plays like this one are CRAZY because the player was in mid air when the foul was committed. Very easy to suffer a major injury in these situations. Unsure of whether it warranted a suspension …. but a suspension wouldn’t have been extreme in this case either ….. what can i say? It’s the palyoffs!
Congrats to Kevin Garnett – those #5 Celtics jerseys are gonna start flying off the shelves now, right?
I remember when KG first entered the League as a 19 year old gangly rookie …. look at the man now, huh? Hall of Fame …. possible NBA Chip …. can life get any better for him? …. who knows.
With the Spurs pick n rolling the Suns seemingly at will, I am reminded of all those peeps who declared the Spurs dead for this series because of the presence of Shaq.
Duncan went for 40 & 15 last game and he went for an equally impressive 17 & 18 last night. The night was not Duncan’s alone, however, as Ginobili (fresh from his Sixth Man of the Year award) went for 29 and Tony Parker (relentless and unstoppable) went off for 32. Impressively, Shaq tallied 19 & 14 in the boxscore.
The Suns shot 61% in the first half and 27% in the second. The Spurs were steady at around 50%.
Stats show that the team that takes a 2-0 series lead wins the series 94% of the time. Anyone care to tell me once again how the Spurs don’t have a hope in heaven of advancing?
Forget the fact that I dislike the Mavs and Nowitzki’s fake “I’m the man” swagger and grimacing … watching Chris Paul dish to anyone in the arena is fun. And NEVER has Jason Kidd looked so old as now. Never has Nowitzki looked so lost and frustrated … last year included.
The Hornets are picking apart the Mavs one play at a time. With sharpshooters like Peterson and Stojakovic taking attention away from Paul & Chandler, this series is turning into the last hurrah for Nowtzki and Johnson’s Mavs.
If the Mavs lose this series, Avery Johnson is getting fired and this Mavs team is being split up.
When Sam Mitchell chalked up the final play of the game I’m sure he said “Okay. Let’s get Jose up top. Everyone else fade to the corners and let’s get Bosh and Calderon on a pick n roll. Chris, you’re gonna get it up top. Attack the basket and win us this game”
But instead of driving towards the basket (as Ginobili did in Game 1 vs the Suns), he took a fadeaway shot from the top of the arc. Clang. Game.
They fought SO hard to gt back into this game and that was a shittay way of losing.
I love the Raps, but I find it hard to believe that they can come back against this Magic team this year.
DeShawn Stevenson needs to keep his big yapper shut. How in the hell are you gonna go out and trash talk LeBron James? If you’re gonna shit talk, do it AFTER the series ya loonie!
April 21, 2008 at 4:42 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
So it comes as kind of a surprise that The Rimlickers end up as champs of Div 3 basketball.
I never would have imagined them being able to beat the better teams in the division like Liquid Swords, Fort Garry and Top Gun but … I guess it happened.
Not that Rim Lickers winning it all takes the sting from us losing …. quite the contrary … if those heels were able to make it … then so should we ….
This makes me both angry and hungry for next year. We’re about 1 piece away from a championship. And I say one because we already know that Nate is coming home. We’re still one quality Power Forward away from doing some damage.
Maybe there’s room for another Point Guard as well ….
Our team is guard heavy right now so we get out and run a lot. But since there’s no one inside to take the attention away from our guards, they are usually stifled and we are blitzed on the boards.
If I could just find that ONE Power Forward who wants to rebound, play D and take a mid range jumper …. who is willing to commit to something for a period of time and doesn’t cause drama ….
not sure if Manu qualifies, in my mind, as a sixth man because of the importance of his role on the Spurs. But all the same, I am happy that the Spurs keep bringing in the hardware. All we need now is another championship …
April 21, 2008 at 1:25 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
So after one weekend of Playoff action we have had a couple of AMAZING stories to go along with it ….
1. San Antonio vs. Phoenix goes to double OT for a 2 point Spurs win
Timmy Duncan goes for 40 & 15 vs. Shaq and Amare. Who said Tim was old?!?!? Show yourselves!
This is an amazing series so far …. and we’re only at Game ONE!!!!
2. Chris Paul goes for 35 & 10 assists in Game 1 victory vs. Mavericks
Dirk looks lost in playoffs once again and the Mavs look SOFT against this surging Hornets team. I want them Mavs to get swept …
3. Sixers STEAL a win vs. Detroit
Plucky, Spunky, Scrappy, Tough …. Phila looks GOOD – and they busted their humps for that win against a vastly superior team. Just goes to show that a little effort goes a LONG way! And Detroit? Looks like they’re taking this team (like they took the Cavs last year) for granted so far. I actually KIND OF want phila to win ….. though I sure do love Wallace and Prince ….
4. T-Mac still searching for playoff redemption – still waiting after Jazz drop Rockets
Dikembe Mutombo …. I used to hate this guy …. but ever time he wags that damn finger, he grows on me a bit more each time …
5. Howard and Magic have EPIC first Q to put Raps away before game even begins
Never mind the fact that the Raps fought back and made it interesting for a minute … 80% from 3 in the first quarter?!?!? Did these guys just hoist up 3s for the last 3 days? Unbelievable display of shooting accuracy! And who the shit said that the Raps would fare better against the Magic? Are you guys on Peyote or something?!?!?!?
Every other game was as advertised, Lakers, Celtics, Cavs …. no surprises there.
“It’s kind of bad timing right now, due to the playoffs, due to our team’s success,”
So if it was in … July .. this would be okay? Carmelo Anthony may have mad skills on the court. But off it he’s a meat head … A dumb ass … A spoiled brat and a horrible role model for kids.
Having seen the Winnipeg Jets pack up and leave town almost a dozen years ago, this article hits close to home. I’ve since moved on to basketball as my preferred sport …. and while I will never know the pain of seeing an NBA franchise leave my hometown, I can definitely sympathize with the peeps in Seattle right now.
Clay Bennett is a weasel, a crook, and a horrible human being all around, as far as I am concerned. you can keep your opinions on this one to yourself. This applies more if your opinion differs from my own.
So what do you say? Does your loyalty have a price? Take the quiz and see where you rate.
The previous owner of the Sonics (Starbucks magnate Howard Schultz) is bringing forth a lawsuit against Bennett and company for reneging on their agreement to keep the team in Seattle.
I’m not sure how I feel about this ….. it’s good, in some ways because someone is actually showing the cojones to stand up to Bennett for his jackassery … but on the other hand …. it’s one rich cat bitch slapping another rich cat …..
April 15, 2008 at 8:03 am · Filed under Uncategorized
So I’ve been stupidly busy this last little while. It’s why I haven’t blogged much. But I’ve still kept up with news … so now I share what I’ve seen in the last week or so …
I feel bad for that company that made 500,000 “We Believe” shirts for this year’s playoff run … cuz they may believe … but the rest of the NBA doesn’t.
I can’t stand Kobe Bryant. And the fact that he’s being considered the front runner for MVP makes me sick sometimes (Paul deserves it, kids) but the Lakers’ story this year is pretty incredible none the less. Credit the theft of Pau Gasol as the #1 overall factor …. Still … they are a tough matchup in the West.
The magic making the playoffs is a no brainer this year. but 50 wins is pretty cool. This franchise needed something like this. let’s hope they don’t have a colossal breakdown during playoffs.
April 8, 2008 at 9:56 am · Filed under Uncategorized
So we played vs. Liquid Swords on Sunday. Semifinal action in playoffs.
What can I say about it ….
We lost by about 20 when the final buzzer sounded. But the game we played wasn’t reflected by the score as the final 6 or 8 points came in the final 2 minutes at the foul line.
We lost the game partway through the 3rd Q. Up until that point we had been in the lead by about 6 points and we had a 2 point lead at half. We played great defense. Forced turnovers, read plays exploited their weaknesses … and then they just started hitting shots. Guys who never shoot the ball started to drill jumpers. Some of the bounces were ridiculous. Hits underside of rim and rolls in. Another was a 3 bounce hit from 3, another was a buzzer beating fadeaway from damn near 3 … both me and Chris shook our heads and just said that when players hit those kinds of shots despite the defense we play, there’s nothing we can do.
At the end of the game, the other team celebrated. Not egotistically like RimLickers would do. It was more of a sigh of relief. I think they knew we were a good team and could beat them. I hate to lose, especially to scrub garbage ballers. But the more I think about it, the more I am OK with this loss.
I mean, we DID lose to a good team. And they TOOK the game from us. We didn’t just throw it away like in past years.
What I’m MOST proud of is the way we played through the game as a team and never got down on each other. I have great teammates.
April 6, 2008 at 3:26 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
This post has nothing to do with basketball but it’s a happy story none the less …
So it’s been, as the title implies, a frustrating month. On top of dealing with a newborn baby, intense hours at work and a challenging season, I’ve also been dealing with a shoddy internet connection at home.
We switched from MTS to Shaw about 6 weeks ago due to HORRIBLE customer service from MTS – par for the course, I think. Anyway, since the day we got the new ISP we’ve had nothing but flaky connections online. The modem and the PC would apparently stop talking to each other seemingly at random.
Since I had a router hooked in, at first I thought it was a router issue. So I had mine replaced. Before I re connected the router, though, I hardwired the modem to the PC and sure enough the issue remained.
So I took more aggressive action, I bought a couple of LCD monitors (for schnitzengiggles) and then proceeded to reload Windows and every single program, driver and add-on in existence.
The issue remained. Four tech calls and four tech visits later, it appears that my connection issue was finally resolved by this afternoon’s tech support visit.
The Culprit?
A wonky NIC (Ethernet) Card. It was an on-board card so I had to install a new one and configure it properly. But once I went through all that hassle (and believe me, it WAS a hassle) it’s become smooth sailing online.
My connection is no longer intermittent, it’s strong, consistent and thankfully … stable.
So now my evenings can go back to what they USED to be used for … home renovations, video games and blogging.
Maybe this evening or tomorrow PM I’ll try to install my router. Then you’ll be able to find me on the PS3 and Guitar Hero networks once again ….. but don’t worry, I’ll still blog.
Though not a “Native American Saying”, this little maxim is fast becoming one of a small quantity of resurrected quotes in my small neck of the world.
I really am tired of always trying to play the nice guy. Getting stepped on by every individual who feels the need to sharpen his teeth on is not my idea of a good time.
Sometimes it’s good to be the villain … if even for a half a day … before my conscience gets a hold of me again.
I’ve been playing the villain a lot recently.
If I’ve been a villain to you then ask yourself …. did you do something to deserve it?
April 4, 2008 at 2:21 am · Filed under Uncategorized
So I’m at the local Y with my bro to get a run or two in before the playoff game on Sunday, right? So we get there and there’s like 13 guys playing. Great.
So we suit up and wait. Eventually we get on and my team is me, my bro and two scrubs. We got blown out 7-3 during the first game. All three points were by me and my bro. And 5 of the 7 points were scored on the other two dudes. One of our guys was sweating so much I thought he might die from dehydration. And he was a terrible shooter … because he was a post. So he takes a bad shot from 3. Okay, one shot, no big deal. Two bad shots …… hm. After the third (airball) bad shot I tried to broach the subject that MAYBE he shouldn’t be shooting from out there because he couldn’t hit anything from there ….
So I say “What position do you play?” “Oh, High post“. Okay. He acknowledges his actual playing position. So I probe further: “Are you a shooter?” His reply “Sometimes” My final comment “Okay, well then maybe SOMETIMES shoot“
A bit rude, sure. Well, no. It was a pretty rude comment. But quite frankly I don’t give a flying …. donkey … anymore. I’ve always tried to take the high road but at a place like the Y, people don’t listen to nice comments. So I decided to just BE. And I was mad about having lost.
So next game – after having waited for 2 more games – I guard their “best player”. But the other two guys kept getting scored on. So we lost 7-6. Finally, I took my game into the post and sent the guy who was originally playing down there out to the perimeter. We won that third game 7-1. And let’s just say, me and Jimmy had a lot to do with that win.
Anyway, the guy I was guarding on their team was one of those guys. You know the type. He walked with that swagger that would LEAD you to believe that he was good and he played with the grin of an individual who is a big money player. He was young, cocky ….. but not that skilled. He was able to score on the guys he was playing against because they were shit. Yes, SHIT.
Once I got on him, I shut him down fairly well. I kept making the mistake (during the second game) of going to help my teammates expecting the defensive rotation, except it never happened – It IS YMCA ball after all. So my guy would get wide open looks. He wasn’t a QUALITY shooter. He was more “quantity”. So I stopped helping out on D and worried about my own guy.That seemed to make the difference as he was shut down after that.
The guys on the sideline appeared to know who he was so in between games I decided to find out a bit more about my worthy opponent: “who is that guy” and they were like “oh, that’s Joe” (I can’t remember his name and don’t really care) “He’s a problem. He’s big, he can dribble, shoot and post up” So I was like “really? where did he play?” and the guys on the side were like “I think he played for<school name omitted to save said school’s embarrassment>and I think he plays in college now.”
That last statement puzzled me because the kid looked like he was in varsity at best. He had neither the skill, agility, quickness or strength of a typical college player. He looked (to me, anyway) like he had JUST hit puberty. And he was a DOUCHEBAG. I mean, the poser played with a diamond stud in his ear. But it didn’t even look like a real diamond. It looked like one of those teen-girl jewelry store knock-off diamonds. And it was so tiny I thought it might have just been a bead of sweat on his earlobe. Anyway, I decided to probe. “oh yeah? where does he play college ball?” The reply was funny “Oh I don’t know, he hasn’t told us yet. But a guy like him could play Div 2 in the States easy.” “How long has he been coming here?” “Oh he’s been coming here for about 6 months“
~Explicit Language Warning~
All I did was nod and then I turned away before I could laugh out loud. Are you fucking kidding me? COLLEGE BALL? For this Mega-Dork?
Okay, so let me get this straight …. a douchebag comes into the Y bragging that he’s a college baller …. in the middle of January …. and he’s “practising” for his games there? Give me a fucking break! Don’t colleges have FACILITIES that these “college ballers” can practise at? (The answer is Yes. BIG facilities. With every strength and conditioning machine under the sun to develop the talent of said ballers)
No way. This guy must have graduated from High School last year and MAYBE tried out for A college team and been rejected … he was probably at the Y trying to “polish” his game and work on his skills. Except, he wasn’t improving!
Anyway, the stupid swagger and grin were wiped off his face when I clamped him down on D. And then I began to talk some serious trash … I hate losing. And when I get that fire, I need to release it. In streetball (or YMCA ball) there’s no refs and basically no respect given that isn’t earned by humiliating the opponent. It’s an unfortunate side effect of garbage ball. So I talked. Lots. And his body language (slumped shoulders, pouty lips) told me then that this was no seasoned college player.
I mean ….how in the hell is a “College Baller” gonna get shut down by a 31 year old, men’s league playing, office working fat man? I’ll tell you how: He is a POSER.
Anyway after we won that game I felt better because a basketball douchebag was brought back down to earth. He left for his mom and dad’s basement angry with himself and his team, bothered by the fact that “an old man” could stop his superior basketball skill set.
What a douche.
The Y can be a great place to enhance you skills. But every so often these losers come around and just ruin the overall atmosphere of the place.
April 3, 2008 at 12:43 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
I just wanted to take a moment or two to publicly profess my love of paperweights.
I work in an office environment, right? So when the stacks of paper start to weigh me down and clutter my area, i just re arrange all my papers underneath my paperweight and ~poof~ all my bothersome troubles at work are gone.
The pic above is my favourite paperweight. I have 3 or 4 at home. One is made of soapstone, another is made of wood but this basketball one is by far my favourite. I’ve been thinking of getting another one, but I can’t bring myself to lose my good old basketball paperweight.
April 2, 2008 at 1:54 am · Filed under Uncategorized
I get told a lot how screwed up, how much of an ass, how rude, how immature and how dumb I can be on a fairly regular basis. The Shaq effect post below (and a combination of recent events) has REALLY forced me to look at some things about myself and each other and analyze them in greater detail …
I’ve been dealing with the notion of imperfection for a while now. A good friend, mentor, role model and personal hero – Harry Lehotsky – would often use a sentence in church that often made me bow my head in disappointed understanding: “We are imperfect beings living in a fallen world”
I never took it personally. I just know it to be a great truth of life. But as truths are wont to be, I’d often look the other way or brush the statement off to the side with the idea that “This week I’m going to be better”
I have yet to be able to BE better. I often fail by midweek and am left to revel in the amazing incompetence that is my human existence: Desiring perfection but unable to ever reach the destination.
Sometimes it’s something I say or think. Other times it’s something I do. Often times, it’s happened when I play basketball as I “get back” at the world for treating me so poorly by elbowing some chap in the chops and making him hurt symbolically. I can think of SO many examples where I fall short of people’s expectations of me …
As a parent who loves his children to bits and desires the best for them, I made an emotional commitment that I would always try to be a good role model and always “be good” for their sake.
I’m starting to feel like I’m going to go to bed every single night for the rest of my life wishing that I was better than I actually am. Wishing that my weaknesses of character might disappear.
Sometimes I’ll look in a mirror and see the lost opportunities I had to be a better human being as opposed to the hope of tomorrow to rectify my wrongs. It is kind of sad.
The point I always come to is … will I EVER be able to make up for all the ways in which I screw up? Whether it’s a missed shot, a harsh word or an improper action I’m always left to ponder what could have been as opposed to what IS. Maybe it’s an unrealistic goal I’ve set for myself … and maybe I’m dwelling to much on my failures and not enough on my triumphs.
The part that ALWAYS makes me chuckle, however, is when other people try to ride my behind about how bad of a human being I am. I’ve had many people attempt to point out my “glaring imperfections” as the root of their displeasure with life. They see me trying to be better and use my failures as an opportunity to make themselves feel better by picking on a worse human being than themselves. Some say it directly while some imply it with a look or with what they DON’T say.
Former employers come to mind first. My “imperfections” are the reason why they have let me go, apparently. I’ve also lost many friends along the way because of my imperfections. Some by choice. Most, however, are NOT by choice. Each time I lose a job or a friend, I die a little inside. Not because I’ve LOST them per se ….. more because another human being will continue his life journey with the idea that I am so imperfect that it is not worth their time to invest in me. And it’s not necessarily THAT which bothers me the most … I suppose it is that they simply don’t understand or care about how much I DO try. I’m bothered by it sometimes.
And other times, like today, I’m simply left with one HUGE question that I have no answer for ….
Who EVER told you that I am anything BUT imperfect?
I may think to myself about how I want to be better … but who ever said that I WILL be prefect? Who ever said that I WOULDN’T make mistakes?
I fart, I belch, I sweat, I smell, I snore, I’m irrational and emotional, I think bad thoughts, I do bad deeds, I say bad things and I make mistakes. LOTS of mistakes. DAILY.
And please, don’t act surprised or smug about this. I’m sure you won’t like what stares back at you in the mirror either.
One of my favourite Bob Marley songs is called “Judge Not” (lyrics) Man …. I don’t even know how to end this post ….
I realize that sometimes my better is best. And other times my better falls WAY short of where I want it to be. I try. I really do.
