Al Jefferson

You know what I see in Al Jefferson.. I see a big man with great touch who would do well with a real good point guard who could get him the ball in transition, or in 6 overtimes, or in spain, or maybe when it's snowing outside, or when KG is watching. He probably be OK, nah what I mean?!

You and me, man, we're fucking done professionally

Brandon Jennings on Carson Daly.

Now I haven't watched The Carson Daly Show (if that's even what it's called) in, I think, four years and four years ago I think I only saw one episode. Nevertheless, isn't/wasn't The Carson Daly Show a late night talk show? This piece feels like Carson's horribly misguided application to Dateline or some shit.



On Jennings, though: I love the way he's coming into the league. He's like that friend in high school who went off to the marines, did/saw some unspeakable shit, then came back only to party harder than ever before.

Also, does anyone feel like this kid might have some greatness in him? He's entering the draft with Kobe-esque audacity, but with a way sweet haircut. Not that the amount audacity you display before the draft is any indication of future success, I'm just excited by his excitement.

Ben Gordon is a dog from hell

Originally this post was going to be about Ben Gordon as a basketball version of Charles Bukowski and I was going to raise all sorts of amazing points/questions like 'Is there a literary equivalent to being clutch?' and how Charles Bukowski would have gone for a big ol' sack grab after coming through in the clutch just as BG did:





Ultimately, though, because I've been busy and wasn't able to realize these thoughts at the apex of Gordon's relevance in Game 4, I feel a more pressing matter is the series itself. Namely, THIS SHIT NEEDS TO STOP! LET THEM BOTH ADVANCE, DAVID STERN! SOMEBODY IS GOING TO GET HURT, AND I'M NOT TALKING PHYSICALLY!

The series has been characterized by so many absurd plays and unlikely confluence of cause and effect that I don't think the triple overtime thriller game 6 was even all that surprising, but at the same time I couldn't pull myself away and at many points felt like I would vomit from anxiety. The most agonizing part about the series is that for every huge shot from Shuttlesworth, Gordon, Dr. Salmons, or Paul Pierce (I've found that Paul Pierce is one of those names you have to say in full), it seems there's been an equal amount of missed opportunities; and that as much as there series has been defined by big shots, it's also been defined, in my head, by faulty basketball. I'm talking about missed free throws, turnovers, injuries, missed lay-ups (Kirk!) poor officiating (in my opinion)...

It's as if members of both teams signed competing contracts with the devil so that each moment of brilliance is appropriately rectified by moments of humiliating failure. There was Brad Miller's blown free throws in game 5 atoned for by his late game performance in 6; Ben Gordon, and his astounding games 2 and 4, now rendered ineffectual by the hamstring injury; Paul Pierce's missed free throw in game 1 made up for by his 4th quarter take over of game 5; Rose's Kareem-esque game 1 (I really hate that comparison) and block on Rondo balanced by more than his fair share of frustrating key turnovers throughout the series; Joakim's inability to box out Kendrick Perkins followed by the most bizarre looking play of all time...




This series isn't even basketball anymore, it's something else. Like when Lebron single handedly took down Detroit in game 5 two years ago and we all witnessed His coming, there's something beyond 10 guys and a leather pumpkin here. As easy as it is to pin down the significance of Lebron's achievement, this basketball crossroads continually seems to defy my vocabulary and I often find myself thinking about how to describe the thing to a non-basketball fan or how I'm going to be describing it in 5 years. Everything that's happened with the Chicago Bulls and Boston Celtics this year - the acquisition of Brad Miller and Dr. Salmons, the injury to KG, even the signing of Starbury - has somehow led us to this point in time in which we have a basketball perfect storm, for the lack of a better term. It's terrifying. The series has already been so mythologized in my head, I don't even know how to approach game 7. I'm almost expecting a blowout, because that would be the most unexpected occurrence in a series of exceedingly unexpected occurrences (does anyone even remember game 3?! I don't!), although irony's no longer cool anymore, so it'll probably be mindblowingly excruciating, go down to the wire again, and turn my brain into mush.

I'm also concerned that, like Lebron's take down of the Pistons, these playoffs are cresting too soon because whoever finally wins this series, even if they make it to the Eastern Conference Finals, will not beat Cleveland, and, believe me, a Cleveland/LA finals would not be as exciting as the hype it would generate.

Spirit

Kind of funny

Really funny

New Look Celtics

I was talking to a guy I'd never met before and he said of the Celtics after the game 3 demolition of the Bulls that he thought the Celtics "had their swagger back." I knew what he meant, nodded my head and agreed, made sure he realized Chauncey is the shit, and realized I had to get back to work.

However, I've come to the conclusion that the Celtics haven't so much gotten their swagger back as that they've carved out a new, certainly less dominant, almost pathetic swagger. Without KG, the offense is run almost exclusively through Rondo, whom the Bulls can't find an answer for (give D. Rose a few years). This has been written about to a certain extent, although I feel like the affore-linked link is somehow too theoretical a conception of Rondo. In Doc's post-KG offense, Rondo takes the ball to the basket as hard as he can nearly every possession and something usually good happens for the Celtics - Rondo scores, draws the foul, finds the open man (I'll admit he's a much better passer than I originally thought) - however, frequently, it seems, (especially in game 2) Rondo would get his shot blocked (especially by Tyrus Thomas), or he would miss the shot and fortunately someone like Big Baby or Kendrick Perkins would be in great position to get an offensive rebound and putback. Now you gotta give credit to Big Baby and Perk for running the floor, but I think a lot of Boston's success with their Rondo-inspired offense is in large part due to Chicago's weakness at defending it. In a lot of ways Rondo seems like a shot blocker's dream in that he doesn't really seem to give a shit in transition, 1 on 2, 1 on 3, 1 on 4 he's going to take it to the basket. (Do they keep track of how many shots a players gets blocked in a game?) I feel like against a more defensively cohesive team (Cavs) the Rondo Celtics have no chance.




Maybe this is another iteration of the argument that transition teams don't win championships, although it's an interesting case study because these Celtics (roughly) did win a championship. However, with KG definitely out they are having to redefine themselves and redefine themselves quickly, and create a new swagger.




I say that this new swagger is almost pathetic because this is a team that was among the favorites to win a ring this year, and now everyone, including themselves, are realizing that they are not. Suddenly, they are super pumped just to be getting out of the first round. Although they might have the Bulls' number, the series, so far, has been a moral defeat for Boston.


ALSO: DID ANYONE SEE A FAN SNATCH BILL WALKER'S HEADBAND AS HE WAS CARRYING RONDO TO THE LOCKER ROOM??? COULDN'T FIND VIDEO, BUT HIS REACTION WAS HILARIOUS.

Western Conference Pipe Dream

Building off the last post, my dream Western Conference Final would be Nuggets vs. Blazers, if for no other reason than Joel Przybilla really wants to fight somebody, and in my dream series, Birdman would be that 'body.

Bad Boy Nugs

Watching the Nuggets/Hornets game last night, I got the impression that somehow the Nuggets are the 'bad guys,' or, at least that they are underrepresented as the good guys that they are/should be. Perhaps this is inevitable when pitted against NBA darling Chris Paul (sorry to be hating on him so hard recently) and the fact that they (the Nuggets) might as well employ a team tattoo artist, but I'm feeling that the NBA and its associated TV networks are really missing a lot of somewhat-cliche'd, television-perfect story lines here.

Do I even need to list them:

1) Nene coming back from nut cancer to play the best basketball of his career. You'd think national television (especially ABC) would be all over this, but there hasn't really been much acknowledgement of Nene's comeback while that bicycle guy made a whole career out of it. Nene should be getting magazine covers, halftime profiles with hospital montages, and spots on Oprah. Maybe people find him alienating because he only has one name...now he only has one ball.

2) Chauncey coming home and putting Denver in a position to actually win a playoff series. I don't think those MVP chants are unwarranted.

2.a) The implementation of a true "team" in Denver with Carmelo effectively harnessing his Carmelo-ness and settling into what I guess I'll call a role. This is as much due to AI leaving as Chauncey coming, I think. Also, Carmelo cut his hair.

3) The Birdman. I realize he's the NBA version of Biff Tannen and that he's got a growing fanbase among the 'ironic' and even the 'post-ironic' NBA fans, but from everything I've read about this guy, he's a straight-up quote machine. He needs more off-the-court camera time, maybe even a reality show. Also, he's pulling a reverse Shawn Kemp while, somehow, becoming more bad-ass.


With all this overcoming-adversity/changing-the-culture/what-have-you, you'd think that the 08-09 Denver Nuggets would be the feel good story of the year, but no, not against CP3 and the tattoo-less, still post-Katrina Hornets.

I think there's a lingering AI cancer effect going on, especially considering the attention paid to the league by its most casual fans. (I wore an old Charlotte Hornets shirt to the laundromat the other day and the owner asked me how they were doing, oblivious of the move to New Orleans.)

That said, relish the bad boy Nugs because it's fun to imagine J.R. Smith playing basketball in 3-D glasses.