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I call this the curse of the fugazy. With the Knicks taking on the Bulls tonight, it has reminded me of the Eddy Curry for Michael Sweetney, Tim Thomas trade. Tim Thomas has been inactive for the entire season with the exception of three games. This was a player at one time was a lottery pick, an important piece for the Milwaukee Bucks during the Big Three days of Cassell, Allen and Glenn Robinson. Ever since Tim Thomas called out Kenyon Martin, then of the New Jersey Nets, a fugazy in the ‘04 playoffs it has been all downhill for Thomas. In fugazy, he meant fake or not authentic, as in a fake thug. Taking liberties with the fictional word from the movie Donnie Brasco caused him to lose all creditability with the English language and with fans that have a brain. Well in the aftermath, Martin and the Nets swept the Knicks out of the playoffs; the ‘05 season was terrible, reminding Knicks fans of Charles Smith, and now riding the pine with his NBA future in jeopardy.
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The second and final regular season meeting of the Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers will take place tonight. Too bad the schedulers of the season couldn’t spread out the two meetings a little farther apart. The first meeting took place Christmas day, and was pretty entertaining as the outcome was still in doubt all the way to the final minute. This match-up would have added more drama if it were to be played later on the season, maybe with a Laker playoff berth on the line. This will also take place 10 PM eastern time, so many on the east coast will be in bed by the time the game ends.
It will be tough for the Spurs to get by the Pistons come June.
If they end up meeting again for a NBA Finals rematch, the Pistons will be very confident, winning both games in the regular season. Chauncey Billups was interviewed on Quite Frankly with Steven A. Smith, suggesting that the earlier playoff rounds, especially the Eastern Finals versus the Miami Heat last year tired them out in the Finals.
As much as some colleagues, friends and family of mine prefer the Pistons over the Spurs if they were to match up again, I think there are two factors that will go to the Spurs advantage. One being, the Spurs have a much deeper bench, and with a minute to go, in a tight ball game, they have a few more weapons to rely on offensively than the Pistons do, and they have the one true superstar that gets calls from referees in Tim Duncan.
So is this an example of parity or a parody? If the NBA playoffs started today, all five teams in the Central Division would make the playoffs. The other three teams are Miami of the Southeast, New Jersey and Philadelphia from the Atlantic. The team that has been disappointing so far has been the Washington Wizards, who were the #4 seed in last year’s playoffs. Gilbert Arenas is having another tremendous year, but lost their other star player Larry Hughes to free agency and bolted to the Cleveland Cavs. The Wizards tried to offset the loss by trading (dumping) Kwame Brown to the Los Angeles Lakers for swingman Caron Butler, but it still hasn’t been enough to spark their play of a year ago. Fans in D.C. are hoping their Wizards can work up their sorcery again.
The Knicks in the ‘05-‘06 had been dreadful, so far in ‘06 they have gone 5-0, with the most impressive win last night against the high scoring Dallas Mavericks. Larry Brown has settled on a rotation, playing now 9 players, using David Lee and Nate Robinson in the starting lineup and bringing in Jamal Crawford and Maurice Taylor in for scoring off the bench.
Larry Brown has been heavily criticized for not settling into a rotation until now, with over a third of the season already past. Their winning streak has also coincided with the strong play of PG Stephon Marbury; Marbury seems to be in better spirits and picking up his teammates rather than sulking when things go bad. I suspect having Nate Robinson in the starting lineup along side Marbury, has subconsciously made him a calming influence, and making sure Robinson doesn’t become rattled and doesn’t force turnovers throughout the game.
Ron Artest has been on the trading block for quite some time and so far no moves have been made. For the Pacers, this is a questionable strategy; the player that they would acquire in a deal for Artest would need enough games played to get comfortable with a new team, so the faster this happens for the Pacers the better.
Last season, Denver had a nice surge to end the season when George Karl took over as head coach, on opening night this season, Nene Hilario was injured and was lost for the season. Nene was most likely going to be their biggest bargaining chip for trades to improve themselves especially at the shooting guard position.
There is a player that has gone unnoticed throughout the season and he has plenty of playoff experience, even though he might have lost a step as the player we once knew, he is Latrell Sprewell. I’m sure sitting out this year has hurt Sprewell in the pocket, even though he was hoping to get signed to a long term deal. Maybe Sprewell gets desperate and signs with a team in need of scoring help that he can help deep into the playoffs.
Guard Damon Stoudamire of the Memphis Grizzlies suffered a torn tendon in his knee last night in Portland. He and new backcourt-mate Eddies Jones, have been leading the Grizzlies to another playoff bound season. This will be a big blow to the team, as Stoudamire was already named team co-captain along with Jones in just their first year on the team. They will now rely on their other point guard Bobby Jackson, who has been injury prone. They may take a look at a familiar face in Earl Watson, who has not seen many minutes in Denver behind Andre Miller and Earl Boykins in the depth chart.
Just 21 years ago, an NBA Legend-to-be was born. To grace us with many a thunderous dunks, to soar to the beyond and contest Micheal Jordan’s greatness. More importantly than all of this: the limos, the women, and all the money in the world graces one of the most beloved 21 year olds in the nation. A genuine Happy Birthday Lebron, basketball plans on never being the same without you. Oh, and stop asking Carmelo “how to score” just becuase he’s older. Keep your concentration on the Pistons tomorrow.
Kobe Bryant will miss 2 games for the elbow shot he gave Mike Miller of the Grizzlies during Wednesday night’s game. Bryant took an accidental shot from Miller earlier in the game. The Lakers sure need an enforcer on team to make sure stuff like that doesn’t happen to its star player, someone to play the Charles Oakley, Dale Davis type role. Thanks for nothing, Kwame Brown, Andrew Bynum. I thought high school kids were supposed to stick up for each other.
Pat Riley Trying to Stop USC’s 3-peat
Posted by Jeff Chan Categories: Editorial, NBA, NCAA, College Football,
Not only do the USC Trojans have to worry about the Texas Longhorns in the Rose Bowl, but they are trying to be stopped by NBA coach Rat Riley’s lawyers. Coach Riley came up with the phrase and actually has a trademark on its use: If anyone else uses “threepeat” or “3peat”, he can demand financial reward for infringement. Anyone who wants to manufacture clothing with the term “3peat” will need to get a license from Riles & Co.
Read More | ESPN
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