ABUSE OF POWER

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Disclaimer: The views expressed in this blog are my opinions and are not based on any actual factual information. Granted, they are my strong opinions, but still not based on any facts. Alright David Stern, that should cover my a$$.

We are now three weeks away from the 2012 edition of the NBA draft. This is the time of year when your favorite team looks to the crop of incoming college and international players for a franchise savior, or a player that can contribute to turning them into a championship contender. That’s also what most fans are doing. Fans of the Hawks and Bobcats have a slightly different task ahead of them. The Hawks are looking for the next 6’8” underachieving player (Hawks management for some reason has an affinity for them), and the Bobcats are trying to decide which terrible player Michael Jordan will be drafting way too high. My guess is Harrison Barnes, but I’ll actually let Jordan make his bad draft pick before I proceed to bashing him for it. Stay tuned, that will probably be the topic of my July 1^st entry.

The NBA draft is designed to help bad teams improve quickly in order to theoretically give every team a chance to compete for championships. From 1966 to 1985 the draft order in the NBA was simply determined by each team’s record in the previous season. The worst team would pick first, and the rest of the teams would continue to pick in that order. In 1984 many teams complained that their opponents were tanking games in order to win the draft rights to Hakeem Olajuwon. In response to these complaints the NBA introduced a lottery system, which would have a long lasting impact. The first NBA lottery was held in 1985. Although 162 players were ultimately selected in the then seven round draft, there was one player that every team coveted. If you’re thinking former Hawks great John Koncak, you are incorrect. The player that I am speaking of is Hall of Fame Center, Patrick Ewing.

If the draft lottery had not been instituted, Ewing would have most certainly been drafted by the Indiana Pacers or Golden State Warriors (since they tied for the league’s worst record, a coin flip would have taken place to decide which team would pick first). However, now that there was a lottery, each non-playoff team would have an equal chance of winning Ewing’s services. Everyone who follows the league knows that the NBA benefits when the Celtics, Lakers, and Knicks are good. These are the country’s largest media markets, and are all cities with diverse ethnic populations, which allow the game to be marketed globally as well. In 1984 the Celtics and Lakers won 63 and 62 games respectively, so they were both obviously in good shape. That left the Knicks as the league’s only cornerstone franchise that was not relevant. That left David Stern with a decision to make. Should he allow the lottery to actually determine the draft order, or should he use the lottery for its originally intended purpose? That intended purpose is to allow the commissioner to simply place the top pick in the city of his choosing. Obviously he chose to make the Knicks relevant. So what if it was at the expense of fans in the farmlands of America. Oh, and by the way the commish wasn’t very fond of the bay area either. Although Ewing never brought a championship to the big apple, he (Commissioner Stern) did make sure that the Knicks contenders for the next decade and a half.

This brings us to 2003, when another can’t miss prospect was set to arrive to the NBA. His name is LeBron James. You may have heard of him, he’s turned out to be a pretty decent player. The arrival of LeBron forced Stern to have to make yet another tough decision. Just like in 1985, the Celtics and Lakers were both playoff teams, so there was no way for him to hand him over to them. However, the Knicks were bad once again. He could toss New York yet another bone, or he could create the feel-good story of the year, by making James a member of his hometown team. Stern is a smart man, and he knew that the conspiracy theorists would have gone crazy if he gave the Knicks another can’t miss prospect. Therefore, he did the smart thing and sent him to Cleveland. Within three years, the Cavaliers were must see television and dominating the NBA’s national television coverage. It was a match made in heaven. The hometown prep star leading the hometown team back to prominence. It had all the makings of an ABC Family Channel movie. That is until he decided to "take his talents to South Beach."

Now to this year’s can’t miss prospect, Anthony Davis. Davis is easily the best big-man prospect since Dwight Howard entered the league in 2004. Whichever team gets him is going to instantly become competitive. Since the Celtics, Lakers, and Knicks were all playoff teams this season, Commissioner Stern can send Davis to any team that he pleases. Conventional wisdom would say that Stern would ensure that the Charlotte Bobcats would win the lottery. They were after all the worst team in NBA history (by winning %) this past season, and one would think that Stern owes team owner Michael Jordan a favor for single-handedly growing the league beyond what anyone could imagine during his playing days. Under normal circumstances, Jordan would’ve most certainly been awarded Davis. However, these were not normal circumstances for the New Orleans Hornets or the NBA.

In 2010, then Hornet’s owners George Shinn and Gary Chouest wanted to sell the team. Since no buyer could be found, The NBA was forced to purchase the team. Therefore the league has owned the team for nearly a year and a half. They were insistent on finding an owner who would purchase the team and keep it in New Orleans. The NBA was unsuccessful in its quest until April when New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson purchased the Hornets as well. It was reported that Benson paid approximately $338 million for the team. However, I firmly believe (just my opinion, since I have no proof), that $338 million didn’t just get Benson the Hornets, but it also got him the first overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft.

Think about it. Even if Benson isn’t much of a college basketball fan, I’m pretty sure that he saw Anthony Davis play in the Final Four because it took place in the very same building that Benson’s NFL team calls home. A little over a week after Davis dominated the competition at the college level, in New Orleans, Benson agrees to take the Hornets off the NBA’s hands. The NBA has finally found an owner that will keep the Hornets in New Orleans, and in return Benson has a franchise player to replace Chris Paul on billboards all over the city.

The initial intent of the draft lottery was honorable. It was put into place to protect the integrity of the game. However, it is now being used as a vehicle for the commissioner to place future stars wherever he pleases. I’m sure it was also the luck of the draw that the Chicago Bulls just so happened to win the lottery when hometown hero Derrick Rose was the obvious selection. The lottery has protected the integrity of the game by taking away the incentive for teams to purposely lose games in order to get the first pick. However, the lottery has created a new problem, as I, along with many others are questioning the integrity of the commissioner.

Since there are only five players on the basketball court at a time for each team, one player makes a difference in the NBA more so than in any other sport. A strategically placed superstar player really affects the balance of power throughout the entire league. It’s time for the NBA to get rid of the draft lottery and simply go back to awarding the worst team the first pick in the draft and the rest of the draft order should fall accordingly. Will this cause teams to intentionally lose games to get a better draft pick? Of course it will, but I’d rather see everything decided on the basketball court than have the commissioner treat the entire league like his personal chess game.

As Kanye West famously said, “No one man should have all that power.” (Actually Kanye stole that line from a famous and historic movie which was based on a true story. I challenge anyone reading this to name that movie.) David Stern has too much power, and it’s about time that some of it is taken away from him.

And Now for my Baller & Scrub of the Week!

Baller: Rajon Rondo – The best point guard in the NBA lit up the Heat for 44 points, 10 assists, and 8 rebounds in a LOSING effort in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Let’s be honest, Rondo is holding this old and battered Celtics team together and he has led them to a place where they really have no business being. Paul Pierce is “injured”, or at least that’s what he says, but I never believe him because he is the biggest drama queen in the NBA. Ray Allen is playing like Trajan Langdon, Avery Bradley is legitimately injured, and there really aren’t many reliable options on the Boston bench. Thankfully Garnett is playing like its 2005, because he and Rondo are pretty much all the Celtics have. As you all know, I’m a Celtics fan, so I am obviously pulling for them to not only win this series, but also the championship. Anything less would be a disappointment. However, no matter how this season ends, we must all tip our hats to Rondo, Garnett, and Doc Rivers. These three men have somehow led the Celtics further than they had any business going this season.

Check out this hilarious Kevin Garnett video, simply because I think it’s funny:

Scrub: The Referees in the Eastern Conference Finals – I won’t go into too much detail because I don’t want to get fined by the league, but let’s just say this has been the worst officiated playoff series that I have ever seen in my life. I’ve seen technical fouls called for reasons that I haven’t figured out. I’ve seen clear path fouls called just because the referee wanted to know what it felt like to call one. I’ve also seen LeBron be put into a bear hug, Rondo get slapped in the face like he owes his pimp some money, and Garnett get kicked in the knee like he was in an MMA fight. Oh yeah, and none of these things were considered fouls by this top notch group. All I want to see is a series that is decided by the players on the court and not the referees, like the Kings-Lakers series of 2007 (Yeah, I said it!). It has long been believed that NBA games are fixed. I hope this isn’t the case, but if it is, at least try to make it less obvious.

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HE’S STILL IN THE LEAGUE?!

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A few weeks ago, I was relaxing at home and watching the Mavericks vs Thunder playoff game. I knew what the outcome of the game would be before it even started, but I decided to watch anyway for entertainment purposes. Good thing I did, because while watching that game I saw what turned out to be the inspiration of this column. Dirk Nowitzki hit a big shot, and OKC immediately called a time out. While the Mavericks made their way to the bench, the television camera caught a glimpse of a Maverick benchwarmer jumping up and rushing to the court to give his teammates some “dap”. That uber-excited benchwarmer was none other than BRIAN FREAKIN CARDINAL. Upon seeing him, I uttered five words to myself in disbelief, “He’s still in the league?!”

That’s right, Brian Cardinal has somehow managed to steal money from NBA franchises for 12 SEASONS! I am aware of the fact that Brian Cardinal is not a household name, so I will let you know why the fact that he’s still in the NBA has me completely dumbfounded. Over his 12 year career, Brian has averaged a whopping 4.6 points per game. Now I know that scoring is not the only way that a player can help his team win games. For instance, rebounding, assists, steals, and blocked shots also contribute to a team’s success on the basketball court. Along with his 4.6 points, Cardinal has also contributed 2.3 rebounds, 1.0 assist (notice I didn’t even have to make the word “assist” plural), 0.6 steal, and 0.2 blocked shot per game. Basically Brian has been a non-factor his entire career, yet he has still managed to hang around the league for 12 seasons. Oh, and there’s one other thing that I would like to mention about Mr. Cardinal. He has been paid approximately $39 million for his contributions to the NBA. My wife is always talking about how public education needs to be improved in this country. Just think of what a $39 million cash infusion could do for one of the many struggling school districts across the country. Instead it was given to Brian Cardinal.

I’m just getting started, there’s more….

Jerry Stackhouse picked the Miami Heat to win the NBA championship as the playoffs were starting. On the surface, that sounds fairly harmless, right? Well, there was a major problem with that statement. JERRY STACKHOUSE PLAYS FOR THE ATLANTA HAWKS! Don’t get me wrong, I live in Atlanta, and I know that the Hawks had an absolute 0% chance of winning the NBA championship this year. I can say that because I am a full-time engineer and a part-time sportswriter, not a member of the team. A Hawks player is not allowed to pick another team to win the championship while they are still alive in the playoffs. Upon hearing Stackhouse’s comments, most people in Atlanta were wondering why he would dismiss the possibility of his team winning it all. I had a better question, why is he still in the NBA? Jerry Stackhouse hasn’t been a relevant NBA player since 2007, yet he has still managed to hang around and wear an NBA issued warm-up suit to work every day.

Since Stackhouse picked the Heat to win the title, I may as well mention the player on their roster that makes you ask the question, “He’s still in the league?” That player is none other than Juwan Howard. Juwan was a member of the famed Fab 5 at Michigan, which some people reading this may be too young to even remember. Howard then entered the NBA in 1994. Let’s take a look back at the year 1994. Bill Clinton was in his first term in the White House. Three classic rap albums debuted in 1994, they were “Southernplaylisticcadillacmuzik” by Outkast, “Ready to Die” by the Notorious B.I.G, and “Illmatic” by Nas. All three of these albums are in the unofficial hip-hop hall of fame, and all three are definitely considered old school at this point. At this point in his career teams don’t expect much from Howard, but to his credit he is always ready when called up to grab a couple of rebounds and play better defense than Jamal Crawford when he is needed to give a front-court player a quick breather.

Now let’s get to my personal favorite, Brian Scalabrine. Or as I like to call him, “The Human Victory Cigar.” I have bestowed upon him this nickname for the simple fact that he never plays until either his team has put the game out of hand or their opponent has blown them out. Before I go any further, I must first apologize to Brian Cardinal for making him seem like the ultimate scrub earlier in this column. That title rightfully goes to Brian Scalabrine. Unfortunately for Cardinal, I wrote his section first, so he had to catch the brunt of my sarcasm. When compared to Scalabrine, Cardinal looks like an All-NBA performer. Over the course of his career, Scalabrine has averaged 3.1 points, 2.0 rebounds, 0.8 assist, 0.3 steal, and 0.2 block. Althought these numbers are terrible, I can say one thing with certainty about Scalabrine. He is consistent. In his best season ever, he only averaged 6.1 points. Every other year he has stayed between 1 and 4 points per game. Scalabrine must have carried groceries for old ladies and been a crossing-guard for pre-school children in his former life, because he has definitely been smiled upon in this one. For his miniscule contributions to the game, Scalabrine has been paid over $20 million and has lasted 11 NBA seasons. Go figure!

These are not the only players that you will be shocked find out are still in the league. These are only players that have managed to steal money from playoff teams. There is also Tony Battie in Philadelphia, who played the role of designated rebounder for those Celtic teams that featured the two biggest ball hogs in NBA history (Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker). Then there’s Jamaal Tinsley. You may remember him, he was the point guard of the Pacers during the Ron Artest (before the name change) and Jermaine O’neal (before the knee surgeries) era. Tinsley was a good player, who somehow ended up out of the league last season. This season he is back as the backup point guard in Utah. Since Utah doesn’t play many nationally televised games, the casual fan may have been shocked to see him back on the court when the playoffs begun.

Although I know it is indeed a fact, and that I wrote about it above, I’m still in shock that Brian Scalabrine is still in the league. Somewhere Mateen Cleaves is shouting, “WHY NOT ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

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ONE TRADE AWAY

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Before I get started with this week’s entry, let’s pay homage to Josh Smith’s posterization of yet another Oklahoma City Thunder big man. Serge Ibaka, smile on the count of three….





At this point there is only one team in the entire NBA that can win the championship. That team is the Miami Heat. They are far and away the best team in the NBA. Although the Chicago Bulls and Oklahoma City Thunder have comparable records, neither has a remote chance of beating Miami in a seven game series. The Bulls and Thunder are both good teams and on the surface they seem to be real competition for the Heat. However, the NBA has LOTS of bad teams (contraction is needed badly, and I’m sure that will be a blog entry at a later date), and it is easy for good teams to rack up wins. This is especially the case when good teams play extremely hard night in and night out as both the Bulls and Thunder do. As talented as the Bulls and Thunder are, fans in both cities may as well prepare themselves of falling just short of winning the title this season, unless….


THEY MAKE THE APPROPRIATE TRADE (or lineup change in the case of Oklahoma City).


There are several teams that are one trade away from being able to push the Miami Heat and possibly beat them in the playoffs. Being the benevolent young man that I am, I am going to save NBA general managers a lot of work by letting them know what move is needed to transform their team from a good team with absolutely no chance to win a championship to a great team that will be able to stand toe-to-toe with anyone in the playoffs, including the Heat.


Before I get to that, there is one thing that I must address concerning my hometown Atlanta Hawks. Starting (I still can’t figure out why) small forward Marvin Williams has reportedly requested a trade from the Hawks. (Marvin has denied this report, but I don’t believe him for one second) This begs the question ‘is Marvin assuming that another NBA team will actually want him?’ He is the worst starting small forward in the entire league. I am not exaggerating; he really is, for proof just read last week’s blog entry. No team will be stupid enough to take on Williams and the two years and roughly $15.7 million he has remaining on his contract after this season. The Hawks did call the University of Kentucky and try to trade him straight up for Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, but Caliparri turned them down with an emphatic HELL NO! So the Hawks are stuck with not only a scrub, but the worst kind of scrub; a disgruntled scrub. My advice to Marvin is to shut up and continue to be the bum that you are, and I will continue to talk about you on my blog for just that reason. Be glad that you are “stuck” in Atlanta and only have to deal with ATLiens like myself calling you a bust and a bum for a little while longer. (If you were to get traded to another market you would be opening yourself up to significantly more ridicule) In two years you will be out of Atlanta and on your way to play in Europe anyway. Now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, where was I?... Oh yeah, trades for teams that are actually contenders.


Ray Allen to the Los Angeles Clippers – Although the Celtics pulled of an overtime win against the Knicks on Sunday, thanks largely to the monster game by my favorite NBA player (more on Rondo later), they are no longer real contenders. The Celtics are a prideful bunch that will fight their hearts out and give a valiant effort in the playoffs. That being said, they don’t hand out pride trophies in the NBA. The Celtics are old and staring the need to start over with youth directly in the face. It’s time to move the veterans, and a homecoming in Los Angeles for Ray Allen would be the perfect landing spot for him. The L.A. Clippers are a very good team with a gaping hole at shooting guard. Allen will be able to give them the shooter that will keep teams from double-teaming Blake Griffin in the post and also force them to play Chris Paul honestly. Allen is also battle-tested and knows what it takes to win a championship. He will keep this young team focused and provide a calming influence when the rigors of the NBA playoffs begin to rattle the young Clippers. It will probably take Mo Williams and a draft pick or a combination of Ryan Gomes, Eric Bledsoe, and a draft pick to get him. As long as it doesn’t take Paul, Griffin, DeAndre Jordan , or Caron Butler to get Allen, this is a deal that has to be made.


Pau Gasol to the Chicago Bulls – For some strange reason the Lakers’ are dead set on moving the most skilled big man in the game. We all know that he is soft, but he is also the most skilled post player to hit the NBA since Tim Duncan. For my money, I think the Lakers are idiots for trying to move him, but I’m sure that Derrick Rose and the people in Chicago are hoping that they send him their way. This is an easy trade to make. The Bulls will take on the Lakers highly skilled, but soft post player and send the Bulls their moderately skilled, but physically tough power forward in return. That’s right the Lakers should take back Carlos Boozer in return. Although Boozer is averaging nearly 19 points and 10 rebounds per game this season, he just doesn’t seem to be the right fit to play with Derrick Rose. I think he will be more valuable in Los Angeles where he can provide some toughness inside. Boozer’s and Gasol’s numbers this season are similar, so neither team will lose much production. However, stylistically I think both teams will be better off making this trade.


Rajon Rondo to the Los Angeles Lakers – Since I’m mentioning the Lakers, let me start by saying I HATE KOBE BRYANT! Now that that’s out of the way, let’s talk about the most obvious hole that any team in the entire NBA has. The Lakers simply don’t have a starting caliber point guard on their roster. In addition to not having a point guard on the team, the Lakers are also getting old and need an influx of youth to keep the team relevant for the next couple of years. As much as it pains me to say this, the team I hate the most is the perfect team to acquire my favorite player. Acquiring Rondo will give the Lakers young all-star level talent at the two most important positions on the court, point guard and center. They also have that other guy that I mentioned earlier that is still a top three player in the league. Rondo will lighten the defensive burden that Kobe has to handle on a nightly basis and also allow him to play off the ball more and get easy baskets. I don’t know what the Lakers have to offer the Celtics, except draft picks because they should be moving Gasol to Chicago for Boozer. There were rumors earlier in the season of a Gasol for Rondo swap, but that wouldn’t make sense because that would leave the Lakers with a gaping hole at power forward, unless they can figure out a way to get Luis Scola from Houston. The Lakers don’t have much on their roster that anyone else would want outside of Gasol, and Bynum (no need to mention Bryant here because we all know that he is untouchable). However, I’m sure that won’t stop them, because this is the team that managed to get Pau Gasol from Memphis in exchange for Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, Aaron McKie, the rights to Marc Gasol, and a couple of draft picks. So basically Memphis got a bag of basketballs, 3 pair of NBA logo socks, and Gasol’s little brother (who eventually became a good player). Therefore, I truly feel that if the Lakers want Rondo, they will figure out a way to get him.


James Harden starts in Oklahoma City – As I stated last week, the Thunder are doing their opponents a huge favor by bringing their third best player off the bench. By simply inserting Harden into the starting lineup, the Thunder will have the most complete starting five in the entire league. They will have three scorers that can shoot from outside and blow past defenders. Their inside players (Perkins and Ibaka) and the perfect complement to such strong perimeter players. They are ego-less and love doing the dirty work, defending the basket and rebounding. Having Harden in the lineup will force the opposition to guard all three perimeter players and prevent them from letting one of their better scorers rest on defensive by guarding a player that is not a threat to score.


If the Lakers, Bulls, Clippers, or Thunder want to give Miami any real competition this summer, these moves absolutely have to be made. If they aren’t, the city of Miami may as well go ahead and approve police overtime to cover the parade.


This may sound crazy, but there is a way that my hometown Hawks can suddenly become real contenders. They just have to make the following move….


LeBron James to the Atlanta Hawks – I know this sounds crazy but it would give the Heat some valuable cap space. The Hawks will give up Marvin Williams (who is just oozing with potential) for James, who is clearly on the downside of his career. In addition to Williams, the Hawks will also give up Kirk Hinrich (that way Udonis Haslem won’t be the only Heat player rocking the always fresh Converse) and their next 5 first round draft picks. See that’s an offer that’s too good for the Heat to refuse. I’m sure that LeBron would welcome it also. He gets to play with Joe Johnson, who isn’t quite as good as Dwyane Wade, and Josh Smith, who is almost at the level of Chris Bosh. How can he turn down the opportunity to go to a slightly worse team in a city that doesn’t care about their sports teams unless they have a superstar. There’s the selling point, he IS a superstar. He can make an entire city give a damn about their home team. Who could possibly turn that down?


I know it will never happen, but a guy can dream!




And now for my Baller & Scrub of the Week….


BALLER – Rajon Rondo: He’s not getting this honor because he is my favorite NBA player or because he played for my favorite college basketball team. He is getting this honor because he (Ice Cube Voice) “messed around and got a triple-double” against the Knicks on Sunday. This wasn’t your run of the mill triple double, this one was special. He torched the “Chosen One” (Jeremy Lin) and the “Washed-up One” (Baron Davis) for 18 points, 20 assists, and 17 rebounds. Yeah, I think that deserves Baller of the Week status.


SCRUB – The NFL: Ok, the New Orleans Saints paid bounties to players for knocking opposing players out of games. That is wrong, we get that. However, let’s not get all crazy and act like this is some reprehensible act that you can’t believe is going on. Football players are wired a little differently from the rest of us. A defensive player’s entire existence (unless he plays corner) is based on the ability to knock someone’s block off. They do it week in and week out in exchange for their regular salaries. The bounty program wasn’t about the money, it was about recognition from teammates. If a player is making several hundred-thousand dollars per game, an extra $1500 isn’t going to make them want to hit any harder. They are always trying to knock players out of the game with every hit. I’m sure that the punishment for the Saints organization will be severe and will probably include a seven-figure fine, a lot of suspensions of players and coaches, as well as the loss of some draft picks. This will be simply to make an example out of the Saints. That is unfortunate because we all know that this happens in locker rooms all over the league. You can’t tell me that the Baltimore Ravens don’t have a standing bounty on Ben Roethlisberger. If you are going to make an example out of the Saints, you must conduct an investigation of the other 31 teams to see just how rampant this practice is and level them with the same punishments that you hit the Saints with.


This is strictly a public relations move. I wish the NFL would realize that you can’t make a gladiator sport safe. Your best bet is to make sure that everyone is well-aware of the dangers of the game at that level upon entering the league, and let the chips fall where they may. Football collisions have the same affect on the body as car accidents. This simply isn’t a safe sport. It’s a gladiator sport played by men with no regard for their physical well-being, or the physical well-being of their opponents. It’s time to stop pretending that it is anything else.




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THE ANTI-ALL-STAR TEAM

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This past weekend Orlando, Florida was the center of the basketball universe. It hosted the NBA’s annual All-Star weekend. This means that all of the top players in the NBA were there, along with the top NBA groupies, a plethora of celebrities, and everyday people that traveled there with hopes of spending too much money to get into the club and “party” with stars. I am a huge fan of the NBA All-Star game. Once a year we get to see the best the league has to offer (except for Josh Smith) on one court. The game is always highly entertaining for 3 quarters, and intensely competitive for the final quarter. It is by-far the best all-star game in sports. In addition to the actual game, I also enjoy seeing what the shoe companies will have their live billboards wearing on the court. Only in the All-Star game will players wear mismatched shoes (Tracy McGrady started it and high school and college kids immediately followed suit), or awesome shoes in colorway’s that don’t remotely match the uniform. It is truly an awesome event that deserves all of the pomp and circumstance that it currently receives.


The number of All-Star appearances on your resume is a badge of honor for NBA players. It is an acknowledgement that you were one of the best or most popular players (fan voting) in the league for any given year. All-Star players are celebrated by basketball fans, the media, as well as their peers. They are usually the players that receive the endorsement deals, shoe contracts, and guest appearances on television shows and in movies. They are shouted out in rap songs, and practically own the towns in which they play. This is the glamorous NBA life that kids grow up dreaming about. However, this is not the NBA life that everyone gets to experience. NBA teams are allowed to carry 15 players and have 12 in uniform for games. Five of those players start the game, and are generally considered to be the best players on their team at their given positions. Most teams have three bench players that contribute heavy minutes. The remaining players are who we consider to be the “scrubs”. They generally don’t play unless a regular rotation player is out of action due to an injury, suspension, etc. This means there is a generally accepted belief among basketball fans that about seven players on each roster (with some exceptions of course) are not very good players and could be easily replaced.


Let’s pause for a brief PSA:


Before I proceed, I want to be clear about one fact. Every player on an NBA roster is a great basketball player (with the exception of Mario West who is thankfully no longer taking up space for the Atlanta Hawks). They would be the first player picked and the most dominant player on the court at any recreation or fitness center in the world. However, when comparing NBA players to other NBA players, some of them are TERRIBLE! This is the perspective that I am using in this blog. These guys may be good basketball players, but they fall short of the mark of a good NBA player.


O.K, now back to the regularly scheduled blog already in progress.
There are many bench players in the NBA that are walking-talking punch lines for fans, the media, and other players. Note to NBA players: Here are some signs to look for to see if you fit into the “walking-talking punch-line” category:


-You only get into the game in the fourth quarter when your team is up or down by 25+ points.


-The fans chant your name as a sign to the coach to put you into the game (again, only when the game is already been decided).


-Your teammates jump up and down, cheer, and wave towels around their heads like a helicopter (shout-out to Petey Pablo) whenever you score.


In other words, watch a Chicago Bulls blowout and see the treatment that Brian Scalabrine receives. If your experience is similar to his, YOU ARE A SCRUB!


These players are easy targets for ridicule, so I will not waste any time discussing how they are basically stealing money, or how they are so lucky to wear NBA licensed warm-up suits for a living. However, I do want to discuss another group of NBA players. They are what I would like to call the Anti-All-Stars. These are the players that start for their respective teams, which would lead us to believe that they are good NBA players. 
However, the truth of the matter is that they suck! They really make you wonder just how bad their back-up is. (Please note that this list is based strictly on current ability. It has nothing to do with previous performances, or a players potential.) These players aren’t celebrated like their all-star teammates (and they shouldn’t be), but I am going to give them some attention anyway (which I’m sure that they don’t want).


I now present to you, the 2012 NBA Anti-All-Star Team (cue the applause):

Point Guard – Derrick Fisher: Fisher is a victim of evolution. He came into the league when a point guard’s job was to bring the ball up court, get the team organized, space the floor, and hit open jumpers when the center was double-teamed. Unfortunately for the old and slow Fisher things have changed over the last 15 years and a lot more is expected of today’s point guards. First and foremost, they are no longer depended on to space the floor, they are now responsible for getting into the paint and finishing or finding finishers and shooters. Not to mention the fact that these younger guys are freakishly athletic. I think it’s safe to say that point guards in 1996 didn’t have the speed or agility of Rajon Rondo, Derrick Rose, or Russell Westbrook, all of whom have given the aforementioned Fisher recurring nightmares. Even the more conventional guards of today, such as Chris Paul and Deron Williams are simply stronger and too skilled for Fisher to even hope to contain them. Therefore, Fisher is to the Laker’s the very definition of a defensive liability, and on the offensive end, he is only good for 5.5 points and 3.4 assists per game. I guess he is still the starter because there really isn’t a better option behind him. His backup, Steve Blake isn’t exactly tearing it up with his season averages of 6.8 points and 3.0 assists per game. Although Fisher has had a better career than he could have ever dreamed of, it is safe to say that he is no longer a starting point guard for a contender. As of right now, the Lakers are not serious contenders so I guess Fisher isn’t exactly holding them back. However the addition of a legitimate starting point guard like say Rajon Rondo in a trade, could easily change the outlook for a team like the Lakers.


Shooting Guard – Thabo Sefolosha: I don’t know how in the world he is still in the Thunder’s starting lineup when James Harden plays behind him. Sefolosha is nothing more than a token starter. That being said, I really don’t understand the point of a token starter in the NBA. Thabo only plays 20 minutes per game, while Harden plays nearly 32. The token starter contributes only five points to the scoreboard on a nightly basis, while you can pencil Harden in for nearly 17. The feeling in Oklahoma City is that Sefolosha is a defensive stopper, which is why he is in the starting lineup. On that I’m calling BS! In today’s NBA, calling a player a defensive stopper is just a polite way of saying that he contributes nothing on offense. The last true defensive stoppers in the league were Bruce Bowen, Ron Artest (when he was actually Ron Artest), Dikembe Mutombo, Ben Wallace, and Dennis Rodman when they were all in their prime years. Sefolosha isn’t 1/8th of the defender that they were. These players gave opposing players fits and made opposing coaches alter their game plans. I haven’t heard one star perimeter player talk about how Sefolosha makes it difficult for them to attack, as a matter of fact, I’m sure that opposing coaches are glad that Sefolosha is keeping the Thunder point total down by keeping Harden off of the court. The Thunder are really helping their opponents out by bringing Harden off the bench. Benching their “defensive stopper” who doesn’t stop anyone and putting Harden in the starting lineup will give them the most complete starting five since the ‘’03 Pistons.


Small Forward – Marvin Williams: Marvin Williams was inexplicably drafted before both Chris Paul and Deron Williams. He was drafted on potential, not actual ability or college production. Apparently former Hawks GM Billy Knight was the only person who saw this potential, because no one else saw it before the draft and Marvin has yet to show it since entering the league. Williams averaged a somewhat respectable 14.8 points per game in his third season, but instead of using that season to spring-board his career, he felt that it was too good, and decided to regress. He is now down to a whopping 9 points per game this season (and that’s without Al Horford, so there should be more opportunities for him). To put in perspective just how bad Williams is, the oft-injured, light-years past his prime Tracy McGrady is seeing minutes for the Hawks at the small forward position, when Williams at 25 years old should be entering his prime. The Hawks have been smart enough to keep him off the court in crunch time when the game is on the line. Now they just have to be smart enough to replace him with a capable starting small forward. Knowing the Hawks they will try to trade him to San Antonio for Richard Jefferson, which would be tragic because Williams barely beat out the equally inept Jefferson for this spot. Don’t put it past them, this is the team that passed over Paul and Williams, and (close your eyes if you have a weak stomach) TRADED DOMINIQUE WILKINS FOR DANNY MANNING!


Power Forward – Boris Diaw: When Boris Diaw played for the Hawks, he was honestly the worst player in the NBA. I promise you, I am not exaggerating. This may not be common knowledge because the Hawks were terrible during those years so no one outside of metro-Atlanta was forced to watch them on television. Then he went to Phoenix and became a capable NBA player, proving that Steve Nash can indeed make anyone look better than they actually are. He later moved on to Charlotte, where he has morphed into an over-weight power forward that only contributes 7 points and 4 rebounds per game for the worst team in the league. Boris isn’t a terrible basketball player, in fact he is very skilled, however, at the power forward position his lack of athleticism is a huge liability. After looking like a promising player with the Suns, it is obvious that Diaw doesn’t care anymore and is simply collecting his guaranteed contract, while he continues to ask the equipment manager for bigger uniforms.


Center – Brendan Haywood: Here we have Mr. Haywood, or as I like to call him the “Black Shawn Bradley”. He may not look like Bradley, but his play is about as good as Bradley’s. Brendan Haywood is 7 feet tall and weighs 263 pounds, yet he averages just 5 points per game. In a league that only has three real centers that can actually play (Dwight Howard,Andrew Bynum, & Roy Hibbert), you would think that Haywood would dominate. His teammates should be able to toss him the ball and let him dunk it. He has the size to get any post position that he wants. Now you would think that since he isn’t exactly a scoring machine, Haywood must use that size to dominate the boards and grab every rebound in sight. WRONG! Haywood averages only 6.8 rebounds a game. Kevin Durant (the guy that weighs 103 pounds) averages more. Then you would think, he must be a shot blocking machine. WRONG AGAIN! John Wall (yeah, that John Wall, the point guard) is just as scary a shot blocker as Haywood is. Although Haywood is big and tall, he isn’t very athletic at all. Everything about his movement on the court is awkward and his production is underwhelming. I guess that explains why he is indeed the worst starting center in the NBA.

And now for my Baller & Scrub of the Week….


BALLER – Robert Griffin III: I am a football nerd, so naturally I have been watching the NFL combine. While doing so, I saw Robert Griffin III run a 4.38 40-yard dash. That is absolutely ridiculous, especially when you consider that he is a quarterback. That is the second fasted time by a quarterback in the history of the combine (Vick ran a 4.31). We all know that he will be a threat the moment he touches the field in the NFL. Teams will be preparing for his speed, because of his reputation alone. However, now he has posted a number that will ensure that opposing defensive coaching staffs have lots of sleepless nights before facing him. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that he won’t be getting caught from behind once he gets into the secondary. Oh yeah, he also has a strong arm and is extremely accurate. This is going to be fun to watch!

SCRUB – NBA Slam Dunk Contest: END IT NOW! That is all.


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GIVE THIS MAN A HUG

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Not only am I a huge sports fan, I am also a hip-hop head. No matter what I am doing, I am usually doing it while listening to music. I earn my living as an engineer, and whenever I am at my desk, you will usually find me with headphones on listening to music as I work. The same is true of writing this blog. Each week when I sit down to write, the first thing I do is open iTunes and decide on a playlist or album to write to. My musical choice is usually determined by my mood at the time or the topic that I will be writing about. Although I listen to a lot of Outkast and Jay-Z, you might catch me rocking to Lupe Fiasco, The Clipse, Jay Electronica, Kanye West, or even 2 Chainz (go figure). That being said, there is only one album that can provide the appropriate soundtrack for this week’s entry. That album is “Take Care” by Drake. Drake’s sophomore release is one of the dopest, softest, emotional, man law violating, I need a hug albums in the history of rap (I use the term rap loosely).

Drake is appropriate because today’s topic is the one and only LeBron James. Bear with me for a moment and I will explain why. For my money he is the best player in the NBA, and to be perfectly honest, second place isn’t even close. Anyone who says that LeBron James is not the best player in the NBA is either lying or related to another NBA player. In just his second NBA season James returned the Cleveland Cavaliers to respectability. Think about it, prior to LeBron’s arrival, the last respectable Cleveland basketball team featured Mark Price, Brad Daugherty, and Craig Ehlo. Yeah, that Craig Ehlo. You know I couldn’t mention his name without including a video of his crowning moment as a pro (please see clip below).





In his third season, the Cavs won 50 games and made the playoffs. This was truly amazing, especially when you consider who some of his teammates were that year. He had the honor of playing with such household names as Alan Henderson, Ira Newble, and Damon Jones (I promise you that I am not doing this on purpose, but we may as well look at the biggest highlight of Damon Jones’ career while we’re here).





LeBron spent the first seven years of his NBA career in Cleveland. During that time he led them to the NBA Finals once, the Eastern Conference Finals once, and the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals three times. It’s safe to say that he put Cleveland back on the NBA map.

After the 2009-2010 season, LeBron was eligible for free-agency. This gave him the right to play for any team that he chose. As we all know now, he chose to go to Miami. Who could blame him, he gave up the brutal Cleveland winters for South Beach. He decided to play with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh instead of Jamario Moon and J.J. Hickson. Can we really blame him? It was his right to leave Cleveland, and he did. However there was one small thing that he did wrong. He decided to announce his “Decision” in primetime on national television. That was awfully arrogant, but again it’s his right. Oh yeah, there is one other small detail I failed to mention, Cleveland was his hometown team, so the people there kinda hate him now; which is their right as well.

LeBron’s decision to dump his hometown in front of the whole world, has led to something that he couldn’t have ever imagined, a backlash. No longer is he America’s sweetheart, the player that everyone admirers and loves. He is now public enemy #2 when it comes to athletes (behind Michael Vick of course). This is by far the most adversity that James has ever faced in his basketball career. They say adversity shows a person’s true character, and if this is indeed true, we now know that LeBron is about as tough as Drake’s music. I must admit, he had me fooled. Silly me, I thought that a 6’8”, 250 lb. man from the hood would be tough. I was wrong. Apparently LeBron is that dude that always went crying to his mother when someone took his toys. He has turned into a walking, talking pity party.

In Lebron’s first year with the Heat they made it to the NBA Finals, but I am still trying to figure out if he was there with the team or not. I watched the replays of the games on NBA TV during this off-season and I simply didn’t see him. As any superstar player should, he received a great deal of criticism for his no-show. He also started ducking the media after games because he couldn’t handle the fact that everyone noticed that Mario Chalmers was a bigger factor in the series than he was.

(Let’s pause a minute and let that last sentence sink in).

Needless to say James probably had the worst off-season of his career due to the way he played on the biggest stage. What I’m wondering is which bothered him more, losing the finals or being criticized?

This season, the Heat are off to another strong start and are the odds-on favorite to win the NBA championship. That being the case, you would think that all would be happy in LeBronville. Yet, he‘s still in a competition with Drake to see who can whine more about the downside of their fame and success. In an interview a few weeks back, Larry Bird was asked who he thought was the best player in the NBA. Logically, his answer was LeBron James. He was then asked which player playing today would he most want to play with. His answer was Kobe Bryant. Although I would never want to play with Kobe Bryant (because his teammates don’t get to play basketball, they simply do cardio while he plays basketball), I respect Larry’s OPINION. Bird was asked a question and his answer happened to be Kobe Bryant. While giving props to Kobe, Bird in no way insulted the “Sensitive One”. However, LeBron took it as a slight and responded by saying,

“I’m an easy target – let’s say that. When someone wants to get a point across, just throw LeBron’s name in there. If you’re watching cartoons with your kids and don’t like it you say, ‘Blame it on LeBron.’ If you go to the grocery store and they don’t have the milk you like you say, ‘It’s LeBron’s fault. I’m an easy target and I understand that. It doesn’t get me to me at all.”

Is he serious? All that from Larry Bird saying that he wanted to play with Kobe Bryant! It’s obvious that he needs a hug.

Needless to say the good people of Cleveland Ohio have yet to forgive LeBron for spitting in their faces in front of the entire country. To show their disdain for him, they BOO him profusely and hold up signs to express their feelings whenever he visits. This obviously bothers James and I’m sure he cries himself to sleep after each road game in Cleveland. Last week he decided to try to curb the vitriol shown to him by the Cav fans. He stated to reporters that he wouldn’t rule out a return to Cleveland at some point in his career. His selfish need to be loved by all led to him making an incredibly stupid statement and possibly alienating the organization that is currently paying him over $100 million for six years of basketball. Unfortunately for LeBron, he was still booed with each touch of the ball, and now stories are popping up all over the place about LeBron “plotting his return to Cleveland.” I’m sure the fans in Miami are loving that. Now we have a sensitive superstar that will soon have people in two cities hating him, but I’m sure he’ll handle that well. My advice to him is to win a championship this season in Miami and SHUT UP!

There are two things that I am certain that I never want to hear again, a Drake song about his struggles with fame and how it prevents him from finding true love, and LeBron James whining because the people don’t love him like they used to. I think they should just give each other a hug and agree to be one another’s sounding board and support system, because the rest of us are sick of hearing it!


And now for my Baller & Scrub of the Week….

BALLER – Kobe Bryant: It is well documented on this blog that I HATE KOBE BRYANT! Truthfully, I never thought I would see the day that I would actually give props to this _________ (fill in the word that you think I would have used), but I must applaud his comments to the Lakers management concerning Pau Gasol. The Lakers tried to trade Gasol before the season started, but were unsuccessful. Since the season has started, it has been rumored that Gasol was being traded to every team in the league and the Harlem Globetrotters. This has obviously had a negative effect on his play this season because his scoring average is currently at a career low (16.6 ppg.). We all know two things to be true about Pau. He is an enormously skilled post player, and he is about as tough as Keith Van Horn. That being said, I think it’s pretty safe to assume that he is a huge fan of whoever is the Spanish equivalent of Drake.

I have a new respect for Kobe (that will disappear as soon as I hit the “Post” button on this entry) for telling management that they need to either trade Pau soon or commit to not trading him. Bryant stated the obvious by saying that Gasol is not comfortable with the current situation and it is definitely affecting his play. I have always viewed Kobe as a selfish, me-first person. Actually I still do, but he has earned my respect for the next 15 minutes for sticking up for his soon to be ex-teammate. I will resume hating him in exactly 16 minutes, starting….now.

SCRUB – My (kinda) Boston Celtics: I am a person that roots for individual players more than I do particular teams. I have been a Boston Celtics fan for exactly 6 years, which is the exact number of years that my favorite NBA player (Rajon Rondo) has been a member of the team. So it’s fair to say that my allegiance is to him and not the actual franchise. That being said, the Celtics are terrible this season (15-16) and they are looking ancient in the process. It’s time for the C’s to shake things up and trade their one valuable asset (Rondo). In the process they will not only lose one of the best point guards in the league, but they will also lose a fan (me). Our loss may hurt them in the short term, but it will be better for them long-term. I just hope they trade us to a contender.


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NO RESPECT!

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Not only am I an Atlanta resident (actually I live in a suburb just east of Atlanta), but I was born and raised here. I love my city. After college, I turned down any out-of-state job offers because this is where I want to live. In my opinion, there is no better city in America in which to reside. Atlanta really has it all. This is the quintessential big city with a small town feel. We have perfect weather (winter temperatures were in the sixties until this past week), a variety of museums and playhouses, phenomenal restaurants, several Fortune 500 companies, an assortment of interesting tourist attractions, great shopping, and plenty of awesome venues for live music. In addition to those amenities, Atlanta has also become a new music, television and film Mecca, and has a tremendous nightlife. If you feel like just kicking it with some friends, there are plenty of lounges to choose from. For those that like to party, there is no shortage of nightclubs to frequent. The world famous Magic City (not to be confused with the Magic Kingdom) is also located here. Single guys say that for the right amount of money, you could perhaps have a life changing experience there. These are several reasons that people move here in droves.

Although my city is a lot of wonderful things, there is one thing that it is not, A SPORTS TOWN! I find this fact particularly frustrating because I am such a huge sports fan. Sports in this city simply aren’t a priority. We have three major professional teams in this city as well as one major college that plays Division I athletics. The attitude of the city’s residents towards all of these teams is ho-hum at best. Although I have lived here my entire life, and I am the biggest sports fan that I know, I must admit that I really don’t care much about the teams that represent this city. Unfortunately, the vast majority of the populous share this opinion with me. I believe there are several different reasons for this, which we will discuss.

ATLANTA IS A CITY FULL OF TRANSPLANTS – Whenever I meet someone for the first time and I tell them that I was born and raised here in Atlanta, they first thing that they say is, “Wow, that’s rare! You are the first person that I have met that was actually born here.” The secret has gotten out to the rest of the country that the ATL is indeed the place to be. This has definitely helped out the local economy, but it has also eliminated any home court/field advantage that our sports teams would expect to have. There are as many Yankees, Mets, and Phillies fans living in Atlanta as there are Braves fans. Also, please don’t get me started on the NBA. Whenever the Knicks come to town, it looks like Spike Lee is filming a scene for one of his movies in Philips Arena. You can actually shoot a Timberland commercial in the arena filled with New Yorkers wearing Knicks hats and their peanut butter colored boots. If Timberland ever decides to do that, I will make sure that they cut me a check for stealing my idea.

WE DON’T HAVE ANY SUPERSTARS – The biggest star in this city before Michael Vick was Dominique Wilkins. The biggest star in this city since Michael Vick is…….. well we haven’t found him yet. One thing that I hate about my city is the fact that the people here are so superficial, which has created a celebrity (real or imagined) culture. You can easily cross paths with celebrities on any random day at any random place. This makes people feel as though they are a celebrity too, and that they should be wherever the celebrities are to feel important. When Michael Vick was a Falcon, the Georgia Dome was transformed from a football stadium to the place to be. Women were wearing stilettos with their best club attire to football games. I guess they actually thought the players were going to come up into the crowd at halftime to play the dating game. This naturally made the guys step their game up because they wanted to take advantage of these women whose heads were filled with such “basic” thoughts. The festivities didn’t end when the game clock struck 00:00, in fact they were just beginning. Of course there was an after party hosted by Vick, some other player(s) or a local or visiting celebrity. So really it was never about football, it was always about being “Hollywood” and on the scene.

The Falcons and the NFL for that matter are trying their best to make Matt Ryan an elite quarterback and a superstar. This is simply because he is the anti-Mike Vick. During his tenure in Atlanta, Vick was caught with weed, treated for herpes (under an alias), and incarcerated for dog-fighting. I can guarantee that none of these things will happen to Matt Ryan, which is commendable. However, I can also guarantee that he will never have the dome rocking or the city buzzing like Vick once did and still does when he visits with the Eagles. Even if he becomes a great quarterback (which he won’t), he will never own a city that values style over substance as Vick once did.

Unfortunately the Hawks are also void of a superstar player that carries a national reputation. Our best player is Joe Johnson. He is as quiet as Tim Duncan, paid more than LeBron James, but plays like Kevin Martin. No disrespect to Kevin Martin, he’s a good player, but it’s safe to say that he will never be the best player on a championship team. When your best player is not good enough to lead you to a championship, you would at least hope that he could put butts in the seats. Unfortunately no one is coming to see Joe Johnson display his assortment of mid-range jump shots. The Hawks do have their very own high-flying highlight machine in Josh Smith. Not only does he put up solid numbers and make plays that are “Sportscenter Top 10” worthy, he is also an Atlanta native. This combination should mean that people will come out in droves to see him. That is not the case. He simply isn’t very charismatic, and doesn’t have any real star qualities. Up until three years ago, the Hawks advertised their games by making commercials that encouraged fans to come out and see LeBron, Kobe, and Dwight Howard at the Highlight Factory (Philips Arena). Thankfully those days are over, and they are finally using their own players in their commercials (mostly Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, and Al Horford). However, party promoters are still paying visiting stars to use their name to promote parties after the game. I bet you can’t guess which strategy is working the best. Let’s just say that the “Velvet Room” is usually jumping after a weekend Hawks game, while the Philips Arena crowd is usually small enough to fit on one Marta train (that is unless the Heat, Lakers, or Knicks are in town).

BAD OWNERS MAKE STUPID DECISIONS – The Braves are owned by a faceless corporation (Liberty Media) that views them as simply a line-item on their balance sheet. The Braves have one purpose, and one purpose only to their owner, which is to make a profit. Payroll is kept low and winning baseball games is seen as a bonus. In my book that qualifies them as horrible owners.

The Hawks are owned by a group of people who didn’t have enough money to buy the team individually. Aside from that, they really don’t get along all that well. They tried to sell the team this off-season, but apparently the potential new owner wasn’t quite NBA rich. He may have been MLS (Major League Soccer) rich, but he didn’t have deep enough pockets to join the ranks of NBA ownership. This group of inept owners has made some really bad mistakes over the years. The first of which was to hire Dominique Wilkins as the color analyst for the television broadcasts. He is absolutely terrible! I’m going to guess that he never got anything above a "D" in any Spelling, Composition, Literature, or Speech class that he has ever taken. Yet, he gets paid six-figures to talk for a living. That has nothing to do with the on court performance, but it is still an excellent example of bad decision making. They also agreed to pay Joe Johnson $119 million for six years of slightly above average basketball. That pretty much assures they won’t be able to pay a real superstar. It’s unfortunate because Atlanta native Dwight Howard is set to become a free-agent. It’s probably also why he isn’t even considering the Hawks. First of all he knows that they can’t afford him, and secondly he knows that ownership is a mess and that they will never take the necessary steps required to become an elite team. The Hawks have been the perennial four seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs for most of my life. Why on earth would that change now? I used to be the World’s Biggest Hawks Fan, but now it is hard to be interested in them. It was fun seeing them build themselves back up from nothing and become respectable. Unfortunately they are unable to take that next step from respectability to contending. At the beginning of each season I know that the Hawks will be the four or five seed in the playoffs and lose in the second round, no matter how well they start. That’s just the way it is, so why waste my time watching a movie that comes on every year and ends the exact same way.

Truth be told, I like Arthur Blank. I think he is a man that wants to win very badly and is willing to spend the money necessary to do so. Unfortunately, he has also made some incredibly stupid decisions during his tenure as the Falcons owner. The first thing that he did was make a change for change sake. He fired Dan Reeves because the Falcons had a terrible season when their franchise (Michael Vick) was hurt during the 2003 season. For the record, Reeves was a heck of a coach (who took the Falcons to the Super Bowl), and he kept the team relatively competitive in Vick’s absence. He replaced him with Jim Mora, who exploited Vick’s talents and took the Falcons to the NFC championship game. The bottom quickly fell out from under him shortly thereafter. He then surprised everyone with the hiring of Bobby Petrino, which also didn’t work out so well. To his credit he has bounced back nicely from the Petrino episode and the Falcons are now respected throughout the league. Although he has made his share of mistakes, he is still by far the best owner in the city, and is working hard to bring a championship home. Unfortunately he has a quarterback that is closer to Mark Sanchez than Aaron Rodgers, so I don’t see it happening anytime soon. However, it will be fun watching him try.

Atlanta is a city that is full of sports fans. Unfortunately, it isn’t a city that is full of Atlanta sports fans. Part of that blame belongs to the fans for not supporting the home team, but an equal amount of blame belongs to the teams for not providing the fans with the type of teams that they will support. The advent of cable television, the internet, and satellite radio has made it really easy to follow any team from anywhere in the world. This is one instance where technology is hurting my city. Now people can continue to follow their native teams when they move here as if they still lived in their hometowns.

Truthfully, I don’t know if it’s possible for Atlanta to ever become a real sports town. I just don’t see it happening. There are some that would say that the ATL is not a strong sports town because we don’t have a strong history of winning championships. I honestly don’t think that would be enough. The only thing that will get people’s attention here is for us to win championships with style. If Tim Duncan had played his entire career in Atlanta and led the Hawks to four NBA championships, Philips Arena would still be mostly empty on a nightly basis, simply because Duncan plays a fundamental and boring brand of basketball. However, Allen Iverson would have been able to fill the arena up on a nightly basis, and he has no rings. In a city full of celebrity wannabes, flashiness and drama have become necessities for entertainment success. This is precisely why more ATLiens can name the Real Housewives of Atlanta than can name the Hawks starting lineup. Pathetic, isn’t it?


And now for my Baller & Scrub of the Week….

BALLER – Jeremy Lin: Alright, this is the obligatory Jeremy Lin mention that is required in all things written about sports for the last two weeks. Please excuse my sarcasm, but ESPN is making it impossible for me to enjoy what is really a remarkable story. Their coverage of this guy reminds me of their coverage of some guy who plays running back (sorry they call it quarterback there) in Denver. Jeremy Lin has literally come out of nowhere and taken the NBA by storm. He has been playing great basketball ever since he finally got his shot with the Knicks. Over his last six games, Lin has averaged nearly 27 points and 8.5 assists per game. It is certainly no accident that the Knicks are also on a six-game winning streak entering Wednesday’s game. His statistics as well as the results that they are producing prove that Lin and Tebow are certainly different in one aspect. Lin is a legitimate NBA point guard, while Tebow is a terrible NFL quarterback.

While the rest of the world is going “Lin-sane in the Membrane” over the latest phenomenon, I will try my best to enjoy it for what it is. A kid from Harvard is taking the NBA by storm. He is the real deal, and once all this hype dies down, he will have a long career as a solid NBA point guard. Although I don’t think will become one of the truly elite point guards in the game (i.e. Rose, Rondo, Paul, Westbrook, or Williams), I do predict that he will be the Eastern Conference starter at point guard in the 2013 All-Star Game. Will he deserve that honor? Probably not, but you must remember that he Chinese-American. China, the world’s most populous country, is absolutely crazy about the NBA. They also love voting for the all-star team, which is why Yao Ming was a mainstay. I think it’s safe to go ahead and pencil him in as next year’s leading vote-getter.

SCRUB – NBA Coaches: The NBA allows the fans to vote for the starters of their annual all-star game. The reserves are chosen by the coaches. When looking at the list of reserves, there was one glaring omission. For some reason Atlanta’s own, Josh Smith was not listed. Smith is currently averaging 15.6 points and 9.2 rebounds per game. He also ranks 6th in the NBA in blocks with 2.1 per game. The fact that he was left off of the team yet again, really drives home the point of this blog entry. My outrage may sound like sour grapes from an Atlanta native, which is a fair point, but let’s look at the numbers. Luol Deng was selected as an all-star by the coaches at forward. He is averaging 15.9 points and 7.0 rebounds per game. Is he having a better season than Smith? I think not! How about Andre Iguodala, and his 12.4 points and 6.6 rebound averages? You couldn’t make a recreation league all-star team with those numbers, and yet he was chosen. Josh Smith being left off the team is a disgrace and really shows that our teams really don’t exist on the national sports scene.


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A CHANGING OF THE GUARD

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I must admit that the combination of being done with school along with this beautiful Georgia weather has caused me to be quite un-disciplined with my writing. Admittedly, I have been spending all of my writing time and then some at the driving range trying to get the golf swing in shape. The hard work in paying off and I have gotten much better. However, I do now realize that I miss writing and it is time to (as Albert Haynesworth once said, but never did) “put my nose to the grindstone” and get back to work.

While watching these NBA playoffs, I couldn’t help but think of the opening line from one of my favorite songs, “My God” by Pusha T. The song opens with Pusha boldly proclaiming, “I can’t be bothered with paying homage to forefathers.” What he is saying is that although he is a rap veteran as a member of the critically acclaimed group, “The Clipse”, he is a new rolling solo and is here to take over the game. He has no time to honor to those who came before him, it is his time now, and he feels sorry for those stupid enough to try to get in his way. Apparently, I’m not the only person who loves this song, because I am convinced that it has been playing non-stop in the locker rooms of the Heat, Mavericks, and Grizzles. I say that because these three teams have been so disrespectful to the old guard of NBA championship contenders and decided that their time is now. When the season, and the playoffs for that matter started, most expected to see some combination of the Celtics, Spurs, and Lakers in the NBA Finals (for the record, I expected to see that Celtics and Lakers). However, it is now obvious that fear of these three teams is now all but gone among other NBA teams.

It all started when LeBron James decided to “take his talents to Miami”, and join forces with Dwayne Wade. They then decided to add one other sometimes significant piece, since the book (and candy bar) is called the “Three Musketeers” and not the two musketeers, they invited Chris Bosh along for ride. They came together for the sole purpose of taking down the mighty Boston Celtics, and take them down they did. They obviously didn’t get the memo (that I sent out) stating that Boston was supposed to win one more championship before they start collecting championship rings the way Bill Belichick collects draft picks. They made Boston look old and rattled, and they promptly eliminated them in five games. As it turns out, the series that everyone was looking forward to seeing, wasn’t very entertaining at all, because Miami chose not to pay homage to the team that inspired them to join forces and form a “Big 2….and a half.” They decided instead to simply whip their a$$.

Then we have the Dallas Mavericks, formerly known as the _allas Mavericks, because they never played any D. But for the first time in my life, this team seems, dare I say, TOUGH! Dallas has been an immensely talented team since Dirk Nowitzki developed into an elite offensive player. However, they have always lacked the requisite physical and mental toughness required to win an NBA championship. It seems as though, that has changed, and what better way to prove it to the world than to not only beat the Lakers, but SWEEP the Lakers in a playoff series. The Lakers are a physically tough team with the likes of Ron Artest and Andrew Bynum, and they possess arguably the most mentally tough player to grace NBA courts since “His Airness” in Kobe Bryant (OK, I deserve some credit for typing his name without calling him a &!%@$). It seemed to me that they broke the Lakers’ will in game one, by coming back from a 16 point deficit and beating them in LA. After that game, Kobe Bryant (I did it again, I didn’t call him a &!%@$) stated that he felt that Dallas could win that series. When has he ever admitted such a thing? This year’s version of the Mavericks is different from the team that squandered a 2-0 lead in the 2006 NBA Finals to an earlier version of the Miami Heat. In that series, Dirk played like a (insert word that I am avoiding calling Kobe Bryant) despite the fact that he was the MVP of the regular season that year. That playoff appearance, coupled with never reaching the finals again since has solidified his current reputation among NBA players, and fans alike. However, if both teams keep playing the way that they have in these playoffs, Dirk will get a chance to exercise HIS (not everyone else’s) South Beach Demons, while trying to prevent the Big 2-1/2 from winning the first of what I’m sure will be many championships.

Now to the most disrespectful team in the entire league, the Memphis Grizzlies. They actually had the audacity to lose games intentionally at the end of the season to ensure that they got the #8 seed in the playoffs. They wanted to ensure a date with the 61-win #1 seed San Antonio Spurs. How crazy is that?! The Spurs obviously knew that Memphis WANTED to play them, which prompted Tim Duncan to say, “I guess Memphis got the matchup they wanted,” before the series started. Well Tim, they did and they showed why. They obviously had no respect for a 4-time champion that was the best team in the league throughout most of the regular season. They knew that they had the match-ups to take you down, and no one outside of their locker room believed them besides Charles Barkley and me. To quote Pusha T one more time, they “Saw the future, like a car-show floor model” and you weren’t in it. Now they have an opportunity, with a win in this afternoon’s Game 7 against the Oklahoma City Thunder, to get to the place that you assumed you would reach, The Western Conference Finals. Don’t worry, you won’t be the only team missing that many expected to see. The Lakers will be absent as well. Hey, maybe you two can watch the games together, just a thought.

Not only has the NBA moved on from the Jordan era, it also seems as though it is now moving away from the Kobe (successful once again at not calling him a &!%@$), Garnett, and Duncan era as well. It is now time for these younger super-athletic teams to take the torch and carry the NBA forward. As I write this (on Sunday morning before Thunder-Grizzlies, Game 7), we know that either the Heat, Mavericks, Bulls, Grizzlies, or Thunder will win the championship this year. None of the remaining coaches have won a championship as a head coach, and none of the principle players for either team, outside of Dwayne Wade, (and I guess you can include Kendrick Perkins if you consider him a principle player, which I don’t) currently own a championship ring. These teams didn’t come here to honor those that came before them, they are here to write their own legacy. So sit back and enjoy it, because it will be highly entertaining.

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WHAT YEAR IS IT?

Last Thursday morning at approximately 7:35am I received a text message from a friend and regular STRAIGHT CASH HOMEY!!!! reader (I wasn’t going to say his name here, but he insisted. It was none other than Pharaoh Goolsby). It read (I am paraphrasing), NOW THAT THEY HAVE SHAQ, CLEVELAND WILL WIN THE NBA CHAMPIONSHIP NEXT YEAR! I immediately jumped up and headed to Best Buy to pick up the new Outkast album STANKONIA. Later that evening, I planned to take my girlfriend to see the new Omar Epps and Sanaa Lathan movie Love & Basketball. Then I looked at the calendar and realized that the year was 2009 and not 2000. Since the text message basically said that a team was going to win a championship simply by getting Shaq, I just assumed it had to be the year 2000, when Shaq was the MOST DOMINANT PLAYER IN THE NBA! But it’s not, it is actually 2009 and the current version is now a 37-year-old, hardly ever in shape, huge check cashing, part-time basketball player. That is hardly the player that I will declare to be the immediate difference maker on a team with championship aspirations.

Truthfully, I wasn’t even going to talk about this trade this week. Instead, I was going to talk about the NBA Draft. Then along with the text from Goolsby, I also got a call from my mother saying that my little sister wanted me to talk about the Shaq trade this week. She also said that I never use any of her topic suggestions. That being said, this blog should make my little sister happy as well as share Mr. Goolsby’s thoughts with the world (per his request).

Shaquille O’Neal is a sure fire Hall-Of-Famer and is arguably the best center to ever play in the NBA (not matter who you think is the best, he can be placed no lower than fourth). He has already won three NBA championships as “Batman” and one title as “Robin”. He is great and nothing said in this blog is meant to diminish his accomplishments or his greatness. That being said, he is no longer the double-team demanding, game controlling beast that he was in his prime. To be perfectly honest, the current version of Shaq is even a shell of the 2004-05 version that won a title with DeWayne Wade and his band of merry men. So, do you really think that he is the missing piece to the Cleveland championship picture?

There are several REAL reasons why anyone who feels that Shaq, LeBron, and the current incarnation of the Pips will be good enough to bring a title to Cleveland will be disappointed when another team raises the Larry O’Brien Trophy next June. These reasons are as follows:

Cleveland had a difficult time defending Dwight Howard in Orlando’s pick-and-roll offense. Guess what Shaq’s biggest defensive weakness is. Anyone? Anybody? OK, I’ll tell you. Shaq struggles defending the pick-and-roll. If you don’t believe me, take a look at any game last season and count the number of pick-and-rolls they ran at Shaq successfully. For further evidence, take a look at the 2004 NBA Finals. Detroit’s stated goal was to involve Shaq in as many pick-and-rolls as possible, because they felt as though he couldn’t consistently flash out to the guard and then recover to cover the roll guy. They were right. Keep in mind that he was five years younger when they exposed him. Trust me; his quickness has not improved in five years.

Cleveland was very successful this regular season because they were able to spread the floor and allow LeBron to operate in the lane and on the block. Big men such as Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Anderson Varejao have the ability to spread the floor and consistently make 15ft jump shots (which Shaq does not). This allows LeBron to live in the paint and drive to the basket as he pleases. Shaq on the other hand is a space-eater and clogs the lane. I have a feeling that LeBron will be taking a lot more jumpers next season, because there will be two right lanes blocked going down the paint. While LeBron does have a pretty good jump shot (he also isn’t Ray Allen), he makes his money in the paint.

Shaq can’t guard Dwight Howard. Simply put, he is too old. True enough the Shaq of 2000 would OWN Howard, but as I said earlier, STANKONIA came out nine years ago!

Shaq can’t guard Rashard Lewis or Hedo Turkoglu. Cleveland didn’t have an answer for this dynamic duo in the playoffs, and they didn’t just acquire that answer from Phoenix.

Boston will be healthy. Enough said.

Orlando has also improved. For those of you that were blinded by the Kobe – LeBron Nike and Vitamin Water commercials and didn’t get a chance to actually see the Orlando v/s Cleveland Series, I would like to let you know that Orlando won the series rather handily. Also, in case you haven’t heard; that Orlando team that easily beat LeBron James and the Harlem Boys Choir in the playoffs also improved quite a bit. They added a guy named Vince Carter. While it may be true that he hasn’t always played to the peak of his talent, it is also true that he is so much better than Courtney Lee that it is laughable. Comparing Courtney Lee to Vince Carter is like comparing Acie Law to Chris Paul (Sorry I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to hit Acie with a parting shot on his way to the airport. That’s one more shot than he hit as a Hawk).

Signing Shaq at this stage of his career is basically an act of desperation by the Cavaliers to try to get a title out of LeBron before he bolts next year or show him that Cleveland can be consistently competitive so that he will stay. Either way, it reminds me of other superstar signings that didn’t work out. Remember that KARL MALONE & GARY PAYTON both joined Shaq and Kobe in LA and didn’t manage to win a title. I know that both of them were well past their prime, but SO IS SHAQ! And let’s not forget the Jets (last season) and the Vikings (this season) thinking that Diva Favre is the missing piece to their championship. We have seen that the Jets were definitely wrong (by the way Mr. Diva did lead the league in interceptions), and I can assure that Favre won’t be leading the Vikings to a championship this season either.

I do believe that the Cleveland Cavaliers are a better team with Shaq than they were pre-Shaq. I just don’t feel that their roster as of June 28, 2009 is good enough to win a championship. That could all change if they add one more bona-fide player to the mix at power forward or as a perimeter scorer off of the bench (Carl, if you mention Damon Jones here, I will delete your post). Truthfully, I am a big LeBron James fan and I would love to see him win a championship. If the people of Cleveland expect this to be the year, they better get LeBron some more help, because Shaq simply isn’t enough.

AND NOW FOR MY BALLER & SCRUB OF THE WEEK

BALLER: Atlanta Hawks Management & US Men's Soccer - This week I have Co-Baller's of the Week. First, the Management of the Atlanta Hawks. I must commend the decision makers of my favorite NBA Team for an excellent NBA Draft night. On Thursday night, we drafted a player that I enjoyed watching in college and that I think can be our Point Guard of the Future in Jeff Teague, from Wake Forest. It seems as though we learned our lesson and decided not to pass up on another Point Guard from Wake Forest. That wasn't even the best part of the night. We also landed Jamal Crawford, who is a bona-fide scorer and will be ready to play big the next time Joe Johnson decides to play small in the playoffs. That's still not why the Hawks management in Baller of the Week. They earned this award for FINDING A TEAM DUMB ENOUGH TO TAKE THE SECOND BIGGEST DRAFT BUST IN RECENT HAWKS HISTORY OFF OUR HANDS!!!! ACIE LAW IS NO LONGER A HAWK!!!! We were able to unload him in the deal that brought us Jamal Crawford. I must give the Hawks credit. They have made two monumental draft mistakes in the past three years (Shelden Williams being the other) and managed to find teams stupid enough to take them both off of our hands. GREAT JOB!!!!

BALLER: US Men's Soccer Team - Although I am not a big fan of soccer (except the World Cup), I must congratulate the US Men's Soccer Team for making the finals of the FIFA Confederations Cup Soccer Tournament. Not only did the make the finals, they also beat the # 1 Team in the world along the way (SPAIN). I would say more about it, but I am sure that Northside Marty will take care of that in his comment. So be sure to check out his comment to read all about it.

SCRUB: Billy Gillispie (Former Head Basketball Coach at the University of Kentucky & Texas A&M) - Everyone who knows me or who reads this blog know that I am a huge basketball fan (it's my second favorite sport). You should have also noticed that my two favorite teams are the Atlanta Hawks and the University of Kentucky Wildcats. That being said, I am honoring Billy Gillispie as my SCRUB OF THE WEEK because I just realized the negative affect that this one man has had on my two favorite basketball teams. First he sends that pathetic excuse for a point guard (Acie Law) to my Hawks, and then to pour salt on my wound he takes the best job in college basketball (University of Kentucky) and manages to totally bomb there. I would have never thought that you could manage to miss the NCAA tournament at UK, but Billy managed to do it. So, Billy Gillispie you are my scrub of the week and I hope to never see you employed by or communicating with any organization near and dear to my heart ever again. Even though I went to a small Engineering school that plays NAIA sports, I sincerely hope that they never hire you either.

ON A MELANCHOLY NOTE:

As you all know, Michael Jackson passed earlier this week. I know that this is a sports blog, but I feel as though I would be remissed not mention the passing of such a world ICON. I also heard a very interesting nugget about Michael Jackson this week. Apparently, his performance at halftime of Super Bowl XXVII marked the first time in Super Bowl history that viewership actually increased during halftime. That means that MORE PEOPLE TUNED IN TO SEE MICHAEL JACKSON, THAN THE ACTUAL SUPER BOWL!!!!! That is amazing. So please take a moment to think about the loved ones that he left behind. Also, click on the video below and enjoy a portion of his performance from Super Bowl XXVII.