Thoughts on the first weekend of NBA Playoffs!

So the first weekend of NBA Playoffs went down, and there is much to talk about.  I have no witty opening since I am a little fired up, so I’m just going to get right to it.

Let’s start with Bulls-Nets since Derrick Rose’s ACL injury put me in such a depression I gave up blogging the entire season.  Rose has now become the source of a great controversy surrounding the Bulls as many are upset he has not returned from his injury yet, and likely won’t this season.  People are questioning Rose’s heart and toughness and trying to make him look like a bad guy because he has been cleared by doctors to play for months but won’t come back.

Call me crazy, but I feel like there is more to a return from a major injury than simply being told by doctor’s that structurally you are good to go.  If he isn’t comfortable then he isn’t comfortable.  Players like LeBron James, Chris Paul, and Carmelo Anthony have defended Rose’s decisions thus far, and you haven’t heard anything about the organization being furious with him for not playing, and his teammates all stand by him.  You only really hear the shit talking coming from fair-weather fans and idiots.

The Bulls didn’t re-sign Rose to win a title in 2013, the Bulls re-signed him to contend for years to come since he is an amazing basketball talent and if you have to sacrifice one whole season for him to come back strong then so be it.  But frontrunners seem to know what’s right for the Bulls and Rose and feel he is a dirt bag because he isn’t playing right now.  I am only mad that they would not announce Rose is out for the year months ago since they knew it all along.  I am not mad he is missing time.  Screw it, they can win next year or the year after.  I would much rather Rose take the time to get comfortable than come back too soon, a decision basically everybody but people who don’t know anything about anything sympathize with.

People are saying Rose isn’t tough and doesn’t have heart, but if you stop and think for a minute you would realize that makes no sense.  The only reason LeBron James isn’t about to win a fifth straight MVP is because Rose played out of his mind two years ago.  Fair-weather fans and idiots have short memories and now think Rose was overrated this whole time, but he was a death dealer in 2010-11 and nobody should forget it.  Then in the playoffs he badly sprained his ankle against the Pacers but kept playing and took a beating every night all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Then the next season he was nursing injuries to his back, his groin, basically his entire body.  He pushed himself hard to come back and try to win the championship, but he has no heart?  He ended up tearing his ACL because of that.  That’s a major injury, and just because Adrian Peterson could come back quick and be successful that doesn’t mean Derrick Rose is ready.  Maybe it comes from the fact I enjoy fighters like Anderson Silva and Lyoto Machida, but I recognize patience is extremely important and right now isn’t as important as setting up for the future.  Who is the motherfucker who has delivered again and again in big games for the Bulls and said he wants to lead them into the future?  I’ve never had reason to doubt Rose before, and just because the Bulls won’t win a championship this season I am not about to start doubting him.

So the moral of the story in terms of Bulls-Nets is that the Bulls are fucking terrible and are going to lose in six games, and I don’t feel bad that Rose won’t be playing.  Noah’s hurt, Hinrich’s hurt, Hamilton’s a walking injury, Gibson’s hurt, Deng is drained from too many minutes yet again.  Yes, the next part of Rose’s rehab is to play in a game, but if he isn’t comfortable then why rush him back to take part in the ass kicking they are going to be dealt for the next week?  And the Nets are just going to get beaten by Miami next round anyways so I won’t even bother discussing them.

The Nuggets-Warriors game was pretty wild.  Last year the Nuggets were on pace to set the world on fire until everybody got injured.  They were ready to set everybody on fire this year but things looked bad once Danilo Gallinari went down with a torn ACL and Kenneth Faried got hurt.  But the beauty of the Nuggets is that they play an amazing team game.  The Nuggets could very well make it to the Finals.  They are that good even without a superstar to lead the way.  Ty Lawson is filthy, Andre Iguodala is solid, and Andre Miller is still good.

Miller, at the age of about 867, drained the game winner with 1.3 second left to give the Nuggets the victory in Game 1.  The 37-year-old has missed six games in his entire career, and has overcome his strange Smokey Robinson voice to become one of the most reliable players of the era.  Speaking of reliability, the Warriors were dealt some damage when David Lee suffered a torn hip flexor and had to leave the game.  Lee got a whole lotta money, never really played up to it until this year, and now he goes down with an injury.  That’s a big problem for Golden State as they need all the help they can get against the amazing team game of Denver.  I figured the Nuggets could handle them before, but now with Lee out it seems like Denver just got a much easier road to the second round.

I thought I wanted to see the Knicks make it out of the East until I saw Game 1 of their series with the Celtics.  In life there are few things I hate more than the Madison Square Garden crowd.  Spike Lee is a douche, and Knicks fans suck at life.  Now that the Knicks are good, there are a lot of obnoxious frontrunners afoot.  The Garden crowd acts like their team is the best team in the universe when they are winning, then boos the team off the floor when they aren’t playing well.  Now all of a sudden they have “real” fans because they are good but you know if they get eliminated by Miami in Game 6 of the Conference Finals the Garden crowd will be booing their own players because they are morons.

Boston has had a nice run after losing Rajon Rondo to a torn ACL a few months back, but this is where the run ends.  They are a solid defensive team, but their offense is only slightly less ugly than that of the Bulls.  Even if Carmelo Anthony decides against passing and keeps shooting terribly, it will be enough to carry the Knicks since Pierce and Garnett might be cooked.  And Jason Terry was a waste of a signing.  Thanks for that amazing 0-5 performance, Jet!  Jeff Green can play his ass off in the first half all he wants, but the Knicks have too many weapons on offense and the Celtics don’t have anything.  These teams are fairly evenly matched defensively, but down the stretch in a close game New York will kill them because of weapons like Anthony and JR Smith, and that is what happened on Saturday.

The Clippers-Grizzlies series has me torn.  On one hand, I really like the Grizzlies.  I thought they would be the team to beat in the West since they play such solid defense and a good team game.  I love the Gasol-Randolph team down low, I love that they have Tayshaun Prince now, I love that Jerryd Bayless cut his hair and grew a beard and looks like Carlos Boozer.  The Grizzlies are a tough, solid team.  On the other hand, I love the Clippers.  Chris Paul is the best point guard in the league, Blake Griffin is an animal, Chauncey Billups is a good man, but Vinny Del Negro is their coach.  It will be a very entertaining series, but ultimately the Clips may pull this one out somehow.  I hope I don’t miss any games from this one.

The Hawks-Pacers series is the most uninteresting series I could ever think of.  Two teams I can’t stand in one place.  I will not talk about this further.

The Heat-Bucks series will be a source of great comedy on a game-by-game basis since Milwaukee guard Brandon Jennings said they would defeat the Heat in six games.  There isn’t much to say about this series since the Bucks are completely overmatched and will get swept.  But at least Brandon Jennings makes funnies.

I was excited for the Thunder-Rockets series until the first few minutes of last night’s game.  I stepped out of the room and missed the first few minutes of the game and walked in to see the score was 13-2 and the Rockets had not hit a field goal.  Granted it was still early, but that said everything I needed to know about the series.  The Rockets have an exciting young team, but the Thunder have been possessed all season.  Houston just doesn’t have enough to stop OKC.  Maybe they can win a game in Houston, but really the Thunder are going to jack them up since too much Houston offense revolves around James Harden isolations and missed threes.

And the last series, the best series, is the LA Lakers vs. the San Antonio Spurs. 10 years ago this would be a showdown of the West’s superpowers.  This year, it is the hobbled Lakers meeting a determined Spurs squad playing like this is their last time out.  Mike D’Antoni, so stubborn in his ways, is the reason Kobe Bryant is out.  You can’t play a guy who has 20 seasons worth the wear and tear on his body (17 seasons plus post-season and Team USA stuff) for over 40 minutes a night and rely on him to do everything.  That was how D’Antoni approached the home stretch of the season and it cost the Lakers dearly.   Steve Nash isn’t 100% and D’Antoni’s defenseless approach to the game is only going to make things worse.

The Spurs made D’Antoni’s life a living hell for most of the 2000s, and it is happening again.  Tim Duncan is playing like it is 2003 again and all signs point to this being his last run.  I have written here before about how Tim Duncan is an amazing talent, and this season only reaffirmed those statements.  He has elevated his game yet again and the Spurs are poised to dominate.  LA is a mess with no depth and no defense, so they may not have a good shot against the Spurs juggernaut.

That is it for the weekend’s games.  I will try to talk some trash about the other games this week at some point.

The Agony and the Ecstasy: NBA Playoffs and WWE Extreme Rules

Between Saturday and Sunday, it was an absolutely insane weekend for the BBB realm. The NBA Playoffs began and for me the season ended by the end of the first game on Saturday. On Sunday night the WWE held their first pay per view event since WrestleMania, with a returning Brock Lesnar taking on John Cena in an epic main event.

First up the NBA Playoffs. The game that started off what was supposed to be an insane post-season was the 1 seed Chicago Bulls taking on the 8 seed Philadelphia 76ers. With just over a minute left and the Bulls holding a 12 point lead, Derrick Rose tore his ACL on a drive to the basket. This instantly crushes Chicago’s hopes for a championship this year and maybe for years to come as well. An ACL injury is no joke and it very likely may take a year for Rose to be in prime shape again. But what will prime shape be? Sure some people like Baron Davis have been able to regain all of their mobility following an ACL tear, but this is a major injury that once used to be a career-ender. Will Rose just be a solid, All-Star level player or can he regain his MVP form? Rose is a tremendous athlete and medicine is always improving, but it is still a long road to recovery and for somebody whose game is predicated on the ability to outrun everybody and dash to the hoop this is terrible.

The severity of the tear is still unknown and there is still no timetable for Rose’s recovery, but this takes the Bulls out of contention next season and if Rose doesn’t regain almost all of his mobility they may not be contenders again for a long time. This ruins the playoffs since the fun that would have come in a Heat-Bulls conference finals is thrown right out the window. For all the trash I talk about LeBron and the Heat, it is still just part of being a fan and the fact it is fun to rip on your team’s rivals. Now the fun is gone for me and I have little interest in the playoffs now. The Heat have just been handed the Eastern Conference Championship for the next few seasons and it is sad. It is sad for me since Rose is my favorite professional athlete in the history of life, and it should be sad for any basketball fan as well.

Regardless of if you are a Bulls fan or not, you can’t dislike Derrick Rose. He is the bravest player in the NBA and is what everybody should want out of a star. He will do whatever it takes for his team to win, gives all the credit to his team, and goes out and plays his heart out and wants the pressure of being the guy on him. It is rare for a star to demand so much from themselves, but Rose has an insane work ethic and extreme dedication. And he’s a nice guy and a terrific player. You never want to see somebody like that go down. I absolutely hate LeBron James but I would never, ever want to see him suffer an injury that could potentially ruin his career. Where is the fun in that? I would rather see him in top shape rivaling the Bulls than see him go down.

I don’t blame the condensed schedule for this, nor to I blame Tom Thibodeau for keeping Rose in the game. Thibs wanted to get Rose back in game shape and used to closing out games, and get him used to playoff minutes. It was a totally freak injury that could have happened at any time. Rose’s game is so hectic people have been saying for years that he was a major injury waiting to happen. The condensed schedule may have sped things along, but realistically it is not that surprising that Rose suffered a major leg injury. It is extremely sad, but if you think about it you can’t be shocked. I just hope Rose can make a full or close to full recovery since he has been on pace to have one of the greatest NBA careers.

As for the rest of the Eastern Conference, Miami is going to be handed their first round series with the New York Knicks. The Heat took over 20 free throws in the second quarter alone, that should say something right there. The refs even called a flagrant foul on Tyson Chandler since LeBron James started rolling around clutching his neck like he just got shot, obviously faking since he was fine within 15 seconds. The new rule in the NBA this year that if you lean into somebody then throw up a jumper the refs will not call a foul? Thrown away for that game since LBJ went to the line several times for that. In Boston’s first game against Atlanta, Rajon Rondo got eject and is facing a suspension for chest-bumping a ref while screaming at him. This very likely will cost Boston the series if he is out for more than a game, and this just means the Heat have become the luckiest team in the universe and will make it to the Finals unscathed.

Out West, San Antonio looked dominant in their first game against the Jazz. The Lakers embarrassed the Nuggets as well, and the Grizzlies squandered a massive lead, getting outscored 35-13 in the 4th and losing 99-98. I thought for sure the Grizzlies were a sleeper team and could easily clear house and make the finals, but after a collapse like that it takes some serious stones to get back in it. Dallas was able to against Portland last year since they had been through it before. Memphis has only won a playoff series once ever so they aren’t exactly the most experienced group. And how about Dallas? Nearly coming away with a win in OKC, but Kevin Durant buried a game winner with a second and a half left. Intense stuff, but Rose’s injury was like a black cloud hanging over my enjoyment of these games.

To take my mind off the sadness of Rose’s knee getting destroyed, I ordered WWE Extreme Rules. Pretty awesome show that certainly made me feel much better. The three main events totally delivered, and the undercard was entertaining as well. Randy Orton and Kane worked a falls count anywhere match that was worlds better than their WrestleMania match. They both worked really hard and while it wasn’t a technical masterpiece, it was still entertaining and they deserve some daps for that. I expected the worst match ever but it actually turned out to be a pretty good brawl. The Cody Rhodes-Big Show tables match had a great finish since the entire storyline for the match was ‘How can little Cody Rhodes throw the massive Big Show through a table?’ Well it was simple really; with a table set up next to the ring apron Big Show was standing on, Cody kicked Big Show’s leg and made him trip and step through the table. A clever, totally heel way to win. Then Big Show’s post-match freakout was awesome, spearing Rhodes and throwing him out of the ring through a table.

The first of the three main events was Daniel Bryan getting his rematch against Sheamus for the World Heavyweight Championship after losing at WrestleMania in 18 seconds. It was a 2-out-of-3 falls match and was brilliantly worked, and the crowd was totally into it. Bryan has been red hot since Mania as his “YES! YES! YES!” taunt has spread across the WWE Universe like wildfire and everybody is doing it. Bryan got disqualified in the first fall by repeatedly kicking Sheamus in the shoulder against the ropes after being told to stop. He worked the shoulder over for the last few minutes of the first fall, then once the second fall started he threw Sheamus in the YES! Lock and made him pass out, tying it at 1. Then they worked a nice little third fall which Sheamus won, retaining his belt. The match had great psychology and made me sad they didn’t get longer than 18 seconds to work at Mania since they have good chemistry.

After that, CM Punk defended his WWE Championship against Chris Jericho in a Chicago Street Fight. The show took place in the Allstate Arena in Chicago, Punk’s hometown. Last time they were there, Punk put on one of the greatest matches of all time with John Cena. I wouldn’t say this match was as good, but it was still great, told a pretty good story and had some cool spots. Punk’s diving elbow to Jericho through the announce table was pretty awesome, as was Jericho getting out of the Anaconda Vise by bashing Punk in the head with a Singapore cane. Punk and Jericho are two of my top five favorites of all time so I am basically guaranteed to enjoy whatever these guys do, but this match was an awesome brawl. Sheamus and Bryan worked a technical match, and Punk and Jericho worked a fight. Both were excellent championship matches, but the main event was the biggest selling point of the show and it delivered.

Brock Lesnar left the UFC since his battle with diverticulitis proved too difficult to come back from. His midsection was so weak he was totally unable to take a punch or kick to the gut without crumpling in pain. People will question his heart and effort, but he was really sick and it is admirable he was even able to return. His return to the WWE makes me laugh though because when he came out on Raw a few weeks ago Michael Cole used Brock’s UFC weight, and probably legit weight since he lost like 20-30 pounds from his illness, of 265. That was funny to me since in WWE they lie about weights and make dudes seem way bigger than usual. Then last night they said Sheamus weighs 267 and Lesnar weighs 283 so he can seem like this massive death machine. That’s what it is all about.

I loved Lesnar’s match with Cena. I hated everything about it within the first few minutes, but as it went on I loved it. I didn’t like how the show opened with a UFC style promo package where they show interview clips from both Cena and Lesnar talking very calm about how they are going to punish each other. When the match started Lesnar fought like it was an MMA fight, taking Cena down and resorting to ground and pound. Again, this isn’t the UFC so I didn’t like it. In wrestling, when people bleed they cut their foreheads open with a razor blade. A rule in WWE’s TV-PG era is that there is no blood. These guys broke blew that rule right away when Lesnar took Cena down and busted him open hard way (no blade) with elbows to the top of the skull. Obviously it was done on purpose since Lesnar stopped once he drew blood and they wanted Cena to bleed to make Lesnar look like an animal.

But it was lame since they had the ref put on rubber gloves because of the blood like this is MMA and they had doctors check on the cut and try to stop the bleeding like it is MMA. At Survivor Series ‘03 Vince McMahon bladed after the first punch thrown by Undertaker and lost like half the blood in his body and nobody checked on him! Having the ref stop the match over blood is not something that happens in WWE and I hated it. WWE is an elaborate performance, not the UFC, so I don’t like when they try to act like it is and mooch of the UFC’s heat. I didn’t like how Lesnar’s new ring gear is MMA trunks and gloves, I didn’t like any of this fake MMA stuff they tried doing with the takedowns and ground and pound. I’ve seen Lesnar break Heath Herring’s orbital and beat him into retirement. I’ve seen Lesnar pound Frank Mir’s face in so hard Mir looked like an alien after the first round was done. How am I supposed to believe Lesnar using his MMA techniques wouldn’t absolutely kill John Cena?

I was so mad because I thought Lesnar would get a few minutes of this in then Cena would just do a few moves and win. I was kind of right, but this match turned out to be a classic regardless. Lesnar beat the shit out of Cena for like 15 minutes. Cena was bleeding all over and at one point Lesnar wiped Cena’s blood across his chest and licked it off his gloves. It was savage. When I say Lesnar destroyed Cena, I mean he DESTROYED him. I’ve never seen anything like it. The WWE had their top boy get ransacked for at least 15 minutes. The match was just under 20 I think, and Cena totally had about one minute of offense total. It was wild. Cena wore his old school chain with a padlock to the ring, and Lesnar wrapped it around Cena’s legs, hung him from the ring post, and beat the shit out of him for a few minutes. Lesnar used some of his real wrestling, busting out the rolling German suplexes, but other than that he just used strikes and brutalized Cena and had him bleeding all over.

After a while I stopped bugging about the fake MMA stuff and just started digging the match since it was the most unexpected and insane main event you could see. How often do you see the top guy get bloodied and thrown around like a piece of garbage? The finish of the match pissed me off initially but I’ve come to accept it. Cena was on the apron outside of the ring and Lesnar leapt at him. Cena had his hand wrapped with his chain and punched Lesnar in the face, Lesnar bladed (!!!!!), and Cena gave him the Attitude Adjustment onto the ring steps Lesnar had brought in. That was it. Cena pinned him, match was over. Initially I flipped out since Lesnar had beaten the living shit out of Cena then got caught with two moves and lost, but it really isn’t that bad.

Lesnar looks like he got sloppy because he tried to hit Cena with some flying something or another and got caught with the chain. He messed up and Cena barely escaped with his life. After the match Cena was selling an arm injury, at least I’m assuming he was selling and it wasn’t actually hurt, and said he may be taking a vacation and thanked the fans. Pretty random as I don’t see why you would have Lesnar job to Cena if Cena is leaving, but this is why people watch Raw the night after a PPV. I kind of like that they made Lesnar look like this wrecking machine who got too sloppy and got caught, but if Cena is taking time off this finish makes no sense as there needs to be another match.

So that’s about it for now. Thanks for taking the time to read this long-winded recap of the weekend’s madness, assuming you actually read it all and didn’t just skip to the end. Stay tuned for more Playoff thoughts at some point!

Joe's 2011-12 NBA Regular Season Awards

The NBA regular season has finally and mercifully come to a close. There have been many surprises this year like Linsanity, the Spurs once again being the 1 seed out West, and Dwight Howard evidently having no soul. Now we stand just one little day away from the Playoffs, so like all people not good enough to actually be in the NBA we must declare winners for the regular season awards.

Rookie of the Year: Kyrie Irving, Guard, Cleveland Cavaliers - Good for the Cavs, man. You can’t match losing a once-in-a-generation talent like LeBron James, but Irving will be a pretty good player and most likely will be an All Star. If the Cavs can put a good team around him he will be able to make them a playoff team for sure and the assist numbers will go up. Though he’s missed time this year he has proven to be a leader on the floor and if he can stay healthy he will be the guy in Cleveland for a few years until he hosts a television special and leaves. If Ricky Rubio had stayed healthy and gotten the Timberwolves into the playoffs I would say he gets this award, but alas the Basketball Gods can be cruel sometimes and robbed us of that reality. Irving has had a great rookie year but it will be interesting to see if his health woes from college and now the pros stick with him.

Most Improved Player: Nikola Pekovic, Center, Minnesota Timberwolves - While my brother is may have won our NBA fantasy championship, I deserve a trophy for making this pick up during the season. In only 26 minute per, he put up 14 and 7. He has had absolutely beast games during the year but has also battled injuries. Either way, this was a guy who started the season behind Darko Milicic in the rotation and now starts. They thought freaking Darko was better than him, man. Ryan Anderson is also worthy of this award, but I take Pekovic since it is much more unexpected that he has had such a good year. I’m also partial to centers who can get it done down low rather than big men who have to camp out and shoot threes to get his points so I am more impressed with Pekovic.

Defensive Player of the Year: Tyson Chandler, Center, New York Knicks - I guess somebody should throw him a bone for being the only guy on that team who plays defense. Amar’e Stoudemire has never been a particularly good defender, and despite his newfound dedication to defense Carmelo Anthony has never exactly been known for anything other than being able to score. Chandler holds it down on defense for New York and when he misses games it instantly becomes a worry as to how anybody will be able to stop the opposing team from putting points on the board. People compare what Chandler has done in NY this year to what Kevin Garnett did in Boston in 08 by transforming the culture of the team and making them focus on defense. I don’t agree with that completely since Garnett completely changed his style of play and was responsible for the creation of an elite team while Chandler is doing what he always does and has guided the Knicks to stay a few games over .500. I don’t mean to take away from what he does though. All of a sudden the Knicks aren’t this soft, candyass team down low. You have to be wary about going into the paint and you have to actually fight for rebounds since Chandler can boss people and has also inspired the other guys on the Knicks to hustle more. Chandler doesn’t get a ton of blocks or anything like he’s Dwight Howard, but the mere fact he is in the paint is enough to throw shots off course. He was the big reason Dallas could play defense and win last year, and now he’s inspired the Knicks to fight on the defensive end for the first time in years.

Sixth Man of the Year: James Harden, Guard, Oklahoma City Thunder - Here is a guy who people have been talking about a lot lately as somebody who could go start on any other team and be an absolute animal. He scores so efficiently and is the ultimate spark a great team needs off their bench. He is having a career year and has proven to be every bit as important to the team as Durant and Westbrook. Look at the Thunder’s recent loss to the Lakers. After Harden nearly died from Ron Artest’s brutal elbow the Thunder didn’t have that same spark to help with the scoring and defense and they ended up losing in double OT. Without Harden the Thunder are not even close to being the same team. He used to be furious about this role but he has since grown to appreciate it and is now thriving. Harden dropped a career-high 40 points on Phoenix the other night and was staring at a big role in the playoffs until Artest murdered him.

Coach of the Year: Tom Thibodeau, Chicago Bulls - Gregg Popovich is also deserving but really nobody has had to overcome as much as Thibs. Last year Chicago won 62 games despite significant injuries to Joakim Noah and Carlos Boozer, their starting front court. This year the Bulls are once again the 1 seed in the East and were one of two teams (Popovich’s Spurs being the other) to finish with 50 wins despite even more injures. Reigning MVP Derrick Rose has missed significant time, Rip Hamilton has barely played, Luol Deng hasn’t been as effective as usual since he clearly needs surgery on his wrist, and CJ Watson has been nursing a few injuries and missed time. So that’s three injured starters and one of the most important reserves. In spite of this the Bulls have been able to scrap and fight their way to victory time and time again. This shortened season has been absolutely brutal and has taken its toll on a lot of teams, and there have been so many times when it looked like the Bulls were done and the injuries would be too much to overcome but somehow they keep winning. Sure Carlos Boozer has actually played well this year and all, but the main reason behind all of this is the fact Tom Thibodeau’s defense-first mindset has taken hold on the roster and keeps them in games always. Nobody else has had to deal with ⅗ of their starting line up being out or depleted, and not everybody could face that and still have a winning team that could win a championship.

Most Valuable Player: Kevin Durant, Forward, Oklahoma City Thunder - I was thinking LeBron for a while, even when I first started writing this thing, but really I can’t go with LBJ since it just doesn’t seem right. I will explain that in a little bit. This year you could make the case for Durant, Kobe, LeBron, or even Chris Paul since it is all pretty wide open, and really there isn’t much to say when making the case for anybody since I feel this year hasn’t seen any particular standouts aside from LeBron filling up a stat line in historic fashion. Durant has had yet another stellar season and is still the guy in OKC. It has now become apparent that he can co-exist with Russell Westbrook and together they can form a devastating one-two punch. Westbrook has taken on more of a scoring load and is starting to share the spotlight more this year, but it is still Durant’s team through and through and he is the leader. Durant has no fear taking over in the fourth quarter and has inspired that team for years. He is shooting a career-best 49.5% from the field, he is having a career year in rebounding and assists, and his scoring is back up as well and he’s this year’s scoring champion. He has still been a killer this year, starting off the season right with that sick game winner over Dallas. It seemed like he took a step backwards last year after everybody thought he was poised to be a destroyer, but he is right back on track. Of course Durant won’t win and LeBron will since everybody gushes over the numbers only, but it is the little things that count and though some late-season struggles have hit OKC, this team has been poised to bust loose for a couple years now and it seems very likely that this is the time. We haven’t had to spend countless hours thinking about Durant’s drive or his focus or if he’s ready to finally make a statement, Durant just goes out and proves time and time again that he’s a great player and a great teammate. Durant inspires his team to win and they all believe in him, but with LeBron it comes across as the Heat all say they believe in him so he’ll man up and play better in the playoffs. This isn’t high school and I don’t like having to baby somebody to give him confidence regardless of how amazing his skill set may be.

LeBron is going to win this award but I still took the time to put together a case against him as only three people have multiple MVP awards with no title: James, Karl Malone, and Steve Nash. They all have two, and I can’t get behind LBJ with a third right now. Who can forget that even in the All Star game where nothing really matters, LBJ was afraid to take over in the clutch and ignored an open Melo to throw that ridiculous cross-court pass to Dwyane Wade that got stolen and cost the East the game, then looked like he wanted to cry since Kobe asked him what's wrong with him? Sure LBJ has more confidence this year, but he still openly shirks responsibility late in games to Dwyane Wade. I can’t get behind him as King no matter how much he says he’s changed. I am not cool with saying LeBron deserves to be a three-time MVP yet since I still am not certain he is the most valuable guy on that team. Sam Smith said it, a ton of people say it, and you can just tell by watching a Heat game that in the first half you have to beware of LeBron, but in the second half that is when you worry about Wade since that’s when he goes to work. I am not ready to crown LeBron for adding that ugly post-game and cutting out the three-pointer from his game since these are things he should have done back in Cleveland. It isn’t just about statistics to me, it is about the intangibles and it seems like Wade is the guy who is still counted on to drag this team out of danger when the game is on the line. LeBron fills up his stat sheet and is an amazing player, but he isn’t the player of most value since Wade has to do the dirty work at the biggest moments. Obviously LeBron is the greatest athlete to ever set foot on a basketball court, and his two MVP awards are a credit to that skill, but I don’t think he’s the one this year. I don’t think he’s totally undeserving at all, but I won’t agree with it when he does win in a few weeks.

So that’s that. Playoffs start Saturday and since this crazy lockout schedule has left so many teams nursing injuries, people seem to think there will be a lot of upsets. I’m not sure, and I probably won’t bother writing predictions, but each series will be pretty competitive and intense so I’m looking forward to it.

The Rights and Wrongs in the Sporting World 1

In the three realms we cover here on BBB, a great deal has happened as of late. As the title of this post suggests, I will be covering what out of the past few weeks is right in the universe and what is wrong. All pretty straightforward, so let’s just get to it.

1 Million Chinese Basketball Association Fans Can't Be Wrong!

The Right:
1. Stephon Marbury Gets a Statue - When Stephon Marbury left the NBA to go play for the Chinese Basketball Association, his life was a mess. He had left the Knicks in shame after threatening to blackmail Isiah Thomas and then feuding with Mike D’Antoni. He turned down a contract with the Boston Celtics so he could focus on “business” and then started broadcasting his life via webcam and did weird things like eat Vaseline and cry listening to music. Then he went to the CBA and has become a new man. He has matured and has become a superstar over there and lead the Beijing Ducks to their first CBA Championship. He averaged 33 and 6 in the Finals, and scored 41 points in the deciding Game 5, but CBA rules ban a foreign-born player from winning the MVP award. Luckily, a million CBA fans signed a petition calling for a massive bronze statue of Starbury to be made in honor of his contributions. It is great to see Marbury finally act like an adult and finally become a winner. It is even better that he is going to be immortalized with a sick statue.

2. Memphis Grizzlies - The team I said would rival the OKC Thunder for the top seed in the Western Conference has not been the truth this year. Granted Zach Randolph being hurt cost them, but he is now back and the Grizzlies have a very solid team. Marc Gasol is one of the best centers in the league, then you’ve got guys like OJ Mayo and Rudy Gay who can pile on the points and play good defense. Even Gilbert Arenas has proven to be a solid addition thus far, and it seemed like his career was at an end. Over the course of their last 10 games, the Grizzlies are 8-2 and have beaten the likes of the defending champion Dallas Mavericks, the Miami Heat, the Lakers, the Clippers, and the West-leading Thunder. They have put together a nice late-season stretch that could give them a ton of confidence come the playoffs.

3. Anderson Silva’s Revenge - It has been announced that Chael Sonnen will get another shot at Anderson Silva’s Middleweight Championship on June 23 in Silva’s native Brazil. The Brazilian fans are always rabid at the UFC shows and after all the trash talk Sonnen has dished out for two years about Silva, the Nogueira brothers, and the country of Brazil, somebody is going to want to see Sonnen get smacked up. An article on BJPenn.com asked if Sonnen’s trash talk is getting old. It was old after he got submitted by Silva in their first fight yet still talked the noise about how he was the true champion. Silva’s victory was maybe the most heroic in UFC history as he went into the fight mentally unprepared due to the loss of his grandmother and he was physically unprepared as he had busted ribs. Also, Sonnen was juiced up, but that will be touched on later in this post. It didn’t matter as Silva still made Sonnen eat his words about how a Nogueira black belt is like a Happy Meal toy. Now Silva is healthy and will be out to prove that Sonnen’s dominance over him in the first fight was just a fluke.

4. Tom Thibodeau - Thibs may be on pace to become the first back-to-back winner of the NBA Coach of the Year Award. He totally deserves it, and not just because I’m a Bulls fan. With Derrick Rose having a historic season in terms of games missed by a reigning MVP, the Bulls are still poised to win the East and maybe finish with the best record in the league. Best in the league despite being depleted by injuries all year and Carlos Boozer having to be the best player on the team. Chicago is staring down 50 wins in this brutal, lockout-shortened year even though Luol Deng has a serious wrist problem and isn’t playing as well as he could, Rip Hamilton plays a game or two then leaves because he’s hurt, and Derrick Rose has only played 35 of the 58 games this year. That’s three of the five starters down, and Chicago is just chugging along thanks to Thibodeau’s defense-first teachings.

5. The WWE and John Cena - Ten days ago was a terrific show at WrestleMania XXVIII. In a shocking turn of events in the main event, the WWE put The Rock over John Cena. Usually when they do these clashes of an icon from the past with the icon from the present, the classic guy always loses. WWE has forced Cena down everybody’s throats for years so everybody expected him to go over The Rock. In terms of storylines, it was a brilliant move to have Rock go over since this makes Cena’s character far more interesting. Had Cena won, he would have beaten literally every big star except for Undertaker. Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Chris Jericho, Kurt Angle, everybody has had to job for Cena. If Cena had won he would be unstoppable forever. But now that he loses a match he said he had to win or he would lose “everything,” he is far more interesting. Compound that with Brock Lesnar returning the next night on Raw and delivering the F5 to Cena, and Cena instantly becomes interesting for the first time in years. Even the other night on Raw Lesnar got the better of Cena. WWE never has their top guy get jobbed out repeatedly, but now that they are doing it Cena is actually entertaining. The days of Super Cena who cannot be touched by mortal men are long gone and now Cena is just another superstar. However, this leads me to the first thing I want to discuss with what is wrong in the realms these days.

The Wrong:
1. WWE - Vince McMahon is going to be stepping down soon and relinquishing control of the company to his daughter Stephanie and her husband Triple H (not his real name). Vince has been pissed as of late since aside from the rise of CM Punk as a main event star in the last year, nobody other than Cena has gotten over with the fans. Normally if you want to get people over, you put them in high profile feuds and have them win. Hell, give them a secondary title like the Intercontinental or US title and have them work matches. Dolph Ziggler should be US Champion right now after being made to look like absolute crap against CM Punk but now is getting jobbed out to the “Funkasaurus” Brodus Clay. Cody Rhodes was making the Intercontinental title mean something again by cutting good promos and working good matches, but then they jobbed him out to Big Show at Mania so his push has declined. Zack Ryder gets jobbed out and made to look like an idiot every week. Ron Killings is portraying R-Truth, a gimmick I feel is offensive since it requires him to just be the token wild black guy who says crazy stuff and break dances. Daniel Bryan, who has won Wrestling Observer’s Best Technical Wrestler award seven straight years, was jobbed out in 18 SECONDS at WrestleMania. Rather than put some of these guys in feuds with Cena and make them stars they are being made to look like clowns. Vince is pissed there are no new stars, so what did they do? Bring back The Rock, who can only work for like maybe a month then disappears to make another movie, and put him over the biggest star in the company. The next night they bring back Brock Lesnar and put him over the top star in the company. How does this solve the issue of there being no new talent? The new blood isn’t even being given a shot and stars of the past like Brock and Rock aren’t putting anybody over, they are just being pushed like they are the future.

2. Alistair Overeem Fails a Random Drug Test - The Nevada State Athletic Commission granted Alistair Overeem a conditional license to face Brock Lesnar back in December. Part of this conditional license was the provision that he would be randomly piss tested since he has put on so much muscle the last few years it is obvious he must be on steroids. His temporary license expired on December 31st, 2011 and he passed his drug test both pre and post-fight. Reem’s victory over Lesnar has put him at the front of the line for a heavyweight title fight with champion Junior dos Santos. Overeem isn’t currently licensed but at the UFC 146 press conference, the NSAC administered a random drug test on Overeem and he failed, putting what would have been a great fight in jeopardy. The legal testosterone ratio for competition in Nevada is 6:1, while Overeem’s ratio was 14:1. Now the title fight seems to be in jeopardy since Nevada can refuse to issue a license on these grounds when Reem has his hearing. UFC President Dana White is furious since Reem looked him dead in the eye and swore he was not on steroids, but this test says otherwise. Overeem could claim testosterone replacement therapy as so many fighters do (more on that in a moment), or his defense could be that he isn’t licensed so this test means nothing. He has never failed a pre or post-fight drug test, and if he tests clean right before the fight and right after why should he be punished? The fight isn’t until the end of May so who is to say he won’t have a normal ratio on fight night? While a cheap defense, it still raises a valid point. But the fact remains, Overeem swore he wasn’t juiced up and here he is with the second highest ratio for a major fighter. Who was first? Well that’s what is so interesting...

3. Chael Sonnen Gets a Second Title Shot - The highest testosterone level belongs to Chael Sonnen with 16.9 when he had his title fight against Anderson Silva back in August of 2010. Not only did Sonnen get choked out, he cheated also since he failed to ever document he underwent testosterone replacement therapy for a condition called hypergonadism. It is worth noting one of the causes of hypergonadism is steroid use. He nearly pulled off the biggest upset in MMA history and it would have been tarnished because he had testosterone levels 17 times higher than that of a normal man, which is ridiculous even if he underwent TRT since a proper procedure would not cause that as the article I just linked to explains. He is being rewarded for nearly shaming the company by getting another title shot, while Alistair Overeem’s future with the UFC is in jeopardy. The Overeem test was just a random test on an un-licensed fighter, while Sonnen was in the biggest fight of the year and failed right before and right after the fight. Everybody is calling for Overeem to be punished, but people love Sonnen’s professional wrestling-style promos that embarrass the sport and they ignore the fact he cheated badly. Reem has never failed a drug test pre or post-fight and is going to be punished, but Sonnen fails pre and post-fight and is being rewarded despite the fact that if he had won that fight with Silva the UFC would have been shamed and all the good will the sport had built up would have been done.

4. Derrick Rose - Rose has missed numerous clutch free throws this year, most notably the other night against the Knicks. People could say it is a mental thing, and I agree to an extent, but we can’t forget Rose has been in horrible shape all year. Last year he was an absolute killer and carried Chicago to unexpected heights. This year he has barely played half of the games and gets injured all the time. Turf toe, bad back, bad groin, and now a sprained ankle. Maybe he wasn’t his usual clutch self against New York because he sprained that ankle again during the game and has been injured all year. Either way, his struggles to get healthy are going to cost the Chicago Bulls come playoff time. Granted it isn’t entirely his fault since he keeps getting hurt since he hasn’t had the chance to get in game shape, but still he is doing more harm than good right now. And the fact he has missed so many fourth quarter free throws this year is even worse. While the regular season hardly matters, it is still a dire situation when Derrick Rose has been more injured and hasn’t even had as good of a season as Carlos Boozer.

5. LeBron MVP Talk Despite a Great Canadian Having a Great Year - Yeah I hate LeBron but just hear me out. He is clearly the MVP this year and all, but depending on how these last few games go we may have to consider somebody else for a three-time MVP winner. If the Phoenix Suns make the playoffs, Steve Nash totally deserves to be MVP. He is battling it out with Rajon Rondo to be league leader in assists, and is sixth in the league in field goal percentage, with a ridiculous 54.1%. He’s the only non-post player up that high, with LeBron James sitting at 10. Did I mention he is a 38-year-old 6’3” point guard averaging 13 and 11? Not the most electrifying numbers in terms of scoring, but getting the Suns into the playoffs with Marcin Gortat as your second best player and Grant Hill out for the season is unreal. Michael Redd and Channing Frye are relied on as major options. LeBron is having an amazing year and all, but the Western Conference is the still the Bestern Conference, and if Nash can lead the Suns to the playoffs being several games over .500 hopefully somebody throws him a bone here.

That’s all for now. God speed and party on.

What's Up with the Association's Top Teams?

We are slightly farther into the NBA season and even though it has only been a few days since I last shared my thoughts on the world’s greatest game, there have been some developments worth discussing regarding some of the league’s biggest and brightest teams.

Miami Heat:Artist rendering of LeBron James last night

Wow have these last few days been a learning experience or what? First, we find out Dwyane Wade may have plantar fasciitis. For those unaware, that is a very painful inflammation in the foot. After missing three games due to soreness in the foot, Wade was adamant he was fine and returned against the Warriors on Tuesday and looked very good, scoring 34 points and shooting 48%. However last night he shot 35% en route to to 17 points and a loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. With this vicious schedule putting teams in action with hardly any rest, that foot is going to be a nagging issue that could come back to haunt Miami big time since Wade has hit both game winners for the team this season.

As for LeBron James, he spent the summer training with NBA legend Hakeem Olajuwon to improve his post game. Hakeem’s career highlight is leading the Houston Rockets to back-to-back championships, leading to the city being dubbed “Clutch City.” Apparently Hakeem couldn’t do much for him as LBJ has spent the last two nights constructing “Anti-Clutch City” for himself and his fellow Heatles by performing miserably in the fourth quarter and overtime of both games. LeBron did practically nothing against the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday, notching three points in the fourth and overtime...combined. Then last night LeBron went 1-6 in the fourth and overtime, and missed several crucial free throws down the stretch. Granted it was one game in January, but it is worth pointing out the Heat have won on two game winners this season and they weren’t LeBron. Now when he’s had the ball in his hands in the clutch he’s been ineffective and cost the team. It is great LeBron has taken his game inside the three point arc and is using his superior athletic skills, but until he gets over whatever it is in his head the Heat are in serious trouble if Wade is out.

Chicago Bulls:

I get so nervous thinking about Chicago's issues so I look at this to relax

You want to talk about a team in trouble? Chicago has the deepest team in the league and may very well be the best team in the league, but there are some concerns moving forward. The most important is Derrick Rose’s health. He missed last night’s game with a sprained toe and has been having issues with his left elbow. He says he is fine, but who is really going to come out and say “Yo I’m fucked up, man”? If his toe is hurt badly then he won’t be able to drive as much and this is not a good thing. No Rose means no offense in the Windy City since there is not one person on that team who can create for themselves consistently.

The other major issue here is Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah. The Bulls are paying them a whole lot of money and in the fourth quarter of the last few games they’ve been doing a whole lot of sitting on the bench. People have theorized that coach Tom Thibodeau doesn’t trust them enough to play them in the late game situations, but I feel it is too weird that they are sitting for an entire quarter. My theory on it is that they are both injury prone so he is going to limit their minutes in the early season to play them longer stretches come playoff time. At least that is what I hope this is all about. If Rose is jacked up, their next best scoring options are Boozer, Rip Hamilton, and Luol Deng. Rip is nursing a groin injury, Deng plays too many minutes to be relied on too often, and if Boozer isn’t even playing then this is all very bad. And Joakim Noah’s defense and rebounding is key to the team’s success, but if he isn’t being used due to ineffectiveness, then Chicago is in some serious trouble in their quest for a ring.

Oklahoma City Thunder:

I have no clever image for this one

People are saying Durant and Westbrook are fine, but I just don’t buy it. I also don’t like how Westbrook’s percentages are going up, but his assists have stayed the same. I don’t buy that Westbrook and Durant will coexist peacefully and win a title. Well maybe they can win one, but I don’t know how great this relationship will be in the future. The Thunder also have a bit of an issue now with Eric Maynor, their back-up point guard, going down for the season with a torn ACL. He was an important piece of that Thunder depth and if the injury bug starts hitting them harder this is going to be a long season.

Los Angeles Lakers:This is all I think of when I think of Kobe

Some will say Kobe is playing great, I will say Kobe is hogging the ball because he wants to send some kind of a message that he’s still good. Yeah good for him, let’s see how taking 30 shots a game works for them come playoff time. I still refuse to believe that the FIFTEEN YEARS of wear and tear on his body aren’t going to come back and haunt him during this insane schedule. He is already nursing like four different injuries, and if doesn’t take time to heal and keeps trying to do so much this won’t end well. And even if the injuries don’t pile up for Kobe, the Lakers can’t win a championship if he is playing like this. I am glad for Mike Brown that the Lakers are playing better than people thought they would, but sadly reality is going to hit this team at some point.

Also, Andrew Bynum is going through the best stretch of his career. Let’s give it about six more games before he gets injured. And that is very sad because Bynum and Gasol up front gives LA an advantage over almost everybody, but for some reason Kobe is taking the most shots per game he has since 2006...when they had Kwame Brown and Smush Parker. Keep in mind Kobe is older and more beat up than he was back then. The Lake Show is almost over so we should enjoy it while we can. Kobe doesn’t have Phil Jackson there to stop him from being so enamored with being Kobe. Mike Brown is an enabler who allowed LeBron James to build up the biggest ego on the planet, so we can expect more of the same here.

That is it for now. There are games on TNT tonight that will be so bad I will more than likely spend my night reading Keith Richards’ autobiography and watching WWE’s Bret Hart compilation from 2005. Why on Earth do I want to watch the unbelievably overrated Knicks take on a Grizzlies team missing their best player? And why would I want to watch Dwight “I am half-assing it because I don’t want to be here in Orlando” Howard play the Warriors? Yuck.

Joe's NBA 2k12 Preview Rant and Hopes

NBA 2K12 comes out in less than one week. It has already garnered a ton of press due to having three different covers featuring Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, and Magic Johnson. There’s also been a lot of attention given to the game since it is going to feature nearly 30 classic teams and 15 legendary players. I’m not sure exactly how that works since if there’s almost 30 different teams there must be more than 15 legends. Since the NBA lockout has made it impossible for 2k to update rosters, the main focus of the game has been placed on the legends. This is most likely going to be a great thing and I am very excited. With what we know (or at least I know) as of right now, six days before the release, I want to give some scattered thoughts on what I think will be awesome and what is messed up.

First, the player ratings have leaked and they are fucked up. LeBron James is the highest rated player in the game at 98, including an A- in outside shooting. I don’t know why this guy keeps choking in the playoffs every year and is rewarded with great video game ratings. And to put his mid-range and three point game so high is insane. I mean, that’s saying LeBron is nearly as good of a shooter as Dirk Nowitzki. Dirk got jobbed on the ratings, falling to 85 which is behind titans of the game like Rudy Gay (86). He’s also behind Melo, Amar’e, and tied with Blake Griffin. This is Dirk here. Top 25 ever probably and he was just one of the top three players in the league this past year. Kobe somehow got rated 94 even though he didn’t play well and should only be in the high 80s. I’m also a little sad Luol Deng is only a 77 since he’s a true warrior.

Deron Williams is a 90 and Russell Westbrook is an 88. I don’t know what world these 2k developers live in where Williams and Westbrook are better than Dirk, but it must be nice there. As long as LeBron’s clutch rating is about a 49 then I won’t be that upset with all these initial ratings. Assuming there’s a season and the rosters update things will change. That’s really all I can bitch about in terms of current players, but I will praise the Mavericks for acquiring Rudy Fernandez before the lockout so he’s on their roster in the game. That is so important to me as Rudy is one of the most important men to ever live. Aside from that, I don’t care about the modern stuff as my focus is all on the legends.

The legend stuff looks awesome. If you’re the 60s Celtics with Bill Russell then the game presentation is just like it would be in the 60s, including the black and white screen. I hope this means for the older teams there won’t be a scoreboard on the bottom of the screen during the game and it will just show up sporadically throughout the quarter like it did for years. While I am excited about the at least four different classic Bulls teams the roster reveal showed, I feel that’s kind of weak to do. Out of the almost 30 legendary teams, how many are going to be the same team with slightly different players? Will there be four different Bird-era Celtics or something? If that happens and there’s no 1993 Phoenix Suns I’m going to be pissed. I’m really looking forward to there being a lot of different classic teams so you can use a lot of different legends like NBA Live 2000. That brings me to my next hope.

I really hope that with The Association—the game’s season mode for those who aren’t familiar—when you do a fantasy draft you can pick legendary players. In Live 2000, which is the second greatest NBA game behind 2k11, they had legendary all star teams broken down by era. There was the 50s/60s team, the 70s, the 80s, and the 90s all stars. You could complete ridiculous tasks and unlock the players from those teams to be placed on any team in the active roster. You could then do a season with legends on any team. I had a Bulls team with MJ, Pippen, Wilt, Bird, Dr. J, and McHale among others I can’t remember since it has been so many years. But the point is that it was awesome to take legends and have them face off against the stars of 2000.

One of 2k’s big marketing points with 2k12 is to give everybody a chance to see how all the legends would fare against the stars of today. What better way than to be able to incorporate them into the regular gameplay? Most of the time when I do an Association or Playoffs I just draft a team to make it more interesting. Well with all of these legends I want to be able to be the Bulls, give myself the number one pick, take Jordan, and then maybe take Derrick Rose in the second round and so on and so forth. They could even make the game super smart so if you do this legend incorporation it will take a player like Mike Bibby who is on the Heat now and sucks, and simply throw him out of the roster in exchange for the better Bibby that is on the 02 Kings. I want to be able to put together my dream team of classic and current stars then go bust some skulls.

We don’t know what all the classic teams are yet but from that roster reveal we see a lot of Bulls teams and the 93 Hornets. Also I pre-ordered the game from Game Stop and it says on their website I’ll get to unlock the 91 Warriors and the 02 Kings for that. The thing with these classic teams is that they’re not unlocked to start the game, you have to complete parts of a special game mode to unlock them. That is most likely going to be a lot of fun and cause me to waste a lot of time I could be using to write papers or do reading for school. Part of what makes it exciting is the fact 2k won’t reveal every team and won’t tell us every change they’ve made to the game. If they do that change with The Association I’ll shit my pants.

Apparently My Player mode has changed up so you don’t start off rated like a 37 and playing shit games that mean nothing. You start out going right into the league, or at least that’s what I think I read about it. That’s pretty cool since I always hated My Player because it took so long to get into the NBA and then you sucked when you made it. They’ve also redone the teammate grading system in the mode so you don’t drop four letter grades if you accidentally hit X to call for a pass at a bad time. From what I’ve read there’s just a ton more stuff, like being able to make commercials and what not. I still probably won’t play it but for people who like that mode hopefully this is good news. Also the Creating a Legend mode, which in 2k11 involved taking a rookie Michael Jordan and putting him on a current team and playing through his career, has returned only now you can be a player on a current team and go through the rest of their career. That’s pretty nifty.

The bottom line is this: 2k12 is going to fucking rule. This legendary team mode is going to turn everybody’s brains into shit. I am so excited for it I briefly considered taking all of next week off so I can play it, even Monday despite the game not coming out until Tuesday. I’m trying to slam through the last few games of my season in Madden so I can be ready. Once that game drops everything we know is going to change. If they don’t put a classic Seattle Supersonics team there so I can demolish people with the Reignman I’m going to be furious and may consider getting rid of the game though.

Bull Market...

As of this writing, the Chicago Bulls are down three games to one in the Eastern Conference Finals to the Miami Heat.  This is happening despite the Bulls having better defense and better depth than Miami.  It was presumed that their coaching was better too, with Tom Thibodeau being considerably better than the Heat's Erik Spoelstra, who was thought to be outmatched by the star power on his team.  Turns out, this has been a bit unfounded, as Spo has managed to key in on Derrick Rose by using LeBron James and Chris Bosh to double team the MVP and force him into bad shots or to pass to teammates for bad shots or easy shots that miss.  Despite Coach Thib's reputation as a master planner and someone who works tirelessly to make adjustments, he has not managed to fully do so.  Sure Boozer has managed to start playing better, but Chris Bosh is running train on the Bulls on the other end and he should be the easiest one for Chicago to stop.

In order to win a series against Miami, a team just has to do the following things: Stop Bosh, stop Wade or LeBron, and play efficient offense that doesn't allow the Heat to get on the fast break.  Stopping both Wade and LeBron is damn nigh impossible, but keying in on one and then stopping Bosh is definitely within the realm of possibility and Chicago has not managed to do so consistently.

More specific to Chicago's game plan is that Rose needs to get around 25-30 points a game and shoot at a relatively efficient rate (for him).  Last night he had 23 points, but he was 8-27 from the field.  This whole series he has shot poorly and this is due to the aforementioned Bosh/James double teams that they have not figured out how to work around.  The team also needs strong contributions from Boozer and Deng.  Last night they delivered by each scoring 20 points, but this was cancelled out by the stinkbomb Rose threw out.  They also need a more consistent output from Joakim Noah, but he has really struggled since his 14 rebound performance in the series opener.

While Boozer has played better the past two games, he has really struggled this postseason and most of the second half of the year.  He has not managed to be fully integrated into the frontcourt with Noah and has not managed to become the second option that Chicago desperately needed in order to make it this season.  Hopefully after a healthy offseason, he can learn to mesh better with the team and develop a better chemistry with Derrick Rose in order to get a better pick and roll game together.

The lack of a shooting guard that can create his own shot has also hurt the Bulls this postseason.  Someone like Jason Richardson could have come in handy, as he can shoot the three ball and get to the hoop and take pressure off Rose.  Free agent guards this summer include Jamal Crawford, OJ Mayo, Caron Butler,  and Richardson and acquiring one of them should be a priority for Chicago.  The offense is in dire straits, living or dying with Rose and he needs some kind of help so he doesn't burn out or get injured doing all the work on that end.

I think the biggest issue with Chicago, for better or worse, has been Tom Thibodeau.  On the positive side, he managed to lead change the culture in Chicago and make them a relevant team again.  On the negative, he has to learn to become a playoff coach.  He put so much into the regular season and the team responded by having the best record in the NBA.  His intensity and drive really pushed this team into achieving at a higher level than most people expected.  The problem is that this same determination has left them ill-equipped for the playoffs.  The team had no higher gear for the postseason.  Every team they faced had already seen them play their hardest and at the best they are capable of in the regular season.  Deng played an absurd amount of minutes during the season and has been unable to keep up that level in the playoffs.  Last night, Noah was exhausted.  Rose has to be worn down from carrying such a heavy burden all year.  Chicago gave it their all most games, even when other teams weren't and this came back to haunt them, as they were not prepared for when teams like Indiana or Atlanta gave more effort than they did during the regular season.  For Thibs, his biggest task this offseason is to learn to pace himself and the team better so that they can play more consistently down the stretch when it matters most.  If not, he'll end up as Doug Collins 2.0 - a great regular season coach that can get a team headed on the right track, but ultimately too demanding and relentless to push a team over the hump.  Whether or not he can do that, we'll see next season (or as a Bulls fan, games 5, 6, and 7, followed by the Finals).

Odds and Sods

Strikeforce ran their first major show since their acquisition by Zuffa a few months ago. In the main event, Nick Diaz and Paul Daley had a pretty exciting fight that ended with a Diaz TKO victory. After this, there really is no one left for Strikeforce to match their welterweight champ Diaz up against. I think its time to bring him back into the UFC and unify the two titles by matching him up with Georges St. Pierre. This especially makes sense considering that it doesn’t appear as if the GSP-Silva superfight will happen. Of course, this is all contingent on GSP beating Jake Shields this month. If Shields wins, the odds are against him fighting close friend and training partner Diaz.

The NBA regular season is drawing to a close and there is a rather contentious debate over who the MVP should be. Derrick Rose is considered the frontrunner, but stat hounds act like anything other than a victory for LeBron James or Dwight Howard would be an egregious wrong. I’ll get into this more later when I do my awards picks, but anything other than a D Rose victory is a bit absurd. He led the team to the best record in the East (and 2nd best in the NBA), doesn’t have a superstar like D Wade playing next to him and isn’t a liability in the clutch or getting suspended all the time like Howard. I know I’m partial because I would be willing to take a bullet if it meant the Bulls would win the title, but Rose deserves the award. Have you seen the Bulls try to score without Rose on the floor, or even try to dribble the ball? It isn’t pretty.

According to his mentor and trainer Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Anderson Silva will be defending his middleweight title in August at the UFC show in Brazil against Yushin Okami. Okami was the last man to beat Silva, back in 2006 via a controversial disqualification. This would seem to point to a fight with GSP not happening at all, especially when combined with this other tidbit from Big Nog: After the Okami fight, Anderson will be moving up to 205 lbs. permanently. This would presumably set up a match between Anderson and the winner of the match between Jon Jones and Rashad Evans for early next year. That means Anderson will be doing battle with Bones Jones early next year. As a fight fan, this excites me. As a Silva fan, this terrifies me. Both men legitimately have what it takes to decisively beat the other, and with Silva being considerably older and Jones having a massive size advantage, this fight could mean either the end of Anderson’s undefeated streak or another notch in his resume as the greatest fighter of all time.

And in the occasional pro wrestling story, my brother tells me that WWE Superstar Edge has announced his retirement due to a reaggravation of the neck injury he suffered back in 2003. The internet sites are reporting that this is a legitimate retirement and not a work. If this is true, it marks the end of another Attitude era star and one of the few established names remaining on their talent roster. He had a nice run near the top of the company over the past six years as a heel. One of my favorite moments in WWE history came from Edge. In 2005, my roommate and I went to the live taping of the pay per view New Year’s Revolution. At the end of the show, after John Cena had retained the WWE title to the chagrin of the Albany fans, Edge cashed in his Money in the Bank title shot and beat John Cena for his first world title victory. The fans went nuts, Edge went nuts, my roommate and I went nuts. It was pretty wild, and preserved on DVD forever if you don’t believe me about my celebration.

In the final bit of news, it appears Strikeforce is going to air a live pay per view event this summer and its main event will apparently be Dan Henderson vs Fedor Emelianenko. Originally, the talk was that this was going to be for Henderson’s light heavyweight title, but it is looking more like it will be fought at a 220 lb. catchweight. If this is so, this fight puts Hendo at a major disadvantage. He is small for 205, as evidenced by the fact that he is also capable of fighting at 185. Fedor is a small heavyweight, coming in around 225-230 lbs and he is doughy at that weight. Only having to cut ten pounds while Hendo has to try to gain near fifteen is unfair. I think a 215 catchweight makes more sense for both men. Fedor still would have a size advantage, but I don’t think it would be as glaring at that weight, plus it better situates him for a run at light heavyweight if he wins this fight. For Henderson, he wouldn’t have to bulk up as much so he wouldn’t be in the same position as his fight against Big Nog in Pride where he gave up around thirty pounds and lost.

That does it for this installment of Odds and Sods. Check back for posts previewing the NBA Playoffs and Awards, the tribute to Pride, and predictions for this month’s UFC pay per view.

Three Up, Three in the Middle, Three Down

Time for the second, and final installment of Three Up... of the regular season. Let’s get right into it.

Three Up
Chicago Bulls: The Bulls are still rolling and clinched the top seed in the Eastern Conference. They have been the team to beat since the All-Star break and have played the most consistent basketball the past few months. At this point if Derrick Rose doesn’t win the MVP, it’ll be a robbery. All the Bulls need now is for Noah’s ankle to heal up and be ready for the playoffs.
Oklahoma City Thunder: The Thunder have won eight of their last ten, and could be poised to make a nice run in the playoffs. The addition of Perkins has given them some much needed low post toughness and helped them to beat their likely first round opponent and team that just missed out on the three up this week in the Denver Nuggets. Denver has been surging since the ‘Melo deal and that win is a big one for OKC. If they can pass Dallas for the three seed, the Thunder have a good shot at a run to the conference finals.
New Orleans Hornets: I was going to pick Denver or Memphis here, but the Hornets deserve some props. Their second best player in David West went down with a torn ACL, but the Hornets have scrapped their way to a 7-3 mark over their past ten games in a tough bottom half of the Western Conference. Despite the injury and an up and down season, the Hornets have managed to hang tough. That deserves some props, even if it means they are just going to get mauled by the Lakers or Spurs in the first round.

Three in the Middle
New York Knicks: The Knicks have managed to recover from losing four straight by reeling off seven wins in a row. They still don’t have much depth, but it appears as if the team is starting to mesh a little better than it was a few weeks ago. It looks like they’ll end up against Miami (so long as Boston doesn’t continue their freefall) in the first round and that could be a competitive series.
Los Angeles Lakers: The Lakers would have been in the three up, but they have gone from looking like worldbeaters again to losing five in a row, including ones to possible playoff opponents Portland and OKC. Of course, none of this matters once the playoffs start, but it has to be disconcerting to not be playing your best ball at this point of the year.
San Antonio Spurs: They almost made the three down part, but have recovered from their swoon now that Tim Duncan is back from injury. They managed to clinch the one seed in the West, but part of that is due to the Lakers suddenly falling apart. Unfortunately, I don’t know that the Spurs can make it very far. Memphis would be a tough first round matchup, but they could squash the Hornets. In the second round, the Thunder could bounce them, but they could beat Dallas or Denver. If the Lakers lose early, the Spurs could make a run to the Finals.

Three Down
Dallas Mavericks: Dallas is done. Dirk is the only one playing well right now, and there is no solid second option. To boot, Chandler is playing hurt and Jason Kidd is pretty much done. If the Hornets somehow make it to the six seed, Dallas could earn their way to a second round exit courtesy of the Lakers. Otherwise, its going to be another first round bow-out for Dallas at the hands of Portland or Denver.
Minnesota Timberwolves: Minny are losers of twelve straight and are tied with the Cavs for worst record in the NBA. They aren’t even competitive at this point, unlike the beginning of the year where they at least played teams close. Rambis is an abyssmal coach, clinging to the Triangle Offense despite the fact the personnel needed to run it is not present. They are terrible, to the point where they might end up with an even worse record than Cleveland and that’s saying something.
Boston Celtics: What the hell is going on in Boston? They are getting trounced by everyone now and it appears that they have lost all that swagger they had heading into the season. Rondo has played poorly, the rest of the team has been inconsistent, Shaq has been MIA, and the chemistry has hit an all-time low since the Perkins trade. Since February, they’ve fallen from one to three in the East and it looks like it isn’t even a matter of biding their time and staying healthy until the playoffs. Of course, as with the Lakers, once the playoffs start anything could happen.

Derrick Rose is My Basketball Jesus

“I’m gonna have to apologize to the people; I don’t think I can really be objective.”

That was said by Bobby “The Brain” Heenan while doing commentary in the 1992 Royal Rumble and cheering for the wrestler he was managing, “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair. It is also the first thing I thought of when I realized every piece about the NBA I want to write is just about how Derrick Rose is the best player in the Association this year. Rose is my favorite player so I will always go nuts over everything he does, though I do feel I did a pretty good job of staying unbiased in the first post I had here on Black Belt Basketball. Rose’s major statistical improvements and the unexpected rise of the Chicago Bulls speak volumes for Rose’s MVP candidacy. As a student of the game I’m able to see that.

But as a Chicago Bulls fan, this has been the greatest season for the league in 13 years. I can’t help but start buying into the hype. The Bulls currently hold the top spot in the Eastern Conference and according to ESPN they have the best chance of winning the championship this year and being a dynasty in the future. I don’t want to jinx them so I won’t say they’re going to win it all, but as a fan this pumps me up to see other people saying it. And all of this is because of Derrick Rose.

When Rose came into the league people said he wasn’t clutch and couldn’t play defense. This year he’s shattered those misconceptions. Ask Chris Paul and Deron Williams if Rose can play defense. Following a loss to the Blazers, Portland’s Nicolas Batum said Rose can’t guard anybody. Chicago’s next game was against the Jazz, and Rose forced Williams into 38% shooting and 5 turnovers. It wasn’t done there. The next game was against the Hornets and Chris Paul was held to 3-10 shooting and only 6 assists. The top two point guards in the league decimated in back to back games. The on St. Patrick’s Day the Bulls played the Nets who now have Deron Williams. Williams is apparently nursing an injured wrist, but Rose still held him to 1-12 shooting and had a beast block on him in the fourth quarter. Then against Indiana last week the Pacers had a chance to win in the closing moments of the fourth but Rose blocked the shot. I don’t think Rose can guard people.

As for him being clutch, that isn’t even a debate anymore. Rose unloaded 19 fourth quarter points to send that game with Indiana to overtime. In the first game against Houston this year, Rose scored 17 points in the fourth to carry Chicago to victory. In the second meeting with Houston this year Rose hit that three to send the game to overtime then scored five of Chicago’s ten points in the OT period. Against the Phoenix Suns, D. Rose hit clutch shot after clutch shot and even scored more points than the entire Suns team in the second overtime. Rose also made big plays against the Lakers, and has been making big plays all year. Some people would say Rose is a killer now, but I like the way Brian Scalabrine put it:

"[Killers] are the guys who get you the need baskets. I have a different word for killers. I call them motherfuckers. And right now, Derrick Rose is the baddest motherfucker in the league by far. He is the reason we win."

Yes he is. He’s playing like an animal and I am so happy because of it. When the Bulls drafted him I was so happy. I don’t pay attention to college basketball so I had no real knowledge of what Rose had done previous, but to get the local boy with the first pick in the draft and excite the entire fan base was a big thing. I’ve followed every game of his career. I’ve seen every big game he’s had, from the 36 point explosion against the Celtics in Game 1 of the 2009 Playoff series all the way up to his 42 point onslaught against the league-best San Antonio Spurs this season. I was walking around the room with my arms in the air in triumph during the Bulls’ demolition of the Hawks last night in which Rose had 30 and 10 and hit six 3 pointers.

Every time Derrick Rose steps on the court I turn into a 10 year old. Every time he goes to the hoop and hits one of his unreal acrobatic layups I stand up pumping my fist. When he hits a three right over a defender I walk around the room with my fist in the air. When he dunks on somebody I get crazy eyes and just start yelling “Yeah!” When he hits a big shot in the fourth I get up and run around the room with my hand over my face screaming. I’m not embarrassed. It just goes to show that Derrick Rose is so good he can make a grown ass man act like a bitch.

This of course would probably lead you to ask why in the blue hell I get like this over Derrick Rose. Rose embodies everything I’d want to see in a player in my favorite sport. The best thing about him is the fact he’s so humble. He could easily brag about the damage he’s doing to teams this year, but instead he gets very shy if you tell him he’s been the best in the league this far. After beating Miami for the third time, Rose was interviewed after the game and rather than celebrate having a good game and winning he freaked out about how he nearly cost his team the game with two turnovers and missing a jumper. He felt terrible that he nearly ruined the game for his teammates. When the reporter interviewing him tried to get him to talk a little trash about Miami’s big three and say something about the great season he’s been having, Rose just shook his head and smiled and said it was all about the team’s success and it doesn’t matter what he does on his own.

That’s pretty big for a superstar to do. When Boston beat the Lakers in the 2008 Finals, I remember Kobe saying the loss hurts because it had been such a big year for him. LeBron James constantly talks about himself like he’s a global icon. Derrick Rose has been playing better than both of them all season but doesn’t want to hear about how good he’s been, he just wants you to talk about what a great team the Bulls have been. Saying he wanted to be MVP before the season started was the only time Rose has ever gotten cocky. Other than that he’s always respectful and reserved. I love it.

The other thing that makes Rose so great is that killer instinct he has. Over the summer he contacted both Dwyane Wade and LeBron James about coming to Chicago. He contacted Wade a few times, but Wade blew him off. Then when the big three decided to form in Miami, Rose hit the gym and went nuts. He developed a three point shot, his free throw shooting has gone way up, his defense is way better, and he’s approached the season with a determination nobody knew he had. All the effort he’s put into this year started because of the free agency period in which the Bulls management wanted him to court James and Wade. Rose knew he could lead the Bulls on his own and when LBJ and Wade went to South Beach he set out to prove to everybody he can. That’s the type of drive that brings to memory a certain guard who also played for the Bulls.

Rose also preaches Tom Thibodeau’s message constantly and has helped Thibs transform the culture of the Bulls this year. He doesn’t call Thibs out and make it seem like his coach is the issue if the Bulls lose a game. He doesn’t slam into Thibs on the sideline if he’s mad about his decisions like some stars. He trusts what Thibodeau brings to the table and he believes in him. That faith and loyalty to a coach is something you’d expect out of a truly dedicated star, but because of the bond Rose and his coach have developed it has the Bulls playing at a level nobody except the most serious of Bulls fans would have believed.

Derrick Rose is such a special player. When he proclaimed he could win the MVP award deep down I wished it would happen, but on my other blog I still said Kevin Durant would be the one who wins it because I hadn’t seen exactly how much Rose had improved in just a few months. On my other blog I had said the Bulls would be the 4 seed in the East, but in conversations before the season started with my brother and my friend Josh, both Bulls fans, I said I believed they had the parts to contend right away because Rose was going to be that good. It was just the extremely biased Bulls fan in me saying what I really wanted to happen this year. But now it is happening. I’m stunned.

I texted Josh earlier saying Derrick Rose is the second coming of either Jesus or Michael Jordan. Josh responded that Rose has taken the best parts of both of them and combined them into one superhuman. He may be right. After the Bulls beat the Hornets in that game I mentioned earlier, Carlos Boozer said of Rose, “He’s a monster, man. And I keep telling people, when it’s all said and done—he’s 22—he’s going to be the best one.” I don’t know about him being better than MJ, but we’re witnessing a special player this year. He’s so humble and so driven and has his team playing at an unbelievable level. I’m so happy I’ve been supporting him from the moment the Bulls drafted him.

I’ve never cheered for an athlete the way I’ve been cheering for D. Rose (I don’t know if I could give almost three pages to Steve Nash), and I’ve never pulled for a team the way I’m pulling for the Bulls. I’m so pumped for the next 12 games and the Playoffs, as well as the many years of success the Bulls likely have in store. Knock on wood.

Odds and Sods

Didn't really have any particular topic to discuss today, but there are a bunch of little stories I felt like going over.

• This topic has already been gone over extensively by the mainstream media and on this page, but allegedly the Miami Heat had players crying after their loss to the Bulls over the weekend.  I don't necessarily think its a sign of them being weak, but to cry after a losing streak in March is a bit weak.  If anyone on that team should be crying it should be Coach Spoelstra and Dwyane Wade.  Spo because he's going to get fired after this season when the losses aren't his fault.  Dwyane Wade because he has become the odd man out on his own team.  LeBron needs to stop shooting so much in the fourth quarter, as he becomes a stagnant jump shooter or lofts challenged layups that have little chance of going in.  Get Wade, a proven closer, the ball more in the clutch and there won't be so many choke jobs.  Also, perhaps implementing the Triangle/Motion offense would greatly help them, that and an offseason of learning to work off the ball.  Also, don't hold a championship celebration before the season starts and perhaps the media and fans won't revel in your failures.
• Dan Henderson justified my ranking him as the ninth best MMA fighter of all-time by winning the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Title this past Saturday.  He probably couldn't contend for that same title in the UFC, but he is still relevant at the age of 40 and has a nuclear missile of a right hand.  I think the UFC missed the boat by not keeping him around, as he can still fight and win against a high level of competition.  Anderson Silva would still eat him for lunch, but he is still probably capable of winning a round against him like he did in their first fight.
• I don't know how ESPN's John Hollinger develops his metric statistics, but his playoff odds now features the Chicago Bulls as the team most likely to make it to and win the NBA Finals.  Hollinger has not expressed much in the way of praise of the Bulls, so this came as quite a shock to me.  I don't want to talk too much about it, since I'm a die-hard Bulls fan and I fear jinxing them, but it is about time the Bulls get some respect from ESPN.  They are the only team to beat all the Lakers, Spurs, Mavericks, Celtics, Magic, and Heat.  They have managed to do this with Noah and Boozer both missing significant chunks of the season and without a decent starting shooting guard.  I'm not certain of their championship chances, but that team has believed in themselves from day one and have had great chemistry and it is nice to see that paying off.
• ,UFC 128 is coming up next week, and I believe that both my brother and I will have our predictions up for that.  The main event is Jon "Bones" Jones against UFC Light Heavyweight Champ Mauricio "Shogun" Rua.  Jones has been very vocal in his confidence by saying things like, "In my mind I've already won."  Nothing major, but over the past year it seems as if Jones has started to buy into his hype as the future of MMA.  Shogun is coming into this fight after knee surgery and a lengthy layoff (nearly a year).  This, and the aforementioned hype contribute to the fact Jones is a slight favorite heading into their fight.  But it seems to me that Jones and a lot of fans are forgetting that Shogun Rua is a bad, bad man.  Jones has never faced a man with the power and striking abilities of Shogun.  Also, Shogun is no slouch off his back either and at age 28, should be in his athletic prime.  While Jones is inexperienced with someone of Rua's style, Shogun has fought and defeated a wide range of people, from strong wrestlers like Mark Coleman to another skilled striker and grappler with a huge size advantage in Alistair Overeem, and was the first man to figure out how to beat Lyoto Machida.  While Jones is favored and rightly so, I just think that people are overlooking just how good Shogun Rua is.

That's it for now.  I do have some other articles coming up in the future, like how to fix the NBA salary cap and about Rashad Evans and his refusal to fight people he trains with.  In the meantime, feel free to leave a comment or something.