....That could be the only explanation that I can come up with to explain why in the world the Knicks are now sporting the highest payed back court ever....With two shoot first point guards who have a reputation for driving teams to the lottery after a few years. No rings between Steph and Steve, no MVP awards, or any awards for that matter. Does Zeke really think that by throwing in Steve Francis (shoot first point guard) to compliment Stephon Marbury (shoot first point guard) and Jamal Crawford (shoot first player, period) makes the Knicks a contender anytime soon?....Or is this a signal of some moves to come before tomarrow's trade deadline? I could see Crawford going somewhere but c'mon!, Zeke! You killed your future by signing that overweight center with a bad heart in the off season to a giant contract, right after you sign that other overhyped, overpayed center from Seattle that wears a garbage bag for a Superman cape....and you have no one on your roster to give the big men the ball....You spend another butt load of money for a coach that has about 30 or so years under his belt and is known for making point guards actual point guards. How does Francis fit into this equation???

I think the red panic button has been pushed by Isiah. He knows that Dolan will wake up anyday now from his coma so Zeke's trying his hardest to run this team into the ground before he gets canned......That, or Isiah Thomas is smoking crack.

TONITE ON TNT

KOBE VS. BRON

If there is any decency in this world...all my fellow bloggers will get this and get to writing!!! Tonite on TNT, the Cavs take on the Lakers, on TNT, at 10:30pm. (no, I do not work for TNT -but can if offered) Kobe vs. Lebron, in L.A., true showtime.

But I offer this challenge to the both of you awesome athletes. Its a challenge from us fans!!! Scoring titles are good.....but give us a show tomarrow......JUST PASS!!!! See who is the best between the both of you, and give the ball up. See how many assists you can throw....and see if you can BEAT SCOTT SKILES...(30 assists in a game)....

Push this article like crack, get the media to ask Kobe and Lebron about this. They can do it up.....just for us!!!!......DAMN THAT WOULD BE COOL!!!!

Thank you,

Us loving Fans!

In the name of "The Matrix", "The Answer", "The Big Diesel", "The Big Fundamental", "Vincesanity", "Tmac", "AK47", "CB4", "The Franchise", "Starbury", "King James", "Mr. Big Shot", "Big Shot Rob", "The Big Ticket", "STAT", and yes my new favorite, "Mamba".

And also in the name of the classics like, "Air", "Iceman", "The Human Highlight Reel", "Mugsey", "Spud", "The Pearl", "Magic", "Legend", "The Chief", "The Worm", "Spider", and my personal favorite, "World Be Free".

I bring to you the nicknames of some current NBA players that are in need of a good alias. Enjoy, and also, let me know what I might have missed!

Shareef Abdur Raheem - "Black Cat": Every team he joins, is cursed with bad luck and a trip to the lottery.

Kwame Brown - "Blankman": Aren't the reasons obvious?

Chris Kaman - "Horror Show": Have you seen this guy's mug yet? If the basketball career doesn't work out, you're a dead ringer for every last slasher movie that's ever to come out.

Mike Dunleavy Jr. - "Cut and Run": Because you earn the big bucks, get the big bucks, then vanish without a trace.

Darko Milicic - "D.O.A." - Second pick in the 2003 draft, minutes per game career average of 5.9....you do the math.

Tony Parker - "Lucky Dog": 1) Tim Duncan, 2) Eva Longoria...I rest my case.

Josh Smith - "Poster Shot": Every dunk, poster worthy.

Chris Paul - "The Savior": Compare the Hornets' record from last year to this year...and Atlanta passed on this guy?

Grant Hill - "Mr. Resilient": More comebacks than Madonna's music career....totally amazing.

Marvin Williams - "The Question": We have 'The Answer", "The Truth", and now I present "The Question". How does a guy get picked second in the draft but yet couldn't even start for his college squad???

Carlos Boozer - "The Magician": He tricked a blind man, then disappeared from Cleveland to go to Utah...then disappeared again. And for his next act, watch him pull a rabbit out of his hat...nothing up his sleaves...presto!

Ron Artest - "Screwloose": Other qualifying names include "Wingnut", "Crazytrain", "Captain Insanity", and  "Poo-for-brains".

Troy Hudson - "Foo-Foo Do": C'mon Troy, the poodle look was never in.

Latrell Sprewell - "Jobless": How are the hungry mouths to feed coping now without the million dollar salary and a roster spot?

The New York Knicks - "The Lost Boys": As Charles Barkley would put it, Patrick Ewing, Willis Reed, and Clyde Frazier, are rolling around in their graves right now.

Sam Cassell - "Half man/Half Hobbit": I know, I know, biting on Sir Charles again...but it's just too easy.

When you start quoting Charles Barkley, you know that your spent....So I'll quit while I'm ahead...but anymore nicknames that you can come up with, hey, that's what the comments are for!!!!

I was reading an article on an "un-name-able" (if that is even a word) other sports website and they brought up this valid point about the Pistons possibility of winning 70 games this season....here is a quote from the article....

"With such a short rotation, they're better off not extending themselves during the regular season. Already, Ben Wallace is hurting. And, despite the Pistons' rep of being a young team, the Wallaces are 31 years old, and seem to be getting grayer by the day -- unless we want to ignore the 32 points Pau Gasol put on them, and the 36 by Elton Brand, and the career-high 37 by Zach Randolph, and the career-high 37 by Chris Bosh ... all in the last three weeks.

It's a tougher league than ever, with more defense and more parity. The Pistons have already lost to the Jazz and Wizards (at Detroit) and eked out wins over the Celtics and Blazers.

They still have to play Miami four times, Indiana four, Cleveland four, Milwaukee three, New Jersey three, San Antonio one (at San Antonio), Dallas one and Phoenix one. They'll probably win most of those 21 games, but even if they were to go 15-6 against those teams, which would be a tremendous accomplishment, they'd have to go 32-3 against the rest of the league to win 70."

Okay, now hold your horses Pistons lovers....pull back in the claws....calm down for a sec...and for god sakes, stop throwing the refreshments. This is a valid point made out....and yes it's just a quote....but a logical quote...and also, a quote that I agree with.

I think for the Piston's sake, it would be smart to save that energy that they are displaying for a healthy playoff run instead of a run at the regular season record. The Spurs are sputtering right now and are probably the biggest threat to the Pistons to have a better regular season record. And as Spurs history shows, they are known for waiting until March and April to really turn on the jets. The Pistons run at the best record in the league for the season would be a better goal than running at history. After all, it was that fateful game 7 in the finals last year that could have turned out much better if the game was in Motown. And guaranteed, the best record in the league would be no where near 70 games, it would be closer to 60-65. 

The odds seem to be against the Pistons. And c'mon folks, in roster comparison between the 95-96 Bulls and today's Pistons, wouldn't you want the Bulls rotation?...

Rodman, Jordan and Pippen were all named to the league's All-Defensive Team. Toni Kukoc won the NBA Sixth Man Award, and the supporting cast included Steve Kerr (second in three-point field goal percentage), Luc Longley (9.1 ppg), ya gotta love that goofy Aussie and Ron Harper (7.4 ppg).

Beyond the Pistons starting five, who else other than Antonio McDyess, and Carlos Arroyo get considerable tick? (And don't even start throwing names at me like Maurice Evans, Jason Maxiell, Dale Davis, Lyndsey Hunter, and Darko....yeah right, Michiganders.) Chauncey and Rip may be playing out of there minds right now, but they don't even compare to MJ and Scottie.

But before the Pistons fans start frothing rabidly at the mouth, let me make my point clear. They shouldn't even try to get to 70. And I doubt they would if they did try. The health of that oh so valuable starting five has to be the priority. Any injury to one of the Pistons' starting five...and I would worry for this team. No doubt this team has the gusto to be the best in the league come playoff time....but best ever....seeing is believing and I just don't see it.

Just one man's thought after reading a pretty serviceable article. Being from Michigan, I know how loyal the fans are to the Pistons. So I know that a lynching will quite possibly ensue....but hey, that's what ya gotta love about blogs.

As the year of 2005 comes to a close. We take a look at some of the biggest blunders in the year that was. This is just my take on the NBA in 2005. I even ranked them for you just to see what you think and if you agree.

10. Chicago Bulls trade Eddy Curry to New York. Pax had to do what he had to do. He offered Curry money if he failed the DNA tests that would have given a better outlook on Eddy's ticker. Eddy refused and the trade ensued. I don't blame John Paxson for letting the leading scorer go for the sake of Eddy's health but I think he could have gotten better if he would have been a little more patient. Instead, he trades not only Curry, but Antonio Davis, clearly giving away two of his main big men for a stubby power forward in Mike Sweetney and Tim "Fugazi" Thomas.....Thomas is still MIA and looking to be traded elswhere. Sweetney shows up whenever the buffet is all you can eat. And ofcourse, the Bulls are lacking size and are having trouble making up for the lost offense.

9. Miami makes a mega trade after being one quarter away from the finals last year. Its still too early to really make an assessment on this but the "too much talent" question still looms large. Riles gives up Eddie Jones, and loses Damon Jones. Then takes Antoine Walker (who is still lost in the rotation), Jason Williams (just coming off of an injury), James Posey (an all around player with more D than O) and signs Gary Payton (aging trash talker). The rotation is still trying to find itself but the injuries have slowed the progression. It still may be too early to tell but when your only one quarter from the finals, a drastic change like this is known to implode a team and it's chemistry.

8. Houston trades Mike James to Toronto for Rafer Alston. This is more a mistake on Houston's part than on Toronto's part. I still wonder why about this trade other than the fact that the Rockets GM got sold on a collection of And1 tapes of the Rafer of old. Rafer is still MIA with a torn ligament, or something like that. And the Rockets are in shambles with injuries. They could have used Mike James's fire, defense, and championship experience. Plus the fact that he knows the team a little more than Rafer did. Who would have thought that the Rockets could plummet so hard and so fast.

7. Knicks trade Kurt Thomas for Quentin Richardson. I know Kurt was aging but he was New York's best defensive big man. And I don't know what is with Zeke and his fasination with small forwards that shoot too much but Q was clearly not needed. Isiah Thomas really knows how to put together championship squads. He did it for San Antonio when he traded Nazr Mohammed for Malik Rose, and he's done it again by trading away Kurt Thomas for Q. The Suns cheer for Zeke when NY goes to Phoenix now....way to go Isiah....And this isn't the only time we see New York featured in this article. (surprised?)

6. NBA dress code over NBA cares. Chalk this one up for the almighty David Stern. On the same day that the NBA announces the very well thought out NBA Cares Program, the NBA annouces the NBA Dresscode. The Dresscode clearly overshadowed what is a good program. Instead of the media reflecting on what good things NBA players do for the people, they now wonder what players are wearing on gameday. Just a bad P.R. move if you ask me.

5. Earl Watson signs with the Denver Nuggets. Big bucks for a third string point guard. Denver offers money to a well rounded true point guard when it clearly has a pretty good backcourt in Andre Miller and Earl Boykins. Earl Watson agrees to the money after making a case for more money fighting for playing time in Memphis, and is now barried on the Denver bench. Denver loses Nene for the season at the season's start. Voshon Leonard is no where to be found and now Denver's front court and 3 point shooting is thin. The money could have been spent somewhere else. Earl could have found a better place that could have used his talents. And Denver is struggling now to stay over .500. Who to blame, who to blame?

4. Jerome James is signed to the Knicks for 29 million smackaroonies. One playoff series where Jerome is a monster on the boards. Never mind the guady numbers that he put up in the regular season. Isiah Thomas still signs this loser to a giant contract. And where has James been since? On the pine, counting his money. Good move Zeke.

3. Larry Brown is let go from Detroit and goes to New York. Remember last season when every other NBA article was about Larry Brown running his mouth about something. The entire Detroit 2004-2005 season was an LB soap opera. See what winning does to an already inflated ego. First it was, Larry might go to Cleveland to be GM, then it was the LB to the Knicks rumors during the playoffs. Now look at how much we hear from LB now that he's finally in his dream job. Losing horribly with a horrible team. And look at Motown now, on its way to a very possible 70 win season. You go Larry. From the finals to the lottery. What a way to end a hall of fame career.

2. Trusting Artest. This was close to be on the #1 spot but we are still yet to see this pan out. It could be a happy ending with Indiana getting true value for the "Tru Warior?!". I was excited to see the brawl behind them. I was excited to see this team come back to elite status after watching Artest blow up the chemistry last year. And now this, he does it again. I think in the end, this will be more of a mistake on Artest because he will never be trusted with a long term deal (there's always the Knicks!). But Larry Bird has a right to feel betrayed. He trusted Artest and got burned. This may have put the Pacers in a rut for the season yet again.

1. Atlanta Hawks passing on Chris Paul for Marvin Williams. Atlanta was stacked at the small forward position. With promising youngsters Josh Smith and Josh Childress, a hefty contract eating Al Harrington, and also Joe Johnson with all his versatility and a heftier contract. Atlanta's needs were at the point guard position. So instead of drafting the leading rookie of the year. A true point guard that has put up Jason Kidd like numbers in NOK/OK named Chris Paul. They go for an unproven prospect in Marvin Williams....A small forward. Just look at the numbers so far. And especially, look at the minutes per game. Chris Paul is a star worthy of Allstar consideration just on numbers alone. Marvin Williams, well, I'm still wondering why everyone was calling this kid the second coming of MJ. Atlanta fans are still wondering how this young team could have been. And they will forever wonder. All the way to the lottery once again.

Did I miss anything?....Don't be afraid to let me know.......Onward to 2006!