POPOVICH-VS-JACKSON-MOST INTERESTING MATCH-UP OF THE SERIES

In the series which pits dynasty #1-vs-dynasty #2 there are interesting match-ups all over the floor. At the point guard position, will Tony Longoria-Parker be able to assault the basket against the cagey veteran Derek Fisher? Can Tim Duncan continue to rebound while trying to rebound from an average offense series against New Orleans? Who on San Antonio will be able to match-up with against Lamar Odom? How are the Spurs going to deal with the BLACK MAMBA wearing purple and gold, the league’s best player and MVP Kobe Bryant? Finding answers to these questions will be critical and the one who does will more than likely be playing in the NBA finals.

Another match-up that bears intense watching will be taking place on the sidelines. With a combined 13 championships between them, Los Angeles Lakers Coach Phil Jackson and San Antonio Spurs coach Greg Popovich have distance themselves from their coaching brethren. Each has a system and style to fit the strengths of their teams. They have designated the roles of each player to masterfully blend into a cohesive unit.

The Spurs rely on a suffocating defense and a meticulous offense led by the inside dominance of Tim Duncan, the aggressive attacks of the Sarunas Marciulionis of our time, Manu Ginobili, and the one man fast break of Tony Parker.

The Lakers are led by the most talented and complete basketball player since Michael Jordan in Kobe Bryant. But for the first time in the post-Shaq era, the Lakers have surrounded Bryant with weapons which he is now using.

Popovich and Jackson have gone different roads with their Hall of Fame, legendary superstars. Jackson and Bryant have had their public squabbles. When the Lakers were winning three championships and Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal were feuding like two children in the sandbox, Jackson tended to give his allegiance to O’Neal while dissing Bryant in the process. Kind of hard to say you’re in Kobe’s corner when you basically trash him in a book.

One could say both Jackson and Bryant needed a sabbatical from each other after the 2003-04 season to realize that (A) Jackson didn’t want to ride off into the sunset just yet and (B) Bryant realized that Frank Hamblen and Rudy Tom janovich were no Phil Jackson. In other words, they both needed each other.

The relationship between Popovich and his superstar have been the exact opposite. A relationship that rivals Red Auerbach and Bill Russell in terms of trusting each other and mutual respect and personal gratitude. Both coach and player understand there greatness emanates from working together and that bond translates to the rest of the team.

Phil has had the blessing of coaching great talents like Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Shaq and Kobe, and many critics will say with those players Jackson should have won all those championships. But if that’s the case Doug Collins, Stan Albeck, Kurt Rambis and Del Harris must be the worst coaches to ever grace a NBA sideline. As Popovich has pointed out several times, you don’t win championships without talent. And dealing with multiple superstars and getting them to play as one is a skill very few coaches have.

On the other side is the coach I would love to play for if I was a NBA player. Greg Popovich is the John Stockton of NBA coaches when it comes to calling attention to himself or yearning for recognition. He has no use for it, doesn’t need it, doesn’t want it, and doesn’t care for it. He will go out of his way to avoid any kind of accolades and seems sincere in his resistance to accept an enormous amount of praise. But one should not underrate his fabulous game to game strategies, his ability to draw up plays for great looks at the basket, and his in game adjustments. They are as good as any coach who has coach in the last 12 years.  

 

 

DETROIT NEED ALL PISTONS FIRING TO WIN SERIES

Just when you thought it was safe to say the Detroit Pistons were the best team left playing in the NBA, the Boston Celtics reminded you of the danger it entails to pronounce so quickly. The Boston Celtics, less than 48 hours removed from an emotional, draining series against the Cleveland Cavilers, captured game one Tuesday night in Boston with an 88-79 victory over Detroit.

Many people thought the Pistons would be the beneficiary of having almost a week off after dismantling Orlando in five games, while Boston would be the less energized team due to the fact they played on Sunday. To the contrary, Boston was the team that seemed ready to play from the opening tip and controlled the action throughout the contest.

Kevin Garnett was the best player on the floor Monday night scoring 26 points, pulling down 9 rebounds, and passing for four assists. Even more important, he was one of a trio of defenders (along with PJ Brown and Kendrick Perkins) guarding Detroit’s Rasheed Wallace who had his worst outing this playoff season. Garnett was also very aggressive on the offensive end of the floor, looking for his shots, taking the ball strong to the hoop, and getting to the free throw line.

Paul Pierce continued his fine all around play with 22 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists, and Rajon Rondo was key in victory with his defense on Pistons guard Chauncey Billups (Rondo also had five steals), and protecting the basketball (seven assists, only one turnover).

The only slight negative for Boston was the continued shooting struggles of shooting guard Ray Allen. Allen, who it seems hasn’t made an open jumper since his collegiate days at Connecticut, scored 9 points on 3-10 shooting from the field and missed all of his outside jumpers. Boston fans were growing restless with every air ball and clang off the rim from an Allen miss and Ray seems to have loss confidence in his shot. If Boston is going to win this series, they need Allen in the worst of ways. There will be a time in this series when either Allen is going to respond with a 20+point, 4 three point field goals made type pf game, or he’ll receive the brunt of the criticism for Boston not advancing to the NBA finals.

For Detroit, this had to be a frustrating game. The Pistons had come into this series playing some of their best basketball of the season and should have been ready to compete. Instead they let the Celtics score the first eight points of the game and gave up way to many lay-ups and open looks at the basket all night.

For the game on offense, Detroit received practically nothing from their starting back court of Richard Hamilton and Chauncey Billups. They combined to score 24 points on 8-19 shooting from the field and had no real impact on the game. Billups must play better no matter how bad the hamstring is. He was hardly noticeable on the court and had only one real spurt of importance (4th quarter under five minutes with consecutive baskets). For the game, Chauncey scored only 9 points on six shots taken, including only three shot attempts in the first half.

One of the most distinct advantages Detroit has over Boston is at the point guard position. Even at 75-80% there should be no way Rondo should have such an effective game while Billups struggled so. If Billups cannot exploit the point guard match-up position between himself and Rondo, Eddie House, and/or Sam Cassell (if he’ll ever play again!!), the Pistons will have a much harder time winning this series.

The silver lining for Detroit was the fact that despite playing so poorly on both ends of the floor, they were still in the ballgame until late in the 4th quarter. They allowed Boston to score 26 points in the paint and shoot 51% in the first half yet trailed by only one at halftime. For the game, the Pistons shot only 42% from the field and still were a couple of stops away from catching or passing Boston in the box score. One could make the argument that the six day layoff had something to do with the slow start, but there is no excuse for Detroit to come out and play as listless and unfocused as they did in the third quarter. They began the third quarter down 41-40 and at the end saw the deficit grow to 12 at 69-57.

The bottom line is in a series that is expected to be tight and hard fought; every opportunity you have to become victorious must be grasped with fervor. Detroit had everything it wanted to take home court away from Boston coming out the gate and failed to do so. They better make sure they don’t miss another opportunity. 

NO DEBATING IT, THE DEBATERS IS A GREAT MOVIE

Friday or Saturday night is my time to sit back and watch all the movies I didn’t see in the theatre. I haven’t paid for a movie ticket in years, opting to wait till it comes out on Netflix and watch in the comfort of my home.

Last Saturday night I watched the movie THE GREAT DEBATERS starring Denzel Washington, Forrest Whitaker, Kimberly Elise, Nate Parker, Gina Ravera and Jurnee Smollett. Denzel also directed the movie in his continuing move to be behind the camera as well as in front of it. It was produced by Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Productions and it was in theatres starting on Christmas day, 2007.

There were several reasons why I was attracted to this movie and wanted to see it as soon as it became available. First reason of course is Denzel Washington. Along with Morgan Freeman and Michael Douglass, Denzel is on my short list of actors whose movies I will watch regardless of plot, cast or genre. Like Tom Hanks, Harrison Ford, Robert DeNiro, and Eddie Murphy, when Washington is in a movie you know at the very least it will be extremely well acted. In my opinion, Washington has not made a bad movie (he’s had sub par, average, and close to bad, but he hasn’t crossed into the bad category in 12 years) since 1995 when him and Russell Crowe teamed together to make Virtuosity. They have since made up for that movie with their brilliant performances in American Gangster.

The other reason why I was looking forward to watching this movie was the inspirational and historical story it told. It was loosely based on a true story about a debate team from Wiley College, a Black College in Marshall Texas, around the time period of 1935 and its coach, Melvin B. Tolson (Washington).

Tolson was an educator and also the coach of the College debate team. Because of the color of their skin, they were not allowed to debate white colleges and universities, something that Tolson vehemently fought.

 

After showing their prowess in defeating black colleges, they were allowed to debate against a few white colleges and universities. Once again, the debaters of Wiley College showed their immense abilities by defeating those colleges also. They were noticed by Harvard University and asked to travel to Cambridge and debate their team.

 

After showing their prowess in defeating black colleges, they were allowed to debate against a few white colleges and universities. Once again, the debaters of Wiley College showed their immense abilities by defeating those colleges also. They were noticed by Harvard University and asked to travel to Cambridge and debate their team.

 

 I thought the acting was wonderful from all that was involved, and I thought the story was told very well. The movie showed the racism of the day but didn’t let that be the overwhelming theme of the story. The characters were presented well and gave the viewer the ability to become emotionally attached with what they were going through. 

 

I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and highly recommend it as both entertainment and educational viewing.

SOME OF THE ORIGINAL MEMBERS OF THE WILEY COLLEGE DEBATE TEAM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I NEED TO LOSE SOME WEIGHT!!!

Taking some time away from the gym, I'm start at the bottom once again to work my way back into shape.

San Antonio wins game seven

Experience defeats talent as San Antonio moves on to play the Lakers starting Wednesday

TO BE THE TEAM, YOU GOTTA BEAT THE TEAM…SPURS DEFEAT HORNETS

The legendary wrestler Ric Flair was in attendance Monday night for the game between the San Antonio Spurs verses the New Orleans Hornets. Throughout the playoffs after the Hornets made a great play, or the crowd noise had decreased, the sounds of WOO would blare over the loud speaker and the fans would reciprocate with a WOO of there own. The great Ric Flair is responsible for that call and response ritual and it was a staple when a fan would go to the game.

There is a saying that Flair has said throughout his Hall of Fame, iconic wresting career that also should have resonated throughout the locker room of the New Orleans Hornets after there 91-82 loss to the San Antonio Spurs… TO BE THE MAN, YOU GOTTA BEAT THE MAN. And as gallant and determined the Hornets were last night, they proved they are not yet ready to be the men.

The Spurs had to use all of their experience, talent and guile to finally end the unlikely journey of this Hornets team. Due in part of New Orleans great defense and San Antonio lack of offense, the Spurs survived another poor shooting night from Tim Duncan, despite being singled covered by Tyson Chandler. They almost blew a 17 point lead going into the fourth quarter if Jannero Pargo could have connected on a wide open three point shot with around a minute left to play. They survived shooting only 28% in the second half and scoring only 40 points. In fact, the offense in the second half was so bad, I thought the Cleveland Cavilers coaching staff had flown in at halftime and had taken control of the offense.

The Spurs won this game because the Hornets were not ready for that next step. I have always said I’ll take talent over experience anytime, but this time, experience was victorious. A player such as Robert Horry, who most basketball folks didn’t know was still alive, came back from the basketball grave and did what “Big Game Rob” usually does…Perform. Michael Finley hit two three point shots and was perfect from the field in 11 minutes. Just to let everyone know he can do some other things besides shot 3 point shots, he also grabbed 4 rebounds.

One could make a strong argument that players three through twelve on the Hornets squad are better individual basketball talents than the Spurs (numbers one and two are Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili, and I won’t buy any argument against them). The Hornets are the younger, stronger, more athletic, and dynamic team than San Antonio. But in this card game, when the Spurs went to play the trump card, which was experience, New Orleans had nothing in its arsenal to combat it. Game, set and series.

It was quite evident from the start of game seven, that this was going to be a lot different game than the previous three games at home where New Orleans had the defending champs beaten and befuddled. There was a sense that New Orleans knew the Spurs were going to give them all they could handle despite the previous games. The good news for New Orleans was they would not be caught with their point guards down and become bewildered when the Spurs showed why they are a dynasty.

The bad news in knowing that information was Hornets played tighter than at anytime at home in the series. It seemed they realized the magnitude of the contest and started thinking instead of playing, thinking about making the open shots instead of just shooting them. At one point, New Orleans was 15-40 from the field and with each wide open miss, desperation, despair and inevitability began to set firmly into their minds. The Hornets knew they were the better team, they knew they had blown them out at home; but it seemed they also knew that in a game like this, the Hornets were the one’s who were the students and San Antonio were giving the lesson on how this playoff thing works.

Give New Orleans humongous credit for fighting back, and San Antonio a slight scolding for not putting them away when they had them down by 17 after three periods. But in the end, the Spurs move on to defend their title for another round. For the Hornets, it’s time to take what they learned and improve for next. And like Flair said, to be the man, you gotta beat the man. 

I HATE THE WNBA AND I’M PROUD TO SAY IT!!

Saturday afternoon the WNBA began its 12in season with the Los Angeles Sparks defeating the Phoenix Mercury 99-94. One of the few (if only) players that can hold my attention for more than thirty seconds, Candice Parker, had a sparkling rookie debut scoring 34 points, grabbing 12 rebounds and 8 assists. It was truly an impressive debut for Parker who had a historic career at the University of Tennessee.

I’m glad that Parker is bringing her star power to the WNBA and playing well. I’m glad the WNBA is giving women who can play basketball the opportunity to make a living doing just that. Every year it seems the players are getting better and better and I think that’s great.

With all that being said, let me make this statement and I mean this sincerely…I HATE THE WNBA!!! I will never watch a WNBA game because it is bad basketball played by unattractive women. There’s really nothing more and less than that. The style of play is unwatchable, the level of play compared to the men’s game is nowhere close, and the constant barrage of commercials shoving this basketball manure down my throat is very annoying. The only thing that gets me more irritated than having my viewing of a NBA game interrupted by one of the WNBA commercials you see below, is when I have to read and listen to female columnists (cause there are no men pushing the cause for this crap) who try to shame us into thinking that the woman’s game is just as good as the men’s game but us male sport fans are to narrow minded and to chauvinist to appreciate the nuances and differences.

Ladies, let me explain something to you. I don’t watch or like the WNBA because IT SUCKS!!! People don’t watch your product because your product IS NOT APPEALING!! Is there some resistance from some due to the fact that you’re women? Of course there is, but lets be clear, that is a very small percentage. The overwhelming majority thinks YOUR PRODUCT SUCKS!!!

Listen to these commercials by WNBA players Cheryl Ford and Tamika Catchings. They are trying to give male sport fans the guilt trip playing the MEN ARE NARROW MINDED CHAUVINIST PIGS card. Ford starts off with “Let’s be honest, you’re rec league team would smoke us chicks without working up a sweat“. First of all, what male still uses the word “chicks”? After throwing out other demeaning stereotypes about women athletics, she goes back to the rec league to end her point with “We want no part of your rec league team, believe that“. The ending tag lines is EXPECT GREAT…OH SHUT UP AND GO!!

 

At least the promo they wrote for Tamika Catching had some truth in it. It starts off with her making the statement “No offense, women’s basketball is a joke“. That’s the most truthful statement I’ve heard come out of that league in 12 years!! She ends by saying, “If you want to see real basketball, don’t watch me”. I couldn’t agree with her more.

 

Here’s the best advice I can give the WNBA. You want to get sport fans to watch your product? The main point you gals are missing in your marketing campaigns, is the belief that people are interested in the game itself. As I’ve said many times, women’s basketball is a bad commodity to try and sell to the sport fans of America. It’s slow, sloppy, boring and unattractive to the masses. I can’t think of anything more painful than to watch these ladies lumber up the court in slow motion only to throw another brick at the rim, or make another unforced turnover.   

Don’t put on the court females who can play basketball but whose looks would make a man go legally blind for two minutes. The WNBA has too many ugly women in that league!! If you’re going to give us bad basketball, at least give some attractive women doing it!!

In my opinion, you find the most attractive, sexy female athletes you can find and put them on the court. I guarantee you’ll sell out almost everywhere you go!! Make sure the uniforms are short and tight and get lots of close-ups!!

Hey, don’t get mad at me, I’m trying to sell a product and sexiness sells. What, you think Anna Kournikova was getting all that attention because men were enthralled with her ground strokes and net coverage? HELL NO, it was because she was an attractive girl!!! No one cared that she couldn’t beat the top players in the world…It was, “who cares, look at her”. So if you want the WNBA to prosper, find yourself some sexy women.

All I have to say is this. Candice Parker might be the best WNBA player right now and with the Sparks, could go undefeated and be the greatest team that league has ever seen. But be honest and answer me this question. Look at MY WNBA STARTING FIVE  and tell me which team you would like to watch. I got the hottest female athlete going right now in Jelena Jankovic at the point, Jennie Finch at swing forward, Amanda Beard at shooting guard, Serena Williams at power forward, and Gabrielle Reece in the middle. That team could go 0 and forever and lose every game by 40 points and they would outdraw every WNBA team combined (that team might outdraw the Atlanta Hawks!!). Call me what you want when it comes to the WNBA. It’s bad, unwatchable basketball and I’m not afraid to say it.

 

 

 

 

Pierce outduels the King

My thoughts about the epic game seven battle between Boston and Cleveland

PIERCE OUTDUELS LEBRON, BOSTON MOVES ON

It took the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavilers seven games to finally give us a basketball contest that didn’t hurt our eyes, or think you were watching a NBA game straight out of the 1950’s. But in the end of a brutal, ugly, and boorish game seven series, both teams finally delivered.

Some may argue that after watching the first six games, Boston and Cleveland had better put on a performance worthy of a winner moves on, loser goes home contest. What they gave us was this generation version of “Larry-vs-Dominique “. 

Paul Pierce did more than just single handily lead Boston to the Eastern Conference finals against the Detroit Pistons starting on Tuesday. He saved Ray Allen and Doc Rivers from a summer of torment from fans and media alike. He saved the legacy of Kevin Garnett which would have been damaged severely if the Celtics had lost Sunday. And he temporarily put a halt on the ascension of LeBron James who did everything he could to lead Cleveland to the next round.    

 

 

 

Pierce was tremendous from the start. He made a strong commitment to go strong to the hoop, getting to the free throw line 12 times today (with the exception of  game five, Pierce went to the foul line a total of 21 times). He was clutch and consistent in his outside game, draining pull up jumpers from 12-17 feet, and went four of six from the 3 pt line. As Pierce said afterwards, “I had it going, LeBron had it going and we just didn’t let up. Neither one of us wanted our teams to lose.”

This is the Paul Pierce the Celtics are going to need if they’re going to have a chance to defeat Detroit.  As I stated in my comments about Boston before, Pierce is the only player on the team who can consistently get points for himself and others. He is the only player for Boston who commands a double team, and is the only player on the Celtics who can get a decent shot anytime they need one. Who else on this Boston Celtics team do you want to shoot when the offense is breaking down, or when the shot clock in nearing zero? I would listen to the argument of Ray Allen before the playoffs started but after two series played, I don’t know if we’ll see that Ray Allen again this season.

Allen was invisible for most of the series and spent a good part of the fourth quarter in game seven on the bench. The Celtics have no chance, NO CHANCE, if they get a repeat performance from Allen against Detroit. When your best outside shooter shoots 18% from the field, score in single digits in three of the seven games (including zero in game one) and Boston still win the series, consider yourself lucky. The bench play of Eddie House and P.J Brown was critical in energy (House), hustle (House), rebounds (Brown) and timely points scored (Brown) Sunday and they must continue to get contributions from off the bench.

From a Cleveland Cavilers standpoint, this was a series of close but no cigar. They will look back at the golden opportunities missed throughout this battle and wonder what could’ve been.

The chances in game one when it looked like Boston were trying to give Cleveland the victory. The first two games of the series where LeBron shot an incredible 8-42 (including 0-10 from the three point line) from the field.

Sunday, King James finally had the breakout game everyone thought he would have. Using in strength, speed and athleticism, James enforced his will on the game and seemed ready to add another chapter to the LeBron legacy.

 

But instead it was Paul Pierce who won this titanic battle and etched his name into Celtic lore with a performance from the ages. In Celtics history, this game will live long.  

Sunday, King James finally had the breakout game everyone thought he would have. Using in strength, speed and athleticism, James enforced his will on the game and seemed ready to add another chapter to the LeBron legacy.

 

But instead it was Paul Pierce who won this titanic battle and etched his name into Celtic lore with a performance from the ages. In Celtics history, this game will live long.  

 

 

 

 

 

THE MAGIC WON’T SHUT UP!!

Listen to my thoughts about the Orlando Magic and JJ Redick