What I Learned From Game 4 Of The NBA Finals: The Spurs Are Just Too Damn Good

What I Learned From Game 4 Of The NBA Finals: The Spurs Are Just Too Damn Good

It’s Not Easy Being Danny Green

It’s Not Easy Being Danny Green

This Really Happened: Gary Neal, Danny Green, Kawhi Leonard and Mike Miller Outshine Everyone

This Really Happened: Gary Neal, Danny Green, Kawhi Leonard and Mike Miller Outshine Everyone

It's Finally (Sorta) Sunny in Philadelphia Links

The saying goes, when it rains it pours. Well, shit, that expression has never been more true than right now in Philadelphia. Not only did the Phillies drop two of three against the Red Sox last weekend, then get swept by the Blue Jays and finally suffer injuries to Scott Eyre and Raul Ibanez to already join Brad Lidge and Brett Myers on the DL, but it's been raining every God damn day in Philadelphia.



Well, today, finally, it's not raining (yet), and it was even sunny briefly today. Although none of that is supposed to last. Stupid weather. It's the worst.

Let's link …

-Check out the Phillies' extra special suck from yesterday:



-Also, I wouldn't mind bringing back Scott Graham.

-Play the steroid game. It's all sorts of fun, my comment:

1. David Ortiz — because fuck Boston, that’s why.

2. Pudge Rodriguez, even though he probably did use, because he’s pretty much my favorite catcher ever.

3. Doug Glanville — come on, did you expect me to say anyone else? Seriously, Dougy Doug couldn’t lift his glove high enough to rob a home run.

4. Bret Boone — Bonds is jealous of how much bigger this asshole got.

-Check out some NBA draft player profiles:





-Hockey players have hot wives.

-The FreeDarko mock draft, which is, predictably, incredibly unconventional and nothing close to any mock draft you've seen so far:

17. Philadelphia 76ers - Robert Dozier, Memphis
Two years ago, the Sixers ran their way into playoff contention and poked a few new holes in a Pistons foundation already set to fall apart. The logical next step? Signing a plodding injury problem, albeit one quite talented. When he got hurt this year, the team again ran itself into playoff contention and had us finding a new coach for the Magic. Sorry about that, Stan. Sixer logic now dictates taking the fattest, slowest guy available. Has anyone seen Escalade Troy Jackson? If he can't be found and Blair isn't available, perhaps the team will stop acting like pussies and allow the new AI and Thaddeus to play as they'd prefer. In fact, I dare it to do just that. And to help, I'll give Philly Robert Dozier. Dozier can fill in for Brand once he ruptures his stomach or tears his entire lower body, and Robert's already spent the longest college career ever invented running his ass off. Plus, he's the kind of defender who will do something spectacular when not in foul trouble and buy himself a rep that may not be wholly deserved. Thus, Eddie Jordan will like his game. (JL)

-Dime goes for a much more conventional mock draft:

17. Philadelphia — Eric Maynor, PG, Virginia Commonwealth
With Andre Miller clearly gone in Philly, the Sixers need a PG they can build around and one that can get the job done right now. Eric Maynor is that guy. After four years at VCU, Maynor is ready to step in and push the Sixers to that next level.

-And the top 10 plays of the finals:



-Bill Conlin warns the Phillies to not trade Michael Taylor.



Taylor sounds like a five-tool stud, but I'm not sure I agree with Bill here. This team has about a three-year window where it legitimately will be in the hunt for the World Series each and every season (assuming they get any semblance of pitching), so I might be inclined to give up future studs for current ones. But hey, that's up to Ruben and company.

Enjoy the weekend. The Phils better win this damn series with Baltimore too. For real.

If I Hear the Word Twitter One More Time

Sorry for the delay, but every now and then I actually am a busy man. Doesn't happen often, but yesterday was one of those rare occasions.

This past weekend, silver fox and I went up to New York to attend Blogs With Balls on Saturday, and I have to say, it was one hell of an experience.



Seeing as my sister lives in Brooklyn, silver fox and I decided to drive on up to her house and then take the train into the city on Friday night. One problem: My sister was at my parents' house all weekend and my brother-in-law was at the Yankees-Mets game, so when we arrived, we had to try and find the subway from their house all by ourselves. This did not go well. I have only been to my sister's house once before, and that was a few weeks ago when I went up to see Brad Lidge ruin my day in the New Yankee Stadium. That night, we were extremely drunk, so naturally, we couldn't remember a damn thing about how to get to the subway.

After walking around Brooklyn for longer than we thought we should, I finally reached out to lady friend for directions. She was absolutely no help at all, reaffirming the fact that women have no sense of direction, even if they've lived in Brooklyn their entire life. Finally, mercifully, my brother-in-law called me from the game (I didn't want to call and disrupt him during the game) and directed us to the subway from where we were. Evidently, we were way off course. It would help if every fucking apartment complex in Brooklyn didn't look exactly like this:



I'm not kidding, every single building looks just like this. Same color bricks. Same color fire escapes. It's like walking in circles. Fuck that place. Build something different for once.

Sorry, got off on a tangent there. We did finally make it into Manhattan to get some drinks and meet up with my brother-in-law once the game was through. We walked in to one local establishment with about a minute or so left to play in game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals, and that last minute was some damn exciting hockey.



Holy hell! What an awesome end, even if stupid Pittsburgh did win. Amazing save by Fleury. It was a thrilling end to a thrilling playoffs. But still, there is a part of me that is extremely annoyed that Pittsburgh won both the Super Bowl and the Stanley Cup in 2009. It would really be unbearable if the Phillies weren't World Fucking Champions. Thank God for that.

It sucked that PIttsburgh won again, but all hope was not lost. My brother-in-law called me to to let me know the Mets blew it because Luis Castillo dropped a pop-up. Then I saw the replay on television. I'm really beginning to enjoy how the Mets keep finding ways to snatch defeat from victory.



HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's just too much.

First, how the hell does a Major League player drop that ball? Seemed like one of the easier plays that occurs in baseball. But really, seriously, why the hell would Castillo throw the ball to second? Is he retarded? Oh, wait, I figured it out. Because he's a low-life, scumbag Met. Seriously, I'm almost beginning to feel bad for Mets fans. Almost. OK, maybe not. Fuck them. The Mets, as my friend RomanWarHelmet so eloquently said, molest small children.

After watching that hilarity, silver fox and I met my brother-in-law and his cousin at Stout, which is where Blogs With Balls was actually being held the following morning. Stupid me didn't even realize this. And stupid me also failed to show any self-restraint, despite the fact I was going to have to wake up at 8 a.m. on Saturday, and got completely hammered. Jack and gingers, beers, car bombs. Not the greatest of life choices, but shit, how often am I in New York?

Not often, which is a good thing, because my bar tab Friday night was not cheap.

Somehow, we made it back to Brooklyn and crashed immediately. When my phone alarm went off a few hours later, I wanted to die. Luckily, miraculously, I wasn't really hung over, just tired.

Silver fox and I ventured back to the bar from whence we came and set up shop. I know the event was held in part to network and meet some fellow sports bloggers, but early on, I was too tired to move. Thankfully, I'd gain steam as the day wore on.



As a whole, the event was awesome as shit. The guys over at Hugging Harold Reynolds did a phenomenal job setting this up. But I have to tell you, during the first session, I was beginning to have my doubts. Not because the people who were up there were awful or unintelligible or anything like that. Quite the contrary. In fact, Jim DeLorenzo, Richard Ting, Chris Russo and Kathleen Hessert did a fantastic job.

There was just one problem. Every other word out of their mouths was Twitter. Or tweet. After about 15 minutes, the entire thing sounded like this to me: "Words, words, words, Twitter. Words. Twitter. Words. Tweet. Twitter. Tweet. Words. Shaquille O'Neal. Twitter. Twitter. Twitter." AHHHHHH IF I HEAR TWITTER ONE MORE GOD DAMN TIME I'M GONNA BLUDGEON MYSELF WITH A PICK AX!



What I learned through that session is that Twitter seems to be a big tool for bloggers and shit. Which means I won't be growing my audience all that much, seeing as Twitter really helps with that. Because I fucking hate Twitter. I think it's a horrible, terrible invention and just another step in the dumbing down and lazification (yeah, I made that word up) of America. Fuck Twitter.

I'm not going to go through an entire blow by blow of the event, because that shit was long as hell. But all the panels were fantastic, even Twitterfest. I think everyone did a very good job, but there were definitely people who stood out in my opinion. Dan Levy, Matt Sebek, Matt Ufford, Greg Wyshynski, Spencer Hall, Jeff Pearlman, Dan Steinberg and Shoals were my favorite bloggers, and Gary Vaynerchuk, who has nothing to do with sports, per se, was a hilarious, tremendous speaker to close out the day.

To me, the final session, "Why We Hate You: The Media's Take," was the best panel of the day. Steinberg, Pearlman and Shoals were getting visually frustrated, but the debate among the entire panel, as well as the audience, was very healthy and thought-provoking. "Make the Leap, Make it Your Job" was by far the funniest panel, as Spencer Hall stole the show and Wyshynski followed suit. Hall, wearing the most awesome of white suits this side of Rick Pitino, had the quote of the day, telling aspiring full-time bloggers to get a job they really, really hate, like clubbing baby seals in front of small children, and then become a blogger. It was priceless.



Wyshynski added how he was disappointed there weren't more drinking games going on, such as drinking every time someone said, "Twitter." If that game would have taken place, everyone would have been shitfaced about 30 minutes in. Seriously, enough with the Twitter already people.

I thoroughly enjoyed the event. I really did. The speakers were very engaging, very helpful and the audience participation really kept everyone engaged. The one thing I think that could make this even better, however, is to have a little more of a representative group. For the most part, all the panelists were the most well-known, most successful sports bloggers who pretty much did the gig full-time or close to it. And a lot of the sessions were geared toward making money off blogging or making a career out of it.

That's all well and good, and rest assured, if someone was willing to pay me to do what I do here, I'd jump at it. But not all that really interested me that much. I didn't start this site to make money or make it my job. Again, I would love to have this be my job, but it's not my goal. I write and blog because I really enjoy it. I love to vent. And I do it more for me than for any audience.

Matt Sebek, for example, was discussing finding out what your readers like and don't like. That's great advice and sound advice if you want to grow your site to get as many eyeballs as possible. But that's not my goal here. I write what I want for myself, to vent, to get my viewpoint out there. That's not to say I wouldn't like an audience and wouldn't like to have people enjoy what I do here. But that's not why I do it. I do it for me, as selfish as that sounds. It's kind of therapy, if you will. I think that voice should be represented as well next time around. But still, awesome event, and I definitely plan on attending more.

After the conference itself was over, there was an after party held at Foley's, a bar with more sports memorabilia than I've ever seen in my life.



Throughout the course of the day/night, I met and talked with a lot of people. During the conference, I spoke with Ufford about the cease and desist letter I received from Robbie Gould's agent/lawyer. He was very smart, very engaging and eager to listen. And in essence, his conclusion was, as long as I didn't write anything that was flat-out wrong, fuck 'em. Amen, brother.

I also had a great conversation with Wyshynski, thanking him for inviting me to join the Flyers-Sarah Palin Roundtable and discussing the playoffs with, yes, The Pensblog. We had a great conversation about how I never really hated Pittsburgh until I went to Penn State. Seems to be a common thread.

I also had a chance to speak with Dan Levy in person to briefly discuss our little dust-up, which we settled over e-mail. Levy was an excellent speaker Saturday, and even in a drunken state, he was gracious. He did say, "Oh, yeah, this guy called me all sorts of names and bashed me," but he was somewhat joking and very good-natured about it. I actually didn't really call him names, as you can see, but I did say I wasn't a fan of his writing. Well, I'm a fan of Dan Levy, that's for sure, and he was a great guy.

My networking didn't end there. I had the chance to meet the brains behind Both Teams Played Hard, and we had a great time chatting it up. He's such an avid basketball fan, I could have talked to him all night. He was also really pumped that I knew so much about Sheed and the title of his site. Helps that I'm a Philly guy and a UNC fan.



There were many people I met throughout the night, including guys from Philly.com and Writing the Pine, and everyone I met seemed like a pretty decent person. But finally, the free booze stopped flowing, so silver fox and I went out to see what else the night had to offer.

Turns out, a friend of ours was chilling in Long Island, where we just so happened to know a girl we were trying to meet up with. But our female friend who was visiting was wasted and gave us awful directions. For the second time in as many days, we asked a woman for directions and were left wandering. Stupid us. We did, however, make it out to Long Island, met up with the girl we know who lives there, and who hates pretty much everyone, and had a few drinks. She told off this guy who made her get out of his seat, which was great. That girl is all right.

Somehow, we made it back to Brooklyn and to the front door of my sister's house. Unfortunately, both my phone and silver fox's phone were dead. And we were locked out. That sucked. Well, it could have sucked. By chance, my brother-in-law was up taking a piss, heard us outside fidgeting around and let us in.

We immediately passed out.

Upon waking up around 12:30 on Sunday, we watched the first five innings of the Yankees-Mets game on the Yankees station. First off, I'd like to say how incredibly enjoyable it was to watch the Yanks tee off on Johan Santana. Nothing could be better than watching the Mets lose a game they should have won and then get destroyed in the same weekend. The losses were so damaging that Roman is really beginning to lose faith.

Secondly, Francisco Rodriguez is an awesome, awesome closer … and a raving douche.



I got to see the video footage of him confronting Brian Bruney on Sunday. It was hilarious.

Also, the Yankees broadcast had Al Leiter and David Cone as the player-analysts. Two pitchers. It was incredibly overbearing because all the two talked about was pitching the entire time. I'm glad the Phillies don't do this. It was annoying.

We finally left for Philadelphia mid-afternoon and returned in plenty of time for game 5 of the NBA Finals.

There's not a whole lot I can add to the conversations about these Finals that others haven't already said. Dwight Howard needs to learn some post moves and definitely needs to shoot a minimum of 5 million free throws every day. Seriously.

Pau Gasol truly came up huge on the big stage, firmly entrenching himself as one of the top big men in the game. He is anonymous no more.

And for all of those people who say Kobe is this and Kobe is that, what he is now is a 4-time champion. As Shoals said, there really isn't any argument any longer against Kobe the player. Sure, he had Pau, but this was Kobe's team and it was Kobe who was the best player. Not Shaq's team with Kobe as sidekick. Not Kobe with a bunch of scrubs. Kobe's championship team.



He brought home the hardware because he earned it. He really did.



It's hard to root for Kobe Bryant. He's arrogant, standoffish, stubborn. But he goes out there and competes harder than anyone. He's the guy we love to hate, but he's also a joy to watch. I hate the Lakers. I hate Kobe Bryant. But I love to watch him play the game. I really do.

For real though, four is enough. And the Van Gundy's are the shit.

Oh, and word to the wise: Never ask women for directions. It gets you nowhere.

Tweet that.

Magic About to Be Gone Fishin'

The game was in his massive hands. With 11.1 seconds left and the Magic holding a three-point lead, Dwight Howard stepped to the free throw line to ice the game. These are the moments that Shaquille O'Neal, the former center for both the Lakers and Magic, a notoriously atrocious foul shooter, referred to when he said, "I make them when it matters."

If only Dwight Howard could have made one when it mattered. Instead, he clanked both attempts. The Lakers grabbed the rebound, called timeout and set up their offense. Then Derek Fisher, who had struggled shooting the ball all night, hell, all postseason, hit a three, tying the game. Just another huge playoff notch to add to his belt.



Jameer Nelson, known as a gritty, tough, talented and, most importantly, smart basketball player, made a boneheaded play. Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson properly criticized Chester's favorite son. Jameer should know better. He usually does. In no way should he have let Fisher get off such an easy look from three. Yes, he contested, but he shouldn't have even let him get it off. It's a shame, because Nelson was having a strong fourth quarter, facilitating the Orlando attack, but in the end, his defense cost his team.

After Hedo Turkoglu hit dagger after dagger and Mickael Pietrus made Kobe work as hard as he ever has, the game was there for the Magic. This series was about to be tied. But poor free throw shooting and a mental lapse on defense were all the Lakers needed.

In overtime, Kobe took over, making the first two baskets and then finding Fisher again, wide open for three, to put an end to Orlando's hopes. Sure, the elbow to Jameer's chops helped free up space, but Kobe still made the right play, even if he got away with a foul.



That was all she wrote. Hedo missed a three, and Rashard Lewis, who completely failed to show up for the game, tapped the rebound out way too far, giving Pau Gasol a fastbreak dunk. Game over. And more than likely, series over.

The Lakers now hold a 3-1 lead. It just as easily could be 3-1 Orlando. But in games 2 and 4, the Magic made just enough errors to keep the Lakers in it. And that's all LA needs, one little crack.

In game 4, it was the foul shooting that really did Orlando in. Dwight Howard, who dominated in the first quarter, had a dreadful second half offensively and an even more dreadful performance at the line, where he went 6 of 14. 6-14. That's less than 43 percent. In the NBA Finals.

For the game, Orlando missed 15 free throws, shooting a combined 22-37 (59.5 percent). Even Turkoglu, a career 80 percent free throw shooter, missed five freebies (8-13). Make just one, one of those down the stretch, especially you, Dwight, and this series is all tied up. Instead, it's as good as over.

Dwight, you may never been a great free throw shooter, but you gotta "make them when it matters."

A Random NBA Finals Thought

When I was watching game 3 of the NBA Finals last night, it dawned on me how much it must suck to be the Orlando Magic or a fan of the Magic.

Why, you ask? Well, it's simple really. It has to suck that when the words Magic and NBA are used, the Orlando Magic are not the first thing that comes to mind; this is:



That has to get annoying, having the entire organization overshadowed by one player who played the bulk of his career before the organization even existed. And to rub salt in the wound, that player, who is synonymous with basketball itself, built his reputation and played his entire career with the Los Angeles Lakers, the team the Magic are facing in the Finals down 2 games to 1.

Honestly, it has to suck that Magic Johnson will forever be the first thing that pops into everyone's mind when the words Magic and NBA or Magic and basketball are put together. Orlando is forever the second fiddle to the man responsible for "The Magic Hour."

Boring Start, Awesome Finish … Except the Outcome

I have to say, it was pretty damn lucky that the Phils-Dodgers game started at the same time as the Lakers-Magic, because it allowed me to focus on the Phils early and avoid watching a 15-15 first quarter in an NBA Finals game.

That's 30 points for all you math majors out there. Not 30 apiece, as in 30-30. No, 15-15. In an entire quarter. In the Finals. Gross.



Truthfully, I watched more of the Phils game because this thing was looking so ugly, but I did tune in for the fourth quarter in its entirety. And I'm glad I did, especially for those final three minutes of regulation. With the Lakers up 84-81 with less than three to play, J.J. Redick hits a three to tie it. Then Rashard Lewis splits the defense in post to give Orlando a lead. Kobe answers. Turkoglu answers back. Then Pau ties it up again.

Finally, Hedo makes an incredible block on Kobe's game-winning attempt, leaving .6 seconds to set up the perfect inbound play that Courtney Lee clanks.

Really, the entire ending was fantastic, except for the part where Lee missed and the Lakers won in OT to go up 2-0. Rashard and Hedo were beasts for Orlando. Ditto Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom and Kobe for the Lakers. Dwight Howard was good, but the Orlando point guards were a complete mess. Maybe this whole Jameer thing wasn't such a good idea after all.

Still, Orlando had a shot to win it, but Lee couldn't get the job done on honestly one of the most beautifully designed inbound plays I've ever seen.



I'll blame the mask. I hate those things.

The Story No One's Talking About: Hedo's Revenge

Tonight, the NBA Finals finally begin. Seems like the conference finals were weeks ago. With the emergence of Dwight Howard, Kobe going after his 4th ring and first without some big fella named Shaq, Jameer Nelson's will-he-or-won't-he return story, the enigma that is Lamar Odom, the match-up between Rashard Lewis and Pau Gasol, and the absence of LeBron James (not to mention handshakegate) getting so much attention, there's a story that's quietly flying under the radar. A story of revenge. A story of redemption. The story of Hedo Turkoglu.



We all remember the famed 2002 Western Conference finals that pitted the Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento Kings against one another yet again in the playoffs. It was Mike Bibby's coming out party, as the then-young point guard carried the Kings to a game 7 against the two-time defending champion Lakers, where in that deciding game, literally no one on Sacramento showed up save for Bibby. Had he gotten just a little bit of help from Chris Webber or Peja Stojakovic down the stretch, perhaps the Kings could have been remembered as champions, not chokers.

Of course, the lasting image of that series is Robert Horry's game-winning three in game 4 after Vlade Divac tapped a rebound right to him.



Take a long, hard look at that photo and tell me what you see. Yes, under the basket is a young Hedo Turkoglu — then in his second season in the NBA at age 23 — looking on helplessly while guarding Rick Fox, as Chris Webber couldn't quite get to Horry. That shot shattered all of Sacramento's dreams, and Turkoglu was among the bunch left stunned:

"It's the luckiest thing I've ever seen in my life. Vlade hit the ball and it went straight into his hands and he was wide-open. The whole game, he was going for offensive boards, but at that moment he was waiting right there. You could never see this type of game in your life."
-- Hedo Turkoglu, on Robert Horry's Game 4 game-winner

Until this season, that's the closest Turkoglu, now 30, had ever gotten to the Finals. While certainly not the team's best player with the likes of Chris Webber, Peja Stojakovic, Mike Bibby, Doug Christie, Bobby Jackson, Vlade Divac and company on the squad, Turkoglu was an integral part of the rotation, evident by his presence on the floor in the waning moments of game 4.

During the regular season, Hedo averaged 24.6 minutes, 10.1 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2 assists, nearly a steal and a half a block a game, while shooting 42.2 percent from the field, 36.8 from three and 72.6 from the line. Turkoglu struggled in the playoffs, but nonetheless, he was a regular in Rick Adelman's rotation.

And in those Western Conference Finals, Turkoglu averaged 34 minutes a game and 10.7 points, playing some truly horrendous games and some really good games. Take for instance game 1, where Hedo went 0-for-8 from the field, putting up a goose egg in points, followed by a 4-for-8 for just 8 points in game 2. Then he had two excellent games in games 3 and 4, scoring 14 (6-13 from the field) and 18 points (8-15).

In essence, it was a learning experience for Turkoglu, one that ended in a painful lesson. While the media has seemingly forgotten about it, I'm sure Hedo hasn't.

Back in 2002, he had to watch as Kobe and Derek Fisher celebrated with Shaq and Horry and all the rest of the Lakers after a tough 7-game battle. Don't think that won't be extra motivation for the quiet Turkish assassin who has been a driving force in Orlando's run to the Finals. All he'll have to do is peer across the court at Kobe or Derek Fisher to remember the agony of defeat at the hands of the Lakers. Watch out for Hedo. He has more reason than anyone to want to bury the Lakers.