For the first time in several years, I can honestly say I look forward to watching regular season NBA games. 

Don't get me wrong, I love the NBA, but in recent years the regular season product has been decidedly "hum drum", with only the Suns providing some real excitement to what is an otherwise boring grind of 82 games.  Now we have something to look forward to!

Let's just throw out out the "what team traded for this or that player" for the time being, the trade deadline's passed, and now it's time for everyone to make their stretch runs, and for once even some of the teams in the East are going to be worth watching!  (Besides Detroit I mean). 

Look at it this way - Several teams revamped their rosters completely (Cleveland, Dallas), some made modest but powerful moves (Houston, New Orleans), some built for the future (OH good lord the Sonics!!), while others decided the time is now!  (Lakers, Suns).  And then, in the midst of it all, there is the sleeper trade of them all, where the quiet, steady Spurs gain a highly underrated force in Kurt Thomas.  I would challenge you to find another mid season trade deadline where so many teams made so many moves for so many different reasons.  Amazing!

Now, despite what all the pundits out there will say, that the Western Conference playoffs will be insane while the East will be relatively quick and easy, I will concede that could be the case.  But I think that once the first round is over, the Eastern Conference playoffs will be just as intense as the West will be, because the top four teams in the East (Boston, Destroit, Cleveland and Orlando) are very well matched up against one another.  Remember last year where the East was mostly sweep after sweep (or lose just 1 game in the series) - We didnt get a good series until the Cavs/Pistons in the East finals.  I don't see that happening this year.

As for the West, good god.  This is...WOW...This is going to be one of the best off seasons ever, and what's ####y to me is that through all the hubub of trades and changes, as much as I absolutely HATE to admit this, I would not be surprised to see the Spurs come out of the West.  In the playoffs chemistry is just as important as defense to winning a championship, and NO ONE except the Pistons can compare with the Spurs when it comes to Chemistry. 

I am a Suns' Homer, of course, never denied it, but I always try to call a #### a #### (so to speak), and to all the Spurs Homers out there, my hat's off to you, the Spurs' management steered a very unsteady course with all the trades, stuck to their guns, and in the end picked up a potent (if limited) big man in Kurt Thomas who will give them even more of a defensive presence and another mid range shooter with a solid touch.  Great pickup by the Spurs and much as in the Gasol trade, you didn't have to give up much of anything to get him.

The team I feel got hosed the worst in this bout of trades was Cleveland.  Poor LeBron, the man just can't get the help he really needs.  They blew up the team mid season and got older, slower, and less athletic, and didn't shore up ANY of their weaknesses (on either side of the ball), which means King James will win the MVP award but probably be bounced in the 2nd round when Ben Wallace decides to resume his late season nap. 

Next most hosed is the Mavs, who would have won this award if the Cavs deal hadn't come down at the last minue.  Kidd's good, but not that good, and he's never been that good with a skilled big man (Kidd's good at passing IN to the basket, Dirk plays more away from it), and in the end, I feel this just hastened the end of the Mavs run near the top of the elite teams by about 2 years.  Their window just closed and they have little to build on towards the future, having traded away their best young players and several key draft picks.  It's a shame, I like the Mavs.

The unqualified winner of the Trade game was the Sonics, who basically called a Mulligan on this season, will play it out for experience, and solidified their future through at least 2010.  The only pity in all of this is that because of the pissing match between the owners and the city of Seattle that the real winners of this trade bonanza will be whatever city the Sonics move to.  That is the true shame, because the fans in Seattle deserve MUCH better than what they are getting from both their city managers and the ownership of the Sonics.

You talk about the Suns, the Lakers, and every other team who did or did not make moves (major or minor) during this mid season, and in the end it all boiled down to this.  The bigget winner of all?

US!!!!!!!!!!!  We FINALLY came out ahead here!  WOOHOO!!!

*kicks back to enjoy*

Im out - Thanks for reading - Dal

Hey, you all know I am not a Spurs lover, but I have HUGE respect for them,and they did what I thought they would do, they just did it a lot quicker, thats all LOL :)

No, congratulations to the Spurs on a fabulous game plan, it was VERY obvious what Pop wanted to do, he knew there was NOTHING the Cavs had to stop Tony Parker, so he made him the man of the series.  With Duncan able to be played one on one against Z, and any number of their players able to at least match up with Ginobili, it was very obvious that Parker was the one head of the 3 headed monster the Cavs had nothing for, and it worked like a charm.

They had a wonderful gameplan, and the Cavs played right in to it...I could almost hear Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith screaming SPEED UP THE TEMPO and keep San Antonio off balance on offense!  Sometimes I was even wondering if Mike Brown was just gonna sit there and play Pop's assistant coach and help him win a game LOL..

Popovich coached a masterful series, Mike Brown on the other hand was an embarassment as a Finals coach.  It's not the reason the Cavs lost, but it is certainly a factor.

The Spurs overall took them apart from tip off of game 1 thru the end of game 4..it was truly a beautiful thing if you are a Spurs fan, and the equivalent of a major league team going up against a group of little leaguers if you are not (Sorry Cavs fan, but let's be blunt here).

In the end, as I have said all along, for diehards and homies, this was a wonderful example of team basketball, for everyone else, it was an embarassingly lopsided series that was never even a contest.  This might just set the record for lowest rated NBA Finals series in history...for a team as talented as the Spurs are (Hey, I said I respect em, remember), it's truly a shame that no one wants to watch them unless they actually have some competition!

I think this is probably my third or fourth blog mentioning this particular topic (at least), and with the recent batches of posters weighing in on the topic, I'll throw in another of my 2 cents on the topic (what the hell, right?) Let's take a peek at some of the more popular "boring" theories and then I'll throw mine in at the end.

1.  The Spurs have too many "foreign" players to be marketable to an American audience.  I would dispute this for several reasons, the two biggest being Vlade Divac and Yao Ming, both of whom are proven ratings winners in this country.  Non-American players have been drawing ratings for years in this country, long before Tony Parker and Ginobili showed up.  The difference is that their predecessors and contemporaries are in some colorful and relateable to the average man, and they played on teams that had demonstrable passion every time a strong, solid play was made on either side of the ball.  Yao is a HUGE ratings draw in this country (nationally televised Rockets games without Tracy McGrady are only an average of 8% lower than games with him in, even if you double that and more it shows Yao as a national ratings draw).  When Vlade played with Magic as Kareem's replacement, and later on those powerful Kings teams, he was a passionate (sometimes too much) player who invited the fans to cheer him or boo him, just don't ignore him.  The point of this being that MOST fans, diehard down to casual, like to see players show some passion when they play the game, and generally do not care where that player was born.

2. How can they be boring when all they do is win ? I have two examples to prove how boring winning by domination can be - That being the Yankees and the former Soviet Hockey dominance.  For DECADES all these two teams did was win, and win thru total dominance of the opposition.  There were no "sporting" contests, there was one slaughter after another.  When the Yankees have had teams that have been able to dominate, after a short period of time, the ratings drop like a stone.  When the Soviets played, WORLDWIDE the ratings were totally in the sewer in every country, even in Russia!  Winning is fun, it's what we are all taught to do from birth on, but when you win every time, with little to no competition, why watch, you already know what's going to happen.  This is the problem the Spurs face.

3. How sad it is that the public wants to see thugs instead of real players.  This is a WAY too easy copout argument folks, and those who are making it probably know it.  Look at the ratings for those teams, and their home attendance, they are some of the worst figures you will find in the entire NBA (Trailblazers anyone?).  The ratings and attendance figures CLEARLY show the public wants to see real players, but they also want something else.

Ok, those are the top 3 arguments that I have seen in recent times.  Which leads to my reason(s) regarding the Spurs being boring...

1. No one likes to watch an assembly line.  Look, everyone loves to drive their car, but they have no desire to see it built - why?  Because by the time you see your car come down the assembly line to be built, you have already seen 20-30 other cars built the same way, and there is no mystery anymore.  This is the way the Spurs play, in an assembly line fashion.  Does this sound familiar?  Parker to Duncan, Duncan to Parker, Parker to Duncan, Duncan off the glass or toss to Ginobili or Finley for a long range shot, run down to the other end, put Bowen on the top player, Parker on the next top player, and Duncan in the middle or on the wing, get the steal, rinse, repeat.  It's the same thing nearly every possession unless the opposition can somehow speed up the game enough to keep the Spurs from setting up.  When you know what's going to happen 90% of the time, why watch?  Law & Order is a great show because SOMEtimes the outcome is not what the viewer wants, sometimes it is, you never know until the end.  If they won every case the show would not have lasted 17 months let alone 17 years.

2.  Their style appeals only to the diehard fans and the hometown fans.  Let's face it, it's a consumer's world, not ours.  We can bleed and sweat "pure" basketball all we want but we are the MINORITY, the NBA relies on our money every game, every day of their existence, but they MAKE money off the casual fans, and the Spurs just don't offer anything to them but the same ol, same ol "humdrum" basketball.  All you have to do is channel surf past a Spurs game and even the casual fan can tell in less than 2 possessions what's going on and what's GOING to go on for the rest of the game.  Once you have that, why watch.

3.  The Spurs don't have FUN when they win.  I will again throw in a reference to the Soviet domination of Hockey.  In a documentary HBO did about the Miracle on Ice, one of the Soviet players, when commentating about the celebration that happened when the US won that particular game, said the following:  "We had won for so long we forgot how to be HAPPY when we won, we took it for granted."  That's how the Spurs appear to even some of the diehard fans, imagine how they look to the casual fans?  They don't SHOW that they are enjoying their craft, it's just like you or I going to our 40 hour a week job and plodding thru it to get to the next day.  There are few if any times in the first games of this series that the Spurs showed ANY emotion on the court while they were dominating.  They just went out, won, took their showers, did their interviews, and went home - NEXT!.  Sports are popular because they give us a reason to let loose with our emotions, yell, cheer, shout, swear, you name it, but it ONLY happens when a team is giving us a reason to let loose with all that emotion.  The Spurs don't give most people a reason to let loose, they are like that tight-lipped librarian who keeps telling you to SHOOSH all the time, they act more concerned with the business of basketball and less with the EMOTION of basketball, and as a result most people get turned off by it.

There are more reasons of course, but those are my top 3.  Look, I respect the Spurs, even if I don't like them all that much.  They are, at their core, a machine that does nothing but win, win, win, and then win some more.  But as much respect as the Spurs have out there, (even the casual fans will generally admit they respect what the Spurs accomplish), they just do not give anyone but diehards and homies any reason to get behind them.  They never act the underdog, never seem to SERIOUSLY look challenged (even last year when they were losing to Dallas they looked like they secretly knew it was in the bag), and no matter who the opponent is, they give the SAME answers to questions. 

Sports are supposed to be spontaneous, not scripted - we have the WWE for that.  The Spurs are almost guaranteed to win their 4th title in 9 years, and ALL FOUR of those finals are going to end up in the bottom 5-8 average NBA Finals ratings since the Magic/Bird era.  Coincidence?

Anyways, there are my 2 cents (and probably some more) - Im out.

Please bear in mind in this blog that I am a Western Conference guy with a healthy respect for the east.  Therefore I am rooting on the Spurs (Tho I am not a fan) in this year's NBA Finals.  All that being said, I would, were I a Spurs fan, nonetheless have a few areas for concern going in to Thursday's NBA Finals.

First off, the Spurs themselves.  Look at their playoffs so far this year - they have only barely been pushed to this point.  Denver was barely a blip on their radar, the prospective "finals" matchup with the Suns ended up controversially in their favor and ended up being easier than anticipated, and the Jazz registered even less of a blip on their radar than Denver did.  Other than having to come back from a deep deficit in game 4 against my Suns, the Spurs have not had any sort of a real challenge to this point in the playoffs.

I know, I know, this is a playoff tested team that has won 3 titles already in 8 years, they have all the pedigrees, all the playoff tests and experience, the works.  That's precisely WHY I would be worried.

Now let's look at the Cavs real quick.  Here is a team that flew beneath everyone's radar with the exception of a couple NBA analysts.  In the playoffs they were relatively unremarkable in their opening round, did a thorough job of thrashing New Jersey, and then were pushed, and pushed HARD, by another playoff tested, veteran team that also won a title, the Pistons. 

There is something that happens in all sports from time to time, the best team loses.  This is most prevalent in baseball, and there are innumerable instances of teams that on paper are a total mismatch against the other, only to wind up winning in the end (anyone remember the Pirates/Yankee's from the late '50s, or even this year, who would have guessed on paper the Warriors would eject the Mavs?)

No matter how hard a team might try to convince itself that they take the opposition seriously, there creeps in a bit of ego, a bit of over-confidence, that can remove just the very finest edge off of a team's killer instinct.  In all other ways the team is firing on all cylinders, but they just cannot put the other, inferior, team away. 

Do I think the Spurs are vulnerable to this?  Yes, I do.  They show ALL the signs of this possibility, having a relative walk over the powerful Western Conference, and a team that on paper has NO business being on the court with them for the NBAs biggest team prize saddling up to take them on.  The circumstances are too good for this to at least not be a consideration.

Do I think this will happen, not really.  But Popovich is not infallible, no coach is, and all the Cavs have to do is hang around, hang around, hang around, avoid any blowouts or morale-defeating games, and they could strongly challenge the Spurs for a close game here n there, and put a tiny sliver of doubt on the missing edge of their killer instinct, and from there crack the Spurs wide open.

The Spurs SHOULD win this, and probably WILL win this series, but that's why they play the games, because as long as you have another game, another play, and time on the clock, you are still in the game, and the Cavs have been pushed this playoff year to remember that in ways the Spurs have not.  Despite their experience, sometimes success can be your own worst enemy.

The Cav's, NBA champions?  Improbable, but still possible.  Watch for it...it could happen.

I must admit I find it almost humorous the number of people who were rooting for the Pistons that are now going to root for the Spurs in the NBA finals simply because the Pistons did not win or they do not respect/like the Cavs.

Personally I am big NON fan of the San Antonio Spurs, I am long on record for that, but they beat my Suns and the Jazz, no bones about it, and since Im a Western Conference kinda guy, Im rooting for the Spurs, since they were the best team this year in the West (they are the ones who came out after all)

To play sour grapes and root for a team in the opposing conference simply because they are NOT the team that won your conference is hilarious in my opinion.  So if the Pistons would have won you would have supported the east, but because they didnt you will root for the west.  Talk about fickle :)

As for the Cavs getting demolished in 4 games, ain't gonna happen folks, it just won't.  If the Spurs could not sweep the JAZZ, who are a far weaker team than the Cavs, then this series will go at least 6, tho I think it will go 7 (read my other blog as to my reasons)

Do I WANT to root for the Spurs?  Not really, they are not my cup of tea, so to speak.  But they won the conference, my favorite team is in the same conference and they beat my team, so I'm not gonna switch alliances simply because the team I was rooting for did not win the conference. 

I will not be sorry if the Cavs win, but I do want the Spurs to pull it off and win their 4th title.

Don't play sour grapes, be happy your conference is well represented, and back them appropriately :) 

I'm out!

First off, my congratulations to the Cavaliers on winning the Eastern Conference and advancing to their first NBA Finals appearance!  They played with poise, confidence, and with respect for themselves, their team, their city, and their competition.  As for the Pistons, I have but two things to say:  (1) Congratulations on a good playoff run, and (2) Get rid of Rasheed Wallace if you are going to make any changes to your personnel.  He would not have made a difference tonight, but he is a HUGE distraction with his inability to control himself when things do not go his way.

Ok, now that that is out of the way, let's look ahead to the Finals.

Analyze this series any way you want, but it still comes down to the same thing at the end of the day -

The Cavs have to decide which head(s) of the 3 headed monster to have beat them.  If I were the Cavs I would let Duncan be that head in the first 2 games and shut down Parker and Ginobili if I could.  The Cavs have the best basket/post defense of any team the Spurs have seen this year, let Duncan bring his offense right in to the heart of your defense and trust in it.  See how it goes for a game or two and then re-evaluate.  On offense, you have to let LeBron determine, like he did in this series, if he is going to be a scorer or facilitator, and have the supporting cast be ready to step in to the appropriate role. 

The Spurs have to decide whether to collapse their defense on LeBron, play zone, or play man to man and rely on Bowen to stop LeBron.  Frankly, the way LeBron has been playing the last 2 weeks I would not count on Bowen being able to stop him for 4 entire games, maybe 1 or 2, but that's about it, he's just too strong for Bowen to contain.  The zone defense mixed with scattered trapping seems to bother the Cavs more than any other defense, as it was how both the Nets and Pistons really won their games against the Cavs.  Offensively, attack from the inside at first, but establish your outside game, make the Cavs defenders have to be honest, and you will open up the basket for Duncan and all your post players. 

As I said in a previous blog, no matter who the Spurs faced, I felt this would be a 7 game series.  Yes, the Cavs are on a fresh stage, but the pressure is really all on the Spurs, they are EXPECTED to win this series easily, so if the Cavs can stretch this series out in any way, the Spurs will have so many questions coming in as to why they haven't beaten the Cavs yet that they could get a bit rattled, especially their younger players.

I would NOT be surprised to see the Cavs win this thing, in fact I think it would be a very cool thing if that were what indeed happens.  Realistically however, the Spurs ability to "bore you to death with competence" will wear down the Cavs youthful exuberance, and eventually win them the series.

Spurs in 7, but hey, we sure got a finals matchup the will invite the casual NBA fan to give a look-see and a cheer!

Good luck to both teams!  I'm out

Look very carefully at this year's playoffs, and you will find very little to get excited about, and for most NBA fans of teams other than San Antonio and Detroit, a LOT to dread. 

First the Mavs are knocked out, then the Heat, both in the first round, eliminating at one stroke both the most exciting and the most popular two teams in the playoffs to the general NBA public.  Then the Eastern Conference playoffs turn in to a stroll in the park for both the Pistons and the Cavs as they steamroll their competition, while in the West everything changed from focuses on the court to focuses on the NBA front office with suspensions, lack of suspensions, and ratings that have dropped right in to the toilet (check em out for yourself, the ratings for Spurs/Jazz were the bottom 5 lowest Western Conference Finals ratings in the past 20 or 25 years).

Also remember that the Spurs/Pistons finals matchup of a few years ago were THE lowest rated finals since before the Magic/Bird era, and you have a LOT of NBA fans that are not diehards or fans of the teams remaining changing the channel at the prospect of a rematch.

Then came the Cavs, who are giving games that are defensive struggles a face and a heart, and games that are offensive struggles a charm and a thrill that comes with a team not expected to be doing this well to be exceeding expectations, if not of the critics, but at least that of the general public.

So I submit to you, all those who are saying LeBron's game the other night is no big deal, etc., what ELSE do we have to cheer for?

I'm a diehard fan so Im watching anyways, but we are the exception, not the rule.  To have a player go up against a team known as a defensive juggernaut and basically score every basket from mid 4th quarter on thru TWO overtimes, against single, double and sometimes triple coverage, is to the non-diehard NBA fan a reason to turn the game back on, maybe there is something worth cheering about after all.

Maybe right now the reaction is a little overstated, and those who are saying the McDyess ejection was the reason LeBron went on such a tear, but I strongly disagree, because McDyess is NOT the defender that Prince, Sheed, Hamilton and Billups are, and none of them could slow him down or get the ball out of his hands.  McDyess is a good SPOT defender, and good in crowds, but he is not a solid one on one defender.  LeBron was making shots over anyone the Pistons sent at him, and that just adds to this particular incident's appeal, it's something that the general NBA fan has not had in a long time. 

In 5 years tho, this performance will still be remembered as one of the great playoff game performances, watch for it.

And that is definitely something worth cheering for.

Thanks for reading - Im out!

I am still in geeked out amazement over that game, but I've simmered down a bit now :)

Say what you like, but the Pistons just plain messed up by not putting some hard fouls or hard double teams on LeBron when he went on his tear.  The bad boys of the 80's or the Pistons of a few years ago under Larry Brown would have never allowed one player to dominate like that.  Flip Saunders can preach and preach all he wants but the players have to execute, and they just failed to do that.  It was like, for once, the Pistons were relying on their OFFENSE to win the game for them, rather than their defense, and I think this is what cost them the game.

My hat's off to Lebron tho, my god that was one hell of a show he put on, and he left it ALL on the court for anyone to see and critique.  Did he take too many shots, sure he did, but to paraphrase Reggie Miller, when no one else will make or take a shot, then you have to do what you have to do in order to win the game.

In my mind no one can really complain about the refs in this one, the calls were balanced, when they blew one call on one end they made up for it on the other and vice versa.  The free throws were not enough of an issue to overbalance the game for one team or the other, and it is SO rare in today's games to see a classic NOT marred by the refs, it was a refreshing change.

Mike Brown should get down on his knees and kiss LeBron's feet for this win, because had they lost, I guarantee he would have been fired for his HORRID time out management this entire series.  The end of the first Overtime was simply apalling, that dude's a good coach, but a lousy manager of end-game situations.  His end-game scenario's generally involve a way not to lose, instead of finding a way to win.

Wait for it, because it's coming - the Rasheed Wallace blow up, which is similar in poker to the Mike Matasaw blow up.  It's where he blows up internally and starts taking stupid chances that end up costing him.  The difference here is when Matasaw does it he hurts only himself, but 'Sheed hurts his entire team with his.  He was really, really fortunate he didn't get his 6th technical foul in this game, but if this series goes 7, he will have 6 before game 7.

Now the inevitable question to be asked for the next 24 hours - will the Cavs close it out in game 6 or do we have a 7 game series on our hands ?  As much as I would dearly love to see a 7th game between these two, I have a feeling the Cavs have learned from last year's collapse against this (virtually) same Pistons team, and I do not have a lot of hope for Flip Saunders bringing any new tricks out of his particular coaching bag.  The Cavs have all the momentum once again, but this time they are not a starry-eyed team, they are a solid defensive team with a superstar that just had his major coming out moment that will possibly begin his own legend.  I can't see LeBron giving this one away, and as he goes, so to go the Cavs.  Cav's in 6, 96-92

Hope you enjoyed that game as much as I did, it's been the single best game of the playoffs this year, by far!

I'm out

Well, it's taken nearly 3 complete rounds, but we finally have gotten this year's playoff classic game.  I guarantee you this one will be on highlight reels and ESPN retrospective shows for years to come.

My hat's off to BOTH the Pistons and Cavs, who gutted out one of the most amazingly hard fought games I have seen in many, many years.  LeBron was just SICK in the shots he was making, and Detroit just kept coming at them and at them, over and over.

It was like a heavyweight boxing match, punch for punch, blow for blow, and neither one would go down.  AMAZING!

They talk about leaving it all on the floor, you saw LeBron do that tonight, he was totally exhausted, but kept on going and left everything he had on that court to give the Cavs the win and Pistons some nightmares for 24 hours.

I am REALLY enjoying this series, it's been by far the most competetive of all the playoff series this year, and game 6 is going to be just off the charts!

Rest up everyone - you're gonna need it!!

Oh, and as for the TNT after the game show, these guys need a Midol, SHEESH!  But at least they are showing some PASSION, something their ESPN/ABC counterparts just don't ever show.  I like their insights tho.

AMAZING game..simply freakin' A M A Z I N G !!!

Just some various things that are flittering around in my head today I thought I would share:

 - Was it just me or was (once again) Stephen A Smith on ESPN being just a plain old fashioned JERK when it came to the discussions about the Kobe Bryant situation?  Especially when it came to the question of whether or not Kobe was right in taking this to media first rather than the Laker's front office.  I can respect that everyone has an opinion, but why does this guy have to take EVERY differing opinion from his own as a personal affront and try to win the "arguement" by simply yelling?  He is probably good for ratings in some ways, but personally?  I see him starting to respond to something I reach for the remote.

 - Congratulations to the Spurs on making the NBA Finals once again.  Do I like the team?  Nah, I never made any secret about that.  But I always give the devil their dues, and there's no question that the Spurs right now are playing some very strong, very passionate team ball.  So congratulations and good luck in the finals, Spurs, I think you have a VERY good chance of winning the title this year.

 - Is it just me or is Jeff Van Gundy proving to be the ONLY ESPN commentator with any passion on the game play-by-play ?  I find myself watching the games just to hear this man respond to the VERY obvious fawning made by his other two commentators.  While they try to justify nearly every call, he calls a #### a #### and says hey, that was a bad call, or that was a good call, and STANDS by his opinion!  WOW, a commentator with class on ESPN, what is the world coming to!

 - Read my blog on the Kobe Bryant situation for the details, but the bottom line is still this, neither the Lakers NOR Kobe want a trade to happen, this is just another example of the Kobe First Rules, and for a trade to happen would be one of the biggest shockers in recent NBA history.  But both parties have no one to blame for this situation but themselves, the Lakers for hitching their wagons to Kobe, and Kobe for basically causing a potential dynasty to be dismantled due to petulence and petty infighting over who has the biggest star or the biggest paycheck.  Such a pity, the Lakers could still be winning titles if they could have found a way for everyone to live together.

 - So if this guy ( I forgot his name) that's gonna be drafted number one this summer, is going to bring possibly a title to the north west ?  I dunno, the Trailblazers and Sonics seem to me to be more than just one star player away from a title run.  First off the Blazers have to be able to let go of their passle of lawyers they have to have on staff to keep up with all the court cases, it's getting in the way of the salary cap *grin*, and second the Sonics have to just set a case of C4 under the team, blow it up, and start over with Ray Allen as the aging veteran, and go from there.  Just adding one star player right out of the draft is not going to make THAT much difference folks.  They might make the playoffs next year, but that's about it, be honest.

 - My congratulations to both the Pistons and the Cavs for giving us at least ONE competetive series in the conference finals.  Frankly for all it's bad play, this has still been one of the more competetive series in the entire playoffs!  The bad plays to a degree are at least caused by the other teams more often than not, instead of just plain ineptness by supposed professionals.  Frankly I thnk either team could beat the Spurs in the finals, but only if Detroit cleans up it's game, and the Cavs do NOT wake up to the fact that they are just one step away from the Finals.

 - Speaking of the Pistons, WHEN is someone gonna finally step up to Rasheed Wallace and say "Sheed, two words - GROW UP!".  Good lord this man is a 5 year old in a hulking body, and nothing has really changed since the days when he choked out his own bloody coach!  He whines and cries and whines and cries and then tries to cover up for it by making semi-spectacular plays, all the while making the refs tired of his rhetoric and in my own opinion, more willing to overlook a foul or two simply because they wanna #### Sheed off!  Just look at his 'Shirt throwing" after game 4 the other night as just the latest example in a career full of incidents.  Talented player?  Yes.  Gifted player?  Not really.  Whining detriment to his team?  ABSOLUTELY!

 - Last but not least, a couple predictions:  (1)  There will be a 7 game NBA finals, regardless of who the Spurs face.  (2) Just prior to draft day, there will be one, maybe two BLOCKbuster trades, involving at least one of more of the following teams:  Nets, Lakers, Bulls, Suns, Blazers, Rockets, Hawks.  (3) Someone will find Vince Carter's old pair of Air Jordans and return them to him, allowing him to once again be Half-Man, Half-Amazin!

Ok, Im out!

First off, I hope you all have a good Memorial Day weekend.  I started mine off by going to see Pirates of the Carribean and Spider-Man 3.  If you are a HUGE fan of the first film in each franchise, then I recommend you stay away from these.  If you are a fan of the entire franchise, then you will enjoy them (I STRONGLY urge you to re-watch Pirates 2 before going to see 3, unless you have #2 memorized, #3 might leave you in the dust a bit)

Pirates had amazing special effects, but not quite as amazing a story, while Spider-Man, when he was kicking butt, the movie was good, otherwise he was mopey, dopey and the movie slogged thru the frames, and there was not quite enough butt-kicking in comparison to the mopey-dopey's.  Good action tho, in both films, I will say that.

Now, on to some other quickie topics:  (This Blog is a bit long in the tooth, fair warning, I won't be posting again til next week)

Cleveland Fans - I urge you not to give up hope until or unless your team goes down 3-0.  With them coming home now for 2 games, I think the Cavs will find new energy in their game, and unless the Pistons bring their A+ game, this series can very easily end up being tied and eventually go the entire 7 games.  If the Pistons win game 3 however, it's over, you're not going to beat the Pistons 4 straight, they are just too good.

Piston Fans - Enjoy this while it lasts, altho I think the Pistons are extremely lucky to be up 2-0, one or two baskets going in the other way and this would be an 0-2 series.  Neither team has played well, tho the Pistons have had just enough individual star performances to hold on and win 2 games, for which I toss a salute to the Pistons, who would be a very worthy representative for the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals.

Jazz Fans - The hardest thing that Jerry Sloan will have to admit to is that his team's only real chance over a 48 minute game is to run, run, and then start running some more.  The Jazz are younger, quicker, and best of all cocky enough to not really have it sink in that they are basically playing for a shot at the NBA title now.  Sloan's teams however, have rarely been willing to be totally driven by their offense, while also playing solid half court defense.   You can say that the Jazz have played them even for a half in each of the first 2 games, but I still see a "deer in the headlights" look about them, and unless they start running hard, fouling hard, and playing hard for 50 minutes a night, the Spurs are gonna sweep this series.  I remain hopeful tho.

Spurs Fans - Ok, ok, you're up 2-0 against a team that, admittedly, you should be up 2-0 against.  The Jazz have no answer for Duncan (who does), and the way they keep leaving the Spurs outside shooters wide open is almost criminal.  Yes, the Spurs are playing their exact same game, with no changes at all from the norm.  But if the Spurs come out of the West (I think this is very likely), They will face their first real test, when they have to handle the Pistons, whom I think will eventually come out of the East.  While the Pistons have no real answer for Duncan, neither do the Spurs have an answer for Rasheed Wallace, if Wallace can control his temper.  As for the here and now, if the Jazz get their normal 2nd wind going home, be ready for a barn-burner o####ame 3 and 4....

Some non-basketball related notes:

Who REALLY cares if Bonds breaks Aaron's home run record ?   I will applaud him for doing it when it happens (reservedly because of the possible steroid issues), but until then, it's not that big a deal really.  (Now let someone get even CLOSE to DiMaggio's hitting streak record and Ill sit up and take notice)

At the rate the NFL is suspending players this off-season, we're going to need a 2nd NFL draft just so all the teams can put out a full roster of players come opening day.  And whatever happened to NFL teams policing their own players?  I guess when a corporate mentality is running a team, the pecadillo's of the players is just not that important anymore.

Did anyone watch that Jermaine Taylor/Cory Spinks fight the other night on HBO ?  Good lord what a joke that was, especially Spinks running around like he won the thing.  I do find it interesting tho that the same things Spinks did that LOST him this fight were almost the very same things that won Mayweather his fight with DeLahoya.  The undercard fight with Pavlik however, now THAT was a good brawl!

Lastly, and this is just my own damned opinion - ANY player who tests positive for any banned substance or drug should be gone for 1 year, first offense, and banned for life on the 2nd.   I just find it amazing how much we coddle drug abuse in the major sports instead of taking a firm hand and saying you are free to do what you want, but there is a price for that freedom.   Hell most jobs in the real world, you got ONE shot, and if you fail, you are fired.  Why is there such a double standard regarding drugs between a Sports employee, and a Real World employee ?  It just makes no sense to me.

Ok, Im out - have a good holiday, see you all next week!

Well, with 3 games down between the two respective conference finals, and game 4 (game 2 in the east) about to tip off, I have to admit, I am getting a chuckle out of the HUGE disparity between the two conferences.

Spurs are simply destroying the Jazz, who are playing with a "deer in the headlights" look on their faces and letting the Spurs simply get away with anything they want with little to no opposition unless faced with a double digit defecit.

Game 1 in the east, while hardly a masterpiece of the hardcourt, was at least competetive right up to the final whistle, and I expect that tonight will be the same thing.

If I were Jerry Sloan, I would strongly suggest  to my players that they lay some hard "playoff fouls" (to paraphrase Robert Horry and Greg Popovich) on the Spurs, they need to get some respect for the Jazz, and right now, that simply does not exist.   When game 3 is going, the first time a Spurs players makes a drive for a layup or dunk, I would hammer that player down hard, send the message to the Spurs "NOT IN OUR HOUSE"

Not that I think it will make a HUGE difference, but it might enable to Jazz to at least make this series competetive, even maybe win a game or two. 

As for the east, well, at least there is one series that is competetive.  The Cavs do not hold the Pistons in awe like the Jazz do the Spurs, having taken this same Pistons team to 7 games last year.  If the Cavs can keep making their open shots, keep the Pistons defense honest, then LeBron can have a strong series, but they have to keep Detroit on the run, play much more up-tempo, and prevent the Pistons half-court defense from setting up and shutting them down.  Basically they gotta try to run em outta the gym to win this series.

Either way, so far, no real surprises in the conference finals to this point...more's the pity.

I must admit, of all the wide variety of topics that have been tossed about this playoff season, nothing has made me laugh out loud as much as the recent "debate" over LeBron passing up the final shot in Game 1 the other night.

Try this in your minds for a moment - replace LeBron in that situation with Kobe Bryant, and ask again if it was the right move.  Still comes out the same doesn't it? 

It truly does not matter if a player on his way to the basket with the game on the line is best or worst player on his particular team, the goal is WINNING.  If you have a chance to win the game, you take it.  LeBron was having, by all accounts, a very atypical game for him, and made an appropriate decision at that split second. 

I have had the chance in my life to talk with Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Danny Ainge, Dan Majerle, and several other NBA stars, and I generally have one question I make standard when I get a chance to talk to a ball player, that question being "What goes thru your mind when the game is on the line and the ball is in your hands?"

To a man, every NBA player I have ever talked to says a variation of the same thing, you don't think, you just do.  You make your decision based on the flow of the game, and just let it fly.  If you think about it, you're sunk.

When LeBron was driving the lane with the game on the line, I guarantee you he was not thinking "ok, my reputation is on the line here, I gotta take this shot or folks will think I don't want the ball in my hands".  He was thinking "How can I win the game for my team?"

When a star is having an off night, he can do one of two things, keep shooting ad infinitum, ala Kobe Bryant, or he can try to make his teammates better so they can pick up the slack, which is what LeBron did for most of the night, and with the exception of that one, final shot, his teammates responded beautifully.

And think of this, if the shot DID go in everyone would be praising LeBron for making the pass in the first place.  You can't have it both ways, it was either a good play, or a bad play, not "only good if it goes in, bad if it doesnt go in". 

It was, simply put, the move that gave his team the best chance, according to the flow of the game, to win, and in that frame of mind, he made the right decision.

A lot of folks can say that "He needs to step up and be the best player on the court".  I fail to see how passing up a shot when your shots are not falling is not being the best player on the court.  He gave the ball to someone else who was hotter with their shot than he was...if that's not being the best player on the court, then we need to re-evaluate how we determine this.

The whole issue itself is nothing but a laugher, really, and a sad commentary on how we view our "stars" in the NBA.  Kobe takes too many shots and he's a ball hog, LeBron passes ONE shot up, and he's afraid. 

Talk about your double standards.....