Category Archives: Basketball

The NBA Knucklehead Awards

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Welcome everyone to the 1st ever NBA Knucklehead Awards! My name is Cal Cee & I’ll be your host for this evening. I’d start off with a monologue of punch lines & jokes but unfortunately, it wasn’t in the budget this year to pay the extra writers. The only writer I could only afford was me, & even I cost too much. So without further ado, let’s get this thing started! Before we begin & announce this year’s winners, I’d like to thank a few people first….

First, I’d like to thank my Mama for bringing me into this world. I’d also like to thank God because without you none of this is possible ***double-taps chest twice & points to the sky with full tear ducts***……. I’d also like to thank the wife & family for holding me down. I loves you ***points to them in stands with slow nod of approval***…… & also, I’d like to shout out some of my peoples for inspiring & helping me put together the nominee listings. Shout out to Julian for initially sending the GQ article of Rajon Rondo in one of our text/chat groups that sent me down this Knuckleheaded journey, as well as to Curtis, Kevin, Luugi, Marco, & Julian again for helping me with the list. The cheques are in the mail fellas……

…….okay, that’s just a big ass lie, but thanks anyways. Again, the budget thing guys, you understand, right?  ****putting their money back in back pocket to use for rain-making purposes later this evening.****

On that note, let’s start the show! The NBA Knuckleheads Awards starts now! Before we get to the players, let’s acknowledge the management level guys first. Why should they be ignored???

TOP COACH

“There’s some type of saying. A team matches the coach.”
– DeMarcus Cousins, the realest shit he’s ever said.

A) George Karl, Sacramento Kings – Notoriously hard on his players & has a history of having issues with his stars. DeMarcus Cousins of course clearly, is no different.

B) Byron Scott, Los Angeles Lakers – For his delusional belief in Kobe Byrant, & his yo-yoing of his stud rookie’s playing time. Keep your heads up D’Angelo & Julius, it’ll get better once he follows Kobe out the door.

C) Doc Rivers, Los Angeles Clippers – The Leader who resides over the most whiniest team in the NBA.

D) Derek Fisher, New York Knicks – Guy Code Breaker.

The Winner: George Karl. It ain’t like Cousins is the easiest player to deal with, BUT when the first order of business of your first off-season with your new team is to try to ship your star off like Fed Ex, you kind of set the wheels in train-wreck motion, don’t you? I wouldn’t even be surprised if he leads them to the playoffs at this point. I mean, why not? Wouldn’t it be more entertaining to watch this team implode wildly by the 4th quarter of Game 3 of their 4-game sweep to the hands of the Warriors at the end of April?

TOP GM

A) Billy King, Brooklyn Nets – The NBA’s version of a fantasy player that plays but doesn’t know all the rules, or sadly, the value of all the players. That 2013 Celtics trade, is now the equivalent of sending the shitty GM a lopsided trade, & being happily shocked when he pressed “Accept This Trade” on the other end.

B) Vlade Divac, Sacramento Kings – After Cousins cussed out George Karl, not only did Vlade deny Karl’s request to suspend Cousins for a couple of games, but asked all the players if they should fire Karl. Um, what the fu….

C) Sam Hinkie, Philadelphia 76ers – Helped to create a tanking atmosphere so dreadful for his young players, that my guy Jahlil Okafor (I love his offensive skill set by the way) decided to volunteer himself as the club scene version of one of Birdie’s boys from Above The Rim. It’s a damn shame what happened to Flip the Sixers…

D) Jim Buss, Los Angeles Lakers – I know the GM is Mitch Kupchak, but I feel if he was to ever leave the Lakers & wanted another job, other teams will remember who worked above him… & then he’ll be fine.

The Winner: This one was hard to choose from, all nominees have very strong cases. However, I can’t shake the fact that Boston gets Brooklyn’s unprotected pick this year because of that KG-Paul Pierce trade. A trade I was actually fine with two years ago. Wait, am I a knucklehead too? I might have to share this award. Shit….. anyway, the other teams at least have the option to keep their picks. However, Brooklyn is horrible right now with no direction for the future, & has highly overpaid players on their team (not including Thaddeus Young). I’m sorry Billy, but not only does Boston get your unprotected picks this year AND 2018, but you also gave them the right to swap first rounders in 2017. Honestly, did you just press “Accept” on the email without looking it over? Did you negotiate anything to Danny Ainge over the phone? How hard was it for Ainge to stifle in his laughter while hand-motioning his assistants to call league office to approve that deal before King changed his mind??? Seriously now, I’m asking. You couldn’t even put some provisions (i.e. Top 7 protected or something similar to that) on those picks man??

& now…..the top Knucklehead nominees at each position……

TOP CENTER

A) Dwight Howard, Houston Rockets – Went from the best big man in 2009, to the most annoying in a six year span. Now apparently hates his role as James Harden’s most physically imposing rebound catcher. Well, I can’t blame him totally for that because, you know… Harden ISOs.

B) DeMarcus Cousins, Sacramento Kings – The “Steph Curry” of the category.

C) Hassan Whiteside, Miami Heat – After his breakout game last season vs. Chicago, his first interview on National TV, what does he say when the mic is put in his face? “I’m just worried about getting my NBA 2K ratings up” with a blank, emotionless look. That, plus his attempt to make his Snapchat account rival DJ Khaled’s. Yup, that’s $20M+ per year coming to an arena near you folks. #AnotherOne

D) JaVale McGee, Dallas Mavericks — As long as he continues to play basketball (NBA, D-League, Europe, YMCA, House League), he’ll warrant a spot on the list.

The Winner: DeMarcus Cousins. Most talented Center in the NBA, incredibly skilled who’s added a 3-point shot to the arsenal, makes Christmas dreams come true….. but you don’t care about that. Let’s recount the actions from the start of the season alone:

“It just shows I’ve got some ride or dies.”
– D. Cousins

I used to be annoyed by his antics, but now I sit back and enjoy the show the same way I would watching Rent or The Lion King on Broadway. I’m at the point where I’ll pay top dollar to watch him drop 36/16 with 2 made threes, 2 blocks, 2 Techs & a Flagrant 2, and about 3-4 teammates fighting to make him leave the court in a timely manner. When you see teammates trying to calm Cousins down when he’s T’d up, it’s reminiscent of the friend in your crew who always seems to either get into fights or near-fights, leaving you to be the one to constantly play peacemaker. By the 419th time, you’re walking to split it up with an intensity level of -3.6. It’s the best. I don’t even want Cousins to change his ways anymore, I want him to stay true to who he is for as long as possible.

TOP POINT GUARD

A) Rajon Rondo, Sacramento Kings – He quit on his team right in the middle of the playoff series.

B) Rajon Rondo, Sacramento Kings – He quit on his team right in the middle of the playoff series.

C) Rajon Rondo, Sacramento Kings – He quit on his team right in the middle of the playoff series.

D) Rajon Rondo, Sacramento Kings – You get the picture here…

The Winner: Rajon Rondo. I’ll put a little context into Rondo’s walkoff episode. Rick Carlisle is a great, great coach. One of the only active coaches to own an NBA ring, but he is also someone who is hard on his point guards. He’s old school in that he wants to call the plays most of the time, but if you’re an elite PG, especially one that’s as notoriously smart as Rondo, you could see where the bucking of heads was almost inevitable. Still…. walking away from a team (even as much as he was struggling) during the middle of a playoff series in a contract year is almost self-sabotage. It’s like cutting a hole open on your boat in the middle of the sea, & being totally fine with the decision even when it’s taking on gallons of water.

At this stage he’s playing close to the pre-ACL tear Rondo when he was a defensive tear & a walking triple double. However, that whole Bill Kennedy situation & how it was handled (apologizing for what happened but not officially apologizing to Kennedy himself) smells of stubborn knuckheaditis. It’s one thing when you’re just a loose cannon, but when you’re super smart & still make stubborn decisions that can float towards the knucklehead zone, is even worse.

Interesting Stat: According to ESPN Stats & Information, since 2010, Cousins has received 77 technical fouls, been ejected 10 times & been suspended 6 different times (five by the league, once by his team), basically, the runaway leader of “Knuck” Nation. It’s as if Rasheed Wallace & Isaiah Rider hopped into the same body. You know who ties him in suspensions (five by NBA, one by team) during this same span? Your favorite NBA point guard Rajon Rondo! See? Yet another reason why these two teammates need to be together.

TOP SHOOTING GUARD

A) James Harden, Houston Rockets – He’s dating a Kardashian as an athlete. Nothing else matters.

B) Nick Young, Los Angeles Lakers – He’s dating Iggy Azalea He seems to be someone you’d love to hang with off the court, but want to almost swing on him for the legendary way he hogs the ball.

C) J.R. Smith, Cleveland Cavaliers – LeBron is doing a great job keeping J.R. in check, and maybe J.R.’s matured himself, it’s definitely possible…….& then you remember how he swung on Jae Crowder & you’re like, “Naaah!!”

D) Lance Stephenson, Los Angeles Clippers – When he left the Pacers as their 2nd best player on a title contending team, most of his teammates was relieved. They didn’t even care if it made them worse.

The Winner: If Denzel, Leonardo, Kevin Spacey, & Matt Damon were up for best actor during the same year for the Oscars, it still wouldn’t have been as hard to choose from as this category. If this award was announced after the ’13-’14 season, Lance would have walked away with this hands down. Since then, he torpedoed his experience in Charlotte after one season, & is currently trying to find his way in Clipperland. However, he’s been somewhat quiet for the past 1½ seasons. J.R. Smith wins due to his consistency to rack up “knuck stats” with his off-the-cuff comments, his shoelace tying incidents, to putting a model’s bare ass on his Twitter (….actually, I’m not mad for seeing that), his punch on Crowder, and just his general “I barely give two fu*ks” behavior. He’s calmed down recently because he’s playing for a contender & keeping his focus because mainly, there’s no nightlife in Cleveland. His words, not mine.

TOP POWER FORWARD

A) Kevin Garnett, Minnesota Timberwolves – Only in this category for dunking on Blake Griffin on a fast break, barking & preening at everyone like it’s 2004, but realizing that was only 2 of his 4 points he had that night. I love Garnett & his career, I really do, but he’s a 3-legged Doberman right now with his antics. As Barkley has said on Inside the NBA, he’s no longer “The Big Ticket”, he’s just Kevin Garnett. That play signifies this whole paragraph.

B) Markieff Morris, Phoenix Suns – Has not been the same since they traded away his twin brother Marcus to Detroit. I feel this is the way Tomax would have behaved if the other womb-sharing brother Xamot was sent away from Cobra.

C) Marcus Morris, Detroit Pistons – Markieff is already feeling down in Phoenix. You think I’m gonna leave him lonely here too? You must be mad.

D) Josh Smith, Los Angeles Clippers – You’ve seen his shot selection, right? He’s been giving coaches acid reflux since 2004. Looks like Doc wants no part of that stomach burning life based on the inconsistent minutes Smith’s been getting this season.

The Winner: Markieff Morris. When the owner (Robert Sarver) of your team is willing to make you the face of the Sensitive Millenial era, you know you done messed up. He basically thinks that post-Marcus trade, Markieff is the ‘16 version of Ralph Tresvant. It’s not like Sarver isn’t responsible for the organization going from being one of its most respected in the NBA, to everyone now looking at them with a side glance. However, the way Morris has been carrying himself since that trade, from killing his own trade value with his trade demands, the way his play went down this season, to having a throwback Robert Horry moment (& I don’t mean clutch 3s) & chucking a towel in Coach Hornacek’s face (who immediately threw Markieff & his under-performing stats under the bus), it’s hard not to win this running away.

TOP SMALL FORWARD

A) Ron Artest/Metta World Peace, Los Angeles Lakers – I think anytime you hop in the stands to whup ass, you get an automatic, honorary nomination until you retire.

B) Josh Smith, Los Angeles Clippers – He’s earned the right to double dip, as his shot selection has been notoriously bad from both positions. Also, even though he got waived from Detroit more than a year ago, we can’t just dismiss the way Detroit has improved the moment he left, can we?

C) Chandler Parsons, Dallas Mavericks – Even if DeAndre Jordan was more wishy-washy than a peer-pressured teenager during his free agency period last summer, I wasn’t a huge fan of Parsons being the most outspoken talker on the Mavericks outside of Mark Cuban, especially when his own production hasn’t come close to matching his mouth. Plus, he tried to date a Jenner.

D) Matt Barnes, Memphis Grizzlies – Guy Code Defender.

The Winner: Matt Barnes. With that said, I can’t be mad at what he did with regards to Derek Fisher. Once you’re a guy who has more than one friend, you can’t break guy code. It’s just a flagrant violation, unless you hate his guts. This goes for teammates & ex-teammates too. Male friendships are rooted on Guy Code ethics, & the rules aren’t even that complicated. Here are some of them:

  • Never date (or smash) your boy’s sister unless you plan to marry her, no matter how good she looks;
  • Never date (or smash) you boy’s ex-girlfriend or ex-wife unless a discussion is had first & you’ve received blessings. If your boy feels even 2% funny about it, just walk away unless you want to end up like R. Kelly in the “Down Low” video;
  • Never shit on your boy in front of a woman to make yourself look like the better option. An underrated no-no;
  • Don’t buy the same car as someone in your crew unless it’s a steal of a deal. If so, don’t buy the same color;
  • If you’re a wing man & you have to land on a “grenade” to make your boy win, you have to do it. If you’re not willing to fully land on said “grenade”, at least create or run a diversion;
  • If you’re in a public bathroom & there are multiple urinals, respect the buffer zone, &;
  • You’re only allowed to shed tears if you blow your Achilles or ACL, get hit really hard in the man region, or your date is using her teeth;

I don’t know how tight the friendship was, but you can’t violate to that degree, especially with an ex-teammate that’s not afraid to throw his hands. You’re chilling at your ex-teammate’s ex-wife’s house behind his back, with his kids around & everything…… even you’re reading that sentence right now with the hairs on your neck standing up. So for Barnes to snap, I may not condone it, but I understand it. I also approve his Happy New Year IG post as well. Thought it was funny & priceless.

Team Uniforms

As far as the uniform this squad should wear, we may not have to use the 76ers uniform, but I’m thinking we have to use their team colors, right? At 4-33, they might break their own NBA record of being the worst team in NBA history (Worst record is 9-73 by 1972-73 Sixers), and if that happens, Okafor might end up doing some jail time (By the way, did they really sign Elton Brand??? I had to check the calendar to make sure it wasn’t 2006). Either way, the team logo needs to be a string of Screwfaced emojis, going right across the chest & down the shorts.

Well that’s it folks! Same time next year? Ok cool. We may need to look into a sponsor for this one. Have a great & prosperous 2016, and strive to be great in everything you do in your life. If you strive to be a knucklehead, do me a favor, please let me know so that I can get a restraining order together that keeps you at least 150 feet away from me at all times. God bless & good night!

*** Disclaimer: This post was written in good fun. If you can’t take this in good fun, please do me a favor & let me know so that I can get a restraining order together that keeps you at least 150 feet away from me at all times. ***

 

Cal Cee // South Shore Ave

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The Revenge of Steph Curry

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I know what you’re thinking, “That’s a weird title for this article”, right? I mean, why of all people, would Stephen Curry want any sort of revenge? He may have had one of the greatest seasons a professional athlete could have had last season. He was the MVP of the NBA. He was the most popular player (in jersey sales and all-star votes), his team had one of the greatest seasons in NBA history (83 wins regular season + playoffs) that was capped off by winning the NBA Finals, and he turned his family into celebrities (especially his daughter Riley…… & his hot Momma). What more can you ask for? You’d be right to ask that question. He should be happier than anyone can imagine coming into this season, & I’m sure he was. But then a funny thing happened in the NBA right after Curry & his teammates popped champagne in Cleveland’s visiting locker room….. 

…… July happened.

Outside of the playoffs, the free agency period in July is the most exciting time of the NBA season, and this past off-season didn’t fail to bring the excitement and the drama. The Spurs reloaded with LaMarcus Aldridge & scooped up David West for the cost of a Wendy’s Value Meal (at least that’s what it felt like). The rival Clippers got back DeAndre Jordan, & picked up Lance Stephenson, Josh Smith, & maybe more importantly, Paul Pierce. OKC retained their free agents (Enes Kanter) + got their superstar back in Kevin Durant. Across the country, the LeBronvaliers restocked the entire kitchen cupboard & the basement with groceries like one of those old Supermarket Sweep shows resigning all their free agents, plus Mo Williams and a rejuvenated Richard Jefferson. Even Houston stole Ty Lawson from the Denver Nuggets for peanuts (depending on if you think adding Lawson was an incredible deal for Houston, which I wasn’t crazy about this summer). Once free agency settled down, the rumbles of doubt started vibrating about the Warriors chances to repeat. Adding to that, the NBA Players Association launched their first ever Players Awards show (on BET of all channels) in July. When they gave out their MVP awards, it went out to the official NBA MVP runner-up James Harden, which I guess was fine. What wasn’t fine was the general comments from all the players who attended the awards show, “this is the real MVP award”, trying to more or less devalue the MVP award that Curry just recently won. An award that’s been around for about 50 years. Now if you’re Curry, heading into your training for the summer, how exactly are you supposed to feel about this? 

A large part of how an athlete drives themselves is based on challenges and slights. Having to prove you can achieve your goals athletically to yourself first, then to everyone else afterwards. Your peers, your coaches starting from as far back as high school, your region, & the proving net that you cast starts to get wider and wider the more that you grow into your craft. Steph Curry is no different. A son of one of the best shooters in NBA history (Dell), Steph not only had to prove that he was good enough to escape his father’s shadow, but because of his slight build, he had to escape the stigma of not being athletic, or big enough to make something out of himself in the basketball world. With only one scholarship offer coming out of high school, he ended up at Davidson, a small, mid-major college program. Within 3 years he became one of the best players in the nation, leading his mid major college to a magical Elite 8 journey in the 2008 March Madness tournament. Once he got drafted in the lottery by Golden State in 2009, he had to prove that what he did in college as well as his size could correlate to the NBA, especially when he was paired in the backcourt with a similarly built Monta Ellis. He fought off the challenges of those stigmas (including from his own teammate), fought of the ankle injuries that plagued him his 1st few seasons & became an all-star level player. By the end of the Warriors 2013 playoff run, Steph had officially arrived under the brightest lights. Whatever doubts he had earlier in his career was erased by coach Mark Jackson, who boosted his confidence like Bhundini Brown used to do for Muhammad Ali. Once the coaching change occurred last year & Steve Kerr took over, Steph’s game, as well as his teammates escalated to an even higher level, which resulted not only with all the accolades they could achieve, but also becoming by far the most exciting team to watch in the league.

Now after getting to the level that Steph did last season, how does he continue to get better when he’s reached the mountaintop? If you’re a self motivator & care deeply about your craft at that level, you will get better. But how do you reach “generational” status? In some case, perceived slights and challenges can account for something. Curry trained to the point that his handles are somehow even tighter, his shot has somehow improved from last season, and he now finishes better around the basket than ever before. When Curry and the rest of his teammates had to hear the comments again in the pre-season that they were lucky to win, & have Harden still talking about how he still feels snubbed for the MVP award five months later, they didn’t respond back in the politically correct way, which I loved. Their responses were sarcastic, annoyed, & in some cases “Shots Fired” worthy. You could see the level of disrespect felt in full view, and they made it a point to exact their “It’s like that? Ok, well F*** YOU THEN!” Revenge world tour on the league right from opening night. And it hasn’t stopped since.

We’ve seen a great example of this before in this sport. Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player the world has ever seen in almost all arguments that you want to make, right? In 1995, when he played in the Eastern Conference semis vs. Orlando right after his 1st comeback, Nick Anderson stole the ball from him during the end of Game 1, that helped them lose the game & became a foreshadowing example for the Bulls ultimately losing the series. That summer, after hearing people start to question if Jordan would ever be dominant again, MJ trained maniacally to the point that by August, people who played in the now infamous pick-up runs on the Warner Brothers parking lot (where MJ was filming Space Jam) all swore that he was “back, back”. That revenge factor & the playoff failures fueled him to his second 3-peat of the 1990’s. I remember that ’95 – ’96 season when they won 72 games, they treated the contenders & the lottery bound teams with the exact same disdain. They wanted to cut their hearts out as fast and as ruthless as possible, & Jordan was their ringleader in all ways. That ruthless, relentless approach defined that particular season for them. No better example was shown in a loss to the expansion Raptors team. 1st year team from Toronto led by their rookie Damon Stoudemire beating one of the greatest teams ever assembled by one point was an amazing feat. It’s a game that still shows on NBA TV Canada every now & again. However, the best part of that game is when Jordan shot a fadeway just after the buzzer, that banked in off the side corner of the glass, a shot that’s basically impossible to replicate. Even back then I remember celebrating with my family. Then the shot went in & we all basically yelled out, “Oh f***!”, & shaking our heads way after the game was over. It was like in the movies when you jump in the getaway car & start laughing as you drive away from the bad guys, and while you’re laughing they still manage to shoot out the back window. No one gets hurt, but it still scares the shit out of you the rest of the drive to safety.

Until this year, I haven’t seen a championship level team come into a season with that kind of mindset since the fall of ’95. Twenty years later, we have the Warriors getting off to the greatest start in NBA history with no signs of slowing down, and are being led by the reigning MVP who’s entering a legendary level that has rarely been seen. Watching Curry play right now makes you feel like he can do anything on the basketball court & it feeds into the mentality of his entire team. He has become the best basketball on the planet at the moment, the most dangerous player to be fearful of at all times, and the most exciting player to watch. Like Bird, Magic, Jordan, Duncan, Shaq, Kobe, and LeBron, Curry has reached a level to watch that’s a mixture of awe & inspiration for everyone involved (fans, opponents, teammates, peers). He’s also entering the prime of his career, which means barring any injury or unforeseen circumstance, there’s a good chance he may even get better than this. He’s a point guard who’s unselfish but yet is averaging 32 a night, almost 3.5 point per game higher than the 2nd place leader (Harden, 28.7 PPG). Throw in his other stats (6 assist, 5 boards, 2.6 steals, just under 5 three’s made a night, 33.76 PER, 51% FG/43 % 3P/94% FT), and his level of play is becoming artistic. After every game, you almost want to hang his performance on a wall & just stare at it with your head tilted to the side.

While its still too early to say they will win 70+ games, I do think this will be the first team to actively try for that record, no matter what they say publicly. Their core is still so young that they can throw caution to the wind, go after every record, & not worry about sacrificing wins to rest their guys. More importantly, they know how to win games in any situation, & are playing free without any limits of fear because they can lean on their championship experience. They are not taking their defense of their championship lightly, & healthy permitting, whoever takes that trophy from them will have to pry it from their hands. But so far, they are well on their way to bringing a 2nd title back to the Bay if this revenged intensity keeps up. As a sports fan, no matter how many wins they get, we need to enjoy the journey that Curry and this team is on right now, because it’s rare that you see a vengeful journey look this sweet.

 

Sideline Notes

At this time, I’d like to send a shout out to my friend Luugi. Out of all my friends, he’s the one that gets his rocks off on watching teams implode, crash, and burn internally. This past summer after watching some of the off-season moves go by, I decided to buy into his Trainwreck watching way of life. I think we can all agree that going into the season, Sacramento would have qualified for the #1 seed. DeMarcus Cousins + Coach George Karl are bad enough, but then you add Rajon Rondo to the mix? This team is so talented and volatile, can grab the 8th seed in the West, or they can win 25 games & daily fist fights could go down in the locker room & I wouldn’t bat an eye either way. Then I started watching the Lakers situation. They have some young talent but added a weird mix of vets that don’t gel together (you really thought adding 6th man gunner Lou Williams with Nick Young was a good idea when you have rookies who needs minutes & shots Lakers management???), plus, you know….Kobe. Mix that up with coach Byron Scott who’s still clinging to his old school coaching ways (surprised he doesn’t have Roy Hibbert laying guys out who try to make a layup), I had to upgrade them to Trainwreck status. You know that story will be more disastrous with each passing day, especially when D’Angelo Russell keeps getting nailed to the bench during 4th quarters………

You know who’s my underdog Trainwreck squad to look out for? The Houston Rockets. Not only did they get their coach Kevin McHale fired with their dog-shit effort since the season started, but I truly don’t believe in James Harden & Dwight Howard as leaders on your team. Now some veterans in the locker room (i.e. Jason Terry) may have a strong voice in the locker room, but in basketball, you only go as far as your best players take you. At least it’s better that way. While I’ve voiced my opinions of D12 in the past, I think Harden is a great, great talent. However, the whole, “move out of my way while I play Iso ball for 1/2 the shot clock, put it between my legs 4 times before I shoot this step back J” offense doesn’t lend itself to any kind of real continuity between the players. Regardless of how I feel about Dwight’s offense & the fact that he genuinely seems broken down, he’s got to shoot the ball more that 8-10 times in a game. It doesn’t matter that McHale is gone, the philosophies (especially on offense) are still the same under the interim coach, J.B. Bickerstaff. Personally, I don’t see this downward spiral changing anytime soon………

I’ll say this: you know when Houston takes over the #1 spot on my personal Trainwreck rankings? When they lose tonight vs. the 76ers. #BoldPredictionoftheWeek………

By the way, if that prediction comes true, I think my friend Luugi will be happier than the men who find out they are not the fathers……… 

R.I.P Kobe Bryant’s career. It was a great ride, & he will go down as one of the 10 greatest players I’ve ever seen in person. One thing about great players in any sport is the struggle of knowing when to say when, especially before anyone one else sees your demise. The confidence in their own abilities that gets them to unbelievable heights as an athlete is viewed as their biggest strength. Once you get older, all of a sudden, that same stubborn belief becomes their greatest weakness when their body officially fails them & they still believe that they can get the job done. Forget the stats (averaging 15.2 PPG on 16.4 shots, shooting 31% from the field), Kobe can’t get by ANYONE anymore on drives or create any space on his jumpers. That’s only going to get worse unless he gets on the HGH workout cycle in the next week or so. Remember when Mariano Rivera played his last game & before he can get the save, Derek Jeter & Andy Pettite walked out to the mound & gave him the pat on the back? & then Mariano started bawling on their chest? I’d like Magic Johnson to walk onto the middle of the court during the 3rd quarter of some game in March, hold Kobe by his shoulders & tell him, “It’s time. Time to come on home son,” while Kobe starts sobbing into his suit jacket. It’s time Kobe. Let’s remember you in a good light, & please let this be your last season & not find you next season wearing # 24 for the Grizzlies or something. Please end this Kobe……please……. 

 

Cal Cee // South Shore Ave

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The Raptors Plight…

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Where do I begin?

No, seriously. Help me. Where do I begin?

After all the goodwill the Raptors have made on their City with their hard playing, never-say-die attitude for most of the past 12 months, they laid down a lack-of-heart effort during Game 4 vs. Washington. It was to the point where some Wizards players were laughing, taunting, & trolling the Raps both on or off the court. They also let Paul Pierce’s “It” statement seem prophetic, which was only worsened by Paul’s continuous dagger 3s throughout the series. Don’t forget, Bradley Beal not only played some of his best basketball, but he turned Kyle Lowry into the little stepbrother than he hates, cussing him out every chance their parents turned their backs. Getting swept is never good obviously, but going out the way they did is way worse. When Boston and New Orleans got swept, you could tell they gave it everything they had, but they just weren’t as good or talented enough to beat Cleveland and Golden St. respectively. This was bad. A really bad series for the Raptors. It opened your eyes as to who this team really is.

Now, I let a few days breeze by before I offered this response. I know everyone is disgusted with the Raps, from the biggest basketball lover to the most inconsistent casual fan. Believe me, every Raptor fan has that right. Personally, I stopped watching the series with any consistency after halftime of Game 2, where the Wizards were up 11 at halftime. I pretty much knew at that moment, that the Wizards were going to go up 2-0, and unless Toronto did a 180-degree on their performance, they were not going to win four out of the next five games to win the series. In my mind, the series was already decided. I initially picked the Raps to win in seven, mostly because I was hoping that the team that started the season 24-8, would reappear, instead of the team that ended the season 25-25, & has consistently been mediocre since Jan. 1st. Basically, it was the equivalent of thinking with your heart, and not your head…. and I got played. I would like to be like everyone else & start the movement of blowing up the team, but I won’t do that. Honestly, it’s going to be a very interesting off-season for the Raps, but I don’t think blowing it up completely is the way to go. Here are some reasons why:

  1. You can’t blow up a team that won the division handily in back-to-back seasons. Even if the division is as shitty as the Atlantic division is right now. It’s hard to go into rebuilding mode after the team has won 48 & 49 games the past two years. If anything, you retool. After the way the team collapsed in the playoffs, I think you definitely have to explore the option of finding another coach. Dwayne Casey is one of those coaches that you build with when you’re at the bottom, but I’m not 100% sure he can take you over the top. We can look at Scott Brooks as an available candidate, but I always felt he’s in that Casey mold: good, but not great. His players at OKC were unreal & that pushed his career further along than anyone expected. Plus, I can see him in contention for the intriguing Orlando coaching vacancy (OKC familiarity/ties with GM Rob Hennigan + young solid assets). Someone who I would be looking at is Mark Jackson. Jackson of course has history with the organization (albeit a short one) playing for the Raps in the 2000-01 season before he got traded to the New York Knicks. Moreover, Jackson provides that confidence boost in his stars (ie. Steph Curry, Klay Thompson) & adds that overall mental toughness that this team lacked during the last three plus months. Maybe they can throw extra money at him to rest his head, after he spends two weeks in June announcing the NBA Finals, where his former team that just fired him 12 months prior, wins it all right in front of his face…. potentially.
  1. Raps can’t rebuild, not with this #WeTheNorth movement growing faster by the day. It may sound dumb, but man…… there was a lot of time, money, promoting, marketing, and merch spent, sold, and invested on this #WeTheNorth movement thing. You can say, “Who cares?! Scrap the whole thing!” if you want to, but the fact remains, this is the best promotional branding push in the history of this franchise. The #WeTheNorth idea is cool, unique, it reps the city, and allows for the rest of the country to get in on the fun. The younger generation has engulfed themselves in it, to the point of wearing the merch like a flag. It’s one of the best trend-setting things the Raps have done, period. The new path of branding is real, but harder to sell if the team is going back to winning 30 games a season. Now, are some people looking at their #WeTheNorth Tees and fitteds sideways after what they saw these last four games? Certainly, but as long as they continue to play hard, improve, and present a quality product each and every night on the floor, they will still stay with the movement.
  1. Toronto is hosting the All Star Game in less than 10 months. We want the rest of the basketball world to take us seriously, right? Do you really want them looking at a losing, starting-from-the-bottom franchise again, while they are stealing every available groupie walking in the downtown core in February 2016? The moves that have been made (including a new practice facility currently being built) is showing that the franchise are ready to take the steps to change the perception that they aren’t anything but a world class organization, especially regarding future free agents. It’s a process, and it will take time, but showing another era of a rebuild is not the way to go, and they won’t go that route.

With everything being said, “the sweep” did take the shine off this season somewhat, and left a bad taste in a lot of people’s mouths, including Raps management, that’s for sure. However, there were some good things that did happen throughout the season. They officially have an All-star backcourt in Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, a developing big man in Jonas Valencuinas (who is still waiting to get major minutes), and Sixth Man of the Year Lou Williams as a solid scorer off the bench (IF he resigns). They also won a franchise record 49 wins, which was one game better that their record last year (shoulder shrug?). However, they need to get a big man that can score around the basket consistently in a serious way (like a David West type), and some veterans that can make a real impact on and off the floor. As much as not resigning fan favorite Amir Johnson would hurt, Toronto will get over it if it meant challenging for the conference Finals &/or the Finals each season with a tough, scoring big. Easier said than done for sure, but somehow, some way, Raps GM Masai Ujiri has to figure out a way to improve the team. This playoff disappointment put the team at a bit of a crossroads, but it is not dire. One thing we know for sure, they cannot come back with this same roster intact. Not only will Atlanta, Cleveland, and Chicago still be around, Washington will also be there ready to slap the Raps down again. Milwaukee will be improved with Jabari Parker back in the fold and Giannis Antetokounmpo will be another year improved; Indiana will have Paul George at 100% optimal health (and was looking pretty good in limited minutes when he came back); Miami will be rested, healthy, and loaded once they resign Goran Dragic; depending on who the Knicks get in Free Agency + their top lottery pick (ie. Jahlil Okafor possibly), they could get right back into the swing of things.  Even young teams like Orlando (with the right coaching hire) and Philly (depending on how you feel about Joel Embiid) could be much improved from this season. The East isn’t good right now, but it will get better as quickly as next year. The Raps management will have to figure out what has to be done, or else the momentum they have built since that Rudy Gay trade will cease, and they go back to fighting the Maple Leafs, FC, and Blue Jays for the crown to be the Kings of Mediocrity all over again.

 

Cal Cee // South Shore Ave

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Saturday Morning Special: NBA Playoff Questions #1stRound

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Before we answer some NBA playoff questions, let’s get to some house duties first. Mainly…

Who is the 2014-15 NBA MVP?

I’m going to rank the candidates:

  1. Anthony Davis: Probably has been my favorite player to watch this season outside of Steph Curry, but he’s missed just enough games (14) and had to leave others due to injuries to offset his production (24.2 PPG / 10.2 RPG /2.9 BPG). He’s been great, and I would have ranked him higher if he missed less games, or had less injuries. He will win the MVP within the next two years. Mark it down as my semi-bold prediction of the week.
  1. LeBron James: His stats are status quo for him (25.3 PPG / 6 RPG / 7.3 ASG) & overall he’s still the best basketball player in the world. If I had to start a franchise right now, I would still choose LeBron. However, I would have to automatically disqualify him once he takes a two-week vacation during the middle of the season. Until the trades the Cavs pulled right before he returned from his “vacay”, he was being passive-aggressive on the floor, and appeared a step slow. Ever since his return, he led Cleveland back to the 2nd spot in the East, they still ended the season 7 games behind Atlanta. I can’t give the MVP to someone who’s that far behind the #1 seed, unless they’re having a truly historic season, and his season doesn’t qualify.
  1. Russell Westbrook: Westbrook is having a historic season (28.1 / 7.3 / 8.6). He’s only the 3rd player to have this many triple doubles (11) in one season. Not even Magic Johnson himself did anything like that. In any other year, he would win the award. However, I’ll take you back to 2006. Remember when Kobe Bryant was dropping 50 point games as easy as it was to breath air? When he would drop 63, in three quarters on the Mavericks; or 81 against the Raptors on his way to averaging 35 points a game??? The Laker squad he had to carry that year to the playoffs consisted of Lamar Odom and a bunch of carcasses. He was clearly the best player in basketball. You know what place he finished in the MVP voting? Fourth. Fourth!!! You can argue that Westbrook is having a season just as impressive, especially when you throw in all the triple doubles…… but you can also argue that Westbrook’s teammates are much better than that Laker team, even with Kevin Durant and Serge Ibaka on the shelf. If Kobe couldn’t win MVP for carrying his team to the 8th seed during his historic season, then why should Russ?
  1. James Harden: I won’t go into all the superlatives with Harden (27.4 / 5.7 / 7), we all know what he’s been doing. I was debating with one of my friends about the whole Curry vs. Harden MVP battle, & I was arguing against Harden’s merits. Then he dropped 51/8/7 on the Kings later that night, & I was actually surprised I didn’t get an asshole-ish text immediately afterwards. But I feel like my argument holds up here. The difference between Curry and Harden is minuscule. The only thing that will separate them is the win totals. If you look at it that way, it’s hard to give the MVP to someone who’s 11 games behind his competitor, when both are the main reasons for their team’s success………
  1. Steph Curry: ………… and when you’re throwing up stats that are just as impactful as your MVP competitors (23.8 / 4.7 / 7.7; 286 3’s made, making 44%) and your team has one of the best regular season records in NBA history, how can you not get the nod? Here’s one of my favorite Curry stats this year: Curry’s putting up those statistics over the season while sitting 17 fourth quarters due to blowouts. 17. His team is better than Harden’s, no question. However, he IS the reason why they are as great as they are. Zack Lowe of Grantland, also has a great article mentioning that Curry’s style of play is the reason why teams completely scrap their defenses against the Warriors, because they have to play so much attention to him at all times.  I mentioned this earlier in the year as well, there is nothing in the NBA like Curry getting hot. If just lifts his whole team. Couple that jumper with his ball handling & his wizardry creating passes, he’s making a mockery of the defenders guarding him. Drake had it right a year ago, Steph’s been cooking with the sauce. Now, if Harden does win the MVP, I won’t be totally upset, but just understand it may not have been the right choice.

What will Constitute a Successful Season for the Toronto Raptors?

At this stage, if they can get just out of the 1st round, I think Raps nation will accept it. I’m actually disappointed about how the season has turned out for them in this regard. After building momentum from last year’s playoffs, and the first two months of the season where the Raps have the best record in the East, they have been 25-25 since Jan 1st. Now some of it was injuries (especially to their two best players, All Star Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan), but some of it was indifference and questionable coaching. They had a chance to win around 55 games this season (which would have blown away their franchise high) but their play left a lot to be desired. A couple of nights ago, they still had a shot at 50 wins against Boston & squandered that victory at the buzzer. As much as I want to believe the Raps are the team that we saw in November and December, I kinda have to lean towards the mediocre team I’ve been watching the last four months, don’t I? Now they will face the Wizards team, that not a lot of people even believe they’ll get past. Potentially, if they can get to the 2nd round and push Atlanta to 6 or 7 games before losing, I think you should tip your hat off to the Raptors, and you look forward to next season. Anything less than that, I think the Duane Casey coaching seat is going to start getting warmer. Speaking of the Wizards….

Will Deron Williams and Joe Johnson do a basketball version of “Super Ugly” on Paul Pierce’s “Ether” comments?

Well, hopefully they will on the court, because they didn’t really say much off it. The bad part about Pierce’s comments about Williams, is he’s 100% correct. Don’t forget, about 4-5- years ago, Williams was a Top-3 PG at worst, & it was considered a blessing when the Nets traded for him right before he went to Brooklyn. It’s like that Jay-Z line about Nas back in 2001, he went from Top 10 to not mentioned at all. One of my theories in sports is that teams take on the personality of their best player(s) the longer that “elite” player is there. With Williams, Joe Johnson, and Brook Lopez leading the way, right now this Brooklyn team is as exciting as being served a Wonder bread sandwich with a piece of cheese. Considering who they were competing with to get to the 8th spot — Indiana whose franchise player was on a 15-min restriction limit, and Miami who was a complete M.A.S.H. unit all season long — I guess we’ll have to just dig in. I’m almost positive the Nets have killed about 30% of basketball spirit coach Lionel Hollins had for the game, making him wish he was back in Atlanta guest-analyzing games with Rick Kamla on NBA TV. Now we have to watch this depressing Nets team battle against a 60-win Atlanta squad, that will literally be returning to the scene of the crime — get well soon Thabo — and playing with a chip on their shoulders after losing one of their best defensive players on their team. As basketball fans, let’s pray this series doesn’t go past four games.

Sidenote: I don’t think enough credit goes to how bad Mikhail Prokorov and Billy King put this team together. I’d say King is fully responsible, but the pressure that Prokorov put on his shoulders to build a champion by 2015, forced him to make trades and moves that mortgaged their future until at least 2019. However, because it’s Billy King, I’m almost positive he will bring Brook Lopez back for even more money than ever before. I’m telling you, he overspends other people’s money like few people that I have ever seen.

Who is my Darkhorse team for the playoffs?

Am I allowed to say Atlanta? It may sound stupid to think of a 60-win team as a darkhorse, but I can’t honestly remember the last time a team dominated a conference like they did all season being disregarded quite like this. I think I might be the only person I know that feels that Atlanta has a real shot to make the NBA Finals. I wrote about this in January but Atlanta is anything but a fluke. This team is put together like the Spurs were last season, but the difference is, people keep thinking that the Spurs has three future Hall of Famers (Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobbli) on it, which they do. Still, even last year, those guys were not playing at superstar levels individually. It was more based on a collective effort and team play that we as fans haven’t seen in decades. Atlanta plays the exact same way, it has four all stars in their primes (Al Horford, Paul Milsap, Kyle Korver) or just entering it (Jeff Teague), and proved it to everyone this year, just how successful they could be on both ends of the floor.

There are rumors that even that Raptors were angling for that 4th seed so that if they beat Washington in Round 1, they’ll have a better shot of beating Atlanta than they would of Cleveland and Chicago. I can’t say that I blame them because both the Cavs & Bulls beat the Raps like a drum all season, but we’re acting as if Atlanta can’t do the same damage. Everyone is penciling in Cleveland as the Eastern Conference representative, but most of the players on the roster (not including LeBron) as well as their coach David Blatt are playoff rookies who haven’t played in high-pressure situations of these playoff games. They’re supposed to just walk into the Finals unscathed? I still would love a healthy Chicago team to make it out, but outside of Atlanta Hawks fans, I may be the only one that wouldn’t be completely stunned if the Hawks played well into June.

Does it make sense to even discuss the Bucks – Bulls and Celtics – Cavs series?

No. I would have liked to see Giannis Antetokounmpo make some noise in Round 1, but against Chicago & their focus to get to the Finals, he may look mediocre. Outside of the Raps-Wizards series, I’m probably boycotting the rest of the East until Round 2.

Even as a 6th seed, does anyone else feel like San Antonio is a Finals favorite?

Actually, seeing that they’re playing the Clippers in Round 1, let’s ask a better question…..

Will this 1st Round series expose Doc Rivers?

It won’t expose Doc Rivers the coach, but Doc Rivers the GM. I will say this might be the best series of the 1st Round. It could very well be a slugfest. Contract Year DeAndre Jordan** will continue to man the paint as he has all season long; Chris Paul will be Chris Paul; and Blake Griffin should have a better showing than he did two years ago vs. San Antonio. That core, plus J.J. Reddick, Matt Barnes, and Jamal Crawford against the right matchup, is more than enough. Against San Antonio, I don’t feel like this is enough. This team isn’t deep enough, even though Matt Barnes has been playing better of late, they don’t really have a solid Small Forward (please don’t talk to me about Hedo “Ball” Turkoglu), if Blake or Contract Year DeAndre gets in foul trouble, you’re then asking Big Baby and Spencer Hawes to play big minutes. Worse, if CP3 starts running wild, the Spurs can thrown Kawhi Leonard on him to make his life miserable during major moments of games, and then Pops can lean on the ol’ Hack-A-Jordan routine that frazzles Contract Year DeAndre’s brain. It was great getting the homecourt edge and providing Steve Ballmer with extra playoff money to his bank account that I’m sure he doesn’t need, but I think Doc’s next order of business is to hire a solid GM in the offseason to help him make better personnel moves.

** Yes, I’m adding “Contract Year” to DeAndre’s name. Being in your Contract Year as a professional athlete is like Popeye eating his spinach or Mario getting the star in Mario Bros (cot damn did I date myself). It gives you 12 months worth of super powers, unless your name is JR Smith circa Playoffs 2013 or Kevin Love circa All Season 2015.

What are the chances that Dallas can upset Houston in Round 1?

Bigger than one might think. I would give Dallas a 45% chance. You can never underestimate playing against a rival or in-state team in the playoffs. Doesn’t matter where your seeded. It’s always intense and always close. Also, Rick Carlisle has the Rockets forwards Dwight Howard & Josh Smith to routinely put on the foul line for them to brick free throws and ruin continuity. On second thought, Kevin McHale can do the same with Rajon Rondo. I expect this series to be as chippy as the TOR – WAS series, and even more so. It also has the potential to be pretty ugly due to my previous Hack-A-Player statements. I also guarantee out of all the Western Conference series, I’ll be watching this series the least.

Does Portland have a shot vs. The Grizzlies?

Not with all the injuries they’ve sustained in the last two months that will cut into their depth. What’s more important however, will be the impact the results of this series will have on the Free Agency decisions of both LaMarcus Aldridge and Marc Gasol. Now, I don’t think either player will leave their current situations, but if either team gets dismissed quickly out of this round, you will start to hear those rumblings that one or the other may leave. In this case, that will be Aldridge, because I can’t imagine Portland getting to a Game 6. If that happens, he’s going to have to look at his team’s landscape (Wesley Matthews is an Unrestricted Free Agent coming off a torn achilles, and Robin Lopez is also a UFA) because it could change pretty drastically this summer.

Will the Warriors and Pelicans series the most excitingly short series of all time?

Lemme say this. I haven’t pitched my loyalty flag to an NBA team in decades. Not since Magic retired from the Lakers. Since then, I threw it up with the mid-90s Warriors until Tim Hardaway tore his knee up, then Chris Webber bolted after his rookie season to the Washington Bullets. Then I jumped on the Raptors bandwagon right during the VC/T-Mac era. I swore up and down during Vince’s 2nd season, we were getting the next Michael Jordan. After T-Mac left, and VC started to shows his um, “tendancies”, and he missed that shot against Philly, then beating me to Meow nightclub hours later, I jumped off the bandwagon so fast, I sprained both my ankles in the process. I fell in love with Steve Nash’s Phoenix Suns team, but between management screwing that situation up by being so cheap and not being able to get over the hump of surpassing the Spurs, Mavs, and Lakers, that ride ended for me as well. Since Blake Griffin started playing for the Clippers, I’ve been sitting pretty in the VIP section of the bandwagon…. but the way they play ball now (all the flopping and arguing after every call, plus Blake’s semi-refusal to use his physical gifts to annihilate his competition on a nightly basis) has me eyeing this Warriors squad these last two years. Hard. It didn’t help after watching how the Warriors pretty much manhandled the Clippers this season, with Curry trying to literally embarrass CP3 with every crossover, and shot fake he makes. We know they’re the best team in the NBA this season, but they are by far the most exciting. I don’t care who they play, I’m watching at least a half. If Curry or Thompson starts to heat up, and my phone starts blowing up, I’m pretty much locked in.

Which takes me to this series. Part of the reason why I didn’t want OKC to make it is, outside of Westbrook, no one else can offer any type of resistance against the Warriors. Now, let’s be clear, the Warriors will win this series in about 4 or 5 games…. but with the way Anthony Davis plays basketball right now (especially on defense), I can’t imagine him not winning one game in this series by himself, unless he gets into a deer-in-the-headlights trance that he can’t snap out of. Outside of his offense, he plays basketball with such reckless defensive abandon, that I just can’t see how he stays nervous for an entire series. Even in his young career, he’s already been on some major basketball platforms. He won an NCAA title in his only season, and has been on Team USA for their last two gold medal runs during international competition (even if he’s was sitting the bench during the 2012 Olympics, he was around that pressure firsthand). Also, the way he played against San Antonio on Wednesday night (31/13/3 blocks), carrying the Pelicans to victory in a game that the Spurs absolutely had to have, tells me he won’t back down vs. Golden St., no matter how much better they are than his team. I won’t be missing a game of this series, and trust me, you shouldn’t either.

1st Round results

Western Conference

  • Golden St. over New Orleans 4-1
  • Memphis over Portland 4-1
  • Houston over Dallas 4-3
  • San Antonio over L.A. Clippers 4-2

Eastern Conference

  • Atlanta over Brooklyn 4-0
  • Toronto over Washington 4-3
  • Cleveland over Boston 4-1
  • Chicago over Milwaukee 4-0

 

Cal Cee // South Shore Ave

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#FlashbackFridayVideos: Duke upsets UNLV, 1991 Final Four

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Each and every last Friday of each month, we here at South Shore Ave will be releasing #FlashbackFridayVideos, a segment focusing on classic music videos, classic sports games and general signature moments from back in the day…..except this month, there will be two of them. We’ll have quick rundown and explore all the angles that comes to our minds.

In the spirit of this basketball season that we call March Madness; my friend Headley Bent & I take you back to the 1991 Final Four, where one of the biggest upsets by one of the most hated teams happens. We chop it up here….. & yes, we’re still bitter 24 years later.

Cee: Before we jump into this game, let me paint the picture first….

1990, National Championship Game. On one side, you had the Duke Blue Devils, who had a prep-boy/great white hype persona to their team, & was led by its poster boy Christian Laettner, its prized freshman Bobby Hurley, Brian Davis and Alaa Abdelnaby. On the other side, you had the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels, who had a swagged out/very athletic/very urban/very black team, & was led by Larry Johnson (complete with gold tooth), Stacey Augmon, Greg Anthony, and Anderson Hunt. One team looked like they listened to Bryan Adams & wore their sweaters around their waists, while the other team looked like they could have been extras in one of Ice Cube’s videos. Even though I was still a pre-teen, it really didn’t take long for me to see how this game was being perceived. It went past being about the two schools. It was Preppies vs. Hip Hop, Suburbs vs. Inner City, Whites vs. Blacks. Pick a side. Based on their style of play, the fact that they looked like me, & who I wanted to look like (based on their swagger levels), naturally, I chose to ride with UNLV. Long story short, UNLV beat the blue out of the Blue Devils 103-73, & I’m not even sure the game was that close. It was a complete domination which was only enhanced by the fact that you got to watch Laettner sit there with his dumbfounded smug look on his face while UNLV was running a never ending layup line. It remains to be the most lopsided margin of victory for a National Championship game in NCAA history.

Flash forward a year later. UNLV returned their core players, & ran roughshod over the nation. It was almost like watching an NBA team secretly play D-I basketball. Larry Johnson (who won the John Wooden Award and Naismith College Player of the Year in ’91) demoralized everyone in his path like a dark-skinned Charles Barkley. Stacey Augmon was so athletic with his hops and length (he was called “Plastic Man” after all) he border-lined abused his opponents defensively and in the open court. Greg Anthony & Anderson Hunt, not only provided the team with steadiness, the team fed off their leadership and swagger. The team went 27-0 during the season, averaging a 27 point scoring margin per game. Read that again. It remains to this day, one of the greatest NCAA teams I’ve ever seen in my lifetime. Predictably, the March Madness tourney came along and they ran through everyone on their way to the Final Four. Waiting for them in the Semi’s? Duke, a team they just finished molly-whopping 12 months prior, where both Hunt and Anthony treated Hurley like he was Superhead. These f***in’ Devil bastards wanna do this again? Bring that shit on!!

At the time, I would have bet my Nintendo, and my Double Dribble game, that another blowout was coming. It’s still hard for me to believe what transpired after that ball was tipped.

Headley: Where do I start? Duke vs. UNLV was almost like a race war. Or at the very least, similar to an episode of Games of Thrones, where the Houses of Lannister and Stark were at battle. They just didn’t mix. Let’s be real folks, if a brother back then said they favored Duke over UNLV, you were putting your jacket over the seat next to you in the cafeteria when you saw him exit the lunch line. The Running Rebels were the first team I actually had a hard-on for that wasn’t my home team. I was naturally a Montreal Canadians and Montreal Expos fan because that represented home. I don’t even know back then if I knew where Nevada was, let alone what the acronym meant. On my measly paper route job that I had, I scavenged up enough money to buy a UNLV hat, long sleeved Tee, and my prize possession… a UNLV letterman jacket!! Putting on that letterman jacket was my official flag. I didn’t even rock Expos & Habs gear like this. They were a team you were forced to notice even if you didn’t like them. And let’s be honest, I liked their deceitfulness even though it was only basketball.

Duke was the polar opposite. They were my generation of Hoosiers. Straight-laced.  Played basketball “the right way”, textbook like… just straight proper. One of my best friends Adam (whom I’ve known since we were 6yrs old, and with whom I still communicate with weekly) was the team captain of our high school b-ball team, was voted “most likable” by my senior class year, and could have starred in Saved by The Bell. Well, he was a Duke fan, and it just made sense. So when UNLV big-boy’d them in the Championship Finals the year before, it almost felt like Reparations. And it’s not like they didn’t have brothers on the team either. I mean there was no argument that after Laettner & Hurley, their core guys were black and ran from 3 – 6….. but they also looked like they wore their polo sweaters around their shoulders. To this day, I don’t think I’ve seem a Duke player with a tatted sleeve. I remember being so surprised when Jay Williams signed to Duke. A “one-and-done” type of player going to Duke?!?!? It seemed anti-Blue Devil. Then came along Loul Deng, Kyrie Irving, Jabari Parker, and now Jahlil Okafor in recent years, who have seemed to officially joined the pack. They even had their first release for disciplinary reason this season with the sex scandal respecting Rasheed Sulaimon. Now let be clear: Sex Scandal has nothing to do with race, in case of the event that some wacko reads this & tries to relate the two. Just saying, Duke basketball is not expunged from college controversy like they had been in the past years it seems.

Duke in years past, had always symbolized the Spurs with their play and conduct: professional, somewhat boring, nothing flashy, and always productive. So when UNLV, (the “Fab Five before the Fab Five”) came with their somewhat destructive/bravado/cocky but always productive style, an exact counterpart was formed.  It made the perfect Ying vs. Yang, Day vs. Night, Fast vs. Slow parity. And I was eating it all up.

FYI: For the record, I grew up more Antonio Lang than Stacey Augmon. For those who get it, get it, those that don’t… forget it.

Cee:  Let me be the first person to raise my hand for the “I don’t get it” group. Matter of fact, I want to be the leader of this movement, similar to Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. I want to walk the streets and lead protests & rail against anyone who chooses to be an Antonio Lang fan over Stacey Augmon. Once I’m too old and weary to carry the fight on, I’ll pass the mantle along to my kids & they can lead the next generation. If you said you chose Grant Hill over Stacey Augmon even during this time, I can be okay with that. I’d more than understand. But Antonio Lang?? He was a decent/good role player, got some nice putback dunks, some blocks, but outside of that, he’s kind of forgettable. What the hell did Antonio do that would even warrant this kind of favoring over Augmon? Is he your cousin? You swear you weren’t secretly a fan of Duke?

There’s only a handful of Duke players that I was a fan of in all my years of watching basketball. I loved Elton Brand. I was also a fan of Carlos Boozer, and him somehow falling to the 2nd Round of the 2002 NBA Draft is still a travesty. Out of the one-and-done Dookies, I think Jahlil Okafor might be my favorite right now. Jay Williams made me not miss Duke games when they were on TV (even though I loathed Duke), especially from his sophomore season on. He remains one of the best Duke players I ever saw that I liked. The other one is Grant Hill. Before all the ankle injuries that came after he left Detroit, Hill was one of my favorite players in 90’s. Hill’s all-around game & smooth style was to be awed. I didn’t fully appreciate him until his senior at Duke to be honest. So around this time, my pre-teen self was hating on Grant strictly because he wore Blue and White. But looking back at that game now, even as a Freshman, you can see the talent. He may have been trying to figure it all out still, but you can already see the world-class athleticism, the attacking, slashing (and smooth) skillset on display. He took it to UNLV right away. Duke didn’t have anyone like that the year before to throw at the Rebels, and that was a big difference. Unlike 1990, they weren’t backing down this time. Especially Christian.

I’ll say this about Christian: I may have hated him as much or more than Remy in Higher Learning, but I respected his talents……now. A 6’11 big man that could take you off the dribble with each hand, can shoot out to the 3-pt line, can bang in the post, and rebound, and he exhibited all of those talents in this game. He was so tough to guard and deal with, period. If he went to Syracuse, North Carolina, UCLA, or any other school outside of Duke, he probably may not have been hated on so much.

Man…… who am I kidding? F*** Laettner.

Headley: You don’t get it. I grew up not a Lang fan but with a Lang upbringing. Meaning I had grass on my front lawn. You’d think because of that I’d be more a Duke fan, but hell naw! It was all about the UNLV swag. But to be honest, Lang had one of the more memorable dunks I can remember in that era. Do you remember Acie Earl?!?! Iowa big man that was a 1st round draft pick by the Celtics? Actually ended his NBA career (albeit short one) on the Raptors bench. Well in college he was the block party. Earl was swatting basketballs like they were mosquitoes. So when Lang was leading a break and cut for a driving lane, I naturally thought he was going to try to lay it off glass, and out of nowhere he rose like the falcon and banged all over Acie Earl!! Does a tree make noise if no one is around? Well that was me in my parent’s basement going ballistic. I can’t find any clips of that play but it had to be the single-most impressive play I ever saw him do. Now, this is about 10 lines more than I thought I’d ever write about Lang. Back to the topic at hand.

The Kentucky Wildcats are trying to do what the Running Rebels didn’t do in 1991, and that’s go undefeated for an entire season in Division-1 basketball.  I don’t think people realize how difficult a task this is and how wonderful you need to play to get this done. A staggering stat is that UNLV’s average age was 22.5 years, which would be ancient in college now… which makes it even more impressive that the young Wildcats are on the cusp of going undefeated. But like the Running Rebels were a shoe-in to repeat, it takes only 40 minutes for that to be dashed away in a one-game elimination format which makes it so entertaining. A friend told me Vegas pulled in their highest winnings in the first weekend of March Madness this year. Only the New York Giants’ improbable Super Bowl win against the undefeated New England Patriots back in 2008, was a bigger heist. As the saying goes, “the game isn’t played on paper”. Duke had other plans, and it started unfortunately with Christian Laettner.

It was easy to hate on him, and I did. Clearly I wasn’t alone going with ESPN’s latest 30 in 30 installment which was cheeky entitled, “I Hate Christian Laettner”. He was naturally gifted and never looked like his hair came out of place. Although Shaq would later become a top five all-time NBA scorer, and the no. 1 pick of the NBA draft in front of Laettner, you couldn’t argue his selection to the original Dream Team of the 1992 Summer Olympics. In my opinion, he probably had the most impressive D-1 college basketball careers of all-time. Especially in an era where top players leave early to the pros, it’s a lock that he’ll keep that title. Shocking, his 13-year NBA career resulted in only one single All-Star appearance. Did you know Laettner grew up in Buffalo, New York, and his mother is born in Toronto?!?!? This dude could have played for the Canadian teams during Summer Olympics! I guess the Dream Team does have more caveat. Lol.  To this day, he holds The Christian Laettner Basketball Academy in Muskoka, Ontario annually. Maybe I shouldn’t hate on him so much anymore. However of all the Duke players, Grant Hill by far had the most successful NBA career (and he won off the court with Canadian girl Tamia) of either team. That’s a tall tale considering his career (3rd overall in ’94) ran short and seeing the other high profile players in the game like Johnson (1st overall in ’91), Laettner (3rd, ’92), Hurley (7th, ’93), Augmon (9th, ’91) and Anthony (12th, ’91). That’s incredible! Laettner and Hurley were the first pair of consensus All Americans to play on the same team since Michael Jordan and Sam Perkins. Over half of the starting lineups of either side would end up being lottery picks. What a preview. And it was the least acclaimed NBA Analyst Greg Anthony who was the key to UNLV losing this match. When he fouled out with four minutes left, the curtains were closing on UNLV.

Cee: It’s funny you brought up the Giants shocking the Patriots, because that game, as well as this one, was one of the few times in life when I thought that the favorites were still going to win the game, no matter how close it looked. It shocked me back then just how close that game was, even in the second half. Johnson and Augmon weren’t having their greatest games at that point, but Anthony was still controlling things in the 2nd half (even dropping an And-1 on Hurley & stared him down while Hurley was still on his ass at the 49:30 min mark). Even at that point, you just knew UNLV will still take it. However, here’s the under-rated secret about that Rebel team: they weren’t that deep. Losing someone like Anthony at that point of the game was huge. Hunt could take over the PG duties if he had to, but it took away from his abilities to be unleashed as a scorer, & now he had the added responsibility of running the offense. If it happened at any point of time in the season, you could deal with it. But with the pressure of this game building, this damn Duke team going shot for shot with them, & trying to be the first team to repeat as champs since the UCLA teams of the 70s, you want all your weapons at your disposal at that moment.

Having that full arsenal is what got you there in the first place. Maybe you can win a close game with one of your core players still sitting on the bench, but with everything on the line, you don’t really want to find out that answer if you had to. With less than a minute to go, game tied at 77-77, and Duke milking it down on the last possession, was the official moment when I got that “pit in the bottom of my stomach” feeling. Once Laettner got fouled & was heading to the line, that feeling became way, way worse. Watching that “I’m better than you, & I’m going to shatter your dreams everybody” look on his face (you know, the same look he has in those crappy AT&T commercials he’s in with Shaq, Clyde Drexler and Dr. J, that won’t stop airing these days) while he walked to the line, was disheartening because above all else…… you knew he was making both.

Headley: I have to digress a bit and mention that guys like Johnson and Hurley’s careers were derailed by injuries too. Who knows what their professional careers would have looked like. Hurley was involved in a major car accident his rookie season, and never fully recovered. And as great an athlete Grandmama was, he’s known as much or more for his improbable four point play against the Indiana Pacers, in the 1999 Eastern Conference Finals, than a bruising frontcourt player that would yoke all over your chin. And that’s a shame. A two-time all-star, by the time he left the Charlotte Hornets, was a shell of his old self because of deliberating back problems. Who knows what Johnson and Alonzo Mourning could have been if they stayed together. That frontcourt should have been as great as any. I just had to mention those two key factors, seeing it wasn’t only Hill that lost years to injury at the next level.

As for the game, to say Augmon wasn’t having his best game is an understatement. He was Mr. Butterfingers. I don’t know how many turnovers he committed, but he mangled so many nice passes and assists that I swear I was watching a skinnier version of Kendrick Perkins’ sorry ass in that game.

It was hard to believe the game was even close with how Johnson was gathering up rebounds like he was picking grapes. They must have ruled the 2nd chance points in the first half. It was like a prize fighter giving it all they got in the early rounds. Duke played it like a cagey boxer, just picking its moments and using the ring. It was a brilliant but gutsy move with Duke not covering center George Eckles early on. He was an All-American honorable mention and they treated him like Ben Wallace on offence. Duke basically played five-on-four on defense daring Eckles to shoot, but it more than worked out for them.

To me, Duke did enough trickery to keep the game close and when it came to crunch time, UNLV weren’t use to playing these crucial kinds of minutes in a close game. Not only did they have the pressure to repeat, but also no team had gone undefeated since the ’76 Indiana Hoosiers. More than anything else, the poise of Duke took over.  What’s even crazier is that their average age was 19.5yrs?!?! But with the steadiness of Anthony out of the game to monitor the tempo for UNLV, it became too much. It hurt my heart and crushed my spirit that the Blue Devils were the ones that deserved to win this game.

Cee: I think more than anything, the last possession of UNLV spoke volumes about how much they missed Anthony. They couldn’t even get a good shot off, & looked mired in confusion. After the whole season of success, it was weird watching how the story ended for UNLV. As the saying goes, everything ends badly, otherwise it would never end….and watching Duke beat Kansas two days later in a championship game that no one remembers (outside of Hill’s alley-oop) was as bad as it got. It set off a mini-dynasty that ended off with Duke repeating as champions in ’92, by beating the Fab Five (my other favorite college team). It capped off a four year run for Duke where they played in four straight final fours & anointed Laettner as one of the greatest college players of all time. It still annoys me to this day………. yeah….I’m done here…..

*** pushed out chair from laptop and storms off. ***

 


Cal Cee // South Shore Ave

To subscribe to The Baseline Blog, click onto the Follow button or by entering your email address. Very special thanks to Headley Bent for his contributions to this posting.

 

NBA’s 1st Half Rundown: 2015

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With the second half of the NBA underway, and the most wide open season we have had in years (and all the contenders stocking up on players like an arms race between warring countries), let’s have a quick rundown on some of the stories from the 1st half of the NBA season.

Who’s the 1st Half MVP?

I’m sure there will be some candidates rising in the second half of the season (LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Marc Gasol, John Wall, Russell Westbrook, etc), but it’ll be hard pressed to surpass anything that James Harden and Steph Curry have been doing this season, especially if they continue to play like this. Harden, in fact, has put the team on his back (27.4 PPG/5.7 RBG/6.8 ASG/2 SPG/45% FG/87% FT/38% 3P), taking whatever spare part of the alpha dog mantle that Dwight Howard had, and has carried the Rockets all season & kept them high in the pecking order of the Western Conference. He deserves to be saluted to be honest, he’s basically been unstoppable. You know who’s been slightly more unstoppable this season? Stephen Curry.

When he first became known at Davidson during his freshman year, his shooting exploits were beyond explanation. By the time he was a Junior, he was easily one of the best players in the country despite his slight build and small school pedigree. In fact, I used to argue with one of my friends (I won’t name said friend here….. but Marco was that guy. Ok, sorry Marco. Actually, I’m not that sorry…) about his NBA potential. I always believed he’d be able to hang in the pros, because if all else fails, he can live off of being a deadly spot up shooter. Secretly, though, the way he used to get his shot off & set his defenders up to create space, I would hope he’d be better than that. I never thought I’d see what I’m seeing from him now. He’s treating the league like it’s his little brother. He’s somehow mixed the best parts of Steve Nash & Allen Iverson’s game & combined it with his. It’s become comical how well he can shoot from anywhere & under any scenario (23.6 PPG, 48% FG/90% FT/40% 3P), how his handles have become Isaiah Thomas-esque, how he’s reduced b-ball fans into giggling schoolgirls whenever they watch him, & how he’s turned Golden St to not only the best team in the West right now, but also the most entertaining team in the NBA.

I want to go back to his ball handling for a second. When it comes to basketball, my belief is that having great handles is like having a universal master key that allows you to open any door. It creates opportunities to set your defender up to better control the game. Curry has improved that part of his game so much in the last couple of years, that it has now become as lethal as his jumper, and that alone makes him completely dangerous. It’s allowed him to become one of the best slashers in the NBA as well as one of its best passers and creators (8 assists per), and it also provides him with supreme confidence that the entire Warrior team feeds off of. There is nothing in the NBA right now, as enticing as watching Curry get hot (no pun intended) during a game. When he gets going, Twitter blows up, Vines start popping up from everywhere, & if you’re included in some chat groups on your phone, then it starts vibrating like crazy. The greatest part of Klay Thompson’s 37-point 3rd quarter vs. the Kings (on his way to a 50-point night) outside of the fact that you couldn’t believe what you were watching, to me was being slightly surprised that it actually wasn’t Steph doing this first. Meanwhile he was laughing almost in hysterics at what was happening as well, enjoying the moment as much as any Warrior fan in the building. About two weeks later, he dropped 51 on the Mavericks scoring 26 of his own in the 3rd quarter. The way this season has been going for Curry so far, that honestly sounds about right.

Will Kevin Love stay with the Cavaliers?

I can’t see how. You have to think about it in these terms for a second. In last year’s All Star game, he started for the West. In this year’s All Star game, he didn’t even make the team…..for the East. That alone has probably made him second guess this move to Cleveland if he hasn’t already, despite what he says publicly. After watching his franchise fail time & time again to put him in a position to win in Minnesota (which included the screw up of only offering him 4-year extension instead of the 5-year franchise max offer), Love wanted to be part of a winning culture. So getting traded to Cleveland where LeBron James and Kyrie Irving was a win in his case. I’m positive he knew he was going to sacrifice certain parts of his game to make this work, but I’m sure he wasn’t expecting this.

He’s become a 3rd option on offense, someone who spends more time spotting up for jumpers and threes, than controlling the boards & the paint…. you know, something he’s getting paid almost $16M this season to do. His stats have come down pretty much across the board which is expected (Last season: 26.1 PPG/12.5 RBG, 3 offensive/46% FG/37.6 3P; This season: 17 PPG / 10.4 RBG, 2 offensive/43% FG/34% 3P), however with the trade of J.R. Smith, it’s not surprising to see him with the 4th most shot attempts on the Cavs most nights now, which I guarantee he did not sign up for. Then he has to hear his coach David Blatt state the he is not a max player (though he predictably backtracked afterwards) & then LeBron calling him out on Twitter in a passive aggressive manner (which he also backtracked, then admitted the Twitter comment, to only moonwalk again).

Where it becomes sticky is that despite his struggles, this is the best team he’s even been on by far who’s gotten hot over the last month (won 14 of its last 16), so it’s hard for him to complain when his team has been winning. But obviously things are not going well for him this season so far, so he has to hope things get better sooner than later. If not, he’ll have to look at his options. I think the only way he stays in Cleveland is if he opts into his contract for next season, & tests the market in 2016 when the cap will skyrocket. The problem is, if he continues to go up & down in play until then, will it take enough of a hit to his value that he won’t get the max? K-Love’s got a lot to consider in the upcoming months.

Most Disappointing Teams?

You can consider a few, but for me this season, it’s definitely Charlotte and Denver. After the way the Hornets played this season, I assumed they would build on that success while adding Lance Stephenson to the mix. This season however, has been marred with injuries, Lance has been inconsistent and him & Hornets coach Steve Clifford has not seen eye to eye in philosophies, rookies Noah Vonleah and P.J. Hairston has been coming along extremely slowly this year having little to no impact whatsoever. As far as Denver is concerned, when a coach from a professional NBA team has to try banning his team of NBA professional players from cell phone use in team meetings, pretty much says in all. Kenneth Faried —  after a huge performance in the World Championships this summer & $50M contract extension — has stayed pretty stagnant. Danilo Gallanari seems like he’s still recovering from his knee surgeries, they played with an overall flair of indifference, as of yesterday, started the process of cleaning house (although most teams are probably upset they didn’t get Wilson Chandler before the trade deadline) & at this point, it seems like the team has pretty much quit on Brian Shaw and vice versa. I’d be surprised if Shaw comes back to coach the team next season.

Predictions for 2nd Half of the Regular Season:

Steph Curry will win his 1st MVP award……. Mike Budenholzer will win his first Coach of the Year award…… Golden St will finish with the best record in the West & Atlanta will hold down the top spot in the East…… I said this last year, I stop doubting what the San Antonio Spurs do every year. With that said, barring health, they will finish in the Top 3 in the West & that will help Tim Duncan land the Defensive Player of the Year. If that doesn’t happen & the Spurs don’t make that leap, count on Draymond Green winning it…….. 6th Man of the Year: See Drake’s “If You’re Reading This, It’s Too Late” album, Track 12…… Hassan Whiteside will win Most Improved Player (my wild prediction)…. Paul George will come back in time for Indiana to make a playoff push, but it won’t mean anything….. The Raptors finish again with the 3rd seed in the East & will fight Chicago for the #2 spot right until the very end……. Isaiah Thomas will cry his way to Boston. Can you imagine leaving the desert, for a city that’s experiencing the worst winter in history? And the team sucks??? I’d be bawling the whole flight complete with snot bubbles & hyperventilating episodes…… Reggie Jackson will channel his inner Westbrook until he gets called into Stan Van Gundy’s office, and only Andre Drummond & Greg Monroe are waiting for him. Then the door locks behind Reggie……. Reggie Jackson will be top 4 in assists for the rest of the season after that meeting……

Predictions for final Regular Season Conference Standings

  1. Atlanta – Barring a major collapse, I can’t see them losing a 6.5 game lead over the conference. Huge game tonight vs. Toronto.
  2. Chicago – Getting healthier. Week off is especially huge for Joakim Noah and Derrick Rose to recover from their knee issues.
  3. Toronto – Should solidify the 3rd seed at the very least with one of the easiest schedules remaining in the NBA.
  4. Cleveland – Team LeBron is rounding into form. Next step: Showing Kevin more Love.
  5. Washington – If I’m correct, a potential 1st round series vs. Cleveland will be one of the most intense playoff series in a couple of months.
  6. Milwaukee – Getting Coach Kidd to mold MCW will be one of the most underrated things to watch. I like what the Bucks are building so far.
  7. Miami – I would actually rank Miami higher (especially after acquiring Goran Dragic yesterday), but everything hinges on Chris Bosh’s health right now. If lost for the season (blood clot in his lung), Miami stays where they are.
  8. Detroit – I almost….ALMOST put Brooklyn in this spot, but adding Reggie Jackson yesterday is a slightly bigger upgrade for Detroit than it is for Brooklyn scooping up Thaddeus Young. Have a feeling this will go down to the wire.

Western Conference

  1. Golden St. – This might be the strongest a conference has been in my lifetime. The 8th seed could beat the top seed and no one will bat an eye. Anyway, they’ll hold onto the top spot.
  2. Memphis – Picking up Jeff Green fills the one flaw this team had (athletic wing that can score on his own). This might be the best team in the West when it’s all said and done.
  3. San Antonio – Now that everyone is healthy, I can see them going on a late run. Gregg Popovich says everything hinges on Tony Parker to repeat. 21-3-13 with 0 TOs (in a loss to the Clippers last night)? I’d say he’s off to a good start so far.
  4. Portland – Threw themselves in the Western Conference arms race by scopping Aaron Afflalo to make their bench that much deeper.
  5. Houston – Shhh! Don’t make any sudden movements…. but Josh Smith is playing better these last three weeks. Could be a huge lift for the Rockets (& my fantasy team) if he stays this consistent.
  6. L.A. Clippers – DeAndre Jordan is playing like a grown man, especially since Blake went down. Bench isn’t strong enough to win the title this year.
  7. Dallas – I’m personally rooting for Amare to be healthy for the rest of the season at least & give us old Amare for 3 months. Wishful thinking I know. But solid pickup nonetheless.
  8. Oklahoma City – Potentially the scariest 8th seed in NBA history… that also got stronger by adding Enes Kanter, Kyle Singler, & D.J. Augustin to the mix.

Bonus question: Will the population increase in Toronto in December 2016?

Seems that way. By the time the local groupies here in Toronto ditch their morals, dignity, and panties for potential life changing “opportunities” for next year’s NBA All Star Game in Toronto, the maternity wards in hospitals will be extremely busy, & may have to hire volunteers off the street to help deliver all of these new people. Honestly, if someone can put together a Thirst Trapping seminar between now and next February, they might become Toronto’s next millionaire. Think of the lessons that can be taught:

  • How to Trap a Celebrity & Keep Them Happy at the Same Time,
  • How to Sexify Your Way to Any Baller’s Bottle Service (which provides a follow-up co-op program to any lounge on King St.),
  • #TeamTwerk Workshop,
  • Rich Wax Poor Wax: Financial Planning Your Way To a Better Brazilian Wax,
  • Personal Training Discounts at all Goodlife locations in the GTA (which will really only consist of a rotation of lunge exercises & stairmaster sessions)…

….well you get the point. At the end of the seminar you have to get a #THOTSZN tattoo on your lower back to prove that you really are about that life. I’m not sure this city is quite ready for all the black celebs that will import themselves into Toronto for that week, & I’m not quite sure the black celebs understand just how “nice” these Canadian groupies are willing to be. Either way, it’ll be interesting to see these worlds collide north of the border. I just can’t wait to watch!

Seriously speaking, I have been speaking about having the All Star game here for at least 15-20 years, ever since the Raptors were still playing at the Skydome. Previously, when the NBA had their expansion team run in the early 90s (Miami, Orlando, Minnesota, & Charlotte), that city usually got to host an all star game within the first five years of existence. So when Toronto & Vancouver had their turn, I was certain the Raps would get one. No way did I think it would come 20 years later. So now that it’s less than a year away, it will be wonderful for Toronto to be able to celebrate (as well as Canada) it’s own underrated history with this sport. With the direction of where the Raptors are headed these days, & what Drake and his OVO team will have planned for the weekend, as well as all the major festivities, I’m sure it’ll be a incredible experience. Can’t wait….

 

Cal Cee // South Shore Ave

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Leaders of the New East

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It’s said that the highest form of flattery in sports is copycatting. From individuals, to teams and organizations, entertainers and celebrities alike, it’s like an undercover pat on the back to the party that is inspiring the copycatting. It simply means that people want to pattern your success or your coolness. In team sports, when a champion is throned & their style was successful to the eyes and the pockets, you start to see other organizations carbon copying the image. We’ve seen many examples throughout time. Remember when the Bulls were ruling the 90s, and the Dallas Mavericks thought they can run the triangle offense with Jason Kidd, Jamal Mashburn and Jimmy Jackson with similar success? How did that turn out? Don’t ask Toni Braxton. Or recently when the Heat had their Big Three run, look at how many teams that were and still are trying to get three superstars to solidify their championship aspirations. Just ask the Houston Rockets, who I’m pretty sure will do anything short of making love to a Ouija board to make this happen. Well, this past year the San Antonio Spurs, as you all know, not only won the title, but destroyed a legacy (Miami Heat) in the process with their spacing/sharing the ball/one-for-all-all-for-one system. Even the most hardened Spurs hater had to appreciate how they continually shared the ball over and over again until they got the best shot possible. Well, obviously, other organizations were watching this, & decided to build their own almost in that vein.

Now, I’m going to let you in on a secret. Initially I had it all planned out & was going to write a post about the successes of the Atlanta Hawks and the Toronto Raptors this season. In fact, this was supposed to be the next set of sentences at the end of the first paragraph:

“This season, two franchises have followed in the ideals of the Spurs, and neither one of them are in the West. The Atlanta Hawks and the Toronto Raptors are the perfect students that took the lessons from the Spurs blackboard of playing team basketball, and made it successful for themselves….. and both teams won’t be going away anytime soon.”

I still mean every word of that to be very honest. I believe in the Toronto Raptors. They went and dismissed my #TankCity visions for them a little more than a year ago. Since that Rudy Gay trade last December, the Raptors have been the best team in the Eastern Conference (72-37). Losing that 1st round seven-game slugfest with the Brooklyn Nets last spring can only add more wood to the fire. With coach Duane Casey, Raptors GM Masai Ujiri, MLSE Head Honcho Tim Lieweke, and their top players Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, not only have they changed the culture of how the Raptors are being respected around the NBA, with the 2016 All Star Game coming to Toronto (and a little help from Drake & his OVO team), they are starting the process of giving this city an attractive destination buzz. Almost like the awkward high school girl who got a full makeover & started walking the halls in her new outfit before 1st period, people are discussing the Raptors in hushed tones which will only get louder as they continue moving forward. I’m all in for their progress so far. Last month, when the Raps were playing splendidly, & everyone was worried about what was happening in Cleveland, how great Chicago looks & how well Washington has played this season…….the Hawks kept winning under the radar. No one was paying any real attention.

I noticed Atlanta was on a bit of a winning streak at the beginning of December, but they were playing the shittier teams in the East, so I kinda dismissed it a little bit. Right before Christmas, they beat Chicago at home. No biggie. After all, I had them as my sleeper team in the East this season, so I shouldn’t be surprised if they beat good teams at home. Then they went on the road and destroyed a healthy LeBron Cleveland team by 29. You could chalk it up to Cleveland still trying to figure things out. However, they went right to Houston and Dallas in back-to-back games and beat both of them. Hmmm….. okay, that’s a little surprising. They slipped up against Milwaukee losing by 30 on Boxing Day. Ok, maybe they’re coming back down to earth.  Since that game, they went on a 10-game winning streak. They went on the road & smacked around the Clippers and Portland, beat the Grizzlies at home, beat a rolling Pistons team, destroyed a good Wizards team by 31, & rested players against wins vs. Philly and Boston. On top of everything else, they surpassed the Raptors for 1st place in the East. What the hell is going on here???

So when they headed up north to play Toronto almost two Fridays ago, I made sure to park myself on the couch and anticipated a huge game between the two new East powers. By this time, I already decided to postpone this Hawks-Raps post at least until after this game was over. With about three minutes left in the third quarter, I was shocked, awed, and confused. They were beating down the Raptors. By 20. At the ACC. And they were making it look easy. What had made Atlanta successful all season was on full display. Everyone was sharing the ball, all five guys were touching the rock in the halfcourt set. There wasn’t a consensus to feed one guy in particular. They worked the ball until they had the best shot possible, via drives and kicks, dump offs in the post, or opportunities for slashes to the paint. All five players played fundamental team defense, hands in the passing lanes, deflecting passes, perfect rotations, swarming the paint on drives, close-outs on shooters. It was like watching a basketball instructional video. It never mattered what Toronto was doing (outside of turning the ball over more than their average that night, they really didn’t play a bad game), Atlanta simply controlled everything. There was a reason why they kept being called “Spurs East” all season. The last time I saw a team play this selflessly on both ends of the floor, were the Spurs in the Finals last season. To prove that this was far from a fluke, they dismantled the Bulls the very next night. Ok then, I guess I gotta scrap this f**king idea….. ****flings papers in the air*****

Since that point, they have cruised on their way to their 16th straight victory. Honestly, I don’t even care about the streak, it will eventually be broken. Considering the NBA record for a winning streak is 33 straight, they’re not even halfway to that goal, I can imagine them being picked off at some point. What I look at when I see how the Hawks are playing is that, in the wide open NBA season that has no clear cut favorites, they have as clear a shot to win the NBA Title this season as any contender. When you remember how their season started with the ownership situation in flux from Bruce Levenson’s email (& decision to sell his stake of the team as a result), and Hawks GM Danny Ferry’s racially insensitive comments, you would be a complete liar if you saw this season coming. There was a better chance this team would have imploded internally, & some may have even expected it. Luckily, one of the things that Ferry did right in his tenure, is hire coach Mike Budenholzer, going into the 2013-2014 season. All Budenholzer has done, is take his experiences learned from the years as an assistant coach of Gregg Popovich, & has built a strong foundation and culture in Atlanta’s locker room. He has gotten them to avoid the team’s self-inflicted dramas, & had them on a path to playing smart with a sharpened focus. We see the proof every night with how his players have completely bought into his system. His team may not be viewed as one that has a superstar or superstars, but they absolutely have all stars on them.

Al Horford when healthy, is a top ten power forward or center in the league, which he has been all season (let’s hope his pectoral muscles stay in one piece).  Paul Milsap not only has a steal of a contract (making $8.5M this season), but has been steady throughout his time in Atlanta & will more than likely receive his 2nd straight all star appearance. Jeff Teague’s not only an all star this year, but his game as a whole has jumped a notch or more since Budenhozer has gotten there, & has arguably been the Hawks best player. Kyle Korver, coming off his experience from this summer’s World Championships has been shooting flames out of his ass (13 PPG; 52 FG%/53 3P%/92 FT%) & you can make the argument that he should be in New York City in a couple of weeks, for more than just the 3-point contest. They have a solid supporting cast behind them (DeMarre Carrol, Pero Antic, Thabo Sefolosha, etc.), a young Rondo-clone in Dennis Schroder, & they haven’t unwrapped Adreian Payne out of the plastic yet (I still believe in the kid). You have a balanced rotation of penetrators and creators, shooters and slashers, bigs that can spread you out, drive to the basket, and gets buckets on the block. Now with the announced sale of Hawks ownership recently, they will more than likely get a new set of owners who will enhance the foundation that’s now being built here.

Quite frankly, it’s hard to understand why Atlanta haven’t been bigger players in free agency historically. They have good weather, the cost of living is sensational, the club scene is big, strip club scene is legendary, most things that would appeal to a Free Agent who’s a bachelor….. or married (Just being honest here people). They have also struggled since Dominique Wilkins’ heyday to get consistent fans, and are doing things right now to change the mindset of the consistently skittish local fan support. Even as a younger fan of the league, I used to notice through the TV, that the fans at Hawks games used to cheer louder for the visiting teams than their own. With what Budenholzer and Ferry (who’s in exile right now) have started, it could start attracting free agents that they probably wouldn’t have gotten in years past. Winning attracts everything and this isn’t Utah. If an athlete can go to a team with a stable foundation, where they can win, and be in a vibrant city (much like Toronto can boast for example), they will eventually come running……… and with the way Atlanta’s been playing this year, they better get ready to set up shop, because I don’t think they’re going anywhere, anytime soon.

Sideline Notes

– Although the East can still be considered crappy in some aspects, the Elite part of the East hasn’t looked this good in years. Between the aforementioned teams Atlanta & Toronto, Washington has elevated themselves this season behind the play of John Wall, who’s game clearly jumped a notch (17.2 PPG, 10.1 dimes per, 46 FG%), with Cleveland and Chicago starting to round themselves into form before the all star break. Normally. I’d willingly ignore the Eastern Conference playoffs until it gets to the Conference Finals, but this year’s 4 vs. 5 seed matchup in the 1st round alone should be worth your attention…..

– “I’m here so I don’t get fined”…..

– I still believe that Chicago could represent the East as long as they remain healthy. And when I say “they”, I mean “Derrick Rose”. He’s struggled thus far with his consistency to be what he used to be which is expected, seeing that he missed almost 30 months of NBA ball. But, the last 7 games: 23.2 PPG; 46.5 FG%/48 3P%/85 FT%, plus he’s playing way more aggressive than before. The only thing Chicago should worry about, is making sure Rose goes into the playoffs with his game sharp and his legs ready. Nothing else……

– For those who are old enough to remember, but remember back in the day when you would play season mode in NBA Live and in the playoffs, the computer would go into “F*** you, you are losing this game” mode and hit every shot in sight? That’s what it felt like watching Klay Thompson get 37 points in the 3rd Q vs the Kings last weekend. If there was anyone I would have thought would get that hot in a game like that, it would be his teammate Steph. That World Championship experience did a boost for Thompson’s confidence. He’s a legitimate All Star, & is a top 3 shooting guard with Jimmy Butler, and behind James Harden…..

– “I’m here so I don’t get fined”…. “You wanna do this again?! Ok then….. I’m thankful“……

– Lastly, can we put to rest to this whole Deflate-Gate issue, please? The fact that we aren’t focusing on the Super Bowl with only days leading up to the big game, and all that’s being talked about are deflated balls, is both annoying and depressing. I feel like this whole controversy should be sponsored by Cialis. With that said, it should be a great game on Sunday, but even as a lifelong Niner fan, I’ll have to admit that our nemesis (The Seahawks) will repeat as champions. I hope I’m dead wrong because if I am, I’ll probably be doing this after the game…..

 

Cal Cee // South Shore Ave

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Kobe, Kobe, Kobe….

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Kobe Bryant. One of the 10 best players in NBA history. The second greatest shooting guard ever. The 3rd leading scorer in NBA History (for now). One MVP; Two Finals MVPs; Five NBA Championships; 16-time All Star; 4-time All Star MVP; 2-time Olympic Gold Medalist; 1997 NBA Dunk Champion; and once dropped 81 points in a game on Toronto. A couple of weeks before that he dropped 63 points in three quarters against Dallas, outscoring them by himself in the process. He’s dunked on countless people & completed some of the most ridiculous shots we’ve seen since Michael Jordan. He has a legendary work ethic both physically & mentally. He has achieved almost everything you can possibly think of as a basketball player and professional athlete. He’ll be a first ballot Hall of Famer whenever he retires. Did I leave anything else out of this paragraph as far as accolades and compliments go? No? Ok…… good!

We now need to add that he has been THE anchor for the Los Angeles Lakers at the end of his career.

Strong words? Yes, but not really. A lot of the strengths that make Kobe as great as he is — his biggest weapon among other things is his supreme self-confidence – which is what holds the Lakers back. That, “I can do this by myself if I have to” and “Hero-ball/I’m throwing on that cape now” combination. It allows him to take crazy shots if need be, shoot over triple teams if need be, and ignore his teammates when he has to. The sad thing is, there is literally no one in the Laker organization that can tell him any differently about his playing style because, well, it worked in the past. However, that past was something that happened a while ago. Kobe has proven over the years that he can’t be the guy doing it his way 100% anymore. It’s something I noticed personally back in 2012, when they faced Oklahoma City in the playoffs. Not only were those young guys (Durant, Harden, but especially Westbrook) past him when it came to athleticism which is expected, but they had no fear against him anymore. That fear factor was totally gone, & the way they went after Kobe the whole series was crystal clear that Kobe’s time as the main guy making the team an automatic contender was done.

The following season, was when the Lakers tried to load up, trading for Dwight Howard & signing Steve Nash, but we all know how that turned out. I actually don’t blame Kobe for that season, I put the blame on Mike D’Antoni.  His rigid ways of running his system, only keeping a 7-man rotation on a veteran squad, making Pau Gasol (a guy who’s inside game & footwork is almost masterful at times) spot up & shoot 3s as a Stretch-4, generally running Kobe into the ground & helping to blow his Achilles, should take the majority of the blame. Dwight, leaving shortly after the season was over & leaving somewhere around $30M on the table to get away from Kobe, is not totally Kobe’s fault either. I don’t believe Dwight was ever built for the pressure of winning in LA, he’s just not wired that way & that’s fine. It’s not for everyone & it is possible to be an NBA champion outside of Los Angeles. BUT at the time of his Free Agency, he was the Laker’s #1 future asset going forward & they had no Plan B otherwise. And well, Kobe’s personality helped to put Dwight’s desire to stay a Laker in a body bag & help drive it out of Los Angeles with that whole, “you can learn to be the man, as long as you learn from ME with MY ways” speech during Dwight’s free agent meetings. He can’t get out of his own way. Either that or he knew of Dwight’s mindset & basically set to test it one last time. If Dwight walked out the door, he was okay with it because as long as he didn’t fall in Kobe’s line, he didn’t need to be there.

Now, after the smoke clears, Laker Nation are forced to watch a 36-yr old shooting guard who’s had major injuries to his lower extremities, & believes he’s still a God. This team is young, has no young studs outside of Julius Randle (who won’t be there until next year unfortunately, while he recovers from a broken leg), & are trying to learn ways to succeed while the losses piles up.  I can understand that Kobe is trying to possibly teach them his ways of never giving up & continuing to fight, which is great. However, that message gets lost when you’re watching a guy who has carte blanche to do & say whatever he wants within an organization that still fawns over him (only he’s not quite as good), jack 25+ shots without any remorse. The Kobe lovers/defenders/apologists/stans can’t even ignore the 8 of 30 for 25 pts & 9 TOs display he put on a few days ago vs. Sacramento, I mean….. it’s borderline disgusting. At this age, why is he still trying to get up so many shots?? It can’t be for the sake of winning. It’s dumb basketball, & if you’re a basketball lover watching these Laker games, how can you even support this? Over the course of the year, he’s averaging 24.6 pts on 22.5 shots per, shooting 37% FG and 27% from three. The efficiency simply isn’t there, but it’s not gonna stop him from getting up the 4th most shots per game on average over his 19 year career.

He claims nothing is more important to him than getting his 6th ring before he retires, right? Then does he not realize that his continued refusal to alter or change his style of play is like a nightly audition to future major free agents that could possibly help him get that ring? With every cut eye he shoots off at his teammates, every shot he jacks, you can almost hear another door closing on that option that could help him meet that goal. He’s still trying to prove that he can still be elite at what he does & try to dispel history that a shooting guard at his age can still get it done every night. Only that really shouldn’t matter anymore. He has nothing left to prove as a ballplayer, my first paragraph should tell you that.  If anything, his next phase right now should be about trying to make everyone else better, proving to other free agents that they can definitely co-exist with him. At this stage of his ego development, that’s like asking a tiger to change his stripes to zebra. It will never f***ing happen……

……other than that, I love the way Kobe’s been playing this season. It’s been awesome.

**** UPDATE: By the way just so you know, this post was written last night before the Lakers went out and drubbed the NBA League-Leading Golden State Warriors 115-105 in a game that wasn’t as close as the score indicated. Also, Kobe not only did not play due to rest (plans to start & give Bulls guard Jimmy Butler every shot he can handle tomorrow at Chicago in front of a worldwide audience), but was nowhere near the building. I watched the 1st three quarters of that game last night, and let’s be honest, Golden St. just didn’t have it. So while I don’t think this is a big deal in terms of the Warriors losing to a crappy team because it’s a long season and these things will happen at some point (remember Chicago’s 72-10 season back in ’96? One of their 10 losses was to an expansion Raptor team that had names like “Zan Tabak” in the starting lineup), I found it interesting to read some of the comments that the players made post-game as well as the overall joy that was in the building from the Staple Center. You can come up with your own conclusions here. *****

Sideline Notes

  • As far as passing Michael Jordan for 3rd all-time in scoring, I think it’s a nice accomplishment & he deserves it. Why don’t I call it great? Because I’m starting to observe articles & hear opinions asking “Is Kobe actually better than Michael?”, and the “Kobe vs. Michael” comparisons. Stop it. Stop it now. I won’t even get into the part where Kobe followed Jordan’s career and mannerisms, wanting to not only be like him, but surpass him so bad that it borderline feels like what Matt Damon was doing to Jude Law in The Talented Mr. Ripley. Passing Jordan’s all-time scoring record if anything means this: whenever this debate comes up 15-20 years from now, it may cloud people’s judgment in their eyes just by looking at the stats. People will look at it & think, “Well, a case can be made that Kobe is better. He did score more points and went to more Finals than he did…and he did win 5.” Let it be known, Kobe’s the closest thing to Michael Jordan…..but he ain’t Michael Jordan. I don’t care if he scores 40,000+ points. Here are some comparisons I’ll mention: He passed a record in Year 19 (One season missed due to injury) that took Jordan just under 14.5 years to get (One season missed due to injury). Mike was THE MAN in all SIX titles that he won, winning all six Finals MVPs, Three-Peated twice in 8 years, while never going past Game 6 in any Finals he was in, much less never losing in one. Kobe won 5 rings, but Shaq was the man for three of those. He also lost twice in the Finals.  Michael won 10 scoring titles, Kobe won twice. Michael’s won 6 MVPs, Kobe won once. Also, Kobe never shot higher that 47% in his career. MJ not only surpassed that percentage 10 different times, but shot over 50% six times, while just missing that mark two other times (49.5%). Kobe gave himself two different nicknames (Black Mamba & Vino). Jordan never did that shit. I’m gonna stop this now. Before I start getting upset…..
  • My favorite player so far this season outside of Steph Curry: Jimmy Butler. He went from being a solid role player to the best two-way Shooting Guard in the Eastern Conference over the course of one summer. His scoring leaped tremendously from last year (13.1 to 22.1), as well as his FG% (40 to 48), FT% (77 to 83), and 3P% (28 to almost 35), all while keeping his defense at a high level. He is the perfect example of improving your game in the offseason folks. Usually it might be a component or two, but he raised the bar on everything. If he continues like this, I don’t know how anyone’s taking down Chicago in the East on top of all the other weapons that Chicago has added or gotten back off the injured list this season.
  • That Rajon Rondo trade makes Dallas super dangerous. However, with the West being so supremely strong this season, I don’t even know what that statement means anymore. This trade could push Dallas over the top & make them NBA champs this season, they could also lose in the first round….. and it would still be a great trade that they wouldn’t regret in both those scenarios.
  • Marshawn Lynch’s TD run & crotch dive….. I’m not even a fan of the Seahawks, but that was amazing & rebellious at the same time. It just had to be said, 49er fan or not.

Happy Holiday to all of you, drink responsibly, and have a safe and joyous time out there.

 

Cal Cee // South Shore Ave

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South Shore Ave’s NBA Season Preview: The East

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Welcome to Part Deux of our South Shore Ave’s NBA Preview where we tackle the improving Eastern conference. Click here if you missed Part 1. Please enjoy…..

Does Derrick Rose need to drink Holy Water before the season officially starts?

Not only do I think he needs to guzzle it by the litre, but I would nominate Rose for a Holy Water Bucket Challenge if said challenge existed. I won’t even rehash the knee troubles that Rose has gone endured.  You already know he’s missed the last two seasons due to his injuries. It’s robbed him of some of his prime years, & as a basketball fan, it’s disheartening. As it stands, coming off his participation at the World Championships this summer, this is the healthiest that Rose has been in a few years. With that said, it once again vaults Chicago to championship contending status, which for Bulls fans must scare you enough to stunt your breathing. I think Chicago management knows that the future isn’t promised because between Rose’s injury history, and with LeBron heading back to Cleveland with Kevin Love & company in tow, boy did it load this summer to win. They added Paul Gasol, along with rookies Nikola Mirotic and Doug McDermott, to last year’s Defensive Player of the Year Joakim Noah, and 6th Man runner up Taj Gibson to form the best frontcourt in the NBA. Between Gasol & Noah, they also have the two best passing big men in the league, and honestly, the offensive sets need to go through those two guys as much, or even a little more so than through Rose.

Chicago’s biggest problem since 2011, is they don’t score easily. Having two big men that can pass from both the low block and high post, and you can run screens & cuts off of them open things up for a team more than people think. They need to score easier, & for now, they have to lessen the load for Rose & get his legs ready for the second half of the season. If they can do this on offense, coupled with the defensive intensity they usually bring every night, they will be the best team in the East, no matter what Cleveland has in store. They have to take advantage now because in 2016, Cleveland may also be ready to take over the East once Kyrie Irving & Kevin Love pop their playoff cherries. The Bulls can’t wait for the future.  They have to go for it all now.  Sometimes ‘later’ can become ‘never’.

LeCavs

For the second time in four years, LeBron James completely dominated the offseason like no NBA player ever. His move to Cleveland not only shocked the NBA, and all its fans alike, but its ripple effect set off change across the league. Except for San Antonio who probably looked at LeBron’s move and laughed amongst themselves.

Let’s break it down in a few ways:

By returning to Cleveland, LeBron gained as much control as any NBA player has wielded since Michael Jordan during his 1st retirement comeback. The way his contract is laid out, he will be receiving max money for the foreseeable future. By signing a 2-year deal, he not only gave himself flexibility, with the new TV deal set to begin in 2016, but he ensured that he is no longer leaving any money on the table. Quite frankly, he shouldn’t due to the salary cap almost tripling in two years, LeBron can, & will make much more per year than the $21M he’ll be making in the next two years. Going into his 12th season, this will only be the 4th time he is actually the highest paid player on his own team, which quite frankly is ridiculous considering he is only the 4th player in NBA history (Russell, Abdul-Jabbar, & Jordan) to win 4 MVPs. Let’s face it, LeBron is still far and away the best player in the world.  He is still in his prime, and will probably win at least one more MVP if not two. The value of the Cavalier franchise in itself has been raised at least by $100M with his return & the regular season camp hasn’t started yet. He probably sees that he’s sacrificed enough financially given what he is worth for the NBA as a whole, & will get his Carmelo on* from here on out. He reaped the benefits of coming home by appearing humbled, & more endearing than ever before. Now everyone will root for Cleveland if and when they finally get to have a championship. Taking Kevin Love, Mike Miller, Shawn Marion, along with incumbent Kyrie Irving, Dion Waiters, and Anderson Varajeo, the likelihood of that happening will be very high. Basically, LeBron left the wife he was with (“Heat”) for the younger, hotter version of her (“Cavs”). Speaking of which…..

Was the Miami move really THAT successful? It’s not a crazy question to ask, right? Yes, LeBron joining Dwyane Wade & Chris Bosh four years ago at the peak of their prime was viewed as almost unfair in some eyes. No matter how people looked at LeBron with disdain for leaving his home and joining a super team, he wanted to be in a position to win titles every single year, and he had a chance to do that in Miami. He went against the conventional ways, took over the power of player free agency, in ways that had never been done before or experienced by the NBA, & set his destiny. And for that, I give him a lot of respect…… but here’s the thing: With that move, the Big 3 set the bar extremely high for themselves, the organization & everyone watching (& I’m not talking about their infamous “Not one, not two, not three…” rally). After four years, didn’t you expect them to win more than two titles? Weren’t you expecting at least three by 2014? In the annals of the NBA’s greatest champions, would you even put this Heat run in the Top 5? Think about this for a second: If Ray Allen clangs his three off the rim instead of swishing it at the end of Game 6, the Heat literally walk away with ONE title after everything’s said and done. I mean, it’s literally that close. They don’t come close to the MJ Bulls run, Magic’s Lakers or Bird’s Celtics. Shit, they don’t even reach the Shaq/Kobe Lakers (3-peated, 4 Finals in 5 years). This run, in retrospect, falls in the tier with the Bad Boy Pistons of the late 80s (Back-To-Back titles, 3 straight Finals appearances) which isn’t fine when you put together three Hall of Famers (yes, Bosh is one too. Face the facts people!) entering their prime years together. This was something that was supposed to last until the latter part of the decade, not end before Year 5. We will remember the run as probably the most polarizing sports team of the digital/social media era. LeBron/Wade/Bosh all became more popular (especially Bosh), made more money, & raised their brand profiles higher than it would have reached if they remained carrying a team by themselves, but the collaboration wasn’t fully completed. The run was similar to the Watch The Throne collaboration from Kanye & Hova: Good, but not great.

* The term “Carmelo On” means that under no circumstances do you leave any money on the table when signing an NBA contract, no matter how much it might hurt your team from being able to afford to build a championship team around you.  Unless of course you leave $4M short of the $129M contract you sign to show everyone publicly that you can in actuality sacrifice money for the good of the team.

Who should be the happiest player in the NBA right now?

Who else can it be but Chris Bosh? Think of where he was as a player four months ago. He was perfecting his role as the 3rd option of the Miami Heat. Once the Heat got demolished by the Spurs in the Finals, and the Big 3 all opted out of their contracts, Bosh was hoping that the ride would continue as normal. Once LeBron decided he was heading back home, Bosh figured he would head back to his home state of Texas, fall into the 3rd option role behind James Harden and Dwight Howard in Houston, while getting paid max money of course. At the last minute, Pat Riley rides the waves on his desperation surfboard and throws the max contract for Bosh to stay. Now he gets to wear the real superhero costume? He can now sit in the cabin of the Bat-mobile and not hop in the trunk like he’s been used to doing since 2010? I mean, how can he not sign that deal?? He got a max deal to be at worst the #2 option most nights, and didn’t even have to leave his beachfront mansion. He should have been sending LeBron roses, boxes of After Eight chocolate mints, and Twerk-a-grams on a weekly basis as an appropriate thank you this summer.

Instead, we find out that he didn’t even talk to LeBron this whole summer outside of Wade’s wedding. He’s giving advice to Kevin Love stating that he’s going to have trouble sacrificing his game to LeBron & more or less sticking his chest out. Is that the way you say thank you??? LeBron saved him from 3rd wheel status forever with this move, and with Wade’s health over the last couple of years, he gets to be the man on South Beach! Does he not understand this?!?! And now he seem like he don’t even care if LeBron is gone. The audacity….

With that said, the Heat are still a playoff team, scooping up Luol Deng in free agency this summer, adding Josh McRoberts, and signing Danny Granger (ok, pretend I didn’t type that last name) to a team that has championship pride and pedigree. In addition, Wade looks pretty loose and limber this preseason, cutting his weight down from last year, we’ll get to see how good of a coach Erik Spoelstra is, which was taken for granted these last few years, and we also really can’t count out a team led by Riley, can we? They will still play hard, tenacious, and efficient every night. If there’s one thing we can count on, those fairweather Heat fans will be showing up by halftime to these games if at all now. If they showed up late when LeBron was there, what are they gonna do when he only comes once a year?

We The North!! (Hollup Hollup Hollup) #WizKhalifavoice

I have to say, I have been wrong about the direction of where the Raptors needed to be in. About this time last year, I had them pegged to win around 35 games, not make the playoffs & secure a high draft pick. After they traded off Rudy Gay, I celebrated like they won the championship, figuring that they were headed to #TankCity for Andrew Wiggins, Joel Embiid, or Jabari Parker. However, the way the Raps played from that point on was what basketball fans want to see: hard working, intelligent, efficient play where the team leaves everything they have out on the floor. This is exactly what they accomplished right until the last second of their Game 7 loss vs. Brooklyn. Going forward, I believe that not only can they get better this season, but I feel most people are sleeping on Toronto.

It all starts with the resigning of Kyle Lowry. With him coming back & teaming up with DeMar DeRozan to form one of the best backcourts in the NBA, they give the Raps stability at both spots that they haven’t had since Alvin Williams and Vince Carter were on the floor together 10+ years ago. DeRozan is the team’s best player and their hardest worker, but Lowry is the heart and soul. My only concern that I have is that last year was a contract year, & you hope that he doesn’t start the process of shutting things down now that he’s got his money. While I don’t believe that this will happen, I thought the same thing when Antonio Davis signed his $60M deal after making the All-Star team & helping the Raps come within one win of the Eastern Conference Finals back in 2001. He was the team’s heart and soul too. By 2003, he was falling into the “Thanks guys, it’s been fun…but I’m gonna shut this things down….nnnnnnow” mode & was never the same player. Contract year runs are funny to predict with players sometimes. It can wake a player up, & help him reach his potential from that point on, or that player can rest on his laurels once he gets his cash. Again, I don’t think that will be Lowry in this case, but stranger things has happened, especially with this franchise.  Which leads me to my next point….

We know Toronto is a hockey town, and most likely will never change. But the way Tim Lieweke came in bringing energy and light to this franchise as part of running MLSE is so important. This is why I feel losing him, is a huge & underrated story moving forward this season. He made basketball a priority for the corporation and even for this city in 2014, and with him scheduled to leave at the end of the season (or possibly before that), I’m afraid that his successor will be a hockey guy that will throw the Raps on the backburner again like in years past. Lieweke is a basketball guy at heart, and having him run MLSE I felt gave the feeling like the Raptors won’t be ignored anymore. They can start setting championship goals and not be laughed out of the room for saying it. From getting the All-Star game here next season (finally!!), getting Drake as the Global Ambassador (& let’s face it, secret recruiter), upgrading its practice facility, getting Masai Ujiri as a GM, the possibility of an MLSE nightclub, he’s put steps in place to be recognized as a prominent franchise in the sports world. Will the next person that steps in keep that train moving and take things further? It remains to be seen. Another year of improvement from Jonas Valanciunas and Terrence Ross, a deep bench (resiging Grevis Vasquez and Patrick Patterson, trading for Lou Williams, picking up former Raptor James Johnson from the Grizzlies), another year under the belt for Dwayne Casey, the confidence that both DeMar and Jonas bring back from their respective World Championship teams is all very important going into this season. In fact, I believe they will win 50+ games for the first time in the franchise’s history. The short term views look promising to show everyone in the NBA that last season was not a fluke. But the long term vision of where this franchise will be headed post-Lieweke & if the goals will remain high, is what worries me more than anything else. I’ll tell you one thing: if the new MLSE head honcho doesn’t get along with Ujiri and forces him to explore his options (which happens sometimes when the new guy wants to bring in his own people), I think the “We The North” mantra will change to “We Be Done” in Raps Nation. Stay tuned…

Biggest Sleeper

I’m very tempted to say Charlotte will make some moves up the standings (and they will), but don’t sleep on the Atlanta Hawks. Even if there’s a possibility that Hawks GM Danny Ferry has a little passive-aggressive racism in him, getting back Al Horford from injury, picking up Thabo Sefolosha, and drafting rookie Adreian Payne to this team will hopefully continue to mask the uncertainty in the front office. For Ferry’s sake, he better hope I’m right and that the on-court production masks his unresolved problems. This team has a chance to still make some noise in what will be the toughest division in the conference. With Washington finally tasting some playoff success, Charlotte adding Lance Stephenson, and having a great draft in grabbing Noah Vonleh and P.J. Hairston, and all the chipped shoulders residing in Miami, this division will be really tough to deal with most nights. With that said, Atlanta can possibly be that team people don’t want to deal with come playoff time.

Regular Season Standings

  1. Chicago – As long as Rose, Gasol, and Noah (offseason knee surgery this summer) stay healthy, this is the best team in the conference. Built to win now.
  2. Cleveland – If the Bulls falter in any way, Team LeBron will take advantage in what will be a two-team race all season.
  3. Toronto – Surprised??? You shouldn’t be. I’m going to predict 53 wins this season. #WeTheNorth
  4. Charlotte – Surprised??? Hornets coach Steve Clifford had them playing hard last season, now Stephenson brings more attitude to a team that needs it.
  5. Atlanta – Sefelosha signing is underrated.  What he brings on defense will be needed for the SGs he’ll have to go against in the division (Wade, Beal, Stephenson….Oladipo???)
  6. Washington – Beat a depleted Bulls roster in Round 1, then got wiped out by a Pacer team who decided to flick it’s “On” switch halfway through Round 2. With Nene and Bradley Beal’s health, Randy Wittman on the sidelines, old Paul Pierce….I need to see more.
  7. Brooklyn – I love the signing of Lionel Hollins. Don’t love that Nets GM Billy King is still making decisions in the front office. Also, I like my franchise center Brook Lopez to average more than 7 boards for his career. Is that too much to ask?
  8. Miami – Too much pride for them to miss the playoffs. Would be great if they can meet Team LeBron in Round 1.
  9. Detroit – Stan Van Gundy will have to move a couple of contracts around before this team gets better. Which players (Brandon Jennings, Greg Monroe, Josh Smith) will remain to be seen. Will have them playing better.
  10. New York – Carmelo Anthony will have the most efficient season he’ll ever have in this offense. But still, no playoffs here.
  11. Milwaukee – Now THIS is the kind of team Jason Kidd should be coaching to start off his career. Let him have fun and experiment with Jabari Parker and Giannis Antetokounmpo.
  12. Indiana – “We take any and all applications here at #TankCity. Fill out these forms please…”
  13. Boston – Just counting down the days until Rajon Rondo is traded. The question is, “Where”?
  14. Orlando – Still 2 years away from making any kind of noise. Good thing they have Nikola Vucevic locked up for the next four years.
  15. Philadelphia – I won’t watch a game of theirs until Embiid steps on the court. See you in 2016.

 

Cal Cee // South Shore Ave

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South Shore Ave’s NBA Season Preview: The West

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Welcome to South Shore Ave’s NBA Season Preview. Today on Part 1 we are going to tackle the Western Conference, while tomorrow we’ll discuss the Eastern Conference. Simple enough right? Well, let’s get  into it then…

Can The Spurs 3-Peat this season?

I know, I know, they didn’t repeat last year, but if not for Ray Allen at the end of Game 6 in 2013, you wouldn’t have been looking at this question like it had a typo in it. Honestly though, we should be talking about a 3-Peat scenario & not a repeat one. This has been the best team in the NBA the last two years regardless of Miami basically stealing a title from them two seasons ago, & nothing has changed now. The Spurs came into the season with the best chance to repeat in comparison to the other four titles. In Gregg Popovich, they have the best culture in the NBA (& possibly team sports in North America) that gets the very best out of its young players & veterans. Like Manu Ginobli & Tony Parker before him, I expect Kawhi Leonard to officially take the mantle as the best player on the Spurs. After the performance he put on during the last three Finals games last season which ended with him being one of the youngest players in NBA history to win Finals MVP, you can say he’s ready. Let’s hope he can bring it on a consistent basis every night, because if he does, it’ll be even harder to bring the Spurs down. Add rookie Kyle Anderson to the mix with his skill level & IQ (as well as his young legs), I can see the Spurs winning yet another 60+ games in the regular season. It almost isn’t fair.

As far as Tim Duncan is concerned, I can actually see him playing for two more seasons. The fire that he played with in the playoffs the last two years is one reason, but here’s another. He has never won back-to-back titles in his career. I mean, who’s he to complain? He’s got 5! Between 2003 – 2007 he won 3 of those titles, but Derek Fisher’s “0.4 jumper” in the 2nd round of the 2004 playoffs & Dirk Nowitzi’s “And-1” in the same round two years later, halted a legitimate chance for him & the Spurs to 3-peat. It would be sweet to close the chapter on his career with a chance to repeat or possibly 3-peat by 2016; and the way the team is set up barring injuries, he has a real chance. We haven’t seen the last of Duncan yet.

“Pass It to Russ”

No one loves that classic episode of Will Smith leading Bel Air Prep to glory more than me, especially when the coach keeps telling the players, “Pass it to Smith. You know what to do” & doling out laps & push ups to any of his players questioning his method of said success. I can’t even say that this offense without Kevin Durant is going to be in the same scenario with Russell Westbrook, because who’s going to pass the ball to Westbrook when he’s the point guard handling the ball 80% of the time anyway??? He’ll only be passing to the basket. Potentially, Westbrook could be the first 6’3″ & under guard to lead the league in field goal attempts since Allen Iverson. My only question is at what point in the season will Serge Ibaka pull a Carlton & literally rip the ball out of Westbrook’s hands to get off his own shot? Nov 8th? 15th?

Seriously though, without Durant, it’s gonna be some bumpy times on Oklahoma City trusting Westbrook to make others better until KD gets back. I still expect them to get around the neighborhood of 55 wins but in the West, that could result in a 4th or 5th seed. I’m actually on the side that they will not win a title before Durant becomes a free agent for two reasons:

  1. The Thunder has not done a good enough job developing the young talent surrounding Durant & Westbrook since they traded James Harden. The pieces that they have picked up in Perry Jones III & Jeremy Lamb haven’t done anything up to par. Yeah, they might be young, but watching them in the pre-season thus far, it still looks like not much has changed. On the flip side, Steven Adams needs to start immediately. Kendrick Perkins got brought in for his veteran presence & championship know-how at a time that OKC needed it, but that was almost 4 years ago. That KD/Russ/Ibaka core are becoming vets now, it’s not as needed. He can still provide guidance without, you know, actually being on the floor. Outside of his size, he’s starting to hold the team back. Give him 10-15 mins/night, let him use his 6 fouls, and teach Adams how to be more asshole-y in practice. Enough already!
  1. The Thunder can’t win a title with Scott Brooks coaching any more. I don’t think he sucks, in fact, I feel he is a good coach. But my complaint with the Thunder is that against the elite teams, they work too hard to score baskets. It gets masked a lot of times by Durant’s scoring talents but they do most of their damage on the perimeter. They don’t have plays to get them easier baskets or have anyone with a post up game that can either collapse the paint (by drawing double teams or getting fouled) or get an easy basket. The playoffs is all about controlling the paint on both sides of the ball. Because of Ibaka, they do a wonderful job of doing that on the defensive end, but on offense at the end of games, it always bogs down to tough 20-footers. That can work against Sacramento in February, but that’s a small margin for error to work with in June. Three years after losing to the Heat in the Finals, Scott Brooks still hasn’t quite worked that out yet. I’d keep someone like George Karl on speed dial if Brooks can’t get over that hump. Too much at stake with Durant being a UFA in 2016, you can’t keep waiting for him to figure that out past this season.

Are James Harden & Dwight Howard the new Stockton and Malone?

If that means that they are destined to be ringless, then yes. I’m sorry, I will never be sold on this duo contending for titles as long as they don’t have a proper point guard that gets them into their sweet spots to take advantage of teams. I’ve said this before about Dwight, offensively he is what he is at this point. He’s a physical specimen, an athletic freak, someone who’s built to dominate on defense, but also one who’s game isn’t built to dominate the paint offensively. He’s strong as hell, can & will bully other bigs at times, but he doesn’t have that extra gear to go nuts scoring-wise like LaMarcus Aldridge did to his team last spring, dropping 40 pts at will. He doesn’t have that kind of feel or scoring touch, & he’s now in Year 12. That ship has sailed.

As far as Harden goes, he is one of the best one-on-one players in the NBA, & he’s young enough where he can still make his teammates better, but there’s something about when a player gets the green light to score or to shoot three’s, they just follow the glow of the basket. No different than a Moth to a porch light. You start leaving things behind (like defense). For example, I used to love Dan Marjele back in the day, tough two-guard with an all around game. Once he started getting the knack for shooting threes, the three point line might as well have became a cliff because he rarely went past it. Even when Tracy McGrady was with the Raptors, he was becoming a really good all-around player who took pride in locking dudes up on defense. Once he left the T-dot & started winning scoring titles, the defensive intensity dropped considerably. A similar thing has happened to Harden, where he was actually one of the better defenders in OKC, & now in Houston he plays defense like he’s intentionally point shaving. Apparently, he played better on defense in the World Championships this summer so let’s see if it translates over now. Something tells me he’s going to need Rosetta Stone to re-learn this concept.

As far as the offseason moves, I know having three superstars to play on a team is supposed to give you a better chance to win. I agree…..but it has to be the right three superstars/stars, it can’t just be any collection. Chasing down Carmelo Anthony was a foolish move because he doesn’t share the ball, it’ll be three players jacking shots & mostly likely Dwight Howard would be the one bitching & complaining because he’s getting the least out of the pie. As my friend Luugi would say, it’s a trainwreck waiting to happen. The big move that makes the most sense is acquiring Rajon Rondo. He’s a star guard who plays on both ends of the ball, has championship pedigree, & unlike most stars, he lives to make others better with his passing. Someone will have to sacrifice or be  the one to share the basketball. If he ends up on the Rockets somehow, then they’ll truly be a threat to win it all. Until then, they’ll have to keep playing the field.

Did Steve Ballmer overpay to purchase the Clippers?

I will say yes and no. Yes, obviously because paying TWO BILLION dollars in a league where maybe one team was worth $1B is ridiculous. But then you start to think of all the opportunities you get when you wipe the slate clean from the Donald T. Sterling era if you’re Ballmer. You can come in on a horse like a hero and provide stability to a franchise that never had it before. You have Doc Rivers here for the next 5+ years on the bench and running your front office. You have exciting assets in Chris Paul, Blake Griffin that are not only among the best players in the league, but also among the most marketable, especially Griffin who’s on TV way more these days than any player with maybe the exception of LeBron James. The Clippers lost some sponsors during the Sterling/V.Stiviano fiasco, not only will you get those ones back, but with the new energy that’s provided, you’ll get even more sponsors. I’m not just talking locally, but nationally & possibly globally. With the new TV Deal the NBA signed with Turner Sports & ESPN/ABC, which almost tripled the current deal, you just guaranteed a rapid increase in profits, while your team hasn’t even played a real NBA game yet.

Looking at the decline of the Lakers with management that’s losing credibility points with every major free agent that shoots them down; Kobe Bryant on his last legs & no one in sight to take the mantle of being the next great Laker; the Clippers can make a real dent as the kings of L.A. sports scene for the foreseeable future. It’ll never truly be a Clippers town just like New York can never truly be a Mets town as long as the Yankees reside in the Bronx. But in the 2nd largest TV market in America, making a dent in popularity here holds real value and weight. Now, say you continue to make deep playoff runs (which the team is currently built to do for the short and long term) that ends in the conference finals, or better yet a championship or two, & you look over at the Lakers situation which is floundering in comparison to yours but have their own lucrative local TV deal…..well……. then why can’t you get your own television network? There’s a reason why there was a crazy bidding war for this franchise, because the wealth groups & bidders like Ballmer see the same things I just laid out for you, plus other scenarios down the line that we don’t even see coming. So for now, yes, Ballmer did overpay, but considering what the possibilities are, the franchise will be worth that $2B price tag much sooner than you & I think.

As far as basketball side of things, the Clippers will be the Western Conference’s best answer this season to stop the Spurs from getting back to the Finals for a third straight season. I don’t think it will happen, as long as the Spurs stay healthy. If not, the Clippers will head to their first NBA Finals ever with great chance to win it, whoever they meet on the other side of the bracket.

Biggest Sleeper

Hard to predict any of the playoff teams creeping up on anyone, as all of them are determined to beat their brains in every night, so I’ll pick a non-playoff team…..and it’s not Phoenix. I can see the Denver Nuggets flirting with 50 wins this season & fighting for that 8th seed all season long. This team was deep last year, but also unhealthy. Getting back Danilo Gallinari to fill that SF spot is beyond huge. They basically stole Aaron Afflalo from the Orlando Magic. Getting back Nate Robinson & JaVale McGee from their injuries, & having Kenneth Faried fresh off his impact he had on Team USA during the World Championships this summer (& his freshly-minted 4 year/$50M deal), don’t be surprised if by January you see all the “Nuggets on the Rise!” & “Where did this team come from?!?!” stories popping out from everywhere.

Regular Season Power Rankings

1. San Antonio – Best team in the NBA, signed all their free agents back, & is working on Kawhi Leonard’s extension. Best chance to repeat out of all their title defenses.

2. L.A Clippers – It feels like it was so long ago that V. Stiviano was a part of our lives, huh?

3. Oklahoma City – “That’ll be 20 laps chowderhead! Pass it to Will Russ!”

4. Portland – I feel a monster season from Damian Lillard coming. And a mixtape.

5. Dallas – Quietly had a solid off-season. Getting back Tyson Chandler & grabbing Chandler Parsons and Jameer Nelson from free agency.

6. Golden St. – If Klay Thompson, Harrison Barnes, and Draymond Green can step their games up this offseason, this team will be really dangerous.

7. Houston – Will feel the loss of “that role player” Parsons more than they think. When I say “they”, I meant James Harden & Dwight Howard. Smh.

8. Memphis – Can’t believe I’m saying this, but I like the signing of Vincent Lamar Carter to the team. Gonna go take a shower now, I felt really dirty typing that.

9. Denver – Will be the best non-playoff team in the NBA this season. Will probably win 50 games too.

10. Phoenix – Like that they resigned Eric Bledsoe. Don’t understand why they have four PGs on the roster (Blesdoe, Goran Dragic, Isaiah Thomas & Tyler Ennis). I smell a trade package coming.

11. New Orleans – The Unibrow will take one step further to superstardom. It won’t mean anything in the West, but still.

12. Sacramento – DeMarcus Cousins wanted to limit his technicals this season. He has 4 techs in the preseason so far. Sigh. Another long season coming.

13. L.A. Lakers – Remember when Kobe carried that shitty Laker team in 2006 & 2007 to playoff seeds? Well that Kobe was in his prime & he had Phil Jackson on the bench. Old Kobe & Byron Scott? 30 wins max.

14. Minnesota – Potentially the most exciting team in the NBA. Will lose plenty. Also, I predict Andrew Wiggins & Zach LaVine will combine to own the dunk contest this year like VC & TMac did in 2000. Without the earth-shattering impact of course.

15. Utah – The Western Conference version of a dumpster fire.

CLICK HERE TO SEE PART TWO: THE EASTERN CONFERENCE

 

Cal Cee // South Shore Ave

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