I'm not much of an NBA guy.  I know what's going on, but it's just hard to get into it until playoffs time.  Well, I'm in full NBA mode.  By full, I mean a little.  I'd still rather talk BCS, plus one, the 2010 NFL Draft, Braves pitching rotation, but come on.   The NBA will crown a champion soon.  Well, not soon..in about three months. 

    My question is this:  What happened?  In the East, Boston/ATL is knotted up.  Same with Rock City and Philly.  Orlando/Toronto was closer than the 4-1 series looked.  And Jay-Z is having problems knocking Soulja Boy off the charts.  While the West teams have dominated.  Wasn't the Nuggets/Lakers series supposed to seven?  Yeah, not even close.  Hornets took care of the Mavs easily (surprising easy).  Defending Champs took the best of what the Suns had and easily eclipsed them (see what I did there).  The only series of interest in the West is Jazz/Rockets. 

     Wasn't every series in the West going to be a knock down drag out?  Where eight seeds could beat one seeds and you don't know who to pencil in.  Didn't the Celts and Pistons have reserved seats for round two after four game sweeps?  

     All I have to say is beware of three seeds and their point guards.  Both PGs have seemed to flip the switch. 

   

   

The NBA salary cap is set at $53.135 million for the 06-07 season.  So I checked out si.com’s NBA salary report to make the best possible team that fits under that salary cap.  Let’s take a look:

 

 Starting five:

 

 C - Yao Ming – $12, 455,000

You’re going to need a presence down low.  What better than the 7’6” Ming? 

 PF - Dwight Howard - $4,806,720

Follow up that 7’6” nightmare with 6’11” Howard.  He’s a beast down low and you’re almost guaranteed a double-double. 

 

SF - Lebron James – $5,828,090

At a little under $6 mil, LeBron is a steal.  You won’t be able to keep him long, but one year is all you need with this team. 

SG - Dwyane Wade – $3,841,443

What else can you say about the SI, Sportsman of the Year?  He's what everyone wants in a teammate. 

PG - Kirk Hinrich - $3,192,628

He’s young, quick with great vision.  He’s Steve Nash with better range and without the reckless abandonment. 

 

Off the bench

 

C - Emeka Okafor –$4,300,560

Coming off the bench, Okafor can keep the middle clear of any flying objects. 

PF - Chris Bosh – $4,235,220

He’s the younger, cheaper version of Kevin Garnett. 

SF - Josh Howard – $1,667,603

I took Howard over Carmelo because he’s cheaper.  That’s the reason. 

SG - Ben Gordon - $3,862,080

Former sixth man award winner could be valuable backing Wade.

PG - Jameer Nelson - $1,272,120

Quite a surprise for the price.  Jameer can handle the ball and take that deep shot if needed. 

SF - Shane Battier - $5,393,300

Defensive specialist.  Every team needs one coming of the bench. 

 

Total - $49,187,161 (Below the cap, now I can get those leather seats for the box seats.)

 

There are thousands of choices I could have made.  What would your team look like? 

Is the game not like how you remembered it? Would you like to see it sped up or see some more life in it? Here are some minor changes that could make your favorite sport more enjoyable.

Soccer
Ditch: Dives–Nothing is worse than watching soccer and seeing someone take a dive. Be a man. It’s supposed to be an honorable game. Treat it like such.

Add: Another ref or two to help get these calls right. That would be less expensive than say Instant Replay.


Football
Ditch: Holding- If it’s happening on every play, just make it legal. It slows the game down way too much.

Add: 10 Second Celebrations-If the celebration last longer than 10 seconds, call a 15 yard Excessive Celebration penalty. Come on, you know you want to know what Chad Johnson is going to do next.

Baseball
Ditch: Designated Hitter-If you can hit, you should be able to pick up a glove and play some D. If you can pitch inside, maybe you should get hit every now and then. You aren't an athlete if you DH, you are just taking batting practice every third inning.

Add: Salary Cap-Come on, you really think the AL is better? They just spend more. The AL East could fund the War of Terror and still have some money left over to build a few hundred schools. Baseball will never be considered a fair sport until a Salary Cap is in place.

Basketball
Ditch: Million Dollar Shoe Contracts-Anyone who knows shoes knows that no Iverson was a tight shoe. The T-Macs are ugly and the Jordan’s keep getting worse. Don’t even get me started on the horrifying LeBrons. I would rather play barefoot. Put the attention back to where it belongs...the play.

Add: Rules to the game-Remember when traveling was traveling? Now it’s a way to make it on the plays of the day. I didn’t know you could take three steps after you stopped dribbling. This is what we are teaching our kids. I know it may add some pizzazz, but please call it like more like the NBA and less like And 1.