The NBA is back

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime?page=dime-071220

In case you haven't noticed, the NBA has gotten a lot better over the last few years. Yesterday had 4 good close games- Houston/Orlando (Yao vs. Dwight Howard), San Antonio/Memphis (Rudy Gay's coming out party- no pun intended), Dallas/Phoenix (the 2 most recent MVP's going at it for conference supremacy in the West), and Boston/Detroit (Mr. Big Shot- and former Celtic- Chauncey Billups comes up big AGAIN in Boston over the BIG 3). I mean, did you catch any of that? You better.

First, the local game. Yao and T-Mac have done so much for the community. they do all kinds of fund raisers, open up new businesses, and travel the world to help the poor and down-trodden (T-Mac went into Darfur to help bring attention to the genocide there. But these 2 admirable men have not led Houston to a playoff series victory. So the locals are disgruntled. Last night we got a visit from the Magic. Orlando's big man- 20 year old Dwight Howard, is proof that evolution is still occuring in a positive manner. Their new $126 million forward Rashard Lewis (a former local HS player who skipped college) was also on display. The Magic won, the Rockets and their fans keep grumbling.

And that Boston/Detroit game. Playoff level intensity, clutch shots, good throwback uni's. i can't discuss this rationally....just bleeping great. Did I mention 'Sheed vs. KG? Or RIp Hamilton going toe to toe with the Truth (Paul Pierce).

Wow. And tonight has college ball with Pitt/Duke and Bowl season starts. I feel like John and Jeremy in Wedding Crashers at the start of wedding season. Baba Ghanoush!!

FIBA- Las Vegas!

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-27-99/U-S--vs--Virgin-Islands--Not-Close.html?post=true



As a true NBA fan, I have been watching the FIBA America tournament. I've missed wathcing the game, and with all of the Tim Donaghy stuff, it's just nice to just enjoy the game.

Now, the international game is different. In the NBA, Michael Redd is not more important than Tim Duncan. But with the widened lane and shorter 3 point range, it's a different ball game. Other nations do not have a slew of coordinated men 6'7" or more, so the international game emphasizes spacing, good pick and rolls, and moving the ball around by passing. This greatly contrasts with the NBA's 1 on 1, dribble game.

So this year, we got different players to fit the international game. Kidd, Kobe, Redd, and 'Melo are getting it done. I put this link up here to show how many NBA fans forget this is a different game. It doesn't matter if Stoudemire and Howard score from the low post. It does matter that 'Melo and LeBron are scoring in the paint- to open up long range jumpers for Redd, Chauncey Billups, Deron Williams, and Mike Miller.

NBA ref scandal (?)

Just a thought......

Wasn't defamed NBA referee Tim Donaghy supposed to charged with some form of an indictment, or he was supposed to plead guilty to something? Well, I remember he was supposed to be arrested or turn himself in to authorities. None of these things has happened. And somehow this is getting no press. After a couple of weeks of breathless announcements and denouncements, suddenly nothing is happening.

What do you call the opposite of a smoking gun?

Sports- going to seed

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/justice/5000331.html

"Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio? Your place has been taken by thugs and crooks and cheats."

Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle is lamenting the sad state of our athletes and one official. It sure make for an eye-catching headline. And there is no better way to make fans feel better than pointing out the many foibles of millionaires.

But, um, isn't there more to the story than these people are bad and evil and must be stopped? I think I can figure that out by myself. If I am reading a column I want more than "Dog fighting is wrong and should not be tolerated." How about at least some info about the ASPCA or some detail about the mental and emotional state of a person who engages in dogfighting.

Now, in Mr. Justice's defense, yesterday he had a glowing column about how great Craig Biggio has been for the last 20 years, and how Biggio is the true embodiment of a great player, family man, and role model.

But Mr. Justice is ignoring many facts. Back in the good ole days, Babe Ruth was a womanizing drunk, Joe DiMaggio was a wife beater, and NBA referees and college basketball players were involved in gambling scandals (in fact, NFL Hall of Famer Paul Hornung missed a year of pro football due to a gambling suspension). The 1980's gave us a wide variety of recruiting scandals with "under the table" money in college football, while basketball and baseball had a cocaine problem. Bad news is not new. Overblown coverage with preachy columnists is new.

By the way, Houston Texans running back Ahman Green paid for someone's down payment on a home last week, in exchange for a jersey number. Teammate Jason Simmons and team owner Bob McNair were involved as well. In other news, the afore mentioned Craig Biggio spends a lot of time raising money for kids with cancer (see this link http://www.sunshinekids.org/who-we-are/spokesperson.htm to help Craig help kids!!)

NBA Draft

I love the NBA Draft. I just wish that the TNT crew did the draft show so Charles Barkley would be involved. In fact, the announcers should be Barkley, Kenny Smith, Stephen A. Smith, Dick Vitale, and Ernie Johnson. I'd TiVo the draft to hear those guys talk, but I'd keep the volume down.

I love the Oden/Durant debate. It's like Jordan vs. Olajuwon- you're going to win with either of those guys.

I love that Rice's Morris Almond was picked ahead of anyone from Duke.

I love the random foreigners who scored 9 points a game in a European "B" league. Especially when they get guaranteed money.

I love when head cases like Sean Williams get picked when they couldn't stay on their college teams. Especially when they get guaranteed money. Maybe Eddie Griffin will help coach Williams.

The one thing I would like to see the draft people do is a 5/10/15 year retrospective. It would be nice to hear what the experts were right and wrong about at different stages. That way, we can find out if the experts are really experts.

Go Spurs GO

The San Antonio Spurs just won their 4th NBA championship in 9 years. If someone were reading this, they would stop now, because no one likes or respects the Spurs. I lived in San Antonio for 4 years and couldn't become a fan. But at least I came to respect the team work, chemistry, good coaching, unselfishness, and championship rings. In an era where people complain about athletes with poor fundamentals getting arrested and having outside kids, the Spurs stand out by:

1. Winning, early and often
2. Playing team ball
3. Not getting arrested
4. Starting schools for underprivileged children
5. Marrying hot actresses

So what's not to like? People just like complaining.

But then I realized something. The Spurs are Larry Holmes. Larry Holmes won his first 47 (or so) heavyweight fights and was one fight away from tying Rocky Marciano's record when he lost his first fight. He held the Heavyweight title for 6-8 years. And no one cared because he followed the greatest era in boxing history (Ali, Frazier, Norton, Foreman- with guys like Lyle, Shaver, and Leroy Spinks playing second fiddle) while preceding the Mike Tyson era.

The Spurs missed the Bird/Magic era and the Jordan era. They even had the bad luck of missing Shaq and D. Wade in the Finals last year. LeBron, Wade, Chris Bosh, and Carmelo are coming into their own, while Kevin Durant and Greg Oden loom on the horizon. So they're playing in a lackluster era and they are the best team of that era. But we don't know how Holmes or the Spurs would stack up against the best from more competitive eras because they did not have great competition, so we denigrate their achievements.

Or, they are so much better than their contemporaries that they just make them look bad. Nah, Cleveland was bad. So was Carl "The Truth" Williams.


Note- Oh, and the middleweights and welterweights got to be very entertaining during Holmes' reign. Sugar Ray, Hagler, Hearns, Duran. They had some great fighters with compelling personalities.

Coach Popovich

http://www.pomona.edu/Magazine/PCMWIN05/FSpopovich.shtml

A neat article about San Antonio's 3 (soon to be 4) time NBA championship coach. It's interesting to note that top-notch college coaches usually have a rough time making the adjustment to the pro game. While coaches who do an apprenticeship with a pro team have more success. Just remember this when you are trying to evaluate future job prospects.

Kobe, the bad guy

Kevin Garnett doesn't ask for a trade and he gets criticized for staying with a poorly run team with minimal NBA talent and no plan for improvement.

Kobe Bryant does ask for a trade and he gets criticized for wanting to leave a poorly run team with minimal NBA talent and no plan for improvement.

Kobe needs to realize that no matter what he says or does, he will be resoundly criticized and vilified. If he contributes a million dollars to a charity while donating a kidney to an orphan-he's just trying to rebuild his image while decreasing the time he spends pissing. So Kobe, if you're reading this:

Get a life- my family won't read this. Read a book or something. And stick to your trade demands. Michael Jordan couldn't win with Kwame Brown on his team.

Note- Lakers team owner Jerry Buss was arrested for DUI. No one protested or called their local talk show host, despite the fact that 17491 people died in alcohol related accidents in 2006.

LE BRON JAMES!!!!!!

Good Lord!??!?!?!?!?!?!?!

29 points in the 4th quarter and 2 overtimes (out of his teams' 30 points)??!?!?!?!?!?!

Wow. A few quick thoughts

1. How bad are the rest of the Cavaliers?
2. Could someone wake up the Pistons "coaching" staff? Let them know you can double team the one guy who makes shots before he gets the ball. Let the corpse like players shoot.
3. And let them know that you can make him work on defense.
4. How in the Sam Hill do you let anyone dunk 3 times late in the game in the playoffs? The bad Boys Pistons would have knocked LeBron back to Cleveland. Knock him down! Maybe after he dunked on thin air twice, switch out of the zone defense. Or get Weber and his bad knee out of the way and put 'Sheed on him.
5.Did they tell the Pistons fans not to cheer for most of the game?

The draft

Remember when people thought the Pistons were smart to get Darko Milicic instead of Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, or Carmelo Anthony because they won a title in 2004?

Can you imagine how good the Pistons would be if they had Bosh- he'd be the perfect fit. Good post-up game. Can shoot the mid-range jumper. High energy guy. Most people focus on 'Melo and Wade, but Bosh would have been worth one more ring (in 2005- when Detroit lost to the Spurs in 7 games in the NBA Finals) by matching up against Tim Duncan. Meanwhile the Heat "settled" for Wade- who is probably in Charles Barkley's 5.

So please remember that someone who is not Greg Oden or Kevin Durant in this next rookie class will lead his team to a title- possibly before Oden or Durant does.

Why teams are made up of more than players

http://blog.kir.com/archives/2007/05/a_rare_nba_post.asp
http://blog.kir.com/archives/2007/05/and_you_think_t.asp

Houstonian Tom Kirkendall is the son of a physician and a well respected lawyer (yes, it can happen). He is also a sports nut like me. The 2 posts I linked to are about the NBA and my Texas Rangers ("We're Punctual!"). Watch me masterfully link the topics of why the NBA has only had 14 teams win a title and why the Rangers have won one playoff game. And why the NY Times article about a shortage of tall people has nothing to do with who wins championships.

Team titles are won by organizations. The Spurs, Yankees, and Patriots have all had good ownership who realize that team sports are not won by All-Star teams. You have to have a GM who understands team dynamics and salary caps, not just who has the best stats. You need a coaching staff who can integrate young talent with the accompanying lack of experience, veteran talent with the accompanying slower reflexes, and mix it with long term strategies to deal with long regular seasons and short term strategies for playoff series and game planning with adjustments at halftime and good creative play-calling for last second plays. You need scouting departments who can help you pick good talent in the draft, free agent market and in trades while supplying useful information to help win games. You need a good marketing department to keep fans coming to the games and buying apparel and paying everyone's salary.

My Rangers have consistently switched managers and players like they're a fantasy league team. The once great Latin American scouting department has been disbanded for financial reasons (note- this is an unsubstantiated rumor). We paid A-Rod $&) million more than the Mets offered, and we still pay him $10-12 million a year to play for the team I hate from New York.

So LeBron James and Tracy McGrady will be relegated to making cool commercials and never winning a title as long as management keeps letting the Carlos Boozers go to Utah and interviews head coaches before the head coach is fired. The Detroit Lions can draft Jesus himself and sign the Heavenly Hosts to a long term deal and still go 3-13 as long as Matt Millen and the Ford family are in charge. The supply of tall people has nothing to do with the NBA's lack of Championship teams. Rangers' owner Tom Hick's poor management is the reason my team is so bad the announcers complain ON AIR about having to watch this team play the Devil Rays. It's the lack of a Championship level ORGANIZATION.

Poor memories

I am thankful today that I am not as talented as LeBron James. The man can't win for losing. First, he makes a difficult pass to a wide open Donyell Marshall (who looks a lot like Ludacris http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=2627). It turns out it's LeBron's fault that Donyell missed the shot.

The next game LeBron has the nerve to miss the game winning shot. He followed that up by not complaining enough about getting fouled on the play. Larry Hughes, who missed the follow up shot, is not at fault. Everyone complains that Jordan would not have let his team lose

To sum up:
1. LeBron should've shot the ball in Game 1.
2. He should've passed or made the shot in game 2.
3. He should complain like a spoiled baby.
4. Jordan is God.

The same media guys complain about guys like Kobe who don't pass, bad officiating, and whiny prima donnas. They also forget that Jordan was a me-first, no title having Nike salesman his first 7 seasons. Can they pass a law making writers research their toic before spewing nonsense about people's character and will to win?

And how many media types can hit game winning shots on the Pistons?

Doc, Dad, Fan day

Saturday, May 12 was the all time Doc, Dad, Fan day

As the clock struck midnight I was at work on my night job. I admit patients from 6 pm to 6 am for a hospitalist group in Houston. I had just finished the 8th admit. So from midnight to 2 pm I was helping out a resident, entering patient information into the computer for patient care purposes, and entering patient care information for billing purposes.

From 2 am to 6 am I attempted to sleep, Every 20- 30 minutes I get paged, so I can't say I got good rest. I got enough rest to be able to be mildly coherent by 6:15. I saw 2 of the 4 patients I had been assigned from the Emergency Room and left the hospital by 7:30 am. Normally I see all of my admits, but May 12 is.....

My daughter's BIRTHDAY!!!!!! My Larissa is 5. She makes sure to remind us of this fact every 12-15 minutes. And she was having a big party at Bounce U- a place where kids bounce around on inflatable objects while their parents make sure kids stay on the inflatable objects while the parents discuss how we will pay for college when our 5 year olds are 18. Before getting ready, I watch SportsCenter with my son to see who won the Jazz/Warriors game when the see Baron Davis THROW DOWN on Andrei Kirilenko. I think the poster is available in Oakland as we speak. My son voiced his pleasure at seeing such an awesome sight. So then, a quick eat and shower leads to.....

10 o'clock- go pick up the cake from the Cake Lady in Friendswood (note- the best cakes as far as decoration and taste in the Houston Area. I'm getting hungry right now). I take my 2 year old son with me, because my wife is taking the now 5 year old to get her hair and nails done for the bounce party. So Adam Jacob "The Touchdown Maker" (TTM) and I go to pick up the cake, load up on a few groceries, vote in a bond election, get a nice bottle of wine (or 3) for Mother's Day, drop off a Mother's Day card for Granny (my mother-in law, who was working a 742,007 hour shift because she is a florist), and get lunch at McDonald's. All of this while I arrange a hospitalization after getting a call from the lab regarding a patient I saw in the office who had anemia so severe, she needed a transfusion.

Whew.

Back at home my wife and I get TTM and the birthday girl (TBG) down for a nap as we continue to prepare for the party. Of course, TBG is too excited to nap, so she helps clean out the car. I also pass out for an hour or so.

Just before leaving we go across the street to see my neighbor so they can wish TBG a happy birthday. I catch a couple of holes of the TPC Golf Tournament to keep the fan in me happy.

Now it's 4:15 and we arrive at Bounce U with a load of balloons, gift bags for party favors, a cake, and 2 kids. Back when I was a kid, we didn't have all of this pomp and circumstance. We had dirt, rocks, and hard times. Oh, wait- I'm channeling my parents- we had the same crap, I'm just a complainer. Soon, nine 5 year olds arrive with their posses (parents and siblings) and the bounce-a-thon is on. There are no casualties, although TTM may get food poisoning from eating off of everyone's plates (and the floor for good measure).

We leave the party with some leftover pizza, gifts that take a lot more space than the gift bags, and 4 kids. We're keeping my 2 nephews (aged 7 and 2) for my brother-in-law and his wife so they can celebrate their anniversary. So at home my attention is divided between gift opening, the 4 kids, and the Spurs/Suns game. We may have lost a kid or 2, but the game was FANTASTIC. I love playoff basketball. And my family, yes my family. The best part was when Manu Ginobili got hit in the eye, grew a black eye in, like, 15 seconds, and responded by scoring the next 8 points of the game. oh, and the look of joy from my daughter. which may have been sleepiness because she never took a nap while consuming cake and lemonade while playing like a screaming Banshee for 6 hours. Fortunately for the Spurs, the Suns cried about the officiating before the game and got absolutely no love from the refs.

Of course, I missed the end of the game to help give 4 kids a bath and help brush 100 or so teeth and get 3 people to bed. My 2 year old nephew refused to go down easy. So I went back to the hospital to see the patient with the anemia. I met the spouse and we talked for about 15 minutes. It's a little weird to meet someone one day and tell them the need an urgent transfusion the next day. Especially when the person does not have an obvious source.

Finally, I get home, take a shower, and find another male in bed with my wife (my nephew). I respond by getting in bed with them. I spend about 10 minutes in bed when I notice my nephew curled under me, snoring like a freight train, and kicking me like a young Pele. I call this the "baby Hat Trick". In honor of this achievement, I go to the couch so I can sleep.

I think that sums up Doc, Dad, and Fan.

B. Diddy shows no pity

Oh, Snap!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYpwjB0IzoU

GSW- We Believe

I was going to write a real entry, but did you see the Warriors/Mavs game last night?!?!?!? Those fans were amazing. I'm not a big fan of the color yellow, but seeing that sea of yellow, yelling, cheering, chanting.....that was cool.

We should have seen this coming. The Warriors made a big trade mid season to get Stephen Jacksona and Al Harrington for the slow Mike Dunleavy, Jr.. Baron Davis has been healthy for the first time since he nearly beat the Magic by himself in 2001. And the Warriors wer 3-0 against Dallas this year.

Oh, the home team won. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime?page=dailydime-070504

Anyone seen Dirk's game? Oh, Stephen Jackson took it and is taking it with him to Utah or Houston next week.

(note- GSW usually stands for gun shot wound in medical parlance. Every time I see it on the sports ticker, I kind of jump before I realize it's the Golden State Warriors. Then I remember they play in Oakland and I worry again.)