nba musings

Random NBA thoughts in no particular order:

This stretch between Sunday and Wednesday with no NBA has been brutal. I don’t know what I’m going to do during the off-season this year. It’s going to be long and painful. Sigh. Thankfully tonight, ESPN Classic is airing Game 4 of last year’s finals. I still can’t believe that game. Epic comeback. Watching it reminds me of how much I miss the love of my life, James Posey.

Is it just me or did anyone else notice a change in Charles Barkley this season after he came back to TNT from his DUI bust? To me, he just seemed to be enjoying his job a lot less. I can’t nail down exactly what he did to make me think this, but it’s just something I kept noticing the longer the season went on. He was still fun to watch though. Only Chuck could call his colleagues numbnuts and pussy over the airwaves and get away with it.

Some quick Celtics updates – KG had surgery last week to remove bone spurs and is now rehabbing his right knee, The Boston Celtics won the Professional Sports Team of the Year award by the SportsBusiness Journal and SportsBusiness Daily, Celtics assistant coach Tom Thibodeau lost out to Eddie Jordan for the head coaching position with the Philadelphia 76ers — will interview with the Sacramento Kings this Saturday for their head coaching vacancy, Tony Allen had surgery today at New England Baptist hospital on his right ankle.

Prediction time. So for the finals, I’m picking the Lakers to win and my mom is picking the Magic. She took a big long drink of the kool-aid everyone else is drinking based on the last series. I’ve only been watching the NBA since 2006, but I’ve been watching long enough to know that the Magic got a very VERY very favorable matchup when they met up with the Cavs. It will not be so easy this time around. Do they have a chance? Yes, they have a good chance. But, not a great chance. The Lakers have been waiting all year to redeem themselves in this year’s finals. I have a hard time believing that they’re going to let anyone stop them this time.

For a quick NBA fix, this interview by 850 The Buzz with J.J. Redick is worth listening to. He candidly discusses a variety of topics including LeBron not shaking hands after game 6, how Dwight has a stylist who picks out the sherbert colored sweaters he wears to press conferences, which Duke alums he’s in touch with and who he thinks will win this year’s NBA Finals (gosh, I wonder). Even if you don’t like J.J., this is still a good listen for NBA fans who enjoy getting the inside scoop.

Recent postings from around the blogosphere:

• Heels on Hardwood: NBA Withdrawal: 10 Player Stocks on the Rise through the Recession (Playoff Edition)
• Red’s Army: Oh those meddling Maloofs
• The No-Look Pass: We Like Obscure NBA Players: Pig Miller
• Both Teams Played Hard: All the News Fit to Six: June 3, 2009
• Talk Hoops: Hoops Media Consumption — June 3, 2009

Celtics v. Magic 79-86

I was cooking up a stir-fry during the pre-game live show on Comcast and when I heard that Rondo was out, I almost chopped my finger off with the Ginsu. Actually, I was ok until they said Marbury was starting. Wha wha what? Marbury is starting? Why? The guy has only played a handful of minutes here and there (with mixed results) and now he’s going to start? Then I watched the game and it was pretty awful. It reminded me of what happens when guys who don’t play together much, suddenly have to play together. No rhythm whatsoever. The fact that they came back from a bazillion point deficit to make it a 3-point game at the end of the fourth, was amazing. It highlights the problem the Magic have actually and why they won’t make it to the Eastern conference finals. They don’t finish teams off when they have the chance. Not good teams anyway.

Celtics v. Cavs 105-94

Awesome game. Paul Pierce put the team on his back, but everyone played an important part in the win. It was great to see such a fantastic all-around game from Leon Powe. Reminded me of how well he played last year against the Lakers in the finals. It was also a nice win because I had some Cavs fan talking trash to me about how Lebron was going to come all up in my house and wipe the floor with my boys. Not this time, my friend.

I couldn’t believe the officiating in that game though. I was proud of the C’s for gritting it out and not letting the horrible calls rattle them. I swear that I’m not one to get upset about every single call (like Tommy Heinsohn). If it’s a good call and goes against my team, I’m fine with it and realize some calls are objective, but… there is such a thing as replay and the replay bore out that a bunch of those calls sucked pondwater. The game had a playoff game feel to it. I watched it on my local homer channel insted of ESPN because I somehow really need to hear Tommy wax philosophically about Leon’s knack for taking charges. It’s a sacrifice actually because I have ESPN-HD, but not ComcastNE-HD, so the picture quality isn’t as good.

I know post-game that a lot of Cavs fans were pissed about the Big Baby foul on Raggedy Andy and I’m sure I’d feel the same way if the situation were reversed. I think it’s a bit of a knee jerk reaction though to call him a dirty player. He hasn’t been in the league long enough for that. Dirty players build their reps, like the love of my life, James Posey and my arch nemesis, Bruce Bowen.

Celtics @ Nets 115-111

I can’t really remember one single interesting thing about this game other than that I was annoyed that it was so close.

I was going to post another “celtics afterthoughts” which was going to include the Cavs game and both Raps games, but don’t really have the energy. 1) The Cavs played a great game and won 2) and then we killed the Raps at home and away. The end.

In other exciting news, today is the day that the love of my life (loml) was born 32 years ago! Happy Birthday JAMES POSEY. If you haven’t been to Hornets Hype today, you must go. They have been celebrating JP all day and if you’re even half the fan of him that I am, you’ll love LOVE love it. Get on over there and check it out. Go on… git!

Celtics @ Hawks 88-85

16 in a row, baby! I hate the Hawks. More than I hate the Giants, but not quite as much as I hate the Yankees. It isn’t even rational probably, but it is what it is. This game was not fun to watch in any way at all. The Celtics missed almost every 3-point shot they took it seemed like. I vaguely remember Eddie House hitting one and thinking, “About damn time!” Ray was extremely cold tonight shooting-wise, but thankfully KG was KG (He scored 10 of his 18 points in the 4th Q). That’s about all I remember about this game because I spent so much time Twittering through it. Joe Johnson missed a free throw that really helped things out… Oh and I do remember one last thing. Bibby missed the 3-pointer that would’ve sent the game into overtime. Suck it Bibby!

In other news, the reason I’m posting this now (in a timely manner for a change) is because I’m still up watching the Hornets/Spurs game on ESPN. Jeff Van Gundy is heaping praise on the love of my life, James Posey. Good times, good times.

Celtics v. Hornets 94-82

Oh James Posey, how I love thee…

More James Posey @ the Garden pics at Flickr…

Oh and the Celtics extended their winning streak to 14. YES!

Celtics @ Wizards 122-88

Blowout. On national television no less. I wonder how much better the Wizards will be when the Hibachi returns?

*sigh* I miss the pre-game manhugs too. COME BACK Pose! Come back! Hmm, sounds a little desperate. I guess I’ll just continue to focus on my new man, Money in the Bank… err, The Show!

During the pre-game show last night (before the pre-season Celtics v. Nets game) they interviewed my new favorite Celtic (my old fave being James Posey of course *sigh*), Leon Powe. Man. I love me some Leon Powe! He’s so mature and unselfish. What’s not to love? I’m looking forward to seeing how Leon, Big Baby and Tony Allen all do this year. They should all be seeing more minutes. I watched last night’s game on and off. I just think pre-season games are fairly unwatchable. I love the bench guys, but when they’re all in the game at once there’s just no flow. I’ll be happy when the regular season starts. I might try and snag tix for November when they play the Knicks. It will be interesting to see if the Knicks are vastly improved with a decent coach.

I know pre-season games are pretty exhibition-y, but I enjoyed last night’s game all the same. The venue was lacking a little something – UMass is no TD Banknorth Garden – but it was just super exciting to finally see the team play after the long off-season (though I’m sure it felt like a short off-season to the players). I missed seeing James Posey out there (sigh), but my other favorite, Leon Powe, looked great. The new guys were fun to watch… Hello Bill Walker! Those dunks were super fun. Where the hell did that kid come from? Apparently, Kansas State, but I never really watched him play last season. My eyes (and the camera) were always on Michael Beasley. I think I had the most fun watching Patrick O’Bryant though. Where’s he been all my life? I thought he was pretty impressive. It wasn’t any one thing, he just seems to do a lot of little things extremely well. I guess Golden State’s loss is our gain.

I’m a total geek, but when Tommy Heinsohn gave out his first Tommy Point of the season last night (to Big Baby for a hustle play where he ended up in Paul Pierce’s lap out of bounds) — I actually got a little verklempt.

YAY pre-season!

I’m serious. I’d vote for him. I had heard his performance at the ESPYs was great, but man… I was laughing like a fool. The Celtics puppets were one of my faves. Where he has the Garnett puppet yelling, “Anything is possible!” Hehehe. I loved when he stuck his hand in Mario Chalmers face and said, “Is that so hard Memphis?” Oh and when he hugged Aaron Rodgers. *sigh* I could just relive that broadcast all night. Good times, good times. Oh oh oh… and at the end of the night, when the Celtics won the best team award and Ray said, “…another win in LA” and the crowd booed. That was sweet. Didn’t completely make up for having to stomach all those NY Giants awards *blech*, but it helped.

Oh NY Giants, how I hate thee. Let me count the ways. Here’s to hoping Jeremy Shockey has a great year for the Saints and the Giants go down in flames. I still like Eli Manning (it’s hard to hate on Opie Taylor) but the rest of that team of cocky a-holes can suck it.

Danica Patrick and Milka Duno. Sigh. Do you really have to have a girlie bitchfight on camera? Perpetuate the stereotype much? I think Danica needs to start putting up or shutting up. If she’s going to haul her overpaid, overhyped ass to other racer’s pit stalls, the least she could do is throw up punch. In this particular case though, she’s right about Duno being a pain in the ass on the track due to lack of talent. She’s like a construction cone and someday she’s going to hurt somebody. Still though, Danica should either take a swing or as Lebron would tell his own mama, “Sit yo ass down!”

I’m boycotting the Red Sox games until they come back home. I can’t be expected to watch games that start after 10pm. Sure, I’m up much later than that. But, that’s my time to watch trashy reality television shows on E! and I’m not changing my ways. Plus, they got swept in LA and I’m not wasting my time watching them lose on the road. Wow, Jed Lowry looks young. The call-ups always look like babies to me. Ok fine, I’m watching tonight’s game. Pre-game anyway. Dice-K’s on the mound. I doubt I’ll last, but I’ll give it a shot. Oh and Dear Manny — Grow the frack up and stop playing reindeer games with Sox management. Thanks babe. Love, me.

I watched the last 2 minutes of a WNBA game tonight. A total melee broke out. Candace Parker, Rick Mahorn, and two other players got ejected. It was good times. The commentators were yammering about how it was such an awful display and totally shaming the WNBA’s image etc… You know what’s a shame ladies? The fact that nobody gives a rat’s ass about the WNBA in the first place and the star players only earn about a fraction of what Celtics bench player, Gabe Pruitt made last year. That’s a shame.

Earlier tonight, I may have watched Game 6 of the NBA Finals again… It was sweet. I need to swap out that DVR w/the cable company peeps so I can get an HD DVR since I upgraded my TV and unfortunately, I can’t get the contents onto a writable DVD disc. So that means that all 20 hours of Celtics coverage (the games, parade through beantown, parade at red sox game, very special episodes of celtics now on nesn, etc..) will be gone forever. Such a tragedy. So, during my vacation, I’m planning to watch all of it at least two or three more times before I have to part with it. Sigh. Speaking of Celtics, Eddie House and Tony Allen got picked up for two more years. That’s cool. I’m still disappointed to lose the love of my life, James Posey, but I guess if he’s gone for good, I’m glad we aren’t losing anyone else.

Son of a bratwurst, I thought of all these things I wanted to blog about today on my ride home from work (I have an hour commute and it keeps me from flipping off all the tools who fly by me yapping on their cell phones with one hand and smoking cigarrettes with the other — hey, who needs hands to drive? Not them, apparently!) and now I’ve pretty much forgotten all of it. Oh wait, now I remember… one of the things anyway.

Can I call an end to ESPN subbing in professional athletes to fill in for Mike Golic this week on Mike & Mike? I had no idea how much I truly despised Osi Umenurabastard until today. What a cocky monkeynut. Ok fine, I’m still bitter about the Superbowl, but damn… I wanted to fist fight him over pretty much every statement coming out of his mouth. He’d kill me of course, but that’s neither here nor there in a fictional fist fight. In a fictional fist fight, maybe I kick his ass.  It’s nice to finally have an NFL team to hate. I really want to hate the Colts, but they just aren’t that hateable. Even the Cowboys haven’t stepped up far enough to draw my ire yet. The Giants however, they’ve finally earned my eternal loathing.

Red Sox are playing right now. Wakefield is pitching. I’m not gonna lie, I don’t have a great feeling about it. I hate road games. Fenway is so much more fun. The familiarity of the park is better and of course the fans are wayyyyy better.  Cora just screwed up a routine play and then Cash missed a throw so the Rays draw first blood. Maybe if I switch the channel they’ll start playing better. The WNBA is on ESPN2. Ah, so that’s where Ivory Latta ended up.

I can’t wait to see where all the NBA free agents land. I heard that the Celtics offered contracts to both Posey and Maggette. Interesting. I love James Posey. Love love love him. I hope he stays, but I have a feeling he’s heading to warmer pastures. I think he really missed Miami this season even though he won a championship in Boston. I wouldn’t be shocked if he ends up somewhere where the sun shines a lot more. We’ll see.