Amigos de Daniel Santiago

Daniel Motherfucking Santiago

2009-12-03T17:49:00.003-06:00

(how am I not going to post this? I mean, Christ.)

((yea, I know, everybody's gone now. sorry. the thing's not dead yet, probably. I'm thinking I'll probably do something about the World Cup draw, possibly completely overstating its significance. And then maybe back to basketball stuff. But anyway, why are you reading this? THERE'S A VIDEO HEAVILY FEATURING DANIEL SANTIAGO JUST ABOVE THESE WORDS))

....Stephen Jackson to Charlotte

2009-11-16T14:04:00.000-06:00

I'm not sure how this makes sense for anybody, but whatever. I think that very fact is what makes this make sense, for two franchises that have been consistently (wait for it)...nonsensical. The Bobcats are probably going to give Jack a ton of time at the '2', and that's fine, I guess, but...is this really going to help them contend? I mean, seriously? And his contract? It's pretty atrocious. And I'm not sure how this really makes Jack any happier. But whatever.

Vlad also has a pretty bad contract, and presumably he'll take the option after this season, and so the Warriors are going to have two years of a bad contract for a pretty awful player. Acie Law and Raja Bell are both nice players, I guess, and expirings, but Raja's old and Law's...not really that good, so whatever. Anyway, yea, this whole thing is pretty stupid, and the only way anyone has made any real progress out of this is if Vlad opts out, and gives the Warriors a nice bit of cap space.

Byron Scott fired, and we wait

2009-11-12T13:21:00.002-06:00

So, I have no clue what to think of this. On the one hand, I've always thought that Scott hasn't really managed this team (and specifically Paul) as he really should, and then there's also the fact that he's really pretty awful at "growing" players.

But, what the fuck are they going to do now? I mean, this isn't a good supporting cast, and it won't be for anyone. The Hornets don't have money, and so we all sort of assumed they'd just stick it out with Scott. And I have no clue who they'll turn to now. It should be...interesting. Or something.

No look back; this instead

2009-11-11T14:23:00.005-06:00

A day late on the Kareem news, but obviously I, like everyone else, am going to go ahead and say that Cap is the motherfucking man, and hopefully this shit is as (relatively) easily treatable as they're making it sound.

(games happened yesterday, I was doing stuff, and didn't really watch any of them. A fuckton of games tonight, like...a bazillion good ones, too. So, yea.)

Looking back on...stuff, where holyfuck were there a lot of points last night.

2009-11-10T13:04:00.005-06:00

Phx 119-115 PHI, UTA 95-93 NYK, SAS 131-124 TOR, GSW 146-105 MIN, NOH 112-84 LAC.

I mean...goddamn. 6 of 10 teams ended up on at least 110 points last night.

Anyway, moving onto actually talking about the games, I didn't catch all of any of them, but did manage to catch a decent part of a couple. So, onto those.

Raptors-Spurs

So, 255 points in a game involving the Spurs. I'm pretty sure that's a sign of the apocalypse. But if we have to go out...well, that's a cool thing to have happened, right?

It was a crazy game. The Raptors shot nearly 60% from the field, went 11 of 17 from three, only committed 11 turnovers, and held the Spurs to under 50%. So, how'd they lose by 7?

They got outrebounded. By sort of a lot...against a Spurs team that mostly played without anyone over 6'9 on the floor. That's...a problem. Now, granted, one of those sub-6'9ers was DeJuan Blair, who was sent from the heavens as god's gift to rebounding. But still. Bargnani could only grab four? And he's your starting center. That's a pretty big motherfucking problem.

Now, it didn't all come down to rebounding. The Spurs did hit some shots...a lot of them, actually. They were ridiculously efficient, and a lot of that was thanks to Manu's superstar level performance. 36 points on 8 of 15 from the field (6 of 8 from three!), 4 boards, 4 blocks (!), and 8 assists. Ridiculous.

But he wasn't alone. The suddenly somewhat awesome Richard Jefferson managed 24, 8, and 7, which is like a Stephen Jackson on steroids performance (or a tired LeBron, I guess). George Hill was quite impressive at the quasi-point, getting 22 and 5 on only 2 assists. And Matt fucking Bonner got 18. I mean, if these guys can come anywhere close to this with Duncan and Parker around, it will be motherfucking scary.

On Toronto's side, Hedo and Bosh were both quite nice, and Calderon got his usual ridiculous assist count. But, you know...defense. And rebounding. That's what seperates the Raps from the top squads, and it ain't just going to show up. Playing Rasho more than 2 minutes would theoretically help, but obviously you're sacrificing offense to do that...and the question is whether it's worth it. My answer? How the fuck should I know, that's up to you, Jay Triano. Goddamn.

GSW-Minny

There's the Warriors we know and love.

Jackson with a career high 15 assists, big games from Buike, great performances from Gette and Randolph, another ridiculous shooting night from Morrow...this is how it's supposed to be.

Alright, sort of. I mean, the Wolves sort of suck, especially without Kevin Love. But if they play with this sort of energy, and focus, and...willingness to give a damn, on a regular basis...the Warriors are motherfucking scary. But will it last? Probably not.

But motherfuck, we can hope. Right? Right.

ELSEWHERE

Nash murdered Philly, Paul destroyed the Clippers, and the Knicks were involved in the night's lowest scoring game. There we go.

A few nice games tonight, and also OKC-Sac, which should be wonderfully awful/entertaining.

only kind of looking back, last weekend's games, stuff

2009-11-09T14:23:00.003-06:00

Alright, so I really didn't watch much basketball this weekend, and when you consider the fact that watching part of the GSW-Kings game probably made me considerably dumber, you can understand that I'll only have a few words to say about the Raps' win over the Hornets on Friday. But, here you go.

RAPTORS AND HORNETS

I sort of dig this matchup, at least theoretically, as I've always thought the Calderon-Paul battle at point seems interesting. And it was, with both guys turning in very good performances on Friday, although they differed simply because of the nature of their roles on their respective teams. Calderon was mostly a facilitator, getting 8 assists but also doing well to initiate the offense throughout the game. Sure, he ended up with 16 points, but I got the feeling that those weren't points he actively tried to get...if that makes sense. They just sort of came in the offense, as everything else he does seems to. Zero turnovers on those eight assists, and six of eleven shooting meant he had a pretty crazy efficient game.

Paul was everything for New Orleans, as he pretty much always is. Sure, Okafor and West, possibly even a guard or two, may occasionally contribute, but ultimately this team will always rely heavily on Paul's contribution. And at 21 points, 18 assists, 8-13 shooting, and just 1 turnover...what the fuck more can the guy do? He's setting up EVERYTHING for this team, and the inability of the rest of the guys to create is what really seems to make this offense so stagnant at times. And that's what really has made the Hornets such an average team, and one that's playing below even their modest expectations. There's no way Paul's not frustrated at this point.

Whereas Paul had/has very little help, Calderon was able to rely on the contributions of Chris Bosh and Hedo Turkoglu, who combined for 43 points on the night. The Raptors have been playing quite well so far, and to me they've looked like a team that could well go into the second round and be a problem for one of the "big three".

And there we go, another frustrating night from the Paulettes, and another loss for the Hornets, who are now 2-5.

Elsewhere, OKC beat down Orlando, Sacramento somehow managed to win both legs of a back to back, and the Blazers seemingly got their shit together. A few games tonight, including a somewhat intriguing matchup between Toronto and San Antonio.

Not really looking back

2009-11-06T11:07:00.003-06:00

...but this image will probably suffice in summarizing Cleveland's offense last night, and for the majority of the early part of this season

Anyway, lots of games tonight/this weekend, and I'm not sure if I'll try to get something up before Monday. Maybe. But maybe not. But, you know. Wait. No, you don't, because I don't. What?

Looking back on...stuff, featuring...the Wrong Way

2009-11-05T13:24:00.004-06:00

Lots of games, lots of interesting games, and lots of interesting stuff. And what am I going to rant at you about? The Warriors' win over the Grizzlies. Oh hell yes.

Grizz-GSW

Two teams that will never, ever be said to play fundamental basketball. And we love them for it.

But you know what? This one wasn't particularly...out of control? It was like these teams had sought help for their wrong way-itis, and sure...it wasn't completely effective, but it kind of helped. There were actually a lot of assists dished out during the game (fifty-three in total), and though that was partially because of less than stellar defense...the guys on the floor showed a willingness to avoid "chucking" in a particularly egregious manner. And that was nice.

Oh, anyway, summarizing the game. Nellie went Curry-Monta-Azubuike-Jackson-Biedrins to start. And then Biedrins got three fouls in the first few minutes, and Mikki Moore had to come in, and...well, that team mos def wasn't getting any motherfucking rebounds. But they weren't really scoring, either, and then with the Grizzlies getting off to a pretty decent start shooting...it wasn't great for Golden State. AI came off the bench firing, and was hitting at a pretty nice rate. He ended up with 17 and 7, and is...presumably angry about not starting, or something. But he played well, did what he's sort of meant to do for them, and you can't really fault his performance in this game. Him and Gay were the impetus for the Grizzlies getting out to a pretty nice lead early on.

But the Warriors got back into, and eventually took over the game through strong efforts from Corey Maggette and Anthony Morrow, particularly the latter, whose strong third quarter really helped in separating the two teams after the half. I should also mention that although the shots weren't really falling for Ellis and Jackson, they both did a good job of instigating the offense and really creating chances for teammates. Stephen Curry, too, who somewhat impressed me with his ability to do things other than shoot. But then again, they were playing the Grizzlies.

Anyway, all we can take from this game is that Nellie must REALLY hate Anthony Randolph (who only got in seven minutes), and that we weren't wrong in saying that the Warriors can sometimes be pretty dangerous. Sometimes.

Elsewhere The Lakers managed to beat Houston in overtime, behind a big effort from Kobe, and the Hornets also got an overtime win, mostly thanks to the awesomeness of Chris Paul. And, alright, Peja made a game tying three at the end of regulation. There. I said it. Dwyane Wade pretty much murdered Gilbert and the 'Zards, who couldn't pull off the win after coming back from eighteen down early on. Also? Other stuff.

Just the two games tonight which is...a change of pace. Bulls-Cavs, which seems to end up on TV approximately seventy-six times a season, and Spurs-Jazz. No idea what to expect, really, but...TNT, tonight! If nothing else...Barkley will be there(but so will Reggie Miller).

Looking back on...stuff, for the games of 11/03/09

2009-11-04T15:20:00.002-06:00

So, a lot of games last night, and a lot of interesting stuff. I managed to watch most of one, and bits of a couple others...so let's start with the one I caught most of.

Wizards-Cavs (or DeShawn Stevenson's answer to the Civil War)

This one started out so promising for the 'Zards. Cleveland were playing...just like they've been all season, really, on the offensive end. Just no imagination, no...anything early on for the Cavs. And for Washington? It was all working. Butler was hitting, Gilbert was legitimately running the point...everything was everything. And they got out to an eighteen point lead. Yes, the Wizards had an eighteen point lead on the Cavs. In Cleveland. But if you've looked at the boxscore or anything...you know they lost by twelve. And so what happened?

Well. Everything that was going right? Yea, the opposite of that started happening. The Cavs..I'm not going to act like the offense was a thing of beauty, but they exploited Washington's deficiencies. LeBron got to the line. Shaq went to work on the block...and Shaq's meaningful contribution was opening up the offense, and the rest of the team started getting open shots. And from there, it was working. Now, the problem for Cleveland is that their theoretically challenging playoff opponents have guys that can do something that resembles guarding Shaq, which the Wizards...just couldn't do at all. But I guess this is a start.

On offense, Washington just went to shit. Gilbert started pressing, Butler started missing, and the Cavs defense got a fuckton better. With Jamison out, Gilbert and Butler need to play well, and they need to get a contribution from guys like Blatche and Foye. And none of that really happened, and so they got an eighteen point lead overturned pretty damn quickly.

Elsewhere The Bulls came back against the Bucks, the Celtics manhandled the Sixers, the Mavs managed to overturn a big deficit against the Jazz, the Lakers squeaked past OKC, and the Magic finally looked like...something other than the best basketball team in the history of the universe, I guess. Oh, and the Blazers lost. Again.

And there we go. More games tonight, and more stuff tomorrow.

Looking back on...stuff, where Chris Paul is angry at everyone

2009-11-03T13:17:00.003-06:00

Alright, so only a few games last night, and I apparently missed the two more interesting games. The Rockets somehow beatdown the Jazz, on the road, and the Kings and Grizzlies combined to score a bazillion and six points, with Kevin Martin contributing...half of that? I don't know.

But I did watch (most of) the Hornets Knicks game, and so....

HORNETS-KNICKS SUPERFANTASTIC RECAP

What a...typically weird game for two annoying teams. Paul dished out eight assists in the first half, but only got two points and didn't even really try to score. It's possible he was trying to somewhat prove a point, I guess, or maybe he was just laying the groundwork for trying to get his in the second half. Anyway, Okafor and West did decently enough to keep the game close with their scoring, but the Knicks' quasi-powerful offense put up 58 in the first half and got out to a 6 point lead at the break.

Paul almost immediately switched things up in the second half, and though it wasn't on some "fuck this, I'm scoring" shit, he was definitely looking for his shot. And with this...group at his disposal, who can blame him? Paul did quite nicely in the third, and the Hornets were playing pretty good 'd' here to hold the Knicks to just 19 points. After three quarters the Hornets had the lead, and I'd sort of gotten the feeling that this was where the Knicks would fall apart.

But, to their credit, they didn't. Now, I'd say that part of that was because the Hornets defense definitely fell off, and the Knicks were able to score...almost at will. But New York did show some heart, and an actual willingness to...try, or something. Anyway, despite Chris Paul's late three point semi-barrage, the Knicks won this one. And the Hornets continue to play somewhat like shit, and unfortunately I'm pretty sure that's sort of going to be how it is this season. Sigh.

Anyway, the title refers to an incident where Al Harrington sort of tackled Paul (going after a loose ball), and it seemed like Paul punched him in the head. I'm not sure this actually happened, but after the Rondo thing...I don't know, the title seemed to fit. Whatever.

A ton of games tonight, including some pretty good ones, so that's nice.

Looking back on...stuff (post-weekend edition)

2009-11-02T14:23:00.004-06:00

Not a lot of great games this weekend, I have to say. The Knicks went to overtime a couple times, but...well, those games involved the Knicks. But, here's some stuff about two games.

GSW-PHO

So, the Warriors are still frustrating as hell. Who'd have thought? They were in this game for a while, and Azubuike and Curry were having nice nights. With some teams you get the feeling that a couple players are stepping up every night to make a difference, but with this Warriors squad it's more like a bunch of guys are just not doing shit. If that makes sense. Anyway, it was a game for quite a while, but then the Warriors gave up/started sucking, and the collapse led to a somewhat easy Suns victory. They've not exactly started the season in an encouraging fashion, but I still have no idea what we'll get from this team. So I'll just expect more disappointment.

On the Suns' side, they've started quite nicely, albeit with a somewhat favorable schedule. The (once again) wide open offense is working for everyone, as the squad at Gentry's disposal is pretty much ideal for this. Just about every single player is a great fit for this season, so...we're perhaps a few players having truly resurgent seasons away from the Suns being a semi-factor. I don't think they've got a real shot at any sort of meaningful contending, but they could creep into the five or six slot. Possibly.

Here, everyone was efficient as fuck, mostly because the Warriors' D is awful when they put up as little resistance as they did on Friday night. Like I mentioned in their preview, the Suns have five or six really solid guys, and when those guys all have it going they really are a scary team. I'm hoping Leandrinho is going to keep playing well all season, as the NBA is just a little bit less fun when he's not being awesome.

Orlando-Toronto

Christ, what a game. I went into this one wondering if the Magic could pull it off, sans Vince and 'Shard, and who steps up? JJ motherfucking Redick. 27 points on 14 shots, along with 5 dimes. How fucking deep is this team? Christ.

Obviously, it wasn't just Redick. Ryan Anderson has stepped up in a big way for Orlando so far, making that trade look goddamned brilliant, and he got 20 points against the Raptors. Howard and Nelson put up big numbers, but both were at least forced to work for their numbers. Toronto could have lived with the decent but not great production from those two, if it hadn't been for the other guys stepping up. Sort of the same thing I alluded to with GSW, except this time it's in the positive sense.

Toronto fought back well after going down big early on, but Orlando's crazy-awesome three point numbers (17 of 32) really killed them eventually. As we sort of knew from the beginning, this Raptors squad has a lot of offensive threats, and Chris Bosh and Andrea Bargnani really hurt Orlando in this one. Their defensive effort wasn't really awful in this one, as...if the other team's going to go 17 of 32, there's not a ton you can really do. I don't think they are ever going to be the Spurs of days past, but it's hard to blame Toronto's potentially porous defense for this loss. On another day, perhaps they win this game, and I think Toronto would have probably taken one out of two from Orlando and Cleveland if it was offered beforehand.

NOTHING TO SAY ON LAST NIGHT'S GAMES, CHECK BACK MONDAY

2009-10-30T19:04:00.001-05:00

...

(I'll have something about this weekend's games up on Monday. Nothing big about last night, except for the Bulls' nice defense and Denver's relative awesomeness. And there we go.)

Looking back on...stuff, for the games of 10/28/09

2009-10-29T13:50:00.005-05:00

Our first night with a pretty full slate of games. It was a bit overwhelming, I have to say, but it always is. Simultaneously thrilling and frightening, as all the best things in life are. Except ducks, acus ducks are awesome, but who's scared of a motherfucking duck? Anyway.

I was able to catch quite a bit of only one game yesterday, as there was quite a bit of stuff going on/I went to bed early. So.....

CLEVELAND V TORONTO (in which we wonder....what the fuck's going on?)

Let's start with...well, let's start with the game, and then we'll get into all the crazy tangentials and quasi-analysis, possibly with some inane references and cursing thrown in. Sound good? Aight.

like an Ornette track, this was sort of all over the place, but in a pretty awesome way.

The game was...well, it was very interesting, but also weird, and just very structurally surprising. Toronto got off to a pretty nice start, and midway through the first quarter they were already up 17-6, with Bargnani scoring and Calderon's dishing doing most of the heavy lifting. Now, this isn't something that's too fucking shocking...if you watch enough NBA games, you're probably used to strong teams getting off to shaky starts. Also taking into account the fact that it was Toronto's first home game, it was a very nice but not...particularly special start for the Raptors, and certainly not a lead that felt insurmountable. After all, it was six minutes into the fucking game.

And so the somewhat-expected resurgence from Cleveland followed, eventually shaving the Raps' lead down to a single point with a minute left in the quarter. And that was where, as an NBA fan, I was sort of thinking "alright...here we go". I mean, it's sort of programmed into us at this point...you recognize this pattern, where once a (potentially) great team gets back into a game, they usually take over. But Toronto wasn't going out like no suckas, man. And they stretched the lead out to five by the end of the quarter...and kept stretching. And by halftime, it was an eighteen point lead. Yea, what?

Cleveland couldn't handle Bargnani's ability to stretch the floor.

Toronto's offense was borderline obscene, and so we'll be led to believe that Cleveland's defense was a big problem. But it really wasn't. Could they have done better? Yea, sure. But this is a damn fine Toronto team, in terms of offensive firepower. And that's where they're going to beat a lot of teams, just by...to use an obviously silly phrase...scoring more than the other team. The one area of Cleveland's defense that is really worrying is their apparent inability to get out on mobile big guys. And...that's not surprising. They have Shaq and Z, after all. So Sheed and Bargnani have been able to take advantage of that, to some extent. Will that be something that persists? Who knows.

But the thing that really stood out during that second quarter was Cleveland's inability to get shit on offense. It was truly atrocious. Just no movement, or ideas, or...anything, really. It was LeBron plus four, again and again and again. The Z+Shaq lineup failed miserably, making the spacing even worse than it was otherwise, and the inability of anyone outside Bron (in the absence of Delonte) to really attack the rim...well, it fucked them over, basically. Lack of spacing + lack of driving=fucked. Even with LeBron.

SOMEONE DO SOMETHING

The third quarter saw Cleveland nearly come all the way back, and again I fell into the trap of thinking they'd finally turned it around and were going to go ahead and win the game. It's interesting to note that this period of non-suckage came mostly with Mo Williams, Daniel Gibson, Anthony Parker, LeBron James, and Andy Varejao on the floor. Now, I'm not saying that going small is a cure all or anything like that, because it's not. But it definitely helped with the spacing issues, and that was definitely...something. It made a real difference, and it gave the impression that for once the Cavs actually had an idea of what the fuck they were doing.

With James out at the end of the third and beginning of the fourth, the Cavs pretty much completely fell apart, and that was just about it. So, in summation, they had two pretty decent passages of play throughout the game, and they just happened to come with Shaq out of the game. I'm not saying; I'm just sayin'.

THIS WASN'T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN

Now, granted, it's really fucking early, and I expect some of the issues to get resolved. But is that enough? Probably not. Not for what the Cavs want. And I don't really see Mike Brown truly working this shit out, sadly. I hope I'm wrong, as this team could potentially play very good basketball. Which is a pretty nice thing, when it happens.

I feel like I've completely neglected the Raptors, so I'll restate the fact that they did pretty nicely themselves, and that they do deserve credit for winning that game. SO THERE.

Anyway. Only two games tonight, both on TNT. Spurs @ Chicago, and Denver @ Portland, with three teams coming off wins and one opening their season. Should be fun.

Looking back on...stuff (a possibly recurring thing)

2009-10-28T15:27:00.004-05:00

This may or may not be something I try to do regularly; I don't know. Obviously, there are plenty of places to get recaps of the previous night's games, and I'm not really going to bother trying to do every game. So, brief, faulty analysis on a portion of the previous night's games. How could you resist?!

WASHINGTON V DALLAS (the return of zero)

So, this. It was..interesting, in that it seemed way more significant than an early regular season game really ought to. I mean, both teams had key players out, they've both got new pieces they're trying to integrate...this isn't likely to be real indicative of what these teams will look like later on.

And yet, you got the idea that you really did learn a lot about these teams from this game. For one, and you may have heard this mentioned, Gilbert is back. And somewhat reformed. He really did play as a sort of quasi-point last night, and it worked. His decision making was very good, he ran the offense superbly, and dealt with the double teams Dallas threw at him very well. From a health standpoint, even if not 100%, he was still quick enough to blow by the Dallas defense with relative ease, and maybe at a later point in the season that would have ended up being an even better performance from Arenas. But, as it was, very encouraging.

The help was better than you'd expect, without Jamison, and considering that Caron Butler didn't have a great game. Blatche and Foye both showed real ability to contribute, right now, and even if I don't expect them to be as (somewhat) awesome as they were last night, if they can be legit fifth or sixth options...well, that certainly adds another dimension to that team. Saunders seems to have already made a clear imprint on this team, as the spacing was great, and there was a legitimate offensive philosophy in place, instead of...well, what we saw in Cleveland.

For Dallas, it was just a very "blah" performance. They'll make more shots than they did last night, sure, and given that their outside shooting is a big part of their essence as a team...it's perhaps harsh to judge them on an offnight. But you really didn't see much spark there. Dirk got a lot of points, did some nice stuff, but Marion wasn't particularly inspiring, Terry took way too many shots to get just 12 points, and otherwise there just wasn't too much help. It was very...slow. Too slow to deal with Arenas, or really run the court, and not enough offensive firepower to really do that much in the halfcourt. It will be different with Howard back, clearly, and I don't want to understate that, but I came out of this game with a somewhat dimmer outlook on the Mavs' season.

LAL-LAC

So, this...happened?

I don't know, not too much to say about this one, but I wanted to touch on it just for the Artest factor. I thought it went pretty decently. He missed some shots, he wasn't 100% comfortable in the offense, but his contribution was positive on the whole. He'll obviously play defense, and I didn't really get the feeling that he's ever going to even have much of an opportunity to play outside the offense, and perhaps the possible disruption caused by his presence was overstated.

Outside of that, not much to learn. The Lakers were always going to win, but didn't ever really show the desire to pull away for good. Kobe was Kobe, Bynum was pretty nice, and Lamar did well (sort of) in Pau's spot. Pau's absence sort of fucked with the rotations, and so the bench unit was weaker than normal, perhaps contributing to the inability to really jump out (and stay out) to a big lead. But we know what the Lakers will do, they know what the Lakers will do, Reggie Miller...alright, he has no clue what's going to happen, but most sane people know what's more or less going to happen with this team. Not many worries.

The Clippers seemed pretty lost without Blake, and almost didn't look like they realized this one counted. Baron was hurt/awful, but at least Kaman and Gordon looked nice. Dunleavy's rotations seemed...weird, but I don't think he's ever inspired great deals of confidence. Anyway, not much to really gather about this team without Griffin, other than to say they really do need him back, for all kinds of reasons.

So, there we go. Tonight, there are...games? LOTS OF GAMES. A few will end up interesting, I'm sure. And perhaps I will write about one (or two. or three. or twelve, I don't know) of them tomorrow. Until then!

The most significant thing to come out of opening night....

2009-10-28T15:24:00.002-05:00

beardage!

(a brief recap of last night's games...soon!)

0.

2009-10-27T15:30:00.003-05:00

IT'S HERE. IT'S HERE! IT'S FINALLY HERE.

+

+

Celtics-Cavs, 'Zards-Mavs, Rockets- Blazers, and Clippers-Lakers. Tonight!!

THE VERY LAST ONE- Washington Wizards

2009-10-27T10:59:00.002-05:00

Recent Past Lots of short-lived playoff appearances, and general Hibachiness. Totally a word. Anyway, last year things pretty much completely fell apart, mostly because of injuries. Now they attempt to climb back to....a point somewhat beneath the summit?

Offseason They had the semi-weird Randy Foye/Mike Miller for Pecherov, Thomas, and Songaila deal, which sort of bummed me out because Ricky Rubio+Gilbert Arenas= happy fun time. But, still, it wasn't bad, as Mike Miller can sometimes do things and Randy Foye could be not bad. Also, DeShawn Stevenson got tattoos, and Gilbert took a vow of silence.

Probable lineup Gil, Mike Miller, Caron Butler, Antawn Jamison, and Brendan Haywood as the five. Randy Foye, DeShawn Stevenson, Nick Young, Dominic McGuire, Andray Blatche, Fabricio Oberto, and Javale McGee as key subs.

General Overview We sort of know how this works, but then again, we have no clue how this will work.

Because, really, it still depends on Arenas. And who the fuck knows what's going to happen with him? He's attempting to be a quasi-true point guard now, and even assuming he can pull that off (or could, at some point), we have no idea how he's going to do after being out for approximately three decades. Obviously, I think most of us (or, at least, those of us with souls) hope he pulls it off, but..there's a lot of anxiety there.

Other than that, you have some pretty nice pieces. Let's not forget Flip Saunders, the new coach, who has proven that he can do pretty nicely with this type of team, and (if nothing else) amass a lot of regular season wins and decent playoff performances. That's sort of damning with feint praise, obviously, but the Wizards will be pretty fucking pleased if they can pull that off. This season, anyway.

Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison are two legit demi-stars, guys that are just really nice players and can do a lot of damage on a team like this. They'll both likely put up pretty big numbers, and so along with Arenas they form a pretty fucking powerful trio, probably the best outside the title contenders. And the depth..it's not awful. Haywood's back and healthy, and he's a somewhat legitimate defensive presence for them. Mike Miller can do a job, if he just decides to stay behind the goddamn line and shoot threes...like he's supposed to. Some pretty decent youth guys in Foye, Crittenton, Young, Blatche, and McGee, where I'm sure at least a couple of those guys will contribute pretty nicely. And then I'm sure Stevenson's look will give them...something.

Anyway, this team has a decent amount of uncertainty attached to it, although admittedly that's mostly just because of the nature of trying to come back from a nineteen win season. But there's no reason to think this team won't make the playoffs, and if things break right for them they could well challenge Atlanta/whoever else out of that giant pack in being the top team outside the big three out East. Which is...deserving of some sort of consolation prize, I think.

If they were a hip hop act Blu + whatever producer Blu is working with. Because, a) like Blu, the 'Zards probably get most of their attention from the internet, and b) I sort of dig the "Blu as Arenas" angle. So there.

Guessing how they'll do Like I said, this team can be quite nice, and I'm going to be optimistic and go best-case with this. 4 or 5 seed, and a first round win. And once again, I've likely contradicted some other preview. But whatever. Hopefully we get another Cleveland-Washington matchup in the playoffs.

AND WITH THAT WE'RE DONE

(last minute) Amigos' NBA previews: Utah Jazz

2009-10-27T10:00:00.001-05:00

First off, I just want to mention that (apparently) someone found this blog by searching Fu-Schnickens and Joe Johnson. Together. Take a motherfucking bow, if you've decided to stick around. And onto the...thing.

Recent Past Post Stockton-Malone, there was a period of moderate suckage, that saw them miss the playoffs three times in a row. But then they got Deron Williams, and some other guys, and now they've been pretty decent for a little while now.

Offseason Nothing really happened, which was a pretty big deal. Millsap and Boozer are still...around, and so this is more or less the same team as last season, as far as I can tell.

Probable lineup Deron Williams, Ronnie Brewer, AK47, Carlos Boozer, and Mehmet Okur as the five. Ronnie Price, Kyle Korver, Paul Millsap, and Kosta Koufos as key subs.

General Overview Jerry Sloan is a very nice coach. This is a quite nice team. And so, it doesn't seem like things should be so...meh.

But they are. And it's not just the injuries that have semi-plagued them, it's the general...failure to show that they can display a somewhat prolonged spell of legitness. They've shown it in spurts, mostly with that scary-good offense of theirs, but when it's come down to it, they've never really done that much. They made the Conference Finals once, but even that was after beating the T-Mac having Rockets and the eight seeded Warriors. So, what we have here is a team that's shown us a lot without actually proving shit. Or...whatever.

And, unlike with other teams, I don't really get the sense that the Jazz are about to break out and prove something. They went out with a whimper against LA last season, and even taking into account how good the Lakers were, the Jazz just really didn't look like a team that would be particularly great against a team of decent caliber. I'm left doubting their ability to defend good teams, even though their defensive stats from last season were actually half decent. In summary, I have no faith in this team.

And so, even with Williams, and Boozer, and Millsap, and somewhat awesome tweeners like Brewer, Kirilenko, and Okur, I don't see this team doing as much as it probably should. Which is sort of a shame, until you remember...sucks to the Jazz, and their stupid non-fitting (I know) name.

If they were a hip hop act Jurassic 5. Similar to the Jazz, I don't like J-5, for no particularly good reason, despite the fact that they're probably pretty alright and occasionally do something significant.

Guessing how they'll do Get the five or six seed, give whoever they have to play a pretty tough time, but probably get knocked out in the first round

Amigos' NBA Previews: Toronto Raptors

2009-10-26T22:01:00.003-05:00

Recent Past Christ, remember when the Raptors almost made the Conference Finals? That was fucking weird.

Anyway, more recently than that, shit fell apart pretty good there, they drafted some half decent but not that great players, and now they're...half decent? There we go. I think that's about right.

Offseason Marion left, Anthony Parker left, and they brought in Hedo, Jarrett Jack, Marco Belinelli Amir Johnson and RASHO. Oh, and they drafted Demar DeRozan, who I think is sort of nice. They overpaid the shit out of Hedo, and I think losing AP will hurt a little bit (as I'm not as sold on Belinelli as others are), but these aren't bad players. All of them have upside, and they'll all do a job for them. Which is more than you can say for a lot of teams' pickups, I guess.

Probable lineup Jose Calderon, Demar DeRozan, Hedo, Chris Bosh, and Andrea Bargnani as the starting five (I think). Jarrett Jack, Marco Bellinelli, Antoine Wright, Amir Johnson, and Rasho as key subs.

General Overview This is quite the compliment, with the league as it is: The Raptors are quite possibly the weirdest team in the league.

Now, admittedly, this is partially because of just how international this shit is. But, seriously, that's a weird fucking team, spearheaded by the leader of weirdness, Hedo Turkoglu. But, seriously, if you look at the things...they aren't bad. They really ought to do some things, in that crop of sub-awesome Eastern Conference teams.

Jose Calderon is a very solid point guard, and they need to let him do his thing. Jarrett Jack did well for Indiana, and I can appreciate that he'll be able to contribute, but you've got to give Calderon the ball, and time on the court. That means they need to avoid overdoing the Hedo weirdness. I know it's an attractive prospect, giving Hedo the ball and watching him do...that shit he does, but seriously...Jose's the better option.

Aside from that, you obviously have Bosh, who is very nice, but whose stock fell a bit last season. Serious doubts about his ability to be the man right now, but taking into account what it takes to be "the guy" in this league, on a top team, that's not a huge insult. I don't know what he'll do in free agency, but he's still a motherfucking nice player, for the Toronto Raptors...right now. And that's what we're concerning ourselves with at the moment, I guess. He'll win them some games, and with what ought to be a decent squad, with a definite shot at the playoffs, motivation shouldn't be a problem.

Otherwise, they're clearly overpaying Bargnani, but he's alright. Rasho's pretty much the exact opposite of him off the bench, which is a sort of good thing, in terms of matching up and all that. I like Amir's potential, but I doubt he'll get too much of a chance, backing up Bosh. Other than that, there's some decent depth here, but nothing too spectacular. Sort of what you'd expect, for a team of this caliber.

If they were a hip hop act Roots Manuva. Foreign, 'ya see.

Guessing how they'll do Let's see. Boston, Orlando, Cleveland, Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, Miami, Washington, Toronto (not necessarily in that order, just off the dome). Is that it? Alright, there. I have Toronto as one of nine teams with a shot at the playoffs. I think they'll likely make it (that probably contradicts other previews, but oh well), but I have no idea at the expense of which team. They'll probably finish seventh or eight, and get knocked out in the first round. So, there you go. That's...an improvement, right?

Amigos' NBA Previews: San Antonio Spurs

2009-10-26T19:31:00.004-05:00

Recent Past Titles and bullshit.

Um, alright, to break it down a bit more, they're always just around,and then the basketball "public" mocks surprise when they somehow (usually) end up pulling shit off/almost pulling shit off. The central pieces have remained somewhat the same, but those surrounding Robinson, Duncan, and Popovich have seemingly been constantly changing. But the result's just about always the same.

Offseason They brought in a fuckton of guys, including (but not limited to) Richard Jefferson, Antonio McDyess, and Dejuan Blair. Bruce Bowen and Oberto left/retired/possibly died. The additions are (potentially) pretty huge, as it gives them a legit fourth scorer and a damn fine veteran center, as well as a young guy who could potentially contribute real quality minutes off the bench, just scoring and grabbing tons of boards at the '4'. A modern day Malik Rose, except...better. Maybe.

Probable lineup: Tony Parker, Roger Mason Jr, Richard Jefferson, Tim Duncan, and Antonio McDyess as the startin five. George Hill, GINOBILI, Finley, Matt Bonner, Dejuan Blair, Ian Mahinmi, and Theo Ratliff as key subs.

General Overview Do I really have to do this? Sigh. Fine.

First, I want to note that Pop is totally saying "peace to the nation" in that picture. But, anyway. You know what's up with this squad. Experience. New pieces. Winning mentality. Defense. Stay healthy. So cliche, so boring, and yet....quite awesome, if we're honest.

Look, nobody likes the Spurs that much. Most respect the shit out of them, but like them? No, I'd imagine most resent them quite a bit. I'm a Spurs fan, and in a way I resent the motherfuckers. But they know what they're doing, and with the somewhat reloaded/re-energized squad...they could really pull some shit off this year.

But, you know, they could very well not. And, if you noticed, I already had Portland and LA in the Western Conference Finals. And it's not because I think this Spurs squad is overrated, or some shit like that, as at this point that would be a bit absurd. We all know what to expect from just about every piece on the floor, and that in the end, even though he tries out some weird shit, Popovich will get it right. But it goes back to staying healthy. And they ALL have to stay healthy, and be at pretty damn close to 100%, to really challenge in this league. Because, look around, and there's a fuckton of deep squads right now, and quite a few of them are well coached. So ain't nobody else going to fall apart, Phoenix Suns style, and they aren't going to get an easy finals matchup, a la the Ewing-less Knicks, distinctly meh Nets, or "LeBron plus...shit" Cavs. Not to diminish the acomplishments of those Spurs teams, obviously, but it's going to be harder now than ever before, and to get through all four rounds, not to mention the regular season? It'll be a motherfucking grind. And I'm not convinced everything will hold together. Prove me wrong, Spurs. Yea, you're reading this, Manu. Don't get hurt then, huh? HUH?!

If they were a hip hop act Yea, like I said, it'd have sort of worked better if the Spurs and Blazers had flip flopped.

But, really, these motherfuckers are still around? Yea, they are. And they're still doing their shit, years and years on from the magnificent beginnings, and it still works. The formula has changed a little, but at the heart of the matter, it still depends on the same fucking thing it did in the beginning.

Stylistically, you could say that this comparison is off, but there was a definite formula to even the 3 Feet shit (I think Mos Def said it was something like "1 bar 2 bar 3 bar 5, stop, Pos is going to rhyme, something weird is going to happen." And that's about as good a description as there's going to be). And so, there you fucking go.

Guessing how they'll do I'm guessing they get off to a pretty fucking hot start, some dumb shit happens that semi-ruins it all, and they eventually get knocked out by Portland in the second round, after somewhat heroically eking past Dallas or Utah or...something.

1

2009-10-26T14:42:00.000-05:00

2!

2009-10-25T17:55:00.003-05:00

First off, I'd like to say all praises due to Allah, for the NBA season is drawing ever closer:

(5:15-Spike Lee jumping into Larry Johnson's arms, 6:20-the awesomeness)

Amigos' NBA Previews; Portland Trail Blazers

2009-10-25T12:56:00.007-05:00

Recent Past Jailblazers to Snailblazers: a Requiem in Four Acts. Oh, come on, that's kind of good. Anyway, they were a very talented team for a while there, pushing the Lakers to the limit in the 2000 WCF. Then things fell apart (FORESHADOWING!), they went from legitimate contender to perennial first round knockouts, and eventually blew shit up. After the Sheed trade in '04 they had a few pretty poor seasons, but there was a plan (and a bit of luck), and that's what seperates the shitty and awesome rebuilds. They've been pretty decent for a couple seasons now, sort of emerging from the shitness...like a butterfly. What? Anyway, this could really be where they take the next step. If. Always...if.

Offseason They brought in Andre Miller, and Sergio Rodriguez and Channing Frye left. Oh, they got Juwan Howard, too. Which is...a thing, I guess. There's obvious questions of how this shit with Miller's going to work, as he's just a slightly above average player at this point, and Steve Blake has his backers. There's this shit with him failing a conditioning test, and getting angry about it coming out in the press...but that'll blow over. The shit where he may have to come off the bench...that'll blow over. The real problem comes when he decides to take too many jumpers outside the scheme, instead of just facilitating that beautifully efficient offense. But it ought to be an upgrade, and there wasn't much better on offer this off season. So it goes. Clearly, he's the place holder for...(dare I? no, I daren't).

Probable lineup Andre Miller, Brandon Roy, Nicolas Batum, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Greg Oden as the five. Steve Blake, Jerryd Bayless, RUDY, Martell Webster (totally not dead), Travis Outlaw, Juwan Howard, and Ghostface 'Billa off the bench. Probably.

General Overview Oh, Trail Blazers. The most beautiful of the not as beautiful. Or something.

There's no holes in that lineup, really. All over, it's just anywhere from solid to awesome. And if you get a bit more consistency from a couple places...maybe a bigger contribution from Batum (which I definitely expect, after watching him for France this summer), or more boards from LMA, and, you know, a healthy Oden..that's a fucking hard team to beat. For anyone. They've given the Lakers as many problems as anyone recently, and it's not a coincidence. They can match up all over the floor, with big dudes, athletic dudes, shooters, slashers...whatever. If you haven't noticed yet, this is sort of a theme with the best teams in the league. And yet, most people would place Portland just outside that category.

That's partially because it's a young squad. You don't expect a team led by a bunch of guys 25 and under (mostly) to compete for the title, just because...well, it's sort of absurd. And yet, most of these guys are veterans. They'll improve, sure, and they'll gain valuable experience down the line, but...it has to start somewhere, right? And it could very well be now. Now, on the "off the dome theoretical" thing, I wouldn't put them ahead of any of the big 4.5 right now, or any shit like that. But in a seven game series, shit happens. We know shit happens. We've all seen shit happen. And so, while I'm not going to predict a championship for this squad...well, any team that's about to draw them in the playoffs needs to watch their back, that's all I'm saying.

Now, of course, before you get to matching up with the Spurs, Lakers, or...whomever, the Blazers are going to have to beat out a solid fucking squad. And this is the West. And...well, you know. Shit. Happens. So, Portland? You watch your backs, too. For fucks sake. Don't get knocked out by Utah, or whatever. Please. This may sound like I'm bulshitting, or pointing out the exceedingly obvious, but while it's weird to say you "learn consistency", this is a team that needs to learn...that they need to have their shit together for every game, basically. Shit can't just fall apart temporarily, at any point during the season, but especially during the playoffs. That's how you win series, just keeping your shit together, and constantly challenging the opponent. Especially with such a solid squad, with no weak points, and threats all over the floor. If the team on the whole is consistently "keeping it together", or whatever...just not collapsing, really...they can knock off anyone, seriously.

But anyway. Going back into the more generic sort of...thing...this was a squad that trouble playing defense last season. Part of that was Oden's general iffyness, but a lot of it seemed to be a lack of commitment on that end, and just lapses in judgment, and concentration. They were 13th in d-rating last season, and if they can get into the top ten, while somewhat maintaining (or ideally improving, obviously) their number one offense...again, this is a potentially scary fucking team.

If they were a hip hop act Portland's beginnings, in their current form, were somewhat overshadowed by what they were thought to be attempting to emulate. Like the Roots, their style was compared with other greats, somewhat by habit, but also through a genuine expectation of similarity. But as they've "grown up", the Roots have really set themselves apart from their peers, expressing their own sort of sound, distinguishing themselves as the real standard as a hip hop band. There have been bumps, certainly, and inconsistencies, but along the way there has been a lot of pretty great shit.

There's a face to the band, in ?uestlove, that I'd imagine is somewhat identifiable to most moderate fans of hip hop. But beyond that, there's obviously Black Thought, and then a whole host of members that make up "the band". And so it is with this Portland squad. Roy and Aldridge, even Oden insofar as he's well known, those are the faces of the franchise. And with good reason. But what makes the squad is those that "backup" the main parts, a whole host of solid contributors that really make the "sound", as it were. There will be losses along the way, and it's likely they'll not be able to keep all these young guys, but the core will remain the same, and the key will be to continue to keep the surrounding parts strong.

And so as this squad "grows up", and differentiates itself from various predecessors, it's likely they'll become a standard others attempt to emulate. Or...something.

(I should note that this whole thing would have worked better if the Blazers had come after another team, but oh well)

Guessing how they'll do Mid 50s in wins, a real shot at the second seed, and I'll go ahead and say that I expect them to make the Conference Finals. They'll give the Lakers problems, as they tend to do, but ultimately fall short, and this will be one of those things that's seen as "a really valuable learning experience" down the road. Maybe.

Kings

2009-10-25T11:59:00.000-05:00

Suck.

I'm not writing a Kings preview. Seriously. Garcia's hurt, they have Spencer Hawes...seriously. They have Evans and Martin. That's nice. Still. SUCK. The battle between them, Jersey, and possibly Charlotte/a surprise contender, will be fierce. SCOOP UP THEM LOTTERY BALLS.

Amigos' NBA Previews: Philadelphia 76ers

2009-10-24T23:27:00.003-05:00

(condensed version!)

Alright, Philly have a fucking weird squad. And so it's fitting that they'll play the Princeton offense.

At point guard, they lost Dre Miller, and so they'll be starting Louis Williams (or maybe Jrue Holliday, down the line). This is a problem, off the bat. But, ideally, they shouldn't be relying too heavily on play from the point. So...alright. Let's move on. Iguodala at the 2, he's a damn solid player, who when he stays within himself can really be a great contributor. Not a star, but a guy that can fill up the statsheet, and really just help out in a variety of ways. Your classic somewhat skilled athletic dude, I guess. Thad Young's been pretty impressive his first two seasons, and he's a pretty efficient player for a young guy that's relied on to a greater extent than you'd sort of expect. I don't know if he'll improve a lot, but even if he doesn't, he'll give them solid minutes at the three. Kapono off the bench is pretty much the exact opposite of Young, by the way, and that's nice in a way. At 4, Elton Brand's sort of the question mark. It was often said that maybe they weren't hurt too badly by his absence last season, because it turned them into more of a running team. Well, without Miller, they'll need Brand to step up this season. Can he do it? Definitely, he's shown in that in the past. Will he? How the fuck should I know?

Oh, and Samuel Dalembert at the 5. Well, hopefully Speights ends up getting a lot of minutes/starting, as he's a pretty fucking intriguing player, who did very well in the minutes he got last season. Dalembert, on the other hand, is pretty fucking enraging, at times showing quite a bit of ability, but usually sort of just disappearing. And, again, I don't really know how that'll go this season, but unless Dalembert has the best season of his career (by a lot), Speights really ought to see a lot more time than he did last year.

There's not a whole lot of quality depth to this squad, which is definitely worrying. Brand's the supposed star, at least in theory, but unless you assume the absolute best (06ish Clipper Elton) from him, that's not really enough to put them over the top of the other high-mediocre squads in the East. So they'll be in there with Atlanta/Chicago/Washington/Detroit/whomever, and definitely ought to make the playoffs. From there, it pretty much all depends on how the young guys can do, and to what extent Elton Brand can get back to being Elton Brand.

For a hip hop act here, let's just go with DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince. Acus Parents Just Don't Understand. Oh, no, wait, it's because of the Philly thing. Right.

(I guess I could have gone Schooly D here, but then I would have had to come up with how it was actually like militant/gangsta Schooly D, and not "Gucci Time". But, you know, whatever)

Amigos' NBA Previews: Phoenix Suns

2009-10-24T14:15:00.002-05:00

Recent Past Oh, Phoenix Suns. Remember? Remember how it used to be? You used to be so cool. What happened?

I'll tell you what happened. Shaq came, it didn't really work, D'Antoni left, that really didn't work...and now....this. Well. "We wore orange, they wore black; we'll always have the moral highground". Or something.

Offseason Shaq left, but they got capspace, and a renewed since of quickness. So it'll be an attempt at going back to the "good old days", presumably. We saw a hint of that at the end of last season, and we'll see if they can make it work to greater effect now. Oh, and they got Channing Frye.

Probable lineup Steve Nash, Jason Richardson, Grant Hill, Amare, and Channing Frye as the starting five. Dragic, Leandrinho, and Robin Lopez as key subs. Or something like that, anyway.

General overview It's hard not to dwell on what was with this group, but for now let's just look at what could/will be.

This is a team that fits the system. Nash, Richardson, and Amare, those are all guys that like to get up and down, and guys that fit the whole SSOL thing. Hill is, presumably, going to act as the stabilizing force that makes this at least sort of a more traditional team. It could well workout to some effect. After all, if you put the blinders on and just looked at this group, considering what they'll try to do...it's not bad. Now, is there much depth? No. Barbosa can come off the bench and (hopefully) contribute, as I think we're all sort of rooting for, but that's about it. But those six ought to be enough against a decent number of teams. Channing Frye's done well in the preseason, showing flashes of...the flashes he showed in the past. That ought to work out better than Shaq did for them, as weird as that is.

And if they can stay healthy? They probably ought to make the playoffs, all things considered. And that's a step back in the right direction. Now, practically speaking, does that really matter? No, as most of these guys won't be around too much longer. But, everything being everything, I think that'll be good enough for now.

If they were a hip hop act They came out with this quasi-new style, and it was a hit. It fucking worked. Now, was it the hottest thing out? No, there were others that ultimately bettered them, but for pure entertainment, an argument can be made that they were the most significant group out there.

And then? Then it all fell apart, and now they're just left sort of hoping to pick up the pieces.

(I'm pretty sure just about all of that works for both. I didn't want to end up equivocating JMJ's death and D'Antoni leaving, but....)

Guessing how they'll do They should eek out the eight spot, and be entertaining along the way. And there you go.

3 (it's the magic number)

2009-10-24T11:25:00.001-05:00

Amigos' NBA Previews: Orlando Magic

2009-10-23T21:24:00.003-05:00

Recent Past They got Dwight, they built, they got SVG, they got pretty awesome, and then they lost in the finals. And if you don't know, now you know.

Offseason Hedo left, but they traded Rafer and Courtney (and Tony Battie) for Vince and Ryan Anderson. They also managed to bring in Matt Barnes and Brandon Bass, while keeping the Polish Hammer. WHAT?

Projected lineup Jameer Nelson, Vince Carter, 'Shard, Brandon Bass, and Dwight Howard. Jason Williams, Mickael Pietrus, JJ Redick (?), Matt Barnes, Ryan Anderson, and Marcin Gortat as key subs.

General Overview Goddamn, the Magic are good. Really fucking good. Look at that lineup. There is exactly one real weakness: backup point guard. Other than that? Motherfuck.

Everyone in that starting 5 is capable of putting up pretty goddamned nice numbers, and a couple are capable of being truly awesome. Off the bench, there's at least four really quality guys that can come in and contribute. When healthy, this team will be goddamned hard to beat. They look likely to rely less on the three-ball this season, and the Hedo loss has turned into a positive as a result of the moves they made to make up for it. This team is capable of so much, all over the floor, and really altering itself in a few different ways to allow it to more effectively combat various types of opponents. And with Van Gundy at the helm? Look, I know a lot of people like to bash the guy because he's sort of a mess, but dude knows what he's doing. And if they can play to their ability? Well, there may only be three teams in the East, but goddamn...there are 3 MOTHERFUCKING SQUADS in the East. Is it bad that I'm already looking forward to Spring? Acus....

If they were a hip hop act
07-08 was Instinctive Travels, sort of introducing themselves to the world and letting their impending awesomeness be known. 08-09 was The Low End Theory; sort of brash, and pretty goddamned awesomeness, but still, you get the feeling it's not necessarily their peak. 09-10? Well, this could well be Midnight Marauders.

(and, yea, I just threw my name into the Midnight Marauders>Low End Theory crowd)

((also, Orlando's versatility is somewhat equivalent to the various styles Tribe were able to bring))

(((Dwight's Q Tip, in that he'll still be doing his thing after everyone else is gone)))

((((there we go))))

Guessing how they'll do I think I put down the Celtics for the east, but goddamn, that could be a fun matchup. Anyway, I have the Magic down for about 60 wins, and they could well win the championship. I can't stress enough how amazing those top three in the east are, and how much getting that one seed will matter.

Amigos' NBA Previews: OKC Thunder

2009-10-23T20:19:00.002-05:00

I mean...

(they should still go with the old Sonics logo. so awesome)

Anyway...

Recent Past They sucked, they drafted Durant, they moved. And then they became this sort of cool team that everyone digs on, but probably still won't be good for a little while now. Still, fun stuff.

Probable lineup Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Kevin Durant, Jeff Green, and Nenad Krstic as the starting five. Shaun Livingston, Thabo, Nick Collison, and Etan Thomas as key subs. Maybe.

General overview This is a fun team, and a team with potential to be pretty decent down the line. But it isn't a playoff team, and it's not a squad that looks likely to be much more than a fun, playoffs without contending team. Not yet, anyway. Durant's already quite good at a thing or two, and has the potential to get much better at many of his weaknesses. Russell Westbrook's a tweener, but a nice player. James Harden's generally highly rated, it seems, and Jeff Green's shown a good deal of improvement. But they don't have much quality size, and that's something they'll certainly need to add down the line.

For now? Just enjoy what it is. They won't win a ton of games, but they ought to be fun as hell to watch. And if you watch them enough, you'll likely see the growing process of a lot of young, quality players. Better days, and all that.

If they were a hip hop act The Cool Kids. Because even though they're sort of insignificant, the Thunder are pretty awesome.

Guessing how they'll do Around 30 wins in a crowded West, and a couple wins over top teams.

4!!!!!!!!!!

2009-10-23T16:02:00.001-05:00

Amigos' NBA Previews: New York Knicks

2009-10-22T21:02:00.003-05:00

(clears throat)

LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON (Kryptonate) Lebron Lebron Lebron Lebron LEBRON LEBRON (or Dwyane Wade) LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON (David Lee) LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON (Mike D'Antoni!) LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON (Walsh!) LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON (Walt Frazier) LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON (Willis Reed) LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON LEBRON

TWO THOUSAND AND TEN, MOTHERFUCKERS

(alright)

The Knicks won't be very good this season. But they may or may not be signing some guy in the offseason. We may hear a little about this during the season. But in the meantime, Kryptonate!

Amigos' NBA Previews: New Orleans Hornets

2009-10-22T20:25:00.000-05:00

Recent Past They drafted Chris Paul, and he made them pretty good. They almost made it to the Conference Finals that one time, but in the end the Spurs won out, despite CP3's eminent awesomeness. And then they were embarrassed by the Nuggets in last season's playoffs. And there we go.

Offseason Emeka for Chandler, and they picked up Ike Diogu. I have no idea how this will work out. Okafor seems to be an overall more solid player, not to mention much more reliable, than Chandler. But the Paul-Chandler thing worked pretty damn well at times. Ike can definitely help if given a chance, but we'll see how that works out.

Probable lineup Chris Paul, Mo Pete, Peja, David West, and Emeka to start. Darren Collison, Devin Brown, James Posey, Ike Diogu, Darius Songalia, and Hilton Armstrong as key subs.

General Overview Yea, it's still pretty much all about Paul.

There are decent pieces. Peja can contribute on some level, David West is a very solid NBA player, and Emeka's a pretty nice center. There's some respectable guys coming off the bench. But is there a real legitimate guard threat outside of Paul? No. There is not. And that is very troubling. They've been hurt badly by bad contracts to Peja and Mo Pete, even Emeka is likely overpaid (as Chandler was). Posey didn't work out like they planned. And with a franchise as (relatively) broke as New Orleans? Well, they're sort of fucked. Sorry. They're fucked.

And if it doesn't work out this season, the Chris Paul trade talks may intensify. Until then, look for this team to do pretty much the same thing again. Ride Paul to a pretty decent win total, and then watch them flounder in the playoffs if nobody else steps up. I'm not overly optimistic, sadly.

If they were a hip hop act Boogie Down Productions, except in this scenario Miss Melody has to contribute a verse to every track. Yea. (if I had photoshop, I'd put Chris Paul's face in KRS' place. but oh well)

Guessing how they'll do Their playoff place may actually be somewhat in danger, but I figure they'll make it as a somewhat low seed, and Paul's awesomeness won't be enough. Sadfaces all around.

5

2009-10-22T09:53:00.001-05:00

Amigos' NBA Previews: New Jersey Nets

2009-10-21T21:55:00.003-05:00

Recent Past They made the finals at one point, and then they were pretty decent for a while, and then guys started getting hurt/old/irrelevant/gone, and now they're left with...this.

Offseason They traded Vince Carter and Ryan Anderson for Skip, Courtney Lee, and...Tony Battie. Presumably, Lee's the only one who'll be around long term, and he's a nice player, albeit a bit overrated at this point. They're pretty clearly not going to do much, so losing Carter is somewhat insignificant as they look toward TWO THOUSAND AND TEN!!!!!! And so, that Russian dude coming in is pretty fucking important. Acus cash rules everything around 'Bron. Or something. And, somehow, the "hip hop act" for the Nets will not be either Wu Tang or Jay Z.

Probable lineup Devin Harris, Courtney Lee, Bobby Simmons, Yi, and Brook Lopez. Off the bench...Christ.

General Outlook Well, they have Devin Harris, and Brook Lopez, and Courtney Lee. That's not awful. 4-12? That has to be among the worst 4-12 spots in league history. Alright, that may be a bit of hyperbole, but it's truly shambolic. Just dreadful. And so they'll suck pretty hard. But that's okay. They'll maybe manage a high draft pick, and then if they can get that right, they'll have four good to great pieces before (hopefully) adding someone (Bron) in SUMMER 2010!!!!

So, really, there aren't many questions coming into this season. It'd be nice to see Brook and Courtney make some improvements, and I guess it'd be cool if Yi becomes a decent bench option (for the future). Other than that, just keep looking at that big, beautiful, cap space. Mmm...cap space. Oh, also? Lawrence Frank. Will they keep him around? No clue. Should they? Again, no clue. I sort of like him, but it's hard to judge when he's been given a tough hand the past couple seasons. And this season, well, really, if they fire him this season, they've been wanting to fire him for a little bit now.

If they were a hip hop act
This is Баста, a big act from Russia. Apparently. Anyway, Mikhail Prokhorov, 2010, etc.

Guessing how they'll do poorly? yes, poorly.

Oh, I skipped Milwaukee. Well; abbreviated Bucks preview

2009-10-21T19:18:00.003-05:00

THEY DRAFTED BRANDON JENNINGS

(they lost Charlie Villanueva and Ramon Sessions)

Oh, and they got Ersan Ilyasova back, which is kind of cool. I mean, I don't think he's really a prototypical NBA player, but he was decent enough for Barcelona. And he's probably on a pretty cheap contract, and that's about half the game for Milwaukee.

Um, anyway. The Bucks will not be that good this year. What's the lineup, Jennings-Redd-Luc-Amir-Bogut? Or are they going to go with Ridnour as starter? Well, either way, it's pretty 'meh'. I mean, there's some potentially pretty nice players there (Jennings, Luc, and to some extent Amir all have potential, and then Bogut and Redd are nice). But...it's not going to workout to be fulfill the best case scenario. And what's the best case scenario, a seven or eight seed? So, they'll be alright but that's about it. Like...I don't know, most Arrested Development tracks or something. I should have gone with them for Memphis. Acus of the Tennessee thing, you see. Oh well.

6!

2009-10-21T16:38:00.001-05:00

Abbreviated Previews about non playoff teams; Minnesota!

2009-10-20T21:34:00.002-05:00

So, they drafted three point guards, traded one, one's in Spain, and they signed the other. Oh, and then they signed a free agent point guard. And then they did some other weird shit, so basically, this was just a pretty fucking weird offseason for Minnesota.

But they've got Flynn, Love, and Jefferson, and that's not a bad core. You throw in some other not-bad players, and the Wolves won't completely suck. That's sort of the direction a lot of these non-playoff teams are going towards; they probably won't be that good, but they won't completely suck. Well, except maybe Sacramento.

Anyway, expect Minnesota to pick up a couple impressive wins, and maybe get to 30 on the season. Beyond that, they're building, and with a new coach they'll be looking to take steps towards a brighter future. So, I'll do an Organized Konfusion reference, and say that they have to Walk. Into. The sun.

7

2009-10-20T19:56:00.001-05:00

Amigos' NBA Previews: Miami Heat

2009-10-20T12:58:00.002-05:00

I'ma go with quick, abbreviated preview here, because basically nothing's changed.

They're still more or less the same team, just a year older. And so expect more or less the same thing as last season. They ought to be decent enough, as they still do have Dwyane fucking Wade. But, really, they aren't all that good, and though the pieces aren't really bad, you do get the sense that they're sort of wasting Wade's talent right now. He'll probably stick around, because Miami's going to be able to give him the best offer, but at some point soon they'll have to get him a legitimate second option.

In the meantime, I'd imagine they'll finish around fifth or sixth, with little deviation. Wade makes them a dangerous team in the playoffs, but I'd be sort of surprised if they got past the first round. As far as "if they were a hip hop act", I'd have to go with 3rd Bass. Because it's really just sort of about Wade/Paul, and everyone will have sort of forgotten about this team in a couple years. Unless they're still in the same situation. But, you know, they shouldn't be.

Amigos' NBA Previews: Memphis Grizzlies

2009-10-19T22:12:00.002-05:00

Recent Past They had Pau (and Hubie), Hubie left, then Pau left, and then they sucked a lot. But they traded Shane Battier for Rudy Gay, so that was good.

Offseason They brought in AI and Zach Randolph, and drafted Hasheem Thabeet. That may be the weirdest sentence ever written about basketball.

Probable lineup Mike Conley, O.J. Mayo, Rudy Gay, Zach Randolph, and Marc Gasol in the starting five. Marko Jaric, Allen Iverson, Darrell Arthur, and Hasheem Thabeet as key subs. Or, you know, something.

General Overview What a bizarre mishmash of players this team is. I mean, it's so very 2002. I sort of expect them to get the six seed in the East, as a matter of fact. And they may or may not be coached by Lenny Wilkens.

I'm not really sure how it's supposed to work, and so I sort of assume it's not going to. Mike Conley's a nice, steady point guard, but nothing too spectacular. Mayo was pretty inefficient in his first season, and I'm not really too big on him, or expecting him to improve too dramatically. Gay seems like he'd be a really nice team on a upper echelon team, but as a star he's not so great to build around. Zbo will do what he does, and so as long as they just keep him around for a little while and let him win them a couple extra games as a non-playoff team, I guess that's..fine, if not exactly a particularly optimistic signing. Marc Gasol is quite awesome. Well, alright, he's a quite nice center who, if he improves, is another guy I think could be very good for a contender.

The AI signing is sort of like a guard version of the Zbo deal, and so we sort of get an idea of what this team is aiming for: not to suck too badly. That may seem to be a bit of a pessimistic way of looking at things, but it's true. In the West, is there any real way this team makes the playoffs? No. And is there anyway AI will contribute when they're ready to make the playoffs? No. So, he'll help them out a bit occasionally, put some asses in seats, and make the team less boring. Which is, in a way, sort of considerate of the Grizzlies' front office. I guess. And Thabeet, it's sort of not worth even providing an outlook for him, as I think we all know exactly how his career will go: solid to alright, and never spectacular. But, you know, he's big, and that's a thing.

If they were a hip hop act Hieroglyphics. Like the Oakland collective spearheaded by Del, the Grizzlies are only sort of a team(/group), and their existence is pretty fucking strange.

Guessing how they'll do 30 wins or so, but safe in the knowledge that they'll definitely be better than the Kings, and won't be as awful as last season.

Amigos' NBA Previews: LA Lakers

2009-10-19T20:38:00.004-05:00

Recent History Shaq left, Kobe scored a lot but they didn't win as much the Lakers were used to. And then they got Pau for his brother and some stuff, and everything was everything. They lost to the Celtics in the '08 finals, then Kobe won gold at the Olympics and came back with a vengeance or whatever the fuck. And they were awesome on the whole, and they won the title, and stuff. And...scene.

Offseason Ron-ron in, Trevor out. Lamar stayed. There you go. The impact the Artest deal will make is obviously the big story for this team, and one of the bigger stories in the league this season. We'll see.

Probable lineup Derek Fisher, Kobe Bryant, Ron Artest, Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum as the starting five. Jordan Farmar, Shannon Brown, Machine, Luke Walton, and Lamar Odom as key subs. Throw Josh Powell and DJ Mbenga in there if you want. But not Adam Morrison. Never Adam Morrison.

General Overview Really?

Um, alright. The Lakers are, you know, really good. Lamar and Pau fit perfectly within the system, Kobe's Kobe, Fisher can still play to some extent, and then when he's off they have two pretty capable backups. And, when healthy, Bynum's a top five center in the league. Ta fucking da. It begins and ends with how Artest effects this team, really, and that's all there is to it. Kobe could fall off a bit, Fisher could be near his end, but whatever, they have enough to compensate for that. But if Artest decides to take stupid shots and play outside the offense, they're in trouble. Other than that? They're fucking hard to stop.

If they were a hip hop act Wu Tang Clan.(depth) ((you can decide who's who))

Guessing how they'll do Lots of wins and stuff. They'll win the conference, I won't bother guessing if they'll win the title (yet). Yea, out 'dere.

8!

2009-10-19T18:07:00.001-05:00

Amigos' NBA Previews: LA Clippers

2009-10-18T21:23:00.003-05:00

Alright, I'm going to have to do an abbreviated Clippers preview, too. Apologies to the legions of LA Clippers fans that were eagerly awaiting my opinion on their team.

Basically, they still have Baron, which could either be what drags them down or propels them to a playoff spot. Who the fuck knows. They got Bassy to back him up, so there's a guy who will bring stability...oh. Well, alright. At the '2' they'll trot out Eric Gordon, a sort of throw back shooting guard who basically just scores. But he's efficient, and he looks to be a good shout to have a big season. They traded for Rasual Butler to back him up, which is a sort of nice move. Al Thornton will start at small forward, and he brings great athleticism, but not a whole lot in terms of skills. They'll probably be looking to rely on him a little less this season, as he's not the most efficient player in the world. But not bad, as long as he's a role player, as that athleticism can certainly be very important. At power forward, they got some new guy. Blake Griffin, as he's apparently known, has been getting rave reviews from everyone, including most recently Greg Popovich, and who am I to argue with that? He's a very athletic 4 who looks like he'll be able to handle the physical aspect of the league very well, and he's also got a great motor and some decent technique. Don't expect him to be Dwight Howard right out the gate, but he ought to be pretty damn good. At center, they have Chris Kaman, who seems to be sort of forgotten. When healthy, Kaman can be a pretty nice center, and in the past has shown the ability to be a guy that can average a double double. Don't expect that with Camby around to grab decent minutes, but look for Kaman to be somewhat resurgent, and be part of what ought to be a very nice frontcourt. The aforementioned Camby is still pretty decent at what he does, and as long as the Clippers really only expect him to grab boards and block shots, he ought to do well. The reduced role could be a good thing, in terms of keeping him healthy.

Overall, the Clippers have the makings of a nice team now, but certainly it's a squad that is likely to build around Griffin in the future and hope to improve. Right now, I think they have an outside shot at the playoffs, but I'd be surprised if they're consistent enough to pull it off. Clippers fans ought to be happy to have the return of something resembling hope. Oh, and if the Clippers were a hip hop act, they'd totally be...I don't know, Wale? I'll go with Wale. Because I'ma compare the buzz around the two. So there you go.

9

2009-10-18T21:22:00.001-05:00

An abbreviated Indiana Pacers preview

2009-10-18T13:12:00.002-05:00

Alright, real quick, sans the pictures.

They lost a lot of their solid depth guys, with Marquis Daniels, Jarrett Jack, and Rasho all leaving. Granted, none of those are great players, but neither are any of the other guys they have, outside of Granger. And, considering the fact that they've mostly completely failed to really replace those players, it seems we're looking at another season of below-averageness without any real growth. We're way past the point of questioning what the fuck is going on in Indiana, as they've truly failed at building around a very solid player in Granger. TJ Ford is a nice point guard, and Roy Hibbert could be a damn good center, but outside of that, there's not a whole bunch to get excited about in Indiana. On a brighter note, this team has given/will continue to give the world a bunch of jokes about their cracker-dom, so that's nice.

Anyway, I see the Pacers being a decent bit off the playoff race in the East, but not truly horrible. They can be somewhat exciting at times, and I know they got a rep for playing in a lot of close games last year, but they're pretty 'meh'

10

2009-10-17T23:06:00.000-05:00

Amigos' NBA Previews: Golden State Warriors

2009-10-17T16:18:00.002-05:00

First off, I want to note that this was intentional, and that I do actually recognize that 'G' comes before 'H' in the alphabet. I simply did not have enough time earlier to devote to writing about the Warriors. Because this is something that will take a while, whereas I wrote about 12 words on the Rockets. ACUS FUCK THE ROCKETS. Yea, I said it.

Anyway.

Recent Past Lots and lots of weirdness. After a decade+ of mostly sucking, you know, a lot, the eight seeded Warriors managed to beat the Mavs in the first round in '07, drawing universal acclaim and lots of Baron-love. Since then, it's been pretty fucking disappointing. Lots of general dysfunction, off an on the court, has led to results beneath what was expected of the young team post-emergence.

Offseason (yes, I realize that's a Knicks jersey)

The Warriors gave up Crawford because Nelson decided he didn't want to play him anymore, getting back Speedy Claxton and Acie Law. So, basically, a bit of cap relief after this season. They also added Devean George and Mikki Moore, as well as drafting Stephen Curry at seven in the draft. So, basically, they added Curry and...stuff.

Probable lineup: Ha. You know who coaches this team, right?

But I'll take a crack at it. Monta Ellis, Anthony Morrow, Stephen Jackson, Anthony Randolph, and Andris Biedrins as starters. C.J. Watson, Stephen Curry, Kelenna Azubuike, Corey Maggette, Brandon Wright, and Ronny Turiaf as key subs. Or, you know, not.

General Overview AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

(deep breath)

Okay, I think I'm ready now. Look back up at that lineup. How much fucking quality depth does this team have? I didn't even bother with any of the four players they brought in (from outside the draft), and there's 11 guys that could all get solid minutes for a pretty decent number of teams. And yet, almost nobody has the Warriors as a playoff team. Et pourquoi?

Well. There's the whole "dysfunctional mess run by a somewhat insane Don Nelson" thing. That's a start. And as a result of...that, you have to almost check your positivity at the door with this team. Which is a shame, because there's so damn much to be positive about.

At point, you instantly recognize that, alright...there sort of isn't a point guard. Not one that's likely to get a bunch of minutes, anyway. Ellis is a scorer; he can drive to the hoop and sometimes decides to pass it, but that's not exactly on some John Stockton shit. Watson will get time, sure, but even he's not a particularly traditional '1'. You figure that it will probably be a pretty heavy, weird rotation at the guard spots, featuring a lot of Ellis, and then less of Curry, Morrow, Azubuike, Jackson, Watson, and perhaps others playing at various spots (in some cases, all the way up to the '4'). And so they'll be spending a lot of time without a real point, or even a point-forward, and in those cases it will be really important that they're able to either a) get out and run, or b) get into positive match ups in order to go 1 on 1. Failing this, we'll see a lot of disorder, the same kind of shit that enraged those of us who made GSW a staple of our NBA-watching last season.

The positive thing about all that versatility, with only a couple players really fixed to one spot on the court, is that the Warriors can at times be a matchup nightmare for opponents. The negative aspect of it is...opponents can quite regularly be matchup nightmares for the Warriors. Their defensive woes aren't exactly a secret, and though they have a few guys that can excel on the defensive end individually, it's tended to be a bit of a mess on the whole. Of course, part of that mess has been because of a lack of effort on the defensive end, which is one of the other things that can annoy the shit out of you when watching this team.

But, anyway. We sort of already mentioned all the options at the '2', but let's sort of expound upon that. I'm figuring it will be the most random of all the spots on this extremely random team, but I think Morrow will end up getting a pretty decent amount of time there, and as a result I put him down as a possible starter. Morrow's the most normal player on this team, and I'm not sure if that'll be looked at as a good thing by Nelson, but it's...a thing. He's a very good three point shooter, which is certainly something Nelson will like, but other than that he doesn't bring all that to the table. But I think his (relative) stability would be a positive influence on this team, especially when you look at the other names in that possible starting five. I mean, it's pretty fucking weird when you're left in a position where a somewhat streaky three point ace is seen as a stabilizing force,but there you go. Just to add some idea of the potential weirdness to this paragraph, we'll probably see a lot of Monta-Curry, Monta-Jack, Monta-Buike, Curry-Jack, and Curry-Buike combos in the backcourt this year. So, yea.

At what we'll loosely refer to as the small forward spot, Jackson seemed to be the only sure thing in the lineup last season. But with his recent outburst(s), and his ability to raise hell, that adds yet another dimension of "what the fuck" to this extremely "what the fuck" worthy franchise. I'd imagine no-longer Captain Jack will probably still see the vast majority of the time at this spot, but who knows if he'll still be around for very long. I'm not sure there's a ton of trade possibilities, but who knows. Looking at other guys that can play here, I really like Kelenna, and I'm not sure how much time he'll see caught up in this whole...thing. They still have Maggette, which I've forgotten on numerous occasions. He's got a big contract that he probably doesn't live up to, but the dude can get to the line like a motherfucker. And that's still a pretty valuable skill.

At the '4', you have possibly the most interesting player in the whole league. Alright, perhaps an overstatement, but come on! It's Anthony Randolph. He...cries, he looks like he's crying, he makes you cry, and yet he's still pretty awesome. A 6'11 athletic freak somewhere between Durant and Garnett, he's now somewhat universally tipped to become a star after putting up some damn solid stats as a still somewhat raw 19 year old. There were problems with his playing time last season, but I'm pretty sure even Don Nelson won't fuck around with this dude in the upcoming season. He can handle the ball, he can shoot a bit, he can rebound like nobody's business, and he can swat shots. So, like I said, somewhere between Garnett and Durant. When Randolph's not in the game, Brandon Wright's another very promising young forward when healthy, and also look for Nelson to do a lot of weird shit with moving guys that definitely aren't '4's to this spot.

Alright, moving onto the five, it's definitely Biedrins, when he's healthy. He's a very efficient scorer who knows his range, and he can run the court a bit. For me, he's just about a perfect fit for this team, which made the whispers of his possible departure really fucking annoying. Hopefully he can stick around and stay healthy, because he can grab the boards and put the ball in the hoop. He's not a really imposing presence, but it's the fucking Warriors, and they aren't particularly expecting anyone to be an imposing presence. Off the bench, Turiaf's a nice (if overpaid) backup center who definitely brings the energy, and is really just hard to criticize too much. And, once again, Nelson will probably occasionally pull some weird shit here.

Basically, to wrap this up? Expect the unexpected, and a whole lot of weird shit, from this GSW squad. And, of course, their coach. Especially the coach.

If they were a hip hop act Because you have to treat your feelings towards both Dig Planets and the Warriors with a bit of irony. I'm going to take absurdly entertaining, up and down, "dumb" basketball to be the equivalent of sort of silly philosophical references and a sort of half-assed attempt at seeming uber-Marxist. Anyway, the point is, despite their (glaring) faults, I sort of really dig both.

Guessing how they'll do In case you haven't figured out yet, I think this is sort of almost impossible. But, I'll go ahead and say that the Warriors will do something resembling putting it all together, making a real run at a playoff spot. Unfortunately, I sort of think they'll fall just short.

Amigos' NBA Previews: Houston Rockets

2009-10-17T08:48:00.002-05:00

Recent Past They got McGrady, they made it to the playoffs a lot, they didn't win in the playoffs a lot, McGrady got hurt, and they beat the Blazers in the first round. So, yea. They've been decent enough for a while now, building a very strong defensive team, but they've not gotten a ton out of it.

Offseason Artest for Ariza. Stuff.

Probable Lineup Well, when healthy: Aaron Brooks, Tracy McGrady, Trevor Ariza, Luis Scola, Yao Ming. Kyle Lowry, Brent Barry, Shane Battier, Carl Landry, Chase Buddinger, and Pops MENSAH-BONSU as key subs. Who knows if that will ever actually happen.

General Outlook Look. I have no idea what's going to happen. It all depends on how long these guys are actually injured. This is sort of a throw away year for Houston, but they have some nice young players in the squad, and they'll look to get them acclimated. I don't expect them to be real awful, even with Yao and McGrady out, just because Houston tends to pull out some weird shit. What I'd be surprised if they do much. And that's about it.

If they were a hip hop act Geto Boys. Because that cover just about sums up where they're at right now.

Guessing how they'll do I don't think they'll make the playoffs, but like I said, I don't think they'll be too awful. Beyond that? No clue.

11

2009-10-16T12:13:00.001-05:00

Amigos' NBA Previews: Detroit Pistons

2009-10-15T22:21:00.002-05:00

Recent Past They beat the hall of famey Lakers and won their title, and they were really good for a while, and then some stuff happened and they weren't as good anymore. Got slaughtered by Cleveland in the playoffs. There you go.

Offseason They grabbed Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva, leaving some...well, most...to question if the Billups-AI deal was really worth shit. They also added Chris Wilcox, and drafted a couple...dudes. Oh, and Ben Wallace came back, which is kind of neat. Amir Johnson, Arron Afflalo, Rasheed Wallace, Walter Herrmann and Antonio McDyess all left.

Probable lineup Rodney Stuckey, Rip Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Charlie Villanueva, and...Kwame Brown. Will Bynum, Ben Gordon, Chris Wilcox, Jason Maxiell, Ben Wallace, and probably someone they drafted as key subs. So, yea.

General overview Look. This is a pretty decent team. That lineup...it's not bad. It's nice. There, is that enough moderate adjectives to convince you that this is a fucking run of the mill team? Good.

They should do the whole "lower-rung" playoff thing pretty well, and maybe they can even sneak as high as four or five in the East if shit really goes right. But then again, it wouldn't be shocking to see them really have to eek out a playoff spot, and considering their recent history, and the way this mini-rebuild was presented...that's not good enough.

I like Stuckey and Bynum, but they both seem to really just be really good backup point guards for a true contender. Gordon and Rip are both starting 2s for most teams, and I have no idea how that's going to work out without at least one of them getting pissed. Tayshaun is a nice player, seen as the glue guy by most, he was very useful when they were an elite team. But he's not going to be a star. Charlie Villanueva...again, another pretty nice player, he'll do well, but not great or anything. Nobody on this team is even meant to be a real star, and they aren't really vaguely reminiscent of that '04 team that was presented as the ultimate "team". So, basically? What the fuck?

Oh, Kwame. They have Kwame.

If they were a hip hop act The Pharcyde. Except when they started breaking up, and it just got to be sort of sad that they were still calling themselves The Pharcyde. The title=Bizarre Ride. The post-title goodness=Labcabincalifornia. And last year/this=...everything else. So there you go.

Guessing how they'll do Like I said, they're alright, but just so decidedly not that great. They'll be a nice playoff team, and that's about it. I'd be pretty surprised if they advance in the playoffs, but then again, who knows.

Amigos' NBA Previews: Denver Nuggets

2009-10-15T17:07:00.003-05:00

Recent Past They were pretty awful for a nice stretch there a few years back, but more recently they've been pretty consistently decent to pretty good, racking up the one-and-done playoff appearances. Last year was the exception, as the Nuggets were able to make it to the Conference Final, testing the favored Lakers before ultimately bowing out in six games.

Offseason Not that much happened, but the most significant event was Linas Kleiza leaving for Olympiacos. Kleiza was a nice bench player who could at times be quite dangerous, but really he's not a huge loss. Oh, Dahntay Jones left, too. They got Ty Lawson through the draft/dealing, who everyone that follows college basketball seems to like. Malik Allen and Arron Afflalo joined, too. So, you know. Meh.

Probably lineup Chauncey Billups, J.R. Smith, Melo, Kenyon Martin, and Nene Hilario as the starting five. Anthony Carter, Afflalo, Balkman, and Birdman as key subs. I guess.

General Outlook ...the Nuggets are fucking thin, aren't they? I mean, Christ. You look at that, and they have a pretty damn solid, very dangerous starting five. A five that can really play with just about anybody. But off the bench...Birdman's nice at times, and a couple of those other guys can sort of contribute, but there really just ain't much there. That's something that could definitely hurt, even overlooking potential injury problems. I mean, obviously I'm not an expert or anything, but shouldn't a team playing at such altitude really be more inclined (heh) to make sure they have a good bench? Not that it's that simple, of course, but it seems like this could be something they really use to their advantage late in games. But with that bench...it seems that any potential advantage will be negated. But we'll see.

Anyway, analyzing the players individually, they've got a deadly point guard that was anointed the second coming of...John Elway, in basketball form, upon joining the Nuggets. Now, in reality, Billups suffered a pretty big dropoff between 07-08 and 08-09, but he was still able to bring a sort of calm, veteran, legit pointguardness to a Nuggets team that had a tendency to let things sort of get out of control. And then, of course, he fucking lit things up in the playoffs. So, if he can do it again, maybe he is the second coming. Of whoever.

As for...the rest, it's pretty nice. Melo's postseason was superb last Spring, and if he can play like that with anything resembling some kind of consistency the Nuggets will be (even more of) a pain for every damn team in the league. I mean, how do you guard this guy? Anyway, they also have the enigma that is J.R. Smith, who can kill either team when he is on the court. And then you put K-Mart's douchyness (but still solid power forward play) next to the pretty excellent Nene, and you have a high energy starting five that can really present a variety of problems. You throw Birdman in as the legitimate sixth man, then sort of hope the rest of the team doesn't fuck things up too much. I guess.

If they were a hiphop act Black Sheep. As Dres and co. were to the Native Tongues, the Nugs are to the Association. Overlooked, perhaps not as significant, but still pretty damn good, and quite capable of impressing.

Guessing how they'll do I sort of expect them to fall back just a bit this season, but you never know. I'll say they end up around the five spot, and tip them as a team likely to win in the first round. Without even considering their likely opponent. Acus I'm awesome like that.

12

2009-10-15T09:58:00.002-05:00

Amigos' NBA Previews: Dallas Mavericks

2009-10-14T21:52:00.002-05:00

Recent Past They've been pretty damn good for a while now, haven't they? Usually get past the first round, occasionally to the conference finals, and they even made it to the finals that one time. But they've not gotten Mark (or Dirk, for that matter) his ring, and the window seems to be sort of closing.

Offseason
The big move was Marion, a potentially very nice add that ought to see them play Dirk at the 5 quite a bit this season. Not much else, really. Quinton Ross, Tim Thomas, and Drew Gooden joined up, and Jason Kidd stayed. Nobody notable left, as far as I can tell, but I'm usually wrong.

Probable lineup Jason Kidd, Josh Howard, Shawn Marion, Dirk, and Erick Dampier. JJ Barea, Jason Terry, Quinton Ross, Drew Gooden, and Tim Thomas as key subs. Or some variation on this, anyway. I'm interested to see how this works out.

General Overview Since making the finals, the Mavericks have seen the crop of elite teams sort of drift away from them, and now they're pretty firmly in that crop of sub-elite damn good teams. But the Marion move has brought new optimism, in that it sort of allows Kidd, and really the Mavs as a whole, to return to their roots.

Kidd's fucking old, and definitely not worth...whatever his contract is...but the Mavs weren't really going to bring in anyone else, despite the very quiet Chris Paul rumors. And Cuban's made of money, so...whatever. Kidd's alright, as long as you don't expect too much out of him. And Barea's proven to be a very competent backup, and a guy that can occasionally get hot and really kill teams. So, while I wouldn't say they're anywhere near the NBA's elite at the point guard spot, they aren't awful. The big issue here is on the defensive end, where anyone somewhat quick is going to kill Kidd at this point. Oh, I didn't mention Beaubois. Yea, Beaubois is sort of cool. I don't know how much he'll feature, but I'm pretty sure I'd like that guy if he didn't play for Dallas. But oh well.

At the two, you have a number of options. Howard can play there, Terry can play there, Ross can play there. I'm not really sure how they'll work out the rotation, in terms of how much they'll end up with Marion at the 3 (and Dampier at the 5), and how much they'll decide to sort of bump everyone up a spot and put in Terry (which seems like the best lineup). But that sort of versatility is definitely worthwhile, and a coach like Carlisle seems likely to be able to utilize that to his advantage. Howard and Terry obviously give you different things here, and that will rotation will likely depend on matchups and such, but this is definitely a pretty strong spot for this team.

Small forward and power forward are almost blurred together here, with both Marion and Dirk as sort of in between guys that have played from 3 to 5 in their career. Howard can play here as well, and so you figure this is where the Mavericks are going to win a lot of games. But, then again, when they aren't able to maximize production from these spots, you sort of worry about their chances. And then there's the question of how the Marion-Dirk lineup is really going to guard some of the stronger offensive fronts in the league, particularly the Lakers. And then you realize that this is sort of why the Mavs are sub-elite.

Oh, center, again, they're versatile here. Dirk will get a lot of minutes at the five, in the more interesting, offensive lineup. And then you'll have Dampier here, who can be alright. Am I going to write a whole paragraph about Erick fucking Dampier? No. No I am not. So, I'll just sort of wrap shit up here, and say: Dallas Mavericks=nice team. There. Fin. Okay, not "fin".

If they were a hip hop act Because they're held in pretty high regard by a lot of people, but then you sort of check the stats and realize they didn't really end up doing all that much, despite..everything. And because, other than Hasselhoff, I'm pretty sure Dirk really digs the Beastie Boys.

Guessing how they'll do They'll get out to a pretty nice start, then sort of fall back, finishing somewhere between fourth and sixth in the West. I'll say they get knocked out in the first round.

Amigos' NBA Previews: Cleveland Cavaliers

2009-10-14T19:59:00.003-05:00

Recent Past They sucked, then they drafted LeBron, then they still sort of sucked but sucking with LeBron sucked less. Then they got better, and better, and now they're pretty good, but they've still not won a title, and...stuff.

Offseason (Is that the real album cover? Christ)

Anyway, they got Shaq. If you didn't hear about that. I understand that it sort of went under the radar. Ben Wallace left, as did Sasha. Then they managed to sign Anthony Parker, Jamario Moon, and Leon Powe (and Rob Kurz. but, well. yea). And Joe Smith left as a free agent. So, overall, pretty awesome, it seems. They mostly just upgraded, although the obvious question is to what extent these changes will fuck with the team's style of play (keeping in mind that Kuester went to Detroit). And the answer to that question is...(/phone cuts out)

Probable Lineup Mo Williams, Delonte West, Bron, Anderson Varejao, and Shaq. Daniel Gibson, Anthony Parker, Jamario Moon, Leon Powe, and Big Z as key subs. Hell, throw in Hickson, too.

General Outlook So, Cleveland. I'm going to be honest, I'm not feeling the Cavs in a huge way this year, and I'm not really sure why. Those additions are pretty big, and ought to really help out. But...every one of the real contenders has improved, and I guess I'm just a bit less impressed with how Cleveland have changed their team. But, anyway. Let's look at what they do have.

Mo Williams' impact was probably overstated, but he's a nice point guard, and he is a pretty nice option. His pretty epically awful playoff run is worrying, but maybe with the new pieces he'll feel less compelled to try so much...stuff...when it's not working for him. Delonte's problems not withstanding, he's a good role player, and hopefully he can put all the shit behind him and just live his life and play basketball. You put Parker behind him, and that's pretty good at the 2. I wouldn't be shocked if AP ends up starting for them, with Delonte as a sort of energy guy off the bench, but we'll see how it works out Varejao at power forward, well, nobody particularly seems to liek him, and it was at one point doubtful whether he'd stick around. But he's still "here", and he's not bad. Rotate him with Powe, and that's not bad at the power forward spot. Put one of those two next to Shaq/Illgauskas, and you have yourself a pretty decent frontcourt.

Speaking of Shaq and Illgauskas, I'm not really sure how that rotation will work. With Z being made of glass, I'd imagine they'll try to limit his minutes, but then again Shaq isn't a real young dude. So, we'll see how that works out for Brown, but it has to be said that this is certainly a better situation for them at the 5 than they had last year, and it ought to help them against some of the top end opposition in the playoffs/big games. As long as they don't try to overdo Shaq's role.

Oh, yea, LeBron. Well, look. He's not going to get better. Right? He can't, can he? We'll assume that's not possible. So, let's just pencil him in for about the same insane numbers he had last year, perhaps taking into account the fact that his usage percentage ought to be lower. If Brown works it out so he doesn't end up having to run the 1-4 offense, as seemed to eventually be the case in last year's playoffs. I know it's tempting, with the one being so damn...good...but it doesn't work. For Kobe, for Jordan, for anyone. Not on a regular basis, anyway.

If they were a hip hop act...I'd have to liken them to Pete Rock's career (with 'Bron as Pete, obviously). He's always been the focal point, but sometimes those accompanying him are pretty decent. And sometimes it's been...Deda. But, perhaps Shaq can be his CL Smooth, and everyone else be...good featured artists? Alright, I admit this sort of fell apart. But, in the end, we can all agree that the 1-4 offense is sort of like an instrumental album, right? I mean, it can be pretty nice, but it's never going to be the best. There. That feels better.

Guessing how they'll do Third in the East, including tons of questions of various players' negative impact, and tons of 2010!!!!! talk. Won't even guess on the playoffs, other than to say I don't see them getting to the finals. So, boom.

13

2009-10-14T14:56:00.003-05:00

Amigos' NBA Previews: Chicago Bulls

2009-10-13T22:05:00.004-05:00

Recent Past They sucked for a little while post-Jordan, then they climbed to the dizzying heights of "halfway decent". Somewhere in there I think they were meant to become legitimately good, but it's never really happened, and so they seem to be stuck in the monotonous world of mediocrity. The VDN hiring doesn't seem to have helped in their quest to escape mediocrity.

Offseason Ben Gordon and Tim Thomas left, and they signed Jannero Pargo. So, yea. They obviously didn't really replace Gordon's production, but the Brit got overpaid but the rival Pistons, so even if this may hurt the Bulls short term, long term they ought to be better off not paying a good but not great scoring guard a fuckton of money. Assuming they can, at some point, actually spend money on a solid player that could theoretically put them over the top. Like we've sort of been hearing about for a while. But I digress.

Probable Lineup Derrick Rose, John Salmons, Luol Deng, Joakim Noah, and Brad Miller. Hinrich, Pargo, Thomas, and probably one of James Johnson and Taj Gibson as key guys off the bench. Or, you know, whatever the fuck Vinny Del Negro decides to do.

General Outlook Look, let's get this out of the way. This team is probably going to get fucked over by Del Negro's coaching. It's basically a question of how much he messes up their chances. I mean...could the guy improve drastically this season? Sure. But he consistently fucked up the rotations last year, did very poorly with what ought to be a pretty damned good defensive team, and just sort of generally seemed somewhat clueless. The near-upset of the Celtics doesn't really change that.

Now that that's done, onto less grim matters. Well, how 'bout this: Derrick Rose? Yea, that guy's pretty good. And he's going to get better. This season, even. The reigning rookie of the year looks likely to be the first real great point guard to enter the league since Paul and Williams, and guys of such potential at that position tend to really improve over their second and third seasons. So, look out. As with most players, he really just have to become more consistent, work on limiting his turnovers, and improve his defense.

Also, I hear the Bulls have other players. Some of them are even good! Yes, Luol Deng is returning, which will be sort of like replacing Ben Gordon with a guy they already had. And he's British, too! Whoa. If he can get back to his 06-07 best, his intrinsic weirdness will give this team another dimension of awesome. Brad Miller and John Salmons stick around as remnants of the Nocioni trade from last season, both very solid veteran players that could help the team to a pretty damn good record over 82 games. Joakim Noah, well, who the fuck knows. Same with Tyrus Thomas. Not to get back on the Del Negro shit, but I pretty much guarantee that we'll collectively groan at his use of those two about 100 times this season. Give or take.

The two rookies, Gibson and Johnson, have both had pretty damn solid pre-seasons, and it's sort of a shame they seem to be competing for one spot, and a spot where they'll likely not get that much playing time. But who knows, one (or both, even) could really break out. Pargo's signing will mean most of Hinrich's minutes come at shooting guard, I'd imagine, but who knows. Del Negro sort of liked playing small lineups last season, so maybe we can look for some real weird shit this season. But,anyway, both Hinrich and Pargo are pretty nice players, bringing completely different things to the team, and that sort of variety is cool. Is it weird that I've become more positive about the Bulls' season while writing this? Because I have. But then I think about Del Negro. And then, well, sadface. But anyway.

If they were a hip hop act: Gravediggaz. Like the hip hop supergroup/novelty act...well, they're sort of this weird super group novelty act thing. I'm not sure how these pieces make sense, really, but they come together, and it works out. They're pretty good, but nobody's going to mistake it for some all-out awesomeness or anything.

Actually, I'm not sure I'm comfortable with Vinny Del Negro as Prince Paul. But oh well.

Guessing how they'll do I already predicted the Hawks for fourth, right? Alright, well, I'll say the Bulls will compete for that fourth spot, and fall just short. They'll be a real pain in the ass for whoever they face in the first round, and that series will go deep. I will not predict a winner. But I'll say that this is likely to save VDN's job. Again.

Amigos' NBA Previews: Charlotte Bobcats

2009-10-13T14:57:00.003-05:00

Recent Past: They sucked a lot, and then they sucked some less, and then they almost made the playoffs. But they didn't. Oh, and during that time, they drafted Adam Morrison, and Michael Jordan did some things. So, there we go.

Offseason: They traded Emeka for Chandler, presumably because of his shorter contract, and signed Flip Murray. And Sean May left, which probably knocks about 30 wins off my projection for them this season. They also ended up re-signing Raymond Felton, to a one year deal, and they drafted a guy that went to Duke. Didn't sign AI. So, yea.

Probable Lineup: Raymond Felton, Raja Bell, Crash, Boris Diaw, and Tyson Chandler. D.J. Augustin, Flip Murray, Gerald Henderson, Alexis Ajinça and Desagana Diop as key subs. I guess?

General Outlook: This is a pretty fucking weird team. I mean, most of these guys probably won't be around too much longer, although I'm not sure Charlotte are really waiting on signing a big free agent or any shit like that. So they're just a sort of alright team, sitting there, kind of-sort of developing a couple young guys, but not really. But, you know, shit, I could have just pointed to the presence of both Gerald Wallace and Boris Diaw as a sign of their crazy weirdness. I mean, really, is there any team in the league that has two players as odd as them? I doubt it. And for such a weird team to be coached by Larry Brown? Yea, I basically have no idea what the fuck is going on.

Bringing back Felton will get them another season of a pretty decent, but not spectacular point guard that hasn't really made any improvement since coming to the league as the third point guard in a draft class that included Chris Paul and Deron Williams. It also gives them a pretty fucked up point guard situation, which I'm not sure will work at all. I mean, I guess it's not expected to do that much, so it can't fail. Right? I don't know. Anyway. Can we get back to Gerald Wallace and Boris Diaw? Alright. You really need to watch this team a few times, just to see those guys, and appreciate how fucking awkward their games are. I mean, Wallace feels like a guy that could really help a contender...somehow, and Diaw's already been there and done that. Now he's...getting his, or something. I'm not sure what his motivation is, but I'm sure it involves the French National Team and a plot to steal Eva Longoria. Or....something.

The Chandler thing is...whatever? I sort of cared about that at first, but then I realized it's really sort of pointless. I mean, best case, this team eeks out the eight spot? Alright. And so, next season, or two seasons from now, when there's about three of these guys still here, will anyone care whether they had Tyson Chandler or Emeka Okafor? No. No they won't. I think Okafor's probably a little better, but I see why the Cats made that deal, and I just don't want to fucking waste brain power on dissecting the positives and negatives of two goodish centers. This last paragraph has pretty much been completely contrary to my usually very shitty-team-friendly stance on the NBA, but whatever. That's fine. It somehow fits in with the weirdness that is your 2009-10 Charlotte Bobcats.

If they were a hip hop act: I wish they were good enough for the Little Brother tag, as that'd be easy. Um, lets see. Let's go with Fu-Schnickens, because that's just about how weird the Bobcats are.

Guessing how they'll do: Close enough to a playoff spot to be consistently mentioned as one of the last teams "in the hunt" deep into March, but ultimately probably 11th or some shit in the East. But, you know, a somewhat intriguing 11th. Whatever the fuck that means.

14

2009-10-13T13:04:00.001-05:00

Amigos' NBA Previews- Boston Celtics

2009-10-12T20:32:00.003-05:00

Recent Past: They traded for a couple of guys you may have heard of, they did a thing you may have heard about, and then they tried to do that thing again but one of those guys you may have heard of was hurt. And that made it more difficult. They lost to the Magic in 7, getting beaten at home as they were knocked out of the playoffs. And now, they look for...I don't know some sort of redemption, which will surely include lots of screaming and ubuntu.

Offseason: They added Sheed, Marquis Daniels, and Candace Parker's husband, while losing Leon Powe, Steph, Patrick O'Bryant, and Mikki Moore. Adding Sheed while losing Powe is a move that's probably not as good as most would assume, with Powe's great per minute stats, but it should work out if Sheed plays like he can. Daniels is a back up guard with a lot of potential, but we have no idea if he'll ever live up to that potential.

Probable Lineup: Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Kendrick Perkins; Eddie House, Marquis Daniels, Rasheed Wallace, Glen Davis,Shelden Wallace, and Brian Scalabrine's hair as key subs.

General Outlook: Look, the Celtics are really fucking good. We know this. There are really only three questions here. 1) Will they stay healthy? 2) Will Ray and/or KG fall off? 3) How much will Sheed help? I guess a fourth could be "will Rondo be as awesome as he was in the playoffs", but that sort of would necessitate that he'd play as big a role as he did without KG. And that doesn't seem likely. Kendrick Perkins also stepped up in the playoffs/at the end of last season, and so now we're looking at a team with three stars and two potentially great role players. Oh, and Rasheed fucking Wallace on the bench, along with a few other guys that give them pretty nice depth. Yea, so basically? Boston are not allowed to play that underdog shit this year. It is not acceptable.

You look at this team, and immediately, because of the state of the league, you compare them to the other four/five contenders. And you know what? I like them against any of those teams, except maybe LA. And that seems to be just about a toss up. So, even though Orlando's looking really good, and Cleveland's still got LeBron motherfucking James (and Shaq...and people), and the Spurs had a really nice offseason...I'm looking to the Celtics as the Lakers main rival this year. Now, I don't know about this 72 wins shit, but they ought to win...well, a fucking lot. And I'd be a bit surprised if they don't make it to the finals, honestly.

If they were a hip hop act: Kanye West. Like Kanye in the "College Dropout" era, they were a pretty sympathetic bunch when they toppled the evil Lakers, with everyone sort of wanting KG to get his ring. But now they're just sort of assholes playing in fucking Boston, and are pretty universally hated. As the Celtics should be, really.

Guessing how they'll do: Finish with the NBA's best record, lose in finals. Maybe. No matter what, there will be LOTS AND LOTS OF SCREAMING AND INTENSITY.

Amigos' NBA Previews- Atlanta Hawks

2009-10-12T14:10:00.004-05:00

Recent Past: After years of post 'Nique(and later)Dike' sucktitutde, the Hawks managed to make it to the playoffs in 07-08, albeit with a losing record. They proceeded to take the Celtics to game seven, in a series that probably seemed more dramatic than it actually was (they got killed in every road game, and managed to squeak out the home games). This seemed to sort of give the team a newly found meaning, and last season they almost got to the 50 win mark, finishing fourth in the East in the process. They won a seven-gamer against Miami, in a series that (you might recall) had us all questioning our will to live. They probably deserved to get swept against Cleveland, just for putting us through that shit. And on that note, let's just move on...

Offseason: They managed to get Jamal Crawford for Acie Law and Speedy Claxton, which was pretty awesome. Obviously, there were mitigating circumstances on GSW's end, but this is definitely an upgrade over Flip Murray, in what ought to be pretty much the same role. Other than that, they didn't really do anything.

Probable Lineup: Mike Bibby, Joe Johnson, Marvin Williams, Josh Smith, Al Horford. Jamal Crawford, Joe Smith, and Zaza Pachulia as key subs.

General Outlook: ...does it seem weird to anyone else that the Hawks are a genuinely good team now? I mean, they aren't going to win a title, but they're sort of like an Eastern Conference Utah Jazz (perhaps not as good). This just doesn't sit well with me, and my first reaction is to expect them to somehow become a disaster. But, you look at this roster, and barring some weird injury mess, it just doesn't look like one that's going to fail. Bibby had a somewhat resurgent season last time out, and I guess it wouldn't be shocking if he got worse/hurt/traded, but none of the other players look real likely to have anything mess with their season. They're just a really solid squad, without a real star, but their starting five doesn't have a true weak link, if we assume Marvin Williams will at least sustain the improvement he made last season. Somehow Joe Johnson's considered an All-Star now, and, as the joke goes, he's so often been referred to as underrated that he's now overrated. But that's fine; it's sort of just cool that there's a player on the Hawks that people are willing to look at as an All-Star. And you add in Josh Smith's general coolness, Jamal Crawford's potential to go for 50 points in any game, and the running "Marvin Williams is not Chris Paul" storyline, and this is a somewhat captivating team.

They really lack meaningful depth beyond the eight I listed before, and if anything happens with Bibby they'll have to fuck around with Crawford at point. And, well, that's probably not a good thing. Johnson and Smith will likely have to play big minutes again this season, as outside of Crawford they really lack a non-big to come off the bench. The Joe Smith signing could help, in that they may be able to work out the rotation with Marvin and Josh Smith (and even Johnson) so that they'll not have to play ridiculous minutes. This is assuming Joe Smith still has nothing left. Honestly, I have no clue, but he was decent enough for Cleveland last year, and let's just sort of assume he can do that again. Anyway, it will be interesting to see how Mike Woodson deals with that rotation, and if he can make it really work for him. Because those eight are all pretty good, and if that can last for 82+ the playoffs they could be looking at 50 wins and another shot at the second round. Of course, if they fuck around and have a couple injuries, or just have a player or two fall off a bit, they could be down around the seven or eight spot in a weirdly-deep (but still not really that good) Eastern Conference.

If they were a hip hop act: Little Brother. The Hawks are quite good, probably in the NBA's top 10 teams, but like Little Brother, people only sort of pay attention to them, and in the end you get the feeling all the pieces will end up leaving before they really make it big.

Guessing how they'll do: I don't know. I guess I'll put them in the four spot in the east, and then they're probably pretty iffy for the second round, depending on the opponent. Not exactly an "out there" prediction, I know.

15

2009-10-12T13:35:00.000-05:00

16. Wow, that's not that long. Yay.

2009-10-11T20:25:00.002-05:00

(what glorious jerseys)

((oh, also, I'ma start the previews tomorrow. 2 teams a day. that ought to work, right? yea. so, LOOK FOR THAT, PLEASE))

17 DAYS PEOPLE

2009-10-10T20:50:00.000-05:00

18.

2009-10-09T20:06:00.000-05:00

Oh, and I guess the NBA is still cool. 19.

2009-10-08T19:47:00.002-05:00

SUPERFANTASTIC LIGA ACB PREVIEW

2009-10-08T13:52:00.008-05:00

So, you've sunk this low? You want to watch Liga ACB this season. Well, okay. After you've briefly considered where your life has gone wrong, you should read this thing. It ought to give you a decent idea of what to look for, in your quest for basketball nerd-dom.

THE CONTENDERS

This off-season has seen the gap between "the best" and "the rest" grow even wider, with Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Saski Baskonia all really strengthening what were already the best squads in the league. And we'll throw in Unicaja Malaga, Spain's other Euroleague representative, into the mix as well. You know, for funsies.

Barcelona have perhaps generated the most buzz, with last year's champions adding Ricky Rubio, Pete Mickael,Erazem Lorbek, Terrence Morris, and Boniface N'Dong to their squad. Basically, they're probably the deepest team in Europe, and this depth ought to serve them extremely well as they fight for both the ACB and Euroleague crowns. Their main concern will be with integrating all these new faces into the team, but because everyone seems to be given a very specific role, I don't imagine they'll have too much trouble. I'd certainly place the Blaugrana as the early favorites, with so many threats that opponents will really have to pick their poison.

Real Madrid's main addition is on the bench, with veteran coach Ettore Messina becoming one of many big names to come to the Spanish capital. But they've also added a lot of new players, both young and old, with Pablo Prigioni, Rimantas Kaukėnas, Sergi Vidal,Travis Hansen, Novica Veličković, and Jorge Garbajosa being the most notable newcomers. They'll have an almost completely new starting 5, with Felipe Reyes likely being the only holdover from last season. They'll likely be the main challengers, and just as in football they'll be doing it with a style of play likely to be very different to their main rivals. Whereas Barcelona seem to be somewhat predicated on creativity, with Ricky Rubio being their main symbol of this style, Real Madrid are likely to play in Messina's somewhat traditionally defensive posture, somewhat built around big man Felipe Reyes.

Saski Baskonia (now known as Caja Laboral for sponsorship reasons) have suffered some key losses, with Vidal, Prigioni, and Mickael all leaving to their two Spanish rivals. But they've done well in replacing those talents, with Marcelinho Huertas, Carl English, Walter Hermann, Lior Eliahu, Brad Oleson, Vladimir Micov, and Pau Ribas all coming in from what I'd deem a very savvy mercato. Built around Brazilian Tiago Splitter (in what will likely be his final season with the team), Tau...er, Caja Laboral seem to be somewhat predicated on a finesse game that will likely involve a lot of outside shooting. As such, they could well end up being a somewhat streaky team, certainly dangerous against anyone in Europe, but also somewhat at risk of losing games they likely shouldn't. They'll certainly challenge their two more glamorous rivals, although we'll have to see how their new players can step in for more proven predecessors.

Unicaja Malaga maintain a relatively similar squad to the one that nearly knocked Barcelona out in last year's semifinals. Unfortunately, the two players they did lose were likely the most important, in Carlos Cabezas (off to Khimki), and the previously mentioned Boniface N'Dong. They did somewhat make up for these departures, by bringing in high scoring point guard Pooh Jeter and Greek forward Gergios Printezis, but I just get the feeling that those two likely won't be able to really fill the shoes of their predecessors. I was often left sort of wondering how Unicaja were doing so well last season, and I think they could well fall back into the pack this year, not really competing with the "big three". But I'll leave them here, as the fourth contender, and the team likely to sort of provide the line between the big teams and everyone else.

TEAMS LOOKING FOR A PLAYOFF SPOT

You really could put just about everyone else in this category, but I'd say Valencia, Gran Canaria, DKV Joventut, Bilbao, Fuenlabrada, Estudiantes, and Bàsquet Manresa are the seven truly contending for the other four playoff spots. Someone else could (and likely will) pop up, but these teams have pretty strong squads and a history of being pretty good (for the most part). I really expect Valencia to make a resurgence this year after falling off a bit last season, and I think they could challenge Unicaja for that fourth spot. A squad with Florent Pietrus, Nando de Colo, Kosta Perović, and Víctor Claver (among others) is nothing to sneeze at. The other squads are somewhat of a mixed bag, with strong players either brought in from the bigger squads or from poorer leagues, and journeymen. The race for the playoffs will come down to a couple games, as it just about always does in Spain, and the line between relegation and a chance at the title really isn't THAT big, as Estudiantes nearly found out last season.

THOSE THAT MAY END UP IN LEB ORO NEXT YEAR

..the rest? Obradoiro CAB, Lucentum Alicante, and Valladolid, the promotees from the second division, all boast interesting squads. But it's really just a completely different game between ACB and LEB Oro, and these squads will all find the transition tough, and in my estimation are unlikely to make a real push for the playoffs. CB Granada, CB Murcia, Cajasol Sevilla, and San Sebastián all had to fight against relegation last year, and I expect it to be the same thing this season. All these squads, except perhaps for Valladolid, are really at a big financial disadvantage, and the difference between these squads and the playoff contenders seems to be growing every season.

So, there you go. The season starts Saturday, and we'll see just how wrong I am (prediction: very). Look for a similarly poorly formatted Euroleague preview...sometime next week. Peace?

20 days. Which is less than 3 weeks. Huzzah.

2009-10-07T20:42:00.002-05:00

(also, I've decided I'm doing a Liga ACB preview, probably tomorrow. so, look for that. it'll be spectacular.)

Oh, right. This. 21

2009-10-06T21:40:00.002-05:00

Vingt-deux jours

2009-10-05T21:21:00.001-05:00

23

2009-10-04T16:32:00.000-05:00

....what?

24 days (this is getting tedious)

2009-10-03T20:41:00.003-05:00

(two number 24s! Hell yes!)

((wait. does that mean there's 48 days now? hopefully not))

(((by the way, I've somewhat definitely decided I'll be starting the team by team previews eight days from now, and do them two at a time. So, if you want to read previews of every team after most of them have already been done by someone else, you know where to go)))

An Early Clásico

2009-10-02T20:55:00.003-05:00

For those looking for a basketball fix tomorrow, you may want to check out the final of Spain's "Supercopa", a preseason competition which will see Barcelona and Real Madrid face each other for the first time with their new look squads. Even though it's not a greatly meaningful trophy, these teams will be looking to make a statement as the ACB/Euroleague season is about to get underway. These look to be two of the four or five strongest teams outside the NBA (better than a few NBA teams, I'd say), and it should be a rather exciting matchup, with plenty of interesting subplots (if the "Madrid-Barcelona" thing isn't enough for you).

25 days

2009-10-02T20:54:00.001-05:00

(Also, 26 days...)

2009-10-01T13:21:00.003-05:00

And, apparently, the preseason starts tonight. Yay! With a game between (Korver's) Jazz and the Nuggets. I may or may not convince myself to watch this.

Artest's offense: A brief quote

2009-10-01T13:19:00.003-05:00

"Artest had a nice moment when he drove the lane, got walled off by [Andrew] Bynum and kicked to the corner for Sasha Vujacic to hit a 3-pointer. A minute later, Artest jacked up an off-balance wing 3-pointer that sailed way over the basket without hitting anything." ()

Beautiful.

27!

2009-09-30T22:48:00.000-05:00

URGENT

2009-09-29T13:53:00.003-05:00

http://www.nba.com/warriors/news/2009_training_camp_central.html

You can watch the Warriors practice at the link above. Like, right now. I've been watching 45 seconds, and already seen two failed solo-drives and an awful attempt at an alley oop. It's brilliant.

edit: now they're having 2 on 0 fast break dunking practice. This is the best day of my life.

(28)

2009-09-29T11:51:00.004-05:00

(First, I'd like to tell the Golden State Warriors to motherfucking work it out. haven't they already had enough dysfunction for the next...century, or something? Just give us a bunch of 130-125 games, and perhaps a run at a playoff spot. Please?)

Less Than a Month. Hurray!

2009-09-28T23:33:00.004-05:00

Alright, look. I don't know if anyone that was reading this stuff is still going to be reading this stuff. Not that there were ever a lot of people reading this stuff (but a few, at least). And I don't know how regular I'll be with this posting mess. But this shit ain't dead. Yet. And so, on this, the 28th of September, we celebrate. For it is less than a month until the NBA's regular season starts. Now, you may be asking yourself, "shouldn't he have posted when it was actually a month until the season starts?" And my reply would be: shut up.

In the meantime, there's still not that much to say, but perhaps I'll manage to get a few things up soon. I do plan on doing team by team previews, two at a time, starting...I don't know, I'll figure it out. It will be awesome. Alright, perhaps not awesome, but...acceptable, yes? And, really, if you're reading this, you're probably pretty fine with acceptable.

And now, as by my count there are 29 days until the season starts, I give you the greatest number 29 in NBA history:

(oof)

Les Bleus undefeated, rewarded with...

2009-09-16T17:23:00.003-05:00

...a quarterfinal matchup with Spain. Lucky them.

The quarterfinal round leaves us with four pretty damn good games, and a situation where it seems any of the eight remaining teams can legitimately win this thing. Turkey-Greece is a great rivalry, and one which ought to see two relatively evenly matched sides go at each other. Serbia and Russia are two sides meant to be weaker than in the past, but yet both find themselves with a very good chance of qualifying for the World Basketball Championship. Slovenia and Croatia are two underrated sides that, while inconsistent, can challenge any team in Europe when they play to their capabilities

But the previously mentioned game between France and Spain is the undoubted highlight of this round. Possibly the two strongest sides in the competition, this could just as easily be a final. But the loser of this game will find themselves very close to missing out on an automatic qualifying spot for next year's World Basketball Championship, and so this will be a hotly contested matchup. In terms of talent, Spain seem to have the edge, just as they do in every game of this competition. But France's staunch defense and the electric play of Tony Parker will provide the inconsistent Spaniards with a stern test, and if they don't play to their abilities the French could embarrass them. No matter what, it should be a fun game.

23-0, and a possible Spanish resurgence

2009-09-14T15:13:00.003-05:00

So, wow. After continuing to sort of wallow in the mire of mediocre play for the majority of this tournament, and going down early to Lithuania, Spain managed to pull off a 23-0 run that put them into the lead for good. The 84-70 win sees them go to a 2-2 record in the qualifying round, and leaves them in pretty good position going into their final game of this round. They were sparked by the creative play of Ricky Rubio, who had just 5 points but managed 9 assists and 3 steals, as well as the somewhat dominant presence of Pau Gasol, who finished with 19 points and 8 boards, continually providing an option the Lithuanians just weren't able to stop. It looked like a Spanish team back to something resembling their best, and if that's the case it will be a scary proposition going forward, as this tournament reaches its latter stages.

Eurobasket Initial group stage done, onto...

2009-09-09T16:59:00.003-05:00

...the qualifying round? They really need to think of a different name for this. Anyway.

Lithuania managed to beat Bulgaria and avoid complete embarrassment, getting into the qualifying round as the third placed team in their group. Greece, France, and Turkey are the three teams to go undefeated in the group stage, and all go into the qualifying round with 2-0 records (the games against non-last place teams carry over. So, the "qualifying" groups:

Group E

1. Greece 2/0 4
2. France 2/0 4
3. Croatia 1/1 3
4. Germany 1/1 3
5. Russia 0/2 2
6. F.Y.R. of Macedonia 0/2 2

Group F
1. Turkey 2/0 4
2. Slovenia 1/1 3
3. Serbia 1/1 3
4. Spain 1/1 3
5. Poland 1/1 3
6. Lithuania 0/2 2

Both groups give us quite a few good match ups, and everything really seems to be up for grabs.

Urgent Daniel Santiago News

2009-09-08T22:23:00.003-05:00

So, after totally rocking the FIBA Americas tournament (check the stats), our man Daniel Santiago is going to Efes Pilsen. Where, presumably, he'll totally rock Constantinople.

(by the way, a Google search of "Daniel Santiago Efes Pilsen" has this blog as the sixth result. huzzah.)

I Can't Overstate...

2009-09-07T14:38:00.002-05:00

...how awfully Spain are playing right now. Motherfuck.

The lineups have often been silly, without particularly functioning positions (and not in an interesting new-wave basketball sort of way), and the play has been completely disjointed. At some point you expect the talent to just sort of take over, but...wow. We'll see what happens.

PS: To the dude covering this game for TVE, please stop calling Rubio "Ricky Business". Christ.

an abbreviated look at Group D

2009-09-07T10:24:00.003-05:00

The Rosters...

Bulgaria:Dimitar Angelov (Lukoil Academic Sofia); Bozhidar Avramov (Pamesa Valencia); Tencho Banev (Lukoil Academic Sofia); Vassil Evtimov (Khimik OPZ Yuzny); Stefan Georgiev (BC Levski Sofia); Zlatin Georgiev (BC Levski Sofia); Aleksandar Georgiev; Deyan Ivanov (Premiata Montegranaro); Kaloyan Ivanov (Vive Menorca); Chavdar Kostov (Lukoil Academic Sofia); Ivan Lilov; Boyko Mladenov (BC Levski Sofia); Hristo Nikolov; Andre Owens (Crvena Zvezda Belgrade); Earl Rowland (Telekom Baskets Bonn); Stanislav Slaveykov (BC Levski Sofia); Todor Stoykov (Lukoil Academic Sofia); Asen Velikov; Filip Videnov (CB Granada)

Lithuania: Tomas Delininkaitis (CB Murcia); Simas Jasaitis (Galatsaray Café Crown); Robertas Javtokas (Khimki Moscow region); Arturas Jomantas (Lietuvos Rytas); Mantas Kalnietis (Zalgiris Kaunas); Linas Kleiza (Olympiacos); Darjus Lavrinovic (Real Madrid); Ksystof Lavrinovic (Montepaschi Siena); Mindaugas Lukauskis (ASVEL Basket); Jonas Maciulis (AJ Milano); Andrius Mazutis (BC Donetsk); Marijonas Petravicius (AJ Milano)

Poland: Michal Chylinski (Clinicas Rincon Axarquia), Marcin Gortat (Orlando Magic), Michal Ignerski (Cajasol Sevilla), Iwo Kitzinger (Trefl Sopot), Lukasz Koszarek (Juve Caserta), Maciej Lampe (Maccabi Tel Aviv), David Logan (Asseco Pokom Gdynia), Krzysztof Roszyk (PGE Turow Zgorzelec), Szymon Szewczyk (Lokomotiv Rostov), Krzysztof Szubarga (Anwil Wloclawek), Robert Witka (PGE Turow Zgorzelec), Adam Wójcik (PGE Turow Zgorzelec)

Turkey: Ender Arslan (Efes Pilsen SK); Omer Asik (Fenerbahçe Ülker); Engin Atsur (Besiktas Cola Turka); Semih Erden (Fenerbahçe Ülker); Sinan Guler (Efes Pilsen SK); Baris Hersek (Bandirma Banvit); Ersan Ilyasova (Milwaukee Bucks); Omer Onan (Fenerbahçe Ülker); Oguz Savas (Fenerbahçe Ülker); Kerem Tunceri (Efes Pilsen SK); Hidayet Turkoglu (Toronto Raptors); Bekir Yarangume (Turk Telekom BK)

Predicted order of finish:

Lithuania seem to be pretty clear favorites in this group, and are a team capable of making a run to the final four and possibly the final itself. Even though they're missing a few guys that have been staples in recent years, they still have a very solid roster, and a team that can win against anyone.

Turkey have a pretty decent team, with a few stars, but overall they just don't seem to be that strong. Mediocre performances at the recent preliminary matches didn't inspire confidence.

Poland Gortat and Lampe are the standouts for the hosts, in a roster that is alright if not exactly awe inspiring. The hosts have a chance of upsetting Turkey, but ultimately they should just be thankful for having Bulgaria in their group.

Bulgaria..probably aren't going to do well. They haven't in the recent past, and there's nothing to suggest that will change.

...Group C

2009-09-06T16:12:00.004-05:00

GREAT BRITAIN

Alright, honestly? They're fucked. They got Pops to come in, which is a plus, but these guys got beat down in just about every friendly. They'll take their lumps as they wait for Britishy Gordon and Luol Deng to come in for 2012.

Their roster: The roster: Kieron Achara (Angelico Bella), Robert Archibald (Unicaja), Andrew Betts (Aris Thessaloniki), Flinder Boyd (Beirasar Rosalia), Daniel Clark (Estudiantes), Germanyne Forbes (BBC Nyon), Joel Freeland (Unicaja), Nick George (Gravelines Dunkerque), Jarrett Hart (Keravnos), Mike Lenzly (Harem Scafati), Pops Mensah-Bonsu (Toronto Raptors), Nate Reinking (Dexia Mons-Hainaut), Justin Robinson (Rider University), Andrew Sullivan (CSK VVS Samara).

SERBIA

They're missing a bunch of guys, but still expect this team to make an impression in Poland. They'll look to shoot from outside regularly, and if they get hot they'll be a pain in the ass for everyone. They start out with Spain, and it wouldn't complete shock me to see them pull off an upset. But, ultimately, I don't think this squad has what it takes to get to the final four, and they're one of a few teams that will likely be fighting hard for those last couple WBC spots.

Their roster: Nemanja Bjelica (KK Crvena Zvezda), Nenad Krstic (Oklahoma City Thunder), Milan Macvan (KK Hemofarm), Stefan Markovic (KK Hemofarm), Ivan Paunic (Base Oostende), Kosta Perovic (Valencia), Bojan Popovic (Lietuvos Rytas), Miroslav Raduljica (Unicaja), Milos Teodosic (Olympiacos), Milenko Tepic (Panathinaikos), Uros Tripkovic (DKV Joventut), Novica Velickovic (Real Madrid).

SLOVENIA

There are some names on this roster, enough to make me think Slovenia could put it all together and find themselves a contender for the top 6. But there's also evidence that this could be a team that just shits the bed, and does little more than beat a weak British squad. I'm not sure I'd be overly surprised by any set of results this team puts together, but considering most of the news that's recently come out of their camp has been negative, I'll go ahead and say I sort of expect them to blow it.

Their roster: Primoz Brezec (Philadelphia 76ers); Goran Dragic (Phoenix Suns); Jurica Golemac (Lottomatica Roma); Goran Jagodnik (Hemofarm Vrsac); Jaka Klobucar (Union Olimpija); Jaka Lakovic (FC Barcelona); Domen Lorbek (last season with Benetton Treviso); Erazem Lorbek (FC Barcelona); Bostjan Nachbar (Efes Pilsen); Uros Slokar (Fortitudo Bologna); Matjaz Smodis (CSKA Moscow); Samo Udrih (CB Estudiantes).

SPAIN

Well, these guys might be okay.

After mostly blowing through all their opponents in a long series of friendlies on home soil, they got beat down by Lithuania a few days, which has raised some doubts about their ability to play in tough situations. But look at the fucking roster. There's just so much talent...it's a hard to believe they won't be able to put it all together. I'm expecting them to come through and win the damn thing, but there will likely be a couple hiccups along the way.

Their roster: Carlos Cabezas (Khimki Moscow region); Victor Claver (Valencia); Rudy Fernandez (Portland Trail Blazers); Jorge Garbajosa (Real Madrid); Marc Gasol (Memphis Grizzlies); Pau Gasol (Los Angeles Lakers); Raul Lopez (Khimki Moscow region); Sergio Llull (Real Madrid); Alex Mumbru (CB Bilbao Berri); Ricky Rubio (FC Barcelona); Juan Carlos Navarro (FC Barcelona); Felipe Reyes (Real Madrid).

Group C and D previews tomorrow, but...

2009-09-05T22:46:00.003-05:00

a somewhat random thought:

The above photo makes me think I could probably get into either of the Albanian and Romanian national teams. If any representatives from either country want to get in touch about possibly naturalizing a 5'8 dude without a particularly good jumper, comment below.

Eurobasket! Group B Preview

2009-09-04T16:02:00.004-05:00

GROUP B! The group with...stuff. I don't know. Let's just get to the teams.

FRANCE

After an impressive showing in the final qualifying round, Les Bleus find themselves favorites to win their group and possibly make the final four. But, with this team, we have no idea what to expect. The team that messed up the "regular" qualifying round, or the one that beat Italy home and away? The one that lost narrowly to Belgium on the road, or the one that slaughtered the Belgians in Pau? On their day, the French just may be Spain's strongest competitors, but they could just as well find themselves missing out on an auto-qualifying spot for next year's WBC. Basically? Who knows.

Their roster: Nicholas Batum (Portland Trailblazers), Yannick Bokolo (BCM Gravelines), Nando De Colo (Valencia), Boris Diaw (Charlotte Bobcats), Antoine Diot (Le Mans Sarthe), Aymeric Jeanneau (ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne), Alain Koffi (Joventut Badalona), Ian Mahinmi (Austin Toros/San Antonio Spurs), Tony Parker (San Antonio Spurs), Florent Pietrus (Valencia), Ali Traore (ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne), Rony Turiaf (Golden State Warriors).

GERMANY

Missing Dirk and Kaman, these guys look to be in trouble. In a pretty strong group, they'll probably be quite happy with the third spot, which would see them into the next round. They come into the tournament with a team made up almost entirely of DBLers, and as such have a collection of players few will be too familiar with. They did have an encouraging performance at the Efes Pilsen Cup, where they managed to beat Turkey and Latvia. They'll likely be favorites for the third spot, and could possibly spring an upset against either France or Russia to see them into second. Qualification for the World Basketball Championship is likely out of reach, though.

Their roster: Robin Benzing (Ratiopharm Ulm), Patrick Femerling (Alba Berlin), Demond Greene (Brose Baskets), Elias Harris (Gonzaga University), Yassin Idbihi (New Yorker Phantoms Braunschweig), Jan Jagla (Joventut Badalona), Tibor Pleiss (Köln 99ers), Heiko Schaffartzik (New Yorker Phantoms Braunschweig), Sven Schultze (Olympia Larissa), Lucca Staiger (Iowa State University), Konrad Wysocki (Deutsche Bank Skyliners).

LATVIA

Only one player from the Latvian roster is likely to stick out to most basketball fans, and that's Andris Biedrins. The Warriors' center is the undoubted star of a team that's otherwise made up of locally based players, heading a national team that's qualified for their fifth straight Eurobasket. They don't look likely to do any better than their previous finishes (13th three straight times), and will likely need a bit of luck to pull off an upset over Germany. That's pretty much their only shot at getting into the next round, as their recent form doesn't indicate that they pose much of a threat to either France or Russia.

Their roster: Kaspars Berzins (Barons/LMT Riga), Andris Biedrins (Golden State Warriors), Janis Blums (Bilbao), Rolands Freimanis, Uvis Helmanis (ASK Riga), Gatis Jahovics (BK VEF Riga), Kristaps Janicenoks (Reyer Venezia Mestre), Ernests Kalve (last season with ASK Riga), Kaspars Kambala (Jenisej), Armands Skele (Barons LMT), Arturs Stalbergs, Aigars Vitols (ASK Riga).

RUSSIA

The defending champions (how soon we forget) come into this tournament without arguably their two best players, in J.R. Holden and Andrei Kirilenko, and as a result it's unknown what we should really expect from them. They still have a solid roster made up entirely of decent to very good Russian based players (most from CSKA), and they'll be coached once again by the excellent David Blatt. But they were very disappointing at last year's Olympics, and managed only a fourth place finish at the recent Acropolis Tournament. They could easily finish anywhere from first to third in this group, and are likely outside shots to finish within the top 6 overall, which would guarantee them a place next year in Istanbul.

Their roster: Sergei Bykov (Dynamo Moscow), Vitaly Fridzon (Khimki), Nikita Kurbanov (CSKA Moscow), Kelly McCarty (Khimki), Sergei Monya (Dynamo Moscow), Timofey Mozgov (Khimki), Anton Ponkrashov (CSKA Moscow), Alexey Shved (CSKA Moscow), Dmitri Sokolov (CSKA Moscow), Andrey Vorontsevich (CSKA Moscow), Egor Vyaltsev (Triumph Lyubertsy)

Eurobasket! Group A Preview

2009-09-03T12:54:00.003-05:00

Hello, people. I'm not dead. Just so you know.

With Eurobasket getting set to start on Monday, I figured I should write a little something about it. So, a preview of every group for the next four days, leading up to the competition itself. Excited? Well, half interested, at least? Come on. Please? Scroll down. Motherfuckers.

(clears throat)

CROATIA

Perennial mediocrities, Croatia have a nice, balanced squad that looks poised to improve upon recent...mediocre...showings at major international tournaments. They recently won the Efes Pilsen Cup, a warmup for Eurobasket in which they triumphed over Lativa, Germany, and groupmates Macedonia. Roko Ukic and Nikola Vujcic lead a squad made up primarily of solid contributors at big European clubs.

Their Roster: Zoran Planinic (CSKA Moscow), Marko Popovic (Unics Kazan), Roko-Leni Ukic (Milwaukee Bucks), Davor Kus (Cibona Zagreb), Marin Rozic (Cibona Zagreb), Marko Tomas (Real Madrid), Nikola Prkacin (Cibona Zagreb), Krešimir Loncar (Unics Kazan), Marko Banic (I.Bilbao Basket), Sandro Nicevic (Benetton Treviso), Nikola Vujcic (Olimpiacos), Mario Kasun (Efes Pilsen), Ante Tomic (KK Zagreb), Mario Stojic (Vive Menorca), and Damir Rancic (KK Zadar).

GREECE

Alright, it's a bit like being Phil Mickelson behind Tiger Woods, but Greece are likely second favorites in this competition. Although they've perhaps disappointed since their second place finish at the 2006 World Basketball Championship, this is still a stacked squad. The major question facing this Greek team will be whether youngsters such as Nick Calathes and Kosta Koufos can really contribute off the bench, to supplement a very solid starting five. Also, if Sofoklis Schortsanitis can return to the form that has in the past made him a terror to face, he will give them the sort of option no other team in the competition can present.

Their Roster: Andreas Glyniadakis (Olympiacos), Nikos Zisis (Montepaschi Siena), Konstantinos Kaimakoglou (Maroussi BC), Nick Calathes (Panathinaikos), Ioannis Kalampokis (Pallacanestro Treviso), Kostas Koufos (Utah Jazz), Ioannis Bourousis (Olympiacos), Efstratios Perperoglou (Panathinaikos), Georgios Printezis (Unicaja Malaga), Vasileios Spanoulis (Panathinaikos), Sofoklis Schortsanitis (Olympiacos) and Antonis Fotsis (Panathinaikos).

ISRAEL

Israel have done well to consistently qualify for Eurobasket over the years, with this being their ninth consecutive appearance. Traditionally, they've not done too well once they've gotten there, and don't expect it to be terribly different this time around. They have a decent squad, the vast majority of which comes from the Ligat HaAl. Lior Eliahu and Yotam Halperin are the team's big names, and the squad's only members from outside Israeli clubs because Omri Casspi has decided to skip Eurobasket. This team will need to beat Macedonia in order to to get into the next round, and quite a bit of luck to find a way into next year's World Basketball Championship.

Their roster: Tal Burstein (Maccabi Tel Aviv), Lior Eliyahu (Caja Laboral), Yaniv Green (Maccabi Tel Aviv), Yotam Halperin (Olympiacos), Elishay Kadir (Galil\Gilboa) Uri Kokia (Hapoel Holon), Ido Kozikaro (Maccabi Haifa), Raviv Limonad (Maccabi Tel Aviv), Gal Mekel (Maccabi Tel Aviv), Moshe Mizrahi (Maccabi Haifa), Yuval Neimi (Hapoel Jerusalem), Yogev Ohayon (Ironi Nahariya), Guy Pnini (Maccabi Tel Aviv), Moran Rot (Hapoel Jerusalem), Robert Rothbart (Ironi Nahariya), Amit Tamir (Ironi Ashkelon)

MACEDONIA

Alright, honestly? I don't know anything about the vast majority of their players. But they do have a couple stars. Vlado Ilievski has enjoyed a nice career with a few different big clubs, as has Vrbica Stefanov, the country's biggest basketball legend. Jeremiah Massey...isn't Macedonian, obviously, but he'll be taking up their foreign player spot (I'm not sure how helpful that passport is...shouldn't he have gone for somewhere in the EU? whatever.), and will likely have to do most of the scoring. They'll have to beat Israel to go through, and would need even more luck than the Israelis to somehow make it to Istanbul next year.

Pero Antiḱ (Lokomotiv Rostov), Pero Blaževski (Helios Domžale), Aleksandar Dimitrovski (KK Rabotnički), Todor Gečevski(KK Zadar), Vlado Ilievski (Caja Laboral), Jeremiah Massey (Real Madrid), Dimitar Mirakovski (CSKA Sofia), Predrag Samardžiski (FMP Železnik), Darko Sokolov (MZT Skopje), Riste Stefanov (Lukoil Academic) Vrbica Stefanov (ViveMenorca) Damjan Stojanovski KK AMAK SP) Vojdan Stojanovski (KK AMAK SP) Dime Tasovski (KK Strumica) Bojan Trajkovski (KK Rabotnički)

Not to jinx it...

2009-08-24T17:50:00.004-05:00

As I watched Aston Villa upset Liverpool, in a match that I'd imagine many believed to be somewhat of a formality, I'm left pondering if things are demonstrably different now. I've long been one to somewhat dismiss the Premier League, as a predictable league where somewhat boring football (in comparison to Spain, at least (for me))was played. And I've not completely turned on that second point; I still prefer the style of play in Spain and many other leagues to that found in England. But, could it be that we're entering a brave new era of a genuinely interesting Premiership? Sure, the gap between the top and the very bottom has never been wider, but it seems as if recent events (cash injection into City, strong teams in Tottenham, Villa, and possibly a couple others, as well as the weakening of Liverpool and Man United) may just leave us with a genuinely exciting league with more contenders than we're used to. If nothing else, the top 4's strangle hold seems to be weaker than any other time any recent memory. Until Spurs inevitably lose 12 in a row and Roque Santa Cruz stabs Adebayor in an effort to get playing time, at least.

(also, basketball)

2009-08-20T13:45:00.003-05:00

Belgium have a chance to clinch a place in the Eurobasket qualification final today, if they can manage to beat 0-3 Portugal. A big win against Bosnia guaranteed that they would finish first on GD with any sort of victory today. France will be the favorite, no matter the opponent, but anything can happen in a two game "series".

Elsewhere, lots of preparation matches for Eurobasket and FIBA Americas, and the Asian and African championships have just wrapped up. So, things are almost sort of happening. Plus, the Jason Williams signing! Okay, maybe not so much.

And Now For My Next Number...

2009-08-20T13:41:00.002-05:00

9.58. 19.19. Fucking hell. I'm not sure which record is more impressive...Johnson's 19.32 almost seemed unbeatable, and now he's beaten it in two straight "seasons". There...are no words.

Games You Should Watch While Not Watching Usain Bolt

2009-08-14T21:26:00.004-05:00

(IAAF World Championships start tomorrow. Check that out. I'll probably write something after Bolt runs an 8.4 in the 100 Sunday, or whatever).

Saturday, August 15

An 8:30 (my time) Bundesliga match
Seriously, why did they put three awesome matches at the same time? Bayern-Werder, Hamburg-Dortmund, and Leverkusen-Hoffenheim all ought to be pretty good. So, do a complicated series of coinflips to decide on what match to watch, and then switch while one of the others is 4-4 after 30 minutes. Assuming that doesn't just happen to me.

Everton-Arsenal
Pretty nice, for an opening match. Arsenal may or not get relegated, apparently, and Everton are pretty good when not telling Man City to fuck off. Anyway, it should be interesting.

LA-Seattle
...because you've always wanted to see how someone with swine flu would play?

Sunday, August 16

PSV-Ajax
Does anyone have any idea if either of these teams are any good? Me neither. This will be interesting, in a weird sort of way. Both of these teams are expected to challenge for the title, but last season sort of changed shit in the Eredivisie. I now have no clue what's going to happen.

Tottenham-Liverpool
(may or not actually be a good match. I..don't know)

France-Italy (again)

2009-08-13T22:16:00.002-05:00

They met about 63 times within a few years in football, and now twice in a couple weeks in basketball. This may not be the World Cup final, but it's pretty fucking big. A win for France puts them into the qualifying final, probably against Bosnia & Herzegovina. An Italy win makes things a lot more interesting, and would probably send it down to point differential (assuming they both beat Finland). This time it's in France, and they have Parker. So they've got to be favorites, but the Italians' shooting ability makes them a scary opponent. Should be a fun one tomorrow.

The Asian and African basketball championships are also nearing their conclusion, so you might want to try and take a look at that, too. Fun stuff. At early-ass times, mostly. But still.

Wonce Again (Azteca)

2009-08-11T12:35:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow, there is an important football match. And, for once, it is happening in North America. And this isn't important in the way I'd say the MLS Cup is important, and perhaps someone reading in Europe would laugh and mutter "those crazy Americans" (or whatever that is in Finnish) ((yea, I see you Finnish guy that reads this shit)). This is some genuinely important shit. Mexico desperately needs a win to avoid some disastrous shit in their quest for World Cup qualification, the US needs some sort of a result as a benchmark for their growth as a team. Basically? Stakes is high.

Both sides enter the match happy with recent developments, in an odd sort of way. Clearly, the Americans' run at the Confederations Cup is seen as a potential turning point in their quest for...relevance. Mexico sees their 5-0 victory against the US as a huge confidence boost after a difficult year or two. So these are two teams that ought to be playing at something near their best after a summer where they both tinkered with things quite a bit, and seemed to somewhat find what the hell worked.

Of course, actual results from this qualifying cycle haven't left us with any real reason to believe this match will be much different than normal. Mexico's won their matches at home, and the US has been mediocre at best away. Pretty much same as always. So why think this match will be any different? Well, I don't know, really. It probably won't be. But, you know...huzzah for false hope.

Kleiza and Wafer to Olympiakos

2009-08-10T23:11:00.003-05:00

And, in related news, Nate Robinson is now pondering an offer from the Slovakian second division.

Obviously, the main point here is that NBA role players heading overseas seems to almost becoming a trend. There aren't very many clubs that can actually afford these guys, so it won't become terribly widespread, but three of Olympiakos' starting five are now guys they "took" from the NBA during their prime. Of course, Olympiakos will have to actually win something for other teams to consider this a viable model. Last season they failed to take home any trophies, despite having a payroll that dwarfed most of their competitors.

Kurt Rambis to Minnesota

2009-08-10T10:28:00.006-05:00

There are two basic things which will ultimately determine how good of a hire Rambis was for Wolves.

A) Is he cool with playing two point guards and two power forwards? This would be the start of referring to basketball lineups in similar terms to football formations. "The Wolves will be playing their innovative 2-1-0-2-0 tonight..." and shit like that. Hopefully it works out for them.

B) Will he wear the glasses on the sideline?

Other than that, Rambis is coming into a situation where he won't be expected to win much right away, very different from when he interimed as the Lakers' coach in 1999. Basically, he has to avoid colossal losing streaks and making Al Jefferson angry. He won't be expected to make the playoffs for a few seasons, but he will have to make progress with a young, talented team.

Football! This weekend! No, really.

2009-08-06T17:46:00.011-05:00

The Bundesliga and Ligue 1 open play this weekend, and so this will be the first weekend of the season with a meaningful number of games in leagues that don't suck. So, you know what that means! Oh, wait, you don't know that means. Well, anyway, here are some games from the next three days that ought to be pretty interesting. Possibly.

Friday, August 7

Wolfsburg v Stuttgart Two of the teams involved in last season's quite epic race for the title, which Wolfsburg ultimately won. Both teams have undergone considerable changes over the break, with Wolfsburg manager Felix Magath leaving for Schalke. His replacement? Armin Veh, whose last manager job was at...wait for it...Stuttgart. Ooh.

Both teams have made significant additions on the field, with Karim Ziani and Obafemi Martins (among others) joining Wolfsburg, while the arrivals of Pavel Pogrebnyak and Alexander Hleb have given Stuttgart a very happy ending (in the least sexual of ways. probably.) to their mercato. Basically, these are two sides that have added to what were already very good sides, and they should make the first match of this Bundesliga season a good one.

Saturday, August 8

Inter v Lazio Alright, this doesn't really count, but...it will be interesting to see how all those new signings work for Inter, right? I mean, it would be, if it weren't at 7AM here. It may be interesting for anyone in a different time zone, or incredible powers of...waking up. I guess.

Hoffenheim v Bayern Come on. Hoffenheim, who did so well in the first half of their first Bundesliga season against...motherfucking Bayern. Hoffenheim have made some nice additions, such as Franco Zucalini, and they'll have star player Vedad Ibisevic as he returns from the injury that really killed them during the second half of the season. Bayern? Well, they've had a few changes. This match really ought to be pretty fucking good. No, seriously.

WBA v Newcastle Alright, so it's a second division match. But, fucking hell, it's a really intriguing one. Who knows what's going to happen? Newcastle have been awful during preseason, but their squad is still relatively impressive, even after some recent sales. If nothing else, this is watchable for the train wreck possibilities.

Grenoble v Marseille An admission: I'm a Marseille fan. But that's not why I'm bringing this match up. Well, it probably at least sort of is, but it's not the only reason. We...er, they've made some big additions (and sales) this summer, as the philosophy of Didier Deschamps has proven completely different than that of ex-manager Eric Gerets. Stephane Mbia, Lucho Gonzales, Fernando Morientes...wait, none of those people are likely to play in this match. Oh. Well, Fabrice Abriel and Souley Diawara, then. Fuck it, I'm leaving this here. It will still be interesting how this one turns out, for the side many are tipping as Ligue 1 favorites (in a sure bid to jinx the whole goddamn thing). Lyon play, too. But fuck them. Alright, I shouldn't say that. Their match could be interesting too. If you worship Satan. But moving on.

New England v Los Angeles Alright, I'll probably regret suggesting that people watch an MLS match, but this one has potential. Landon Donovan, in his last match before the biggest match in the history of the universe (which we'll touch on closer to Wednesday), David Beckham...David Beckhaming. And those pesky Revolution, who are somehow in the playoff hunt. A-fucking-gain. Christ. Anyway, both these teams will be fighting for their playoff spot in the packed-as-always MLS. And neither team is the New York Red Bulls. And, after watching their CCL debacle last night, that's all I'm really asking of from this match. That it not involve the New York Red Bulls.

Sunday, August 9

Twente v PSV Two of the top Eredivisie sides in a pretty tasty early season match. PSV's season got off to an awful start when they drew lowly VVVVVVVVVVVVVV (er, VVV Venlo) 3-3 at home, and Twente recently lost their hopes of advancing in the Champions League on a last-gasp own goal. So, both sides will be looking to get back on their feet.

Bordeaux v Lens Lens' first match on their return to the top flight. The first match for Bordeaux since...something. I think they won some sort of competition, but the details are hazy.

Flamengo v Corinthians Ronaldo visits the Maracana to find the fans of the club he spurned....oh. Ronaldo's hurt, andnot playing. Well, then we'll just have to settle for the clash of Brazil's two most popular teams. Fair enough. They'll both be looking to bounce back from midweek losses as they try and fight back to the top of the table.

France-Italy (and Portugal-Bosnia, too)

2009-08-05T13:31:00.013-05:00

Meaningful basketball! Yay!

You can theoretically watch the France-Italy game, live from Cagliari, here.

The starting 5 for France: Batum, Diaw, Jeanneau, Florent Pietrus, and Turiaf.

And for Italy: Amoroso, Bargnani, Belinelli, Poeto, Soragna

Update after first quarter: 21-15 lead for France. France completely dominated the early going, playing a far better brand of basketball and looking much more like a team than the Italians. But Italy managed to make a bit of a run at the end to get themselves back into a half decent position. Florent Pietrus is the game's leading scorer, with 10 points.

Update at half time: 35-29 lead for France, after an up and down second quarter. Italy maintained their momentum from the end of the first quarter at the beginning of the second, managing to at one point take the lead after a short period of dominance. But France were able to come back and go on a bit of a run of their own, getting the lead up to 8 before taking their present 6 point advantage into the half. The athleticism of the French squad seems to be their main advantage of the Italians, and it's an advantage which they've been able to use repeatedly.

Update after three quarters: 51-51 tie. Exciting stuff. Some of the crazy-ass shots the Italians have been throwing up started going in, and this game's gotten really exciting. The crowd in Cagliari has gotten loud. Should be a great fourth quarter.

After Regulation: 66-66, and going to overtime. Nicholas Batum missed a chance to win it at the end as he shot an air ball on France's last possession.

After Overtime: France win 80-77! A huge away result for France, without Tony Parker. This makes them the clear favorite to get out of this group, and Italy will likely have to beat France away to have a chance. Batum and Pietrus led France with 20 points a piece, both on over 50% shooting. Belinelli led Italy with 24 points, but he looked for his shot very often and was only 7/16 from the field.

PS: Alright, who the fuck won the Portugal game? There are conflicting reports on the eurobasket site (like, on the same page), and everywhere I look has a different result. This is ridiculous. Did this game happen? Do they even play basketball in Portugal? Bastardo!

PPS, a long time after this shit ended: I can confirm with relative certainty that B&H beat Portugal 62-56. You can now return to your daily lives.

NBA Schedules released

2009-08-04T15:47:00.007-05:00

Yay?

The season starts October 27th (isn't that earlier than normal?) and ends April 14th. During that time? Stuff. Lots of stuff. Now? Not so much.

PS: Here is the national television schedule, for those that haven't yet discovered the life-ruining powers of League Pass. You may notice that the Rockets don't have a single nationally televised game. Apparently, Luis Scola doesn't bring in the viewers. Who knew?