Both Teams Played Hard

It was a good game, both teams played hard. Both teams played hard, my man. Both teams played hard. Both teams played hard, God bless and good night.

-Rasheed Wallace

I like post game press conferences. I like trying to name the reporters asking questions while at the same time convincing myself that I don't have a sports problem. For anyone wondering, I'm about 50% this post season. I need to spend the off season working on my local newspapers.

But sometimes I wish all press conferences were like Rasheed's because then we could just move on to playing the next game. Instead, we get canned responses and overreactions. We had Dirk saying that this was a huge momentum swing for the Mavs. Of course he would say that. He has to. They have to believe that as a team to try and get a leg up. Of course LeBron blames the defense. He wouldn't dare say he bailed out the Mavs defense by taking 26 footers for the last 5 minutes of the game. Of course the Mavs said that Wade's pose after his three pointer in front fo their bench motivated them. Of course coach Spoelstra says his team will respond. None of this should come as a surprise to anyone.

Nor should this series being tied at 1 game a piece going back to Dallas. There was a moment when I was expecting Miami to sweep somewhere between 9 minutes left in the game and Wade's 3 pointer. I even had a Dwyane F. Wade tweet loaded up to send before deciding to take a more even tempered approach. But we all knew this would end up being a back and forth series.

After Game 1 we were planning parade routes in Miami. After Game 2 we were on the phone with the engravers spelling Nowitzki. I think they hand out the MVP after Game 3, so be sure to stick around for the post game.

Win Watch

With players' preseason predictions (in some cases- Mr. Wallace- overt and other cases- Mr. Artest and your backwards Number of Wins- less so) in mind, let's look at how that hubris is shaking out for L.A. and Boston.

Boston already has 10 losses (as does Cleveland), which is nothing to be ashamed of by any means. Unless, of course, you had the 72-Win Bulls in your sights. In which case, all you have to do is win the remainder of your games.

If that doesn't pan out, Boston, you can still shoot for the second best regular season record of all time (1971-72 Lakers' 69-win season).

At 19-8, the Kobes have a better shot. They can afford TWO losses between now and the end of the regular season (or three losses to tie it up with their 71-72 counterparts). Which should be a zen-like cakewalk given the lack of injuries, trade rumors that are bound to destroy Bynum's toughness, and the inevitable Kardashian disruptions.

Chicago, in their enchanted season, had 60 wins by the time that 8th loss crept around (with 14 games to play). I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that neither Wallace nor Artest is gonna see their predictions come true.

I know: ballsy call on my part.

Weekend Roundup

Bango the Buck:
Scoring 55 points as a rookie is impressive, especially 8 games into the season. Brandon Jennings antics have just about upstaged Bango the Buck as the most exciting thing in Milwaukee, but doing it against the Warriors is about as impressive as this. I mean come on, he is using a trampoline.

Boston Celtics Countdown to 10 losses: 3
Mired in a two game losing skid to the formidable Hawks and Psycho T and the Pacers leaves RaSheed's prediction in doubt for the All-Star game let alone the entire season.

Sacramento Kings Wins: 5
Don't book that trip to Hawaii yet Spike, you might be using that money for courtside seats.

Atlanta Hawks - 'Nique or Keefe:
An 8-2 start with some really quality wins so far (POR, DEN, BOS) leaves us leaning 'Nique on this.

910 Conversation: Atlantic Division

BOSTON CELTICS

There are plenty of storylines this year with Boston. How is KG? Really, how is he? How healthy are the old-timers? Do the Big Three have on more Big One in them? How will the offseason's soap opera affect Rondo? Have they done enough to keep pace with the movers and shakers of the East? If so, do they have what it takes to beat L.A.? Mainstream media will pay plenty of attention to those questions and more, so we’re simply going to focus on one number: 10.

Rasheed Wallace, that shrinking violet, reportedly predicted 72 wins for this year’s Celtics. For a team that nearly everybody (both of us included, southern California media excluded) likes to follow, we’re keeping it simple. We’re gonna countdown those 10 losses.

NEW JERSEY NETTES

Confession: I used to be a NJ fan. I have a blue and red 1994 hat. Drazen Petrovic is one of my all-time favorite players. I loved Mookie Blaylock, Keith Van Horn, Jason Kidd. I even sort of held on during the VC phase. But, like Snoop Dogg’s marriage, it fizzled. Maybe that doesn't make me a true fan (but what are the governing rules of allegiance for picking your second or third team? I mean, I'll always be a Jazz fan first. After that, it's been the Dominique era Hawks, the Drazen era Nets, etc. I think you're allowed some whims and crushes for anything after your main team.)

Looking over the roster, there are certainly players with potential: Harris, Lopez, Simmons, Lee…I even liked Douglas-Roberts at Memphis. But, zzzzzz.

What really struck us was the concentration of girls’ names on this roster:

Courtney

Brook

Bobbi

Chris

Devin

Is this a basketball team or a spirit squad? So, we’re dubbing them the Nettes (or Real Housewives of New Jersey) and keeping tabs on how this A Team Of Their Own fares with the rigors of being a WNBA team in the NBA. Also, we’re hoping they can lure Stacey Augmon and Dominique Wilkins out of retirement.

NEW YORK KNICKS

As a Utah fan, I have one and only one reason to care about the Knicks this year:

Utah owns the Knicks’ 2010 first round pick.

Please let them suck in epic ways. Please give the New York Post all sorts of “Not In The Knick Of Time” and other crappy headline puns on blowing it. All season, we’ll keep track of how Utah’s draft chances look and who the top prospects are.

PHILADELPHIA 76ers

As well-documented Springsteen fans, we’ll call this season Glory Days. We’ll check in with current and former Sixers to see how they view this season in contrast with past seasons (both players AND the franchise).

TORONTO RAPTORS

A team on the brink of losing its superstar in the gag-inducing hype of 2010 free agency tries to assemble a cast that’ll keep him there. But we’re after the story that’s really concerning the Raptors’ front office:

HOW CAN THE RAPTORS BECOME CANADA’S TEAM?

We’ll watch the power rankings of polled Canucks and their team preferences, as the Raptors fluctuate up and down. Will they end the season at the top? Or will they have Canadians asking, “NB, eh?” Stay tuned. Especially you, Chris Bosh.

Injury Report 4.3

Injury Reports have become one of Charlie T's signature posts. But I've been blog-negligent lately and the only strand pulling me out is an injury report. So here we go:

JAZZ EDITION
Carlos Boozer (ever winning back Jazz fans) is unlikely.

Paul Milsap (inspiring Jazz fans to pray, fast, and/or kill for him to stay) is a mortal lock.

Jerry Sloan (suiting up to show an underachieving team what it means to care) is probable.

REST OF THE LEAGUE
L.A. Lakers (hoping the Bobcats don't make the playoffs) are unspoken.

Tyler Hansbrough (giving teams visions of Mark Madsen and the Ghost of Eric Montross) is probable.

Philadelphia 76ers (missing Elton Brand) are doubtful.

Allen Iverson (actually out with a back injury) is complete and utter malarkey.

Joe Dumars (having patience for complete and utter malarkey) is out for the season.

Rasheed Wallace (not being the Pistons' residential talented headache) is surprised.

Detroit Pissed-Ons

The Pistons, Pissed-Ons, Pissed-Offs...are strugggggggling. And it's ugly. Normally dominant- a veritable force in the East for years now- on what's considered one of the toughest homecourts, even DEE-Troit has become inhospitable. Jack White is pissed. Eminem will be, when he finally emerges from his Brian Wilson-esque sandbox. The facts:

– 8 straight losses (most consecutive since 94-95, when Don Chaney and rookie Grant Hill were running things, Rodman was getting traded, Allan Houston was slipping away, and the shotcallers were busy signing Christian Laettner, Loy Vaught, Cedric Ceballos, and the late Bison Dele)

– 6-18 in the last 24 games (I am too dense to navigate 82games.com, but I'm sure there's somewhere I could find out how that compares to the rest of the league. My gut tells me that it's in the lower quarter. My gut also tells me to work out, but look where that's gotten me.)

–Detroit is a loss or two away from their total losses from last season, which included a near-trademark run into (and out of) the Eastern Conference Finals.

–A.I., normally a warrior, left in the first quarter, which can only mean either he's really hurt (my guess) or he's throwing in the towel (the average Piston fan's guess). Speaking of towel throwing...

–Sheed, normally a talker, talked and also toweled and left in the fourth quarter, which isn't abnormal. I don't fault him either, unlike some blogs who are calling for his head, pointing the finger like Sheed is the one who made all of this happen. I disagree. At least somebody is showing some fire and some impatience with the losing ways.

–Rip Hamilton finally stopped putting on the happy face(mask) with this team-building soundbite:

"I've said I'm happy to come off the bench as long as we're winning," Hamilton said. "But we're losing. We're now 4-12 with me coming the bench. Something's got to change."

Joe Dumars has some big decisions to make. For a few years, in spite of their Eastern Conference Finals streak, some folks have called for Blowing It Up And Starting Over. It might finally be time. You hear that, Mr. Dumars, that is the sound of inevitability.

Dream Team-Up, Pt. 8

Team Name: Wallaces and Gromit
Team Members: RaSheed Wallace and Gerald Wallace

Maybe you thought we would put Ben back with 'Sheed to remake the good ol' days in Detroit. We would have, but Ben is no longer fun to watch play. There is no logical reason why these two would be put together other than Rasheed is a big man and Gerald is a high flying perimeter type guy. And they share the same surname. Thats really it. As you can see some of the pairings are a little less obvious and unlikely.

But why the Gromit? Why not just the Wallace's? Or Meet the Wallace's? Is it just to play off of the popular British claymation duo? (Which is probably the most dreamy of all the dream team-ups)


The Gromit is not a dog. It is the spot of hair on the back of 'Sheed's head. (see below)


Aside from all of the oddities of this pairing, we think they would play really well together. Gerald, when he isn't hurt, flies around inside and RaSheed would rather shoot 30 foot three pointers. Its the perfect inverse pairing.