Don’t let what happened last summer in South Beach or what could potentially occur in Los Angeles or New York fool you. “Super teams” are nothing new in a league that has predicated itself on the selling value of its superstars for decades. Just looking at teams since the year 2000, here’s how the major squads (with three perennial All Stars) have assembled. Read the rest of this entry »

Ahh, the All-Star selections. It’s this time of year where a collective groan lets out from basketball nerds across the internet. This year’s ASG rosters has some good picks, but they leave much to be desired as usual. More importantly, there isn’t much leeway for replacement picks so far. All the players involved are either healthy or expected to heal from injuries, outside of the dubious fan vote for Yao Ming. That means there’s a bunch of “maybe next year” denial letters to hand out when the break rolls around. Read the rest of this entry »

The San Antonio Spurs may be virtually unbeatable but J.R. Smith still has their number when it comes to posterizing the defenders. Last time, it was Gary Neal who was victim to an aerial attack. Now, Timmy D. gets frozen in his stance as J.R. simply spins past him—in the air. Read the rest of this entry »

On the surface, calling the San Antonio Spurs and Phoenix Suns history a “rivarly” may not be accurate. The Spurs have clipped the Suns four times in the past five seasons. But while it may not be a “rivalry” in the literal sense, bad blood most definitely remains.

Losing to a team multiple times over multiple years fosters and helps build that sense of resentment. The lasting image of Robert Horry shoulder-checking Steve Nash into the announcers table is one of the more memorable and infamous events in playoff history. The Suns also felt the aftershocks after Amare Stoudamire and Boris Diaw were suspended for attempting to come to the aid of their woozy leader. For kicks, let us not forget Bruce Bowen miraculously avoided suspension after kneeing Nash in the groin in Game 3 of that series. Read the rest of this entry »

Maria Maria

Whoopi Goldberg Wants Gabourey Sidibe For Biopic [Singersroom]

Flash Mobs Are The Best Thing To Happen Since Sliced Bread [F-Listed]

5 Songs That Will Bring Out The Inner Stripper In You [I Had Heard]

Nelly Confronts Kat Stacks On Air [Hip Hop Wired]

U.S. Army Dismisses Rapping Soldier With No Benefits [AHH]

VH1 Ousts Trashy Reality Shows [Warming Glow]

What Gets You Banned From Xbox Live Until The Year 9999? [Kokatu] Read the rest of this entry »

The NBA is ready to launch another Donaghy-free season and we couldn’t be happier. TSS is kicking things off with the Western Conference and we’ll swing out East in the ensuing preview. All eyes are on Kobe and QB’s finest small forward in Ron Artest to repeat for LA. Don’t get us started on Lamar and Sasquatch Kardashian. On the other end of the spectrum Blake Griffin is due for some posters and looks to be a shoe in for Rookie of the Year. Greg Oden has another year to prove he’s not a modern day Sam Bowie and AI is looking to breathe new life in his career in Memphis of all places. Peep our ruminations on the wild west as we anticipate your disapproval in the comments. Read the rest of this entry »

I think I hate adidas right now. They’ve got Dwight Howard, Derrick Rose, Kevin Garnett, Chauncey Billups, Tracy McGrady, Tim Duncan, Michael Beasley and Josh Smith, all in one commercial. I don’t think I hate adidas as much as I’m looking @ Nike, wondering who let all these top tier names (okay, decent names @ least) slide past them. Read the rest of this entry »

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 »

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 »

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 »