What a ringing endoresment for the NBA. The two best teams in basketball get together and the winner of Game 3 barely scores 70 points. Man, oh man, I love this game. Talk about pure excitement. And the kids these days say they don't like baseball because it's boring. Yeah, the NBA is really where you want to be. I've covered high school games where the teams have scored more points--in fewer minutes. And as for LeBron James and the analysts saying things like he's the team leader and the star player and all of that.."when is he going to step up and take control of this series?" Here's a better question: "when is a professional basketball player going to HIT AN OPEN SHOT?" Is there anyone reading this that can't find one person at a playground anywhere in this country that can't hit a wide, wait I mean, WIDE THE FREAK OPEN jump shot? The NBA...it's zzzzzzzzztastic! 

I love basketball about as much as most basketball fans, which is why I have only a lukewarm temperment for the NBA. When I was little, the NBA was exciting. Call it a lack of defense or whatever, but when teams were racing up and down the court, hitting open jump shots--what a concept--and the tally of the game was 122-115, those were the days.

But those days are gone. Maybe NBA scoring is related to the length of shorts. As shorts have gotten longer, scoring averages have fallen. I used to suggest that NCAA basketball was better than the NBA because, among other things, you can run actual zone defenses. But I've recently decided to downgrade the NBA as being a lesser form of basketball than high school.

Two of the top high school teams in my area played last night and the winning team, the defending state champions, avenged an earlier loss to the same team, scoring 75 points on the night. Big deal, right. Well, high school games are exactly 3/4 the length of NBA games, so 75 points is a pretty solid tally. Over the course of a 48 minute game, given the average point outlet for a quarter, this team would have scored 94 points, which would have been enough to beat no fewer than 13 NBA teams this week alone--including Portland, the Knicks, Magic and Sixers twice each, Los Angeles (either team), Milwaukee, Cleveland, Charlotte and Minnesota. Actually, their 75 points was enough to be Portland earlier this week anyway.

I know, NBA players are better, their defensive skills are better, the athleticism and all that. But it's relative. NBA players play against other professional players as these high school players play against other high schoolers. Also, both of the high school teams in question are very good, so it's not like one team was exploiting a glaring weakness in the other team--as if that doesn't happen in the NBA. These teams are more balanced than the Lakers. Who can LA beat sans Kobe? But both of these teams have been without their "star" players--both of whom are off to D1 schools next year, yet beat strong opponents. Sprain Kobe's knee and see how many games they win without him--they have a hard enough time winning WITH him. But I'm not picking on the Lakers. A lot of NBA teams are like that. That's because the NBA is concerned with showing off first. Hey, hey, check this out, watch me...that should be the motto that replaces I Love This Game. The NBA is less basketball and more And 1 Mix tape. I crack up when I watch those And 1 guys talk about hoping to make it to the league one day...you can dunk and do all kinds of crazy dribbling tricks--you're most of the way there.

For the purest, I might suggest a trip to your local high school gym to remember why you got excited about basketball to begin with. Basketball's like wine in that regard. I can get the #### on any blacktop in America; for the really good stuff, you have to search a little. But man, it's worth the work. 

People have been saying that the Sacramento Kings have taken a gamble with Ron Artest. First of all, the Maloofs are in the gambling business, so small wonder there. Just a side note--the gambling folks prefer the more innocuous "gaming" tag.

This shouldn't come as a major surprise. The Kings have dones this before with Chris Webber. Webber's career up to that point had been a little bit of a wreck and the Kings were going nowhere, so it seemed at the time like a no lose situation. That situation seemed to work out fine and bringing Artest to the Kings, in a best case scenario, should work out well, too.

Artest will give the Kings what they have lacked since parting ways with Webber and that's a presence in the post. The other thing the Kings have lacked is a shut down defensive player since the departure of Doug Christie. Artest can be both players at the same time. Overall, he's a better player than Stojakovic, and the loss in shooting shouldn't hurt the Kings significantly. Peja has not been shooting as well as he's capable and the Kings have plenty of capacity from the outside.

Further, minus Webber, Stojakovic had become a central focus of the team's offense. That's not really Peja's strength. Stojakovic is a complimentary player--a Pippen, a Worthy, a McHale, Tony Parker, that sort of guy. Peja was at his best when used to relieve pressure from Webber. Now that there is no C-Webb, defenses saw no reason to focus on the paint, making Peja's job more difficult.

Now that he's off to Indiana to play with Jermaine O'Neil, Peja can concentrate on his old task of freeing up for open looks off of a pass from the interior. O'Neil will love Stojakovic because he can take a lot of focus away from dominant post players. The Indiana fans will love him because he plays Indiana basketball--nothing overly fancy, fundamentally sound, vanilla with a few sprinkles. Think of him as the European Reggie Miller minus the trash talking.

As for Artest, there's little arguement that he's not one of the league's top players when he's on the court and playing the game. Off the court as an MMA fighter, interior decorator, rap mogul, and human sound byte, who knows. But that's where Sacramento comes in. Listen to the voice of an insider--Sacramento has a sedative effect. There is a minimal amount of trouble to be gotten into in Sacramento, which is what Chris Webber found out. People in Sacramento have often said they like the big city benefits--concerts, arts, professional sports--with all of the small town feel. Trust this, Sacramento is a living, breathing Xanax. It's the antithesis of living in New York or Chicago. I think Sacramento will have a mellowing effect on Artest--and if it doesn't, nowhere will.

Additionally, Artest will find that Sacramento fans will love him. They won't care if he brings attention to the town, has off the court issues, or has baggage that comes along for the ride--even if it's lot's of baggage. Lots and lots of baggage. Sacramento fans have a loyalty to the players on their teams that is unreal. The fans at the Triple A All Star game last year cheered one of the stars who formerly played for the River Cats. Can you even name a player that plays for your local Triple A baseball team, let alone track his career progress through the minors? I think Chris Webber learned to love Sacramento because Sacramentans loved him unconditionally. If Ron Artest is really just in need o####roup hug, he'll get it at ARCO. Virtually the second the trade was announced, people flooded Sacramento area memorabilia shops for an Artest jersey, which has yet to be produced. If that's not love, I don't know what is.