NBA Blog

I hope everyone is getting excited about what should be the best Final Four of the past 15 years.  Tomorrow we have the joy of watching to legit 7′0″ centers go head-to-head.  This has not happened in the colleged game in a VERY long time.

Can Greg Oden hold up against Roy Hibbert, or will Hibbert’s overall lack of basketball experience hurt him? (Speaking of which, Hibbert has not been playing basketball for as long as all of the other players in the tournament. Talk about one heck of a learning curve).

Then we have a rematch of last year’s title game. I think this game will be much closer. Florida has been hit with that dreaded “we can turn it on whenever we want” mentality, and that will be tough to throw out against such a well coached UCLA team. Ben Howland is one of the very best coaches in college basketball right now.  Unfortunately, UCLA will get eaten alive by Florida’s size (I’m referring to Al Horford who has been the most dominant player on the Gator squad this tourney). 

For those of you who think about wagering, I like Georgetown to win.  Parlay that money line with Florida (-3) and you should have a nice payday.  However, remember how well I did in the fall with the NFL?  Perhaps you should call me “The Mush” (see A Bronx Tale) and go the other way. 

Enjoy the games.

I have always advocated this site as an open forum for discourse about the NBA and sports.  Occassionally, I rant on other topics, which obviously open the floor for people to express their opinions.  Although I may disagree, I think that people should be able to discuss things freely because that is the nature and freedom that this country allows. 

However, I refrain from discussing religion or spiritual beliefs, because that is a topic that no one agrees upon (as it is personal and individually specific for each person).  Unfortunately, a comment submitted this past weekend encroached upon this topic, and actually went into great detail about things I would prefer not to be associated with.  This comment was posted without my authorization or approval, and I do not condone the beliefs that are expressed within that comment.  I have now changed my settings that should require me to approve each and every comment before they are posted on this site.  I wish that were not the case, and I fear that I am approaching a slippery slope. 

From now on, let’s just try to keep this as sport-specific as possible.

If they come out in this year’s NBA Draft, I don’t see how any general manager could pass up the opportunity to draft:

1. Roy Hibbert*
2. Al Horford (will be the best pro of the UF players)*
3. Jeff Green*
4. Julian Wright (may not awe, but is fundamentally flawless)*
5. Brandin Wright (reminds me of Hakim Warrick, but a little taller and more refined at this point)*
6. Aaron Afflalo (solid player who will have a long NBA career)*
7. Mike Conley, Jr. (quality leader and has potential to be something special at the next level)*
8. Brandon Rush (game similar to Caron Butler)*
9. Corey Brewer (needs some more strength and a better jumper, but could be just like Doug Christie or Larry Hughes)

*In that order, after Oden and Durant, of course.

After watching Georgetown-UNC yesterday, I realized four things:
1. They were getting hosed by the officials.  How does UNC shoot 30 free throws to Georgetown’s 9?  It is not like Georgetown only hoists up three pointers.  That was insane.  It was like Dick Baveta was reffing that game.
2. Tyler Hansbrough just won’t be anything more than a role player at the NBA level if he doesn’t work on his quickness and jumper.  He just looks too much like Craig Smith at this point.  Sure, he’s tough and strong, but there are too many holes in his game.  He’ll get killed in the post by quicker players with refined post up games.  Do you honestly think he could guard Duncan or Garnett on the block.  He’ll just lay on them and pick up quick fouls. 
3.  Roy Hibbert will be a solid NBA center, which means he could average 6 pts and 6 rebounds a game and qualify.  Seriously though, I think Hibbert’s defensive presence, soft hands, and good footwork are the three most important qualities to have if you are going to be a true NBA center.  Hibbert has all three of those things, and last night, he showed a toughness and ability to alter shots even after he got into foul trouble. 
4.  Jeff Green is flat out good.  There are very few holes in his game.  At 6′8″, he has all the intangibles to play the small forward or shooting guard and be able to guard anybody on the court.  He can shoot the ball well enough on the perimeter.  He has a solid in-between game, and his post up skills are exceptional, especially if he will play against smaller shooting guards.  I really like everything that he has to offer.  I’ve tried to come up with a current NBA player that he reminds me of, and the closest I could find was Josh Howard.  That’s a pretty good comparison, and Green is taller and probably stronger right now. 

One more thing:  Jo Noah needs to add some serious muscle.  Right now, I can’t see him being anything more than a hustle guy.  He looks too much like the second coming of Mikki Moore, who has become a solid contributor at this point after many seasons under his belt.  The only problem is that Noah’s over-the-top antics open him up for some “Welcome to the NBA, punk”-type of posterization by the current regime. 

On November 15, 2006, I wrote a post analyzing why the Mavericks were struggling early in the season.  I stick to that analysis.  Did I think they would improve?  Of course I did.  Did I think they would improve this much to the point that they are better than they were last season?  No, but, then again, it was hard to think that they could have been even better than last year because they were so good las season.  On that note, I was wrong.  But, I think the rest of the post was on point.

So what has changed?  Well, for starters, Josh Howard got healthy and he continues to improve and impress.  This moved Stackhouse back to the bench as the sixth man, where he belongs.  It blows my mind how many teams passed on Howard in his draft class.  The guy was the ACC player of the year in an awesome conference during his final year at Wake, and it wasn’t like he did not have an NBA body or position.  You could clearly see that he could play the small forward/wing position.  How did that happen?  It is insane that so many general managers whiffed on him and his abilities.

Then, there’s the implementation of Devin Harris back into the starting lineup, which allowed Jason Terry to move to the shooting guard position.  Harris is a much better pick-and-roll point guard than Terry was.  Harris can use his speed to turn the corner on a pick and attack the rim.  Plus, starting Harris has boosted his confidence.  It happens.  Running Harris at the point frees up Terry, Howard, and Stackhouse to knock down jumpers from the wings.  It also causes the pick defender to move to cut off Harris, allowing Dirk to pop instead of roll.  And NOBODY is better at picking and popping for jumpers than Dirk.  NOBODY.  Dirk has also continued to refine his post-up game.  I think that the Spurs playoff series really helped to hammer home the point that Dirk cannot and should not allow 6′7″ players (like Bruce Bowen) to man-handle him in the high post.  This is why Dirk is the MVP this year. 

Add to all of this that the Mavs got rid of Anthony Johnson, who was surely going to become a malcontent after losing his starting spot and the fact that the Mavs have realized the limits of Devean George’s broken-down body, and you have addition by subtraction.  This opens up role-player minutes for Croshere and Buckner who have finally started knocking down some shots. 

Plus, another year in Avery Johnson’s system has enabled Erick Dampier (who realized that it is okay to play with some energy after receiving a fat paycheck) and DaSagana Diop to flourish.  The defensive rotations are crisp and fast, which is eerily reminiscent of another quality NBA team (that wears silver and black). 

All these factors, and a heavily front-loaded NBA has enabled the Mavericks to turn around a disasterous start, and have a record-setting NBA regular season.  Do they deserve some credit?  Yes.  Do I want to eat some crow and give it to them?  Not really, but I will, for now.

Can’t wait for the playoffs. 

I’m going to cut to the chase today, because I just found out that I will not be attending the games this weekend due to some fraudulent acts by another party.

The St. Louis Bracket -
Winning in Round 1 - (1) Florida, (8) Arizona, (5) Butler, (4) Maryland, (6) Notre Dame, (3) Oregon, (10) Georgia Tech, (2) Wisconsin
Advancing to the Sweet 16 - (1) Florida, (4) Maryland, (6) Notre Dame, and (2) Wisconsin
Advancing to the Elite 8 - (1) Florida and (2) Wisconsin

The San Jose Bracket -
Winning in Round 1 - (1) Kansas, (9) Villanova, (5) Virginia Tech, (4) Southern Illinois, (11) Virginia Commonwealth, (3) Pitt, (10) Gonzaga, and (2) UCLA
Advancing to the Sweet 16 - (1) Kansas, (4) Southern Illinois, (3) Pitt, (2) UCLA
Advancing to the Elite 8 - (1) Kansas and (2) UCLA

The East Rutherford Bracket -
Winning in Round 1 - (1) UNC, (8) Marquette, (5) USC, (4) Texas, (11) George Washington, (3) Washington State, (7) Boston College, (2) Georgetown
Advancing to the Sweet 16 - (1) UNC, (4) Texas, (11) George Washington, (2) Georgetown
Advancing to the Elite 8 - (4) Texas and (2) Georgetown

The San Antonio Bracket -
Winning in Round 1 - (1) Ohio State, (8) BYU, (5) Tennessee, (4) UVA, (6) Louisville, (3) Texas A&M, (7) Nevada, (2) Memphis
Advancing to the Sweet 16 - (1) Ohio State, (5) Tennessee, (3) Texas A&M, (7) Nevada
Advancing to the Elite 8 - (1) Ohio State and (3) Texas A&M

Advancing to the Final Four -
(1) Florida, (1) Kansas, (2) Georgetown, and (3) Texas A&M

Championship Game -
(1) Kansas v. (2) Georgetown

Winner - Kansas
Final Score - Kansas 71 - Georgetown 65

It looks like Glen “Big Baby” Davis is going to declare for the upcoming NBA Draft.  Well, I cannot wait for this to unfold over the next 3-5 years.  Here’s the scenario of how I see the career going down:

Our story starts with Glen getting drafted by a struggling team early in the second round.  Of course, this struggling team will seek some immediate results from Big Baby, and he’ll probably provide some solid minutes as a rookie after he figures the game out, sort of like a Mark Jackson (the power forward, not point guard) level rookie/sophmore performance.  Of course, he’ll start to relax a little bit, gain a little bit of weight back, which will cause him to lose favor with the current team’s coaching staff.  This may or may not result in a trade to a new team, but it will result in an incredible change in Glen’s attitude coming into a season in which he will be available to seek a long-term deal.  Once again, this is a 3-5 year story, keep that in mind.  Big Baby will show up in the best shape of his life, resulting in a career-year, sort of like when Reggie Evans was able to earn the starting power forward spot for the Seattle Sonics in the year when the Sonics shot to the top of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference.  If Davis can help spur on such a solid season for his team, all the better.  Of course, this will result in some general manager with way too much free money to spend, because of an ever-increasing salary cap due to the all-time-high NBA revenues from the young stars of Durant, Oden and Foye and the in-their-primes stardom of Paul, Bosh, Anthony, James, and Wade,  signing Davis to some mega-millions, long-term deal.  With this newfound fame and money, Big Baby will return the favor by blowing up like White Goodman at the end of “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story.”  Well, maybe not that big, but he’ll compete with his former alumnus, Oliver Miller. 

I’ve now put my crystal ball away for the day, but I will be back with it tomorrow with some March Madness predictions.  It also appears that I will be in Lexington, Kentucky, on Thursday to enjoy the games, so I will have plenty to report on Sunday after watching Oden, OSU, TAMU, and Louisville play some ball (and probably shoot a combined 27% from the three-point line).  NCAA hoops; it’s fantastic.

(Warning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  This is a non-sport related rant.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) 

Congrats, Congress.  Well done, once again.  You are taking all the credit. You caught the Army.  You are getting lifelong military soldiers to resign from their posts.  You are fixing Walter Reed.  Please, just tell me one thing…

Will you take ANY of the blame for this? 

Military medical benefits have been decreasing steadily over the past twenty-plus years through Congress, while their salaries have been on the rise.  You give yourselves raises, cut military benefits, and then pat yourselves on the back for a job well done.  Logical. 

Since Walter Reed was in such bad shape, and apparently had been for sometime, why did Senator Strom Thurmond spend the majority of his final three years of life there?  I serioulsy doubt that he had to spend nights in a hospital bed in a room with mold.  Those rooms were left for the young soldiers with minimal benefits who had been injured serving their country without viable body armor (which should have been available) in a war that none of them wanted to participate in. 

This reminds me of some problems in the makeshift military prisons, read Abu Ghraib.  Take some reservists, possibly in for the extra paycheck and the once-a-month hiatus from real life, and put them in charge of military detainees and alleged terrorists, especially without any training.  Then blame military leaders for the ensuing chaos and mayhem, like they had any other form of recourse.  Of course, if previous U.S. administrations had not gutted the military to the point that there was nothing but reservists available when the U.S. military was actually needed, there may have been different results.  But no.  Obviously, the current problems stem solely from current leadership.

The level of short-sighted, unconscionably biased, so called leaders and media personnel of this nation need to look beyond the tips of their noses and realize that all problems do not start the moment they are discovered.  It takes time to screw things up this much.  And, believe me, a lot of things in this nation are seriously screwed up. 

However, keep praising yourselves Congress, we insist.  Just understand, at the same time, that you and your illustrious predecessors should take some of the blame.  Nevermind, Congress never takes the blame for anything.  Instead, give yourselves another raise, and cut military funding, bases, and positions again.  Then, when something else goes wrong, throw someone else under the bus.  That, after all, is what you do best.

Rookie of the Year Debate?  What debate?  Someone recently posted a question about the Rookie of the Year.  From the start, I said it would be Brandon Roy.  He was the most polished player coming out, could consistently score in a variety of ways, could play three positions, and other than Morrison, was the only player who showed any passion during his senior year in college. 

Sure enough, coming down the home stretch, no one has really made a run at Roy other than the late surge by Il Muggo in Toronto. 

More importantly, is this going to go down as the most disappointing draft since the year that Mike Miller won the Rookie of the Year?  I hope not.  Perhaps we have been spoiled recently with the likes of Chris Paul, Ben Gordon, Emeko Okafor, LeBron, Wade, ‘Melo, and Dwight Howard.  Then again, last year’s crop seemed thin until Derron Williams dropped twenty pounds and started playing like an MVP candidate in his second year. 

Maybe we will have to wait another year or two before giving this class the dubious honor of matching the Mike Miller or Joe Smith draft classes.  But for now, it doesn’t look great, especially with Greg Oden, Kevin Durant, Acie Law IV, Dorrell Arther, Tito Horford, Corey Brewer, et. al. nipping at their heels.

Below are my current standings for the first and second All Rookie Teams:

First:
G - Brandon Roy
G - Randy Foye
F - Jorge Garbajosa
F - Andrea Bargnani
C - Paul Milsap*

Second:
G - Rajon Rondo
G - Daniel Gibson
F - Adam Morrison
F - LaMarcus Aldridge
C - Craig Smith*

*Not real centers, but, then again, you could make the argument that there are no real centers anymore.