Steve Nash Shouldn't Fight

In the desert of Arizona, the Houston Rockets challenged the Phoenix Suns to a battle of athletic competition. By the third quarter, the Rockets held a commanding lead and the Suns were not happy. Watch what happens.

After listening to the complete bias of the Rocket announcers, you would automatically believe that Matt Barnes was at complete fault. Wrong. During the game, Steve Nash was the victim of questionable screens set by the Rocket players (not shown). Matt Barnes, being the noble teammate that he is, decided to retaliate against the Rockets' smallest player, Rafer Alston. And I for one, loved it (Rafer Alston is a punk)

However, the point of this article was not to correct the obvious bias of the Rocket TV announcers, but to point out Steve Nash's inability to fight. After Alston bodied Barnes for the hard foul, Steve Nash ran in and basically threw himself to the ground. If you're heated and pissed off enough to throw a punch, do it. If I was Nash, I would be ashamed. That was the most pathetic showing in a fight since Jeff Van Gundy and at least he had an excuse, he was 5'9".

Other things to note:

• Shaquille O'Neal is a beast. From a stand still he pushed down Tracy McGrady and arm barred Yao Ming to the ground.
• Matt Barnes threw the most blatant foul at Rafer Alston, but the referees did not blow the whistle. The referees did a good job of stopping the fight, but their huge non-call started all of it.
• I wonder what Steve Nash said for T-mac to react so quickly.
• What was Rafer Alston hoping to accomplish by grabbing onto to Steve Nash's arm.
• Hypothetically, if Shaq was the only one of the floor, would he be able to beat-up Yao, Scola, T-mac, Brooks, and Alston by himself? I say, "Yes."

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In China, Shaq Statue Represents Fatness

Curiously out of the LA Times today was an article by head sports Columnist Bill Plaschke. With all that is going on in the sports world, Bill Plaschke decides to write about a flippin statue??

But who am I to complain, I was quite amused, so I guess it served it's purposed. Apparently, everyone Bill Plaschke met at the statue was dumbfounded about its reason for existence.

I'll be honest, I'm not the greatest Shaq fan. In America, my dislike for Shaq often meets resistance from folks who respect his post moves and overpowering presence. Whatever. In China, at least, my opinions seems like the consensus.

"Shaq is a good player, but, look here, he is little fat," Chen said.

"I walk past him every day and I think, he is just so-so," said playground player Lei Shi, 26, as he walked to his game. "We're not sure why he's here."

"Kobe is younger, and that Shaq over there is fatter," said Tony Zhang, 24. "Kobe is today. Shaq is too old."

Young athletes pass him on their way to and from their basketball games. Almost every time, they look up at him. And almost every time, they shrug.

"One good thing about this," Minghas Li said. "Shaq can't sing in real life, and here he will not be able to sing."

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Kobe Ain't A Kidder

"He's Old."

Jason Kidd is 35 years old. This age is honestly older and in comparison to the rest of the Olympic Team, he is the elder statesman, accentuated by the grizzly beard he sports. His skills have been on the decline, and though no one doubts what he's done in the past, he honestly just isn't what he used to be.

Last year Kidd shot a horrible 38.5% from the field and has a career percentage of 40.1. The Russians were playing zone and against this defense Kidd can't compare to CP3 or D-Will. Kidd is the leader of this group and is perfect in their running up tempo game, but it just wasn't working in Shanghai.

Now this doesn't justify Kobe's rudeness, even though he was completely joking. If his statement honestly offended Jason Kidd, I'm sure Mr. Bryant apologized.

Kobe sees himself as a jokester, but his image just isn't blithe enough yet to be accepted in the same light as the more accomplished pranksters like Shaq and or even Lebron. But its improving and this light jest will just be forgotten about, just as Shaq's ridiculous Kobe rap was. So if Shaq isn't seen as an a**hole now, this shouldn't cause any tension within the Redeem Team nor should it mean anything whatsoever to the rest of the world. Thanks sports media for spinning a ridiculous statement into something much bigger than it actually is.

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The Day After Yesterday

So, the NBA season is at long last at its conclusion - with the Boston Celtics crowned champions. As a lifelong Laker fan, the fact that the Lakers unexpectedly reached the Finals serves as no consolation to the agony of watching the Celtics (THE CELTICS!) take the trophy. But now, 24 hours later, I've been able to digest the season as a whole a bit better.

Us Laker fans started the season scared out of our minds that for the first time in eleven years, we would be without the one constant that kept us hoping and believing - from Kobe's rookie season and his audacious airballs against the Utah Jazz, to his improbable buzzer beaters against the Portland Trailblazers to clinch the #1 seed, from his off court troubles in Eagle, Colorado, to his 81 point game against the Rapters - Kobe Bryant's excellence between the lines was never, ever in doubt. And yet, the threat was very real. We were about to enter a period of extreme unknown, a period when Kobe Bryant would be wearing a Chicago Bulls jersey. To deny that every Laker fan had already resigned themselves to the fact that Kobe was going to be traded would be dishonest. Even if most of us said, "No, it'll never happen!", deep down inside we knew that the trade demands were very, very real.

So now, sitting here a year and change later, to be disappointed in losing the NBA Finals...it's a good place to be, all things considered. Now don't get me wrong, once I realized that we had a shot, I was all in and fully engaged in winning a championship, and anyone who was with me watching these playoffs knows full well how pained I was when we first blew game 4, and then failed to show up in game 6. But I also know that to be a Laker fan means to be constantly spoiled by greatness. The pieces are there, but like MJ's young Bulls who couldn't get past the Pistons, like the Shaq era Lakers under Del Harris, it takes a few years of adversity and growth to find the fire that we so sorely lacked in Game 6. It hasn't been that long since our last championship, we just made the finals, and with a few new pieces, a little improvement over the summer from our youngsters - we are looking at a new Laker dynasty. 

Fret not, Laker Nation. The Purple and Gold is back.

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Letter to the Miami Heat fans

Dear Miami Heat fan,

All season long your pathetic team played horribly, 82 games and you won 15 games (good job Miami)? Either way, you endured a miserable NBA season, you need hope, you need change, you need someone to turn it around. No worries, the more losses you have, the better chance you will have to get the number one pick in the NBA draft. Congratulations on sucking.

By this time, you have one thing on your mind, "which college star is going to turn my team around?" For the first time since your season ended, you have hope- you might actually have a guy with talent on your team!

Draft lottery day finally comes around. You had the worst record in the NBA. You could not be happier. David Stern announces that the first overall pick in the NBA draft is going to a team that had over twice as many wins as you did. Silence. It is quite okay though, you get the second pick. And considering that the main two studs are Derrick Rose and Michael Beasley, you can't be blamed for making a poor draft choice.

Nonetheless, your team definitely needs help. You guys have one superstar, Dwyane Wade, but besides him you have absolutely no one. Yes, Shawn Marion is a fantasy basketball beast, but that doesn't mean he's good at basketball. Michael Beasley would definitely help, but trust me, you want Derrick Rose. You guys are desperate for a solid floor general, I know this because your point guards are Jason Williams and Marcus Banks, as a matter of fact, you guys even signed Smush Parker for a little while.


Shaquille O'Neal is getting fat in another city, Smush Parker isn't on your team, you're going to get either Beasley or Rose, and your players might stop being injured. As you can see, a lot of reasons to be hopeful. You're going to win 33 games next year!

Good luck!
-D

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From Goliath to David

In the past two decades, a change can be seen in the NBA landscape. The old blueprint for teams consisted of building around a big man and allowing him to anchor both offense and defense. Names like Mikan, Russell, Chamberlain, and Kareem come to mind when one pictures the champions of old. Even the 90s were filled with the likes of Shaq, Hakeem, Robinson, Ewing, Malone, and (though he wasn't as big, he played just as big) Barkley. To this day, the only player successfully built upon that wasn't primarily in the post was MJ.

Since the Mid-90s to the early 2000s however, the game started getting smaller, faster, and more guard oriented. The big names that began to appear were slashers with the names of Kobe, AI, and Lebron, as well as a little guy named Steve. More perimeter oriented than the superstars of old, a new brand of basketball emerged in the NBA. The post fundamentals became a thing of the past, proven by the fact that no matter how much he won, Tim Duncan has been branded as slow, methodical, and even boring.


Even with this faster pace, the big man is still regarded with the utmost importance; but to look at the big man of today is to understand that the definition has almost completely changed. The skill sets that made Wilt, Kareem, and Olajuwon who they were are completely different from what is seen in the play of Amare Stoudemire, Dirk Nowitzki, Kevin Garnett, and Rasheed Wallace. Though the defensive assignments are still similar to a point, that power and authority that came with the post of a true BIG MAN is gone.The low post bangers are now labeled "old school", as the NBA has even changed the rules in favor of the more fleet-footed ballers.

Why the change from what had been so effective for so long? Where have all the giants gone?

Well, the culprit in charge of the revolution is no other than Michael Jordan himself. Ever since His Airness sported those Nike's and did his thing, everyone has tried to emulate him. Look at KG and Amare with their crossover-into-fadeaway moves; had they followed the road paved by what now seems to be mythical NBA bigmen, they would be backing in for furious dunks or short hooks.

Of all the kids coming out in the 2008 NBA draft, how many top 15 prospects can you define as "true" bigmen? In regards to their styles of play, only Kevin Love, Brook Lopez, and possibly DeAndre Jordan come anywhere close. Even they, at best, are hybrids. The rest, regardless of size, play like guards; from Michael Beasley and Anthony Randolph to Donte Greene and Kosta Koufos, none are true bigs. Yea, they can rebound and maybe block a couple of shots, but their style? Nowhere near.

So no matter who turns out to be the top pick of the 2008 draft (no matter what team picks, it has to be Derrick Rose), the dying breed known as NBA Big Men are not to be resurrected.

R.I.P.

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