The Moonball Blog

Saturday, August 11, 2007

Diligently sweating out the baseball season, salivating over the up-coming nfl season, all while day dreaming of hoops...


I recently sent a text to the point guard on the basketball team I coach. Moses is an 8th grader and a committed Kobe supporter, thus Laker fan.

Dave: The Celtics are better than the Lakers again

Moses: Not really

Shit. Moses might be right. Kobe or KG? For so many reasons, I vote KG. If I am honest...they are at best equal. But really? (ouch) Kobe is better. (ouch) Paul Pierce vs. Lamar Odom? Well, PP is better. By how much? Odom is 6' 10", a little injury prone but a true big man. Big men matter in the NBA. Ray Allen is by better than Luke Walton, Andrew Bynum, Kwame Brown or Derek Fisher... aka 3rd best player. The Lakers have a veteran roster that made the Western Conference Playoffs last year. Boston has three great players and a bunch of scrubblies. Also don't discount Doc verses the Zen-toupee. In the East, Boston has a better chance of making the Finals, thus winning the Larry O'Brien trophy. Which does not necessarily make the C's better than the Lake show. That pisses me off.

I recently discovered that Netflix has classic NCAA championship games. I watched '82 Finals. What a fun game. A FEW NOTES:

  • No three point line made for a lot more passing because why on earth would you chuck it up from that distance.
  • Very little fouling is not the same as no defense. That said, Carolina seemed to be just standing around watch Georgetown pass the ball at times. The crazy part is the Hoyas were just as content to pass it around for a while instead of attacking the basket off the dribble.
  • Billy Packer is his same sucky-ass self.
  • The fans of New Orleans are treated to a Jumbotron for the first time (according to the play-by-play guy) and are reacting to the replays. The beginning of the end for referees everywhere.
  • Sleepy Floyd is one of the more underrated players of his era for shear explosiveness. He has a great game right down to a huge bucket that was of course trumped by Jordan.
  • Sam Perkins misses a 13 footer and the play-by-play guy comments on how that was a deep shot for the Tar Heal pivot man. Sam would go on to take over 2,300 3-point shots in his NBA career.
  • With apologies to James Worthy, his numerous dunks and his 27 points, the freshman from Cambridge Rindge and Latin was the best player on the court that night. Ewing not only anchored John Thomson's full court press with his shot blocking and rebounding, but he scored at will over the smaller Carolina front court. Ewing's baseline fade (that would stretch almost to the three point line is his NBA prime) was dropping in from 5-6 feet. Unstoppable and easy to see how he became such a great scorer.
  • MJ is so aggressive on the offensive boards and repeatedly uses his left hand on put-backs and drives.
  • The play-by-play reports that Perkins spent the summer working constuction in order to become tougher and stronger. Hmmm. Hmmm? Wonder if Rasheed did that between his Freshman and Sophomore year at UNC?
Enjoy the rest of yo summ-ah time kiddos!

2 Comments:

  • You may be right that the Laker depth makes them "better" over the 82-game haul. But who'd you take in a seven-game series? Well, let me rephrase that: Who'd you take in a seven-game series, assuming Doc Rivers were no longer involved in the scenario? Take away the coach imbalance, and I think the Celtic talent wins that series. Does that make them a better team? I don't know, but it's another way to spin.

    Another question: You're Mitch Kupchak, and Danny Ainge calls and says, "I'll give you KG and PP for Kobe and Odom." Do you do it? I'd do it in a second.

    By Blogger jLev, at 10:52 PM  

  • Word, Jason.

    The Celtics are much better than the Lakers. Think of it this way:

    KG vs. Odom
    Kobe vs. Ray Allen
    Paul Pierce vs. Luke Walton.

    Come on!

    By Blogger The Green, at 7:06 PM  

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