver represents the West in the Finals.  they played great.  Gasol and Odom for LA seemed to be a bit "small" (or "invisible").  but that's not necessarily the case as i check the box score.  Odom had 10 points and 9 boards (decent) and Gasol had 17 and 17.  those 17 rebounds really stand out to me.  Andrew Bynum played 18 minutes and scored 9 points.  he had 2 rebounds.  Trevor Ariza came alive for 20 points and 4 steals but nobody else for LA did too much.  Fisher missed a bunch of 3's (including the game's final shot).  and i saw Shannon Brown driving and shooting (and missing) a little too much.

for Denver it was Linas Kleiza off the bench with 4 3-pointers and 8 boards.  Kenyon Martin hit 7 of 10 shots for 16 points and Nene only scored 6.  but he lead the team with 6 assists.

we got a series.  

here's hoping Cleveland plays more inspired defense in their Game 2.

immediate reaction - Game 1 Eastern Finals

  wow, the Orlando Magic finally look Finals-worthy (i say this having missed their wonderful Game 7 performance over a depleted and tired Boston crew).  the Magic (behind Dwight Howard) weathered the early storm of the Cleveland Cavaliers who opened these Eastern Conference finals at home.  the Cavs simply had no answer for Howard.  or Rashard Lewis late.  or Hedo Turkoglu late.  i liked Rafer Alston's attacking as well.  the Cavs started very strong and then got stuck watching LeBron play 1 on 5.  and it took its toll on James (who finished with 49 points).  he had no gas in the tank for a big finish and Rashard Lewis hit a big 3 after nailing several key late jumpers.  Lewis was the hot hand (he finished 9 of 13, 3 of 4 from 3).  i was starting to really cement my opinion of him as an iffy 3-point shooter but ... um ... i guess i'll try to stay quiet for a bit.  let's see if this becomes a trend in this series.

my thinking is that, basically, the Cavs have no answer for Howard.  Ilgauskas is too slow and is primarily a jump shooter.  Anderson Varejao doesn't have the size - he's more of a spastic rebounder / energy guy than a post defender.  and Ben Wallace is apparently a husk of a basketball player these days (i had no idea he was approaching worthlessness) (i mean, i knew he had fallen off since his Piston Days but ... wow).  Joe Smith lacks the size and is basically a jump shooter.  the Magic have no answer for LeBron other than, like Kobe, they just hope he tires himself out trying to do everything.  unfortunately for the Cavs tonite, that's what happened.  one could chalk this game up to rust for Cleveland.  they need that constant spastic energy and the energy needed to play lock-down D.  they got tired tonite.

some game numbers?  the Magic shot 55% from the field with 45% from 3 and 86% from the FT line.  they had 13 turnovers and one blocked shot.  the blocked shot was by the Courtney Lee.

the Cavs only had 5 turnovers.  they also blocked 7 shots.  every starter was in double figures.  problem is the bench only scored 5 points and it was all by Joe Smith.  the Cleveland bench only shot the ball 7 times and got a total of 6 rebounds.  

good game.  great game for Orlando.  Cleveland was missing that team energy (in the 2nd half) that has made them look so good this year.

 

last bit:  have you seen Kevin Garnett's photo on his nba.com player file?  yikes.  check it out.

he looks like an old turtle.

Rappin' Fool

  the Game 7's came and went and the two teams i had hoped to move on did (i won't say the two teams i picked to move on as i didn't pick them here but, honestly, i did think the Lakers would wipe up the Rockets and that the Celtics would finally tire ... i didn't think the Magic would put it all together and crush them at home but i'll take it).

i watched a tiny bit of the 2nd half of the Lakers-Rockets but that thing was already over.  i missed the Celtics-Magic contest.  what a difference a game makes between seeing Orlando as has-been under-achievers to seeing them (at least in the press) as potential Cavalier Destroyers.  they say if anybody can stop LeBron its Dwight Howard in the paint.  i don't know.  we'll see what happens in Game 1.

the Game 1 that did happen tonite was LA over Denver.  i thought the Lakers would come out strong for the opening game (unlike what they did versus Houston).  and one had to know that Denver is just too hot right now to have a horrible game.  if anything, this narrow Lakers win (105 to 103) lays the groundwork for a possible Nuggets Game 2 win (Lakers fall asleep again?).  i didn't see this game.  watched this instead.

Game 7's are comin': Thunder! Thunder!

  that's quite a photo, no?  and i think its apt what with 2 Game 7's comin' up on Sunday (NBA playoffs).  for an excellent take on Phil Jackson and the Lakers, check out ESPN's John Hollinger.  i'm gonna leave this post as it is (letting the weather take over).  its late on a Friday night in New Orleans and, despite work looming in the morning, i've been out enjoying myself.  more later.  got to drink some water.

NOTE: having "Thunder" in the title to this post, it really has nothing to do with Oklahoma City.  but you all knew that.  we are talking about playoff basketball.  and despite my Oklahoma snarky-ness... Rest in Peace Wayman Tisdale.

NBA Playoffs continue / Wolfman is Hungry

  who is the Wolfman?  don't know, that's not really important (maybe its the Wolfman in all of us).  anyways, i'm sure if there is a Wolfman (perhaps rumbling thru your neighborhood by light of the Full Moon) then he'd be hungry.  and with that obvious (and obviously odd) statement ... the NBA playoffs continue.  i am still trying to watch a good share of it as i have cable for the first time in years.  but the long road is starting to wear on me.  that Orlando-Boston Game 5 last nite was brutal.  right now Denver is playing Dallas but i gave up on that series after Carmelo's Game 3 3-pointer (and blown call by the officials).  

checking in with random things of an NBA-nature:

-the Magic's Courtney Lee continues to impress me.  especially since he's a rookie who just suffered a fractured sinus (and is wearing a face mask for the remainder of the playoffs).

-the Lakers continue their "don't trust us" march to the Finals.

-the Nuggets are starting to get bogged down in senseless fighting a la Mark Cuban.  

-Houston's Aaron Brooks is starting to emerge ... as a scorer.  but i wish he was a better ball distributor especially for a short point guard.

-Ron Artest should not be shooting 3's (he did hit at a 40% clip during the season but is at 29% for these playoffs, 20 for 70).

that is all.  NBA playoff burn-out.

and maybe Ron Ron should shoot some 3-pointers but also work on his shot selection.  and what's the deal with Rashard Lewis?  for the NBA leader in 3-pointers, he's not really a fearsome long distance gunner (Lewis lead the league with 220 made 3-pointers to Ray Allen in 2nd place with 199).  maybe its his 3-pt. shooting percentage of 39.7% good for 46th in the league this year.  Ray Allen shot 40.9% for 26th place.  the top 3 guys (percentage-wise) were Golden State's Anthony Morrow (46.7%), Orlando's Jameer Nelson (only played half a season) and Indiana's Troy Murphy.  whatever.  all i'm saying is that Lewis canned the most 3's this year in the entire league but Boston isn't really worried about him outside the arc.  he doesn't strike fear in the hearts of men from 3-ball land like ... the NBA 3-pointer leader should.  another knock on Orlando.  here's hoping they force a Game 7.

thanks for reading and thanks for not confusing my blog with this.

Ketchup-Mustard Series On TV right now

by "Ketchup-Mustard Series" i mean the red Rockets and the bright yellow Lakers.  playing on TV now.  Game 5.  i think Houston is up by 4 in the 1st quarter.  i'm gonna pass on this west coast game.  its too late for me.  plus i just stumbled thru another train-wreck of a game in Boston as Orlando fell apart again.  being a non-Celtics fan, its hard to watch the Boston crowd yip and yell.  and the officials favor the green guys.  which they did tonite (SEE: Rajon Rondo air-ball shot clock violation which was ruled that, then changed after the Celtics lobbied for it).  not to take away from Boston, its just that Orlando really isn't that good.  they can't close out games and against the defending champs that will be a loss nearly every time.  i'm really disappointed in Orlando (the team, not the city.  i haven't been to the city but, i suppose, i could become easily despondent there too ... ) (great National Geographic article here).

as i said, its late.  i'm gonna sip on a drink on my front stoop, enjoy the night, puff on a little cigar, and enjoy the lack of hype and noise in my immediate surroundings.  good night.

The Sound(s) of Silence

   these pictures i'm stealing off the internet just keep getting bigger.  and maybe i should learn how to shrink them or format them.  yeah, i probably should.  but then that would take precious time away from writing.  and then this blog that nobody visits would suffer.  i would lose advertising revenue and, in this economy, would mean layoffs.  i don't want to take food off the tables of hard-working Americans that i (don't) employ.  

with a flag waving patriotically in the background, i march on and write about ... sports.  the NBA playoffs again.

-the Lakers: ugh.  they get blown out by the Yao-less Rockets in Game 4.  if last year's Finals (against Boston) didn't make me seriously doubt this team's toughness then this game certainly has.  its only the second time a Phil Jackson team has been absolutely crushed in a playoff game (the other time was the deciding game in last year's Finals).  something is wrong in LA.  this team does not look Championship worthy.  at all.  plus Kobe absolutely sucked in a crucial playoff game.  yikes.

-the Rockets: congrats on not quitting.  and maybe making it to the next round?  that's getting ahead of ourselves ... for now.

-the Mavericks: done.  see Lakers above but with far less talent.

-the Nuggets: see injury-free Rockets.  not quite as tough and as proven but they are comin' around (possibly).  

-the Magic: i hate this team right now because i want to like them but they continue to overwhelmingly under-perform.  they should be throttling Boston but they look more like Chicago.  Chicago had an excuse (rookie head-coach, rookie point guard, new players in Salmons and Miller, etc.).  what's Orlando's excuse?

-the Celtics: credit goes to the champs.  they aren't going out of these playoffs until someone beats them.

-the Cavs: the Champs in waiting?  they haven't been challenged yet which may be good in that they are getting much needed rest but ... they still haven't been challenged yet.  they do have the best player in the world on their team, so that's in their favor.

-the Hawks: forget about it.

More Smoke

  just watched the Denver Nuggets take Game 3 from Dallas to go up on them, 3-0 (sweep comin'?) and i gotta say (rather ask) can Denver make it to the Finals?  i just dropped a Lakers sweep (or victory in 5 games) prediction but ... this team is scary.  they are healthy, have put together a torrid playoff run so far, and all in all are coming together and (cliche warning) firing on all cylinders.  i really have no idea where this thought that Denver may be for real comes from.  really, i don't have a clue.

Game 3 today was ugly.  Dallas looks to be running on fumes (much like New Orleans was) and Denver really wasn't all that much better.  an off night.  which, in the playoffs, an opposing team down 0-2 HAS to capitalize on (on their home-court no less).  but Dallas failed.  the game gave off the impression (as it unfolded) that whomever wanted it could take it (cue Mr.Anthony and a 3-point shot with 1 second left).  Dallas tried to foul and did - but no call from the refs.  this despite the fact that 61 (let me type this for emphasis SIXTY ONE) fouls were called.

Denver shot 40 FTs and Dallas shot 49.  89 free throws.  that's excitement.  i'm not putting all the blame on the officials (not all of the blame but a good chunk) because both teams were out of sync and chippy.  it was an ugly game punctuated by Dirk Nowitzki scoring 33 points and pulling down 16 boards but he couldn't find the basket AT ALL during the game's final moments.  i think he threw up about 4 bricks barely catching iron when the Mavs needed buckets.  

could the Finals be LeBron vs. Carmelo?  i think not but it does make me a little more excited to watch LA take on Denver for a trip to the Finals (to play Cleveland).  

do i want to change my prediction of LA in 4 or 5 games?  nah.  i think Denver is better than everybody (including myself) has given them credit for but they'd have to start a series in Los Angeles and excluding one "JR Smith goes nuts from 3" game, or a "Chauncey has one more 40 point night in him" game, or even a "Carmelo Triple Double Night" - i think its Phil Jackson's to take over George Karl.  but, again, i think Phil Jackson has been a bit over-rated lately.

we'll see.

    

Blowing Smoke

 

my quick-off-the-cuff / late-night-with-whiskey-in-the-glass / hot-and-sweaty in the New Orleans-night / basketball-on-TV and Orlando is Destroying Boston in Game 3 - guess (predictions sure to be wrong) ::

Orlando beats Boston in six.

Cleveland beats Atlanta in three (i mean four).

LA beats Houston in six.

Denver beats Dallas in five.

Cleveland beats Orlando in five.

LA beats Denver in four (maybe five).

Cleveland beats LA in seven.

and the Minnesota North Stars will win the Stanley Cup.

under the watchful eye of the Great Computer

      fast fact.  did you know that the 28th United States Secretary of the Interior was named "Albert Bacon Fall"?  such a delicious name.  he was the secretary under Warren Harding in the 20s.

the 39th Secretary of the Interior (under Nixon and Ford) was named "Rogers Clark Ballard Morton".  that's like 4 last names, man.  pick a name, Secretary Dude.

other fast facts?  the Cavaliers have outscored the Atlanta Hawks 204 to 157 thru two games.  in Game 2, Atlanta's Joe Johnson played 30 minutes to LeBron's 31.  Johnson also attempted one more field goal than LeBron (15 to 14).  Johnson ended the game with 10 points, 3 turnovers, and an injury.  LeBron scored 27; had 5 assists, 4 steals, and a block.  

in Houston's Game 1 victory over the Lakers, Yao Ming scored 28 points on 17 shot attempts with 10 rebounds.  he was also a perfect 10 of 10 from the FT line.  in their Game 2 loss, Yao only shot the ball four times.  he did get another 10 rebounds.

in the Rockets opening round match-up with Portland, Yao helped Houtson to a Game 1 win by scoring 24 points on perfect 9 for 9 shooting with 9 rebounds.  in their Game 2 loss to Portland, Yao only scored 11 points on six shot attempts.  he had 8 rebounds and no blocks.

thru 7 playoff games, the Denver Nuggets are averaging almost 110 points per game (109.7).

thru 7 playoff games, Jason Kidd is averaging under 10 points per game (9.86).

Jason Kidd's middle name is "Frederick".

the Orlando Magic's Rashard Lewis has the middle name of "Quovon".

Glen "Big Baby" Davis of the Boston Celtics has the first name of "Ronald".

Snipe Hunt

 this seems weird to do since its the NFL off-season and the NBA playoffs are at their apex BUT i wanted to write a bit more on Brian Sipe.  we can file this under "LeBron James MVP/NBA Title Run" and feel better about it all.  according to wikipedia, Brian Sipe won the MVP in 1980 by throwing for 4,132 yards and 30 TDs.  he led the Browns into the playoffs but threw a costly INT against Oakland to lose.  the Browns then went 5-11 in 1981 and the NFL had a strike-shortened season in 1982 where Paul McDonald gained the starting QB job.

Sipe eventually went to the USFL and played for the New Jersey Generals and the Jacksonville Bulls.  he is currently the QB coach at San Diego State.

last interesting bit.  Sipe threw 26 INTs in 1979.  then 25 in 1981 (versus only 17 TDs).  his last year with the Browns was 1983 and he threw 23 INTs. 

Bite the Bullet

the NBA playoffs continue ... with Orlando beginning to absolutely shellac the very tired Boston Celtics (62-37 in the 2nd half as of this writing).  the Magic can do want they want right now.  open 3's, drives to the hoop, breakaway lay-ups, and Dwight Howard always patrolling the paint.  there's even been a JJ Redick siting as the former Duke Blue Devil may be emerging as yet another 3-point scorer for the Magic.

other blips and blops around these playoffs?

- the New Denver Nuggets have not gone away.  after blowing apart (and that's a kind way of putting it) the New Orleans Hornets, things continue for the 2-seed Nuggets.  maybe this team is as good as they think they are right now.

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... and the Nuggets do it again in Game 2 against an under-manned Mavericks squad.  the Lakes lose Game 1 to Houston (although consensus is that they will win the series in 7).  Orlando was well on their way to a stomping in Game 1 but Boston came back to make it interesting.  

final note: nobody can stop LeBron and his Cleveland crew.  certainly not the Hawks.

LeBron won the NBA MVP trophy and he's the first guy from a Cleveland squad to do so since Brian Sipe won in 1980 for the NFL's Browns.

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a Cleveland team hasn't won a Championship since the Browns won the NFL title in 1964.  the first Super Bowl wasn't played until January 1967.

Last Day in April

well, technically its May as it is 7 minutes past midnight.  i'm up way too late and i have some Red Stripe in me to boot.  Law and Order plays on the TV as TNT's NBA telecast has finally run its course for the night.  the Celtics and Bulls are off to a Game 7 (no surprise), the Houston Rockets advance (finally) and the Orlando Magic advance by pounding the Sixers for the first time in the series.  they did this without Dwight Howard.

all this is news you can find anywhere else and will be all out-dated by the time anybody reads this but, eh, this is the internet and its past midnight and i have some Red Stripe in me.  what the hell.

random observations from NBA-playoff-land:

-LaMarcus Aldridge of the Portland Trailblazers is fun to watch.  a 6'11" shooter who can move (much more quickly than, say, Dirk Nowitzki who is also tall and can shoot but can't "glide").

-the Cavs look good.  LeBron looks Super Human.

-i'm still interested to see how the Nuggets and Lakers do when faced with some adversity.  especially the Nuggets.  with LA you know Kobe will try to do too much.  

-New Orleans Hornets as good playoff team?  RIP.

-i may be in the minority but i'm liking the Heat-Hawks series.  its like some sort of alternate universe playoff series.  whoever wins will lose in the next round to Cleveland but its fun to watch Wade try and beat all of the Hawks basically by himself.  Wade is fun to watch.  he's like Ben Gordon (a hot shooter) but he's actually really good (whereas Gordon is ...).

-i hate the Celtics.  only in the NBA can a Celtic (Rondo) punch another player in the face (Brad Miller) to prevent a game-winning basket and its not a flagrant foul or a technical.  this game was played in Boston and i think that's the main reason for the, um, non-call.  

-i think the Spurs will be back next year.  Tony Parker is only 26.  Manu Ginobli will have a full summer of rest (Timmy too).  and the San Antonio brain trust will come up with something.