Category: Sports

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I put a curse on Greg Oden

Last week Portland basketball collectively sighed when news broke that Greg Oden would miss his rookie season following knee surgery. Oden was the number one pick in the draft this year and Portland fans had all their hopes riding on him. It didn’t take long for pundits, local and national to begin making comparisons to Sam Bowie, the chronically injured center that the Blazers took ahead of Michael Jordan in the 1984 draft.

Funny thing is, I made that comparison on the day that Oden arrived in Portland, well before he had even injured his knee during summer league play. Was it a prediction or did I put the whammy on him?

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Syracuse at Iowa

Tivo has a great feature called “wishlist” that helps you find shows that match the criteria you provide. I have one wishlist that shows me any upcoming programs with the word “Iowa” in the title or description. This lets me keep abreast of of my beloved Hawkeyes during basketball and football seasons (the only sports that really matter). How delighted I was to find that DirecTV had added a channel called the Big Ten Network to their line up and that the Hawkeyes would be playing Syracuse there Saturday night and they will be visiting a special place to Aegis the senior care center.

This was the first Hawkeye football game I’ve seen this season. Here’s a few thoughts I had during the game:

  • This quarterback, Jake Christensen, had a terrible first quarter. Just when I was about to write he was throwing high or behind his receiver every time, he threw a perfect pass to his tight end for the first touchdown of the game. Despite that, he still threw some pretty ugly passes throughout the pass and his receivers saved his ass a few times.
  • I love the “jailbreak screen” play. Along with the full-court press from the Tom Davis basketball years, it’s among my favorite Iowa plays. When they do it right, it’s so unexpected and takes place in the middle of the field.
  • It’s hard to believe both Sims and Young are still in the backfield. It seems like they’ve been playing for this team for many years. Let’s just assume they are seniors and they are playing legally.
  • Sure enough, Christensen overthrew his receiver in the second quarter and it resulted in an interception. Is he this inconsistent all the time?
  • Come third quarter my interest has waned. I suppose I’ll skim the fourth quarter since the scrubs will be playing for the rest of the game.
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NBA Finals, Game 1

  • I can’t believe they have Jeff Van Gundy broadcasting the finals. I really can’t stand him. He has no real insight, speaks in platitudes and always sounds like he is straining to be heard.
  • Mark Jackson is OK, but I really like Kerr, Albert and Collins. Too bad they work for TNT and not ABC.
  • Ginobli has a breakaway layup off a steal towards the end of the first quarter. Lebron James is right there and doesn’t foul him.
  • Robert Horry isn’t nearly as good as he used to be but he’s still what is known as a “wily veteran.”
  • Lebron James has a bad habit of dribbling at the top of the key for too long before starting his move. The consequence is that the pass he makes has to be an assist – there’s not enough time for more passing.
  • Donyell Marshall is a very capable three point shooter. When is he going to start hitting shots?
  • I suppose I would like to see Michael Finley get a ring. He’s gone from one of the “big three” in Dallas to playing the 2 and 3 off the bench. I admire veterans who can go from “star” to role player because there are so few who have done it. Ron Harper and Brian Shaw come to mind. I thought Magic Johnson could do it in his comeback, but even he failed.
  • Add me to the chorus of Daniel Gibson admirers. There’s a good chance that Gibson will be Scottie Pippen to Lebron’s Michael Jordan.
  • Although Parker and Duncan are better than ever, this may be the weakest Spurs team to reach the Finals, especially in the frontcourt and on the bench.
  • It’s unbelievable that Brent Barry is still getting playing time – he’s got length but he has no impact on either end of the floor. He’s reputed to be a three point shooter, but I’ve seen none of that this year during the playoffs.
  • Francisco Elson is grom the Netherlands. Somehow I never imagined that there were people of color in the Netherlands.
  • Drew Gooden is a solid player but has a hard time keeping focus, I think. He’s a great hustler, though, and has a really nice post game.
  • I don’t understand why the Cavs aren’t working their big men more on offense. Both Ilgauskus and Gooden could really give Duncan a workout.
  • Weaknesses in Lebron James’ game: jacks up too many threes and questionable ball-handling sometimes. He might be a little too patient in waiting for the game to come to him. He also seems unwilling to stick with the same strategy after it fails once.
  • The San Antonio veterans have a great killer instinct especially Ginobli, Parker, Horry and Duncan.
  • Cleveland played a pretty good defensive game for three quarters.
  • Mike Brown needs to realize that Larry Hughes can’t play starter minutes on his gimpy foot now. It’s time for Gibson to start.
  • Pavlovic needs to have a bigger role in the offense. He’s a good shooter and capable of high flying lane penetration. Unfortunately, his position overlaps with Lebron’s and he has the smallest role of any starter.
  • Duncan had a ton of offensive rebounds and they were all clean (no pushing).
  • R.C. Bruford has to be the most under-rated GM in the league. Year after year the Spurs have one of the best rosters in the NBA but they still have a fair amount of turnover in personnel. They’ve lost some good talent to free agency but they always seem to replace it.
  • Despite the loss, the Cavs should feel good about this game. The Spurs are beatable.
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Random Thoughts on the First Round of the Playoffs

  • Prediction: Luol Deng is going to be a star if not a superstar.
  • Pat Riley says the Bulls are on the verge of greatness. Aren’t they there already? They’ve got the kind of balance in their starting five that the Pistons had 4 years ago.
  • The Heat caught lightning in a bottle last year. I don’t think they’ll be doing the same with this team again. They should be in for some major reconstruction in the off-season.
  • Playoff series which I mostly fast-forwarded through: Pistons/Magic, Nuggets/Spurs, Raptors/Nets, Jazz/Rockets, Cavaliers/Wizards
  • I find myself feeling deeply satisfied watching Don Nelson’s Warriors thrash Mark Cuban’s whiny Mavericks.
  • The Heat lost to the Bulls because they couldn’t stop their offense despite apparently good defensive effort by most of the players. So where does the blame lie? The coach, of course.
  • Prediction: Shaq will win no more championships.
  • The Bulls’ acquisition of Ben Wallace will likely be the key to their next championship.
  • Prediction: Smush Parker’s days as a Laker are numbered.
  • Leandro Barbosa has an uncanny knack for making layups regardless of the angle. He really makes a non-dunk layup beautiful.
  • Make no mistake, the bottom half of the Eastern Conference bracket means little or nothing. The winner of the Detroit/Chicago series will win the East and play in the Finals.
  • Boris Diaw needs to add the three point shot to his game. If he does that, he’ll be a complete offensive threat at any position. He’s got a long way to defensively, though.
  • Diaw’s got great footwork in the lane but when you watch him, he’s so long that it seems like he’s moving in slow motion.
  • Add Jon Barry to the list of my favorite broadcasters. I liked his game when he played, too.
  • Reggie Miller, however, joins Magic Johnson in the great-players-who-suck-at-broadcasting category.
  • Did Pat Riley mortgage Dwayne Wade’s future to get Shaquille O’Neal on the Heat? Wade will be in his prime in a few years and O’Neal will be gone. Lamar Odom and Caron Butler, on the other hand, will still be young players.
  • If I were working for Suns management, I’d have Horace Grant call Shawn Marion to tell him the perils of moving out of the shadow of the two best and most popular players on a team. It’s not all it’s cracked up to be.
  • Best fans in the playoffs so far? There can be no doubt – Golden State.
  • Watching this Warriors team play feels like watching Don Nelson’s Warriors teams of years past: 2 or 3 stars and 6 guys you never heard of playing way above their heads. Will Don Nelson always be the underdog?
  • Dirk Nowitzki as MVP of the NBA? If that happens, it will be a joke. In all likelihood, the Mavs won’t even be playing when it’s announced.
  • Although coming back from being down 3-1 seems unlikely, the Mavericks/Warriors series is ripe for it to happen. The Warriors are on the edge all of the time.
  • What a contrast between the demeanor of Stephen Jackson and Baron Davis in Game 2 vs. Game 4. Davis was all smiles the entire game.
  • Mavericks at Warriors, Game 4 may go down as one of the most exciting playoff games ever played. The 8 seed was down for most of each quarter but then rallied to tie at the end of the quarter and then surged at precisely the right time to end the game.
  • The swarming Warriors defense rattled even the unflappable Jerry Stackhouse at crucial moments of the game.
  • My dream series for the Western Conference Finals: Warriors vs. Suns.
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Knicks vs. Nuggets

The Denver Nuggets visited Madison Square Garden where they blew out the lowly Knicks. With a minute and a half left in the game, the Nuggets stole the ball and J.R. Smith broke out for what looked like an easy layup or dunk. One of the Knicks wrapped his arms around Smith’s neck as he went up for the shot and pulled him down violently. Both went tumbling past the hoop into the stands. Soon players from both teams joined and it turned into a full-fledged brawl. A more detailed description can be found here.

After the game, the Knicks blamed the Nuggets for running up the score, show-boating and keeping starters in with a 20-point lead. Coach Isiah Thomas agreed and defended his players in the altercation. He even confronted Carmelo Anthony at mid-court afterwards asking why he and fellow starter Marcus Camby were still in the game. Although I know Thomas knows very little about coaching, perhaps someone should let him know that the coach is generally the one who decides which players are on the floor at any given time. In short, Isiah Thomas is, has been and will always be a punk.

But he’s not the only one in this abomination. After everything appeared to be calming down, Carmelo Anthony jumped back into the fray and punched a Knick. Then he proceeded to back down the court as several Knicks went after him. Throw a punch and then run away. Carmelo Anthony is a punk. And he doesn’t play defense. And he’s a ballhog.

I expect a big crackdown on the players involved in this brawl. Anthony, Jared Jeffries, Smith, Mardy Collins and Nate Robinson will all receive multi-game suspensions, I suspect. Thomas should be fined and suspended, but I don’t see that happening. But that’s OK because he’s living in his own private hell in New York and will be fired before next season.

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Playoff Notes

  • Shaq drew two or three 3-second calls in the first half as he waited for his teammates to deliver him the ball. I think it’s a great move and he should continue to stand his ground in there. They need to realize it’s their fault that he’s not getting the ball enough.
  • Five minutes left in the game and who is not on the floor? Antoine Walker! Result? Win for the Heat!
  • The Heat played great in the first half, but relied on only 3 or 4 guys to score. In the second half, they played worse but luckily for them Dallas made mistakes down the stretch. They’re going to need a better game in Game 4.
  • Things that Dwayne Wade needs to improve in his game to be a great player:
    • Free throw shooting must be 80% or above
    • Must have a credible three-point shot
    • Must add a low post one-on-one game
    • Must reduce the number of turnovers he has
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    Playoff Notes

  • How do you think Shaq feels when the double-team comes and the open man is Antoine Walker? Is he thinking he should repost and wait for the ball to come back? Hahahaha!!
  • Walker obviously didn’t watch any of the Phoenix games where the announcers kept repeating that missed three pointers ignite the fast break.
  • Everybody talks about the excellent Mavs defense being the reason that the Heat can’t score. I’m not so sure. The Heat aren’t capitalizing on their mismatches especially Shaq vs. Diop/Dampiere. Those guys should have 5 fouls each at the end of the game, not 5 fouls total.
  • The Heat pull within 13 with 5 minutes remaining in the game. Shouldn’t Riley put Wade and Shaq back into the game?
  • Don Nelson did an incredible job building this team. Everybody thought he was crazy when he dismantled the “3 J’s” team of the 90s and replaced them with the likes of Nowitzki and Shawn Bradley. I found myself questioning Nelson’s sanity as late as 2003 when he acquired both Antawn Jameson and Antoine Walker, effectively creating a logjam (or Antoine jam?) at power forward. Here’s a few highlights:
    • 1998: Traded the draft rights to Robert Traylor and Pat Garrity for the draft rights for Dirk Nowitzki.
    • 1999: Acquired Steve Nash via trade
    • 2000: Drafted Eduardo Najera
    • 2003: Drafted Josh Howard
    • 2003: Signed Marquis Daniels as a free agent
    • 2003: Acquired Walker and Jameson in trades
    • 2004: Drafted Devon Harris
    • 2004: Traded Najera for Erick Dampier
    • 2004: Traded Antawn Jameson for Jerry Stackhouse and the #5 draft pick (which ended up being Devon Harris).
    • 2004: Traded Antoine Walker for Jason Terry after losing Steve Nash to free agency (effectively making lemonade out of lemons).
    • 2005: Signed DeSagna Diop as a free agent.
  • Given Nash’ weak defense, it now appears that letting him go was the right move for the Mavs. Terry and Harris are a potent 1-2 combination at point guard and both play better defense than Nash.
  • If Haslem can’t play because of the shoulder injury on Tuesday, I think Riley should start Mourning at power forward. Of course, I also think he should take Walker out of the starting lineup in favor of Posey, but that won’t happen, either.
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    Playoff Notes

    • Another thing I don’t like about Antoine Walker: he has no in-between game. He’s either hoisting up three pointers or he’s in the lane. Come to think of it, he doesn’t have a low post game, either.
    • In the tradition of the “Jordan stopper” and the “Kobe stopper”, I propose to call Lindsey Hunter the “Wade stopper.” May he be just as successful as Gerald Wilkins and Ruben Patterson.
    • The new generation of NBA superstars have at least one thing wrong with their game: they can’t shoot free throws reliably. Forget Shaq and the big men, I’m talking about Wade, LeBron, etc.