My sincerest apologies for the month delay in posts. I had final exams, projects, and moved out of my apartment. This post is going to be about the Dallas Mavericks inability to "win" the NBA Finals.
While some of you may be thinking I'm crazy because Dallas won game two and they are the only team this post-season to win a game at Miami. Also, Dirk Nowitzki outscored the Heat 9-3 in the final three minutes of the game.
These things might lead you to believe Dallas has a very realistic chance of winning the 2010-2011 NBA Finals. I would most definitely agree with you, and I'll go as far as saying that I would much prefer to see Dallas win the series. However, if you noticed above, win is in quotes. This is because no matter what happens in the series, the focus will be on how the Heat performed.
If Miami wins, everyone will remember that the "Big 3" were able to capture a championship in their first season, and who was that team they beat? If Miami loses, everyone will remember that LeBron James blew it once again and what seemed to be a lock to win the finals couldn't prevail. Who beat them though?
Unfortunately for the Mavs, Miami has stolen so much of the spotlight that it is likely they will be the focus no matter the result.
I think Miami will win at least one championship during the time they have D-Wade, LBJ, and Chris Bosh. Hopefully it won't be this season. Enjoy the rest of the series.
This NBA season has two big names being talked about for the MVP race. Heat forward LeBron James and Bulls guard Derrick Rose.
Chicago is coincidentally tied for the two-seed in the Eastern Conference with the Miami. However, there is someone who is not being mentioned for the MVP and I think he should be leading the discussion.
Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Love is dominating the NBA this season and should be the leading MVP candidate.
Love: 20.9 ppg 15.7 rbp 2.5 apg Rose: 24.6 ppg 4.4 rpg 8.1 apg James: 26.2 ppg 7.5 rpg 7.1 apg
Love is leading the NBA handily in rebounds, and obviously he isn't going to be anywhere near the top in assists. I understand the Timberwolves (15-49) suck but they would easily set the record for the most losses in a single season without Love. He has a double-double in every game played in December, January and February. He has set the Twolves franchise record for most double-doubles and he is one short of the all-time NBA record of 51 set by Moses Malone in the 1978-1979 season.
I understand the Twolves suck and that will probably mean that Love won't even get consideration, but just consider what the guy is doing on a terrible team. He is shooting 47% from the field, 42% from three-point range (yes he can shoot long distance) and he is 86% from the free-throw line. I mean the guy gets double digit points and rebounds every game and does it efficiently.
All three of those percentages are better than Rose's and they blow James' numbers out of the water except FG% in which James is 2% better. That should mean something in the MVP talk.
So we'll see what happens as we approach the end of the season, but I hope Love destroys the record and wins MVP (and not just because he is on my fantasy team).
As you can tell (above), there were a ton of points (or goals) scored today. I don't really have much to say about the NHL game because I think the captains drafting their teams is a complete joke and the league not taking the game seriously.
I thought the AFC was gonna win the Pro Bowl but it's a game where the players just go through the motions and have fun. St. John's shocked me and the rest of the world by completely owning Duke the entire game. The Big East is ridiculous.
The Heat edged the Thunder is a great game. Kevin Durant looked great as usual but it wasn't enough to get past Wade/LeBron/Bosh.
Kobe is amazingly normal I guess. 16-29 for 42 points. However, he was basically the only offense for the Lakers as Pierce, Allen, Rondo and Garnett were all in double figures for the Celts.
Go to that site and look at Gilbert Arenas' line. He DNP (Did Not Play) for his apparent 'Left Knee CONFUSION'.
They will probably change this as soon as they notice, but I love when things like this get messed up. It's probably from a semester in a news editing class.
Tonight the NBA season goes underway as the Miami Heat take on the Boston Celtics. This is an obvious case of new vs. old. The Celtics started the "big 3" trend by adding Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen to go along with Paul Pierce. They won a championship.
The Heat are now following suit by bringing LeBron James and Chris Bosh (on my fantasy team) to D-Wade County.
I think that the Heat lack depth. That's kind of an obvious statement, but in this case it goes to the extreme. Miami is weak at center because Bosh wants to play forward. They have Joel Anthony and Big Z. Kansas savior Mario Chalmers looks to be the starting point guard, but if the Heat choose to run a big lineup, Wade can start at the point.
Boston signed Jermaine and Shaq O'Neal (not related). That should allow KG to dominate at forward and give both big men a much needed rest throughout the game. Rajon Rondo (on my fantasy team) is coming into his own and should be a force at the point this season.
I like Boston to take this one from Miami due to their depth and team chemistry. D-Wade missed nearly the entire preseason and the Heat lack what the Celtics have. While the Heat will bully the bad teams just because they're better, it will be tough against top conference opponents. They could get off to a slow start. We'll see.
Call it what you want, loyalty, fashion, honor, fanaticism, whatever.The odds are if you are reading this blog, you most likely own at least one, probably multiple sports jerseys. I bet each one cost a lot more than the shirt you are wearing now. Unless you are wearing a jersey now, if so, bravo!
The whole thought of jerseys and their cost came to mind today because of the Lebron James circus and secondly, because Capitals goalie Semyon Varlamov announced he is changing his number from 40 to 1.Those events made me think of all the people with James’ Cavaliers jersey, and the masses of people who own jerseys of teams that they love, with player names on them that have changed numbers or moved on long ago. My twitter feed is going nuts with Caps fans complaining about owning a Varlamov #40.
I remember the feeling of buying my first jersey. It was a Caps jersey, the white one with the Eagle on the front, and I was so proud to have #55 and Sergei Gonchar on the back.I picked him because everyone had Jagr or Bondra at the time, and I figured Gonchar would be around for a while and my wife already had a Kolzig.
I was a new partial plan holder and I wanted something to wear to the games.Less and four months later Gonchar was a Bruin, and I was initiated into the club of people who now had “throwback” jerseys.My situation got worse because Gonchar then went and signed with Pittsburgh, whom I can’t stand, so the jersey went to the back of the closet.
I feel for the millions of folks who spent their hard earned money on Lebron James jerseys, both authentic and replicas.Just think, you can sell it on Ebay for 1/3 of what you paid for it. Lord knows you should try and get some of that small fortune back. Most of those costs are licensing fees and profit.
The New Jersey Devils were selling authentic jerseys at their equipment sale a few weeks ago for $100, which is considered a deal for a jersey with no name or number, but has the heavy material and fight strap that a replica lacks.
Basketball and football jerseys are the same way, if you want the nice ones with the names and numbers stitched on, you better be prepared to part with several hundred dollars.Heck even the replicas with silkscreened names and numbers still go for over one hundred dollars, and are wrecked after several trips through the washing machine.
Players these days are so superstitious or are just plain head cases, but we love sports and are more than willing to pay the price for a jersey with their name on it. Take a look on Ebay, you can find almost any jersey you can think of there.The folks who rushed to buy Brett Favre Jets jerseys also come to mind today, heck I saw people with Brett Favre Vikings jerseys before he even announced he was going to play there.Crazy.
The only way to avoid being in this situation is to not buy jerseys at all, and that will never happen, so frame that LaDanian Tomlinson powder blue Chargers jersey, and if you are lucky he’ll get into the Hall of Fame and you won’t feel so bad.
ESPN reported that according to a source with knowledge of the situation, Dwayne Wade will resign with Miami and he will have a new playmate in former Toronto Raptor Chris Bosh.
This move isn't a surprise, or shouldn't be, to anyone. It was fairly anticipated that Wade wanted to resign in Miami with the assumption that the Heat would being in another big name to play along side him.
This will have a fairly large impact on LeBron James' decision because now we now he won't go to Miami and he may not stay in Cleveland. James was lobbying for the Cavs to sign Bosh which could have guaranteed him staying in Cleveland. Now, he may be inclined to head to Chicago or New York.
The Bulls already have a good supporting cast with Rose, Deng and Noah. The Knicks just signed Stoudemire and will give LeBron the Garden if that's what it takes to get him. Should be interesting; tune in tomorrow night to the LeBron James special on ESPN at 9 PM.
Today the Knicks agreed, in principle, with Amar'e Stoudemire to a five-year deal worth just under $100 million. The deal reunites the ex-Phoenix Sun with former coach, Mike D'Antoni. However, I'm not quite sure it puts the Knicks any further ahead of where they started before the free agency period.
PF/C David Lee is a free agent and they just signed a player older than him at the same position. If the Knicks can't resign Lee and also get LeBron/Wade, they might be scratching their head. New York did make sure that this would not impede their ability to go after Dwayne Wade or LeBron James in terms of . They are obviously looking for another big name player to fill-in the void.
Personally, I think Bosh is leaning towards teaming up with Wade in Miami. LeBron is probably going to want to go to Chicago if he doesn't resign with Cleveland.
I'm curious to see what the Knicks plan to do because they have a lot of old shooting guards and Gallinari/Chandler at SF...should be an interesting summer.
This is just an introductory post to what is going to happen this summer. What many are saying is the most impressive free agent class in NBA history.
The Cleveland Cavaliers lost last night in the conference semi-finals to the Boston Celtics. That means that LeBron James, along with the rest of the Cavs player's, season is over. Which means that in a month and a half, LBJ will become a free agent along with players: Ray Allen, Joe Johnson, D-Wade, and Chris Bosh to name a few.
Now, since this is an intro post, all I'm going to say is that by rule the Cavaliers can only offer a maximum deal of six years worth around $125 million. Any other team is only allowed to go as high as five years worth around $95 million. So the Cavs to have the edge, or do they?
Other teams mentioned to be interested are the Knicks, Bulls, Nets, and Clippers. All of those teams have some reason that would be good for LBJ, but we are just going to leave it at that for now. Check back later in the summer for more on this historic free agent class.
Personally, I thought that Kevin Durant deserved the MVP award this year. Kevin Durant is the youngest player in NBA history to lead the league in scoring, barely ousting James. KD - 30.1 ppg LBJ - 29.7 ppg
However, LeBron does average more assists and rebounds per game and led his team to the number one seed in their conference. Durant also led the Thunder to the playoffs, but they were the eight seed. They did put up a fight against the Lakers, but were knocked out four games to two.
I think that if the Thunder had upset the Lakers, Durant would have put up a much bigger fight in the voting.
The Cleveland LeBron's were without, well, LeBron for the past two games due to a tweaked ankle in his 40-point performance four days ago against Detroit. These were the first two games James has missed all season, Cleveland went 1-1.
James isn't too accustomed to missing games as the seven-year pro has only missed 20 games in his entire career. However, this was a special occasion because the Cavaliers are also without, and will be without for the rest of the season Shaq O'Neal. O'Neal has been out since late Feb. and recently had surgery on his thumb. He was expected to miss the entire season, but doctors are now optimistic about an earlier return.
Oh, and about King James, don't worry because he is to return to the lineup for their next game at the Philadelphia 76ers.
On a side note: LBJ is averaging 30.0 points, 8.5 assists, and 7.2 rebounds per game. So you're probably thinking he is the clear favorite for MVP right? Well, duh. However, don't be surprised to see Kevin Durant's name mentioned during the discussion. The "Durantuala" is averaging 29.6 points, 2.8 assists, and 7.6 rebounds per game for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
While you might be thinking..."LBJ's stats are better in every category!" Take into consideration that Durant is on a Thunder team that has already won 15 games more than they did last season and is 14 games over .500. Not to mention they are sitting pretty to make the playoffs, currently holding the sixth seed in the Western Conference. Durant definitely has my vote.
This is my first post, and it’s going to be an important one. Tonight the Cavs and Wizards face off at the Phone Booth on ESPN.
The Wiz have been off to a slow start, and most of this blame lies with their inability to stay healthy. It should be interesting to see how Antawn Jamison responds after being on the sideline for the last 5 weeks with a shoulder injury. Agent Zero seems to be fully healed from the knee injury that kept him out all last season, and the decision to trade away their first round draft pick to receive Randy Foye and Mike Miller has looked like a good one.
The Cavs have been on a hot streak since losing their first two. LeBron James has been playing well and Shaq looks like he can still be a force inside. The addition of Shaq and Anthony Parker really give the Cavs other offensive threats to complement LeBron. Unfortunately for the Cavs, they’ll be without Anderson Varejao and Shaq tonight, so the younger guys are going to have to step up.
If the Wizards want to get back in the win column, they’ve got to get Jamison involved in the offense, and they’ll have to play the strength of the guards. Defensively, they must contain LeBron and force him to make jumpers.
