Cyber-flogging for WB

How could you admit to ever rooting for a knicks team or any team from nyc? for shame my brother, for shame.

Living for the City

I am really liking the full blown rivalry developing between the Nets and the Knicks. And I ain’t talking on the court. As far as wins and loses, the Nets have clearly dominated the NY team the past five-six years after the Knicks brushed aside the punk Nets pretty much throughout the entirety of the Ewing era.

But with the Nets heading to the Planet in the next few years, the battle is well joined at the franchise level. I mean, what are die hard Knicks fans thinking when there are Nets gracing building sides in Manhattan, sporting slogans like “The Hottest Show in Town ... Just 15 Minutes Off Broadway” ? NYC is a Knicks town, aint it?

And how bout Jersey fans? The irony of having a billboard claiming that the best basketball in NYC is across the river on the Jersey side (the greatest feeling a person from NJ could ever experience) as part of an advertising campaign predicated on the team’s pending move to New York (the way things always go for people in NJ). Abe, are you happy, sad or mad?

Though I have pulled for several Knicks teams over the years, I certainly have never been counted as a fan. But I am sorta rooting for this year’s team. I think most of these guys have a ton to prove, and they were totally humiliated last year. Larry Brown was the wrong guy for this mad mismatch of talent. Because there is actually some serious talent on that team, and it sure is hard to imagine the team being worse.

I hope things like this NJ mess get Steph riled up! The Nets will remain a better team this year, but this rivalry is only going to grow. As a fan, I am quite pleased.

In other news, Dwight Howard is crazy, and the Blazers break out some home-grown to win back local fans.

NBA Quiz

I'm quite certain this record won't stand, but my score was 8.
Who among you thinks you can do better?
I can!

Star-Maker Machinery

I think Chris Paul is awesome. Be happy to draft him at 12 (hopefully, RH) or 11.

He has played one full NBA season.

Damn, when the, NBA/media finds a star, all the stops come out. Since the World Championships, we have seen Paul get very positive press about a charity bowling tournament, and sending kids to college by doing promo work for Toyota. Both actions are worthy of praise, no doubt.

But it always amazes me how once a player is dubbed 'next,' the reverberations of greatness ripple through all levels of media. Yall remember the Vince Carter ascension? Back when Vince played crown prince, every nuance of his personality was celebrated as sophisticated and cool. Eventually, Vince un-Jordan-like qualities (aka winning the whole damn thing) caught up to the hype wave, and Vince was summarily destroyed.

And that is the thing that kills me about the whole deal. Build em up to knock em down. For every next Michael, every next Magic, and every next Larry there comes a brutal dress down for not reaching the projected immortality. Wack.

Part of what I love about DWade is he sorta f-'d up the whole deal by inarguably being the best young guy (he won the whole damn thing) while the spotlight shined brightest on Bron and Melo. Greatness can never be bestowed. Sh*t is earned.

All of which leads me to ask: Shouldn't the derision for unachieved potential lie at least as heavily on the prognosticators as the players?

The Moonball Blog

The Moonball Blog

Please, Rathouse...Say it ain't so!

To the Rathouse Gang, you are a great competitor and friend. If you have to go, we will be worse off. Your great attitude and remarkable use of the f-word on the message board make it all worthwhile. I hope you will consider staying with the Moonball league.

Voting Results

My friends, Moonball is moving to Yahoo. The results are in, and 8 of 11 voters selected a daily Yahoo league with an 82-game limit per position.

I am preparing a new constitution that outlines the new bench and 82 game limit systems, and will post them here very soon.

The changes shouldn't be too hard to figure out. Let me just say that I've removed more rules and examples (such as box scores and Rabinowitzes) than what I've added.

This is a risk. I'm just hoping for a minimum of surprises. And if surprises do come up, brothers and sisters, we will deal with them together and try to keep things as fair as possible.

The Moonball league has spoken. Thank you all.

Disgracing the Name

The NBA Champion HEAT waived Derek Anderson a few days ago. The HEAT need the roster spot for an extra point guard, and DA reportedly has been begging to be bought out by the Champs for an opportunity with more playing time elsewhere.

Elsewhere? Not in the NBA, Mr. Anderson. You are 32 years old at the League’s most athletic position, and your last good season is now three years old.

DA is a clown. His four years in Portland were miserable. Lots of missed games to injury were partially to blame. But his insanely inflated self image mixed with his delusions of being this extra righteous dude made him a bad teammate, on and off the court.

Maybe it was being selected as one of the early Jumpman players, but DA has always acted as if he is the cream of the crop NBA guard. He is clearly more in the class of Raja Bell than Ray Allen. . . meaning he can really contribute in the right situation with the right attitude. DA is a damn good passer, with decent handle and an ability to score from the free throw line. Though he gets over-powered by most shooting guards one on one, his team defense is above average.

But in the end, it is DA’s skewed attitude that makes him a detriment to a team. He forces his jumper late in games, despite shooting under .400 4 of the 9 seasons he has been in the League. When the media was going house on the poorly behaved Portland teams in 2003 and 2004, he said super devise stuff to reporters all the while acting like the well-behaved school boy. He is always spouting platitudes about Loyalty for Life, and winning is everything.

And he leaves the NBA Champs for more playing time. . .

Maybe he will do one of those sports facial hair related psyche jobs, and proclaim that he won't shave his beard until he is starting. Here is my image of DA in 2010, still waiting to start.

Drop by & say Hello!

You guys in Oregon have all the fun.

Reading the Moonbeams: 120 Picks Predicted

So while Dave and I were crusing home from the boundary waters, still surrounded by the serene afterglow of the draft lottery, we decided to do a little mockery of a draft. First ten rounds. We had no stats, and our only pieces of paper were ragged reciepts. We did not pay to much attention to balanced rosters, position wise.

But, if there is more than a 3% variance from our actual draft, I will swim the Mississippi in a tuxedo.

ROUND 1
1 LeBron James f/g Rat House Gang
2 Kevin Garnett f Helloshooters
3 Dwyane Wade g Me Wolves
4 Shawn Marion f Rec Leaguers
5 Tim Duncan c/f HP All-Stars
6 Dirk Nowitski f Jlev Experience
7 Kobe Bryant g Angry Rabbis
8 Elton Brand f Knicks33
9 Gilbert Arenas g Ironwood Flash
10 Paul Pierce f/g monkeyshoes
11 Allen Iverson g CCK
12 Jason Kidd g Weedblazers
ROUND 2
13 Chris Paul g Weedblazers
14 Tracy McGrady f/g CCK
15 Steve Nash g monkeyshoes
16 Chris Bosh c/f Ironwood Flash
17 Brad Miller c Knicks33
18 Andrei Kirilenko f Angry Rabbis
19 Dwight Howard f Jlev Experience
20 Ben Wallace c/f HP All-Stars
21 Yao Ming c Rec Leaguers
22 Pau Gasol f Me Wolves
23 Jermaine O’Neal c/f Helloshooters
24 Lamar Odom f Rat House Gang
ROUND 3
25 Joe Johnson f/g Rat House Gang
26 Carmelo Anthony f Helloshooters
27 Mike Bibby g Me Wolves
28 Ron Artest f Rec Leaguers
29 Vince Carter f/g HP All-Stars
30 Memhet Okhur c/f Jlev Experience
31 Amare Stoudamire c/f Angry Rabbis
32 Andre Miller g Knicks33
33 Chauncy Billups g Ironwood Flash
34 Ray Allen g monkeyshoes
35 Antwan Jamison f CCK
36 Carlos Boozer f Weedblazers
ROUND 4
37 Boris Diaw c/f Weedblazers
38 Jason Richardson g CCK
39 Rasheed Wallace f monkeyshoes
40 Kirk Hinrich g Ironwood Flash
41 Richard Jefferson f Knicks33
42 Stephon Marbury g Angry Rabbis
43 Rashard Lewis f Jlev Experience
44 Baron Davis g HP All-Stars
45 Chris Webber f Rec Leaguers
46 Shaquille O’Neal c Me Wolves
47 Caron Butler f/g Helloshooters
48 Zydrunas Ilgauskas c Rat House Gang
ROUND 5
49 Michael Redd f/g Rat House Gang
50 Zach Randolph f Helloshooters
51 Tony Parker g Me Wolves
52 Sam Cassell g Rec Leaguers
53 Ben Gordon g HP All-Stars
55 Josh Smith f Jlev Experience
56 Emeka Okafur c/f Angry Rabbis
57 Luke Ridnour g Knicks33
57 Troy Murphy f Ironwood Flash
58 Marcus Camby c monkeyshoes
59 Gerald Wallace f CCK
60 Al Harrington f Weedblazers
ROUND 6
61 Chris Kaman c Weedblazers
62 Steve Francis g CCK
63 Josh Howard f/g monkeyshoes
64 Manu Ginobili g Ironwood Flash
65 Richard Hamilton g Knicks33
66 Predrag Stojakovic f Angry Rabbis
67 T.J. Ford g Jlev Experience
68 Jason Terry g HP All-Stars
69 Shane Battier f/g Rec Leaguers
70 David West f Me Wolves
71 Ricky Davis f/g Helloshooters
72 Corey Magette f/g Rat House Gang
ROUND 7
73 Tayshun Prince f Rat House Gang
74 Mike James g Helloshooters
75 Speedy Claxton g Me Wolves
76 Stephen Jackson f/g Rec Leaguers
77 Brevin Knight g HP All-Stars
78 Luol Deng f/g Jlev Experience
79 Rafer Alston g Angry Rabbis
80 Andrew Bogut c/f Knicks33
81 Tyson Chandler c/f Ironwood Flash
82 Wally Szczerbiak f monkeyshoes
83 Channing Frye c CCK
84 Jameer Nelson g Weedblazers
ROUND 8
85 Mike Miller f/g Weedblazers
86 Cuttino Mobley g CCK
87 Delonte West g monkeyshoes
88 Andre Iguodala f/g Ironwood Flash
89 Larry Hughes g Knicks33
90 Nenad Krstic c/f Angry Rabbis
91 Danny Granger f Jlev Experience
92 Drew Gooden f HP All-Stars
93 Kenyon Martin f Rec Leaguers
94 Brandon Roy g Me Wolves
95 Andres Nocioni f Helloshooters
96 Eddie Jones g Rat House Gang
ROUND 9
97 Bobby Simmons f/g Rat House Gang
98 Jamaal Tinsely g Helloshooters
99 Zaza Pachula c/f Me Wolves
100 Bonzi Wells f/g Rec Leaguers
101 Shareef Abdur Rahim f HP All-Stars
102 Mo Williams g Jlev Experience
103 Chris Wilcox f Angry Rabbis
104 Hidayet Turkoglu f Knicks33
105 Deron Williams g Ironwood Flash
106 Charlie Villanueva f monkeyshoes
107 Kevin Martin g CCK
108 Kenny Thomas f Weedblazers
ROUND 10
109 Ryan Gomes f Weedblazers
110 Mo Peterson f/g CCK
111 Raymond Felton g monkeyshoes
112 Darko Milicic c Ironwood Flash
113 Adam Morrison f Knicks33
114 Smush Parker g Angry Rabbis
115 Marvin Williams f Jlev Experience
116 Eddy Curry c HP All-Stars
117 Mike Dunleavy Jr. f/g Rec Leaguers
118 Josh Childress f/g Me Wolves
119 Nene c/f Helloshooters
120 Randy Foye g Rat House Gang

You have just experienced the future!

Etan Thomas Comes Correct

Just in case anyone missed this from TrueHoop, thought I'd post. Etan Thomas is fucking awesome:

I think that what’s really unpatriotic is sitting by and allowing a president to make bad decision after bad decision and not say anything about it. Iraq will go down in history as an American tragedy, and people will ask “why didn’t anyone do anything? How did they let this happen? Little kids will read in their text books about all of the lives lost, innocent Iraqi civilians slaughtered, American soldiers killed, and wonder what type of "patriotism" all of those people believed who went along with this show?

Edit: And, just because I still have the stain of once rooting for Duke on my soul, fuck Coach K.

Link

Who the F is Henry Charles James?

I am so tired of NBA news wires filling their headlines with petty crime blotter crap. You cannot scroll ESPN/ABC/Disney’s nba page without a crime story. And ESPN is by no means alone. Coming from Portland, I have long tasted the maggots in the mind of the media. But this type of sh*t, reporting on hardly a blip on the NBA universe (Henry Charles James?!?!), is simply redonkulus. The only theme I see is a criminal black man. Misery.

Now, I will fully acknowledge that most all of these various crime stories have some veracity. That is far from my point. On one level, my complaints would be answered if NBA journalists simply spent more energy reporting on the actual game. The Oregonian barely recounted on court action during most of the ‘jail blazers’ era, and that included some spectacular teams playing superb basketball. HC James is a long retired scrub who registered little to nothing in the NBA storybook. But why cover the reason we know NBA players when we can focus their unrelated delinquency?

There is so many ways in which to critique such abysmal journalism, but I will simply suggest that if you are going to highlight negative on court behavior, then spend equal time on the positive. Hardly a blip on the media radar, Shaq’s contributions to affordable housing could have been a wonderful story for the NBA. I hated that Laker f*ck until I read that story. Now, he is my Daddy.

What a difference a difference makes.

Defending the Pick & Roll