Playoff Blog

Thoughts from a Wizard


Dirk Nowitzki gets better with time

I never thought I would ever say anything positive about this David Haselhoff groupie, but his play has left me no choice. Over the years people have been fair to call him soft. The 07 playoffs against the Warriors was not his best, as he struggled against an eight seed as that season's MVP of the league. People won't let him forget that a team that he led was up 13 with eight minutes left in a game that would have put his team up 3-0 in the finals-and lost the game...and series eventually. We think about the Mavs teams of the early 2000's with Ulysses S.Nash as the starting point guard spot, and that a team with those two great weapons never did anything in the playoffs.
I wont make excuses for the poor play in some of those situations for Dirk, but we can put those moments in context. In 07 I'm not sure how many teams if any would have beaten that Warriors team in the first round the way they played. I thought the series had a lot more to do with Golden State winning than it did with the Mavs losing. The Warriors played out of their minds confident basketball, and the electricity of their home crowd made the OKC crowds of this years playoffs seem like a Nets home game in January. People will forget that the Warriors would actually have won that series in 5 games had Dirk not been nothing short of spectacular at the end of that game to save the Mavs. The Miami series was certainly another case for Dirk's "soft" label. However, most would agree that no series since the 2002 Lakers Kings series has been as poorly officiated. Unfortunately it was atrocious in favor of the Heat. Two games were so blatantly officiated in the Heat's favor, that I truly considered not watching game six of those finals-what was the point? As for the rest of Dirks playoff failures, I maintain that he's never had any help.
Name the best interior player he's played with. Go ahead. This may sound crazy (and also a blatant blond haired/mustached pairing) but give Dirk Larry Bird's roster, and vice versa and we may be looking at something that would change the way that we list the all-time greats. The name of the game in basketball is protecting the rim, rebounding, and getting easy buckets in the half court. Larry Legend happened to play with perhaps the all time best front court, while Dirk has played with Shawn Bradley, Eric Dampier, DeSagna Diop, Tyson Chandler, Chris Washburn, Bartolo Colon, and John Candy. Having an outstanding supporting cast gives you the opportunity to be one of the all time greats, and showcase your skills when everyone is watching in June, instead of only diehards in April. That's why Kobe is suddenly a top seven player ever with his cast, and Chris Paul may never crack the top 50, and Dirk may never crack the top ten.
The last few years Dirk has taken the criticism that he's soft, and actually developed into a pretty tough player. Aside from being without debate the most skilled big ever, he now is tough and a clutch performer. Last night when the Blazers had it rolling at home, and some scrub from the Blazers bench gave him a cheap shot, he responded by taking the game over, and leading his team to a road series clinching win in a hostile environment (including finishing the game 8/8 at the line in the final minute). Old Dirk would have let that psyche him out and folded. I've got to give him props for continuing to lead an old mediocre team to success. I've got to give him credit as his teams get consistently screwed by the officials because the rest of the league hates Mark Cuban (seriously-look up the numbers and tell me how Joey Crawford is still consistently assigned to Mavericks games-it's absurd), and he takes it in stride and never complains. For once I want to give Dirk some love, because he's earned it.

Terrible End of Game Coaching

I want to start this rant by saying that I think Lionel Hollins has done an outstanding job coaching the Grizzlies. Now I will bash him, and all coaches who think like him.

For all you coaches out there who are up three at the end of a game and don't foul-you are a disgrace to your job. I've just had enough. There's no reason that the Grizzlies shouldn't be preparing for a game one against the Thunder, instead of a game six against the Spurs. What a pathetic cop out to blame the players for not guarding the three point line well enough. They probably could have been a bit further out, but Gary Neal hit a double teamed fading three from thirty feet that the defenders forced him into. These are N-B-A players though, they all can hit tough shots that are defended well. You can't leave it to chance that a pro will make a great play, and just try and play tight defense at the end of a game.
I can name a lot of big games in the last few years where teams down three with a couple seconds left have tied the game on a three. How about somebody out there name a game, playoff or regular season where the opposing team tied it up down three when they've been fouled? The odds are so low that every part of that equation will go right that you almost never see it?
So what is the argument coaches make against fouling up three? Rubbish.
It's that you never want to go from a situation where you take the situation from worse case scenario tie-to worse case scenario that you lose. This may be the most insane argument I've heard in my life. Let's walk through what it would take for that to happen. The team down three would be fouled with somewhere in the ball park of 2-6 seconds left. That player would first have to make the first free throw-no guarantee at all. The next step is having the shooter miss the second free throw purposely and perfectly. No easy task, how many times have we seen the shooter by mistake make the second free throw, or throw it off the back board without hitting rim, both of which end the situation. We will assume that the shooter misses. The ball has to get a lucky bounce AND one of the three big men you've put in the game to get the rebound has to ta the rebound. That miracle tap on the miracle perfect miss would then have to go to the maybe two people on the floor who can shoot threes (remember you've put all your big in to get the rebound). That person must then catch the ball, be behind the line, and take what will more than likely be a rushed contested three as time is running down and your momentum takes you away from the basket (because you've had to sprint to the three point line with time running down) and make the shot. There's a reason you probably can't come up with a single game that this has ever happened-because it's nearly impossible to do. Using the logic that it's possible to lose is like not eating your lunch today because a plane could crash into you while you're eating. Yea it could happen, but it never will.
If the Grizzlies go on to lose this series,theycan point to this idiotic end of game strategy that their coach, along with others use. I bet Pop would have fouled.

Quick hits

-I bet Stan Van gets unfairly fired in the off-season. The truth is that Dwight doesn't take the game serious, and his supporting cast are all hasbeens as it turns out. To let that Hawks team beat you in a seven game series is pathetic, and the Magic will use poor Stan as a scapegoat.
-The Bulls will struggle with the Hawks and the series will go six or seven, but the Bulls will ultimately prevail, as Boozer has to do something eventually-right?
-Despite Dirk's great play, the Lakeshow will steamroll the Mavs like one of my steamy poop logs cutting through the water
-Russell Westbrook needs to stop whining because a point guard never should take 30 shots in a game unless he's totally unconscious. If he grows up they will handle Memphis or San Antonio in six.
-Grizzlies will survive their late game blunder, and drum the Spurs tonight.


Until next time kiddies

NBA Playoff Blog

Honestly I could write an entire piece on Clam Newton, but we'll save that. I'm trying to make a half-hearted effort at a nightly NBA Playoffs blog. Since tonight is the virgin voyage, I'll include action from all of round one. Like Dannymac I'm lazy, so most of my points will be in bullet/hyphen points.

-Chris Paul is a monster
Take a quick moment and compare the two rosters of the Hornets and Lakers. When it's an argument between Carl Landry and Trevor Ariza for New Orleans number two option, it's a miracle you've even made the playoffs. Now consider that neither one of those players wouldn't even crack the Lakers rotation, and that's no joke.
You can't say that it's coaching because well, PHIL JACKSON is on the opposing bench. That leaves only one factor...Chris Paul. The amazing part is that watching him play, he's at least a step slower after his knee injury from last year. He's masterfully adjusted from being the quickest player in the world, to just quick, and hasn't missed a beat. Nobody plays as complete a game as Chris, and nobody plays with such garbage.
The fact that this is a competitive series is just unreal, and a tribute to Paul. After watching game five, the LAkers will win this series, they are just about as far on the other end of the talent spectrum as you can be, but kudos to Paul and Monty Williams for a masterful job.

-The Grizllies would have had a legit title shot with Rudolph Gay
I'm trying to be objective and not overreact to a good stretch of games, but Memphis is for real. They play with an edge that you only see among title contenders (07 Warriors being the other low seed with that swag), they really think they're better than higher seeded teams. Call me crazy, but based on their defense and great complement of big men (that statement would have produced bursts of laughter three years ago when talkng about Zebo and Pau's brother), I would put the current Grizzzlies as the third best team in the West behind LA and OKC. I watched a lot of their games this year, and Memphis played both of those teams well. If Memphis had Rudy Gay, they really could have contended...I mean it. For now I see them losing a six or seven game series to OKC, but they will give OKC a scare.

-Can't wait for Celtics Heat
For all the bozos who bash the current NBA, this series makes you look dumb. What more could you ask for. Factors that will determine this series

Game 1

I think the winner of this game sets the tone, and wins the series. The Celtics need to show that their series against New York wasn't a fluke. The Heat need to prove they can beat a contender when it counts. Based on the way both seasons went, Miami will either gain tons or lose more confidence depending on Game 1

The R's

At this point you can pencil in a 15 and 9 average for KG,and 20, 5, and 4 from Pierce. It's Rondo and Rayray that are the barometer of this Celtics team. If Rondo gets steals and pushes the ball for Allen's threes, the Celtics will cruise

End of Game Situations

What will the HEat do down one with seven seconds left. To win you go to Wade, but they wont,so what will LEBron do?

Prediction: Rrrrrrrrrr...Heat in 6. Rats

-Quick hits

-Orlando v Hawks...who cares but Atlanta in six

-Rooting for RIPcity in game 6, and 7. Maybe it will inspire Cuban to get Dirk teammates. Can anyone tell me the difference between these Maverick bums Dirk has carried and LeBron's Cavs teams? Anybody? Yet only LEbron complained....Nevertheless Dallas in seven

-Bulls sweep next series

-LAkers in six

-Grizz in six

-HEat in five

-Pappy skypes through three of the next four elimination games

I'm out!

Checkout Time for New York and Denver

I guess you can call it a Renaissance, but like the one that took place in Europe, it still has its occasional drawbacks. Basketball in New York is a different beast. I've played in LA and Philly and Syracuse as well, and while each city has a different style, there is a swag and intensity to playing in New York where the game is worshipped like the rock those natives worship the Sivalinga stone in Temple of Doom. They love the Jets and the Giants, but basketball runs through their veins in a city that so lacks greenery and has a plethora of concrete.

It was with great sadness that I watched the Knicks get railed tonight by the hot-shooting Celtics. One would assume, after coming within a possession that was ruined by too much selfishness and altruism in games 1 and 2, respectively, that the Knicks would rally back and make up a game or two with the C's at home. But that seemed to be lost on the Knicks. Paul Pierce and Ray-Ray shot the crowd out of the game immediately.

Right before the season began, I had the pleasure of winning some sick seats to the Knicks' open practice at the Garden through Amar'e's VIP club (the answer to the trivia question was Frederic Weis). Watching the team go through drills was exciting: this looked like a team that would make noise. I discussed our runs at the JCC with Andy Rautins. After telling Bill Walker about how he indirectly introduced me to Gang Starr through this highlight video

he told me about how Guru was killed by the Illuminati, of which Jay-Z he purported to be a member.

And early in the year they did: they went 9-7 and 8-5 in November and December, respectively, and ended the calendar year above .500 for the first time since 2004-05.

And they weren't too bad after January 1st either. People forget that they took one from the Heat in the Garden on January 27 exactly one month before Melo arrived and gave them that thriller in Miami. Both were excellent efforts from the 'Bockers, but there was a stark difference between the two teams. The balance next to Amar'e would've probably worked out better in terms of wins at the end of the season. I'm sure Donnie Walsh will reload during the summer (if the lockout doesn't prevent free agency first) and make them a better team in '11-'12, but for now, putting Jared Jeffries on the floor during crunch time is not going to solve anything.

While there may be too much star power in Amar'e and Melo for one ball to be shared, Denver's struggles in Oklahoma City could be diagnosed at the other end of the spectrum. Denver runs a legitimate 10 deep, a luxury very few NBA teams afford. Even the Lakers, considered the class of the NBA, have only three big men and can only go nine deep. Denver can put in a Carolina blue team, a lineup that can completely change the pace. Their new leading scorer following Melo's departure, JR Smith, is a part of this unit. So is the beloved Bird Man, Chris Anderson.

To the dismay of many former Sonics fans, the Thunder closed out the series on Wednesday night. And if you were cheering for the Thunder, you might like Durant and Westbrook (I'm also partial to Serge), or you're from Oklahoma. These Nuggets were coming from a point you don't usually see in the Playoffs, lacking any sort of All-Star and no true go-to guy. Durant showed that he is going to be a huge part of this league's future, and as Sir Charles pointed out, "you need THAT dude." The Nuggets lost him in that trade to New York. Sure, JR loves to gun, but Durant blocked his try from 3. Arron Afflalo was unsuccessful on the final shot, and THAT dude

My hypothetical is this: What if they hadn't gone to these extremes, the Miami paradigm in New York, and early 2000's Dallas in Denver (Dirk and Nash and Michael Finley didn't really understand that they needed to step up yet), and kept going with a star surrounded by a complementary supporting cast, would the playoff results have not been so embarrassing?

In New York, Chauncey makes a big 3, but he's old. His injury in the playoffs took away their best 3-point threat and a lot of experience. His extension is only there to fill space until Chris Paul becomes a free agent after next year. They gave up a lot to get Billups, Melo, and Renaldo Balkman wearing a bowtie on the bench. Giving up a bright future of Raymond Felton, who showed that signing was no fluke and proved a competent complement to Amar'e in the pick and roll, Danilo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler, who were also coming into their own as complements to Amar'e. Now that is stripped down, with Toney Douglas, Landry Fields, and Shawne Williams remaining, which is nowhere near enough to complement Melo and Stat on offense or defense. Add the free agent signing of Jared Jeffries to the mix, who somehow put Melo's bitchslap behind him, and you have a mess. At least Miami's players filled roles. None of these guys can do anything really well. They're all great players, but this isn't a college team. The NBA demands specialists. Miami overcame this issue with guys like James Jones and Eddie House to shoot 3's and Mike Bibby and Mario Chalmers (no relation to the author) to take some ballhandling duties from LeBron and Wade and also wait for open 3's. Of course, Joel Anthony and Damp are there to hack dudes and block shots. Turiaf fills that last role, and Roger Mason, if he ever actually got time could be that shooter, but he never played this year (I guess he only worked for Popovich, somehow). Otherwise, these guys are there to do everything else. The definite roles among the supporting cast would be good for the Knicks next year.

Free agency will have Roger Mason, Shawne Williams, Shelden Williams, Anthony Carter, and Jared Jeffries be unrestricted free agents. Donnie Walsh should probably let everyone of these guys besides Shawne walk away, as the rest of this group were ineffective during their tenures with the Knicks and I wouldn't say there is any sort of hope of them making future contributions. Then again, Mason seemed to never have a chance, getting into only 26 games, with only 4 games of over 20 minutes of playing time. The most came in the last game of the season, where he took 31 minutes as D'Antoni rested his starters.

The Knicks are screwed in terms of their drafting capabilities, with no first round picks in 2011. Luckily, they'll finally pick in the first round in 2012, their last being Houston's Jordan Hill in 2009, who barely played during his time in New York.

Denver, on the other hand, has great prospects going forward even with this ridiculous balance. They'll probably keep JR Smith and probably let Kenyon go while going after a complementary 4 in the draft. Nene will be kept around, and an offer to Afflalo will definitely be matched. Chandler's fade at the end of the contract year was not helpful for himself, and I expect him to stay with the Nuggets without the raise he would've had if he had kept up the pace from earlier in the year. But will they get THAT dude? Could Afflalo and JR step up next year to both fill this role?

While the sea changes each of these teams made got them into the playoffs, their styles and lack of chemistry due to the shorter time together, ended up hurting them in the repeated encounters of playoff series. Both teams have the chance to build on their experiences: the Nuggets will probably look to add a 4 to replace Martin in the draft, as the success of their system could be even greater with a full season together. The Knicks will try to add role players but maintain the cap space to get Chris Paul a max deal next summer. Knicks fans will be pleasantly surprised by Donnie Walsh's efforts. (Maybe even James Dolan will stop thinking about hiring Isiah again. I wouldn't call him a friend to the public after what he did to this team.) Expect an appearance in at least the second round, and then expect Chris Paul to be delivered to their doorstep.

Look out for the Playoffs podcast coming out either Sunday or Monday. A lot of awesome things will be discussed.

Springtime, the only little thing time

ou don't necessarly have to have played on a school team to understand and truly love a sport. As Dannymac, and Pappy can attest, pickup games in whatever sport can produce some of the most unforgettable moments of your life. If Dannymac can call us the Big 3 of the buzzer, than almost surely I can call the three of us the Lakers of pickup basketball. Obiously I would be the Mamba (slightly past my pickup prime of five nights a week, but still very likely to break into a High School gym when its windy outside just to get some run-a la Kobe always having one dominant game a series), Pappy would be Gasol ( a willing sidekick who almost always shows up) and Dannymacintosh as Odom (just as when he shows up the Lakers always win, when dannymac is there its always a hard run). At some point here in CNY the weather is going to turn, and at that point pickup ball will be in full swing. This got me thinking of all the classic memories I've had over the years playing pickup.While I'm sure there are many more, I narrowed it down to the 5best pickup moments I've witnessed first hand. Most of these have nothing to do with wins or losses. Ive tried to narrow down the timeframe of these events the best I could.

5.Slick Rick the Bus Driver
Venue: Berry Park Syracuse
Time: Summer 2005
Berry Park is perhaps the best outdoor competition in the Syracuse area. Back in the 80's and through today, you will catch some of the Orange there trying to play some outdoor ball. It goes without saying that like most great outdoor city venues, the patrons there are "characters." My buddy Jason and I decided to go there one night around seven (primetime there) to get some run. Now I will introduce our characters.
Our first main character was Jun, short for Junior (that's right-his nickname had a nickname!). Junior-at least then-was perhaps the most well known player at Berry. He was in his 30's but didn't look a day under 60. He was a CLASSIC O.G. He once opened a shoe store on S.Geddes street (a really bad section of Syracuse for any readers), and when my buddy and I went to check it out...there was one pair of shoes in the entire store. I', pretty sure the store was only there to do "other business." Anyway Jun had only one move, but it was lethal, and honestly unstoppable. He had a pullup jumper that he would simply take a dribble right, and cock the ball way behind his head as he shot it (his range was realistically 25 ft) and made about 75%-no joke. This and the fact that he was there everyday made him the unofficial leader of Berry Park.

Slick Rick was pretty much the opposite. He was a bus driver, and would show to the park acting like a fool. He would drive the bus to the park first of all, and would do dumb things like talk to us from the bus using the intercom-announcing that he had arrived. Take a moment and imagine that at an inner city park. What made it even better (or worse) was that he played in full body blackarmour and a black bum hat-a reason many nicknamed him Dark Wing Duck. Rick was also pretty obnoxious on the court. He talked a lot, and was one of those 6-4 guys who just shot threes and nothing else-one of those "big for no reason " kind of players. Nobody wanted Rick to play-ever.
This particular evening there were some pretty good runs going, and nobody wanted a fool like that ruining the games. What happened next would have made Rasheed Wallace give a standing ovation. I didn't hear this part, but my friend Jaysaid that Jun muttered something like "this muffin's never playing here again." Jun than proceeded to take the ball from a teammate. As Rick was approaching the sidelines to the court to start shooting around to warm up, Jun fired a fast ball at Rick...AND HIT HIM SQUARE IN THE FACE from about ten to fifteen feet away. As crazy as it sounds in print, it was surreal in person. Rick holding his face turned around, and rumor has it never came there to play again-I certainly haven't seen him.

4. The first five in five night game
Venue: IC PArk in Fayetteville
Time: Summer 2009

No frills, no great endings, just like it sounds. Ten people got together at 1:30 AM to play full court basketball with nothing but the light of my car as lumination. That's dedication.

3. The Dive
Venue: IC Park
Time Period: Spring of 2006

The perfect storm-that's the only way to describe it. It's what happens when a pickup game becomes perfection. Every element was there. Talent-check. Great weather-check. Close game-check. Signature moment-huge check.
Anyone who has ever played pickup knows that mist games are to fifteen win by two. This was the rule at IC. Unlike many parks though, IC did't have a rule like fifteen win by two, twenty one straight. You HAD to win by two. This gorgeous Sunday afternoon, you had a mix of good players, and of course two or three stoners. One of them (to protect the identity we'll call him P) was perhaps the most brain dead burnout I've ever seen in my life. It looked like when he tried to formulate a thought that smoke would come out of his ears, and he'd just fall asleep instead. He couldn't spell the word effort, much less exert any.
The game was tied at fourteen, as yours truly, and Mr. A as well call him, both got scorching hot. The next thing we all knew the game was tied at...31. That's right 31. Nobody wanted to have spent the last hour plus in a hard fought game and lose. That's where P comes in.
With the game tied at 31, his team had the ball. A flashy pass by Mr. A intended to a teammate looks as if it will surely sail out of bounds, giving my team the ball back at this crucial time.
The last line of hope for their team was P. Keep these facts in mind:
1.This pass was one that I'm not sure Manute Bol could have saved if he had Blake Griffin's ups.
2. P wouldn't have dove out of his house if it was on fire and he was diving into a swimming pool of weed, that's just not how he was.

At that moment P made the most spectacular dive I've ever seen anyone make. He was literally parallel to the ground, full extension. Getting to the ball was miraculous enough, but he amazingly saved it to a teammate. Later in the possession their team would score, and they would go on to win the game 33 to 31. The moment was so inspiring, I didn't even care that we lost. Even P understood the magnitude of a 31 to 31 game. Unreal

2. If Only he could Shoot
Venue: Archbald gym at SU
Time: January 09

This was the time period where I was probably playing the best basketball of my life. My two friends JAson and Tee would join me at Archbald gym at SU for ball at least two or three times a week. The competition there was off the charts on certain nights. It was another venue where players would show up from time to time. It had happened earlier in the year, when then freshman Kris Joseph showed up with his crew. My buddies and I literally ran his team out of the gym, it was like 15-6 or something. We were pretty cocky after that I gota admit.
So when Paul Harris showed up (notice this story is January 2009, right well Paul was in the middle of the Big East schedule) we were excited and more than ready to give him and his buddies a game.
Keep in mind that both teams played this game like it was game seven of the Finals. Our team storms out to a 14 to 4 lead.We were just firing two (pickup equivalent of a three) after two, and looked as if we were about to run another Orange out with an L. All we needed was one point.
My friend Tee is a large, and fairly mobile guy. He's a good defender especially if you're not lightning quick. He had the task of guarding HArris.
At the beginning of the game Tee forced him to shoot jumpers, which to no surprise worked out pretty well for us. For some reason though, once our team hit 14, we literally couldn't make a shot. We missed two fast break layups that would have won it. I missed a wide open ten footer, and there was a boat load of turnovers. It had turned into a war. Very slowly, and not all HArris by the way, they tied it up at 14. There was no win by two there, we played straight 15. After a flurry of misses on both ends as the result of great defense, Harris had the ball. I wish the next five seconds never happened.
Paul lulled Tee to sleep, then bursted right to the baseline in flash. He had beaten Tee clearly. In a game this hard fought, my instinct kicked in. Go help out was my thought. On my way over I figured that I ha plenty of time left as Paul was no joke, about ten eleven feet from the basket still. What I remember next was seeing him jump. He leaped right at me like a frigging wild animal coming towards it's pray in the grassland. I wasn't goin to give in. I was going to maul him and show him that I was tough. If I cop had been there he literally could have charged me wit assault I fouled him so hard. What also happened was that it made literally no difference to him. He powered through me like I wasn't there, and I kid you not unleashed one of the most viscious dunks ever right on my head. I'm talking like as good as Rose dunking on Dragic. He also let out the loudest scream I've ever heard as he did it.
Looking back at perhaps the most embarrassing moment of my life I'm glad it happened. It was such an athletic feat to do what he did that I was happy to be part of it. You would have totally understood if you saw it.

1.Crazy J-Rich
Venue:Onondaga Community College
Time:November 2006

Our first semesters in college provided a lot of new faces. Our own Dannymacintosh was home on break from Ohio State, and I decided I wanted him to see the cats I was dealing with. I invited him to come watch an open run at OCC, so he could see the people that were my new family.
To cut to the cahse we will introduce you to the star of the story...J Rich. J Rich was at least 350 pounds at the time. He was also one of the craziest/scariest people I had ever met. He fouled people like he was in a hockey game checking, and at his size it was terrifying, and did I mention he was crazy. He would later that year beat up a kid quarter of his size so bad, that it took no joke five of us to get him off the kid. Hopefully that properly sets the stage.
As usual a fierce game was the root. He was playing against my team. Due to a bunch of incredibly lucky shots his team had jumped out to a 10-2 lead in a game to eleven (by ones and twos). Our team came storming back and tied the game. With the game being next pint win, I stole the ball and tip toed up the left sideline, and made a nifty move to lay it in and win the game.
Well I also had obviously stepped out of bounds, even I knew this, but I just wanted to get out of there with a win. J RIch was having none of that. He literally turned into the Incredible Hulk. IT was scary. Screaming at the top of his lungs, he would not go down with out a fight.
The OCC mens bball coach was the one who ran the open gyms, and he had a clipboard, that kept track of the next five players who would play winners. As the words "the next five" were coming out of his mouth, J Rich grabbed the clipboard out of his hands, and smashed it to pieces on the ground. We all stood there like the kids in the Sandlot when Benny hit the guts out of a baseball. Who smashes a clipboard? For the mere anger he felt in that moment, I will give him my number one spot. Hopefully there will be many more to come.

The Free Darko Eulogy

Yesterday, Client 9 informed me via facebook that FreeDarko was dead. Bethlehem Shoals found there to be some grander mission that mythologizing the NBA, and will just share his thoughts on FanHouse from now on. Their simple mission had been accomplished: Darko is now a regular part of the rotation for the Timberwolves and the Pistons are now the laughingstock of the League with the first walkout I've ever heard of in the NBA's history.

It's great to read those great writers share their thoughts about the site's impact, which they hit all the points that I agree with. First, that FreeDarko legitimized blogs. Deadspin showing dicks and KSK's imaginary monologues and dialogues fill niches that I love to read, but FreeDarko consistently is thought-provoking.

I found FreeDarko after this happened:

.

I had never seen anything so beautiful in my life, and as a college freshman with no idea where my life would take me (spoiler: unemployment living at my parent's house), I read up on the Warriors and Baron and Captain Jack and Adonal "Am" Foyle (Jewish joke, sorry) during their first-round crapping on the Mavs, where pseudo-MVP Dirk soiled the bed. But then I read this, and I looked like Nasim Pedrad after touching Helen Mirren's tits:

I realized basketball could be a scholarly pursuit, and not in the Daryl Morey sense of crunching numbers, but that it could be contextualized into other disciplines. I ended up choosing International Relations as my major and I spent a lot of time (maybe too much time if one were to look at my transcript) trying to draw parallels between autocrats and the NBA superstars ("Kobe is sooo Than Shwe of Myanmar's military junta!"). I tried to use film, my other favorite pursuit, in some terrible posts like this and this, that just come of as drug-addled. I could never produce the analysis that they could in creating lists of comparable trios to the Big 3 in Miami.

The Almanac was also a revelation. I realized there was a manifesto that showed that you didn't need to love one team to love the NBA. I was part of the paradigm of Liberated Fandom, growing up in a non-NBA city but enjoying being able to watch the NBA on NBC and TBS and TNT and ESPN and ABC. I even ended up using a quote from the Ron Artest section of the Almanac as the quote that explained my thesis on the failure of Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations beginning in 1993 ("I'm trying to be positive, I'm a big fan of the Nobel Peace Prize."). My thesis advisor and the other students in my seminar laughed, but it was the perfect moment in my academic development. I had taken something that I loved and studied thoroughly, basketball, and synthesized it with what I chose as my academic field.

FreeDarko taught me that I could love watching basketball in a way I never thought possible. I could view it through an academic lens instead of beer goggles, enjoying it as an art form as well as a power struggle that exposed the emotions of so many, most of whom give no consideration to these conflicts. But as someone who enjoys some things not enjoyed by the common fan, like team loyalty and other things that sportswriters love to wax poetic about as essential characteristics to professional athletes, FreeDarko showed me there were others who enjoyed the sport like I do. I thank you, Shoals, and your compatriots, for enlightening me. I am disappointed to see the site end, much as I was with the demise of FireJoeMorgan. But its spirit lives on in the liberated fandom of myself and countless others as well as a new appreciation for the game shared by a community that read your work, sometimes perplexed, sometimes in complete agreement, but always ending up enlightened.

A post without proper spacing

The other night I couldn’t sleep, so what else would I do besides watch a movie about a crazy guy who has trouble sleeping at night. Taxi Driver with Robert DeNiro was a movie that you always hear about, and people know the famous “you talkin to me” scene, but I haven’t talked to many people my age who have actually sat down and watched the whole movie. Watching it the other night it gives you a look into what can happen in a movie when all aspects of it are done masterfully. It wasn’t a movie that was action packed or had tremendous special effects, but it didn’t need them. The whole movie puts you on the edge of your seat as DeNiro’s craziness crescendos to the point that he totally sells to the viewer that his character Travis is one of the scariest/craziest people on Earth. You knew he was going to do something wild, but you had to wait until the end to find out what. Genius film technique was used as Scorsese used music, lighting, and lots of foreshadowing to give each scene meaning and purpose in the movie. A film like that could never be done in Hollywood today. DeNiro would have had to of starting killing people in the first scene or two to keep people’s attention. Most films use music as an afterthought in building drama or foreshadowing. People want to see action, sex, and gruesome violence, and that will be enough to satisfy them. I don’t know if that’s good or bad but it’s probably bad. I miss well-thought out movies that build towards a dramatic meaningful climax, for the most part they are a thing of the past… Screw you Avatar! Moving on… Some thoughts on the Yankees start to the season… I have no idea…seriously. I have no clue if this team is any good. All I can tell you are a few things I like and don’t like about individual players. -Excited by Russell Martin and Eric Chavez. Always have to take flier on talent when it’s dirt cheap… -Excited by Mariano Rivera getting an updated chip to put into the back of his head, as he was plugged into a wall all winter recharging so that he wouldn’t run out of batteries during the season. -Kind of excited for Big Tex and Alex’s ok starts to the year, which is better than them hitting .000000000000001 in April like were used to -NOT excited by Jeter’s slow start, I’m praying this isn’t the start of a rapid decline -NOT excited by Fat Toad (Fat Toad is a term that Big Mark and I have used over the years for useless out of shape pitchers after my boy George Steinbrenner famously called Hideki Arubu a fat toad in 1998) Phil Hughes looking like a middle reliever at best, and that he is one of four current Fat Toads on the Yankees staff -NOT excited that on a nationally televised game where they could have put the Red Sox in a pretty big early season hole, that the Yanks looked more listless than Terri Schiavo (I apologize in advance for that one) NBA thoughts… -Derrick Rose is the BEST finishing guard I’ve ever seen…period (Quick tangent; A few friends and I were discussing what we would have screamed at Goran Dragic if WE had been the ones dunking on his head. Fun to think about) -Rajon Rondo is a total headcase despite being so gifted -The only team the Knicks could beat in a Round 1 series is the Heat, and only if the Knicks took Game 1 and the Heat collapsed under the pressure -Oklahoma City is no joke. Serge Ibaka and Perk need to tighten up even more on D for them to have a title shot -The Mavericks won’t be seen past round 2 if even that -I would not want to face the Blazers in any round…definite darkhorse…Crash was the most underrated deal of the deadline -The Lakers defense needs a whole lota work -East Finals will be Chicago v. Los Heat -West Finals will be Denver v. Los Lakers -At this moment I’m going with the Bulls to win it all. Full playoff preview to come before they start

Sox Win! Sox Win! Sox Win!

Cue the music!



Notes on the Red Sox Championship Run 2011:

-Adrian Gonzalez looks like a lock for AL MVP--don't doubt my bona fides on this, I was the guy who picked Pedroia 1st overall in fantasy baseball in 2008 to much ridicule, only to have him go on to win MVP. I call 'em like I see 'em. Last time I checked going 2 for 4 every night with 2 RBI is a pretty good way to make your case.

-The old Pap is back! Guy burned heaters through the top of the vaunted Yankees lineup in his first save opportunity of the season. His stuff was decent in Spring Training and in the scrimmages against Texas and Cleveland, but now that we're trying I don't see anyone stopping him, or our four-headed bullpen monster of Pap, Bard, Jenks, and Wheeler. Eat your heart out, Philly!

-Every baseball fan knows there's only room for one truly obese reliever in any bullpen (the official title for this position is the Innings Eater), so I was glad to see we designated that bum Dennys Reyes for assignment. Bobby Jenks has the market cornered on fat relief on this team, meat. Maybe if you spent a little more time in the gym and a little less time at actual Denny's, you'd still be with the club. Either way, you get to watch someone serve up a Grand Slam! /booooooo

Speaking of food, I wholeheartedly agree with Girardi Party's assessment that we need a lifestyle section at the Buzzer focusing on food, drink, entertainment, etc. I don't know what we should call it yet, but here are a few suggestions I have to enhance your baseball viewing experience this week:

-I've tried and failed to find a way to stream radio broadcasts of MLB games online for free while I'm at work--as far as I know, it can't be done. MLB is extremely rigorous about protecting their stuff. So I signed up for MLB Gameday Audio ($19.99) and haven't looked back--you can choose the home or away broadcast in English or Spanish (Benito Juanes only) for every game on the MLB schedule. This even allows me to do the Ben Johns Commemorative "Watch The TV Broadcast On Mute And A Two-Second Lag And Listen To The Radio Guys Instead" move when I want to watch the Nationals, but don't want to listen to those jokers on MASN talk about Jayson Werth's beard every single broadcast. For you guys who are in better baseball markets, this might not matter--I know it's Yankees/Mets in Syracuse and I'm guessing it's Phillies/maybe Pirates in Philly, but when the AL team in your market is the (first-place!) Orioles, you have to get crafty.

By the way--in the same vein that we shouldn't take the Sox' perfomances in the Texas and Cleveland dress rehearsals too seriously, let's not all shit ourselves just yet over Baltimore. Remember 2005, when the O's (carried by Miguel Tejada) and Nats (carried by Nick Johnson, of all people) were in first place for most of the first half of the season? How'd that work out? Sure, that team can hit--a middle of the order of Reynolds, D. Lee, and Vladdy should scare anybody--but when your ace is Jake Arietta, I'm not inking you in for the playoffs just yet.

-Food: I have no basis for this, but I feel like football is a pizza sport and basketball is a wings sport. I don't know what to eat when watching baseball, aside from Mama Dep's Famous Butterless Popcorn of course. Help me out here, I'm waffling between Shrimp Poppers, Toast Taco, or Chef's Choice.

-Drink: Old Style!

I'm 99% sure this Midwestern beer is just a 50-50 blend of PBR and Bud Light, but it does the trick and is the only beer that's guaranteed to cost less than $5 anywhere you go in Chicago (with the exception of $7 tallboys at Wrigley). Inspired by Frank Gallagher of Showtime's "Shameless", which is batting cleanup as this week's TV pick--before you start, I don't get Showtime either, just download the torrent.

Anyway, first pitch is at 1:10, and I have to get breakfast and showering out of the way, so until next time--peace. Corona.

I'M BACK

Doggy-dog... I have finally been stricken with the inspiration to once again contribute to the Manual Buzzer.

Sports is the main focus of this blog, but this is a slow week or so for sports. The UConn Huskies just delivered one of the least-satisfying Title Games of all time, the NBA Playoffs—and those of something called the "N. H. L."—don't begin until next week, and the while Major League Baseball has finally returned, I forgot to show up for my Fantasy league's draft and was subsequently auto-drafted one of the worst teams ever assembled.

I was going to deliver a post about the end of the Syracuse basketball season, but everything was said pretty well by SteveDep, Pappy, and Danny Mac in the very entertaining podcast. I'll just quickly put in my two cents and say that I think you guys were a little tough on Jim Boeheim. The Marquette game was not his finest display of coaching—James Southerland, come on down?—but at this point, don't we kind of know what we're getting into with Jimmy B? More often than not, Top-100ish recruits (but not necessarily blue-chippers) who fit the system, and a very laissez-faire approach to in-game coaching that tends to result in disappointing post-season performances against more disciplined teams, but with a Final Four run thrown in every 10 years or so when the right pieces and matchups come together.

That Marquette debacle was not fun to watch, and neither was Butler last year (though Onuaku's absence mitigates that), or the A&M game in 2006, or the God-forsaken Vermont game in 2005, or any game against Pitt or Louisville this decade, but Boeheim is a heck of a coach and recruiter who has taken a medium-sized school in a desolate city nobody wants to live in and turned it into a top-10 all-time basketball program and has maintained a ridiculous level of consistent success over 30+ years. (Seriously, where else can this be matched? UCLA was just a few games over .500 a short time ago. UConn missed the NIT in a similar span. Even North Carolina floundered under Matt Doherty. Duke and Kansas are about the only schools that have matched Syracuse in terms of being consistently good over the span of Boeheim's career.)

I can't defend the guy to the death and I agree with a lot of what you guys said, but without Jim Boeheim, Syracuse would probably be a Temple/Xavier/Gonzaga (best case) or Seton Hall/Providence/DePaul (worst case) type program with mid-majorish talent. We'd be Notre Dame football post-1993, except minus those 70 years where we kicked ass. And despite all the crap that makes Boeheim frustrating to watch/root for, I'm not totally convinced the Hopkins torch will be passed without a hitch and I'm dreading the day Jimmy B finally does step down. It's easy to point out the negatives and take him for granted after another crippling loss, but I think we all knew this team never really had the legs to win a title, and on a large scale, the positives of Jim Boeheim far outweigh the perceived negatives.

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I had another sub-post queued up to follow what was supposed to be a 100-word in defensor Boeheimis about the ridiculous new beer/shot combo, the Baghdad Pipe Bomb, but I need something to bring me back here. The Buzzer may—should?—have a semi-regular feature similar to the EDSBS Digital Viking Guide to Spicy Living about all things non-sports that contribute to our fine lives.

A Lesson for You Kiddies

This past Sunday my fantasy basketball season ended. I had made the finals, and it all came down to the last game. My matchup against team “White Bread” was tied 4 to 4. According to the tiebreaker rules if we ended the week in a tie I would win. To make a long story short there were two scenarios in which I could win the league, and he had only one. The only way White Bread could win was if Crash got a steal AND sot over 50% from the field. I liked my chances that both things wouldn’t happen since the Mavericks don’t turn the ball over, and play pretty good defense. So of course Wallace went out and got three steals and shot something like 10/15 from the field. So what happened? My team was way better than team White Bread all year. We played three head to head matchup’s and I won all three of them. Going off the previous weeks stats (which I essentially beat my opponent 9-0) if I had matched up with him the week before I would have won 7-2 and blown him out in six of the categories. Additionally my team was a juggernaut in percentages (shooting 52% from the field and 85.6% from the line the previous week) and his was one of the worse, and yet by at the end of our matchup he had taken BOTH percentage categories. The problem? The first two nights of our seven day matchup Marcin Gortat, Joakhim Noah, Kevin Garnett and Dorel Wright combined to shoot 8/23 from the free throw line. My field goal percentage also sat at an Aga-like .443. It didn’t matter that the rest of the week I shot REALLY REALLY well from the field and the line, and it didn’t matter that I was a much better team. I had dug myself a huge hole early on and had to play too well to catch a lesser team. The point of this long winded, semi-interesting fantasy story? The Red Sox do not want to get swept this weekend. Look obviously baseball’s 162 game schedule makes it easier than other sports to make up large chunks in the standings, but if somehow they started 0-9 and were seven games back, that’s a deficit that will take some pretty hot baseball for a long time to make up. The way the AL East is it’s not as easy as it used to be for the Yanks or Sox to just run off a ten game win streak when you need to-the teams on the “bottom” of the division are just better than they used to be. The Yankees went through it in 2008, it’s not too easy to make up insane chunks of ground, and much like those Yankees, this Sox team has pretty shaky pitching at the back end. I expect the Sox to take two out of three this weekend. I also expect them to be right there at the end of the season in the mix. If some way though they were to lose three this weekend, than this isn’t just an average slow start. This is 0-9. I’m not even sure that 153 games is enough to make that deficit up when you’re fairly close talent wise to the team you’re chasing. It happened to me. Nastradamus was defeated 5-4 by White Bread. Let the Sox be warned.