Yao Vs. Shaq 2nite!

I'm more excited about the Pistons-Pacers back-to-back games on Saturday and Monday though. I hope we (Pistons) can pull of a split.

Why is it some sports figures can be complete dicks and it's great (Rodman, Shaq) while others can be complete dicks and you just want them to die (Bryant, Starks)?

Dan: To move into football, I would put Terrell Owens in category one, Jeremy Shockey in #2.

I know! I was more sad about that than his comments in the first place.

I would put Terrell Owens in category one, Jeremy Shockey in #2.

I dunno... wouldn't it be the other way around? I mean, the pen thing was kind of funny in the context of why he did it (his agent asked him for an autographed ball). That caused more of an uproar than the fact that Shockey threw ICE which hit a bunch of little kids (although they sure did go the extra nine miles to apologize). I kind of like Shockey though...

Dennis Rodman came to my high school just before he turned himself into a superfreak. All I remember is that he had a pimped out lowrider truck.

I'm really happy that Ben Wallace is going to be starting at the All-Star game for the East. He can't score at all (his trips to the free throw line are pretty exciting), but man he's such a presence in the paint. His new nickname from his teammates is "Body."

(I also said the Lakers would be a huge disappointment. I hope that holds true.)

We're still the only team that won at Indiana this season so I expect the Pacers to come out charged this weekend... I have to admit they look very good and are a safe bet to win the East this year (I'll be VERY happy with a split, especially since our schedule this month is tough). The 'Stones will put up a fight though.

The Lakers gotta make the playoffs, right? But the way Dallas and especially Sacto are playing of late (those drubbings of the Nets and Mavs were pretty sick), they can't pull out another miracle can they? Not with an aging supporting staff around Kobe and Shaq at least (yeah I really hope so too).

EAST
1. New Jersey
2. Indiana
3. Detroit
4. New Orleans
5. Boston
6. Philadelphia
7. Orlando
8. Washington

WEST
1. Sacramento
2. Dallas
3. San Antonio
4. Portland
5. Phoenix
6. Los Angeles
7. Utah
8. Houston

The Kings look scary good. Playing the way they did against NJ and DAL, I don't think ANY team could beat them, from any era. Just amazing basketball. I really like Sacramento. My NBA team is Houston (Dream's my favorite player ever, and I love Francis so I stuck with them) and I just love Yao. They will squeak into the playoffs, but will fair badly. The Lakers will make the playoffs, but lose in the second round, I predict.

I really like Houston a lot too. I'm glad that Francis' migraine problem is better this year, and they really have the making of a dynasty type team with Mobley, Franchise and Yao. Obviously give them a year or two to jel.

How do you feel about how Dream helped screw over the Raptors? Heh. I think it serves them right. Stupidest contract ever.

As for Minnesota, it's a two-man team -- Garnett and Wally. They really don't have any other solid players. Yes Garnett is great, but in the West you need more than one star and one excellent role-player. Utah is just automatic (Malone has built a career off of two shots -- layups and jumpers from the elbow) and will make the playoffs, only to go out in the first round. Plus, Harpring has been really good this season. I'm glad to see him excelling.

The Raptors I hate (and what the fuck's up with the rumors that they're gonna fire Wilkens?!?!?). Not working harder to keep McGrady to assuage Vince's ego (which is the only thing larger than his injury bug) was a serious gaff. I hated Dream sticking around for too long, but I'll give him a pass since he was such a gorgeous player. They have a good shot to get Lebron James next season, which will _not_ make them a better team. Two ballhogs and no defense will make them the new Milwaukee Bucks.

If Minnesota were in the East they'd be the two or three seed.

Minny is just so behind the eight ball with KG's absurd contract and having no draft picks cuz of Joe Smith. Plus they're called the Timberwolves. Heh.

It'll be interesting to see what happens in Seattle this year... Rick Sund used to be the Pistons GM before Joe Dumars and he's a bit of a clown, so anything is possible. I just think they have way too much talent to not be able to nail the 7 or 8 spot. They're going to try to hold on to Payton just for the sake of keeping the fans happy (but I think longterm it's a huge mistake).

I guess the thinking in Toronto is that Wilkens has SO many injuries to deal with that it's not really his fault. You could make a case for that seeing as how they just signed their FIFTH NBDL player. Oh just got rid of Nate Huffman, who was supposed to be their savior on the inside (oh boy).

I'll definitely give you that Hakeem was a beautiful player. Those two years they won the chamionship, I mean, it was such a simple game plan (get the ball to dream, spread the court with 3-point shooters) but it worked so well.

(Anyway, I'm out of here... have fun watching the game tonight!)

I'm geeked for tonight's showdown, but I've learn to set my expectations way low when it comes to the NBA. I was ultra-geeked for the Kings / Mavs game on Wednesday, until I started watching it, and the Mavs were down 10 in the first 90 seconds, and Nowitzki kept on doing the same stupid move (fake right, drive left, lose ball to 3 defenders EVERY SINGLE TIME), and it was pain (nice passing from zee Kings notwithstanding). The bricktastic Celtics / Hawks game was one billion times better, but that was due mostly to two things - the blatant lack of effort from the Hawks, and Celtics commentator / bigot Tommy Heinson asserting that WALTAH! could contribute 10+ points a game (& solid defense) if given the opportuntity. WALTAH! (as in McCarty, as in 0) proceeded to play like a gimpy walk-on for the next 3 Celt possessions - ah, serendipity.

Boy, I can't wait to hear the praise Bill Walton's gonna spew & hurl when LeBron James & Yao Ming play against each other.

Yancey, I'll trade you JRich, Dunleavy and Fortson for Payton and the Sonic's number one.

when they used to show basketball on 4 (and how!) i used to like that croatian who got benched every time jordan played for the bulls. iu felt sorry for him. what was his name again?

do you americans do that with the uk football threads or is it just me?

i'll grant terrell owens is talented (though i think that a chimp could be "talented" in a west-coast offense), but he's still a jerk

plus, it should be noted that I'm in the south and hence have never actually met a Niners fan, while I have definitely met my share of Cowboy fans.

though i concede the Cowboys fans are pretty awful ... Niners fans up North are mostly band-wagon hoppers, which is a different (and arguably lesser) kind of awfulness than Cowboy-fan awfulness

as for Walsh, i give him credit for two things and only two things -- he was shrewd enough to take advantage of the rule changes in the early eighties that made west-coast offenses more viable, and he knew what he had talent-wise (wr2 Montana, Craig, and Rice) and made the best of his team as he found it (as opposed to trying to turn Montana into an Elway or a Marino). the rest i chalk up to (a) being in a crappy conference; (b) running what was a gimmick offense (that teams didn't bother to defend against properly because it was gimmicky); and (c) having public-relation pros in the Niners front-office.