Linking Logs

Remember Lincoln Logs? Yeah, those little brown logs that allowed you to build, uh, log cabins and that's about it.



Well, Lincoln Logs sucked. Seriously, what a horrible idea for a toy. They couldn't hold a candle to Legos. With Legos, you could build any damn thing you wanted to, plus there were cool Lego guys you could play with and all sorts of possibilities. I mean, can you do this with Lincoln Logs?



Hell no you can't. What I'm trying to say is, if you were one of those kids that preferred to play with Lincoln Logs over Legos, you are probably a horrible person to hang out with. Just saying. Now the links …

-The Pat Burrell Experience was one hell of a rollercoaster, but dammit, Pat was a tough guy not to love. Well, he was honored at Citizens Bank Park this weekend with a tribute video:



-Meet the new coach of the Arizona Wildcats … Sean Miller. This has to be good news for Temple.

-A list of the 10 best tournament games, via The Big Lead:

1. Villanova 78, Pittsburgh 76. No question here. A game that was remisicent of the St. Joe’s-Oklahoma State tilt in 2004, these two threw down in the Elite Eight. What a game they gave us. With so much on the line not only for the Final Four but also in pools around the country, Scottie Reynolds’ memorable scoot to the hoop has already become something of Philadelphia legend. With this Tournament, often times, it’s not about winning it, but rather, creating a last image in a glorious victory. There’s no doubt these two teams gave us the best game of 2009.



-Michael Jordan, who was elected to the Hall of Fame along with fellow Dream Teamers David Robinson and John Stockton, is, not surprisingly, the biggest inspiration for today's players:



-LeBron and Dwight had a half court shootout:



-A look at next year's Penn State basketball team.

-Speaking of Penn State basketball, there's a good article on Talor Battle's half brother, Taran Buie, who's just a junior but already has committed to play basketball at Penn State.



The junior is rated a four-star prospect by Scout.com and is ranked No. 17 among shooting guards for the Class of 2010, making him one of the highest-touted recruits the Penn State basketball program has ever locked up.

-A day after he was announced as a member of the 2009 Basketball Hall of Fame, Antone rains on the Admiral's parade.

-John Wooden is still the coolest cat alive:



-Yes, I agree, Bob Hurley Sr. should be in the Hall of Fame, even if his son decided to go to the most evil school on the planet. Check out the CBS segment on him:



Also, did you happen to catch Villanova-bound Dominic Cheek there? No. 23 for those of you who don't know.

-Oh, about that earlier thing with Antone dissing David Robinson a bit, he made up for it with Mr. Robinson's Neighboorhood spots and a couple tribute videos:







-Shoals discussing players who cannot be pigeon-holed (including Allen Iverson), as only Shoals can:

And now, we come to what should be the topic of the hour, Allen Iverson. I find it fascinating that, ever since the 2001 Finals, even those who decry ballhogs and bemoan the death of the league have a soft spot for the guy. He's heart personified, guts on a stick, a performer whose sheer visceral and emotional impact on fans is like being hit by an unshorn tidal wave. He is, in short, a stone classic, a Hall of Famer, and one of the most important players in the game (even if you want to argue over whether he's one of the best). But he's been both ahead of his time and, in his uncompromising version of the Wade philosophy, a prototype that could not move forward without reforms. It's a given by now: AI can't play any other way. Even with Melo, when he racked up assists and worked well with another scorer, he set the tone and rhythm of every possession, and forced all around him to pick on his idiosyncratic sense of timing, space, and cues.

We can argue over whether or not the 2000-01 Sixers were effectively built around him, since no one else on there even needs to touch the ball. I'd say, though, that in retrospect, Iverson isn't the man who wrecked the guard position, but a phenomenal talent who can't help himself—actually, can't help but transcend the very notion of roles and responsibilities. As irresponsible as it sounds, Iverson only works when you give him the ball and let him improvise. Let what come may. Not because he's a ball-hog, but because the game only comes to him on those terms. Just as, for the guards discussed above, there's too much going on there (and sometimes missing there) to try and assign them clear-cut responsibilities. We're talking about a stylistic profile, a new way of mapping an ordinarily maddening kind of player. Inconvenient truths, but ones that have yielded fruits at times. Iverson is perhaps too extreme to even fit this model, but what he would need is a team built to respond to his disproportionate hits and misses—not a normal one that pretends he's a point guard, or even one where he's paired with a complementary player, as if Iverson were merely singular, not totally fluid.

-And of course, One Shining Moment, which was pretty weak this year:



Tonight, we have the Phils and Flyers both playing. Let's hope Jamie pitch a good game and the bats come alive. As for the Flyers, is it wrong if I'd prefer to have this game go to overtime, with a Flyers victory, of course? Obviously, I want the Flyers to win first and foremost, but I sure would like to see the Panthers get a point and find a way to edge out the Rangers for the eighth spot in the East. That would be sweet.