The Moonball Blog

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Forget the old guys

Look at the future...

Monday, November 17, 2008

Salty Shaq


Old man ball. We all know it well. Personally, even.

When dudes get older, the clutching, grabbing and bumping become synonymous with defense. Though rarely pretty, old man basketball can be very effective. The whole gritty veteran thing.

Charles Oakley is the patron saint of old man basketball.

And Shaq is a recent disciple.

Okay, maybe he has been playing his monster version of old man basketball for a few years now. This season, however, Shaq seems to be catching on to the potential for mastery of old man basketball's highest incarnation: The Enforcer. True, by simply being Shaq he has always been one of the most intimidating players of his generation. But by temprament, Shaq has generally took care not to lay the full wood on guys. He is a sorta a gentle giant-minus those jawing breaking spin-move, elbow clear-out turnaround and-one dunks.

Now that the Daddy has lost his quick spin, he has turned to a more brutish game. Look out.




He bumped poor Rodney Stuckey to the Earth. Here's his explanation: "The laws of physics say that a body in motion stays in motion. So if you have two objects meet in the air, the smaller object is going to fall much harder. I've never been the type of player to take anybody out, so I obviously went to the ball. The little guy ran into a brick wall."

Getting kicked out was not on Shaq's agenda. The intention is to bang people within the rules of the game, ideally without fouling. When T-Mac shoved Steve Nash down in last week's hubbub, Shaq pushed McGrady and then every other Rocket 7-10 feet from where they were standing--all without getting suspended. McGrady, went flying but always ahd control of his balance. Later McGrady talked about the Shaq encounter of the worst kind: "The big fella pushed the heck out of me." Oak would be proud.

As has been the case his entire life, his size and strength are to his great advantage. Paired with Shaq's coordination and body control, he is ideally suited to throw his weight around such that every player on the opposing name has literally felt his presence. To say the least, playing the Suns is no longer fun and run.

* * * *

Listened to Portland comeback on Minny last night up at the Hawk. Watched the Wolves lose yet another lead against Denver tonight. Really heart breaking. Miller was in down the stretch both games. Jefferson got a decent number of chances. But Foye and McCants are so not ready for prime time. Ryan Gomes might just be Sam Mitchell Mach II, but that doesn't necessarily help you win games. Get Kevin Love in the frickin game.

As for Portland, for a team that has been down two starters and faced with a brutal opening schedule, the young fellas are playing brilliantly. After Oden's injury and three tough early loses to the Lakers, Suns and Jazz, the team rebounded with Brandon's 30 ft game winner over the Rockets, and a 3-1 road swing. Rudy Fernadez is ridiculous (nice pick up HP). LaMarcus has become a force. Joel and Outlaw are doing theirs things. Best of all, Mr. Oden is back on the court kicking ass. Watch him come January-February. Great stuff ahead.


Paul Pierce rules this place of education.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Is Whitman Quality?

Wolves Stumble in OakTown



I caught the 4 quarter and OT of the Warriors-Wolves game last night. Minny looked good. They were on the back end of a run in the neighborhood of 58-22 and had a nice double digit lead until the last 4:30 or so. Al Jefferson was dropping silky jumpers and half hooks while in complete control. Then the young, inexperienced trio of Randy Foye, Rashad McCants and Ryan Gomes basically shot Minnesota out of the game in regulation. The Warriors cruised in OT. During that fatal stretch at the end of regulation I saw two things that seemed crazy to me: The Wolves could not get the ball to Big Al, and Mike Miller was on the bench. Having not seen too much of this seemingly maturing and improved Minnesota squad this year, I need some help understanding from you Sotans as to why Randy Whitman is not to blame for this loss.

Thursday, November 06, 2008

Slam Dunk


I hadn't seen this one before, but apparently Spike Lee wore this t-shirt at the convention.


Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Blue Ohio


I got to wake my children up today into a world where Barack Obama is President, and tell them that Ohio was the first red state to turn blue.

USA motherfuckers, USA.

Peace.

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

Monday, November 03, 2008

Oy, I need to hit the bottle.

JLev jumped on the Chauncey/AI news but I need my own post. I have so much emotional investment in this election, it's very weird to have an all-time favorite traded the day before. The well is kind of dry right now, and yet still I am very sad to think of Chauncey moving on. I can't even think of the acquisition of the Answer without saluting Mr. Big Shot. Yes, he had slowed just a tiny bit and he was less than stellar in the last two playoffs. But he was the engine behind the great Piston run we've been on. He was the star of the 2004 championship run, the confident guy who made the rest believe. As a nervous sports (and politics) fan, there was nothing like watching Chauncey get to the line and know he was going to calmly sink two to finish the other team. He made a superlative backcourt with Rip Hamilton, good enough to evoke (though not surpass) the hall of fame duo of Zeke and Joe. I wish I had more in me tonight Chauncellor--you deserve better.

As for the acquisition, time will tell. Iverson and Sheed on the same floor--that's a full meal for first year coach Michael Curry. But he's a warrior and I'm sure I'll warm to him. I trust Joe D, but this is a tough one.

Finally, Dyess, we'll miss you, too. All you ever gave was your best. It was a privilege to witness the second act of your career. You are a class act all the way. Denver, a new team to root for.

Go Obama!

The Answer in Motown

I realize that on this election eve there's many more important things on our minds, but the prospect of watching AI and Sheed playing side-by-side is change I can believe in.