Fuck Yea[h] NBA

Kevin Durant scored 27 points, but none of them were easy in the...

Mon, 28 May 2012 02:50:58 -0400

Kevin Durant scored 27 points, but none of them were easy in the second half as Stephen Jackson continuously hounded him. It may have reminded some viewers of the way the Spurs used to hound the tall, lithe German, Dirk Nowitzki. Durant’s body isn’t that thick, so Jackson’s antics and physical play were an annoyance, but they didn’t completely stop Durant (a scorer that pure is never completely shut down). But Jackson’s inspired defending did go a long way towards containing him.

That’s all Pop and Co. needed.

PHOTOS VIA

Game 1: Oklahoma City at San Antonio With all the hype before...

Mon, 28 May 2012 02:38:45 -0400

Game 1: Oklahoma City at San Antonio

With all the hype before this game, I thought we would be in for a disappointment. Expectations were too high to meet. San Antonio would come out and crush the Thunder and any hopes the Thunder might make the “Finals” push and save the Internet from the numbing consistency of the Spurs. They are too methodical and a foregone conclusion. Like the Voltron I’ve alluded to in their march past Utah and the Clippers to the Conference Finals.

After an opening quarter push by the Spurs, including the announcement by Manu Ginboili that he was back and ready to place his jangly game on display again,

the Thunder settled in and took the lead into half 47-46. Their offense wasn’t getting their usual output from Harden (more on his match-up with Manu later) and Russ was struggling to find his range. Durant was playing conservatively. That meant Derek Fisher, Thabo Sefolosha and Nick Collison had to step up. And they did! They started 8 for 9 and helped the Thunder go into the half with the lead. The Thunder’s active defense (and a little bit of jitters from the SA youngsters) forced the Spurs into 14 first-half turnovers, something every Spur mentioned after the game.

The Thunder’s slight lead would build to 9 by the end of the 3rd quarter, but it was a boondoggle (and I’m still not sure if maybe it was an intentional one by Popovich to send a message to his team; such is the ubiquity of Popovich’s manipulations). Down 9 to start the 4th, Popovich and his team had a little chat.

He told them they needed to “play nasty.” He explained what that meant in his post-game presser, but it basically boils down to: play fast and confident. Don’t hestitate, just shoot, pass and defend with confidence. He started the incredible tirade with “This isn’t easy, or else everyone else would do it.” Pop prolly hated that he was mic’d up, but it was fascinating watching how much respect he commanded in that huddle. Simply the best basketball coach on earth (sorry Phil).

After a James Harden jumper to start the 4th, the Spurs went on a 18-3 run over the next 7 minutes and led 82-76 before the Thunder scored again. It was typical Spurs offensive execution at it’s finest, with the right man ending up with the ball and the rotations just a bit too late as Duncan, Gary Neal (who also took a few big charges) and Manu got easy lay-ups. The Thunder went cold from the field, couldn’t get to the line or weren’t aggresive, and the Spurs took advantage. Sometimes it’s that easy.

Oklahoma City didn’t just roll over. Durant kept attacking and got to the line 3 times within a minute and a half to keep the lead close at 84-88 with 3:10 to play. Then Stephen Jackson—who had been a physical affront to Durant’s comfort spots all quarter—hit a huge 3 to put the Spurs up 7. His friend Timmy gave him a playful tap on the back of his head, but the seething and hyped up Jackson was primarily concerned his headband had been messed with. Then he went ahead and looked for Durant to hassle again.

The Spurs hit their free throws in the final three minutes (both teams went over the limit with around 5 minutes to play) and even though Westbrook hit a 3 and Harden hit 2 3’s in the last 3 seconds (to make the score closer than it actually was at the end), they got the first win of the series at home.

Here’s where things get weird. The Spurs didn’t play that well. Timmy never got going in the post (Perk did a good job on him when he wasn’t on the sidelines in foul trouble). Parker was only intermittently effective and Russ hounded him pretty good in the first half. Plus, in the first half the Spurs were losing the ball every other possession and the Thunder’s defense looked like one big arm coiled and ready to punce on anybody foolish enough to skip a perimeter teammate. The Spurs turned the ball over 14 times in the first half, but were only down 1.

That, more than anything I else I saw in the opening game of the Western Conference Finals, is why the Spurs should continue to be the favorites in this series. Lets see how a more mature Thunder team comes back on Tuesday before rushing to judgement.

But, it’s hard not to just give the Spurs the series when they’ve won 19 in a row and 30 of their last 32.

Yeah.

Nasty.

Final: SAN ANTONIO SPURS 101 - Oklahoma City Thunder 98

The Spurs lead the series 1-0

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In the battle between the 2012 6th Man of the Year and the...

Mon, 28 May 2012 02:05:44 -0400

In the battle between the 2012 6th Man of the Year and the 2008 6th Man of the Year, it was the the Argentinian that prevailed. Manu Ginboili had a season high 26 points on 9/14 shooting (3/5 from 3) in 34 minutes. He also helped limit the Beard to 7/17 shooting (5/9 from 3, but 2 of those 3-pointers came within the last 3 seconds when he hit a pair of 3’s that didn’t matter) for 19 points.

The match-up will go a long way towards the Thunder advancing. Now all they have to do is slow Manu down. It must be weird for Manu and Harden to play one another. Like playing yourself in the mirror as Steve Kerr mentioned in the game.

Round 1 goes to Manu.

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Sorta sums up the night for the Thunder.

Mon, 28 May 2012 01:57:46 -0400

Sorta sums up the night for the Thunder.

Look at this Spurs fan. Tom Pennington/Getty Images

Mon, 28 May 2012 01:02:06 -0400

Look at this Spurs fan.

Tom Pennington/Getty Images

WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS PREVIEW: SAN ANTONIO SPURS VS....

Sun, 27 May 2012 17:50:09 -0400

WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS PREVIEW:
SAN ANTONIO SPURS VS. OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER

This is it! We’re finally down to the four best teams in the league, or more succinctly, the top two in the West and the top two in the East (but sorry Eastern Conference, you’ve been playing like crap). Tonight, at 8:30 p.m. EST on TNT the NBA Finals disguised as the Western Conference Final Game 1 between the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder tips off. Everyone is extremely happy we’re finally here. Here’s the schedule:

First, nearly all the bloggers, reporters and columnists in the NBA stratosphere have been writing or itching to write the WCF preview between the Spurs and Thunder. I’ll write a little something at the end and give a pick, but first lets give you all the Western Conference Finals previews you can muster (plus other relevant minutiae I’ve come across):

Zach Lowe gives his preview at SI’s The Point Forward also has a full post on Tony Parker vs. the Thunder defense.
Howard Beck on James Harden for the New York Times.
Slam Online Preview also on video
Kurt Helin at ProBasketballTalk on how the Thunder deal with Tony Parker
BDL’s hilarious Eric Freeman with Western Conference Final Fan Fiction and a guy that’s competing with Ziller for most content composed in a single season, Dan Devine, with “’Deep Thoughts’ and Cheap Thoughts” on the WCF.
Fran Blinebury at the Hang Time Blog
Moke Hamilton at Sheridan Hoops with Five Factors for the WCF.
Tom Ziller telling you how the Spurs can Vanquish the Thunder
Ben Golliver (of Blazers Edge and EOB and other places) with EOB’s Western Conference Finals Preview
Video: Inside the NBA’s Western Conference Final Preview
Kevin Durant: “Thunder aren’t in awe of” former champion “Spurs.”

Team Blogs

Local Newspaper Previews:

There is a whole lot there to digest and I don’t expect anyone but a wierdo like me to even sift through all those words and analysis.

Here’s the thing about these previews and this upcoming series. There are a whole lot of narratives to discuss, which is why we’re all so excited. Here are just some of them:

The athletic Thunder that are also very young and new to this level of basketball vs. the older Spurs that also have a lot of young guys and go 10 deep and have the best coach in basketball right now.

You could also go the Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili vs. Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden route. If the Thunder go small, Durant will match-up against Duncan if he’s in his PF spot (haha, he’s a center), and that means Harden vs. Ginobili and Parker vs. Westbrook, so really you have the Spurs best 3 vs. the Thunders best 3. That’s a blogging boner right there.

Scott Brooks and Gregg Popovich, or the little guy that couldn’t. Popovich is the balls. There’s no one out-coaching him, so the Thunder will have to win on superior athleticism that Popovich, the big three and the merry band of bench pranksters can’t overcome.

OFFENSE OFFENSE OFFENSE. These teams score and score a lot. Unknown by many outside NBA circles, is this Spurs offense was one of the best in the league and ditto for the Thunder (but it’s a little more obvious with Durant and Westbrook each averaging over 24 ppg in the regular season; the Spurs offense is more balanced so even though they score a lot, they spread that scoring out so it’s harder to realize).

Tony Parker vs. Russell Westbrook. I don’t really know why, but this has gained some traction after Parker’s recent comments.

There are so many more things to talk about, like Kevin Durant making the final step towards NBA super-stardom, Duncan’s quiet brilliance paralleling Durant’s humble stardom, the General Managers of the Spurs and Thunder being the top candidates for the recently opened GM position with the Magic, and of course who is the best team in the West and thus, the entire NBA?

God, if you aren’t excited, I don’t know what to tell you. This is gonna be amazing.

Now I gotta go spend some time with my girlfriend before tonight’s game. She is rather displeased with my general lack of attention for the last month.

See you later tonight with recaps, pictures, video and more after game 1. Also stay tuned for a preview round-up for Celtics-Heat, set to tip-off tomorrow night in Miami.

Some (quick) links for this humid Sunday before tonight’s...

Sun, 27 May 2012 16:05:00 -0400

Some (quick) links for this humid Sunday before tonight’s opening game between Oklahoma City and San Antonio.

—Jeff Van Gundy blasts the Magic for the way they handled his brother’s firing.

—Will Leitch at NY Mag on the Heat living to vex us another day.

—An extra boost of confidence for the Celtics agianst the Heat: the Heat didn’t want to face the Celtics.

—Slam Online, has a Q & A with Kevin Love.

—Kyle Lowry and Kevin McHale are beefing.

—Kelly Dwyer on the “Pacers: gone Til November”

—Doc Rivers refuses to use “End of Era” talk to motivate the Celtics against the Heat. And why should he? If they can’t get up for the Heat, no one can.

—Ian Thomsen on Rondo’s strengths turned into weaknesses to help the Celtics survive game 7.

—Brian Windhorst on the latest Chris Bosh updates.

—Danny Chau at HP on Rajon Rondo and “Life on Mars.”

—Haslem admits what we already knew: his hit on Hansborough was retaliation for his hit on Wade.

WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS PREVIEW COMING!!!!!!!

[Pic Via]

Game 7: Philadelphia at Boston Game 7 in the...

Sun, 27 May 2012 14:30:31 -0400

Game 7: Philadelphia at Boston

Game 7 in the Boston ___________* Garden is marked by a history of Celtics teams overwhelming their opponents. The lore of the Garden with Russell, Hondo, Cousy, Cowens, McHale, DJ and Bird infects everything that happens during those 48 minutes. It’s impossible for visiting teams not to look up at the 17 banners and the retired numbers and not get a little short of breath. What they’re trying to do is next to impossible. Only Magic can thwart the Celtics on their home floor in a game 7. It was the same last night.

After Boston shut down the Sixers in the second quarter, most everyone knew this game was over. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what the Celtics thought too, and they came out flat in the 3rd period. So flat they only scored 14 points and let the Sixers back into the game. Philly made it 54-55 with 10:46 left in the 3rd, but Garnett came right back to push it back to a 3-point lead. A 3-pointer from Andre Iguodala with 4:30 left again cut it to 3 with 4:30 remaining on one of these team’s season.

That’s what’s so fascinating about game sevens. They are the literal back-against-the-wall game for both teams. Up 3, but with the Sixers charging back, Rajon Rondo, the maligned point guard on the trading block for Chris Paul, hit 3 consecutive buckets at this point—including a 3-pointer with 2:09 remaining to make it a 10-point lead again.

The Celtics hit their free throws from there on out, and the Celtics face Miami on Monday night in game 1 of an Eastern Conference Finals we all expected. We expected before Philly kept winning and winning against the [insert old adjective] Celtics.

But Rondo saved the day with that 7-point stretch between Iggy’s 3 and an Elton Brand tip-in. He won the game, and also filled up the box score like he has all postseason. He finished with a triple-double: 18 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists (along with 3 steals and 7 turnovers. Perhaps the most impressive stat of Rondo’s night was his perfect 5 for 5 from the free throw line. Rondo will be in the history books as that guy who won game 7 for the Celtics in 2012. That’s what game 7’s are, times to put your name in a history book. The Celtics book is the longest in the league.

To augment Rondo’s triple-double and scoring surge down the stretch, Garnett had 18 and 13 and cotinues to remind people he isn’t done yet (the Heat should be afraid); Pierce, had 15 on 6/14 shooting, but added 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 blocks and 2 steals for an all-around game on both sides of the court, as he matched Iggy on Philly. Bass had 16 and Ray Allen had 11. Every Boston started scored in double figures as their bench was almost non-existant.

For the Sixers, they may be able to pat themselves on the back for making it this far. No one predicted they’d make it out of the first round, and once Rose went down and they moved on, no one thought they would give the Celtics much a run. They did that as well. Coach Doug Collins should be exalted for the work he’s done with this young group. Iggy led them emotionally, but Jrue Holiday, Evan Turner, Lou Williams, Jodie Meeks, Spencer Hawes and the rest of the team got invaluable playoff experience. It’s not something you can teach your team, you have to go through it, and this weird lockout-shortened season game them just that. Now it’s back to bitching about the Eagles, Phillies and Flyers for Philly fans. Your team did good.

Now Boston faces Miami as the narrative we’ve all wanted prepares to unfold again; except, this time, they’re all healthy and it’s Miami that’s missing a key piece. Don’t think for a second this is gonna be another Heat series with LeBron breaking down like he’s won the title. Nope, this is gonna be a battle maybe ending in a game 7 in Miami.

I can’t wait.

The Conference Finals start tonight with OKC-SAS and tomorrow with game 1 between MIA-BOS.

I. am. happy.

Final: BOSTON CELTICS 85-Philadelphia 76ers 75

The Celtics win the series 4-3

PHOTOS VIA

*Whatever the fuck

By now you’ve heard the Knicks extended Mike...

Sat, 26 May 2012 15:43:39 -0400

By now you’ve heard the Knicks extended Mike Woodson’s contract another 3 years (worth $10-12 million according to Isola) and replaced interim with future as they look towards Woodson to coach them past their 1st round eliminations over the last two seasons.

Personally, the fact Dolan and Grunwald didn’t even talk to Phil Jackson as every writer has mentioned, makes me uncomfortable. If they had been unable to entice Jackson, who still isn’t sure he wants to coach agian, they could have done a lot worse than the former Hawks head coach, Woodson. His selection isn’t sending us all into a tizzy with expectations, like the Zen Master’s hiring might have. I wanted that excitment, but regardless, Woodson was 18-6 to end the regular season and we did get that game 4, the first Knicks playoff victory in more than a decade; although, their one-dimensional offense around ‘Melo is awful to watch and was easily thwarted by Miami. Some of those gripes fall on Woodson and his iso-heavy Melo preferences.

Here’s what some other New York writers had to say about the deal.

I already mentioned Frank Isola at the New York Daily News
Howard Beck at the New York Times where he’s tongue-in-cheek about Woodson’s recent change in reprensentaiton to CAA, the preferred agency for Knicks employees and one that’s not above the whims of Dolan and also represents Melo. It appears it’s gonna be Melo’s team on the executive level as well as on the court.
One of my favorite ~~Knicks~~ writer’s Seth, at Posting and Toasting wrote about his “qualms” with the move and they mirror some of the mine own from above (namely Jackson never getting a call, and the Knicks stagnant offense against Miami).
Harvey Araton, the other guy that gets delivered to my grungy BK apt, wrote that the Knicks made the right move in going with Woodson over Jackson.
Marc Berman in the Post explains why the Knicks didn’t even bother reaching out to Jackson (Woodson was just that impressive in his interview—really?).
And Mike Vaccaro in the Post writes what we all know anyway: the pressure on Woodson to win will be higher than you’d think.

The specter of Phil Jackson still hangs heavy in the MSG raftors (as well as the Staples Center and the United Center), and you can be sure he’ll become less ethereal with every loss under Woodson’s watch. If you thought D’Antoni went through the ringer earlier this year, just think if Woodson gets under Melo’s skin at practice and he stops giving a shit like he did during much of D’Antoni’s time this sesason. Woodson doesn’t have the fall back position afforded D’Antoni that he never wanted ‘Melo brought in for his Marxist ball-rotation heavy offense (Jack McCallum should have talked more about early 20th century prole politics in Seven Seconds or Less :).

We’ll see if Woodson can handle the pressure and scrutiny. Many larger personalities have failed, so maybe his “company man” moniker will work?

ROBERT SABO/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

The New York Daily News has a poll up for every member of the...

Sat, 26 May 2012 15:12:02 -0400

The New York Daily News has a poll up for every member of the Knicks, including the “infamous” fire extinguisher that beat-up Amar’e, James Dolan, Mike Woodson, Amar’e, ‘Melo and basically every Knicks player or executive, asking whether Knicks fans would “keep ‘em” or “dump ‘em” if they were the General Manager (unfortunately, they also ask whether Glen Grunwald should be kept or dumped failing to realize the failure in logic when asking fans to pretend to be general manager then vote on whether Grunwald should be general manager). Anyways, I voted and have the screen captures for the results above. Enjoy, and remember we here in New York support J.R. Smith’s peccadilloes more than most; he reminds us of ourselves :)

Anyways, it was interesting to see the results: predicatably, Chandler had the most overwheming percentage to stay , with 96%; who those 4% in favor of dumping him were probably included all of Jerome Jordan’s extended family; the second most popular decision to stay was Iman Shumpert—proving, once again, Knicks fans love a fiesty wing defender that’s not afraid to take a shot with Melo and Stoudemire on the floor. Knicks also—overwhelmingly—agree that Owner James Dolan should go; 81% want him dumped, and even that felt low.

I was aligned with the majority of Knicks fans when it came to every position or executive except Mike Woodson, Jared Jefferies and the fire extinguisher, which (OK, I’ll play along) the team should dump to avoid psychologically scarring Amar’e more than when ‘Melo first told him it was “his team, so step the fuck off,” when they both approached a Victoria’s Secret model at an underground club in SoHo.

I made that last part up, but you were’t entirely sure, were you?

It’s gonna be a long off-season, but—for the most part—the fans agree with where this “company team” is headed. More on Woodson’s contract extension and the reaction in the New York, later.

I hope you’re enjoying the beginning to your Memorial Day Weekend. I passed up my gf’s pool to blog for y’all ‘cause I just love you that much (also air conditioning! cigarettes! and hash!). Take care today and remember there’s gonna be a torrential downpour in Manhattan/Brooklyn soon, so hopefully you remembered your rain gear.

This is now a weather blog.

I was going to transcribe this entire interview between Pat...

Fri, 25 May 2012 19:28:15 -0400

I was going to transcribe this entire interview between Pat Riley and Michael Jordan, but it would eat up the first part of this long weekend. The clip was shown at halftime of a Lakers Western Conference playoff game against Portland in 1991. This was BEFORE MJ won his first title.

In the interview he discusses:

-Overcoming the Pistons and their physical play.

-The only thing that could ever humble him.

-Winning the MVP and how much it meant to him to get the award that season from his teammates (he had won an MVP already in his seminal ‘88 season when he took home the MVP, DPOY and all-star game MVP).

-Being a role model (and the fact Sir Chuck doesn’t want to be a role model). He also elaborates on celebrity.

-Participation in the 1992 Olympics, which he hadn’t signed on for yet.

-Playing Portland or Los Angeles in the Finals.

-If there’s anybody he fears on the court (you can probably answer that one).

-And when asked what it would mean if he didn’t win a title?

“I’m not gonna look back on my career and say it was tarnished because I never won a championship.”

Don’t worry Mike, you don’t have to. You won that first title just a couple weeks later.

Some afternoon links for this Friday before Memorial Day...

Fri, 25 May 2012 14:56:40 -0400

Some afternoon links for this Friday before Memorial Day Weekend. A Friday with no basketball, even as the Clippers/Spurs and Lakers/Thunder played back-to-back at Staples last weekend. Well done Stern.

—Chris Bosh is still out indefiintely, according to Spoels

—Speaking of Bosh, Gregg Doyel at CBS thinks the Heat might be better off without him. Umm, no.

—Wade and LeBron post-game presser after ending the Pacers series. The one with the hot pants.

—Dwight’s claiming he had nothing to do with Stan Van Gundy getting the axe. Even if he didn’t, the perception is that he did, and perception is reality in the world today (just ask the commenter that called me a “passive misogynist,” but I digress)

—Henry Abbott on the “unthinking brilliance” of Tim Duncan. The piece includes a comparison to tennis champion Novak Djokovic and M. Galdwell’s best-selling Blink, if you’re into that sort of thing.

—Sam Amick on Jerry Sloan’s return to coaching (h/t Mr. Ziller). He’s interviewing for the Bobcats slot, which as ESS noted on Twitter, means he’s been living as an eremite for the last year. Seriously Jerry, go talk to Paul Silas before making any final decisions.

—NBA.com’s John Schuhmann on the history of game 7’s between the Sixers and Celtics for the Hang Time Blog.

—More Popovich and Duncan love via Trey Kerby.

—Ian Thomsen on the Celtics’ hopes that experience will trump youth in tomorrow’s game 7 at the Garden (the new Garden, not the old one. Sigh.)

—Adrian Wojnarowski on the Heat’s dominance rolling into the Eastern Conference Finals. Queue eyeroll.

—The always entertaining and adroit Beckley Mason at Hoopspeak on the Miami Heat’s “Occam’s Offense.” If you’re not familiar, Occam refers to Occam’s Razor, a bastardized form of Ockham’s Razor. It’s a philosophical pragamatism named after William of Ockham, a 13th and 14th century logician and Franciscan Friar that birthed, according to Wiki,

“a principle urging one to select among competing hypotheses that which makes the fewest assumptions and thereby offers the simplest explanation of the effect.”

Don’t worry, a lot of people get confused by it. Basically Beckley explicates the simplification of the Heat’s offense: Isolations for Wade and James and shooters to spread the court (Mason goes into much greater detail that simplification and writes a lot more fluidly than I’m doing here, so go check it out). This probably should have been it’s own post, but whatever.

—Shoals and a premature Conference Finals Preview for GQ (not Esquire)

[Pic Via]

David West is a grown man and grown men don't slap five

Fri, 25 May 2012 13:59:00 -0400

I enjoy David West, I really do, but you can slap a kid up even if you just lost aren’t...

About those pants, read Dan Devine’s take at BDL, where he...

Fri, 25 May 2012 13:09:33 -0400

About those pants, read Dan Devine’s take at BDL, where he breaks down the progenitor of Wade’s playoff style steez. It’s in reaction to Rachel Nichols’ tweeted convo between Wade and LeBron when ‘Bron first saw the pants. To wit:

LeBron: “Damn, for real, those are close-out pants? And the finger sleeve?

Wade: “You gotta coordinate.”

LeBron: “You look like Eddie Murphy in the 80’s.”

Wade: “Eddie Murphy wishes he looked like me.”

So what do you think readers? Does Eddie Murphy* wish he looked like Wade? Or does his perference for all-leather jumpsuits** trump Wade’s fashion faux pas?

Pic via Getty

*You might not be old enough to remember Raw or Delirious

** “Really no dick control at all…”

I didn’t know David Stern was a Sigma Alpha Mu...

Fri, 25 May 2012 12:55:49 -0400

I didn’t know David Stern was a Sigma Alpha Mu ‘Pledge Master’ at Rutgers University, but it shouldn’t have surprised me.

The Top 10 dunks of the 2011-2012 NBA season as selected by...

Fri, 25 May 2012 12:23:56 -0400

The Top 10 dunks of the 2011-2012 NBA season as selected by NBA.com.

What do you think readers? Are there any they missed?

h/t ProBasketballTalk

J.R. Smith was arrested in South Beach last night for a prior...

Fri, 25 May 2012 12:15:44 -0400

J.R. Smith was arrested in South Beach last night for a prior warrant involving his failure to produce a valid license, reports Marc Stein in the New York Post.

Miami Beach police say Smith was arrested last night on a bench warrant for not having a valid driver’s license.

Sgt. Bobby Hernandez told The Post that Smith was recognized on famed Washington Avenue in South Beach. Police originally said that Smith was pulled over while driving a scooter, but after reviewing the arrest report have now said that is not the case. The warrant stemmed from Smith, 26, being cited last year in Miami for driving a scooter without a valid driver’s license.

Smith has until June 26th to opt out of the final year of his contract with the Knicks worth $2.6 million. He’s had a tumultuous time with the Knicks since arriving from China in February. He was fined $25,000 by the league for an inappropriate tweet involving an indiscrete picture of his then-girlfriend Tahiry (former flame of rapper, Joe Budden). He’s also battled with Mike Woodson over his inability to act and dress professionally.

So basically, this quick arrest is just J.R. Smith being J.R. Smith.

Shaq is too busy enjoying retired life to be a GM.

Fri, 25 May 2012 11:42:01 -0400

Shaq is too busy enjoying retired life to be a GM.

First, via NBAOffseason “I’m the best skater in the [NBA],”...

Fri, 25 May 2012 11:25:06 -0400

First, via NBAOffseason

“I’m the best skater in the [NBA],” Rondo told the Boston Globe in 2008. “I don’t know who’s good, but I’m the best skater in the league. That’s just something I like to do outside the court. A lot of us like to bowl, too, but I’d rather skate. I’m in my own zone.”

The Legend of Rondo continues…

And then, tumblr username: Gumplr with a rebuttal featuring Entourage star Emmanuelle Chiriqui’s short film—above—starring Baron Davis, called “One Shot.”

WHO YOU GOT IN THE BATTLE OF ROLLER SKATING NBA PLAYERS?

Or perhaps you’re a Bow Wow fan?

Game 6: Miami at Indiana They came, they saw, they conquered....

Fri, 25 May 2012 01:59:00 -0400

Game 6: Miami at Indiana

They came, they saw, they conquered. The mighty Miami team peopling were praising even as they limped into the postseason, continued their transformation from earlier in the Indiana series. They’ve loudly dispatched the Knicks after blowing an elimination game in MSG, then faltered in the next round against this Indiana team without a real star. They lost 2 of their first 3 and Chris Bosh. People were cheerfully over-reacting and claiming this was the end of the Heat.

The amount of glee and unrestrained schadenfreude towards this Heat team is unparalleled since possibly the Bad Boys started knocking off the Celtics and Lakers teams that dominated the first half the 80’s. Except, there was something commendable about the blue collar Chuck Daly-helmed collection of badasses, and everyone implicitly agrees the Heat are just a collection of stars too scarred to star on their own, and now they’re might not even be good enough combining their forces (like an under-performing Captain Planet!).

During the first 3 games of this Indiana series, Dwyane Wade played so poorly and acted like such a poor sport, I was forced to ask y’all* whether he was a douche. The overwhelming consensus was, yes! Now Dwyane Wade had turned into a douche, and when combined with LeBron and his oft-repeated and much-maligned Decision, a patina of douche had formed over the entire Heat team. The Heat will always be the villains, but now they weren’t even very good villains, getting out-played by Indiana at home.

This continued into the first half in game 4, where LeBron played well, but with Wade—the newest douche on the douchy Heat—still struggling. When the second half of game 4 rolled around everything clicked, and Dwyane Wade started acting like the 2006 NBA Finals MVP again; LeBron kept playing like the league’s MVP, and now here we are with them again running away with a series win. Wade just turned in a 40-point game (after LeBron’s in game 4), and they’ve escaped the “S-O-F-T” Pacers.

The Pacers did keep it close. After Miami rattled off a 9-0 run to close the 3rd and take a 10-point lead into the 4th, David West and his “grown man” post play got the score to 83-78, but could get no closer. The Pacers went away from what worked for them when they took a series lead: getting the ball inside to Hibbert and West who could take advantage of a Heat front-court down Haslem and Bosh. Even if West and Hibbert didn’t score, it would open it up for their over-matched guards and wing players that couldn’t stay with the ‘Bron & Wade show. The Pacers’ sloppy 22 turnovers didn’t help matters because once you’re turning it over, the Heat trains starts running, and like most trains, it’s hard to slow down.

The two superstars played like superstars for the 2nd (and a half) straight game: they combined to score 69 points (Bron 28 on 13/24 shooting, Wade 41 on a Dirkian 17/25); they grabbed 16 rebounds (6 for ‘Bron, 10 for Wade), dished for 10 assists (7 for ‘Bron and 3 for Wade) and collected 5 steals (3 for ‘Bron, 2 for Wade). Together, they were an unambiguously dominant duo. Sure Chalmers had 15 and Mike Miller 12 (before he started tossing airballs again), but these two just won on their own both in the boxscore and within the game itself. Even with Indiana sticking with them in the hopes of stealing the game in the end, the never stopped coming.

They both attacked relentlessly, with Wade splitting the double team and knocking down a cornucopia of various bank shots

Or he’d simply going all the way to the rim, take the contact and getting the ball up on the rim for a 3-point play; it was a clinic on how to split the top of the key double team.

Wade was special tonight, and when his mid-range game is flowing like it was in the first half, there’s only 1 or 2 guys that can match that level of excellence (and one of them is his teammate). George Hill would play perfect defense on Wade: pushing him away from the basket and forcing him to pick up his dribble and take a contested 2 outside the paint, only to have Wade hit an off-balance step-back fadeaway that for anybody else would be an airball and a mouthful from the coach, but for him only hit the twine. Special players have special games and this was Wades.

The craziest thing is LeBron had 28 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds and 3 steals and it felt like just an OK game. Wade and ‘Bron two are scary good when they decide to be. Lets hope for the sake of competition, they don’t decide to be all the time, or perhaps they can’t.

Bron and Wade have played big minutes in this postseason (James played 45 minutes, and Wade and his drained knee 39 tonight) and with the loss of Bosh early, they’ve been playing even more minutes and expending even more energy scoring all the points Bosh’s abdominal muscle stole from them. With all this effort needed to knock out a frisky Indiana team, a team that’s not really a title-contender, will they have enough left over for the Conference Finals?

How are they gonna fare against Boston or Philly?

Final: Miami Heat 105 - INDIANA PACERS 93

The Heat win the series 4-2

PHOTOS VIA

*I’m back talking about Indiana so I can use that contraction*