| 23 June 2010
And so it ends, The LA Lakers won the right to pour champagne on one another in what can only be described as the most pseudo-homoerotic display that every man in the world wishes he was part of. But alas, I don't feel like talking about the championship.
No, a few things have happened this year in the NBA which have caught my eye and frankly I have had a gutful.
So hold onto to your helmets or fluffy bunnies cos there is a whole lot of hate coming your way.
This Free Agent 2010 Business/Nonsense
What?
You haven't heard about that?
Yeah I know, really snuck up on us didn't it???
No, my point of contention isn't which team Lebron is going to (HAS to be the T-Wolves) even which team Channing Frye is going to...
What is burning my bacon is ALL these teams relying on 1 or 2 players to turn around their franchise (and even then, there aren't all that many teams that could get 2 superstar players).
Yes, I know Lebron is a freak and he might be able to win it all alone but last time I checked, he hasn't.
He can't do it all on himself, he has played with All-Stars, won MVP's and scoring titles but he is yet to win a ring. His team hasn't even played in the Finals in the last few years. Yet you really think he will win a ring when his supporting cast changes from Mo, Ziggy and Varejao to Gallinari, Duhon and Harrington???
Ok, so let's say you miss out on the Lebron sweepstakes, let's take the next best.
D-Wade, well yeah he has won a ring!! Woohoo, just a shame that he hasn't even reached the conference finals since then! But I am sure he will bring your franchise just a tonne of wins when you have a team which barely won itself 10 wins the season before!!!!
Moving on... so you're a franchise and you have somehow missed out on Lebron and Wade. What have you got left?
Still a lot of All-Stars, namely Amare, Joe Johnson, and Chris Bosh.
Not too shabby.
So, how many NBA Finals have those guys played in?
Sorry, I can't hear you!
Was it NONE?
But yeah, I would go all out for those guys too especially when my team has nothing but a bunch of young guys as well.
I guess you see my point.
All these teams are bending over backwards, putting all their eggs in the one basket thinking 1 GUY is suddenly going to transform their team from a joke to championship material. Yeah, the player might draw a crowd but soon that crowd will dissipate when the wins aren't forthcoming. Especially when the flaws of these guys become oh so apparent when their team is on struggle street.
Bear in mind it still is a team game and Wade & Lebron are the only guys who have taken teams to the NBA Finals and they had a lot more to work with than Nick Young and Mike Miller.
Also it seems that the players themselves seem to be looking at the $$ rather than something more.
Oh dear god, a professional athlete more intent on the fat contract rather than the chance to win it all. Has the world imploded???
So yeah, not much I can do other than shake my head.
DEFENSE??
Also throughout the year, this absolute rubbish where a player is regarded as a GREAT defensive player because he averages so and so steals/blocks a game.
Absolute horse raddish!!
Being a great defensive player requires more than GAMBLING on defense and leaving your teammates out to the pastures. I almost vomited in my mouth (could have been the bacon ice cream) when I saw people talking about Lebron and Rajon Rondo as some of the best defensive players in the league.
I still don't see how Lebron is even a decent defensive player, let alone one of the best!
Oh but but but but but he averages nearly 2 steals and 2 blocks a game! Yeah, good for him, how's those feet of his??? Still not moving?
Yeah thought so. What about Lebron's effort against Rondo, oh yeah not much changed. If you really pay attention, Lebron gets lazy a lot of the time on defense and will go for the impossible steal or block rather than play good defense.
His help defense isn't all that good either but hey he gets 2 steals and 2 blocks a game! So pay attention kiddies!!
As for Rondo, he led the league in steals by a fairly decent margin but you ask ANY Boston Celtic fan and they will tell you that Boston's defense has regressed. KG's 1 good knee doesn't help that much but it is Rondo's constant swiping at the ball once his opponent has gone past him lead to much easier baskets. Rondo himself lets guys get past him a lot easier now just so he has a chance of getting one of his 3 steals a game. Absolute horrible defense. Problem was, his defense was one of his strong points when he was trying to establish himself as a starter but now he is an All-Star, he doesn't seem to care all that much about it.
For me, Rondo's defense is like watching X Men 2 and then putting in X-Men 3: what seemed unreal has now changed to something which is fraudulent and crap with a story about Dark Phoenix which totally misses the point and then killing off all the characters for no apparent reason and then somehow making Vinnie Jones look like a giant dildo... where was I?
Oh yeah X-Men 3 sucked and so does Rondo's defense!
I guess you guys must be kind of a big deal then...
Anything else?
Well yeah, actually I have one more little issue. The joke that was the end of the season.
Yay congratulations, your team is in the playoffs.
But unless you have some sort of hot tub time machine (oh wow, look 46 you are totally current right now!), you shouldn't start carrying on like you have already won the NBA Championship. ESPECIALLY when your team didn't even make the NBA Finals the year before *cough Cleveland cough*!!!
If you are getting paid over a million dollars to play a game of basketball and suddenly it is so damn hard to get out of your king sized bed which has fluffy pillows and an unicorn, then go and start giving back people's hard earned cash?
There should be NO excuse for lacking motivation in anything involved with playing professional basketball. It is your livelihood so stop taking it for granted... I don't care what your problem is, if playing basketball is so damn hard to get motivated for, give me my 300 bucks back for the League Pass.
All these teams who made the playoffs and then switched off and cruised into the playoffs, well only Boston can lay any sort of claim to executing the end of the season. And they rested up which helped their team immensely.
Cleveland, Dallas, what's your excuse????
Now for things that made me go hmmmmmmmm during the 2009/2010
Now for things that made me go hmmmmmmmm during the 2009/2010
- Dantay Jones. The guy was starting for a Western Conference finalist just a year before (and doing a decent job at that), was even leading his team in scoring for a little bit this year yet suddenly he couldn't get any minutes at the PACERS??? THE PACERS!!!
- Really nice drafting by the T-Wolves over the past few seasons. Smart move trading Brandon Roy for Randy Foye. Having Kevin Love coming off the bench has done wonders too. Corey Brewer looks like a real astute choice as well. And of course, let's not forget drafting 2 point guards consecutively in last year's draft. Since the 2006-2007 season, the T-Wolves record is 94-235!!! That my friend is some fantastic work in the front office...
- Thankfully such an incident never occurred but had the Hawks tied with the Boston Celtics in wins/losses, the Celtics would have been seeded 3rd and the Hawks 4th because the Celtics won their Division. Never mind that the Hawks had swept the regular season 4-0 against the Celtics, the Celtics were the BETTER TEAM. P.S. The Celtics had the Nets, 76ers and New York in their division too!!!
- How did David Lee get ANY votes for Defensive Player of the Year??? Seriously.....who is in charge here??? He plays for the WORST defensive team in the league (at least Golden State go for steals dammit). It is like giving Lil Wayne, the Guitarist of the Year award. Just cos you carry a guitar doesn't mean you can actually play it. Likewise with David Lee, just cos the other team is not scoring, doesn't mean that you are playing good defense.
- Rashard Lewis - sickness or no sickness, when people are talking about how awesome your game was when you only scored 14 points, grabbed 7 rebounds and made a three... then something is seriously wrong. You are the 9th highest paid player in the league, if you feel intimidated, go buy some protection or at least some MMA as your own personal trainer who sits on the Magic bench. Letting KG intimidate you? Man, even I would ark up at him or at least have a go. Rasheed Wallace on the other hand... not so much.
- Lebron James - Trying a little too hard to divert attention from the NBA Finals??? Poor form Champ.....oh wait, you haven't won anything!!
- Hedo Turkoglu - BALL. Betcha wish you didn't chase the dollars now?? You had a great thing going on with the Magic but nooooooo you thought you were better than that. Now in Toronto, even your own fans don't like you. Good luck in Sac town too...
- Pau Gasol - Stop crying every time you get a rebound, it makes you look like a Soccer player. I love your game but seriously, IT IS JUST A REBOUND!
- Gilbert Arenas - I wont be quick to draw on an obvious joke (oh whoops) but now with Wally-World joining the fray, you are FUBAR (Tango & Cash representing).
- Celtics were 12 mins short of a Championship yet from all accounts, Operation Blow-the-Crap-Outta-This-Team is in full affect. I repeat, 12 minutes away from a Championship...
- Greg Oden - Chin up, I am sure you will come out all guns ablazing for the first 30 games until you go down with a season ending knee-injury.
- Kevin Durant - Don't rest on your laurels, just because people know who you are doesn't mean you cant shove yourself down their throats (IN YOUR END DOE). Look at Portland and New Orleans if you want an example of unfulfilled potential.
- Amar'e Stoudemire - You deserve a Max Contract. Did I read that correctly? You DESERVE a Max contract. You know what the Phoenix Suns deserve? A power forward who doesn't get outrebounded by a 37 year old playing on wonky ankles and his point guard. Also I think the Suns wouldn't mind if their Power Forward actually learnt some D. Good luck on whoever decides to overpay him.
- Kobe Bryant - Trying a little too hard in Game 7??? You were lucky your team bailed you out of that one. You trusted the team all season yet abandoned them at the most inopportune time...
- Paul Pierce - Just stop talking. I know it can be hard for you but please stop it. You're not doing anybody any favors. Especially when you were playing average basketball.
- Joe Johnson - First time ever a player wished his team DIDN'T make the playoffs. His stock went down further than something I saw on a website (which I rather not mention).
- How does a team which barely won 10 games become a team to fear?? Beats me!
- Andrew Bogut - Come on Big Fella, keep it up and you will have to get an All-Star spot. Please continue that purple patch you were in.
What the hell am I going to do now that the NBA season is over??? I keep hearing this about this "LOST" show, I might have to check that out.
That show looks like it has all the answers ready to serve...
