Give Me The Rock

My Spurs lost. And now I incur the wrath of Spurs haters for wanting them to win, and the Spurs fans as well for calling them My Spurs. Hey, I already said it once. I been had liked the Spurs since the Inside Stuff special on Tim Duncan. And even before then. It doesn’t take some namby pamby ESPN the Fauxgazine article to convice me to like the Spurs.

And I have to say, it felt good to watch them lose. It’s reminded me of why I chose them as My Team in first place. Sometimes you have to give in to the Dark Side.

“There is no emotion, there is peace
There is no ignorance, there is knowledge
There is no passion, there is serenity
There is no death, there is the Force”

will only get you so far.

Sometimes you want to get riled up and throw out a “Pffffffffft!?!? what?!?” when a 7-footer on the opposing throws a forearm shiver to your point guard and there’s no call. Or when that same 7-footer tosses your shooting guard to the ground because the little guy fouled him while trying to wrap him up. I mean, yeah, I’m still objective enough to realize there was some significant floppage, but really, don’t the refs at least want to make some calls in the 4th quarter? I’m not objective enough not to think that Stern might have hired a hit man to call up the referees and tell them to help the Suns out a little bit.

A good post on this topic can be found at: Supes V. TheWorld

And here’s one on the Mav’s season: Mavs Frontcourt. The way the Larry Brown thing is going I’m half expecting the Pistons blogs to come out with their season reviews around now. I haven’t seen that much hype from the pundit gallery since Dwyane Wade jock strap was sold on eBay.

This one, I believe, was called… but it’s the best I could find.

This was the closes thing I could find to “the Block.” It matches the color scheme pretty well, though.

Take that Suns fans. (But don’t take it too seriously… after the playoffs are over and fantasy stuff takes over the realm of “real” basketball, I’ll be all over the eBay auctions for Amare, Marion, and Nash’s spandex bike shorts.)

I believe I mentioned it in an earlier post, but I’m pulling for Detroit and San Antonio. Not that my pull has any effect whatsoever (as witnessed by the number of championships the teams I pull for have won in the past 24 years … Blazers? No. Seahawks? No. Illini? No. [Oregon] Ducks? No. And now the Bulls? Nope… but closer than the Blazers)

I’m for the team-play teams in this case. And in the case of the Spurs, for some reason, I just can’t stand the Suns. Maybe it’s because I’m fair-skinned and burn like bread left in the toaster, but I don’t know… I just don’t want them to win. I like Amare, but he’s still too young, I think. I like Shawn Marion, especially since he stopped running so much like a ninny. I like Quentin Richardson since he’s part of the horns-on-the-head crew (see also: Darius Miles). Joe Johnson I’m not so much down with… And Steve Nash I think is a tad overrated. He’s good, and he works harder than just about everyone else in the league, don’t get me wrong… I’m just not feeling it… Actually, I think my favorite player on ths Suns might be Steven Hunter, but that’s another story.

I know David Stern would probably be willing to kill me (and maybe even a few other people) to get the Suns and Heat to the Finals, but I just don’t see (nor want) it happening. I like Detroit (and not just because they killed off the Lakers last year), and I like the Spurs (and not just because I saw that Inside Stuff special on Tim Duncan). Chauncey v. Frenchie. Rip vs. The Sickness. The Wallace Brothers against Tim Dunkin.

If I haven’t bored you away already (and I obviously haven’t if you’re still reading this)… it’s just plain more fun to pick a team. I hadn’t decided before watching the first game of the Suns-Spurs series and watched it with a great deal of objectivity. I did the same with the first game of the Miami and Detroit series (although I didn’t so much watch that one as read the recaps and watch the highlights). The ambivalance really got to me. So, I decided to pick a team and stick with it. All in.

Oh, and for those who come here for the “fantasy” information… don’t worry. I’ll have it. I’ve just got 3 weddings in 3 weekends to go to starting today. But I’ll be around. I’ll also be keeping my fingers crossed that the Bucks and Hawks don’t take the next Michael Jordan so that perhaps the Blazers can avenge the Sam Bowie pick.

Supplemental reading: The Machine + Convergence + The Playoff Payoff + Playing Jazz + PvP2 (fantasy stuff) + Riverease + Not So Deep + Good Year for Wizz(s)

Yes, how excited am I? MvP, SvS. If you hear a rumbling at these games, it might be the crowd, but it might also be Zeus, Aphrodite (like the Eva Longoria of Olympus), Apollo (or Ra, if you want), Athena, and Ares (the god of All-Out War) taking their seats.

More reading: Pistons: Turn Me On, FreeDarko: Believe, HoopsJunkie: Get It On, Rising Suns: Killer Instinct, KnickerBlogger: Drafty.

I’m sure there will be more more so-called “fantasy analysis” (yes, from me) on Tuesday (or Wednesday) after The Lottery winners are announced.

Miami is undefeated in the playoffs, but they haven’t played anyone as tough as Dallas, Phoenix, San Antonio or Seattle. They haven’t even played the other best team in the East (Detroit). Now that Seattle is gone, we’ll never know (of course, Miami will only play two more teams max, so unless they win the title, we can’t be sure if they would have beaten any of those other teams. I guess that’s why we have the playoffs, though, isn’t it? To be able to say things like if Detriot beat Indiana, and Miami beats Detroit, then Miami also would have beat Indiana. It’s not a perfect system in my mind, but then my mind isn’t perfect either. It’s the best system there is, so I can’t really complain.)

My point is that I think Miami has taken the easy road (which they earned, of course, by getting the #1 seed). When the series against Detroit starts on Monday, we’ll see how good New Jersey and Washington really were, and how good the Heat are. Miami was 1-2 against Detroit, but one of those games was without Shaq with Dwuhyawneh going 1-6. That could happen again in this series (especially the Shaq part), but I don’t think Mr. Pro-Hop is going to go 1-6 again for the rest of the playoffs. Especially not with Rip Hamilton on him.

I really thought I had more of a point when I started this post. I guess I just like to see myself write (it’s like people who like to hear themselves talk, but I’m not all that outspoken). Anyway, I’m extremely psyched for the rest of the playoffs. My psychedness will diminish slightly if the Mavericks are able to pull out two straight against the Suns because I’d rather see the Suns (who managed to elude the grasp of network television this season) than the Mavs. I’m happy with either Miami or Detroit in the Finals (would’ve been happier with Chicago, but the word happy would probably have not been enough to describe my emotion at that point). And I’m also cool with Seattle, San Antonio, Phoenix, or Dallas (put the Seattle part in the past tense back there).

Excuse me for liking Tim Duncan because of his solid fundamentals. I (and probably everyone else on the planet) would like to see some more emotion from him, but, for me, it is enough to watch him play. I am also excited to see the Whirling Dervish/the Sickness and his counterpart qui parle francais (I don’t know how to make that “ca” with my keyboard). Suns vs. Spurs would be a matchup of proportions so Epic, I believe the Gods might descend from Olympus with front row tickets.

Appropos: Take it 2 the Bank (video) + Duncan takes it 2 the Bank

Other:
Celtics ToDo + Moneyball + Wilco Quote

It’s too bad I have to work for a living. And also that there’s so much great stuff to do in Chicago. It leaves little time to write stuff. Evidently other people have that kind of time, though… And here they are, in no particular order (no pun intended).

LAL5 + Greatest Shots + 2theBank + Holl of Fame + Up next: Purple Haze?

Steve Nash and 48 points. What can you say besides the Mavs figured it out?

Well, I can say this… it certainly doesn’t hurt that Joe Johnson is, well, hurt. Unlike the Heat (as BS points out), the Suns are a team with 5 keystones. Take one out, and the bridge becomes a little shaky. Especially when the winds get to blowing (I’d like to say Chicago is the Windy City, but in this case, it turns out to be Dallas). Miami is a team with one keystone, and it’s not Shaq. Dwyane (which I am considering pronouncing Dwuh-yaw-nay, just so I can remember how to spell it) Wade is the keystone of the Heat. If you took him out, even with Shaq, it would greatly affect their chances at a title. DW by himself is enough to will the team to win with only supporting players. Steve Nash is clearly not enough to will his team to win. Amare and Marion are the kind of players who can’t do that either. Each of them has a main role which they fill to perfection, where as Wade is able to fill many roles perhaps not perfectly, but with a tremendous amount of success. All the pieces of the Suns team work in harmony to make them the powerhouse they’ve become. They are like clockwork, every piece moving with precision to keep the clock on time and chiming. Wade is like one of those kinetic watches that just keeps itself going.

Don’t worry, I’m going to follow this up with a post directly contradicting myself about the Heat. But, until someone beats them, I will continue to believe that Wade was the inspiration for the Y button.

Stupid is + Under Pressure + The 48-pointer

I’m not sure why the Celtics are looking for a point guard… I was under the impression Marcus Banks and Delonte West were under the tutelage of Gary Payton. That’s three PG’s on the roster if I did the math correctly. Yet, Danny Ainge appears to want another one.

CelticsBlog.com:

So lets look at some potential free agent candidates.

Marco Jaric - Like greasy Euros? Here’s your man. Maybe we should pick him up just so Chad Ford will give us some love. I fully admit I’ve seen him play maybe once, so I have no scouting report other than what I read on the net. One such report says that he’s good in the open court, but not a natural playmaker. However, I can tell you he’s a restricted free agent, which means anyone trying to sign him will have to do the 15 day waltz with the Clips. Bill Simmons doesn’t seem to like him, so take that for what its worth.

Earl Watson - He’s my early favorite. Still pretty green himself, but he’s shown that he can run an offense and play defense. Hard to put too much stock in a guy that backed up White Chocolate, but he might be one of those point guards that “get it” after his first few seasons. Think Marcus in 2-3 more years. Could be had for under or at the MLE as well.

Sarunas Jasikevicius - Another Chad Ford dreamboat. He’s in Europe right now and a free agent. He’s got quite a resume, and even his own website (featuring his cheesy glam shot and freaky eyes pic). Still, he’s a winner and a veteran. Will his game translate (bad pun intended) well to the NBA? Could be worth a gamble.

Damon Stoudamire/Jeff McInnis - You have to wonder if any former Jail Blazer not named Rasheed could be worth picking up, especially with Danny preaching character. But you never know. Danny did bring in Davis, and that worked out well. Both have skills. Neither excites me much.

Others: Dan Dickau, Tyronn Lue, Darrell Armstrong - Eh. Meh. Neh.

Here’s what I’m thinking (remember to keep an eye on where these guys end up):

First things first: Jaric is not a point guard. I’m not saying he’s not a good player, and isn’t a good free agent pick up. But he’s much better if he gets to play the SG position than when he’s stuck at PG.

Earl Watson is a good point guard. Interesting that Jeff says he’s like Marcus in 2-3 years… further substantiating my point that Celtics have all the pointguard they need. Watson is clearly a better choice than Dickau, Lue (can it get more overrated?) and Armstrong.

I’ve seen talk on fantasybasketball.com that Jesikevicius (nickname Sik Vicious?) really wants to play with his buddy Ilguaskas, which would entail him ending up in Cleveland. Who doesn’t want more white point guards in the league though?

Depending on where Stoudamire ends up, he should have another good season for fantasy owners next year. I’m not sure that the Celtics would be the best place for him, but he could certainly help them out.

So, I guess that’s that.

Wizz Kidz + Sonic Sunday + Carnival + Fantastik + Non-stop Sun Apologist + More Suns

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