Generally, that two day gap between the end of the NBA season and the beginning of the playoffs is supposed to be ”calm”. A deep breath so to speak. If you’re a hardcore basketball fan you might even remember that hockey and baseball still exist. Were we given that luxury?
Absolutely not. Oden & Co. are coming to the draft. That means that for the first time, in a long time there will be a genuine debate on who should go 1 and who should go 2. No one will be settling or talking themselves into anything….two franchise players are on the board. That brings double the intrigue to the NBA draft lottery. Lately, it’s been ‘get #1 or bust.’ The teams that are in the final 5 will absolutely be sweating. The teams that get 5-4-3, will no doubt get excited and end up devastated. I pray that some of those teams keep with the recent trend and send their best player to the lottery instead of the GM. As a matter of fact, it should be mandatory. Imagine Paul Pierce’s look as the Celtics get #4. Or KG’s look of devastation if the T-Wolves made a run to the top 3 and ended up at 3. It would be crazy. Who wouldn’t want to see that. But more on the lottery and their teams later.
Before I hit the links, I have to talk about the most absurd thing I have seen today. John Hollinger (ESPN’s resident stat guru) must be a cannibus supporter and loves 4/20 because he is on something. I could live with his very wrong and annoying power rankings…but now he is talking about the ‘odd’s of teams winning. Hollinger says Miami has a 0.0% chance of winning the NBA Championship. Now, I’ll admit they have a tough road and they more than likely won’t do it. But any formula that takes a team with Shaquille O’Neal AND Dwyane Wade and says they have zero percent of winning a title is beyond retarded. Another reason why I hate math.
On to the links;
- Underrated storyline of the first round; how the Lakers respond to the Suns comments from last year’s playoffs, revealed in their book from last year. You should read the book, its pretty good, but if you haven’t you can see how the Suns really felt about the Lakers. Also, remember Amare’s idiocy of saying “I think we would take care of them pretty quick” in the first round. Mamba is motivated, and I’m sure their bigs are motivated to shut him down. The Lakers may not be near as talented, but they still have the Zen Master and Kobe. This Suns team is two seconds away from being dysfunctional…don’t write this series off quite yet.
- News Flash; crappy players from Minnesota want out. You know it is bad when Bracey Wright, a SECOND ROUND DRAFT PICK with next to no job security says he doesn’t even want to think about coming back. This article reminded me of how many crappy guards KG is playing with.
- Go ahead and read about the legacy of Don Nelson. It’s funny, the media slammed that decision at first. Wrong again people.
- The Pistons biggest threat is not themselves but their coach. I will say it a million times until he actually wins a title. You think Pat Riley won’t be looking down at the Pistons bench laughing?
- People are getting way caught up in VC returning and destroying the Raptors. It simply won’t be that easy. Plus Toronto is getting one of their top guys back.
- Oh JVG; he is none too happy about being called a sleeper. No one really thought you were going to win 50+ and you didn’t even make the playoffs last year. No real pedigree that says ‘championship-caliber team’. I still believe though. Whatever you do, do not lose to Utah. Between this and your tenure in New York that nearly killed the league, I will never forgive you.
- Chris Kaman wants to make up for sucking hard this year. I suggest he just grow his hair back out and regain his powers.
- Stephen A Smith checks in with an article on how Mo Cheeks shouldn’t lose his job. I wholeheartedly agree.
- Miami reporter calls out Chicago for Bullshit. Get it? I kill myself.
- Anyone else find it funny that the way they are breaking this tie-breaker is by picking out ping-pong balls from a basketball? Why doesn’t Stu just pick on the basis of where he likes to vacation?