his nba takes are usually dead on....
here is one regarding officiating in the playoffs:
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/090528&sportCat=nba
it specifies how jordan (and then artest in 2004) ruined the game, it talks about this perception that better athletes are difficult to ref is garbage, how the style of play shouldhlep refs, amendments that can be made from a penalty standpoint to reduce these rash, oversensitive decisions, and proposes more accountablity and better training of refs (why is the avg age of refs like 60 yrs old or something---shouldn't they be younger like and avg age of 38).....
Thursday, May 28, 2009
chris says jordan is an unfair comparison
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs/2009/columns/story?columnist=broussard_chris&page=MJShadow-090528
this is hard to dispute though....maybe jordan clearly is in a class by himself....
i've always said it takes at least 2 HOFers to win a NBA title....this was only broken by the dream once against another HOFer with no help in ewing and possibly lenny wilkens w/ the sonics (not sure, we have to ask otis)...when i started watching the NBA 2 or more HOFers are required to win a title and in some cases there are multiple HOFers on the runner up....
even though it is too early ace (i know) i say this to say kobe and lebron are the only HOFers on their squads....the nuggets may have 2 in melo and chauncey and the magic may have one in dwight surrounded by 2 good all stars (not like the all stars ewing had in oakley and starks-lewis and hedo can hoop)...
jordan did defy the big man rule but he still had pip and rodman (detroit's ben wallace--if cleveland had that big ben dwight would be in trouble) later. maybe todays guys are not that good or the competition at the wing position is stiffer today....jordan's toughest opponents were dumars, drexler, richmond, miller and it gets easy: starks, g wilkins, ehlo, rex, steve smith, eddie jones, marjerle, hersey hawkins, kendall gill, glen rice....i mean there is a step function. today's wings are talented: kobe, lebron, melo, pierce, jesus, redd, hamilton, manu, josh howard, gilbert, caron, durant, roy, wade, j johnson, artest, k martin, ben gordon, mike miller, tasyshun, etc..
i am rambling...
this is hard to dispute though....maybe jordan clearly is in a class by himself....
i've always said it takes at least 2 HOFers to win a NBA title....this was only broken by the dream once against another HOFer with no help in ewing and possibly lenny wilkens w/ the sonics (not sure, we have to ask otis)...when i started watching the NBA 2 or more HOFers are required to win a title and in some cases there are multiple HOFers on the runner up....
even though it is too early ace (i know) i say this to say kobe and lebron are the only HOFers on their squads....the nuggets may have 2 in melo and chauncey and the magic may have one in dwight surrounded by 2 good all stars (not like the all stars ewing had in oakley and starks-lewis and hedo can hoop)...
jordan did defy the big man rule but he still had pip and rodman (detroit's ben wallace--if cleveland had that big ben dwight would be in trouble) later. maybe todays guys are not that good or the competition at the wing position is stiffer today....jordan's toughest opponents were dumars, drexler, richmond, miller and it gets easy: starks, g wilkins, ehlo, rex, steve smith, eddie jones, marjerle, hersey hawkins, kendall gill, glen rice....i mean there is a step function. today's wings are talented: kobe, lebron, melo, pierce, jesus, redd, hamilton, manu, josh howard, gilbert, caron, durant, roy, wade, j johnson, artest, k martin, ben gordon, mike miller, tasyshun, etc..
i am rambling...
Where is Stephen A Smith?
Have you all noticed that Stephen A Smith hasn't been on ESPN lately? During the NBA playoffs, no Stephen A Smith? Well I did a quick Google search and found out Smith and ESPN have parted ways. Smith said that he was allowed to venture into non-sports outlets however he was somewhat muzzled due to ABC not wanting to politicize ESPN. That is understandable from the standpoint of the present day TV business model, but it's still stupid in my opinion.
No Stephen A Smith? Stephen A Smith was my voice on ESPN, who else dared to blame Tony Romo and Jason Garrett and not just TO? Who else was willing to call an NBA player garbage? Who else was willing to call out little Mikey Lupica (Mr I always got picked last so I will always be jealous of athletes). ESPN is starting to bother me, No Stephen A, no Jason Whitlock, no Michael Irvin. I'm really sick of the whitewashed analysts on ESPN that don't push the envelope and call people on bullshit. I am starting to think that I should stop watching ESPN unless there is an actual game on. Is that possible? ESPN has a ridiculous monopoly on sports, how often do we check espn.com? What other channel do we watch highlights on?
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/columnist/hiestand-tv/2009-04-29-stephen-a-smith_N.htm
Here is Stephen A's Blog
http://stephena.com/
No Stephen A Smith? Stephen A Smith was my voice on ESPN, who else dared to blame Tony Romo and Jason Garrett and not just TO? Who else was willing to call an NBA player garbage? Who else was willing to call out little Mikey Lupica (Mr I always got picked last so I will always be jealous of athletes). ESPN is starting to bother me, No Stephen A, no Jason Whitlock, no Michael Irvin. I'm really sick of the whitewashed analysts on ESPN that don't push the envelope and call people on bullshit. I am starting to think that I should stop watching ESPN unless there is an actual game on. Is that possible? ESPN has a ridiculous monopoly on sports, how often do we check espn.com? What other channel do we watch highlights on?
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/columnist/hiestand-tv/2009-04-29-stephen-a-smith_N.htm
Here is Stephen A's Blog
http://stephena.com/
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Could LeBron James make the transition from NBA MVP to impact NFL player?
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4194437
Yes, he's a prototypical TE...
Yes, he's a prototypical TE...
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Over/Unders in the NBA
From the Simmons Article:
1. LeBron James ... Over/Under 3.5 MVPs in his career
2. Kobe Bryant ... Over/Under 4.5 career NBA titles
3. Dwyane Wade ... Over/Under 1000 games including playoffs (currently at 445)
4. Chris Paul ... Over/Under 1.5 NBA titles + MVP awards
5. Carmelo Anthony ... Over/Under 1.5 scoring titles
6. Greg Oden ... Over/Under 2.5 All-Star Games
7. Derrick Rose ... Over/Under 6.5 All-Star Games
8. Current NBA players as first-ballot Hall of Famers ... 9.5
9. Shaquille O'Neal ... Over/Under 3.5 more seasons
10. Dwight Howard ... Over/Under 0.5 MVPs
My takes:
1) Over... LB23 finishes with 5 MVPs
2) Over... I'm biased. Have to get it done this year. If not, can still do it if Bynum regains his early season form. Kobe needs more help and a tougher team.
3) Under... DWade's body will break down again.
4) Under... CP58 may get an MVP, but is not winning a title.
5) Under... I say Melo gets 1 scoring title. Lebron or Durant will get the rest.
6) Under... Dude will be out of the league in 5 years. Imagine Durant on Portland. Scary!!!
7) Over... DRose will be the best PG in the league in 3 years... then Rubio takes that from him.
8) Over... Kobe, Lebron, AI, Dirk, Shaq, Nash, Yao, Kidd, KG are locks... I think Dwight, Melo, and Durant get there too. Iffy on CP58, Wade, Rose, Jesus, Pierce, etc.
9) Under... I think Shaq plays one more season. Maybe 2.
10) Over... I think Dwight puts together a 25/15 with 4 blocks season, wins MVP and DPOY.
1. LeBron James ... Over/Under 3.5 MVPs in his career
2. Kobe Bryant ... Over/Under 4.5 career NBA titles
3. Dwyane Wade ... Over/Under 1000 games including playoffs (currently at 445)
4. Chris Paul ... Over/Under 1.5 NBA titles + MVP awards
5. Carmelo Anthony ... Over/Under 1.5 scoring titles
6. Greg Oden ... Over/Under 2.5 All-Star Games
7. Derrick Rose ... Over/Under 6.5 All-Star Games
8. Current NBA players as first-ballot Hall of Famers ... 9.5
9. Shaquille O'Neal ... Over/Under 3.5 more seasons
10. Dwight Howard ... Over/Under 0.5 MVPs
My takes:
1) Over... LB23 finishes with 5 MVPs
2) Over... I'm biased. Have to get it done this year. If not, can still do it if Bynum regains his early season form. Kobe needs more help and a tougher team.
3) Under... DWade's body will break down again.
4) Under... CP58 may get an MVP, but is not winning a title.
5) Under... I say Melo gets 1 scoring title. Lebron or Durant will get the rest.
6) Under... Dude will be out of the league in 5 years. Imagine Durant on Portland. Scary!!!
7) Over... DRose will be the best PG in the league in 3 years... then Rubio takes that from him.
8) Over... Kobe, Lebron, AI, Dirk, Shaq, Nash, Yao, Kidd, KG are locks... I think Dwight, Melo, and Durant get there too. Iffy on CP58, Wade, Rose, Jesus, Pierce, etc.
9) Under... I think Shaq plays one more season. Maybe 2.
10) Over... I think Dwight puts together a 25/15 with 4 blocks season, wins MVP and DPOY.
bill simmons take on recent kobe engagements is interesting
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/090522/part1&sportCat=nba
as always there is a page 2 that i am probably about to go read in 30 min....
i find his take on kobe's playing for the redeem team, on his competitive relationship with bron, life after playing, and distinct comparison to MJ very interesting and almost dead on....good stuff on oden (bill simmons is dubbing him the seocnd coming of darko---harsh), the clips and blake, and some over/unders....
bill simmons is also referred to as sports guys or SG below....
Q: I'm writing about the difference between Kobe and LeBron getting the MVP. I'm a huge Lakers fan, always have been. Love Kobe as a player, but not as a person. Here is the difference between LeBron and Kobe. I loved how LeBron got his MVP trophy at his high school, and his whole team showed up. I mean Kobe has a news conference at the practice facility when he won it and only a handful of guys showed! Here LeBron is giving each of his teammates a sweet Flip Camera. I could see Kobe giving each of his teammates an autographed Bryant No. 24 jersey, saying "Now you can say you played with Kobe Bryant when he was the MVP!"--Brad D., Huntington Beach
SG: It's a valid point. I would defend Kobe in two ways: First, LeBron is the greatest teammate of any superstar since Magic. It's not fair to compare anyone to him. Second, Kobe wasn't any better or worse of a teammate than Jordan was for the first nine years of his career; read "The Jordan Rules" sometime. You could have written the same exact paragraph for MJ when he won the MVP in 1988 or 1991.
Of course, Jordan never pretended to be anything other than he was: a demanding teammate who cared about winning, and that's it. Even during his last three Chicago seasons, he spent most of his free time playing cards in a hotel suite. His teammates were co-workers, he respected them, and that's where it ended. Ever since the Gasol trade, Kobe has been trying to perpetuate the image that he's a supportive teammate and one of the guys and all that crap, and there's just too much information to the contrary. The one fascinating thing about "Kobe Doin' Work" was Kobe's contrived interactions with his teammates; it's like he was taking us for fools. Watch this, I'm going to talk Italian to Sasha Vujacic. And what's funny was that his teammates all had a "Wait a second, he never talks to me!" look on their face as soon as he walked away. It was a massive miscalculation of the average NBA fan's IQ, and digging even further, a blown chance to show people that he's a ruthless competitor who demands the best from everyone around him. Just like Jordan. I was bitterly disappointed. Couldn't Spike have made "KG Doin' Work" or "LeBron Doin' Work" or even "Tim Thomas Not Doin' Work?"
Q: Kobe said during the Spike doc, "Me and Phil will sometimes call the same play without even knowing it." Did that not remind you slightly of Amber Waves' documentary about Dirk Diggler in "Boogie Nights," when Dirk is being interviewed with Jack Horner and explains how Jack lets him block his own scenes? Remember, Jack waits a beat and replies, "I .. uh .. I don't let him block his own scenes." I imagine Phil waiting a beat and then saying, "I .. uh .. I don't let Kobe call the plays."-- Adam, Carmichael, CA
SG: I'm laughing but refuse to type "LOL." You're right, the parallels between "Kobe Doin' Work," "Exhausted" with John Holmes and the Amber Waves doc were overwhelming. We're going to eventually remember "Kobe Doin' Work" as a comedy. I really believe that. You know what else is funny? The Kobe fans are so devoted that many are defending the documentary and saying it was terrific. Come on.
All B.S. and rhetoric aside, let's agree that (A) Kobe is one of the best 15 players ever (and cracks the top eight if he wins the 2009 title); (B) Kobe is a polarizing figure who generates a ton of reaction in every kind of direction and that's just the way it is; (C) whether you like him or don't like him, Kobe has been immensely entertaining to follow and discuss for 13 solid years (and counting); and (D) considering Kobe's body of work as a teammate over the past decade, Spike's documentary was ridiculous, insulting and ultimately really funny in some strange way. Can we find common ground on those four points? Please? Thank you.
as always there is a page 2 that i am probably about to go read in 30 min....
i find his take on kobe's playing for the redeem team, on his competitive relationship with bron, life after playing, and distinct comparison to MJ very interesting and almost dead on....good stuff on oden (bill simmons is dubbing him the seocnd coming of darko---harsh), the clips and blake, and some over/unders....
bill simmons is also referred to as sports guys or SG below....
Q: I'm writing about the difference between Kobe and LeBron getting the MVP. I'm a huge Lakers fan, always have been. Love Kobe as a player, but not as a person. Here is the difference between LeBron and Kobe. I loved how LeBron got his MVP trophy at his high school, and his whole team showed up. I mean Kobe has a news conference at the practice facility when he won it and only a handful of guys showed! Here LeBron is giving each of his teammates a sweet Flip Camera. I could see Kobe giving each of his teammates an autographed Bryant No. 24 jersey, saying "Now you can say you played with Kobe Bryant when he was the MVP!"--Brad D., Huntington Beach
SG: It's a valid point. I would defend Kobe in two ways: First, LeBron is the greatest teammate of any superstar since Magic. It's not fair to compare anyone to him. Second, Kobe wasn't any better or worse of a teammate than Jordan was for the first nine years of his career; read "The Jordan Rules" sometime. You could have written the same exact paragraph for MJ when he won the MVP in 1988 or 1991.
Of course, Jordan never pretended to be anything other than he was: a demanding teammate who cared about winning, and that's it. Even during his last three Chicago seasons, he spent most of his free time playing cards in a hotel suite. His teammates were co-workers, he respected them, and that's where it ended. Ever since the Gasol trade, Kobe has been trying to perpetuate the image that he's a supportive teammate and one of the guys and all that crap, and there's just too much information to the contrary. The one fascinating thing about "Kobe Doin' Work" was Kobe's contrived interactions with his teammates; it's like he was taking us for fools. Watch this, I'm going to talk Italian to Sasha Vujacic. And what's funny was that his teammates all had a "Wait a second, he never talks to me!" look on their face as soon as he walked away. It was a massive miscalculation of the average NBA fan's IQ, and digging even further, a blown chance to show people that he's a ruthless competitor who demands the best from everyone around him. Just like Jordan. I was bitterly disappointed. Couldn't Spike have made "KG Doin' Work" or "LeBron Doin' Work" or even "Tim Thomas Not Doin' Work?"
Q: Kobe said during the Spike doc, "Me and Phil will sometimes call the same play without even knowing it." Did that not remind you slightly of Amber Waves' documentary about Dirk Diggler in "Boogie Nights," when Dirk is being interviewed with Jack Horner and explains how Jack lets him block his own scenes? Remember, Jack waits a beat and replies, "I .. uh .. I don't let him block his own scenes." I imagine Phil waiting a beat and then saying, "I .. uh .. I don't let Kobe call the plays."-- Adam, Carmichael, CA
SG: I'm laughing but refuse to type "LOL." You're right, the parallels between "Kobe Doin' Work," "Exhausted" with John Holmes and the Amber Waves doc were overwhelming. We're going to eventually remember "Kobe Doin' Work" as a comedy. I really believe that. You know what else is funny? The Kobe fans are so devoted that many are defending the documentary and saying it was terrific. Come on.
All B.S. and rhetoric aside, let's agree that (A) Kobe is one of the best 15 players ever (and cracks the top eight if he wins the 2009 title); (B) Kobe is a polarizing figure who generates a ton of reaction in every kind of direction and that's just the way it is; (C) whether you like him or don't like him, Kobe has been immensely entertaining to follow and discuss for 13 solid years (and counting); and (D) considering Kobe's body of work as a teammate over the past decade, Spike's documentary was ridiculous, insulting and ultimately really funny in some strange way. Can we find common ground on those four points? Please? Thank you.
Great ending to a Championship
I know you all don't watch lacrosse, but the end of the championship game yesterday was ridiculous. Syracuse came back from being down 3 goals with less than 4 minutes to go. Cornell choked away the championship with about 30 seconds left. Trey saw it live and can atest to this. And Ace you can relax this is probably the last highlight I will post for a while since this was the championship.
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