I’ve been out of commission for the past few days, battling a cold and cough, so I haven’t been into posting. Here’s my version of catching up.
NBA
The Slam Dunk Contest on Saturday night was a lot of fun to watch. I haven’t seen that level of creativity and flat-out athletic ability at the contest in a few years. Dwight Howard proved that a big man can win this event, with four dunks that were as impressive as they were original. The Superman cape was a cool idea, even though I don’t know if I would call what he did on that particular run an according to Hoyle “dunk”. Dood kind of threw it into the basket from up above; impressive, but not really a dunk. It still looks unbelievable though.
I actually thought his first dunk of the night from behind the backboard was the best of the contest, with Gerald Green’s birthday cake dunk being the second best. A lot of creativity in the Green dunk and Howard’s move was the most impressive slam dunk I think I’ve ever seen someone do. Howard obviously deserved the win, I guess my only beef with the contest would be Kenny Smith yelling the entire time on the play by play. Relax Kenny, we know that Howard’s dunks were out of this world. I shouldn’t have to adjust the volume on my TV while you yell the same shit you were saying years ago when Vince Carter had a similarly dominating performance at the dunk contest. Chill and let Charles talk more, if you say “IT’S OVER” or “LEAVE THE BUILDING” again, there won’t be enough Barkley to make up for your screaming.
By the way, there was a video floating around on YouTube before the contest even aired that was sponsored by Vitamin Water where Dwight Howard does a couple of the dunks he did Saturday night and a bit of clowning with his boys. Track it down for more impressive stuff.
The All-Star game itself, to which the Dunk Contest was only a prelude, was equally impressive. I said before that I think it’s the single most entertaining All-Star game, and I think my opinion was vindicated on Sunday. The game came down to the last minute of play, with Ray Allen burying three triples and driving the lane for an easy lay-up down the stretch to seal the win for the Eastern Conference. I think he deserved the MVP, even though by the numbers Lebron’s performance was a bit better. I’m splitting hairs though, the game was entertaining and fun and I wish every sport could bring this level of competition and style to their All-Star festivities.
Also, it was great to see New Orleans rally around the event as well. The level of grief and devastation that the city continues to endure is heartbreaking to say the least and even though it’s just a sporting event, the All-Star game brought some revenue and tourists to a city that’s having trouble holding on to its NBA franchise because of the economic situation in the area. I still say that while Iraq is a debacle of the highest order, the most enduring scar that George W. Bush will leave on this planet is the post-Katrina landscape in New Orleans and other areas of the south. Can you imagine what those areas might look like if we spent a quarter of the war budget on rebuilding after Katrina? It makes me sick to my stomach that our military was being misused and so much money was thrown away into the desert, when both could have been used to increase our efforts exponentially in helping the country rebound after such a terrible disaster.
I digress. Back to the NBA.
While I mentioned in my previous post that Kobe would miss the All-Star game and perhaps have surgery, an obscure NBA rule made it necessary that Kobe start the game, even though he only ended up playing three minutes. Kobe has also decided not to have surgery, which is a good decision for the franchise and a truly gutsy move by 24. He has to be in pretty much constant pain on the court and he has made an amazing decision to suck it up and continue to be the leader on that young team. He dropped 41 on the Suns tonight and shows no signs of such a significant problem with his shooting hand. He is for lack of a better term: the man.
I also mentioned that the Jason Kidd deal would get done, despite some stumbling in the logistics of the trade. It did go through, but with a slightly different configuration that allowed the Mavs to keep Devean George (who was initially blocking the deal) and Jerry Stackhouse and pull a quick sign and trade with the semi-retired Keith Van Horn. Van Horn by the way, gets the sweetest deal of all, making around $4 million to come back for about 2 months worth of work. Professional sports salaries continue to baffle me. Van Horn has to feel like he just won the lotto.
COLLEGE HOOPS
Quick comment that I'm pretty hyped about the Memphis/Tennessee game this weekend. It will be cool to watch a 1 v. 2 game this late in the season, with both teams from the same state no less. The stat of the season has to be that while Memphis hasn't lost a single game thus far (they're 26-0), they are DEAD LAST in free-throw percentage. That is a ranking of 341st. How is this possible? Anyways, should be a great game with a lot of scoring, can't wait to watch.
NBA
The Slam Dunk Contest on Saturday night was a lot of fun to watch. I haven’t seen that level of creativity and flat-out athletic ability at the contest in a few years. Dwight Howard proved that a big man can win this event, with four dunks that were as impressive as they were original. The Superman cape was a cool idea, even though I don’t know if I would call what he did on that particular run an according to Hoyle “dunk”. Dood kind of threw it into the basket from up above; impressive, but not really a dunk. It still looks unbelievable though.
I actually thought his first dunk of the night from behind the backboard was the best of the contest, with Gerald Green’s birthday cake dunk being the second best. A lot of creativity in the Green dunk and Howard’s move was the most impressive slam dunk I think I’ve ever seen someone do. Howard obviously deserved the win, I guess my only beef with the contest would be Kenny Smith yelling the entire time on the play by play. Relax Kenny, we know that Howard’s dunks were out of this world. I shouldn’t have to adjust the volume on my TV while you yell the same shit you were saying years ago when Vince Carter had a similarly dominating performance at the dunk contest. Chill and let Charles talk more, if you say “IT’S OVER” or “LEAVE THE BUILDING” again, there won’t be enough Barkley to make up for your screaming.
By the way, there was a video floating around on YouTube before the contest even aired that was sponsored by Vitamin Water where Dwight Howard does a couple of the dunks he did Saturday night and a bit of clowning with his boys. Track it down for more impressive stuff.
The All-Star game itself, to which the Dunk Contest was only a prelude, was equally impressive. I said before that I think it’s the single most entertaining All-Star game, and I think my opinion was vindicated on Sunday. The game came down to the last minute of play, with Ray Allen burying three triples and driving the lane for an easy lay-up down the stretch to seal the win for the Eastern Conference. I think he deserved the MVP, even though by the numbers Lebron’s performance was a bit better. I’m splitting hairs though, the game was entertaining and fun and I wish every sport could bring this level of competition and style to their All-Star festivities.
Also, it was great to see New Orleans rally around the event as well. The level of grief and devastation that the city continues to endure is heartbreaking to say the least and even though it’s just a sporting event, the All-Star game brought some revenue and tourists to a city that’s having trouble holding on to its NBA franchise because of the economic situation in the area. I still say that while Iraq is a debacle of the highest order, the most enduring scar that George W. Bush will leave on this planet is the post-Katrina landscape in New Orleans and other areas of the south. Can you imagine what those areas might look like if we spent a quarter of the war budget on rebuilding after Katrina? It makes me sick to my stomach that our military was being misused and so much money was thrown away into the desert, when both could have been used to increase our efforts exponentially in helping the country rebound after such a terrible disaster.
I digress. Back to the NBA.
While I mentioned in my previous post that Kobe would miss the All-Star game and perhaps have surgery, an obscure NBA rule made it necessary that Kobe start the game, even though he only ended up playing three minutes. Kobe has also decided not to have surgery, which is a good decision for the franchise and a truly gutsy move by 24. He has to be in pretty much constant pain on the court and he has made an amazing decision to suck it up and continue to be the leader on that young team. He dropped 41 on the Suns tonight and shows no signs of such a significant problem with his shooting hand. He is for lack of a better term: the man.
I also mentioned that the Jason Kidd deal would get done, despite some stumbling in the logistics of the trade. It did go through, but with a slightly different configuration that allowed the Mavs to keep Devean George (who was initially blocking the deal) and Jerry Stackhouse and pull a quick sign and trade with the semi-retired Keith Van Horn. Van Horn by the way, gets the sweetest deal of all, making around $4 million to come back for about 2 months worth of work. Professional sports salaries continue to baffle me. Van Horn has to feel like he just won the lotto.
COLLEGE HOOPS
Quick comment that I'm pretty hyped about the Memphis/Tennessee game this weekend. It will be cool to watch a 1 v. 2 game this late in the season, with both teams from the same state no less. The stat of the season has to be that while Memphis hasn't lost a single game thus far (they're 26-0), they are DEAD LAST in free-throw percentage. That is a ranking of 341st. How is this possible? Anyways, should be a great game with a lot of scoring, can't wait to watch.
I HATED that "Superman" dunk. Everyone lost their shit over it, and I dunno why, cause it wasn't a dunk. That photo is sick though, I'll admit that. The behind the glass move was bajonks; I jumped outta my seat when I saw that. Dude coulda got Hannibal Lecter'ed up if he hit his head on that glass.
ReplyDeleteI'm ready for this TN vs. Memphis game too, I've been waiting for this game since I heard about it almost 2 months ago. I love in-state rivalries. I think I'm going to Chattanooga Saturday to catch the action on TV with all the orange-wearing psychopathic rednecks. Holler at yr SEC, dog.