NBA Blog

Without further ado (read, slacking on my part), I give you my team awards for the 2006-2007 NBA season.  We’ll start with the All-Defensive Teams first.

First Team All Defense:
G - Jason Kidd
G - Bruce Bowen (I fudged the position a little bit.  To be honest, there are not a lot of great defensive guards).
F - Gerald Wallace
F - Tim Duncan
C - Marcus Camby

Second Team All Defense:
G - Baron Davis
G - Kobe Bryant
F - Shane Battier
F - Jermaine O’Neal
C - Ben Wallace

Hon. Mention All Defense:
G - Chauncey Billups
G - Raja Bell
F - Shawn Marion
F - Kevin Garnett
C - Tie: Alonzo Mourning/Dikembe Mutombo (give the old men their due)*
*Can you believe these two played together in college.  How on earth did they not win at least one title?

First Team All NBA:
G - Steve Nash
G - Kobe Bryant
F - Dirk Nowitzki
F - Tim Duncan
C - Yao Ming

Second Team All NBA:
G - Gilbert Arenas
G - Tracy McGrady
F - LeBron James
F - Chris Bosh
C - Amare Stoudamire

Honorable Mention All NBA:
G - Tony Parker
G - Dwyane Wade (injuries cost him)
F - Carmelo Anthony/Shawn Marion
F - Kevin Garnett
C - Shaquille O’Neal

*Conspicuously left off the list: Carlos Boozer

First Team All Rookie:
G - Brandon Roy
G - Randy Foye
F - Andrea Bargnani
F - Rudy Gay
C - Craig Smith

Second Team All Rookie:
G - Rajon Rondo
G - Marcus Williams
F - Jorge Garbajosa
F - Adam Morrison
C - LaMarcus Aldridge (man, he’s going to be good)

Honorable Mention All Rookie:
G - Daniel Gibson
G - Mikael Gelabale (by default, there’s no one left)
F - Adam Herrmann
F - Tyrus Thomas
C - Paul Milsap

*Most exciting rookie to see on a break away: James White - If you have not seen it yet, check out the 2006 College Slam Dunk Contest where White dunks with both hands from the free throw line ON HIS FIRST DUNK AND UPS THE ANTE ON HIS NEXT DUNKS!!!!

On behalf of John Stockton, Steve Nash, Jason Kidd, Magic, and all the other fantastic point guards at the ‘elite’ level, I’d like to extend a warm-hearted welcome to Baron Davis.  They’ve been waiting a long time, but it is a pleasure to finally accept you to the club.

“Warriors.  Come out and play-eyaAAA!”

• T-Mac gets it.  Plain and simple.  Sure, it took a while, but he has really figured it out under the coaching of Jeff Van Gundy.  He is an exciting player to watch.  On the other hand,…

• Kobe has not figured it out.  Sure, there were glimpses of the should-be-greatest-player-alive-today, but, when things got tough in the second half, Evil Kobe took over and hoisted bad shot after bad shot.  The Lakers went stagnant and the Suns were able to push the pace on turnovers/long rebounds. 

• It was nice of Donovan McNabb to lend Baron Davis his beard for the postseason.  Too bad for the Mavericks, Donovan didn’t give Baron his endurance as well. 

•  Speaking of Baron, what a game.  That was incredible.  I’m not sure where the line for statement games starts, but I do know that 33 points, 14 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks far surpasses that threshold.  I remember having a heated debate with one of my roommates several years ago during the heyday of the Jason Kidd era (where he took the Nets to the Finals the first time) where I argued that if Davis could ever stay healthy, he could be the best point guard in the game.  Well, Davis continued to get hurt, he got in worse and worse shape, and he started forcing way too many bad three pointers.  So, I shelved the argument.  Yep.  I locked it away, thinking it would go the way of my prediction that Luke Jackson would be a solid NBA player.  Well, folks, I not only pulled the argument out of the basement and dusted it off, I’m here to assert it again.  Davis has every single tool that you want in a point guard.  He is a lock-down defender.  His passing ability is phenomenal.  He has a knack for hitting shots at the end of quarters/halves/games/shot clocks.  He is a big guard with excellent handles.  Now, the self-imposed ceiling seems to have been lifted through the brilliance of Don Nelson. 

• Don Nelson = awesome coach.  I absolutely love Nellie.  He turned the Mavericks into winners when they were the laughing stock of the NBA.  Now he has returned to Golden State to do the same.  He got Baron Davis to play to the level he should have always been at.  He made Stephen Jackson appear moderately sane.  His teams always play hard and light up the scoreboard.  The Warriors had a small celebration after a win this season where they presented Nellie with an award, a Bud Light.  And, he has one of the greatest quotes about playing in Utah ever.  I won’t be able to recite it exactly, but it was about Nellie’s love for playing a playoff series in Utah.  He talked about how most guys hated traveling to Utah because there was nothing to do.  Nellie said he couldn’t believe that, because he was a member of a drinking club there.  Then he went on a little tangent about the drinking clubs in Utah.  It was brilliant.  Someone needs to find that interview and post it on YouTube. 

• The Spurs could not have been worse last night.  The Nuggets just beat them all over the court.  Duncan, et. al., really need to play better if they want to win this series.  (For the record, I’m sure my brother has already hit the panic button.) 

There are several interesting matchups in the first round of the NBA playoffs, including the first game today.  (Starting in a few minutes).  Since I am under the gun, I will just jump into my predictions for the first round.  I will give some thoughts on the weekend’s games early next week. 

Nets-Raptors - Vince Carter returns to Canada.  I cannot wait for the fan response.  I think the Nets will give the Raptors all they can handle, especially with Toronto’s utter lack of playoff experience.  However, I am pulling for the Raptors; they are the NBA’s feel good story this season.  I’m picking…Raptors in 7.

Heat-Bulls - This shoud be another good series.  I’m interested to see how healthy D.Wade is.  If he’s close to 100%, the Heat can pull this series out.  I just don’t think that is happening.  When the Bulls implement the Jordan Rules and run Wade off of multiple picks and constantly bump him when he tries to drive, I think Wade will start to break down.  Bulls in 6.

Magic-Pistons - Pistons are way to solid right now for a struggling, young Magic team.  The Magic will get better and should be force next season, but they don’t stand a chance this time around.  Pistons in 5.

Jazz-Rockets - This will be a plodding, low scoring series, similar to the Heat-Knicks’ series of the 90’s (with a little more offensive fireworks from McGrady).  It will be a long, tough battle for the winner that will hurt them come round 2.  Rockets in 7.

Wizards-Cavs - LeBron is salivating.  He could go for 55-9-9 in each game of this series, all four of them. Cavs in 4.

Lakers-Suns - If you read my previous post about Kobe after the All Star break, you should already know where I’m going here.  Kobe will win one game on his own though.  Suns in 5.

Nuggets-Spurs - Some people were dumb enough to pick this as their upset.  That just is not going to happen.  Spurs in 6 (which will be enough games to give my brother a heart attack).  The Nuggets, much like the Magic, will be awesome next year, and should run away with their division.

Warriors-Mavericks - Nellie and his new mentees, Stephen Jackson and Baron Davis (can’t believe how well that relationship is working) are going to give the Mavericks EVERYTHING they can handle.  I am really excited to watch this series.  Mavs in 7.

I have a new post coming with my selections for the All NBA teams (All NBA, All Defensive, and All Rookie).  I scoured the records, statistics, and watched a couple of Tivo’ed games from the season to help with the selections.  I hope you will like them.

I said earlier in the week that I would provide a little insight into why Kobe did not deserve to win the MVP Award this season.  Through the first half of the season, Kobe’s name was mentioned as much as Dirk’s name was as a viable candidate to unseat reigning MVP Steve Nash.  Well, when you look at the numbers, you will see why Kobe cost himself the MVP and may have helped the late season swoon of the Lake-show.

Take a look at the following statistics for Bryand (broken down into pre- and post-All Star Break)*

You can see that Kobe was taking 20.3 shots per game for the Lakers when they were playing great team basketball.  If you look at the post-All Star break numbers, Kobe was taking seven more shots per game, and only making three more shots per game.  He took one more three point attempt per game and did not increase his makes from beyond the arc.  None of the other Laker players increased their rebounding percentages after the All Star break, so this one additional missed shot turned into a long rebound that led to one additional fast break for the opposing team.  Kobe’s assist numbers also dropped ever so slightly.  No other Laker increased their assists durign the second half of the season.  Their offense became a lot of Kobe dribbling around and hoisting jumpers. 

Several key players’ numbers dropped over the final 25+ games while Kobe was putting up his massive scoring numbers. 
Andrew Bynum, who was a key player early in the year had his points and rebounds drop from 8.4 points and 6.6 rebounds to 6.6 points and 4.6 rebounds after the All Star break.
Kwame Brown went from averaging 8.7 points and 6.6 rebounds to averaging 8.0 points and 5.0 rebounds as well.  (Perhaps there were some missed rebounding opportunities for these big men because of long rebounds off of long jumpers)
Lamar Odom, the second fiddle to Kobe, went from averaging 16.6 points to 14.9 points late in the year.  (Also note that Odom and Brown actually increased their shooting percentages.  It would have been nice if there was more ball movement to create more looks for them.)
Luke Walton went from 11.7 points to 10.8 because he wasn’t getting to the line as much.  This happens when there is no movement in the offense, a typical result from the one man game.

The only player other than Kobe to increase their scoring output over the final 25 games was Maurice Evans.  The question is, did Evans fit in better with Kobe, or did Evans get more minutes and shots because he was filling in for the injured Vlad Radmanovic?

In games where Kobe scored 40 or more points, the Lakers were 11-5.  In games where someone other than Kobe was the high scorer, the Lakers were 11-4.  This shows that the rest of the Laker squad can handle themselves on the court.  Brian Cook can handle himself beyond the arc.  Kwame Brown has been serviceable.  Lamar Odom posted a double-double for the season.  Luke Walton is a very solid 10 points and 4 or 5 rebounds and assists.  Andrew Bynum has made leaps and bounds from a year ago.  There is talent there. 

The most telling sign of how Kobe cost his team was the Lakers record when they revert back to Kobe-one-man-show ball.  In games where the leader in assists had five or fewer assists, the Lakers went 4-18.  Those are the games where Kobe got it in his head that he was the one and only thing that could make the Lakers win.  After the All Star Break, when Kobe was scoring at a ridiculous clip, the Lakers went 12-16 and barely hung onto a playoff berth.  Prior to the All Star Break, the Lakers were playing great team basketball, with Kobe taking over when necessary at the end of games (just like Steve Nash has done this year), the Lakers were six games above .500, at 30-24.

I’m not trying to openly dog Kobe.  There were times this season where he was unbelievable, and his scoring ability is jaw-dropping.  I just want him to rely more on his teammates and the team system.  He has the ability to shut players down on the defensive end.  He can also take over games when necessary (or if he goes on fire), but in the interim he should involve the rest of his team more often.  If those things ever happen, and there have been brilliant glimpses of them all coinciding at once, Kobe will be a sure-fire multi-time MVP.  This year, however, he will have to settle for the scoring championship.  Basically, I want less Michael Ray Richardson and more Oscar Robertson from Kobe.**

*Statistics are courtesy of ESPN.com

**Please note that all of the aforementioned statements will be used for Gilbert Arenas next season and LeBron James in two seasons, with the statistics and player names changed.

As we descend on the twilight of the NBA regular season, I have some thoughts on the so-called ‘tanking’ that has occurred this season.  But before I get into too much detail, please keep in mind that I grew up in San Antonio and watched a wretched San Antonio Spurs team in the 1996-1997 that held David Robinson and Sean Elliott out for the remainder of a season when both players had major injuries.  That allowed the Spurs to land the # 1 pick in the 1997 NBA Draft, which became the Greatest Power Forward of All Time, Tim Duncan.  With that in mind, I am not so mean-spirited when it comes to tanking. 

So the Celtics went into the tank this year.  As many of you readers know, I read the majority of articles written by ESPN Page 2’s Sports Guy, Bill Simmons.  If you want to read about how I feel about Doc Rivers’ coaching ability this season, just go to the Sports Guy’s articles, and you can pretty much see where I stand on the subject (obviously, without as much animosity because I’m not a Boston-based guy, but you get the point).  But who can blame the Celtics for holding out Paul Pierce with an assortment of ‘injuries.’  Pierce has logged some serious minutes over the past five seasons, and remember, this guy was also involved in a stabbing a couple of seasons ago.  For a scorer who thrives on drawing contact, that is a TON of wear-and-tear on a body, and last time I checked, Pierce didn’t have the chiseled physique of a LeBron James.  Obviously, the Celtics were done a while ago.  You are telling me that, as a Celtics fan, you would rather trot Pierce out there to add more miles to his tread for some fleeting excitement in a meaningless game, when NBA players like Pierce have been taking tons of physical abuse throughout the course of the season.  Really?  After just watching the Timberwolves throw Marc Madsen onto the court against the Spurs, and within seconds, Madsen had taken both Horry and Ginobili to the ground with hard fouls, I cannot believe that a Celtics fan would prefer to watch Pierce abuse his body for no reason and risk a serious injury.  Accept the fact that your team stinks, allow your stars and franchise players to rest and heal completely before the offseason starts (allowing for better and more rigorous offseason training), and hope that you get to see some development from other (read younger) players on your team who are fighting for more minutes. 

The exact thing can be said for the Milwaukee Bucks.  Sure, they had a terrible season that started when they lost Bobby Simmons early.  They also lost Michael Redd, Andrew Bogut, and Charlie Villenueva for extended stretches.  The good thing is that you have these talented players locked up for the long haul.  You have allowed them to rest for an extended stretch, insuring that they will be ready for the start of the 2007-2008 season.  And you have one of the best possible chance at landing Greg Oden or Kevin Durant.  All of a sudden, you go from an injury-decimated franchise with some high expectations because of talent to an uber-talented starting five with a bench that logged some solid game-time minutes in the previous season.  The Bucks have not had a sure-fire big man in a really, really, really long time.  Even if they drafted Durant over Oden, they could still lock up Mo Williams to a long-term deal, giving them a starting lineup of Williams, Redd, Durant, Villenueva, and Bogut.  Then, they can bring Dan Gadzuric (excellent shot blocker), Bobby Simmons (solid across the board), Charlie Bell (who has proven he can play well at this level this season),  and Earl Boykins (instant offense) off of your bench.  It is absurd to think that a Bucks fan would trade 8-10 more wins for the Bucks this year over the above roster for the next four years?  Come on.  That’s ludicrous. 

And Grizzlies’ fans (all 2 and 1/2 of you), you have the best chance at landing Greg Oden.  You cannot get fans now, so why not take the chance at landing the best center the NBA has seen since Shaquille O’Neal?  Sure, Oden needs to refine his game, but who cares.  You will have a starting front court of Gay-Gasol-Durant next year.  And, the NBA Draft is looooooooaaaaaaaaaddddddddded, which means you will get the pick of the litter at the start of the 2nd round.  How is this a bad thing?  Your team was going nowhere fast, and you certainly were not going to win a playoff series any time soon with the current roster.  Play it out and see what happens.   

Who knows, you might even discover a gem on your roster that you would have never known about if you had been pushing your starters on the court.

That’s all I have to say about that.  And now for something completely different.  Below is my complete compilation of End of Year Individual Honors:

Rookie of the Year - Brandon Roy

Most Improved Player - Monte Ellis - Upon further consideration, I had a hard time awarding the honor to Kevin Martin, simply because the Kings stunk.  I also could not award the honor to Deron Williams, simply because he was selected ahead of Chris Paul.  He is supposed to be this good.  Ellis was a 2nd Round selection who has become the go-to-guy for Nellie-ball in Golden State.

Sixth Man of the Year - (Homer Alert!!!!) Manu Ginobili - Seriously, the guy put his ego in check and did what was best for the team.  This is an Olympic Gold Medalist, Euro League MVP, All Star, and he is having his best NBA season.  Yet, he willingly moved to the bench to help the Spurs.  How does he not win this award?

Coach of the Year - Sam Mitchell - I desperately wanted to give this thing to Jerry Sloan.  Instead, I have to give it to the feel good story of the season, the Raptors.  Honestly, the award could have gone to any one of the following, Avery Johnson (best team in the league), Gregg Popovich (oldest team in the league and moved Manu to sixth man), Jerry Sloan (does what he does best, win), or Sam Mitchell.  Mitchell just feels right here.

Defensive Player of the Year - Marcus Camby - I chose Camby just to show that I am not too much of a homer.  I really believe that Bruce Bowen has been hosed for too long.  Unfortunately, it does not look like Bowen will win the award again this year.  The really sad part is that Bowen has become an older player with tougher rules on perimeter defenders.  He missed his window, and the voters missed the boat multiple times.  The best perimeter defender in basketball for five years running never won the Defensive Player of the Year Award.  That is sad.

MVP - Dirk - Man that was painful.  He’s been the Mavs best player, and the Mavs have been the best team.  Despite having lower career numbers in scoring and rebounding than previous seasons, Dirk developed something of a defensive game while posting exceptional shooting numbers.  He has been more efficient with his shots, and has played within Avery Johnson’s refined offensive system.  He deserves the award.  Quickly moving on.

GM of the Year - Bryan Colangelo - Struck gold with Il Muggo who was a Euro ready for the NBA game from the first day of camp.  He landed a great free agent commodity in Jorge Garbajosa.  In hindsight, he looks brilliant for swinging the T.J. Ford for Charlie Villenueva deal, in the face of an infinite number of doubters no less.  He locked Chris Bosh up for the long haul.  He allowed another team to overpay for Mike James because James was not going to fit into the offensive sysetm.  Those things right there are more than enough for Colangelo’s push to the top of the G.M. finalists.  One important “also ran”: Isiah Thomas.  It is pretty impressive that Isiah helped push the Chicago Bulls to the top of the mountain in the East and still have them in the Oden-Durant sweepstakes.  That makes two years where Isiah has helped another team make a run at a conference or NBA championship (read Malik Rose for Nazr Mohammed).

Most Entertaining - Gilbert Arenas.  He dunked off the trampoline during a break in the All Star game.  He shouts ’hibachi!’ after shots.  He handed in at least a dozen buzzer beaters.  He kept trying to hang 50 on the Olympic coaching staff.  He has a YouTube clip of a shooting contest where he beat up on DeShawn Stephenson WITH ONE HAND!  His blog is the stuff legends are made of.  He gave away his jersey after every game.  He tossed 100 signed All Star jerseys into the stands as a ‘thank you’ for the fan support.  What’s not to love?

Most Irrelevant Player Who Celebrated Waaaaaaaaaaaay Too Much After A Game Winner - Steve Francis.  Thanks for coming out Stevie Franchise.  It was quite an interesting career.  Take a look at Dwyane Wade and realize that he became everything you were supposed to be.   

I will have my team honors (All NBA, All Defense, All Rookie) sometime next week.  Stay tuned.

The Vic Mackey of NBA officials (main character on FX’s ‘The Shield’), Joey Crawford, has been suspended indefinetly for his role in the ejection of Tim Duncan during the Spurs-Mavericks game this past weekend.

Of course, I was watching, and as a somewhat-biased observer, I could not believe the outcome.  Throughout the years, I have seen Tim Duncan complain far worse than what he did this weekend (and, honestly, Timmy complains a lot).  The ejection was completely uncalled for, and I even thought the first technical (and even the ticky-tack offensive foul) seemed absurd.  Look, Joey has always had a quick draw on his technicals.  I could not stand watching him officiate games, but actually feel like Steve Javey is a worse official. 

The real problem was that Joey completely interfered with what was one of the best games of the late NBA season.  With so many writers and media personnel attacking the NBA for the tanking by bad teams, the Spurs-Mavericks game was awesome to watch.  Both teams were playing hard-nosed defense, but the crisp ball movement in the offensive sets were still leaving players with solid looks.  And, unlike the dregs of the NBDL (they are still talented, but haven’t quite gotten a hold on the NBA game yet) that have been playing for the Bucks, Celtics and Hawks in recent weeks, the Spurs and Mavs were knocking down their shots.  Both teams were shooting 51% through three quarters, yet both teams lead the NBA in team defense.  It was awesome to watch.  Then Joey’s whistle got in the way, and soured the game a little bit.  You could predict what was going to happen from the ejection to the end.  Without Duncan, the Spurs gave up a little too much to the Mavericks, resulting in the Mavs closing out the fourth quarter (with Dirk on the court, despite Avery Johnson’s pre-game plan to rest the starters).  The game was still great, but I feel that we got robbed a little bit in the end.

Oh well, it looks like we won’t be hearing the quick T whistle from Joey this postseason, which means Don Nelson can rest easy.  I’m just guessing here, but I think Nelly probably got more technicals from Joey Crawford than any other coach in the recent NBA history.  Now if Golden State could only handle the Mavs in the first round.

Sidebar: I will post something later on this week that has my thoughts on tanking games.  I am also working on an article discussing why Kobe Bryant CANNOT be the MVP this season, despite his amazing production late in the season.  So stay tuned.  For now, I will relish in the fact that I got my first ‘win’ today as a civil defense attorney.  (Note: typing while patting yourself on the back is quite time consuming.)

Don Imus got canned today.  Couldn’t see that one coming.  I am completely flabbergasted by the fact that CBS would cut ties and run, especially when two of their main corporate sponsors, Staples and Proctor & Gamble, bailed on them earlier in the week.  (That’s sarcasm, folks.)

In other non-racism related notes, I watched the Kings-Spurs game last night, and felt compelled to pat myself on the back.  During the second half, I was watching a talented, young big man hustle after every loose ball and put up extremely solid numbers against the Spurs (15 pts on 7-9 shooting and 11 rebounds).  I kept thinking to myself, “Why do I recognize this guy?”  Then it hit me.  I KEPT CALLING FOR TEAMS TO DRAFT HIM IN THE SECOND ROUND OF THIS PAST NBA DRAFT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  It was Justin Williams from the University of Wyoming.  The same guy that averaged nearly 5 blocks per game, and had per-minute rebound averages that were off-the-charts in the Mountain West.  He still hasn’t fully developed his offensive game, but neither have most of the centers in the NBA anyway. 

It blows my mind that these things continue to happen in the NBA.  Someone will take a chance on the headcase/pothead from Boston College who got kicked off of the team for causing too much trouble.  Instead that same team could have taken Justin Williams last season and gotten the exact same type of game without any of the problems.  And believe me, the B.C. Williams will cause problems.  It takes a heck of a lot of trouble to get kicked off the B.C. basketball team.

Told you so.

Done for the year.  Pacman has gone the way of Ricky Williams and Onterrio Smith.  Let that be a lesson to all you youngsters out there.  If you are going to make it rain, make sure that you intend to let the strippers keep the money.  Otherwise the fight that you help cause will get you busted, especially when your bodyguard shoots someone.  And while you are at it, always hire a driver to drive you home after partying because you easily can afford to do so (Chris Henry), never carry a gun to an airport (Barry Switzer and Marcus Vick), avoid taking pictures with underage girls at a party especially when it could end up on the Internet (Michael Vick and former Iowa State coaches), do not buy steroids online or from a doctor who may or may not actually be a doctor (WWE, Carolina Panthers, Pittsburgh Steelers, and approximately 40% of the MLB),and always, always, always avoid carrying drug paraphenalia to the airport, even if the bottle is carrying your earrings (Michael Vick, Damon Stoudamire, et al.). 

Those are my words of wisdom for today.  And for those of you caught up in the recent ignorance that is Don Imus, just remember, stupidity knows no boundaries or color lines.  In the words of George Carlin “Think of how dumb the average person is, and realize that at least 50% of the human population is dumber than him.”  It just so happens that most of that 50% works in media and/or the majority of NBA front offices (at least I seem to think so).

There are some interesting End of Year Award debates ongoing, the majority of which have become two-horse races.  Who deserves the MVP, Nash or Nowitzki?  Who is the Sixth Man of the Year, Ginobili or Barbosa?  Who is the Most Improved, Al Jefferson or Kevin Martin?  Who should be the first pick in the Draft, Durant or Oden?  Who is the Comeback Player of the Year, Carlos Boozer or Carlos Boozer’s hamstring?  

Well, I’m going with these options;
MVP: Dirk - best record in the NBA, and has done the most to expand his game to help others develop.

Sixth Man: reserving the right to vote until the END of the season

Most Improved: Kevin Martin.  He’s been the legit offensive presence on that team from Day 1 this year, and the only bright spot.

First Pick: Oden.  He solidified it with his dominant play in the national title game.  25 pts, 12 rebounds, umpteen blocks.  It is exciting to think what Oden could do with a coach who gets his game.  I almost threw my boss’s 56′ flat-screen television as I watched the Buckeyes hoist stupid three after stupid three.

Comeback Player of the year: Boozer’s Hamstring.  I still can’t give an award to a guy who stabbed a blind man in the back, even if that blind man has more money than God and allegedly cut a suspect verbal agreement.

A few notes on the Warriors-Spurs game on Saturday evening:
1.  At one point in the game, the Spurs had a lineup of Manu Ginobili, Matt Bonner, James White, Jacque Vaughn, and Francisco Elson on the court, and I was not concerned.  Needless to say, I’m a homer and the Spurs have officially hit their late season stride.  I’m really, really looking forward to the playoffs.
2.  Jackie Butler’s beard made an appearance this NBA season.  I’m not saying Jackie is overweight and may have taken a few dining lessons from Eddy Curry, so I’ll put it this way; the beard made him look fat.
3.  Nellie showed up to coach the game in a blue blazer, black pants, and a hot pink t-shirt.  Umm, I really have nowhere to go with this one.  Seriously, read his attire again and tell me how someone paid so well can dress like he hit up Goodwill twenty minutes before the game.  At least Shaq’s ugly suits match and are custom-fitted.
4.  Beno Udrih made an appearance in the game.  I cannot wait to see which team gives the Spurs a valuable 2nd round pick for him.  On the positive side, Beno is taking his shot a growing a goatee, which makes him look like a bad guy from those ‘Transporter’ movies.  Not good times for refried Beno.
5.  I really like Monta Ellis, Mikeal Pietrus, and Andris Biedrins.  The Warriors struck gold (bad pun, I know) with that trio.  Hopefully, they can figure it out before the end of the millenium. 
6.  Al Harrington has a giant ‘A’ tatoo on his neck, which is the only thing that gave me proof that he was not Leonardo of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

I’m out.