It’s Not Easy Being Danny Green
Showing posts with label spurs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label spurs. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
My 2009-10 NBA Conundrum
With all the talk and hype about the summer of 2010 taking over the NBA stratosphere the past few seasons, it's understandable that the summer of 2009 was simply considered an afterthought before it actually came to be. But as we're all aware of now, this has been one the most busy, batshit-insane offseasons in recent memory.
The craziest part for me is the fact that two teams I despise, both of which call cities I cannot stand home, each added one of my favorite players to the fold. Yes, I'm talking about the Lakers and the Celtics, Los Angeles and Boston. And now I find myself completely and utterly disgusted that I may actually like the makeup of these two teams.
Of course, I already sorta came to grips with Boston when they added Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, two of my favorite players ever. I wanted desperately for both those men, especially KG, to get a ring, so it didn't sting quite as much to have Boston win in 2008, especially since the Sixers were far from contention. But now, I almost want to like the Celtics with the addition of Rasheed Wallace. Almost, but of course I cannot.
I, just like everyone else, can get frustrated with Sheed from time to time. I always imagined him becoming one of the greatest ever. Perhaps that's selfish of me. But, as Joey over at FreeDarko pointed out, there's a lot to love and appreciate in Rasheed Wallace. When his head is right, he's a selfless player with superstar skill, one of the best post defenders in all the land, and a simply unstoppable force on the blocks when he chooses to be. And he has no problem playing second (or third, or fourth) fiddle to his teammates, making the union with Garnett, Allen, Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo a seemingly ideal fit.
Plus, the guy is a Philadelphian through and through. A Simon Gratz grad. A UNC Tar Heel. It's hard for me not to love the guy, flaws and all. And now he's a Celtic. If ever there was a guy who didn't fit a city, it's Rasheed Wallace in Boston. Take that for what you will.
But as far as a fit on the team, Rasheed offers so much more than that fatso named Big Baby it's not even funny. Sure, Sheed may be old, and last year he definitely sucked and stopped trying, but with KG around, something tells me Rasheed will bring his A game every damn night. And frankly, that's a scary thought — mixing crazy intense, with crazy accurate shooting, with crazy clutch star with just plain crazy. This Boston team is going to be fun to watch.
And the Celtics aren't the only ones. As much as I detest all LA stands for, I cannot deny the pure beauty in one Kobe Bryant's play. He's Philadelphia's shunned son, brought on by his own doings, but the fact remains, he plays the game as no one else does. Now his evil forces are joined with the NBA's poster child of evil.
I love Ron Artest. Always have. Always will. The guy is certifiably insane, but he's also one of the toughest players I've ever seen take the court. And man, can he D it up with the best of them.
But now he'll be donning the purple and gold. Alongside Kobe Bryant, the man he had a bit of a tiff with in the playoffs.
Seems absurd, right? Well, not if you recall that time Ron-Ron interviewed the Mamba himself.
This union is so crazy that it just might work. In fact, I don't really see how it can't. The Lakers, assuming they can bring Lamar Odom back, just replaced Trevor Ariza with Ron Artest. For those of you with delusions that Ariza is as good as Artest right now, just stop reading. You are stupid. Ron Artest is better than Ariza, making the Lakers better than the team that just won the championship. That's a little scary, no?
While I'm excited to see how Artest handles the limelight of LA and the demanding nature of Kobe, and greatly anticipate the lineup of Rondo, Allen, Pierce, Garnett and Wallace, I'm torn. I don't want to like anything about the Celtics or Lakers. Not a single thing. It's in my hate-filled Philadelphia blood. Boston is a nemesis, a frequent foe. I wish nothing good upon that city. And LA, well, it's the antithesis of Philadelphia — fake, laid-back, glitzy. I can't relate, and I don't want to. Los Angeles is for those who want to be seen, not those that actually care.
Now, there are bits and pieces that I find myself drawn to on each team. To be honest, I hate it. I hope both teams fail, but I'm going to enjoy watching Artest playing with Kobe and the head-exploding frontcourt of Sheed and Garnett.
Maybe the Spurs, with the addition of Richard Jefferson, the Cavs with LeBron and Shaq, or Orlando, with another one of my favorites, Vince Carter, can come out on top. That would be ideal because God knows the last thing either LA or Boston needs is another championship. And I'll feel much better about myself if neither team wins it all, so I don't feel so bad about liking the ideas behind the teams I despise.
The craziest part for me is the fact that two teams I despise, both of which call cities I cannot stand home, each added one of my favorite players to the fold. Yes, I'm talking about the Lakers and the Celtics, Los Angeles and Boston. And now I find myself completely and utterly disgusted that I may actually like the makeup of these two teams.
Of course, I already sorta came to grips with Boston when they added Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, two of my favorite players ever. I wanted desperately for both those men, especially KG, to get a ring, so it didn't sting quite as much to have Boston win in 2008, especially since the Sixers were far from contention. But now, I almost want to like the Celtics with the addition of Rasheed Wallace. Almost, but of course I cannot.
I, just like everyone else, can get frustrated with Sheed from time to time. I always imagined him becoming one of the greatest ever. Perhaps that's selfish of me. But, as Joey over at FreeDarko pointed out, there's a lot to love and appreciate in Rasheed Wallace. When his head is right, he's a selfless player with superstar skill, one of the best post defenders in all the land, and a simply unstoppable force on the blocks when he chooses to be. And he has no problem playing second (or third, or fourth) fiddle to his teammates, making the union with Garnett, Allen, Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo a seemingly ideal fit.
Plus, the guy is a Philadelphian through and through. A Simon Gratz grad. A UNC Tar Heel. It's hard for me not to love the guy, flaws and all. And now he's a Celtic. If ever there was a guy who didn't fit a city, it's Rasheed Wallace in Boston. Take that for what you will.
But as far as a fit on the team, Rasheed offers so much more than that fatso named Big Baby it's not even funny. Sure, Sheed may be old, and last year he definitely sucked and stopped trying, but with KG around, something tells me Rasheed will bring his A game every damn night. And frankly, that's a scary thought — mixing crazy intense, with crazy accurate shooting, with crazy clutch star with just plain crazy. This Boston team is going to be fun to watch.
And the Celtics aren't the only ones. As much as I detest all LA stands for, I cannot deny the pure beauty in one Kobe Bryant's play. He's Philadelphia's shunned son, brought on by his own doings, but the fact remains, he plays the game as no one else does. Now his evil forces are joined with the NBA's poster child of evil.
I love Ron Artest. Always have. Always will. The guy is certifiably insane, but he's also one of the toughest players I've ever seen take the court. And man, can he D it up with the best of them.
But now he'll be donning the purple and gold. Alongside Kobe Bryant, the man he had a bit of a tiff with in the playoffs.
Seems absurd, right? Well, not if you recall that time Ron-Ron interviewed the Mamba himself.
This union is so crazy that it just might work. In fact, I don't really see how it can't. The Lakers, assuming they can bring Lamar Odom back, just replaced Trevor Ariza with Ron Artest. For those of you with delusions that Ariza is as good as Artest right now, just stop reading. You are stupid. Ron Artest is better than Ariza, making the Lakers better than the team that just won the championship. That's a little scary, no?
While I'm excited to see how Artest handles the limelight of LA and the demanding nature of Kobe, and greatly anticipate the lineup of Rondo, Allen, Pierce, Garnett and Wallace, I'm torn. I don't want to like anything about the Celtics or Lakers. Not a single thing. It's in my hate-filled Philadelphia blood. Boston is a nemesis, a frequent foe. I wish nothing good upon that city. And LA, well, it's the antithesis of Philadelphia — fake, laid-back, glitzy. I can't relate, and I don't want to. Los Angeles is for those who want to be seen, not those that actually care.
Now, there are bits and pieces that I find myself drawn to on each team. To be honest, I hate it. I hope both teams fail, but I'm going to enjoy watching Artest playing with Kobe and the head-exploding frontcourt of Sheed and Garnett.
Maybe the Spurs, with the addition of Richard Jefferson, the Cavs with LeBron and Shaq, or Orlando, with another one of my favorites, Vince Carter, can come out on top. That would be ideal because God knows the last thing either LA or Boston needs is another championship. And I'll feel much better about myself if neither team wins it all, so I don't feel so bad about liking the ideas behind the teams I despise.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Earth to Elton
Don't look now, but your Philadelphia 76ers are starting to make some noise in the NBA. Last night, I was in attendance for the Sixers' 100-79 romp over the Portland Trailblazers, who just so happened to be 9 games over .500 before tipoff.
With the exception of a big run by the Blazers in the 3rd quarter that cut a 22-point halftime lead to single digits, the game was never close. The Sixers were out and running early, forcing turnovers and filling it up from the floor. They routed an upstart Portland team for their fifth straight win, taking over the 8th spot in the East.
Andre Iguodala continued his renaissance. Last night, he was the best player on the court. Better than any of his teammates. Better than any Blazer. Yes, even Brandon Roy, who had a pretty damn good game in his own right (27-5-6). But it was Iguodala's 29 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists that catapulted Philadelphia to the victory.
The Sixers simply continued to do what they've done since Elton Brand went down. They played tough defense, forced a lot of turnovers and got up and down the floor with ease. Mareese Speights continued to impress, and his hard putback dunks have been igniting the Sixers on a nightly basis. Thaddeus Young seems to have regained his stroke, Lou Will is doing his thing and Reggie Evans is banging bodies. Hell, even Samuel Dalembert seems rejuvenated, crashing the boards with abandon and blocking shots.
I hope Elton is watching because seeing his teammates excel without him in ways they weren't with him has to be pretty motivating. Hopefully it will push him to come back as a different player than the one who was vastly underachieving with a team that was struggling to adjust to him.
As far as Portland goes, that team confused me quite a bit. There aren't many teams in the NBA with as much depth as the Blazers, even without the services of Rudy Fernandez last night. But they looked extremely disinterested in playing, with the exception of Roy.
Greg Oden surely has a long way to go, but it really didn't look like the Blazers were all that interested in getting him involved offensively last night. Maybe he's not ready yet. All I know is, he didn't do a damn thing. Also, I can't figure out how Steve Blake starts on this team.
Don't get me wrong, I liked Blake when he was at Maryland, and the guy is having a very good year in Portland. But really, he isn't a starting NBA point guard. Last night, he proved that. He looked overmatched by an athletic Sixers team and turned the ball over twice very early in the game. He wasn't awful, but he wasn't very effective either.
I would have thought maybe Jerryd Bayless would be an option, but he can't shoot worth a lick. He was terrible last night, yet with Blake struggling and Bayless playing awful, Nate McMillan never really gave Sergio Rodriguez any run. In my opinion, he's better than both Bayless and Blake, but that's just me.
Anyway, it was a nice win by the Sixers and I followed it by watching the end of the Lakers-Spurs game when I got home.
It was a wild finish. San Antonio was up late, but then Kobe took over, even breaking out the Sam Cassell "Big Balls" dance.
Then this happened:
That was a ridiculous shot by Roger Mason. And maybe that was a bad call on Trevor Ariza, but dude, when Kobe passes you the ball and the last shot is waiting, get it right back to him. I'm pretty sure Lakers fans want Kobe taking that shot 1,000 times out of 1,000. Not Trevor Ariza. Sweet game though.
LET'S GO BIRDS!!!!!
With the exception of a big run by the Blazers in the 3rd quarter that cut a 22-point halftime lead to single digits, the game was never close. The Sixers were out and running early, forcing turnovers and filling it up from the floor. They routed an upstart Portland team for their fifth straight win, taking over the 8th spot in the East.
Andre Iguodala continued his renaissance. Last night, he was the best player on the court. Better than any of his teammates. Better than any Blazer. Yes, even Brandon Roy, who had a pretty damn good game in his own right (27-5-6). But it was Iguodala's 29 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists that catapulted Philadelphia to the victory.
The Sixers simply continued to do what they've done since Elton Brand went down. They played tough defense, forced a lot of turnovers and got up and down the floor with ease. Mareese Speights continued to impress, and his hard putback dunks have been igniting the Sixers on a nightly basis. Thaddeus Young seems to have regained his stroke, Lou Will is doing his thing and Reggie Evans is banging bodies. Hell, even Samuel Dalembert seems rejuvenated, crashing the boards with abandon and blocking shots.
I hope Elton is watching because seeing his teammates excel without him in ways they weren't with him has to be pretty motivating. Hopefully it will push him to come back as a different player than the one who was vastly underachieving with a team that was struggling to adjust to him.
As far as Portland goes, that team confused me quite a bit. There aren't many teams in the NBA with as much depth as the Blazers, even without the services of Rudy Fernandez last night. But they looked extremely disinterested in playing, with the exception of Roy.
Greg Oden surely has a long way to go, but it really didn't look like the Blazers were all that interested in getting him involved offensively last night. Maybe he's not ready yet. All I know is, he didn't do a damn thing. Also, I can't figure out how Steve Blake starts on this team.
Don't get me wrong, I liked Blake when he was at Maryland, and the guy is having a very good year in Portland. But really, he isn't a starting NBA point guard. Last night, he proved that. He looked overmatched by an athletic Sixers team and turned the ball over twice very early in the game. He wasn't awful, but he wasn't very effective either.
I would have thought maybe Jerryd Bayless would be an option, but he can't shoot worth a lick. He was terrible last night, yet with Blake struggling and Bayless playing awful, Nate McMillan never really gave Sergio Rodriguez any run. In my opinion, he's better than both Bayless and Blake, but that's just me.
Anyway, it was a nice win by the Sixers and I followed it by watching the end of the Lakers-Spurs game when I got home.
It was a wild finish. San Antonio was up late, but then Kobe took over, even breaking out the Sam Cassell "Big Balls" dance.
Then this happened:
That was a ridiculous shot by Roger Mason. And maybe that was a bad call on Trevor Ariza, but dude, when Kobe passes you the ball and the last shot is waiting, get it right back to him. I'm pretty sure Lakers fans want Kobe taking that shot 1,000 times out of 1,000. Not Trevor Ariza. Sweet game though.
LET'S GO BIRDS!!!!!
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