So, Melo is a Knick…superteam numero dos?

Image courtesy of Deadspin….and satan

It happened last night…I guess technically it’s supposed to be official today.  In a 15 player, 4 draft pick, $6 MM swap across New York, Minnesota and Denver, Carmelo Anthony is headed to the Big Apple to team up with Amare Stoudemire.   This whole thing stunk of “the Decision” and this shift of players turning into GM’s and controlling free agency is becoming a real pain in the ass.

“But, team’s with two superstars is completely normal”

That’s a statement I completely agree with.  I think it’s more than reasonable and possible to put a team together that pairs up a “Batman & Robin” with a Commissioner Gordon on the side with the rest of the Gotham City police force.  (For my example, let’s stick to the classics – no need for Barbara Gordon or the Birds of Prey, shall we?)   In the “modern” era of basketball you had a main superstar, a complimentary star in the second tier, a third star in the second tier and role players.   Even the “Super Teams” might have had a bunch of big names, but those were fading, aging stars, never big time guys in their primes.

This started going South with the Celtics.

Not Parrish, McHale and Bird.  I mean the current Celts, Garnett, Pierce and Allen.  Remember, the Celtics were a lottery team putting their hopes on Al Jefferson and Paul Pierce?  Then in one hour at the draft, the Celtics turned into Pierce, Allen, Garnett and Rondo.  Turned around and won a title.  Then Kobe got mad.  Said trade me or surround me. Kupchak and Wallace made the deal – the Lakers turned into Kobe, Gasol and Ariza – the next year turning Ariza into Artest.

I think those still followed suit with superstar, second tier, third tier, role players.  It dipped its toe into “hey, wait, that’s a shit ton of superstars”, but it wasn’t anything anyone really saw as players organizing their own teams.  It was the GM’s and coaches who were stockpiling, and that’s their job.

Then came “The Decision”.  I’m not going to rehash this, but when James, Bosh and Wade organized themselves to convene in Miami and make it happen, you knew the game had changed. 

So, how does this apply to Carmelo Anthony?  He takes the entire first half of the season, holding Denver hostage, wanting money AND demanding that he get traded to New York.  New Jersey was next door, and they’re moving to Brooklyn. They had the best package available for Denver, but, no, Melo would only go if it was the Knicks.  So, you’ve got 2 parts: Melo and Amare.  Who’s the third?  Simple – look to New Orleans.  A franchise that’s out of money and being run by the league that’s threatening to eliminate them.  That’s going to setup a dispersion draft.  Now, hark back to Carmelo Anthony’s wedding this summer and Chris Paul saying that he, Melo and Amare should play together and follow suit of Miami.

Whether we like it or not, CP3 is going to join those guys in New York, and we’ll have player-controlled franchises in NY and Miami. It’s only matter of time before Chicago follows suit.  When the league “runs out” of superstars, will we see a shift back to team ball and the Pistons/Spurs teams of the early 00’s?   Time will tell.

Mavericks Season Preview

Check out the team breakdown at Mavs Money Ball.  Here’s the overview…

So, what are we looking at in the NBA this year?

-Shaq's in Cleveland, making his fourth alliance with "the next big thing" (Hardaway, Bryant, wade, James).
-Boston picked up Sheed
-Orlando brought home Vinsanity
-LAL brought in a pit bull with Artest
-San Antonio got really scary with McDyess and Jefferson
-Oh, and that Blazers team that everyone said a better point guard because Steve Blake wasn't it?  Yeah, they're a year older and got Andre Miller.

Needless to say, the NBA's rich just got richer.  There are a host of other story lines: refs, impending CBA lockout, Von Wafer's hair, Blake Griffin's ACL which I am now referring to as "the Clipper's ticking time bomb", but that's not why you're reading this...you wanna know about your Dallas Mavericks.

Click here to read Brown's preview over at MavsMoneyBall.com

Predictions:

EAST
1) Cleveland (LeBron, Shaq...yeah)
2) Orlando (Lost the Turkish MJ, got Vince Carter...wash)
3) Boston (They're old, but they're the good old)
4) Toronto (Bosh and Hedo, I smell buddy flick!)
5) Atlanta (Joe Johnson and Jamal Crawford is gonna be lethal)
6) Chicago (Baby Bulls and Vinny of the Black!)
7) Detroit (New look Pistons with Gordon and Villanueva)
8) Philadelphia (Elton Brand is healthy. Eddie Jordon brings the Princeton offense.)

West
1) Los Angeles (if I need to specify, you're retarded)
2) Portland (I'm telling you, these kids are going to be good)
3) San Antonio (Healthy Manu and Jefferson on the wings? McDyess at the five and Duncan at the four? Yikes.)
4) Utah (Same old)
5) Denver (Melo's hungier than ever)
6) Dallas (I just broke them down)
7) New Orleans (The Paul and Chandler pick and roll was special to watch…how well can it run with Okafor?)
8) Golden State (I really really like Stephen Curry in Nellie-ball)

Finals: San Antonio & Cleveland

Champion: San Antonio

Great, I’m old

Jordan’s in the Hall of Fame.  

Yes, I still wanna be like Mike…and my favorite pair of shoes I ever owned were the old gray, red and black Jordans from, I think, 1993.

So…the Mavs sure have changed

Not that long ago, I was lamenting Donnie Nelson’s horrendous draft choice of the frog legged wunderkind, Roddy Beauxbois.   In fact, I believe I claimed that he had to do something to show me that the Mavs were making an effort to change.

So, let’s review what he’s pulled off since…

-Re-signed Jason Kidd.  Got him at a bit of a high price, but let’s be honest, it had to be done.  There was no other option unless they went for a stop-gap solution in a Jarrett Jack or Jomario Moon.

-Traded for Shawn Marion.  Now, if we were playing fantasy basketball, I think this a great idea.  You’re getting a guy that a few years ago was averaging a double-double and was known for playing lock down defense.  He even had a great nickname, “The Matrix”.  I like the move though.  Gives a slasher and allows an interesting rotation across the 2-3-4 among Howard, Marion, Terry, Dirk, Singleton, etc.  The problem here was that it all depended on the Mavericks landing or securing a 5 that was more reliable/athletic than Erick Dampier.

-The Marcin Gortat experiment.  So, let’s review what happened.  Gortat wants to come to Dallas.  He got the full MLE and guaranteed minutes.  Dallas was SO SURE that he’d sign, they let Orlando sign Brandon Bass.  (There’s a whole science behind why Bass was never going to play in Dallas, but for all intents and purposes, they didn’t re-sign him because they thought they pocketed Gortat.)  Turns out Orlando fucked Dallas in both holes by matching Gortat.

So now what?  The Mavs would have been a VERY VERY impressive squad with Gortat.  Not because he was great, but he allowed the flexibility and athletic ability to run that rotation across the 2-3-4.  Now, they’re bare on the 5.  Dallas has to get an athletic center because we all know that Damp ain’t it.   Watch the trade block after 30 games.

Rick Carlisle is a good coach and Cuban is willing to pay the luxury tax.  I still think Donnie Nelson is a terrible GM, but let’s see what he does mid-stream.

The NBA Draft

Yes, it’s true, I haven’t posted to this little corner of the www in a while.  It isn’t because of lack of desire, it’s been more a lack of time and a lack of formulating words into sentences.

I’m really not sure where I’m supposed to start…so…

Let’s start with the thing that has infuriated me to the point of random outbursts and almost getting thrown out of a restaurant that I was at with Big and some other friends…the NBA Draft

We knew walking into this draft that after pick number one, things just kind of fell down off the board.  Sure, there were possible studs like Rubio, Curry and long shots like Ellington and Evans, but all in all, it’s a lesser of a few evils. 

(By the way, when Jrue Holliday was selected did anyone kind of want to hear a JRUUUUUE! followed by the Souljaboy Tellem steel drums?  Just me?  Okay, then.)

Anyway, let me share my reaction when I see that your Dallas Mavericks selected B.J. Mullen from Ohio State. “ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!?!?!?!?!  THAT’S THE WORST GOD DAMN THING I’VE EVER SEEN!!!”  Proceeded by me slamming tables, chairs and trying to jab my fork into Big’s neck.

When my anger had somewhat subsided, we proceeded to go to a bar and hang out.  It was there that I found out that they had traded within their division for the French Leandro Barbosa, Antoine Rigadeau Olive St. Pierre/Tariq Abdul-Wahad Rodrique Beaubois.

Well, I don’t know what happened after that.  I saw nothing but red, and next thing I know, I found myself sitting in my garage with a corded rope and a busted light fixture fallen from the ceiling.

I don’t want to hear the argument “but they turned a single pick into 3 assets and draft picks next year”.  That’s bull shit.  Donnie Nelson and the Dallas Mavericks did one thing in this year’s draft, and that was bend the fans over a table and fuck them in the ass with a French tickler.

You could hear the absolute disdain in Rick Carlisle’s voice during the press conference the day after.  Even the media was in disbelief and couldn’t think of any questions besides “so, Roddy, do you know Tony Parker?”

I’ll ask the question no one had the balls to ask.  ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FUCKING MIND, DONNIE NELSON?!?!!?!?

You’ve hit on ONE. JUST ONE European player.  Landing Dirk does not give you the freedom to pick people from shitty leagues overseas and claim you can coach them up. 

This team is sliding further back in the West, and sooner or later they’ll be the next to last team in their division.  Sam Presti is building OKC into quite the powerhouse.  The Spurs know what they’re doing. Houston is making smart trade.  New Orleans can’t manage money, but they can manage their team.  The Mavs might have finally done it.  They’ve done nothing but spit in my face as a fan for years, and I’m considering breaking up for good.

Fuck you, Donnie Nelson.  If you love Europe so god damned much, go coach in Greece and let’s get someone in here who doesn’t depend on Fran Fraschilla to tell them who to draft!

NBA Draft, where dallas will takes somebody who won't ever play

I know, first post in a long time. Basketball is over, I'm not that big a baseball guy, suck it.

However, the NBA draft is this Thursday. Every year, I get so damn excited as to who the Mav's will take, how they can help us win a title next year, so on and so forth. And ever year I get bent over sideways and fucked in the ass. Its what they do.

Even back in the day, the greatest day of drafting the mavericks ever had, I felt like the mav's fucked it all up. Let me explain.

SI.com has a list of "Best Players Drafted at their picks" bit that is a staple when draft time comes along. Well, I'll let you read what they said.

"9. Dirk Nowitzki, Bucks, 1998: In a prearranged draft-night trade that turned into one of the most lopsided deals in history, the Mavericks sent No. 6 pick Robert Traylor to the Bucks for Nowitzki and No. 19 pick Pat Garrity, whom Dallas dealt to Phoenix for Steve Nash. Nowitzki's three-point shooting as a 7-footer transformed the NBA's view of the power forward position. He led the Mavericks to the 2006 NBA Finals and was named league MVP a year later."

Sounds great right? And looking back on it, It really was great. Franchise changing if you will.

Did I think so at the time? Hell, no. my young high school self was watching the draft, and got really really excited when my team, took one of my favorite college players at number 6, Robert "Tractor" Traylor. Then they go and trade for this foren guy that i have never heard of.

Needless to say, I'm glad they did. But at the time, just another kick in the pants form the Mav's drafting team. I guess that's why I'm not an NBA GM. (though I really think I should be).

“Let’s keep immigrants out…except the geniuses”

I was flipping through a magazine the other day and came across an interesting article regarding how states will be much more stringent on granting H1-B visas to immigrants to ensure that companies are hiring U.S. workers. 

For example, you can’t pay them less then a U.S. worker and you have to lay out exactly what they’re doing and how they qualify more than any U.S. worker, so on and so forth. 

However, the U.S. has a lesser known type of visa known as the O-1 visa.  This thing is referred to as “the genius visa”, and all it takes is to prove that this singular person has a skill set that no one else in the world, let alone in the entire United States of America has.

This O-1 visa is completely removed from any political debate going on in the U.S. government between Republicans and Democrats.

I know what you’re thinking, “what the hell does this discourse on immigration and business have to do with sports?”

Well, one of the few people who happen to have one of these “genius visas”?

Big, what’s this say?

Yup, you guessed it, Dirk Nowitzki.  Other athletes who have qualified for O-1 visas?  Wayne Gretzky, Ronaldo, and Annika Sorenstam

"Beat Brown's Caption" Contest!

I'm going to periodically put a picture up with a wacky quote. Use the comment section to beat the quote with something funnier.

“Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom portray the writers of their favorite blog, The Big & The Brown”

My head just exploded…

Dan Shanoff usually writes a decent quick hit of sports every morning over at The Sporting News Blog…

I say usually because I think I read a bit that literally made me so confused and shaken that I had to step outside for a moment:

“Meanwhile, the Magic's win was an affirmation:

— For building your team around a super big: Howard

— For max spending on a complimentary player: Lewis

— For the Euro invasion of NBA: Hedo > Dirk.

— For streetball: Skip To My Lou had a great series.

— For Otis Smith: Signing (Lewis); drafting (Lee); trading (Alston).

— For the Magic, not the Cavs, as the NBA's rising power. “

Did you read that third bullet?

Go ahead, read it again.

Have you gone mental yet?  You should.

One more reason to hate Robert Horry

First off, let me get this out of the way. Robert Horry is a giant fuck twat, and I hope he gets the same ass cancer that’s killing Farah Fawcett. 

Now that I read that this son of a bitch who’s done nothing but ride coattails his entire career and make a few 3 pointers has the nerve and temerity to lose his 7 championship rings, and laugh about it? 

I’m sorry, you giant cunt bucket.  Wasn’t it enough that you were the black Steve Kerr?  Now you’re going to rub it in the rest of the world’s face by claiming you really don’t care enough about winning titles that you might fancy taking more care of the rings?

Fuck you, Robert Horry.  Fuck you with a rake turned sideways.

The Sports Guy, as usual, explains so much

Fuck That Guy!

I love Bill Simmons, and if that makes me a douche, so be it.

He most recent article, which is a three part email exchange with best selling author Malcolm Gladwell, is like walking into a debate on your favorite subject, between two people who are smarter, more thoughtful, and think more outside the box than you do.

Most of the article is about the NBA and whats wrong and how you can change it. I highly suggest you read it, but beware, its long.

There was one excerpt that I wanted to share with you in case the 9,000 words scare you away. This is Bill Simmons talking about the NBA Ref's, and how stupid the NBA is in using them.

"Back to your point about arrogance and sports leagues: Please tell me you're following the current officiating debacle. The two most-watched regular-season games (both Celtics-Lakers games) were ruined by officials. Game 7 of a classic Boston-Chicago series was ruined by officials. The Mavs' season was ruined by officials. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to flagrant fouls and how they are called, just that the ongoing indecision has compromised the quality of the games. Bill Kennedy had such a heated incident with Doc Rivers in March that both were fined; somehow, Kennedy worked two Boston playoff games (both must-wins on the road). Dallas went 1-14 in its past 15 playoffs games that Danny Crawford officiated; somehow he worked one of their 2009 playoff games (inevitably, a loss for Dallas). Joey Crawford got suspended two years ago for baiting Tim Duncan, then blew last season's season-ending Spurs call … and somehow, he worked a must-win San Antonio playoff game in 2009. And the number of competent refs is so bad that Violet Palmer worked a Round 2 game last week. For a league that vowed to clean things up post-Donaghy, why haven't we seen any real results yet?

I'm not the kind of guy to scream "the refs screwed us!" because honestly the refs screw everybody at some point. Just some food for thought.

Try and be Happy Day Continues

I need these today, stupid mavericks.

You may be upset the Mavs lost…

…but look at the cute puppy!!

I think I just travelled to 1977 on the island

I’m sitting here working and watching the Rockets-Lakers game, and I think that I just saw the most confusing thing I’ve ever seen.

In an embarrassing bit of cross-promotion, TNT found Kyra Sedgwick sitting in the stands at the game.  Craig Sager went over to interview her and it went like something like this:

Sager : “Kyra Sedgwick. What do you think about the game?”

Sedgwick : “What can I say?  The Lakers are really far ahead. Gosh, what do you think?”

Sager : “Lots of celebrities.  How do you like Laker games?”

Sedgwick : “I’m a Knicks fan, I’m in LA filming the show.”

Sager : “So…how bout the Knicks?”

Sedgwick looks at Kevin Bacon : “I dunno. What do you think?”

Sager : “Kevin Bacon.”

Bacon : “We have hope for the New York Knickerbockers.”

Sager : “Kyra Sedgwick. The Closer. TNT. Back to you, Kevin.”

Kevin Harlan : “Ok then”

FYI regarding tomorrow’s Mavs game – it’s a “BLUE OUT”

This was sent to me by the Mavs ticket office:

Here’s a quick reminder that the first home game of the second round of the playoffs (Playoff Game E on your tickets) is tomorrow (Saturday, May 9^th) at 4:00 p.m.  Come early and please wear BLUE to the game.  Let’s get Rowdy, Proud & Loud!

For those of you without tickets, the game will be on TV on ESPN.  (We still have a few tickets left, so call me if you need some.)

The Mavs rely on our fans to make the AAC one of the toughest places to play for our opponents, and our home record supports the great job that you do. 

Did you know?

• The Mavs are 17-1 at home since the All Star break!  (Not including our two home playoff wins over the Spurs)
• The Mavs were 32-9 at home this season (including our hiccup of a 0-4 start to the home season.)
• Our home record over the past 5 seasons is 165-40, an 80.4% winning percentage.
• We have the current longest running sellout streak in the NBA – 317 consecutive regular season games!  (Thank YOU!)
• The Mavs are one of two NBA teams that have a current streak of NINE STRAIGHT 50-win seasons!  (Only the 4^th NBA franchise ever to achieve this!)
• This is the Mavs 9^th straight playoff appearance, currently the 2^nd best in the NBA, (only the Spurs with 12 straight have a longer streak.)

The net/net of all this is that our success on the court depends in great part on the support of our season ticket holders, and you have done a great job for us!  Thank you for your Rowdy, Proud and Loud support!  Let’s show the Nuggets how we do it in Dallas !

Is there a cure for what this team lacks?

All of season and up to the trade deadline, Maverick fans such as my self were waiting for the Mav's to trade for a player to help this team "get back on track," or "change the culture of quiting."

All we really got was Matt Carrol and John Hollins. Sweet.

The non-move really made me shake my head and prep for an average season, probably losing in the first round of the playoffs, but no real hope for the future.

Then a very odd thing happened. Jason Kidd and JJ Berea started to run this team away from the idea they were losers. The last month of the regular season and the first round of the playoffs saw the Mav's play with something that I haven't seen in them since the Phoenix series of 06, Heart and a desire to prove that they were the better team.

This new found drive started getting my hopes up about this team again. I started thinking to myself, "you know what, maybe this team doesn't need Dirk to be the leader, maybe it can be Kidd, or JET, or some games even JJ."

Then the Spurs happened. I knew going into that series that the Mav's were going to beat them. Even if the Spurs had Manu, I think the Mav's just match up well with them, and could take that series.

For the same reasons that I thought the Mav's could beat the Spurs(and ultimately did), is the same reason I don't like the probability that they take this series vs the Nuggets.

The simple idea is mental toughness. And I don't know if the Mav's have enough of it. The Mav's knew they could take the Spurs, they believed it. So even when Parker was scoring any way he wanted to, they just knew they could come back.

That's not there in this series. When Denver literally punches them in the mouth, the Mav's won't take it, look back, wipe the blood from their face, and hit them back even harder. Na, that's not the way the Mav's work. They will look around with their hands up, waiting for a whistle to bail them out. Sometimes it will, but the whistle won't bail you out four out of seven games.

So the problem that I thought was gone has come back. We need heart. Heart that says "we aint takin' this shit no more," or even "hit me one more time mother fucker, see what happens." And unless something changes over the next few days, I don't know where its going to come from.

Miles and Miles of heart.

If you don’t watch Game 7, you’re crazy

I’ve mentioned it several times before…this year’s Bulls-Celtics series has been THE most entertaining series in a long time.

Tonight’s game went into triple overtime to see the Bulls stave off elimination and force the Game 7.

Joakim Noah’s level of energy is nuts.  You know how Ryan Hollins isn’t a polished player, but he plays with a level of energy that brings the team and the crowd to its feet?  Multiply that by 10. That’s what the Bat-Boy brings to Chicago.

I think I’m more excited to see Derrick Rose battle Rajon Rondo for the next 10 years than I am to see Chris Paul battle Deron Williams.  Paul and Williams are methodical in the way they execute.  Rose and Rondo are like an action flick. 

Scalabrine made it on to the floor.  I’m going to type that again.  The Ginger Wonder, Brian Scalabrine, was on the floor and saw minutes in the third OT.

Brad Fucking Miller redeemed himself for the end of the last game by sinking his free throws and getting that layup into the basket.

Seriously, if I find out you don’t watch Game 7 on Saturday, I’m going to punch you in the throat and you’ll not be allowed to watch anymore basketball.

Re-visiting my thoughts on Brad Miller

Christian Bale plays for the Bulls!

I was watching the end of the Bulls-Celtics overtime thriller last night (I told you it’s been an awesome series!), and on the last play of the game, Brad Miller airballed a wide open lay up that would have tied the game, and with the foul he took, give him the opportunity to put Chicago on top by 1 with 2 seconds left on the clock.

By that time, Ray Allen and Derrick Rose had both fouled out, so Chicago had a defensive front on the floor, and Boston’s stone cold shooter (who turned out to be PIerce anyway) wasn’t on the floor.

I immediately texted Big the following, “Oh my god, Brad Miller is fucking terrible.”

This is something I think I’ve said since Miller was a Pacer, but never more evident than in his current Bulls uniform.

Then I saw the replay, and I’ve got to cut Miller some credit. Rajon Rondo hit him in the jaw and knocked out a tooth while Miller was going up for the lay up.

Vinny of the Black was begging for a flagrant. Kevin Harlan wanted a flagrant. Only Doug Collins said, and rightfully so, Brad Miller would have had to be on the stretchered out for the refs to call a flagrant foul with 2 seconds left in a playoff series deciding game.

I just wanted to pull back a little bit on my Brad Miller hatred. I’m pretty sure getting a tooth knocked out by the skeletal remains of Rajon Rondo would throw me off my game from a) making a layup and b) sinking 2 game tying free throws in overtime of the playoffs when I haven’t taken a free throw all game and I’m Brad Fucking Miller.

So, how does this play into the CP3 rumor?

That’s an honest-to-God crowd shot from last night

The biggest ass whipping NBA Playoff history happened last night, as the Denver Nuggets destroyed the New Orleans Hornets 121 – 63.  Wait, sources are telling me that the largest margin in the ENTIRE NBA history, not just playoffs.  (Think they’re celebrating the Billups for Iverson trade?  I think so.)

Wow.

So, how does that affect the Mavericks?  Well, if you haven’t heard, New Orleans is hemorrhaging money right now.   They need to get rid of the big contract players and assume expiring or low cost players.   If the Hornets don’t get out of the first round, there’s serious talk of blowing up what was, not that long ago, one of the NBA’s darling young teams because of financial reasons.

A part of that salary dump involves a rumored trade to Dallas. Josh Howard, Erick Dampier, Jerry Stackhouse for Chris Paul and a large contract (think Peja Stojakovic or Tyson Chandler). 

Pray the Hornets have given up and conceded their franchise.  That means HUGE things for the Mavericks. 

The Best Series You Aren’t Watching

If Dallas’s interest in their own team is any indication, no one is focusing on what is the most entertaining series of the playoffs, and what could develop into an AWESOME rivalry to come.

If you aren’t paying attention, Chicago and Boston are locked up in a really entertaining series.  They had a few great games in the middle of the season, but no one thought they’d have four games of it in the playoffs.

Oh, and this is with injury depleted rosters and two terrible coaches.

Chicago won game 4 in a thrilling double overtime.  They won the first game in overtime, lost game 2 in the shoot-a-palooza between Gordon and Allen, and were blown out in game 3.

You’ve got the rookie of the year, Derrick Rose against the still improving awesome Rajon Rondo.  The underrated, could have been Maverick, John Salmons playing his best defense ever against the old man, Paul Pierce.  Gordon and Allen pretty much playing HORSE against each other. And the spare bigs battle of Noah/Miller/Thomas against Powe/Davis/Perkins.

If you aren’t watching this series…I suggest you do.  It’s what the Boston-Atlanta series was last year…fun and entertaining