Crazy NBA

So, my playoff brackets got pretty busted. For those of you who don't know, the Lakers beat the Celtics in the Finals. Bottom line on that is the Celtics played awful basketball in Games 6 and 7.

Steve Kerr and David Griffin are both leaving the Phoenix Suns at the end of the month. David Griffin has been a mainstay in the organization for over 12 years. He was Kerr's right-hand man. Kerr wanted a raise given to the grunts of the organization because they deserve it and the team got $10 million unexpected from the playoffs.

J.A. Adande, who has many more sources than I do, put it this way in his recent column:

"Kerr wanted a little raise, Sarver wanted him to take a pay cut," one source said. "There's no other way to spin it."

Well, a second source indicated it wasn't as simple as a money grab by Kerr. He wanted more money for the coaching staff, video crew, front-office secretaries -- all the people who helped produce this unexpected trip to the conference finals that yielded more than $10 million in extra revenue from eight home playoff games. Except when Kerr went to bat with Sarver, "The guy just bludgeoned Steve," the second source said.

So Kerr's out. Stoudemire's next.

"Amare's done," according to the source. "He's gone."


So, anyway, my main point is that starting in April 2008 I was hinting that Sarver is the worst. As late as May 2008, I was blatantly saying Sarver is the reason the Suns won't win a championship.

I like Doug Franz's idea. If every Doug and Wolf listener chipped in $10, we could buy the Phoenix Suns. I know I'd be more than willing to make that the best $10 investment of my life as long as I received recognition for being the first one to be right on this subject.

Playoff Time

The playoffs start Saturday. Here are my predictions.

Round 1

Eastern Conference

#8:Chicago Bulls vs. #1:Cleveland Cavaliers
Result: Cavaliers in 4.

#7:Charlotte Bobcats vs. #2:Orlando Magic
Result: Magic in 5.

#6:Milwaukee Bucks vs. #3:Atlanta Hawks
Bogut's grotesque injury really hurts the Bucks.
Result: Hawks in 5.

#5:Miami Heat vs. #4:Boston Celtics
Result: Heat in 6.

Western Conference

#8:Oklahoma City Thunder vs. #1:Los Angeles Lakers
Result: Lakers in 6.

#7:San Antonio Spurs vs. #2:Dallas Mavericks
Result: Mavericks in 7.

#6:Portland Trail Blazers vs. #3:Phoenix Suns
Result: Suns in 5.

#5:Utah Jazz vs. #4:Denver Nuggets
Result: Jazz in 6.


Round 2

Eastern Conference

#5:Miami Heat vs. #1:Cleveland Cavaliers
Result: Cavaliers in 5.

#3:Atlanta Hawks vs. #2:Orlando Magic
Result: Magic in 6.

Western Conference

#5:Utah Jazz vs. #1:Los Angeles Lakers
Result: Lakers in 5.

#3:Phoenix Suns vs. #2:Dallas Mavericks
Result: Suns in 6.

Round 3

Eastern Conference

#2:Orlando Magic vs. #1:Cleveland Cavaliers
Result: Cavaliers in 7.

Western Conference

#3:Phoenix Suns vs. #1:Los Angeles Lakers
Result: Suns in 7.

Round 4

#3:Phoenix Suns vs. #1:Cleveland Cavaliers
Result: Cavaliers in 6.

That's right. I called it. The Suns will make the Finals the year I'm not here.

Amare talks.

Amare Stoudemire spoke with Doug & Wolf this morning on Sports 620 KTAR. When asked what he would say to people who think he is playing this MVP-caliber basketball just for the money, he responded.

"They are just simply retarded. They haven't been watching my career at all since I've been in the league," Stoudemire said. "Ever since I've been in the league I've been improving every single summer, keeping myself in total top shape, focusing on winning a championship through those playoff runs, coming back with force and reckless abandon, and even after the All-Star break I've been improving. So if they just think I'm playing for a contract they are out of their minds."

Amare is smart. He can't outsmart me, though.

Amare is kind of injury prone. Not the kind of guy I want to give a max contract.

Amare has just recently been averaging more than 10 rebounds per game. He's 6'10" and has mad hops!!!! What reason is there he shouldn't have been doing that for years?!?!!!

Amare is a great player, but he can't make an impact without the ball. No Steve Nash means not as many passes to Amare.

I don't wanna see Amare leave. I love watching him play, as infuriating as he can be. But, I don't think he's changed. I don't think he has the championship drive that Kobe has. He's done nothing to make me believe that in the past. He's done nothing to make me start believing now.

Dunkface extreme!

Kurt Warner retired a while back. The Cardinals lost to the eventual Super Bowl champions. Coach Whisenhunt has declared Matt Leinart as the starting quarterback.

Matt Leinart is going to win a Super Bowl. I have great confidence in him and the Arizona Cardinals offense. They're going to be unstoppable again. Matt Leinart, possibly Derek Anderson, with Larry Fitzgerald, Steve Breaston and Early Doucet to throw to. Beanie Wells bulldozing through every stunt and trick any defensive line may have to offer.

I have the Cardinals finishing at a second consecutive 10-6 record before the schedule is released.

Meanwhile, the Coyotes are tearin up the rink! They're battling for first place in the conference and home ice throughout the playoffs.



In other news, the Phoenix Suns are doing well. Amare Stoudemire is FINALLY, after seven long years, playing to his potential. If he would've done this a few years ago, the Suns would have two NBA championships to boast about. Alas, he decided to play well when the Lakers are indestructible and when he is eligible for a new, bigger contract after the season.

If anyone knows of any can't-miss hot spots or restaurants or anything in Albuquerque, New Mexico, lemme know.

Sad Day

Cardinals 14 Saints 45

Suns 99 Bobcats 125

Coyotes 6 Wild 4

Diamondbacks got rid of the burden that was Eric Byrnes.

What has the Valley come to?

The Diamondbacks are hoping for one playoff appearance before Brandon Webb becomes a free agent. This year for sure, if the Diamondbacks make the playoffs, their pitching gives them a decent shot.

The Phoenix Coyotes are 5th in their conference. It must suck to be a hockey player. I've heard them mentioned on Bickley & MJ twice. Nobody talks about them. They're doing great and nobody cares.

The Suns got pounded. I didn't see it, but it seems they were out of it from the very beginning. Earl Clark played 21 minutes. Those are Big Boy minutes.

The Cardinals got pounded. I wish Larry Legend hadn't fumbled the football last week against the Packers. If he hadn't, I would feel no shame or remorse ripping into Jerheme Urban. His fumble is what changed that game. The Cardinals scored a touchdown on their first play. Jerheme Urban caught the ball and was running for a big gain on their second play when he fumbled. Darren Sharper recovered and the Cardinals did not. It seemed as if they gave up after the Saints made it 14-7 and 21-7. I still had hope when Beanie Wells busted a touchdown to make it 21-14, but the Cardinals couldn't avoid mistakes and, more importantly, couldn't stop the Saints.

Cardinals v. Saints

I just wanna let everyone know I played a Saints vs. Cardinals game in Madden 10. I controlled the Cardinals and won 63-41. So, it's official. The Cardinals have nothing to worry about. Actually, one of the Saints receivers had over 200 yards receiving, but one wide receiver cannot win a football game.

People are actually picking the Cardinals in this matchup of NFC powerhouses. I appreciate that some "experts" are willing to give them R-E-S-P-E-C-T after they put a beatdown on the Packers. I still adamantly believe if the Arizona Cardinals played any football team on the planet and both teams played at peak performance, the Arizona Cardinals would come off conquerer.

That won't happen this weekend though. Anquan Boldin may play but is nowhere near 100%. Mike Gandy, as much as I hate him, is out. Gerald Hayes is most likely out. Calais Campbell is hurt but will play. And many more. I'm sure the Saints have their fair share of injuries as well.

The Cardinals will play in domes the next two weeks and play in Miami for the Superbowl. The Cardinals secondary will play better this week.

Cardinals 38 Saints 34

Perfection!!!

We all know that there has only been one perfect person. Jesus Christ.

Most of us know the 1972 Miami Dolphins are the only major professional sports team to end a season with a zero in the loss column.

The New England Patriots were very close to being perfect two seasons ago. They lost a thrilling Superbowl to the New York Giants.

The NFL is really the only plausible major professional sports league in which a team can be perfect. Right now the Indianapolis Colts are 14-0 and the New Orleans Saints are 13-0 with a home game tomorrow evening against the Dallas Cowboys.

If it weren't for the Arizona Cardinals being legitimate contenders, I would be all for a Colts v. Saints Superbowl that features them both at 18-0. Having two undefeateds in one Superbowl is an event that may never happen.

The simple rarity of it is ridiculously intriguing. However, I think that it is more possible for the Arizona Cardinals to beat the 17-0 Saints in the NFC Championship game and beat the 18-0 Colts in the Superbowl.

Peyton Manning is the greatest. Drew Brees is excellent. The Cardinals are legit. They are going to beat the tar, stuffing and living daylights out of the Lions.

Week 15 prediction

I fully expect the Arizona Cardinals to bulldoze and demolish the Detroit Lions. The Cardinals have often followed what many consider a statement win with a humbling loss. The Cardinals have often followed that humbling loss with a huge win.

Week 6 of 2008. The Cardinals pull off an amazing victory over the Dallas Cowboys. Nobody saw it coming and Troy Aikman was soooooooooooooo annoying commentating for that game. They had a bye in Week 7 and lost to the Carolina Panthers in Week 8. Everyone expected the Panthers to win, but it was still humbling.

Week 7 of 2009. The Cardinals beat up on the New York Giants. They come home and get spanked by the Carolina Panthers the next week. They follow that with a beatdown of the Chicago Bears in Soldier Field.

Week 13 of 2009. The Cardinals steamroll the Minnesota Vikings. They head to San Fran the next week and fumble away the game. Those balls had to be slick as snot. The Cardinals did show that they are a better football team than the 49ers. If you only lose by 15 after committing seven turnovers, you are the better football team. You just had an extraordinarily bad game.

The Cardinals are still the team to beat in the NFC. They're going to host a first round playoff game. The second round of the playoffs will be in a dome. As will the NFC Championship game. The Cardinals have shown they are an elite team when they need to be.

Anyway...

Cardinals 41 Lions 17

Softball '09

Last night was the first night of softball for the Mesa South Stake. As I pulled into a parking space I noticed a bunch of girls on the field that was supposed to be reserved for the elders. I walked over to the other field that featured young men finishing up a game. More people from Sherwood Park Ward showed up, and we got some warm-up throws in.

Well, I looked over to the other field, and the females were still there. Apparently, City of Mesa double-booked that field. Stupid. When the females did start to actually "play", they weren't even in the outfield. How stupid is that? Possibly ruin a bunch of people's night just to be stupid. If you're not going to try to be competent and relevant, get out of everyone else's way.

The elders had to combine with the young men. I went up to bat first for our team, swung at two strikes and walked back to the dugout. Will Bradshaw got my attention, "Thanks for taking the pressure off the rest of us."

At-bat number two consisted of an inning ending groundball to third base.

Third at-bat. Aaron Crisp had just hit a monstrous grand slam. Chris Stevenson got an out. Josh Stevenson got on first base. I walked to the plate, pointed at my mom in the first row and said, "This one's for you mom." Mackay Shelley, who was sitting there and keeping score, said, "I hope he hits it." Bishop Standage and Sister Pyper laughed. I stepped into the batter's box. The pitch comes and is just ridiculously perfect to hit. I swing with all my might. Aluminum on softball is such a good sound at times. The ball soars into right-center field. I don't know how far it went, but I like to think that it at least rolled to the wall. I busted around the bases. As I turned second base, I saw Josh a few steps ahead. I was worried his speed wouldn't let me score. Luckily, he picked up the pace a bit and I "slid" into home. Moment of a lifetime for a mother.

We would end up winning 17-7. Game MVP honors go to Aaron Crisp who totaled 9 RBI and 12 total bases.

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame

So, I'm not blogging about the Cardinals because they are frustrating and if you want to hear opinions on the Cardinals 20-16 loss to the 49ers, just listen to any Valley sports talk through Wednesday.

No, this post is about the ceremony that was held Friday night in Massachusetts. Vivian Stringer, David Robinson, John Stockton, Jerry Sloan, and Michael Jordan are the Class of 2009. I don't like Vivian Stringer. And I don't think Michael Jordan is the greatest of all time.

All the video that I see of him only makes me think of Kobe Bryant. I don't see any difference in the way that they play or their hunger to win. Kobe is easily the hardest working athlete in the NBA right now. He has an absolutely insane training regime.

But, yeah, I don't see any difference. You can throw the whole number of titles thing at me, but Michael said why he has six in his speech. It was one of the first things that he said and deservedly so. The first person that he thanked was Scottie Pippen. I was surprised that he didn't mention Phil Jackson, who has been there for all six of Jordan's championships as well as all four of Kobe's.

As for Michael's speech being proud and bullysome. No. It was fine. The only reason that he said those things is because of the fans and media. If all of you stupid fans and media wouldn't go around saying "I wanna be like Mike" and "Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player ever" then he wouldn't have sounded so pompous in his speech.

The fans have all the power in sports. It's the fans who make or break everything about sports. If the fans would possess the least bit of intellect, there wouldn't be all these divas (i.e. Michael Jordan, Terrell Owens, Brett Favre, Alex Rodriguez.)

J-Up

A.J. Hinch just told Justin Upton to grab some bench. I couldn't be happier. Upton was being his usual idiot self and finally got some discipline for it. I'd make him sit the rest of the series.

Here is the play.

Justin has done this all season long. For some reason it seems like I've been the only one that didn't like him for it. So, finally, in a 100% meaningless game for the Diamondbacks, A.J. Hinch shows that he has stronger huevos than I've given him credit for.

Shaquille O' Krimnal?

A television show aired it's third episode last night. It's called "Shaq Vs." and it features perennial great Shaquille O' Neal against stars of other sports. I find it highly entertaining. Others, not so much.

Shaq has been accused of stealing the idea from former teammate Steve Nash. Nash tried to brush over it, but it's hard to hide when you hire a patent lawyer. So, to quiet it all down, Shaq put Nash in the credits as a producer.

Dan Bickley dropped this bomb on his blog last week.

I like this show. Shaq has always been about himself. He wants his name to be synonymous with the word "basketball". He wants to have plenty of jewelery when he retires.

I didn't like when Shaq came to the Suns on February 6, 2008. 'Twas a day of infamy. But, I'll admit, he grew on me. He entertained me until I liked him.

With Shaq, you just need to not take anything that he says seriously. He's a comedian. He'll joke his way out of any situation. He thinks Shaq first 100% of the time. Shaq is Shaq. Shaq does as Shaq does. You can laugh or criticize, but Shaq isn't going to change for anybody.

State of the Arizona Diamondbacks: 2010

2009 is a lost cause for the Arizona Diamondbacks. For a majority of the season the only rays of hope were Dan Haren winning the NL Cy Young Award and Mark Reynolds being awesome. But, now Dan Haren has fallen way off the chart for any consideration in the NL Cy Young race. Luckily, John Hester has come up and been the best thing that could've ever happened to this team; however, that is a completely different story. Mark Reynolds is still awesome and still has a chance to beat Pujols in the home run race. To be realistic though, the Diamondbacks are focusing on next season with an entire month left in this season.

(By the way, here is the link to John Hester's first big league at-bat.)

But, this offseason is a big one for the Diamondbacks. I don't think Josh Byrnes is a good general manager in any way.

Mark Reynolds is going to get a pay raise. He was getting a AA salary because that's where he was in May of 2007.

I like Doug Davis. I want him to be re-signed by the Diamondbacks. But, I had no idea that he was getting paid more than Webb and Haren.

I would think that if Josh Byrnes had any baseball sense at all he would make sure that Scott Schoeneweis, Eric Byrnes, and Chad Tracy are not with this team next year. I don't want to see Jon Garland back, but if that's the best deal out there, then whatever. I think that Yusmeiro Petit has earned a shot at the number 5 starting job next season.

So, here's my 2010 Arizona Diamondbacks opening day roster.

1)Stephen Drew-SS
2)Ryan Roberts-2B
3)Justin Upton-RF (Even though I don't like him, it'd be stupid of me to not think he'd be there)
4)Mark Reynolds-3B
5)Miguel Montero-C
6)Gerardo Parra-CF
7)Brandon Allen-1B
8)Alex Romero-LF
9)Dan Haren-P

The rotation should go Haren, Webb, Davis, unknown offseason pick up, Petit. The bullpen would feature Clay Zavada for the 7th inning, Chad Qualls for the 8th, and Max Scherzer as the closer. There would still be Juan Gutierrez and Leo Rosales and maybe Daniel Schlereth as well. On the bench would be John Hester, Trent Oeltjen, Conor Jackson, and Augie Ojeda. The other two roster spots would be filled in the bullpen.

Trade Chris Snyder to get a pitcher or 1B. Let Dan Haren start next season, it wouldn't be fair any other way. Pick up the option on Brandon Webb. Give Chris Young a shot to earn his pay, but don't just give him the starting CF job.

Mark Andrew Reynolds

Mark Reynolds is an absolute beast. As of right now he is hitting .284 with 33 home runs, 76 RBI, and 20 stolen bases. Those are very good numbers to say the least. Right around the Fourth of July, whilst everyone else was celebrating, Mark Reynolds was calling out his team. That's not to say that he isn't patriotic, but the Arizona Diamondbacks were playing AA baseball at the time. He called them out and backed it up with a 3-run homer the next game.

Mark Reynolds is the epitome of hustle and effort. He busts his butt on every play, does all in his power to get an out on every pitch when in the field, does all that he can just to get on base when up to bat. Mark Reynolds never takes a play off. He's not too worried about his personal stats, he just wants to see his baseball team win.

The Diamondbacks are 10.5 games back in the wildcard race. With 53 games to play and the way the Diamondbacks have been playing, I give the playoffs a plausible. Dan Haren will need to return to his first half form, but Mark Reynolds will make sure to perform in the clutch. He has a hunger in his belly that can only be quenched by a World Series win. Whether or not he gets one with this team, or at all, is yet to be seen?

Also, as far as the playoffs go, I have the same thoughts as last year. Last year the Diamondbacks were in contention to win their division and I thought that if they could do that, they had a good chance at a World Series berth. I think the same of this year. They have the starting pitching to make a run if they can make a competition of it.

23 Meets 32.

The King is going to be working with The Big Aristotle. The Phoenix Suns and the Cleveland Cavaliers have agreed to a trade that sends Shaquille O' Neal to the Cavs and Ben Wallace, Sasha Pavlovic, the 46th pick in next year's draft and $500,000 cash to the Suns.

Actually, it's more like two old pals agreed to this trade. Danny Ferry, Cleveland's GM, and Steve Kerr are old teammates and relatively good friends. Kerr realizes that he and his boss, Robert Sarver, are blubbering idiots when it comes to a NBA front office, but Sarver a trillion times more.

It's highly likely that the Suns will buy out the contracts of both Wallace and Pavlovic. I thought that the plan was to trade Shaquille O' Neal this offseason because his trade value was high, yet they received practically nothing in return for him. So, this is purely a way to get some financial relief and not an attempt to improve the Suns championship chances. The Valley of the Suns is used to winning and going deep in the playoffs. It appears that Steve Kerr is more into making sure that he makes his mark on the franchise before the fans crucify him and Sarver.

Here's list of all recorded 46th picks. I've bolded the ones I've heard of.

Dennis Awtrey (Philadelphia 76ers, 1970)
James Edwards (Los Angeles Lakers, 1977)
Jerome Kersey (Portland Trailblazers, 1984)
Adrian Branch (Chicago Bulls, 1985)
Jeff Hornacek (Phoenix Suns, 1986)
Morlon Wiley (Dallas Mavericks, 1988)
Ricky Blanton (Phoenix Suns, 1989)
Kenny Williams (Indiana Pacers, 1990)
Richard Dumas (Phoenix Suns, 1991)
Robert Werdann (Denver Nuggets, 1992)
Richard Petruska (Houston Rockets, 1993)
Voshon Lenard (Milwaukee Bucks, 1994)
George Banks (Miami Heat, 1995)
Marcus Brown (Portland Trailblazers, 1996)
God Shammgod (Washington Bullets, 1997)
Andrae Patterson (Minnesota Timberwolves, 1998)
J.R. Koch (New York Knicks, 1999)
DeeAndre Hulett (Toronto Raptors, 2000)
Loren Woods (Minnesota Timberwolves, 2001)
Jamal Sampson (Utah Jazz, 2002)
Sani Bečirović (Denver Nuggets, 2003)
Ha Seung-Jin (Portland Trailblazers, 2004)
Erazem Lorbek (Indiana Pacers, 2005)
Dee Brown (Utah Jazz, 2006)
Stephane Lasme (Golden State Warriors, 2007)
Trent Plaisted (Seattle Supersonics, 2008)
Daniel Green (Cleveland Cavaliers, 2009)
Gani Lawal (Phoenix Suns, 2010) [I've only heard of him because it's the Suns]
Andrew Goudelock (Los Angeles Lakers, 2011)

If you're going to rebuild, then you need to get rid of Nash and Amare. They both have a lot of trade value. Amare isn't a guy who can carry a team and Nash doesn't want to be on a rebuilding team. It's late in his career and at that point all guys want is championships. Build around Lou, Dudley, and Barbosa. Re-sign Grant Hill to keep a veteran presence and go and get Tyler Hansborough in the draft. I'm sure he'll be there at 14. He's the smartest basketball player in the draft.

AND DON'T RE-SIGN BARNES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, the joy of themed Mad Libs.

One day, Little Brown Riding Hood was going through the forest carrying a basket of toilet paper rolls for her grandmother. Suddenly, she met a big, smelly wolf. "Crap!!!!" said the wolf. "Where are you going, little dookie?"
"I'm going to my grandmother's house," she said. Then the wolf dumped away. When Miss Riding Hood got to her grandmother's house, the wolf was in bed dressed as grandmother. "My, Grandmother," she said, "What big toilets you have."
"The better to flush you with," said the wolf.
"And Grandmother," she said, "What big turds you have."
The wolf said, "The better to wipe you with."
And then she said, "What big farts you have, Grandmother." But the wolf said nothing. He has just died of indigestion from eating Grandmother.

Goodbye May.

So, May is about to end. Been quite a month. I turned 18. My dad turned 60. I graduated from high school. The Diamondbacks fired Bob Melvin and have shown some good signs of improvement since then. Yankee Stadium has been a hitters dream and a pitchers nightmare. Mark Teixeira hit a ball off of Cole Hamels that severed his bat, but the ball still went over the left field wall. And the NBA playoffs have been stellar.

From the Denver Nuggets absolutely thrashing the Hornets in New Orleans (121-63) to the Boston Celtics and the Chicago Bulls giving us the series of a lifetime that had a very anticlimatic ending thanks to the officials.

LeBron James delivered a shot that will not soon be forgotten. It's a shame that it had to come when the seemingly unstoppable Cavaliers were all-of-a-sudden springing leaks all over the place.

We all wish that the Suns could've made it and gotten swept in the first round. But, it's time for Dwight Howard to really step up. The Magic won both games against the Lakers in the regular season. Both were close and both had the now injured Jameer Nelson as Player of the Game. So, it'll be up to Dwight Howard to play smart, stay on his feet, and dominate the paint. If he can do this, Rashard Lewis, Hedo Turkoglu, Mickael Pietrus, and Rafer Alston will be open from long range.

Sadly, I must address this point. The officiating in these playoffs has been abosolutely terrible. It ruined the best series (Bulls v. Celtics) and completely put the underdog Jazz out of contention. I watched every game of the Jazz v. Lakers series and really, seriously, the Lakers had it made with the refs.

Bill Simmons, writer for ESPN, addresses this issue and more here. (Mama Bear, pay special attention to what he says starting with the sixth paragraph of the "Where Aging Doesn't Happen..." section all the way to "The General Motors Syndrome")

I would also like to add that being an official in the NBA is not easy at all. My brother, Daniel, says at least once during every game that he watches that he could be (and should be) a ref. I really think that he would be not so good at it.

But the problem is that the NBA is comfortable with the bad refs that they have now. However hard as it may be to find young, good referees, they need to try. They need to hold their refs accountable. If only the refs had to answer to the media.

Playoffs

So, I drew up some playoff brackets but I don't know how to scan them onto my computer.

Eastern Conference 1st Round:
8)Detroit vs. 1)Cleveland Winner:Cleveland in 4

5)Miami vs. 4)Atlanta Winner:Atlanta in 6 or 7

6)76ers vs. 3)Orlando Winner:Orlando in 5

7)Chicago vs. 2)Boston Winner:Boston in 6

Western Conference 1st Round:
8)Utah vs. 1)Los Angeles Winner:Los Angeles in 7

5)Houston vs. 4)Portland Winner:Houston in 6

6)Dallas vs. 3)San Antonio Winner:Dallas in 7

7)New Orleans vs. 2)Denver Winner:Denver in 5

Eastern Conference Semi-finals:
4)Atlanta vs. 1)Cleveland Winner:Cleveland in 4

3)Orlando vs. 2)Boston Winner:Orlando in 6

Western Conference Semi-finals:
5)Houston vs. 1)Los Angeles Winner:Los Angeles in 6

6)Dallas vs. 2)Denver Winner:Dallas in 7

Eastern Conference Finals:
3)Orlando vs. 1)Cleveland Winner:Cleveland 5

Western Conference Finals:
6)Dallas vs. 1)Los Angeles Winner:Los Angeles 5

NBA Finals:
1)Los Angeles vs. 1)Cleveland Winner:Los Angeles in 6

Preps 2 Pros

I love Adande and won't even try to say this in my own words.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=adande_ja&page=highschoolers-090416

The D'Antoni-Gentry system.

If only we could, in some delicate, scientific process, combine Mike D'Antoni and Alvin Gentry, then the world could meet the greatest basketball coach of all time.

D'antoni averaged 58 wins per season in his 4 full seasons as Phoenix Suns head coach. Pretty gosh darn good. He also accumulated 26 playoff victories in that time. I'd like that number to be the maximum 64 as much the next guy, but 26 is not too shabby.. Compare that 26 to any team other than the Spurs and Pistons and I'd bet that the Suns are looking pretty good.

Gentry is a measly 13-11 so far in his head coaching tenure with the Suns. That's bad, but we need to remember that he has done nearly all of it at much less than full strength. Amare Stoudemire has missed all but two-and-a-half of those and Leandro Barbosa has missed 10-12 of those games. Those two are huge components in a run-n-gun system.

Now, if we could just find a guy that's as much of an offensive genius as D'Antoni and have that guy play his bench as much as Gentry does. That would be perfection. I do believe the Suns offense was much better under D'Antoni than it is with Gentry. That might be difficult for some to understand because the three games that Gentry had the Phoenix Suns at full strength they scored 140 each game. However, two of those were against the injury ridden Clippers and the other was against the lowly Oklahoma City Thunder.

As much as my blog may indicate that I didn't like Mike D'Antoni, I really did like him. I just wished that he would've told his starters to "Grab some bench" more often. Look at Goran Dragic. He would've never played under D'Antoni and Porter never played him, but Alvin Gentry stuck him out and told him, "Don't worry if you make mistakes. Just play through them and we'll look at the film later. Just don't make the same mistake again. And when you do make a mistake, don't look at the bench of you're gonna be grabbing some bench." That may not be an exact quote.

So, I need those filthy liberals to mess with God given genetics and find a way to combine the philosophies of these two men.

Saturday, March 21, 2009. Wizards vs. Suns

I was privileged enough to attend last Saturday's Wizards vs. Suns game. The Suns won by 32 and it was an all around good time. I ate at Majerle's prior to the game and thought that it was definitely worth making into a tradition to eat at Majerle's for every Suns game and an occasional Diamondbacks game.

I now officially have Tom Chambers' autograph for myself and have a picture with his arm around me. So take that, mother.

I also recently learned that I could play in the NBA if I were to practice basketball four hours a day, five days a week, fifty weeks a year for the next ten years.

I must sadly admit that I probably won't do that. I want to either be a talk radio host or do something with math. I want to be an old guy who's good at math.

The Blue Album

Weezer came out with their self-titled Blue Album on May 10, 1994. It had gone platinum by the commencement of 1995. The world was introduced to Weezer by their "Undone-The Sweater Song" video and, more popularly, their "Buddy Holly" music video featuring footage from Happy Days.

I got these books for Christmas that display piano chords and guitar tabs of the first five albums that Weezer produced. My brother was exceptionally jealous and took it upon himself to learn how to play the entire Blue Album. So, I get serenaded with that often. Well, he was playing "Surf Wax America" and I thought that it sounded really cool. I mean, I've always liked that song (it was my favorite for awhile there) but for some reason it sounded just really cool to play. I finished my session of Madden and went up to look at the book. My fingers aren't as fluent as his, but I could pluck out the tune. So, since then, I've just been thinking a lot about how extremely great that album is. I was just going to say something small on Facebook, but I decided that this was better than nothing on my blog.

The first song of Weezer's first album is just great. I mean, I'm sure that all four members of the band got called Jonas plenty of times after the album's release, but it's a great way to start a musical career.

I guess that I mainly wanted to talk about other songs.

"Say It Ain't So". A song about Rivers' relationship with his father and stepfather. His dad left his family when Rivers was young and his mother remarried to Steven. Apparently both his dad and Steven always had beer in the fridge. And were constantly drinking. Rivers was just watching TV and wrestling with his brother when Steven started another beer. Rivers felt that he couldn't confront Steven about this for fear of damaging their relationship even further. Then Rivers writes a letter to his dad telling him how Steven reminds him so much of him (his dad). It's an amazing song and a great insight into how Rivers grew up.

"Surf Wax America". An absoulutely fantastic intro and awesome instrumental throughout. One of Rivers' biggest influences was the Beach Boys and particularly Brian Wilson. So, he wrote his own surfing song. It's not so much the lyrics of this one that I like, it's the music. It's just so simple, yet so beautiful sounding.

This album is just amazing. It's easily one of the greatest albums of any genre of all time. It's really hard to not like this album, unless you just hate guitars and drums and awesome vocals.

NBA All-Star Weekend

So, nobody cares about Friday night.I had a mostly enjoyable Friday night. Treated myself to a Chipotle burrito and all was well until some idiots showed up.

Saturday I went to the All-Star Practice and didn't take a camera. It was cool just to see them all there and stuff but the MC was a complete retard and made me not want All-Star Weekend to ever come back. But the Jam Session was all geared towards children and crap. I did get within like 10 feet of Yao Ming. That was pretty awesome. That man is quite large. I didn't get to watch All-Star Saturday Night (always and forever my favorite) because of the idiots at MY house.

I didn't watch much of the actual All-Star Game.

But, I have since been able to watch all of Saturday Night. After it was all ruined for me. Dwight Howard did possibly the worst dunk that he could've to end the night. Nate Robinson actually deserved this one. He clearly robbed and stole from Andre Iguadola in 2006. It was a great Saturday Night that turned into Monday Morning for me.

I guess I just wanna say that my perfect weekend was ruined because some of my family absolutely HATES me. Like, Mark is good company. He doesn't bother or destroy anything. But, I just wanted to watch the festivities in a quiet, restful place.

Superbowl XLIII

I, of course, picked the Cardinals to win the Superbowl as soon as I knew that they would be in the playoffs. My mother is my proof for that. I did start to let doubt creep in when the Steelers beat the Ravens; however, I still stayed true though.

So, 27-23. If the refs hadn't called two extremely unfair personal fouls on the Cardinals in the third quarter, it's 24-23 with 35 seconds left and two timeouts. A very different ballgame. But, I've gotten sick of blaming the officiating since I used to do it for the Suns all the time.

The bottom line is that the Cardinals defense just didn't get the job done. The defensive line couldn't grab the 7 they chasing. The secondary couldn't do anything right. They bit on every little fake that the Steelers put out there. The offense did something that no one else has been able to do. They put up two touchdowns in the fourth quarter against the best defense in the NFL. The offense put the defense in position to cement a win by forcing either a three and out or a turnover on downs. But they couldn't stop the Steelers. Even when the Cardinals have 8 DBs in there, they still give up a huge play to Santonio Holmes.

One thing that I will never understand is why Ben Roethlisberger threw the ball to a guy in the corner of the endzone in triple coverage. Hats off to the Steelers on that play. A perfect throw and a perfect catch.

But, no matter how you look at it, Kurt Warner threw an incomplete pass on that last play. There should have been a review. The Cardinals had already won two challenges and the review should've been granted to them as a reward for obviously bad officiating earlier.

It's just sad that in this great country, the United States of America, the greatest country on earth, it takes a terrorist attack for an Arizona team to be granted due process of law and given the chance to win a championship.

Gotta clear the air.

I must emphasize again that as long as Robert Sarver is making decisions for the Suns they will never win a NBA Championship.

Shaquille O' Neal has shown that he still is truly hungry for his goal of six rings. (Currently at 4). And Steve Kerr did a good job of replacing Shawn Marion with Matt Barnes and, now, Jason Richardson. Even if it meant that Boris had to go.

The Cardinals finished 9-7. One win under my preseason prediction. I'm sick of retarded doubters. They are a good football team. They absolutely ate up Michael Turner and Atlanta's running game. Turner was second in MVP voting and expected to trample the Cardinals. Sure, they don't have the Steelers defense or the Saints offense, but they won more games than anybody in their division. And, "Holy Impossibility, Batman", they did not have the worst record of the 12 playoff teams this year. I really can't express enough how little respect this team gets because of everybody's freaking ignorance.

Rivers Cuomo is amazing. Brian Bell is a true rock star that needs to put himself in the public eye.

Rockets vs. Suns

Wednesday, November 12, 2008 the Phoenix Suns hosted the Houston Rockets. The Rockets won 94-82. It wasn't really that close. The Suns started out hot, but then just froze up.

In the third quarter of that game a scuffle broke loose.

The NBA suspended Rafer Alston and Matt Barnes for 2 games and Steve Nash for 1 game. Shaquille O' Neal was fined $35,000. Tracy McGrady was fined $25,000. Ridonculous.

I can understand the Alston and Barnes thing. I think they should've only been given one game a piece though. But, if you're gonna suspend Steven John Nash, then you have to suspend Tracy Lamar McGrady Jr.

I wish I knew how the NBA worked so that I knew exactly who to blame this on. But, Steve Nash did no more than Tracy McGrady or Shaquille O' Neal to escalate the fracas. He was just protecting his teammate. Matt Barnes was surrounded by 3 Rockets when Nash ran to his side. I don't see anything wrong with protecting a teammate. I'm also glad that the cameras don't see the bench because I wouldn't be surprised if Amare Stoudemire took a step or two onto the court before jumping back to his chair in fear of suspension.

But, the real thing to take from this is: When will the Suns stop getting screwed? It just doesn't make sense why this team is singled out. It obviously wasn't because of Mike D'Antoni. Is it Steve Nash? Or Amare? It just doesn't make sense why these really good, classy players (most of them) can't get any respect.

Blockbuster Trade Today

The Denver Nuggets and Detroit Pistons traded with each other today. The Denver Nuggets got Chauncey Billips and Antonio McDyess. The Detroit Pistons got Allen Iverson. I know. One-sided right?

However, my mom was reading some trash saying that it was in hope's of the Pistons getting LeBron James in 2010. I guess that makes sense, but why didn't Pistons wait until next year to get rid of Chauncey. My only guess would be that both Chauncey's and Antonio's contracts end at the end of the season and they wanted to at least get something for having them leave.

As for LeBron, I'm not sure that he wants to go to Detroit. No doubt about it, LeBron James will take the biggest contract that he gets offered. And that contract will probably be the biggest that the NBA has ever seen. Whether that comes from a contender, I think yes. But, I don't think that Detroit will be considered the same caliber of contender by then. Personally, I see LeBron landing in New York, Miami, or Dallas. New York teams seem to never have a lack of money. Miami needs him the most and has ways of getting the money to pay for him. Mark Cuban might see that Dirk isn't going to win by himself by then.

As for the actual trade, this definitely helps Denver. They are planning on buying out McDyess. I think that's stupid. He a good player and could really help them since they gave away Marcus Camby over the summer. But, I'd like the Suns to pick up McDyess. They won't. Retard Sarver won't the money it takes to win. But, he could help bring along Amare and Robin and could help spread the floor for Amare or Shaq or Robin.

Arizona Cardinals (5-3)

They should be 7-1. The Jets just beat the crap out of them. But other than that, there is no reason for the Cardinals to lose. The Redskins got lucky that Kurt Warner finally had one less than superb game. The Panthers just got lucky.

So, I will spot them one more loss at best. Two more losses at worst. I just can't see them beating the Giants and Eagles in consecutive weeks. However, even if they do, for whatever stupid reason, finish 10-6, the Giants were 10-6 last year and they won the Superbowl. Just sayin.

Sliver

At the concert, Rivers, Scott, and Pat came on for a second encore. Pat was still in a red jumpsuit. Scott was in an awesome black robe with golden lining and a huge golden "W" on the back (like a boxer's robe). And Rivers still had on his red pants and green headband but now had on a muscle shirt and was showing some tattoos that have really got me wondering. He isn't the kind of guy to get tattoos and in pictures of their earlier shows, they weren't there.

So, they come on, "Heart Songs" is playing on a record player, and Rivers just dropkicks the record player. Scott starts one of the awesomest bass riffs ever and they play "Sliver" by Nirvana. I had no idea what it was, but I liked the sound of it. So, for the past two weeks, I have listened to that song a lot. I never gave Nirvana a chance, but I think that I'll like them. I've also decided that when I get a band, that is going to be one of the songs that we play at our first gig.




I would also like to take this opportunity to show how good of a band Weezer is. Nirvana was plagued with drugs and alcohol as many rock bands are. This, I'm sure was a factor in Kurt Cobain's death, which caused Nirvana to stop recording awesome rock albums. Weezer doesn't touch drugs. I know that they at least experimented with them in the 3 and a half years that Mikey Welsh was the bassist, but they got rid of him pronto. And I'm sure they all like their spirits every once in while.

I realize that all members of Weezer are very near or are over 40 years old; however, I don't see that as a counterargument to the previous paragraph. Boys will be boys. I've seen Scott's wife and don't think that she cares if he drinks. But, collectively, they don't base their lives around sex, drugs, and rock n' roll. Three of them are in healthy marriages. Two of them have healthy children. And I can only hope that Brian will find a woman soon.

After Game One

So, Terry Porter is 1-0 against the San Antonio Spurs as Phoenix Suns head coach. He also has one technical foul as Phoenix Suns head coach (from Violet Palmer of all people). Goran Dragic looked terrible in his first NBA game. Robin Lopez did as good as any rookie can against Tim Duncan. I was impressed. Now we just need to see how they will come out against the Hornets tomorrow. I predict that the Suns will be 1-1 going into Saturday's game against Portland.

Blur

NBA referees average about $200K a year. Which is nowhere near the "millions" that Anonymous stated.

Luis Gonzalez wants to be an Arizona Diamondback again. He wants to finish his career in Arizona. He's willing to accept that he can't play everyday. I think that they should get him.

Big props to the Rays. I'll put my money on them to beat the Phillies.

And Weezer was AWESOME!!!!!!!!!! And they'll be back next year.

Big Ron Johnson

When I first heard that Stu Jackson had lost his job this summer I was ecstatic. Stu Jackson was the Vice President of Operations for the NBA, thus putting him in charge of the referees. He was the one that suspended Boris Diaw unfairly from a playoff game two years ago. He's the one that has, more or less, allowed all of the recent referee conspiracy talk to go on.

However, those days should be in the past. You see, Ron Johnson is a retired Army general. My first reaction was that he would be a zero tolerance, whip-cracking change in NBA officiating. He has come off as much different. He has fun with the referees and the referees have fun with him. My only worry about Ron Johnson is that I know more about basketball than he does. But, he should be good.

The referees seem to respect Ron more than they did Stu. The overall general feeling of this guy is just good. Could this be the turnaround the NBA needs? Could this be the good decision that saves David Stern's deteriorating reputation? I say yes to both. But only time will tell.

Go to the game to enjoy the game, why doncha?

This topic has been welling up in me for quite some time now. It was Friday's Mesa High School Varsity Football game against the Yuma Criminals that pushed me over the edge. I trekked over to Jackrabbit Stadium, took a seat by the band, and waited for the pummeling of Criminals to start. I deliberately sat as far from the popular student section as I could. Actually, now that I think about it, I could've sat on the Yuma side. Shucks!

So, I was there mainly to see Deven play, but also to support my Jackrabbits. As the game progressed, I found myself constantly spying the student section and, for the most part, constantly being glad that I am unpopular and not expected to sit with my classmates. I will say that I saw Parker Schnepf the most because he was wearing this weird thing on his head and he seemed to be into the game. However, the majority of the rest of them were paying no attention to the hard-working athletes whatsoever. I don't like that. Don't go to the game if you don't care.

This extends to all level of sports. Especially professional. It costs somebody somewhere good money for you to go to those games. It is quite all right to politely refuse tickets if you don't care about the game. Or you could accept them and deliver them to me, because I am confident that I will enjoy the game to full capacity. And then, of course, do not purchase tickets or plan to attend a game that you don't care about. That is a ridiculous way to waste your money.

I feel that this also applies to music. I have the opportunity to see the best rock band of the past two decades in concert on October 18. My brother was the one who purchased my ticket. I have since paid him in full and learned we will be going with more people. Two of those people are somewhat fans and have actually purchased Weezer's latest album and are, at least, a little familiar with it. The other two are very opposite in this regard. One of them is under the belief that Weezer will never be as good as their debut album. The truth is that as much as you can't replicate the first time, Weezer has grown as a band. Matured. They are more knowledgable now and do have a higher quality of music. The other person is unaware of anything that happens outside of his scope of vision when he is in his computer chair. I dislike that they will be near me at the concert, but strive to enjoy it nonetheless.

Just stop being fake. Don't go to things that you don't give a care in the world for. If you go to a WNBA game and haven't the slightest idea what the home team's name is, be ashamed and learn from that mistake.

However, if you are to go to something such as a sporting event to enhance your knowledge of that sport, then that is very commendable. I'm all for that. In fact, at the Mesa High game on Friday, a family sat near me. The father of the family would patiently and calmly explain every play and answer every question that his son asked. I thought it was a beautiful sight.

If you go just to drink beer and be an idiot, do the rest of us a favor and just stay home.

Foot Locker

I wanted to rant about this awhile ago but couldn't find the commercial until today.

I just want to know what right Foot Locker has to do this. In this commercial, Shawn Marion is dribbling a basketball when Amare Stoudemire comes from nowhere and steals the ball. What the crap? Everyone knows that these two hate each other and that the chemistry issues on the Suns were between these two. Amare was always jealous that Shawn would fill up the stat sheet and Shawn was jealous that Amare got all the attention and accolades for playing at a lower level than himself.

And then Shawn, the much better basketball player, gets shipped away for nothing. Now, they are put in a commercial where Amare is portrayed as better than Shawn since he stole the ball from Shawn.

Many of you may think that I am going over the top on this but it really just ticked me off.
Here's a link to the commercial if you haven't seen it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMQy_ZS-kVA

A grandmother's poetry

Said Marilyn, "I'm showering in my birthday suit."
"Oh great," said Darrell. "I bet you look cute."
And when you come out, if you're feeling fine.
Lend me your suit, because I forgot mine."

A little treat.

After you go back and read those first two blogs, enjoy this little article. J.A. Adande is one of the most intelligent men on the planet. And he agrees with me. Or at least did. So, just follow this link and enjoy. (Also, notice how Grant Hill is playing against the Suns in the picture. It may only be humorous to sports gurus like me.)

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=adande_ja&page=Suns-080206

Can't replicate the first time.

I've noticed a slight trend. It's starting to go away, but it's still there. In my first two blogs I cover a lot of information about the Suns past and future. So, I think that some of my readers may not have taken the opportunity to read those. They are excellent, and although they are old news, I do consider them my two best written blogs. Thus, I encourage all of my readers to go back and take a look-see at the first two blogs that I posted.

A little bit on NBA rookies.

When someone gets selected in the first round of the NBA draft, they are guaranteed a contract. Not a big one, in fact, rookies always get the minimum to start, but they are for sure going to get some money. Thus, the Phoenix Suns have signed Robin Lopez. Little trivia info: Robin Lopez signed on with the Phoenix Suns on Thursday, July 10, 2008.

Second round picks have to prove that they're worth it before the team signs them. D.J. Strawberry is a perfect example of that.

The Summer League is mostly rookies, undrafted guys hoping to impress, guys that have played for a few years and are looking for a job, and some second year players. Right now the Suns are giving D.J., Alando, and Robin a lot of minutes so that they can get in NBA game shape, and to see where they're biggest weaknesses are. Just getting some, maybe, extra scouting done and whatnot.

Suns Summer League

The Suns Summer League is underway with a 100-97 loss to the Rockets last night. Robin Lopez looked somewhat impressive with 19 points on 5 of 13 shooting. D.J. Strawberry did nicely as a point guard. And Alando Tucker played well, also. They can be seen on NBA TV on Friday and Saturday against the Knicks and Trailblazers respectively.

Coach Thunder Dan Majerle was on with Doug & Wolf this morning and said that he was overall impressed with everyone especially Robin, being the first the game. He did say that the coaching staff is really only looking at Robin, Alando, and D.J. for the roster even though others did play very well. Also, everywhere that I've seen, Dan Majerle has been listed as head coach of this Summer League team, yet this morning he told Doug & Wolf that Igor Kokoskov was actually the head coach. Just a little tidbit. Here are some pictures of the three main guys on this team. (D.J. Strawberry is #8, Alando Tucker is #29, and Robin Lopez is #15.)

Many celebs, yes?

I would just like to reiterate that I would very much appreciate reader identification of some sort when you leave a comment. As of right now I don't take any of the more subjective comments seriously because as far as I know it could be Joe Shmuck that doesn't know anything about sports saying it. However, if it were to be Tim Legler or J.A. Adande reading my blog, I would take some extreme interest in what they have to say.

But don't get me wrong, I appreciate everyone's input and read all of the comments more than once. I just would like to know, or at least have an idea of, how many readers I really have. Technically, the same person could be posting all of the unclaimed comments and that is the position that my stubborn self is going to take. I don't write if I don't know that I have multiple readers.