And then there were two. Kobe vs. LeBron Dwight.  The Lakers vs. The Magic for the Larry O’Brien trophy.  Both teams won in convincing fashion to seal the deal.  You’d be hard pressed to find too many people who had this matchup a few weeks ago.  Shoot… Pat only had the Cavs not making it after consulting with Vivica, Ms. Cleo & Dionne Warwick about his beloved Celtics.  On the bright side David Stern & Phil Knight won’t have to hear conspiracy theories on the Read the rest of this entry »

After all the predicting, rationalizing & theorizing, the NBA Finals are set. The Black Mamba & the Kobes versus Superman & friends. Here’s seven random thoughts on what’s happened thus far & could happen next.

1. Did you notice that Nike dropped off two MVPuppets commercials during Friday’s game, knowing that it would be the last time they would be relevant? They rushed those through like soon to expire milk. How long will it be before we see the other 5-7 “unreleased” commercials hit Youtube?

2. Speaking of King James, wasn’t it poor sportsmanship to duck the media after the loss? After any other game (specifically after the Miracle shot), he made sure to make himself available, almost seeking out Craig Sager (whose suits make him easy to spot). Last night, nil. No interviews. Even worse, he didn’t shake hands with the Magic. :| @ the lack of sportsmanship & maturity there.

Considering that the media has helped make LeBron the star he is, following his every move since high school, it seemed to be poor tastes that he didn’t speak to them last night. Yes, a season-ending loss is a huge L to absorb. But one of the first things you learn in organized sports is lining up & shaking hands with the other team. Dear LeBron, see if the Cavs can help you find a wee bit of maturity over the offseason.

As the game dwindled down & as he exited the court, he had the Friday, “he gon’ cry in the car” look on his face.

3. Before the Magic-Cavs series, Charles Barkley predicted the Magic would win. As previously stated, I pointed Read the rest of this entry »

The NBA Playoffs: Where amazing happens & legends (along with repetitive TV footage) are made.

Truth be told, I have barely watched the first three quarters of Games 1 and 2. I just walk back & forth past the TV & listen, waiting on the 4th quarter. It’s then that Read the rest of this entry »

David Stern has to be happy after the Conference Semifinals.  Two game 7′s and two Conference Finals match-ups with big names: Lebron Vs. Dwight and Kobe Vs. Carmelo.  So before we look ahead, we’ll take one more look back over the Conference Semifinals real quick.  S. Cadet came back like gangbusters this round,  picking all 4 series correctly.  Everyone else finished close behind with 3 correct picks.  Leaving the standings the same as last time (correct team – 1 point. correct length – 1/2 point):

Patrick M. – 13 points

MZ – 11 points

S. Cadet – 11 points

Jesse H. – 9 1/2 points

Cleveland Cavaliers in 4

S. Cadet – Cavs in 6 | Jesse H. – Cavs in 6 | Patrick M. – Cavs in 6 | MZ – Cavs in 5 Read the rest of this entry »

Words By Patrick M.

Over the first half of the 2008-09 season, Big Baby Davis shot under 40 percent from the floor. That’s terrible for anyone but particularly awful for a power forward who plays in close proximity to the rim. He couldn’t hit a wide open shot to save his life, yet kept throwing up ugly line drives as opposing teams dared him to shoot. This drove me and most other Celtics fans crazy. Why keep doing something if you kept failing at it? It upset KG to the point he made Big Baby cry on national TV.

One of the few people who kept urging Baby to shoot was Boston coach Doc Rivers. Occasionally, when Davis threw up a particularly awful miss, he’d look over Read the rest of this entry »

It’s a pivotal game three tonight as the Cleveland Cavaliers look to continue their barnstorming tour down in Atlanta against the Hawks. LeBron and Co. are looking to grab this series by the neck with a 3-0 lead. Atlanta is looking to Read the rest of this entry »

Ron Artest has a target instead of a number on the back of his jersey.

Game Two ejection after complaining about being on the receiving end of Kobe’s Dusty Rhodes elbow. Game Three, a hard foul on the Lakers Pau Gasol and ejected Read the rest of this entry »

With the Hawks dispatching of the Heat yesterday, the first round of the NBA Playoffs came to a close.  The Rockets finally got out of the first round (so did Carmelo) and the Celtics barely made it out.  Detroit witnessed the end of an era and it may not have hit them yet; but San Antonio could have as well.  The Lakers found little trouble with Utah and Orlando prevailed in tough series.

We saw many a great games and the second round should produce even more.  But before we move ahead we’ll see how everyone did with their first round predictions.  Time to see who knew what they were talking about and who was misled by talking heads.

Patrick M. lead the way by picking all eight series’ correctly, as well as 3 series lengths.  MZ picked seven correctly.  S. Cadet picked six correctly and Jesse H. got five.

So the standings are as follows (correct team – 1 point. correct length – 1/2 point):

Patrick M. – 9 1/2 points

MZ – 7 1/2 points

S. Cadet – 7 points

Jesse H. – 6 points

Read the rest of this entry »

Well, the games are underway and our first round picks are locked in for posterity & scrutiny.  So before things get too far along, here are how we see things playing out in the later rounds.  Not much to get into, as the picks speak for themselves.  Needless to say, when we came to the fork in the road: some went right, some went straight, some went left and some went to have themselves checked in.

Eastern Conference

Conference Semifinals

#1 Cleveland Cavaliers Vs. #4 Atlanta Hawks

MZ — Cavs In 5 | Patrick M. — Cavs In 6: What is it going to take to beat the Cavs? You need a go-to-scorer who can create his own shot (Joe Johnson,) a bevy of athletic guys you can used to Read the rest of this entry »

There’s no season like the post season and this rings especially true come time for the NBA Playoffs.  Around this time of year basketball heads nationwide crowd around TV’s to witness the best players in the world go at it. The Associations Spring classic has yielded some memorable moments: most of them being at Patrick Ewing’s expense in the 90’s.  But in all seriousness, the Playoffs provide drama, suspense and possible conspiracy theories worthy of a best selling novel.

The playoffs also call for self proclaimed basketball experts to foretell who’ll take the chip along with proposed sweeps, dark horses, and flops in between. The Crew’s resident basketball heads decided to throw in their 2¢ in on how the rounds will play out.

So read up and don’t get mad when you find out we’re right.

Eastern Conference

Read the rest of this entry »