Remember the old SNL skit, “Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey”? Well, this is something like that. Only worse.

Eastern Conference Finals:
—The Pistons, as I’ve said before, could be finished. The theory isn’t exactly groundbreaking, but when you get a group of players who have played three full seasons without injuries AND have made a deep run into the playoffs each year, eventually they will run out of steam and out of luck. That’s just how it is, that’s how it’s always been. Think ‘89 Lakers or ’87 Celtics. Things just catch up with you. Things have certainly caught up with Detroit, the players and the coaches.

—With Dwayne Wade’s acrobatic, amazing and burned into playoff lore lay-up yesterday, the Pistons are being fit for a playoff toe-tag faster than Marty McFly was when facing a possible duel with Mad Dog Tannen in Back to the Future III.

—That play was indicative of what’s wrong with Detroit this post-season. Wade flipped the switch; the Heat have flipped the switch in the Eastern Conference Finals—but the Pistons have stood by and watched, mostly. Had this been 2004 or even 2005, somebody on the Pistons would have wrapped up Wade’s arms and prevented the shot from being taken. Somebody would have taken him to the floor. Hard.

—Everyone says not to write off the Detroit Pistons; that they love it when their backs are firmly against the walls and the odds are worse than Pitt-Aniston reconciliation. Well, wish granted. Down 3-1 in the Eastern Conference Finals against a team that has had it in for you for the past twelve months is pretty bad odds. Of the last 43 teams to be down 3 games to 1 in the Conference Finals, only three have came back to win the series.

—Don’t blame Flip Saunders for this—as it has been rumored that the Pistons are. (Wasn’t that the rumor with this group and Rick Carlisle for awhile? And for a short time last year, Larry Brown? Maybe it’s the players, after all.) For all that the Pistons are and claim to be, they sure throw their coach under the bus pretty easily. No, the “Demise of Detroit” is simple logic. Time takes its toll in the NBA, through injuries and fatigue, and there’s nothing they can do about it.

In honor of the late, legendary, “That Guy” actor club, I can’t help but wonder if Detroit would be fairing better under the tutelage of Paul Gleason. He could have even coached the Pistons as his character in The Breakfast Club, Principal Vernon.

Try and imagine his post game press conferences: “Mess with the bull, you get the horns.” Or “I told them the next time I have to call a time-out, I’m crackin’ skulls.” Or simply imagine Vernon giving a pre-game speech: “You ought to spend a little more time trying to win the game and this series and a little less time worry about trying to impress people.” Paul Gleason, you will be missed.

—Yes, these are the things that I think about. All. Day. Long.

—Is it me, or have the Pistons become a mini-version of the Spurs and are beginning to argue and bemoan every call that isn’t in their favor?

Western Conference Finals
--If Mark Cuban can turn around the Mavericks with his money and enthusiasm, why not the Cubs?

—Sticking with the baseball thing for a second, in baseball, they always say good pitching always beats good hitting. Is that what we’re seeing in the Western Conference Finals? From the Dallas Mavericks, of all teams?

The Mavs got burned in Game 1 by 32 fast-break points from Nash and the Suns up-tempo game. They preached defense and stopping the Suns in transition before Game 2. Since that time, they’ve allowed 25 fast-break points combined in Games 2 & 3 (and just four—4!—in Game 3). Neither team scored a 100 in the Game 3, which is always to the advantage of whoever the Suns are playing. Seems like Phoenix has have run into a wall—good defense.

—The MVP, Steve Nash, has gently called out his teammates, saying they need to show more fight and have “been a little too passive” at times. I don’t think it’s long before his teammates start fighting back and asking for a piece of the MVP Trophy. After all, they helped him win, and now he's calling them out?

--Hard to believe, but Raja Bell really could be the key to the series for the Suns. Say that again, slowly. Raja Bell.

—Two words (in the voice of Christopher Walken): “More Barbosa”.

Back later this week with NGS II Finalist Assignment #2…

After a wild weekend, which saw my wife and I buy our first home, my newborn daughter baptized, followed by Monday’s announcement and the subsequent turn of events in NGS II, I haven’t had time to collect my thoughts and put out an actual post about the NBA Playoffs.

In the spirit of that, here’s a bunch of things I’ve been collecting on an internal notepad the past few days and need to get them out. I’m fearful that if I don’t, I’m going to turn into a sports version of Ashton Kutcher in The Butterfly Effect.

Mavs-Spurs
–It was clear to from the first quarter of the Mavs-Spurs game who was should win. You just never know with the officiating these days if the right team will win. Don’t get me wrong, had the Spurs won, they would have semi-deserved it with that amazing run in the third and fourth quarter, but I was beginning to believe that David Stern, seated just rows away from Mark Cuban, really did have it in for him. Stern almost smiled at times (at least it seemed that way on TV) as the Spurs made their run back from 20 down. Cuban was glaring out the corner of his eye in Stern’s direction. Can we get a Stern-Cuban match as the main event at Wrestle Mania next year?

—Is there anyone who gets more calls, but complains more in big spots than Tim Duncan? Where were the fouls that they called on Dampier and Van Horn? Even when TNT was bold enough to show the replays, they weren’t there. The call on Van Horn in the 4th quarter, where his hands are straight up and Duncan moves into him is incredible. I must have rewound TiVo five times. I was speechless (probably because my wife, four year old son and baby daughter were all asleep). When Duncan commits the same fouls that are called on these guys, he complains every time. This reminds me…

—If this career in basketball doesn’t pan out, Duncan could always teach lessons to the Hollywood crowd on how to act surprised at their name being called during awards season with his “Who me?!? No…It..Can’t..Be…Me” Face.

—The Mavs first half was a thing of beauty, more impressive because it was the Dallas Mavericks of all teams, on the road, against the Spurs in a Game 7. Scoring on 14 of their first 16 possessions and shooting nearly 77% until about 2 minutes to go in the second quarter, it was one of the best Game 7 starts I’ve ever seen. They were playing in a different gear than San Antonio, from the out-of-bounds plays to defense, to loose balls—that first half set the tone and gave the Mavericks the confidence they needed late in the game.

—Did anyone else see the David Hasselhoff poster in the crowd during the game? Was that a Dirk Nowitzki fan? A family member? Does this in fact prove Norm MacDonald’s theory that Germans, indeed, love David Hasselhoff?

Suns-Clippers
—Just too magical to believe the Clippers could win, I guess. But it doesn’t help your cause when you play differently than you did most of the series. The Clippers had gone with a smaller lineup during their wins; a lineup which could get back down the floor on made shots and defend the perimeter well. Suddenly, Chris Kaman’s back logging significant minutes in Game 7. The Suns made him look like his feet were in concrete (which isn’t a difficult task).

—Where do the Clippers go from here? The ultimate crossroads for a downtrodden franchise is the year after it gets over the hump. So what do the Clippers do? Does Donald Sterling pony up again this summer for a couple key free agents like he did last summer? Does Elgin Baylor keep Cassell? It is conceivable that that Baylor, in a span of about three years could go from one of the ‘Worst Executives of the Year’ to ‘Executive of the Year’ to one of the ‘Worst Executives of the Year’. It all depends on the next five months.

—We’ll know everything we need to know about the Suns tonight in Game 1. Nash’s legs, their streaky shooting, their size difference to Dallas and if D’Antoni can match wits with Avery Johnson, because Gregg Popovich couldn’t. Dallas is a much different beast than the two L.A.’s. Now is when Phoenix needs Amare Stoudamire most.

Pistons-Heat
—About two weeks ago, I wrote about how Shaq had lost the 'eye of the tiger'. While I said Shaq wasn’t the dominate force he always was, he could be dominant every other game. I figured with all that rest from taking the Nets out in five games, he’d be a major force last night. But after watching the game, it’s even more clear to me that Dwyane Wade, Jason Williams, Antoine Walker and Co. have to carry this team. He was slow on defense—didn’t move his feet and got into foul trouble, only playing 29 minutes. This was in the face of a Pistons team that was a little tired from their seven-game series with the Cavs. If the Heat are going to win this series and the next, they need more from the Diesel in the games you can count on him at full strength (and to keep him away from guarding Detroit’s high screens.)

—I am anxiously waiting another “guaransheed” win for the Pistons in Game 2. It’s beyond comical.

—Still am not of the opinion that a win in the conference finals or a series win in the conference finals justifies Pat Riley booting out Stan Van Gundy. Not even winning an NBA Championship will do it. You just don’t treat “friends” like that.

There, it feels better to have emptied those thoughts--ready to work on the first finalist assignment now…and pack for the move…and change the baby’s diaper…

I was a witness last night. From this day forward, I’ll know where I was when it happened. I just can’t figure out exactly what I was a witness to.

Was it the day that LeBron James became without a doubt, the best basketball player on the planet? Or the day we saw the mighty Pistons fall, thus ending the reign of "team chemistry basketball" in the NBA?

It’s both.

After James’ 32 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and one block in the Cleveland Cavaliers Game 5 upset win over the Detroit Pistons at the Palace, I’m anything but innocent anymore.

I can enjoy the displays that Kobe Bryant puts on, I can still love the Los Angeles Lakers and I can still admire Dwyane Wade, Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki. But I can no longer deny LeBron is far more advanced at 21 than anyone in NBA history. What I think I need most right now is to be enrolled in the ‘Witness Protection Program’.

We still can’t compare him to Jordan (which is almost becoming a compliment to James)—he passes like Michael never could. Nor rightfully can we call him Magic—he scores and drives and hits jumpers like Johnson never could; but we can say that LeBron James is fulfilling the prophecy.

What do we do now that we know?

Maybe we wait for his rival to emerge—like Magic, Michael and Larry had each other. Because, if we’re truthful with ourselves, there’s no debating James’ has jumped up a level. Sure, he’ll need to win some titles—but who else has or has ever had the potential since Magic to average a triple double for the entire season?

But there have only been a handful of players who see the game this way—hitting game winners, dropping precision passers for game-winners, doing all the little things and saying all the right things. James trusts his team mates, yes, but he trusts himself even more. While we complain about Kobe’s two versions of selfishness, we LeBron to be more selfish.

Forget the MVP debate; it’s clearly obvious to anyone who’s watched the regular season and the playoffs that LeBron James is the best basketball player in the NBA. The way James understands the game is uncanny. Take his numbers in the regular season, (31.4 points, 7.0 rebounds, 6.6 assists per game) and the playoffs as an example: against Washington, James averaged 35.7 points, 7.5 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game while shooting 50% from the field. He had to score more against the Wizards and Arenas because it was that kind of series. Against Detroit, LeBron has averaged 25.4 points, 8.2 rebounds and 7 assists per game. With a grind it out, defensive minded Pistons team focusing on him, LeBron’s numbers are extraordinary.

Last night, I was a witness to something else: perhaps the end of ‘team chemistry basketball’ as perfected for the past three seasons by the Detroit Pistons.

Maybe they went away from the game plan, maybe they’ve become to cocky and coasted for the past three months, taking every other game off, or maybe they’re just a victim of LeBron James.

But what it must be like for Detroit right now, questioning everything. Lindsay Hunter taking your last good shot of the game? Missing out on the opportunity to capitalize at the end when Eric Snow throws the ball away? These aren’t your older brother’s Pistons. They lost three straight games to a Cleveland team that didn’t even have their second best scorer. Do they even have a game plan for defending LeBron?

The Pistons, since beating the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2004 NBA Finals, have been amassing an ego not rivaled since Willie Beamen in Any Given Sunday. Detroit approached the last four months of this season like the 2004 Lakers did.

Which is why they’re cooked—the Pistons became the exact opposite of what they once were.

This series has implications well beyond this year. Think of what it would to Detroit’s psyche from now on. How would they react next year to facing the Cavs? In future years? By beating the Pistons now, when James and the Cavs weren’t supposed to, is bigger and has greater impact than beating them in a year or two. To Rip, Sheed, Chauncey, Big Ben and Tayshaun, losing this year will be inexplicable.

What we’re really witnessing is the changing landscape of the NBA. Used to be, a team would win games—individuals would entertain. But now, no longer do you need players who fit each role and get along. Start with a couple scorers (preferably one All-Star)—with speed and range on their jump shots—and surround them with role players. That’s more or less what Dallas, Phoenix, Cleveland and L.A. (Lakers) have tried to do. And three of those teams are still playing—all with a 3-2 series lead.

The only thing “guaransheed” right now is that LeBron James has made ‘The Leap’ and the Pistons way of basketball is on the verge of extinction.

We haven’t seen a player this dynamic at this age or a style shift like this since the 1980’s. I was five months old when Magic made ‘The Leap’ in the 1980 NBA Finals. Probably still in diapers when Larry became a ‘Legend’ and had a short attention span, like any kid, who would rather sing the Gatorade commercials when Michael first became ‘Jordan’. If I ignore this, I’m missing out of one of the biggest moments in the history of the NBA. Not many players get there, and no ones done it since the aforementioned “Big Three” did it in the 1980’s. And rarely are there shifts in the formula for building a competitive team like we’ve seen with the Suns, Mavs and Cavs.

Until now.

I was watching when LeBron James made ‘The Leap’ and when the NBA shifted eras. Can I get a witness?

Steve Nash must be taking lessons from David Copperfield. Because Nash winning the MVP this year is like Copperfield dating Claudia Schiffer.

It’s slight of hand and trickery—I just don’t see how Nash became a two-time MVP. I can’t help but feel like we’ve been duped as NBA fans.

Because Steve Nash as a two-time MVP is a farce.

This isn’t about Kobe, LeBron and Dirk anymore and if they should have won. It isn’t about personal attacks or who’s a better person. It isn’t about the merit of their seasons, what makes a team better, how much individual stats hold against team success, etc.

This is about the absurd notion forming that Steve Nash is one of, if not the best, point guards ever.

And if you don’t think that’s what’s happening, you need to realize that by Nash winning his second MVP Award, he just joined Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Moses Malone, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Tim Duncan as the only players to have won more than one MVP.

Nash has somehow done this without leading his team in scoring or being a game-altering threat to take over in the 4th quarter. He’s not even a lock to take the last shot in a tight game. Plus, he looks like Kelly Leak from the original Bad News Bears.

The strange thing is I like Steve Nash. I think he’s done wonders to change the pace and face of the NBA the past few seasons, reverting teams back to the 1980’s and early 90’s style of fast-tempo basketball. It’s what the NBA needed.

But Nash is no better than a handful of other NBA point guards who have been good, impressive and great—but never got to that level.

In a comparison provided by the good people at Basketball Reference.com, Nash is in a select company of solid and dependable point guards—but hardly the best ever. In fact, according to the website, Nash has only slightly better than a fifty percent chance to make the Hall of Fame. No other MVP has averaged fewer points since Wes Unseld in 1969. Yet he also became the only other point guard beside Magic Johnson to win back-to-back MVP’s.

Look at this group of point guards and their best seasons:

Steve Nash
2005: 15.5 points, 11.5 assists, 3.3 rebounds per game. He led the league in assists and shot 88.7% from the foul line.
2006: 18 points, 10.5 assists, 4.2 rebounds. He shot 92% from the free throw line and 43% from three point range, and led the league in assists.

John Stockton
1990: 17.2 points, 14.5 assists, 2.7 steals, 2.6 rebounds per game. Stockton led the NBA in assists from 1988-1996—but was never MVP, even though the Jazz routinely won and appeared in the playoffs. In ’90,

Kevin Johnson
1990: 23.9 points, 12.2 assists, 3.9 rebounds per game. Johnson shot 50% from the field that season. He routinely averaged a double-double in points and assists, basically from 1989-1996.

During that 1990 season, Johnson didn’t even get a vote for MVP; Stockton finished 9th to Magic Johnson. Nash is basically doing exactly what all point guards used to do—score and distribute. Heck, on occasion, some of them would even play defense.

The MLB A.L. MVP debate last year focused on the fact that David Ortiz was merely a hitter, while A-Rod played both parts of the game. While its obvious basketball and baseball are different sports; we also apparently have different basic criteria for MVP’s in general, because Nash doesn’t play any defense. Had Smush Parker not gone 7-37 over the last four games of the Lakers-Suns series, a national audience might have seen that Nash couldn’t guard a slow motion Ace Ventura when he’s pretending to play football at the asylum.

Here were the other candidates for MVP this season, who share similarities with MVP’s of the past:

Kobe Bryant, 2006: 35.4 points, 4.5 assists, 5.1 rebounds, 1.8 steals. Bryant won the scoring title.

Allen Iverson, 2001: 31.1 points, 4.6 assists, 3.8 rebounds, 2.5 steals per game. Iverson won the scoring title.

LeBron James, 2006: 31.4 points, 6.6 assists, 7.0 rebounds, 1.6 steals per game.

Michael Jordan, 1992: 30.1 points, 6.1 assists, 6.4 rebounds, 2.3 steals per game.

Obviously, throwing out all these stats isn’t going to change the outcome, and doesn’t prove or disprove anything.

But I can’t shake it—Nash is a current day John Stockton, Kevin Johnson, Isiah Thomas or Tim Hardaway who just joined a list of nine of the greatest players in NBA history.

The same guy who, at times during Phoenix’s Game 7 win over the Lakers Saturday, wasn’t even the most valuable guard on his own team, with Leandro Barbosa making us question why Nash had such a hard time earlier in the series. The same guy who has a two year scoring average of 16.7 points and plays some of the worst defense in the league. The same guy who is now in the same breath as Jordan, Bird and Magic.

I just don’t see it—but maybe you can.

When it comes to sports and gambling, we’re a fickle crowd. We like predictions, like being told who’s going to win and lose, not just in the big games, but game eleven of the regular season as well. It’s funny—we love the World Series of Poker, “The Gambler”, White Men Can’t Jump and everything in between—as long as it doesn’t involve real athletes and sports that we care about.

Fans, well we’re allowed to gamble. As betters, we don’t have favorites. We have winners and losers—and we respect them equally because they put money in our pockets. We can place bets on the teams, the winner, the loser, what the total points scored by both teams is, how many points, hits or touchdowns a player will have. We bet on everything down to the length of the game.

But we sure are funny—if not a bunch of hypocrites.

See, it’s ok for us to bet on sports, to put money down on something, anything—but it’s not ok for athletes themselves—even if they don’t play the sport they’re betting on or are retired from professional sports all together. It raises more eyebrows than antes.

We can bet on college sports like the USC-Texas Rose Bowl or the NCAA Tournament—and do it online at every major sports site, but Charles Barkley is viewed negatively for telling us he threw thousands and thousands of dollars away at some table in Vegas?

Here’s what I don’t understand: why do we care? Aside from crossing the line of fixing games to meet the outcome that the bookies want (which is wrong and has no place in sports, obviously), where else is gambling someone else’s concern?

Would you care if I went out and blew all my money in Vegas, then came home with nothing and my family ended up on the street? Probably not.

It’s like watching Austin Powers gamble—if I’m a dumb gambler and don’t know a thing about cards or casinos or betting and lose—then call me stupid and irresponsible with money. Maybe worry for my family for having to rely on me to provide for them.

Barkley can do whatever he wants with his money, because it’s his.

This isn’t steroids; it isn’t drugs or performance enhancers that affect (except in cases of fixed games) the purity of the game or score fixing. When you bet, you are always at risk to lose—the more you could lose. These are the rules, they’ve always been the rules and you know that going in.

When Daly and Barkley go out and confess to having a “gambling problem”, I don’t feel sorry for them or hold them in contempt—I laugh. Because anyone who has taken a math class can tell you it’s quite a risk to put a large sum of money on the probability that the event you’re betting on will occur.

Daly isn’t stealing money from me—he’s throwing it away in bunches, which is silly, but none of my concern. If it was an athlete that wasn’t playing hard and was getting criticized for it, I can see that debate.

But Barkley isn’t playing for his lunch money; he isn’t a person of high power in a public setting that has a problem which would affect his leadership abilities.

(Though, if Chuckles did run for Governor of Alabama, I wouldn’t want to hear his economic improvement strategy: “Let’s just take all last year’s taxes and put in on Red 19—we’ll triple our state income!”)

A lot of what we think about the topic depends on who it is: Pete Rose is considered a baseball pariah—even though it was never proven he bet on baseball as a player, which is what keeps him out of the Hall of Fame.

Michael Jordan heavily gambled (there’s even been that gossip-like rumor that Jordan was forced to retire from basketball in 1993 because of gambling problems)—but we don’t let that affect our judgment of His Airness.

In fact, we don’t let anything affect our opinion of Jordan. It’s taking on mythic proportions at this point. He’s turned into Bill Brasky from the SNL skits with Will Ferrell.

Let’s hope Kobe Bryant doesn’t start gambling away money at a blackjack table—he’ll never be allowed on the basketball court again.

We sure are funny sports fans. We hate the gamblers, but we love the lines. In that spirit, here are the odds for some upcoming sporting events:

10:1—Odds that Kobe Bryant and Raja Bell participate in a “No Holds Barred” match after Game 7, with Luke Walton and Lakers assistant Kurt Rambis as Kobe’s manager.

Hilarious: Riveting—Odds that Bill Walton will call Game 7 of Lakers-Suns Saturday and act like he doesn’t know or acknowledge Luke Walton.

Over/Under on how many days until Paris Hilton moves on to Vince Young or Jay Cutler: 6

2:1—Odds that Barry Bonds uses his recent head injury to plead that amnesia caused him to forget whether or not he knowingly took steroids. Looks like now we’ll never know.

EVEN—The winner of NASCAR’s Crown Royal 250 must take 250 shots of Crown to prove he’s the champ.

1,000,000:1—Odds that Jeff Gordon is that man.

In the last 96 hours, I’ve become a father, fought step throat, dealt with crazy neighbors and through it all did my best to get my sports fix. On Thursday, I became a father to a beautiful baby girl that my wife and I named Brielle (thankfully, she looks a lot like my wife). We also have a four year old son, Cole. I tell you this because the last four days have been, well, a little crazy.

Hello, my name is Bri. I’m a sports addict. This is the story of how I blended sports into the weekend my daughter was born.

Thursday, April 27, 2006
My wife was induced for labor at 7:00 a.m., which meant we had to get up at 5:30. After some general proceedings, the doctor informed us we had a couple hours before the show really began. Thanks to the posh luxury hospital we choose, we had a flat screen TV with a DVD player in a room bigger than Donald Trump’s vault. Thanks to my father-in-law, we had the Billy Bob Thorton remake of Bad News Bears .

Is there anyone more qualified than Thorton to assume the role of Buttermaker? That movie so wrong, you can’t help but laugh.

Halfway through the movie, my wife grabbed her bed and my hand so hard I have a small scar from my wedding ring being gouged into my fingers. Um, nurse, we’re ready for the epidural.

One short hour later, our baby was here—and my life was forever changed.

Fast forward through the whirlwind family visits and we were relatively calm in the post-delivery room, still posh and complete with internet access. As my wife and daughter went off to sleep, I thought it would be a good time to check out the NBA Playoffs. Bad idea.

When I finally wore down near midnight, I shut off the TV and settled into my less than cozy chair.

Twenty minutes into dreamland, my daughter gave me my first wake-up call. First lesson—sleep when the baby sleeps.

Friday, April 28, 2006
Day one with our new daughter produced more whirlwind family visits and our son Cole getting strep throat. As my wife and I tried to get the hang of things, I secretly kept checking playoff scores and NFL Draft prognostications.

This time, I learned my lesson. I slept when they slept. But since they were awake, I was able to watch the Lakers take a 2 games-to-one lead over the Phoenix Suns.

So here’s my take: if the argument surrounding Kobe Bryant not being MVP was that he didn’t make his team mates better, what does his performance in this series do to that? 17 points and 7 assists, with all other Laker starters in double figures. Certainly seems MVP-esque.

MVP is an objectionable prize, broken down by not just stats, but intangibles. We want and ask for certain things from the front-runners, but we still manipulate the facts and figures to our liking. I don’t know the answer to the MVP questions, but I do know that Kobe’s made a point—and with that posterizing dunk on Nash in Wednesday’s Game 2, a very big point.

How about a little credit to Phil Jackson? Sure, Jackson always has the best players to win his titles with, but how about the 1994 season without Michael Jordan? Or this Zen-like approach to the Suns in these playoffs? Let’s hope P-Jax writes a book about it.

Saturday, April 29, 2006
We got to leave the hospital with our little bundle of joy, but not until mid-afternoon. Which meant my daughter and I had some quality time watching the NFL Draft together. Naturally, she slept. It won’t be the last time she gets bored and falls asleep with daddy watching sports.

I’ll share this with her someday, that she got her first taste of the NFL by sleeping through the Texans making one of the biggest draft day mistakes in recent history. As I enjoyed her resting comfortably on my chest, I sat stunned and intrigued that Houston actually picked Mario Williams first, letting Bush go to the Saints at number 2.

Has the NFL become so self-involved and over-analyzing that teams really create flaws in players deemed too good to be true? What was once questionable about Vince Young was his ability to escape would-be tacklers at the professional level. With time that passed. But I actually heard people say this was something Bush would have trouble doing in the NFL as well.

Of course, we can’t know until we see Bush play—the same could be said about Young—but Bush has the ability to play no less than four positions in the NFL, and play each now. Then there’s the fact that for the better part of two seasons at USC, no one could lay a hand on him.

It made me sick. Well, not really—but I did get strep throat late Saturday night.

Sunday, April 30, 2006
My wife and I are in the midst of buying a house—a process that can’t end fast enough. We have, to my knowledge, the worst neighbors in the history of apartment life. It’s like their entire existence is spent listening to weird music at obscene levels at all hours of the night.

Naturally, they choose Saturday night to have some fun with the speakers. My wife couldn’t sleep because the baby is hungry ALL THE TIME. Seriously, newborns should come with a warning label. The baby is like LenDale White in the off-season.

After a morning trip to the local sick-bay where I acquired some much needed anti-biotics and the obligatory “get some rest” prescription, I settled in for an afternoon of NBA Playoffs. The wife was fine with this, I didn’t even ask. Well, maybe because she was sleeping.

I take what I can get. Welcome to the world, Brielle. And welcome to the sports world your daddy lives in.

I admit I love and miss the NBA of the 1980’s. Magic and the Lakers against Bird and the Celtics, along with Michael’s one-man show. Here we are, nearly twenty years removed from that time and the main gripe against the NBA is its lack of anything resembling the basketball most of its current fans grew up watching.

All is not lost. I think the NBA is slowly working its way back to that 80’s vibe, with star players like LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade and star-studded teams like the Pistons. With that in mind, here are some early playoff awards, a.k.a. ‘I Love the 80’s: NBA Playoffs 2006’.

The “I Wanna Be Sedated” Award to the possibility of Spurs-Pistons Part Deux.
Sure, the 'Stones and the Spurs are fundamentally sound and team oriented—that’s great, except it made for one of the most boring, un-exciting Finals in the past twenty-five years last season. The Finals were uglier and more frightening than the Tom Cruise-Katie Holmes era. With that in mind…

“Sweet Dreams Are Made of This” Award for Best Finals Match-up for fans and media to:
Lakers-Cavs. With a match-up like this, the league and the fans would get exactly what they’ve longed for and the media would be able to write epic pieces about Kobe vs. LeBron. It would be a classic series between two superstars not seen truly since 1991's Magic vs. Michael. Hey, a guy can “dream” can’t he?

Suns-Nets would offer scores like 130-122 in OT. It’s the anti-2005 Finals. Just think of Jason Kidd against Steve Nash, the two best point guards (Chris Paul aside) in the NBA, going at each other. What would be the over/under on combined assists between the two of them? 30? 35? How about the amount of combined dunks from Shawn Marion and Vince Carter? J

ust a terrific potential series between two teams who run up and down the court like Steve Prefontaine--and have no interior presence what-so-ever.

Lakers-Heat—Why not just combine the 80’s and the present? Miami Vice meets Showtime. Riley vs. Jackson. Is there a need to even point out the massive ratings boost the Finals would receive if it were Shaq and the Heat against Kobe and the Lakers? New Shaq sidekick against old Shaq sidekick. East coast L.A. vs. West coast L.A. I’d even hire the ringside announcers from Rocky IV to call this series. I can hear them now, as Shaq and Kobe stare each other down following Luke Walton assuming the old role of Kurt Rambis and tackling Dwyane Wade: “ It’s a gutter war!” In fact, if I’m running ‘The Ocho’ one day, I’m putting them as my number two announcing team, right behind Cotton McKnight and Pepper Brooks.

If the NBA wants to go NCAA Tournament/George Mason Cinderella on us, we could have Clippers-Wizards in the Finals. What better story than two former pathetic teams that are young and energetic; who entertain and can score. Give Gilbert Arenas a national stage in order for everyone to see him as the Top 10 player he is. Picture, if you dare, Sam Cassell doing the ‘Giant Gonads’ dance after a big fourth quarter three. Now that’s fan-tastic.

“The Future’s So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades” Award to LeBron James for Best New Artist.
On Saturday, I thought I saw a reincarnation of Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan in the body of one LeBron James. Never heard of him before, but apparently the kid can play basketball. He’s the first person since Bird or Magic that has an actual chance to average a triple-double at some point in his career. But these playoffs are really about his chance to make ‘The Jump’ to another level, that being success in the postseason. He handles the ball; he rebounds; he passes—oh, and he scores. The way he changes pace and his court vision are the primary reason that King James was able to drop a 32-11-11 triple double. With perspective, all it did was give the Cavs a 1-0 series lead against the Wiz, so this wasn’t Magic against the Sixers in the ’80 Finals—but it’s a great way to start. James also won the “You Can Do Magic” Award by the band America in a similar category.

The “Dancing With Myself” Award to Kobe Bryant in the Lakers-Suns Series.
As a Lakers fan, I’m dreading this series if Kobe doesn’t start being Kobe—like Kevin being forced to bunk with Wet-The-Bed-Cousin Fuller in Home Alone 2. This could go one of two ways—the Lakers are either getting blown out of the water or winning this series. Think about it: do you want to let Kobe get to a seventh game? Me neither. And why? Because he’s put up 39, 37, 51 and 43 against Phoenix this season.

But on Sunday, with the Lakers trailing throughout the game, keeping it close throughout, I was surprised to see Kobe defer to team mates Luke Walton and Lamar Odom—which hasn’t been done since those two were in college. C’mon Kobe, don’t think you’re fooling us—we all know you’re “Hungry Like The Wolf.”

The “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” Award to David Stern for the NBA’s outdated and useless playoff rules.
Stern rules the NBA with an iron fist not seen since Stalin. He’s certainly the supreme ruler of the NBA and we get that. But can someone explain to me why the playoff seeding formula is more difficult to figure out than the math equations from Good Will Hunting? The Clippers absolutely tank its last couple games, drop to the sixth seed, but host a playoff series against a divisional champ with a worse record? In the words of Dr. Evil, “Rrriiiigggghhhttt.” Ditch the division winner ranks ahead of regular season record stuff, pronto.

Plus, if the playoffs were any longer, we’d be staring at an end date of mid-July. Seriously, my daughter was in the womb for shorter than this—TNT's got 7 games in 7 weeks after the first round is over. One of the NBA’s worst moves with regard to the playoffs was making the first round a seven game series. There’s a lost sense of urgency in the 7-7-7-7 format. Theoretically, a team could play 28 playoff games—that’s not a playoff, that’s more than a third of the regular season.

The “Every Rose Has Its Thorn” Award to the Pistons for “most unlikely but likely happening” in the playoffs.
Simply put, the Pistons have gone over three full NBA seasons without losing one major starter or role player to injury. That’s over 300 games without being bitten by the injury bug (while benefiting heavily from an injury to Karl Malone in 2004 and Dywane Wade last year). Stuff like that doesn’t happen in the NBA for this long, so guess what? The basketball Gods seem to really enjoy music from the ’70’s. Their favorite song? Instant Karma, of course.

(To view this post with pictures and links to the stat pages, please visit http://sportswithmoore.blogspot.com)

Dear NBA MVP Voters:

For your MVP consideration, may I submit the name of Shawn Marion, a.k.a. "The Matrix". I see no reason why Marion can't be considered a legitimate MVP candidate. Let's continue the trend from last year and get out of our one dimensional minds, where we only choose players like Tim Duncan and Shaquille O'Neal. Step into the multi-dimensional game of the Matrix.

The Matrix sees things in numbers and I hope you will too. As voters, you often see things that aren't there, such as superstardom before it's actually achieved. Marion has earned his place among the best, as proven by his World Basketball Championship try-out invitation. If you see the numbers falling in green, you see the Matrix' impact on the Phoenix Suns is as important as Steve Nash's.

For the season, Marion is throwing out multi-dimensional, MVP stats: 22.0 ppg, 12.4 rbg (2nd best in the NBA), 1.98 steals per game (5th best in NBA) while playing the fourth most minutes in the NBA. He's shooting nearly 52% from the field--as a undersized power forward who can play low and shoot the three. The guy ranks first in the NBA in double-doubles. According to the NBA efficiency ratings, he's the third most efficient player in the league.

Don't know if you've been paying attention lately, but the Matrix is revolutionizing the West. He was the Western Conference Player of the Month in February, where he averaged 24.2 points, 13.9 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game. To top that off, he shot 53.8% from the field.

Look at his recent games: 44 points, 15 rebounds and 4 steals against Boston on February 22nd. He shot 68% from the field and went 10-10 from the foul line. Marion followed that up three days later with 31 points and 24 rebounds against Charlotte then had 30 and 18 against Houston. Last night? He merely put up 29 and 18, with 3 assists and 3 blocks against Milwaukee.

I hear the chants for Kobe and LeBron. And I agree, they're all in the running and rightly so. It's not that I'm endorsing Marion for MVP completely. I just want you to consider it. If you have a list of five on your ballot, put the Matrix before guys like Shaq and Duncan--they don't deserve it out of rep.

Honestly, have you seen the way Shaq labors up and down the court? There he is, getting out-blocked by Samuel Dalembert. I saw Raef LaFrentz beat him up court the other night against Boston. Paul Peirce and Delonte West drove straight to the bucket without so much as a sniff of Diesel fumes in the lane. For the past four years, you all consider Shaq a viable MVP candidate, but he openly admits to taking time off--mentally and otherwise--in order to prepare for the "real" season (the playoffs). The MVP is about more than that.

Now, the question is will you take Shawn Marion seriously? Or will he be forgotten because he's Steve Nash's team mate and therefore possibly a product of The Nash. Sometimes it takes better team mates and solid guard play to fully appreciate a front court player. So should some of the credit for Marion's success not go to Nash? Of course. But tell me, did Shaq win any of his MVP's without Kobe? How about Tim Duncan without Tony Parker or David Robinson?

I'll be one of the first to admit I haven't paid too much attention to Shawn Marion (besides the highlight reel dunks) since he came into the league out of UNLV. He was the classic skinny tweener, but his stats are anything but in between. He's a high energy guy. He's a defensive terror and could be the heart and soul of the team's fast paced attack because he can play nearly any position on the floor. He may shoot a little weird and dunk too much for your taste, but you probably don't have the greatest shooting form in your rec league, either.

In closing, I beg the voters of the NBA MVP to be bold. Consider all your options. Don't limit yourselves to the same batch of players year after year; be open to an Elton Brand, Gilbert Arenas or Shawn Marion. Become one with the Matrix.

P.S.--If you're still confused about your Rookie of the Year, I hope you saw that Chris Paul averaged 17.2 points and 9.5 assists last month--the first rookie to do that in ten years.

All the best,
Moore Sports

Getting ready for the second half of the NBA season should be considered a sport itself in many ways. Unlike with baseball, which takes place in the middle of the summer and leaves us with many distractions until games really matter, basketball takes place in the middle of winter. The only thing between us and the NBA playoffs is about four more weeks of winter, the NCAA Tournament, the World Baseball Classic, the start of the MLB season and golf.

In other words, there may be only 30 games left in the season, but the second half of the NBA season is going to drag out longer than a daytime soap opera subplot. Let's countdown the top five things that can, will or should happen in the NBA 2005-2006 season, Part Deux.

5. Behind the scenes action. It's often the stuff that happens behind the magic curtain, where NBA Commissioner David Stern plays Wizard of Oz that the most interesting stuff happens. Right now, that includes the NBA tinkering with the playoff format, allowing the teams with the best records in each conference to be seeded properly, instead of having the division runner-up which also has the second best record to be seeded fourth overall. Winning the division will still get you in, it just doesn't guarantee a home playoff series--which is a positive step.

Another item to watch is to see if more progresses in the coming months regarding the Sonics new arena, which, if not approved, could led to the Sonics moving (San Diego or Las Vegas, anyone?) in 2010.

If you want a better read on David Stern, check out Bill Simmon's interview with him. Stern's an average guy who loves basketball, but thinks globally and even has his own language at times. He's not afraid to expand the league again in a couple years or let any number of struggling franchises move to cities excited about the prospect of having a team. Stay tuned. Personally, I'm waiting for Stern to grow back the mustache and the over the ears haircut.

4. The Trade Deadline. For Isiah Thomas, it means his season is almost over. He might have to focus more on his civil suit involving the woman who's accusing him of sexual harassment. The only thing left for Thomas to do is trade away his promising big man, Channing Frye and the Slam Dunk Champion Nate Robinson to, say, the Clippers for newly signed Vin Baker (more on this shortly).

For teams and players that actually matter (which immediately negates the Knicks and all those Nene trade rumors), the hottest gossip surround Steve Francis and Paul Pierce. Does anyone, besides Isiah, think that Stevie Franchise is a "good addition" to their team? If someone is actually dumb enough to trade for him, they should immediately flush their season. And someone probably will. That man will automatically win my "Isiah Thomas Excellence in General Managing Award".

Just yesterday, the Chicago Tribune reported that Tracy McGrady could be traded, as well as Allen Iverson. Neither of these things will or should happen. Here's why: i####'re Philadelphia, barely sitting at .500 and alive for a playoff spot, do you actually throw all that away? Iverson's going to bring something, but it will be a poor trade in terms of talent for talent. You lose your shot at being a competitive playoff team in the relatively weak Eastern Conference.

If you are Houston, is there any conceivable situation in which you'd part with one of the league's top five players? No, none what-so-ever. The Rockets made a steal a couple years ago in trading Francis for McGrady anyway. Plus, if T-Mac is traded, it would expose Yao Ming for the horrible fraud of an NBA center he is. It will be a relatively quite trading deadline since the usual mover and shaker Dallas Mavericks have good chemistry--and not even Mark Cuban would mess with that.

3. The looming superstar injury. It's going to happen, it always does. Doesn't Vegas keep odds on something like this, it seems right up their alley. "Odds that Shaquille O'Neal strains a muscle which will force him to sit for five weeks, get grossly out of shape and thereby destroy Miami's pseudo chances for the Eastern Conference title" would be a great running line in Vegas. It would change every week and probably cause a couple fans in South Beach to have strokes.

Here's my list of top contenders (besides Shaq, who's always #1): The entire New Jersey Nets starting five, Jermaine O'Neal, Kenyon Martin (if he isn't traded), Tim Duncan, Sam Cassell, Tracy McGrady and Pau Gasol.

If you're outraged and completely disagree, well, hold on a second. Think about it: Kidd comes down with something every season now, often twice as he ages faster than Robin Williams in Jack. Richard Jefferson has been hurt on and off and the king of "is it a real injury or is he faking", the one and only Vince Carter. Jermaine O'Neal often goes through key stretches of the season on the IR, which makes me believe come late March, he'll be back there again. Same with Sam Cassell. And Tim Duncan has been battling foot problems quietly all season. T-Mac's going through some personal issues, so it wouldn't surprise me if his back starts "hurting" again for the final eight to ten weeks of the season.

2. Which pseudo contender bites the dust first? If the Pistons, Heat, Mavericks and Spurs are the "legit" contenders in the eyes of most, then who among the "pretender contender's" will bow out not so gracefully? The argument could be made for many, including those four teams. But within a month you'll find a team that looked good all year all the sudden isn't exactly playing like the Hickory Huskers anymore.

The Clippers might have just signed their death warrant with the stunning acquisition of Vin Baker. This is typical Elgin Baylor. Or Donald Sterling. What are the Clips thinking here? Even Isiah bailed on Baker. The Clippers sit at 30-21, fourth best in the Western Conference, fighting not only for an elusive playoff spot, but a home series at that and they bring in Vin and Tonic? In 27 games with the Knicks and Rockets (who cut him in training camp) last season, he scored a total of 38 points.

Maybe they needed to make a documentary about it: Vin and Out in L.A. I think with this sudden disturbing turn of events and if Baker sees any serious minutes, this team slides into the playoffs in the eight spot at best.

1. Which team dominates the second half like the Pistons (and the Mavericks) did the first? I like Phoenix here for several reasons. Steve Nash is putting up better numbers than he did last year when he won the MVP. The Suns are 35-17, just five games back of the West leading Mavs--and they've been without one of the best players in the league all season.

But when Amare Stoudamire returns, this team will just get better. Think of how fresh he'll be for the playoffs, too. The schedule is more than favorable, with just a handle or dozen games against teams that can legitimately beat the Suns. Their second half schedule features just two games against Dallas and San Antonio--including just one game against Detroit and no games against Miami. It looks like Gonzaga's WCC schedule. They had to beef it up with out of division/conference opponents.

Now we're officially ready. Let's get the second half of the season started! On second thought, I'll take an NBA nap, TiVO the next Kobe 80 point game and see you in April for the playoffs.