Sport Chit Chat

I’m sick of tired of patriotism from Americans, Canadians and in general everyone. Everybody needs a little criticism whether jokingly or not.

I’m sick of people referring to people who “disrespect” their national anthem and then “therefore” their country as to be bad people. It simply shouldn’t, it’s an opinion, a national anthem is usually an outdated song anyway that doesn’t compel people to what they truly care about.

This video DOES NOT depict the men involved in the video in a good light in any way. They are joking and I can’t even understand them until a few listens. However some people have decided to take this very seriously. (At least ESPN takes a much more unbiased approach but still point out Howard’s faults.

Here’s the video:

I can’t speak for the Americans as they may or may not experience a different culture but really I’m not entitled to speak for them. (Maybe one of you can comment? or more :P). Just remember I don’t criticize the American people because there are all types, dumb, smart, great, not so great etc.

The problem I have is an article being worded like this: “The battered reputation of Josh Howard took another hit this week when an online video surfaced showing the Dallas Mavericks forward disrespecting the national anthem.” I really haven’t heard of his poor reputation, he may have some “attitude” issues but tons of players have those problems, when was his reputation “battered” in my eyes? Just because an article starts this way? Celebrating a birthday after a loss is not that big of a deal… just because a coach doesn’t like that… if a coach did that to me I’d tell him to fuck off. Should you not be forced to celebrate your birthday if your company had a disappointing month or week? Fuck no. How about being honest and admit that you smoke marijuana? Yes it is illegal but at least he’s admitting it and is he killing any dogs? Drinking and driving? No. Still you can’t really judge someone’s character on these things, I don’t know him and I probably never will.

Josh Howard is implying that the USA is not very good toward people of his color. Is that not fair for him to imply? It definitely is fair! Just like when I say the voters of Ontario are stupid for not passing the Mixed Member Parliament, is that not a general statement I can make? I’m being critical and I feel as if I’m right, is it popular to call people stupid? No but it’s still a feeling and you can’t attack character for that especially when its political.

Do yourself a favor and stay away from the mob mentality, calling Howard “stupid” or even “retarded”. I think the only people who can be critical are blacks because they probably know more about what his feelings are. Even if it is mislead.

Even then the National anthem is a bunch of shit (Canada’s too). The USA Anthem is basically a song saying “through war we have great bravery, pride and we love coming out on top”. It’s paraphrasing.. I don’t know how important this is to Americans but there are more important things I care about rather then kicking ass (and America does a lot of ass kicking - most of which it seems that citizens aren’t proud of).

Even then the USA Anthem is about being Brave, and being brave is sometimes having an unpopular opinion and not being afraid to criticize, that’s how countries get better, by accepting inferiority and improving.

There are more important things to worry about in the end, so what if Josh Howard is frustrated? At some point we all are disappointed in our own country and it’s in your right to criticize because patriotism means you should give two shits and not blindly believing some dumb(!) writer at SI says or whatever other people say. (Sorry Associated Press you guys are douchebags).
I think you can still disagree with me on this (please feel free to share, I don’t know what Americans ultimately feel about this… but should they really be angry?)
There’s just no point in attacking someone’s character for such a dumb reason…

Rewind the clock to two years ago, just after the first round of the NBA playoffs. Baron Davis, Steven Jackson, Andres Biedrins, Monta Ellis, Don Nelson and the rest of the G-State Warriors were arguably the most exciting team in the NBA playoffs to watch. Not only were they exciting, they were pretty good too. Shot the lights out and pretty much manhandled Dallas in a historic eighth seed knocking out a first seed first round elimination. Eventually the Warriors lost to the Jazz, but not until after Baron Davis embarassed Andrei Kirilenko.
Fast forward just a bit to last year. Baron Davis is entering a contract year, Don Nelson isn’t sure if he’s going to coach, but all these things don’t matter. Golden State plays their same exciting brand of basketball and grabs 48 Ws (Good for 4th in the Eastern Conference mind you). Sadly however they don’t make the playoffs, finishing 9th, two games behind the defensively challenged Denver Nuggets. This is where things start to turn real sour. First, Baron Davis decides to bolt to Los Angles where he can work on his film career. Second, they can’t get Elton Brand, or Gilbert Arenas. Third, they sign Corey Magette. Yes, it is a bad thing. Though Magette may seem to fit their style of play, he’s not the best outside shooter and his defence is suspect. If he can play hard for 82 games, then he just might prove me wrong. But me-first guys like him rarely do.

Now comes the most devastating part of it all. Monta Ellis, fresh of recieving a six year extension that made him a very rich man, sprained his ankle and tore his deltoid ligament during an off-season workout. Due to this, he’ll miss the next three months, and won’t be able to start basketball workouts for at least another six weeks. Take it from someone with a history of ankle injuries, he’ll never feel the same. There are worse injuries in sports, but in basketball with so many pinpoint cuts and turns, it’s probably better that Ellis takes his time recovering so as not to jepordize his career.
Poor guy, but this is even worse for Golden State. Monta Ellis was expected to be THE key contributor this season. Ellis put up 20.2 ppg, 5 rebounds, and 3.4 assists last season all of which were career bests for him. He was showing steady improvement, and it seemed as he got better so did the team. A real franchise player if there ever was one. Now, Golden State turns over the keys to their newly acquired point guard, former UConn Huskie and New Jersey Net Marcus Williams (formerly Jason Kidd’s understudy). Williams is more of a pass-first player, and there is absolutely no way he can match Ellis’ offensive output. For a team that relies on mismatches on the offensive end, and outscoring their opponent every night, this could be quite the problem.
Well, thats all for me. Until next time.
-Zackdaddy

The Oklahoma city yet-to-be-nameds (to be referred to as sonics for this articles’ purposes), Cleveland Cavaliers, and the Milwaukee Bucks came together in a six player, three team (duh) trade. Truth be told? This trade sucks for the most part with only Oklahoma getting a good deal, and heres why.

The Cavaliers are still going to be team Lebron. Sure Mo Williams can score, but he is a below average defender at best, on a team that wins with defence. Zydranus Ilglauskus isn’t that young nimble 7-footer he once was, and the poor perimeter defence Williams brings will show that. Another reason is that Mo Williams isn’t all that good. Players playing for bad teams often have inflated statistics, and Williams is no exception. Milwaukee was a shot-happy, couldn’t play defence to save their lives team. That pretty much fits Mo Williams to a tee. He’s not a traditional point guard, and the six assists will probably go down in Cleveland with the only other scorer being a create his own shot guy (Lebron). I think all this trade does that can be considered beneficial for Cleveland is getting rid of the useless and constantly pouting Damon Jones. I do like Joe Smith, and I think when Lebrons fed up with all of the lack of defence his team plays, he’ll miss the solid veteran presence of Smith. I smell Lebron becoming a Net when he finally can.

Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Milwaukee. What a tease, just when you think they’ve got the chance to be good, they go and have a season like last year. This trade got them a point guard whos never been above average and isn’t a scorer, but has potential as a distributor (aka a white Ramon Sessions, which is useless because they already have the real Ramon Sessions) who will fight for playing time with players like Tyron Lue and Damon Jomes. They also recieved Adrian Griffen, who will quite nicely keep the pine warm, and the ever pouting aforementioned Damon Jones. Basically they traded Mo Williams for three spare parts. Probably could have got more value for him, but they do get props for moving that godawful contract.

Lastly we come to the Sonics. I like this move for them for four reasons. One, Desmond Mason has that rare, bring you to your feet athleticisim that can garner some fans for a new team. Two, after drafting Russel Westbrook and keeping Earl Watson, they should be able to give Westbrook time to develop into the solid floor general he should become, without having to worry about finding time for a third, marginally good, sometimes slightly above average pointguard. Reason number three is the solid veteran presence Joe Smith brings to the court and the locker room. A young team like the Sonics needs to feed off of that and learn how to approach and respect the game, and Joe Smith is a guy who can lead by example. The final reason is the cap room that the Sonics get. In this day and age cap room is valuable, and even if they don’t spend the 26.4 million they have in free money (Chris Wilcox + Donyell Marshall + Desmond Mason + Joe Smith + Robert Swifts expiring contracts = 26.4 million) this year, who knows maybe they could make a serious run at someone like Lebron, Wade or Carmelo (any of those three with Durant would be a ridiculous team).

Anyways, thats my opinion on the situation. Peace out Sports fans.
-Zackdaddy

Hello all and welcome back. Time now for the LOSERS of this years off season. Last time around I crowned The Houston Rockets, Philadelphia 76ers and The City Of Oklahoma as winners this off season. I think that losers are less apparent this time around as lots of teams improved themselves. Losers will become more apparent as the season starts and one can see which teams needed to improve.

Losers

Atlanta Hawks: I think this one is a no brainier. After hitting an emotional high by taking the would be NBA Champion Boston Celtics to a game 7, the Hawks have hit a big low with a disgraceful off season. By this point we all know about Josh Childress’ departure for Europe and the media frenzy that has created. The Hawks really just needed to “man up” and offer Childress the money he deserved. He was a clutch player in the series against Boston and his contribution will not easily be replaced. Additionally, the fate of Josh Smith is still up in the air and to lose him would put the Hawks back years. After finally showing some life this past season I wonder whether the Hawks will be destined for the lottery once again. Minus even a draft pick to be hopeful for, Al Horford seems to be the only attraction in Hotlanta these days. Hopefully a sign and trade can be orchestrated with Smith if they can’t sign him, if not it’s looking quite grim for the low flying Hawks.

Dallas Mavericks: Ok, so it’s not that the Mavs “lost” anyone this off season, but they haven’t gained anything while all the teams around them got better. New Orleans is young and getting better, The Lakers will have Bynum back, The Trailblazer with Oden will be much improved, The Clippers made a push by adding Camby and Davis, and the Rockets stepped it up by adding Ron Artest. All this happened while Dallas stood around and did nothing (and don’t tell me signing Diop is anything special). The Jason Kidd trade did not pay off as they were eliminated in the first round last year. But it is a situation they are stuck with. Kidd is too slow to compete with the likes of Chris Paul, clear in the fact that Paul replaced Kidd as Team USA’s starting PG. The Mavs are on the decline and their window has closed, even Magic Johnson agrees. Add on the dispute with ex-coach Don Nelson and Josh Howards street racing infractions and the Mavs are in for a tough season. Don’t be surprised when they are sellers at the deadline.

Tim Donaghy: Amongst all the hoopla of the NBA off season there was still the sad story of Tim Donaghy. A ref who let greed and money separate him from his pride and the integrity of the game. Sentenced to 15 months in prison, something I would say is light, Donaghy has done something much more than just earn himself an orange jumpsuit. Donaghy has placed forever doubt in the minds of NBA viewers for some time. And with his implications of other refs, and his comments about buddy-buddy relationships between refs and players, the NBA has a big situation to deal with. Thoughts of, “Did that ref make the right call on purpose, or was he swayed?” and “Should that ref be laughing with that player?” will litter the minds of NBA viewers. I hope this can be put behind us, but I worry it wont be. For creating a situation in which the trust in referees is up for debate, Donaghy you are a definite loser.

Thanks for listening & get ready for NBA Fantasy 08-09 by checking out Rotoworlds sleeper list

-Maxmillien

Greetings All. As the MLB has taken over much of the sports news these days I thought this would be a good time to look back at the tumultuous NBA off season and pick out some losing teams and some winning teams. Here goes…

Winners:

Houston Rockets: I think the Rocket’s have been smart this off season. They were at a point where it was apparent that Yao Ming and T-Mac arenot enough to win in the NBA. With both of their injury issues, and their inability to get out of the first round of the playoffs it was clear that the Rockets were still a piece or two away from competing in the difficult West. (Yes, they went on a 20+ winning streak last season, but that still gave them a first round playoff exit at the hands of the Utah Jazz). John Hollinger of ESPN agrees that this move was well worth the risk and I’d have to agree. Artest finally give the Rockets a big 3 and with Scola a year improved and Battier a shut down defender, the Rockets have a team that can make waves in the West. Yes, maybe they wont win the title, but the Rocket’s franchise needed to prove to it’s fans that they were dedicated to winning. The Rocket’s time is now, and the play for Artest shows their franchise, their fans and the city that the Rocket’s want to win, and now.

Philadelphia 76ers: Clearly the 76ers have had the most successful off season out of any franchise in the NBA. The 76ers went from pretenders in the East to legitimate contenders (assuming they hold onto Igoudala). Adding Brand to their roster gives the 76ers a strong front court and very scary starting five (Miller, Igou, Young, Brand, Dalembert) who match up great against all other East contenders. Additionally, by re-signing young guard Louis Williams and adding bench depth in Royal Ivey and Kareem Rush, the 76ers have set themselves up to have a very prosperous 08-09 season. Expect the 76ers to challenge for home court advantage in the playoffs. I don’t know if they are good enough to topple Boston in the Atlantic Division, but thye have made the road much more difficult for anyone in the East.

Utah Jazz: Now I am aware that the Jazz have not made many big off season moves and to me that is what makes them winners. They were able to stay as legitimate Western threats and all they had to do was nothing. “My Utah Jazz” suggests that the Jazz need to make a move but I disagree. All their young talent is going to be better, they added some PG depth in Brevin Knight, and they still have the same core that has helped them compete the last 3 seasons. Congrats to the Jazz for a successful off season of non moves. This proves that sometimes the best way to make your team better is by staying put.

The City Of Oklahoma: I understand that to this point a majority of the story lines regarding the move of the Sonics have been about the poor city of Seattle and I understand. If someone ever uprooted the Raptors I would go nuts and be very upset with the situation. But on the plus side, one must think of all the happy fans in Oklahoma City. To have over 16,000 season ticket buyers ready, and already to have purchased the minor league Tulsa 66ers, the city of Oklahoma is doing quite well for itself. They come into the league with one of the best young talent in Kevin Durant and from there anything is possible. Rumored to be called the Oklahoma City Thunder the city is a definite winner as they have been brought the magic that is the NBA. Congrats Oklahoma City & welcome to the NBA!

…Check back soon for my list of NBA off season 2008 losers…

-Maxmillien

Hello loyal readers! After an extended and unexplainable layoff I have returned to offer unpopular yet potentially correct analysis.

So, Houston decided (correctly) that there was no way they could win with just Yao and T-Mac. They needed a third, less fragile, all-star. This is good, they’ve found a weakness and are trying to turn it into a strength.
Yet somehow, they failed, oh so miserably. Ron Artest, however talented he may be is a cancer on a franchise. Firstly, Ron Artest is not reliable. I’m not talking about his attitude or his ability. I’m speaking to the fact that Artest has not played a full season in his 11 years of professional basketball. On a team where Yao routinely has some leg problem, T-mac’s back is worse than my grandma’s and their next best offensive weapon is Rafer Alston, if Artest gets hurt/suspended things could get really really ugly in the NBA’s third best Texas team.
Secondly, the offense in Houston is not a good fit as is. Adelman’s offense had to be modified to make Yao effective, and Adelman’s offense was the only reason Adelman was brought in. Now, not only does he have to work Yao into the offense, he has to make sure T-mac and Artest both get their chances with the ball. Also, Artest’s offensive strength lies in his ability to post up smaller players and bang down low. AKA take away space from Yao. I don’t see how Houston’s offense is going to run smoothly without major changes.
Third, chemistry! Yao is already worried about Artest’s attitude. We all know how big Artest’s ego is. Now match that with T-mac (a me-first star if there ever was one, at least in my books), Rafer Alston (and his undying love for taking stupid stupid three point shots he rarely makes) and Yao and Scola’s win at all costs. How does Adelman plan on managing these egos? One things for sure, it’s going to be fun to watch him try.

Props to Sacremento for trading away a guy who didn’t want to be there, and getting good value back. Forgetting Bobby Jackson, Donte Green is, in my opinion a top-level prospect whos going to be able to score and defend at a high level. And a first round pick is always good, because I have a feeling (and call me crazy for this) that Houston just maybe could slip to the lottery. I see San Antonio, Dallas, Phoenix, Utah, New Orleans (my championship pick), the hated Lakers, Portland and another wild card team like Denver, or maybe even the Clippers (who have a scary big inside duo and one of the best point guards period.) all being better than Houston this coming season. At which point Houston will have no legitimate prospect, no first round pick, and three very very unhappy and unhealthy all-stars. Sounds like a long season for the Rockets.
For those of you who disagree with me, heres the other side of the story, presented by LayupDrill.com

Say goodbye to the fro, Childress chooses Europe over NBA.

Championship Impact: This has little to no impact here. What it does do, is make Atlanta’s chances of making the playoffs and improving on last season decrease. Childress’ departure will hurt the Hawks.

Long Term Impact: Again, this only hurts the Hawks. They loose their glue guy and a young player who was coming into his own. What this does is further push a growing trend of players moving to Europe over continuing in the NBA. Players such as Carlos Delfino, Primoz Brezec, Bostjan Nachbar & others, have chosen to move their careers overseas. True Hoop questions whether this may happen again and how we should take this as Childress is the first American born player to make this move. I think it is very interesting and should be taken as a sign that NBA teams need to step up and pay their stars or are at risk of losing them. The Hawks did not offer Childress the money he though he deserved and rightfully so he went elsewhere. The long term impact here is that this trend could expand to other players and the NBA is at risk of losing some of its great talent.

Fantasy Impact: Not so much here. Other players on the Hawks stand to gain as Joe Johnson & Mike Bibby retain their value. Salim Stoudemaire could take more minutes at SG while the Hawks will still need to fill in their back-up SF spot. Keep an eye our for more Hawks moves. If Josh Smith goes elsewhere the Hawks will be in serious trouble and may go from promising young team to lottery team in no time.

Championship Impact: This trade does not have much immediate impact on either team. We can’t possibly know for New Jersey as that pick could end up being anyone. As for the Warriors, this does not help them with winning a championship THIS season, but it could help them inch closer to one of the final Western Conference playoff spots. It will be tight this year as Portland, Dallas, Denver, L.A. Clippers & The Warriors will all be fighting tooth and nail for the final West playoff spots. With Marcus Williams around it makes the Warriors second unit much stronger and who knows how helpful a solid second unit can be.

Long Term Impact: Here is where I see the most benefit for the Warriors. With Devin Harris taking the brunt of the PG duties Williams’ services became expendable. Williams still has a lot of potential and with the run and gun Warriors that skill could be realized. Down the road, this trade will be great for the Warriors as it is possible that Williams is a true starting PG in the NBA. I personally see Monta Ellis as more of a two guard and although he will start at point this season I don’t see him as a good distributor. Williams could be the Warriors PG of the future and all it cost them was a pick.

Fantsy Impact. This trade does not have much fantasy implication. It does however, ensure that Devin Harris will not have to battle for time and may not even average high 30’s in minutes player. Although Global Basketball News points out that Williams fate was sealed when the Nets traded for Keyon Dooling. Look to draft Harris as a decent 2nd PG and solid 3rd point guard (depending on league depth). As for Golden State, anything is possible with Don Nelson at the helm. Williams should be the back-up PG this season but could be in and out of the rotation if Nelson likes C.J. Watson instead. I think he should be ok as long as he stays in Nelson’s good graces. Keep Williams on your watch list in case of any injury to a starter in the Warriors back court.

Roko (Leni) Ukic I have been talking about since he was drafted. So much so to Ztrain that if I were Japanese he could mistaken him for GODZILLA!

Ukic was drafted in 2005 in the 2nd round, 41st overall. It was believed that Ukic would stay in Europe for a few years. He was actually projected by most draft experts to be taken in the first round (16th overall) but the Raptors chose Joey Graham instead and had Ukic fall to them anyway.

As a side note, Calderon went undrafted in this same draft and Ukic was actually one of the reasons Calderon left for the NBA as Ukic was brought in to play for TAU Cerámica, Calderon’s team. Calderon then bolted for the NBA and the rest is history there.

Roko Ukic is 6′5 with decent speed and loves dishing to his teammates and is a point guard NBA teams love to have, quick and tall and a guy who loves utilizing the 1 on 1 game effectively. His highlights against a Raptors team in an exhibition game suggest some major talent:

Roko displays some amazing talent. A few people suggest that his game style didn’t suit the European style of play as Roko is not much of a defensive player. Hoops Addict said last year that Roko needs the NBA.

I can’t help but draw comparisons to Calderon, both were 24 when signed by the Raptors, both signed 3-year deals. They both play a team style of basketball and look to dish the ball before shooting. Calderon’s stats are quite unimpressive and if you’d ask that he would be doing what he’s doing now in the NBA based on his 6 PPG and 7.6 PPG before he “broke out” into a 13.3 PPG player I may have laughed. Ukic has similar stats with 12.7 PPG with adding a few rebounds and assists.

He’s going to be our backup and while he may have some growing pains, he may turn out just like Calderon a very good point guard. If you catch his videos, he has a ton of skill and potential.

If you haven’t already heard, after two long years out of basketball, Darius Miles is returning to the NBA, or at least attempting to.  The name probably sounds familiar to most of you, but for those who haven’t followed the NBA for years, here’s a little background information.

Miles was drafted third overall in the 2000 draft by the LA Clippers.  After two years, he was traded the the Cavaliers, who then decided two years later that he wouldn’t mesh well with young Lebron James for character reasons (that should tell you something).  He then spent three years on the infamous “Jail Blazers” and was as famous for his attitude as his phenomenal athletic ability.  Then the infamous arthroscopic knee surgery took place.  Miles’ knee was so far gone, that it was deemed “career-ending” by the NBA. 

Flash back to two years later in the here and now.  Miles is attempting a comeback, something that would be unheard of if not for the fact that Miles is still only turning 27 years old.  Hes just hitting what should be his prime, and if he has half the athleticism he used to, could contribute to the NBA.  He seems pretty confident, saying “I feel like I’m a starter in this league — on a lot of teams I really should be a starter”.  He also said that what he really wants is to come off the bench for a playoff team. 

Here is why any contending team should snap Miles up.

a) Hes only asking for the minimum, which means hes one of those cheap veterans that can make oh so big a difference in the stretch run, while still enabling you to give your other guys big money.

b)If he can’t make it past ten games, then you didn’t lose too much, because he obviously wasn’t in anybody’s plans before a week ago.  Low risk, potentially very high reward (a double digit scoring sixth man, with potential to be a great defender)

c)The man is an athletic marvel.  Flat footed, he jumped and touched the top of the backboard square.  That’s 11 feet off the ground!  We already know he can score too, so even if hes unable to play at the same level he used too, hopefully the injury has helped him mature. 

Deceptively Quick thinks otherwise though, talking about Miles attitude problems, and examines the more troubled side of Miles.  We all know how talented he is, but is the attitude there yet?

In any case, I personally would like to see him head to the Hornets.  Chris Paul is mature beyond his years, and the idea of a ridiculous Chris Paul to Darius Miles highlight reel just makes me shiver.  Besides, New Orleans has all the things Miles wants, and he brings things to the table that can only make them better.  Not too mention do a little damage to Portland too, who should be taking over the league within five years.