Can y'all shut up for a second

Shut up.

Seriously. Shut up. You are ruining basketball for me.

Here is how: LeBron James. Clutch. Kobe. Dirk. Jordan.

And guess what? Every single argument you even dare to consider in that tiny little pea brain of yours, stuck in its paleolithic search for gratification, has been fought and won by the other side. No matter what side you take. You can argue until you are Oklahoma City Thunder blue in the face but you are dead wrong. Your heroes have their antecedents, who were also heroes. Learn your history.

Don't tell me that 6 for 24 is Finals MVP worthy. Don't tell me that 5 rings vs. none is an argument. Don't tell me the dunk contest isn't fixed.

Don't tell me this isn't the prisoner's dilemma + professional wrestling.

You're wrong. Get over it.

And just so you know, there's a difference between having a post game and taking advantage of having a post game. You don't have to believe or parrot everything you read.

Artest wants to go "Metta"

Oh Ron Ron, you so Crazy.

As not to be outdone by a bunch of unproven 20 year old draftees, our favorite NBA crazy (sorry Andray Blatche), made news yesterday when he filed a petition to legally change is name to Metta World Peace. Doesn't that picture just scream kindness, love and peace to you?

WTF?



 

Congrats to the Washington Nationals

The Nats won tonight. It was their 15th win in the last 21 games. They currently stand at 37-37, and, were the season to end today, would be five games out of the wild card slot and tied with Pittsburgh and Colorado.

I still haven't figured out what a National is, or what Nationals are... unlike, say, Twins, Pirates, Yankees, Cardinals, Orioles, etc.

Anyways, back to the Nats - they have won ten of eleven and, over the last 10 games, are tied with the Twins for the best record in baseball. Sadly, I was present for that one loss, to the Orioles, who have a much more glorious past but are also attempting to climb to .500. Thanks, Gorzelanny for ruining Fathers' Day.

Bye Bye Rambis

I'll admit it, I've been in the "fire Rambis" camp since he was hired by the Timberwolves. But, David Kahn is an enigma. Is Kahn the prototype of a new type of sports exec? I'll save that for another time, but the word on the street (or internet, as I'm inside) is that Rambis is gone gone gone. That means the Timberwolves will no longer be hamstrung by Rambis's inability to articulate the triangle offense nor certain players' inability to comprehend their roles in the triangle offense. It also means that there will, ideally, be fewer baffling decisions regarding Kevin Love.

Asians in the NBA Who Aren't Named "Yao"

It is a well-known fact that while many East Asians hold baseball closest to their hearts (esp. those in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan), Asian Americans love them some bball. So, as a supposed Asian American, I thought I should share a couple of news items about Asians in the NBA who are not named "Yao."

1)

Rich Cho, first Asian American GM in the NBA, signs on as GM of Charlotte Bobcats. A quick turnaround, considering he was only very recently fired by the Portland Trailblazers.

Cho acknowledged he "didn't see it coming" when the Blazers fired him. President Larry Miller said it was because of "chemistry issues," believed to be with owner Paul Allen. Cho declined to address the issue, saying he didn't want to "dwell on the past."

Cho will move from one celeb-owner to another: the Bobcats are owned by Greatest Ever and Known Asshole Michael Jordan.

2)

Pre-LeBrowndown II: Revenge of the Mavs, ESPN had a lengthy and interesting profile of the first Asian American head coach in any of America's Big Four sports (one day, MLS, one day...), Erik Spoelstra of the always-the-bridesmaid-never-the-bride Team LePippen... I mean, Miami Heat The mystery guest has arrived. Spoelstra is Filipino American. From angry asian man, where I saw the piece first:

The piece follows Spoelstra's beginnings growing up in Portland and playing basketball in college, to working his way up through the Miami Heat organization as a young man, before being named head coach in 2008. Consensus seems to be clear -- the guy works his ass off, and the work has paid off.

Didn't pay off in a ring, though! Just kidding. Don't be too hard on our Pinoy brother; LeBrondown II was entirely the King's fault.

3)

The Great Yellow Hope, (sometimes) Golden State Warrior Jeremy Lin, gets a profile on Hyphen Magazine's blog: Jeremy Lin's Rookie Season with the Golden State Warriors. It was a rough start, but things are looking up for the Bay Area-native:

I thought that it was pretty neat that Lin was getting a lot of attention, but as a fan, I worried that it might be too much for a third-string rookie point guard. It seemed like that it had an effect on him early in the season. Lin underperformed and was sent to the Developmental League on a few occasions during the season to focus on improving his game.

It took a while, but Lin was able to bounce back. When he was called back up to the roster in late March, Lin saw increased playing time. During the team’s final regular season game, he broke out with his best performance.

Against the Portland Trailblazers, Lin logged in a season-high 24 minutes while recording 12 points, five assists, five rebounds and two steals in the winning effort. He had come a long way to get this point, and it was a great way to end an incredible journey.

Lin appeared in 29 games overall in his debut year with the Warriors. His minutes increased towards the end of the season, and he started playing with the team’s second unit. He will have to carry over that momentum into an impressive summer to show the Warriors’ coaching staff that he’s ready to be a valuable role player.

The story also has a link to an interview Hyphen did with Lin last year.

Marc Jackson

You know what I love most about this time of year in sports?  The NBA Finals? No.  The Stanley Cup Final? No.  The French Open? Maybe (but only if the woman's final features two amazingly attractive ladies, or boob slippage).

Seriously though, what I really love is all the coverage that surrounds unproven coaches getting jobs with NBA teams.  So imagine my delight when I read this morning that Marc Jackson got the Golden State Job. Good for you Marc Jackson, Good for you!

The only question I have is whether or not Marc is going to be another former Knick player who wanted to coach for the Blue and Orange but was passed up by management and goes on to have a stellar, if not hall of fame coaching career.  Let's look at some members of the list:  Phil Jackson, Doc Rivers, Monty Williams, Patrick Ewing (someday), Charles Oakley (if he didn't get beaten by security guards in Vegas ... yup we love you Oak)......

So here's to you Marc Jackson and your team of non-defense playing misfits!