Who’s the Best MC: Comparing Hoops and Hip-Hop

Hip-Hop and hoops are inextricably linked.  Ballers want to rap, rappers want to ball, and fans of one are often supporters of the other.  Why?  Both worlds share a common culture.  Pro and college basketball players today often hail from urban playgrounds where Hip-Hop has its roots.  Basketball as an art form is smooth, spontaneous, and the definition of cool, truly poetry in motion, just like Hip-Hop.  If you can’t think on your feet, you won’t succeed in either.  Free-styling is the same as breaking your man down off the dribble; you try to undress that man, expose him, and prove just how bad you are.

I've been thinking about the link between these two art forms for a long time now, and I wanted to do a piece that spoke to both.  They’re two of my very favorite things in life, and the parallels are too viscerally obvious to ignore.  So here I compare some of the NBA’s best players to some of my favorite rappers.

Kevin Durant is to Basketball what G.U.R.U. was and is to Hip-Hop

The pinnacle of smooth, both men could make women compete in a bra tossing competition, one with a silk jumper and the other with that melodious voice.

Listen to GURU, close your eyes, and I swear you’ll see Durant give a little in-out dribble, cross over, and splash the bottom of the net.  And if you have no imagination:

Both men are/were (RIP GURU) the best at what they do, but most people will never know that because neither man was a sellout or a self-promoter.  The game, the art; that’s what mattered to GURU and what clearly matters to Durant, who, on the flip side of the LeBron James bombast, very quietly signed a long term extension for the Thunder this offseason.

Both men possess prodigious talent: Durant as a string bean scoring machine and GURU as a 5’8” menace on the microphone.  But in the end, it’s mostly the voice (or the jumper) that gets you up.

LeBron James is Kanye West

When James and West hit their respective scenes, they were going to change the game.  Each was next big thing, the one to take the mantle and become the greatest of all time, LeBron with his astounding athleticism and throwback, all-court game, Kanye with his endless bag of innovative beats, gimmicks, and endlessly catchy production.

Hell, "Jesus Walks" may as well have been the theme song for James when he entered the league.

But now:

and

Fame and expectations are ugly monsters in either music or sports.  We caught a glimpse of the talent that both West and James possessed and immediately put them in our media overexposure machine that eventually drives everyone crazy (look no further than Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, and Tom Cruise).  James hasn’t come unglued like West, but we have seen him change.  He’s become more egocentric and increasingly less self-aware but more self-conscious, if that’s possible.  It’s a pity for both men.  Ego doesn’t come on its own; it’s augmented by those that enable it, and West and James deal with millions of enablers every day.

As a result, we see the confusion of both James and West.  They seem to be asking, “What do you want from us.  How can we get you to love us?”  But the truth is we didn’t want to love them.  We wanted to consume them, so we did.  It’s a shame too, because we may never see either man reach the full potential of his talents, the very same talents that drew so many of us to them in the first place.

Kobe Bryant is (sigh) P Diddy

I don’t like it either but just wait.  Listen.  Hear me out.  I know Diddy is a horrible rapper, and Kobe is an all-time great, but the parallels are there.

First let’s think about what each man is in his essence.  Kobe is a scorer; that’s it.  Diddy is a business man.  Both men share a singular focus in their respective realms.  Kobe just wants to put the ball in the basket, and Diddy just wants to put money in his pocket.

Second, each man is detestable to the majority of people that consume either hoops or Hip-Hop.  Without an affable bone in their respective bodies, neither man has a lick of charisma.  In fact, both have rather grating personalities.  When either attempts to look friendly, it couldn’t feel more forced (Alex Rodriguez fits this mold for baseball).

Third, neither guy gives a damn what you think.  If Kanye and LeBron have been weighed down by expectations or the ire of the public, Diddy and Kobe have been spurred on by them.  Kobe thrives when people question him and excels especially when he perceives others doubt his abilities.  Diddy, though roundly disrespected as an MC, could honestly care less what anyone thinks so long as he keeps raking in eight figures each year.  Diddy and Kobe both lack that natural human quality of wanting to be liked, or at least lost it somewhere along the way, yet both have been successful for it.

One last thought: Kobe started his career in the shadow of Shaq and Diddy began as Biggie’s sidekick.  See, pretty similar after all.

Shaquille O’Neal is Snoop Dogg

Okay, not stylistically, not by a long shot, but in other ways these men have had very similar careers.  Both Shaq and Snoop burst on the scene in the early 90s and were dominant right away.  Shaq was the biggest physical force since Wilt.  Snoop was the coolest, smoothest rapper maybe ever.  Both had incredibly impressive runs from the late 90s to the early 2000s: Shaq winning three rings and Snoop churning out hits and reactivating his prime on The Chronic 2001.

Both have since seen their skills diminish—either from wear and tear, or from cumulative cannabis use—yet both men have managed to stay relevant.  Shaq keeps switching teams and chasing rings with Steve Nash, LeBron, and now the Boston Three Party.  Snoop continues to record music, even if it sucks.

The most striking parallel though is in their crossover appeal.  Both started as somewhat of a mystery to us—Shaq mumbled and Snoop was downright shy—but since have become celebrities outside of rap and hoops, at times in spite of their primary careers.  Shaq has recorded his own rap albums, done movies, appeared on talk shows, made millions in endorsements, and become a sound bite machine.

Snoop is now mostly famous outside of his rapping career, appearing whenever a dorky studio show wants to add some pop culture relevance/street cred.

Both also had messy breakups (Snoop and Suge Knight, Shaq with Kobe) while in Los Angeles.  Though this doesn’t relate Shaq and Snoop, Shaq kind of looks like Suge Knight—just thought I’d point that out.  And both men really weren’t better after they split with their partners.  Shaq declined rapidly and D-Wade carried him to a title.  Snoop’s music got increasingly soft, and lost the gangsta edge so many of us loved.

Tim Duncan is Barry Manilow

Haha got ya.  But it’s kinda true, right?

Allen Iverson is Eminem

Oops, I just broke a cardinal sports rule: Never compare a white guy to a black guy.  But do you really think Nash and Eminem are all that similar?  I certainly don’t.

Here’s why the Marshall Matthers-to-Iverson comparison works.  At a certain point in their respective careers, both were considered the very best at what they do despite huge disadvantages (Eminem was a white rapper, Iverson a 6-foot NBA MVP).  Also because of these disadvantages both were considered some of the toughest, most bad-ass men to ever grace a mic or lace up the shoes.

Second, despite their rough outward appearances, both are great interviews, incredibly smart and articulate men, and not without sensitivity.  Even though both had to be the toughest men in their lines of work, both possessed a reflective, contemplative side.

Third, any time you watched either one of these guys live, you knew there was one reason they were great: Doubters.  Both men performed with Stonehenge-sized chips on their shoulders, and it made them great.  They always wanted the biggest challenge possible.

Michael Jordan is Rakim

Simply, these two are considered the best all time at what they did, and with good reason.  Both were all around talents.  Jordan: lock down defense, evolutionary athlete, biggest competitor in the history of the sport, clutch, possessed every move in the offensive toolkit.  Rakim: Smooth, great flow, incredible lyrics, smart, witty, great DJ (consider Eric B his Scottie Pippen).  And just like Jordan, Rakim knew he was the baddest man alive.

Tupac, Biggie, Big L, Big Pun, ODB, and The D.O.C. are Len Bias, Jay Williams, Grant Hill, Penny Hardaway, Tracy McGrady, and Yao Ming

Either death or injury robbed us of these mega-talents who, if given more time, may have been the very best ever at what they did.  I would argue that Biggie still is the best, but I digress.

Now let’s see some clips of these short lived greats:

Tupac

Biggie

Big L

Big Pun

Len Bias

Jay Williams

Grant Hill (Sorry for the horrible song, just mute it and watch.)

Penny (And you’re welcome for this musical selection, back on the right track!)

TMac

Sorry folks, but Yao Ming highlights just aren’t that fun to watch, unless you love plodding centers that shoot nothing but baby hooks.  ODB and DOC don’t have great youtube clips because Ol’ Dirty is mostly incomprehensible and DOC emerged too early.  But go get DOC’s No One Can do it Better right now!  You won’t regret it.

The Celtics are the Wu-Tang Clan

Both clans are tight-knit, grimy, and run at least nine deep.  The Wu has respect from the entire rap community, but they aren't overly famous.  Every team in the NBA fears Boston, and yet there is no singular "superstar" on the team.  Rajon Rondo qualifies as a one of the best players in the game but for whatever reason hasn't attained superstar attention or treatment.

The Wu's style is all about the strengths of each individual member complementing the overall success of the group.  RZA brings the beats, GZA the thought provoking lyrics, Raekwon the crazy slang, ODB the cocaine and insanity, Inspectah Deck the wicked flow, Method Man the humor and style, Ghostface brings versatillity and I could go on.  The Celtics have the exact same approach.  No single player is more important than the team.  Rondo brings the vision and involves the rest of the crew.  Ray Allen is simply the pure shooter.  Paul Pierce is the slasher and the closer.  Kevin Garnett is the soul of the team and the rim protector.  The bench mob of Jeff Green, Glen Davis, Delonte West, and Shaq bring energy, experience, and size.

“Rugged” is the word that comes to mind when I think of either the Celts or the Wu.  Call me crazy, but when the Celtics are smothering people with their defense, I can think of only one song.

Just replace "Wu-Tang Clan" with "The Boston Celtics" at the beginning of that title and you have Boston's personal motto.  "The Boston Celtics ain't nuthin to..."  Well, you get it.

The possible comparisons between hoops and Hip-Hop are virtually endless.  You really can’t have one without the other.  The two push each other, because in both worlds creativity, innovation, and historical greatness are the end goals (and making an appalling amount of money).

--from Adam

Internet Watch #11

Read Jason Whitlock's take on the Super Bowl and how it puts the entire NFL in perspective.

Here are two of Adam's prophetic articles from '09.  His first is a piece about Brett Favre vs. the Packers and in the second he gives up some Laker love prior to their Championship-winning season.

Life imitates art.

Hoopism: where computer geeks take on basketball.  Check out this recent highlight, The NBA's Greatest Shots.

Mike D'Antoni needs to change his offense if he wants to maximize Carmelo Anthony's production.

This guy makes $15 million.

Catch and Shoot: Deron Williams and Carmelo Anthony

Looking at the Deron Williams trade to New Jersey

Nets Perspective: The Nets traded point guard Devin Harris and this year’s third overall pick, Derrick Favors, to acquire Williams.  New Jersey made the deal to land a superstar and shed some salary, perhaps to add another star down the road.  They found their superstar in the 26-year-old Williams, a great player for at least the next 5-7 years.  Harris is a near All Star-level player, and Favors could develop into a very good player down the road.  If you compare what the Knicks gave up for Carmelo Anthony and what the Nets gave up for Williams, it’s not even close.  The Nets paid a very high price to get their man, but prevailing NBA logic says that if you can deal for a sure-fire star, you pull the trigger, made easier in this case as Harris has probably plateaued in his development and Favors is a “what if” player.  There’s no way of knowing if Favors will hit his ceiling, so dealing these two for a sure thing was a good move.

Jazz Perspective: In trading a superstar, you never get back equal value.  Shaquille O'Neal was traded for Lamar Odom, Brian Grant, and Caron Butler.  Anthony was dealt for Danilo Gallinari, Raymond Felton, Wilson Chandler, Tim Mosgov, and a pick.  So you may ask, “Why trade him at all?”  Williams was unhappy in Utah and would have left when he hit the free agent market in two years.  From that point of view, it makes sense to deal him.  If you’re going to lose a star, you may as well get something in return.  The Cavaliers and Raptors got nothing but a few picks for LeBron James and Chris Bosh, and they are now probably the two worst teams in the league.  In Harris, the Jazz get a relatively young guard who can score and facilitate.  Favors joins a talented Utah front court that already boasts Paul Milsap and Al Jefferson.  The Jazz may even be able to stay in the playoff race this year, but certainly they will not be a championship contender.  The only way this move really pays of for Utah is if Favors becomes a star, but we just have to wait and see on that.  The Jazz are starting fresh with the resignation of Jerry Sloan and the exodus of Williams, yet they start fresh with some nice building blocks.  As a Jazz fan, you can’t ask for much more, and it could have been much worse.

Carmelo Anthony Bolts for the Big Apple

Knicks Perspective: Some argue that the Knicks gave up too much to acquire Anthony.  I think in keeping Landry Fields and acquiring Corey Brewer as part of the trade, those concerns are invalid.  Brewer replaces Chandler well, Anthony is a huge upgrade over Gallinari, and Chanucey Billups is just as productive as Felton.  In essence, Anthony was the best player that moved in this trade by far, and the Knicks got him, so it’s a win on their end.   Pairing Anthony with Amare Stoudemire gives the Knicks two of best 20 players in the game today, and both are young—Stoudemire is 28, Anthony 26—with futures ahead of them.  Stoudemire is third in the league in scoring while Anthony ranks fifth.  The Knicks now have as good a duo as any team in the league and may even go out and acquire another big piece down the road.

In the NBA, a single player has a bigger impact than in almost any other team sport.  Only five guys are on the court at a time, so one guy can make a huge difference.  LeBron James' absence has meant a 50 win difference for the Cavaliers...in the wrong direction.  Felton, Chandler, and Gallinari were playing well, but their numbers were inflated in Mike D’antoni’s run-'n'-gun system.  None of those players has superstar-level talent.  Role players can always be replaced; superstars are rare. 

Some would agree with my argument but say, “The Knicks could have just waited for the off-season and signed Carmelo without giving up a thing.”  That’s flawed thinking because with a looming lockout, Anthony likely would have signed a $65 million extension with the Nuggets rather than risk getting far less money under the new collective bargaining agreement.   If there’s a lockout and Anthony hadn’t signed with Denver, he would have been without any contract.  With the lockout as a strong possibility as it is, he almost certainly would have taken the guaranteed money from the Nuggets.

Nuggets Perspective: "Well, crap," is what Nuggets fans are thinking.  It’s kind of like when someone you love is seriously ill, but you have months to prepare for the inevitable.  You know they’re going to leave you, but at least you have some time to get mentally prepared.  No Nugget fans were surprised by Anthony's departure, but it doesn’t mean they weren’t sad or disappointed.  The Knicks had most of the leverage in this deal because they knew Anthony didn’t want to go to the Nets.  They also knew the Nuggets desperately wanted to get something for Anthony.  So as the only true bidder in the Carmelo sweepstakes, they could lowball Denver.  The Nuggets get a solid point guard in  Felton, probably top-15 in the league.  Chandler is a talented and athletic young player, but he is a role player to be sure.  The biggest talent the Nuggets acquired was Gallinari, a 6’10” pure shooter and versatile offensive player.  There are concerns about his knees holding up, but the game is there.  They also acquired a project big man in Mozgov.  Again, in the NBA, three nice players do not equal one great one.  With five guys on the court, one of them has to be able to dominate and take over the game.  Denver didn’t get anybody in this trade that can do that.  What they did get is a nice foundation and some salary cap room.  If they can lure a true star to Denver to replace the one they just lost, or somehow find one in the draft, they will have some very nice players to surround him with.  JR Smith, Aaron Afflalo, Gallinari, Felton, Chandler, and Ty Lawson represent some very good young players who have a future with the team.

Which Player is the Bigger Piece: Anthony complements another superstar in Stoudemire, so acquiring him might seem like the bigger splash, but Williams is the better singular building block.   The NBA is a point guard-driven league, and Williams is as good any point man in the game.  When you get Williams, every player on your team immediately gets better because of his court vision and ability to set up other players with great looks.  Anthony improves your team because he is scoring machine, but he doesn’t impact his teammates in the same way Williams does.

Recap: The Nets and Knicks are the big winners because they got the stars.  The Jazz did as well as you can when you trade your franchise player.  The Nuggets did slightly worse, but were pretty much hamstrung because Anthony only wanted to go to the Knicks, so they had to settle for a moderate package.  Still, they got something, and that’s better than letting your star walk for free.

--from Adam

Looking Forward to the NBA’s Stretch Run

With the All Star Weekend shortening last week’s slate of games, I’ve decided to break down what I’m looking for as we approach the postseason in lieu of my weekly Power Poll.

The All Star Game is over, and with less than 30 regular season games remaining for most teams, the NBA’s intensity is about to ratchet up a notch.  For those of you worried that your favorite team’s All Star will be tired from playing in Sunday’s game, don’t be.  The guys playing Sunday were the only NBA players who weren’t getting black out drunk for the entire weekend.  With that settled let’s discuss:

1. The Bulls Joining the League’s Elite

Joakim Noah will be back soon, I swear.  And when he’s back, the Bulls will be a truly scary team.  They have a certifiable superstar in Derrick Rose.  Not just a stat sheet stuffer, though he is that too, Rose presents an impossible matchup.  Nobody can stay in front of him, and you can’t sag off him like you would Rajon Rondo because Rose’s jumper has become a true weapon.  He makes the right play almost every time he has the ball.  Carlso Boozer is one of the top-10 power forwards in the game, a damn good player.  He’s great from mid-range and has a good back-to-the-basket arsenal.  He provides the Bulls with a reliable half court scoring option that they didn’t have last year.  One of the best three or four rebounders in the league, Noah is a tremendous athlete, defends the rim as well as anyone, and has an improving offensive game.  He also is the rare, talented player that also provides an energy boost whenever he’s on the floor.  Plus, he’s a nasty competitor and a winner—two National Championship titles at Florida.  Amidst Rose, Boozer, and Noah, you almost forget about Luol Deng, who quietly averages 18 points and 6 rebounds a game with excellent efficiency.  A smart player who stays within himself, Deng also leads the team in minutes per game.  The Bulls have one superstar in Rose and three star players, or very near it, in Boozer, Noah, and Deng.  Rose will get 25 points, Boozer 15-25, Deng will chip in 15-20, and Noah will snatch boards, block shots, and run the floor with abandon.  Each of the four players in that group provides a different element that you can count on every night.  Then consider a bench that features Taj Gibson, a second year-forward that’s very skilled offensively; Kyle Korver, sometimes a liability defensively but is one of the very best long distance shooters in the game; Ronnie Brewer, a tremendous athlete with a limited offensive game but an excellent defender with playoff experience; and Kurt Thomas, a rolling ball of rock hard muscle.  He’s not going to get off the ground, but you will not back him down in the post.  The Bulls bring every element you could want—experience, speed, length, offensive firepower, shooting, dribble penetration, athleticism—it’s all there.  And for me, the icing on the cake is that their head coach is Tom Thibodeau, the original architect of the great Celtics defense.  He has made the Bulls similarly tough to score against.  If Chicago runs up against Boston in the playoffs—a good possibility—Thibodeau will know everything Boston is going to do and will have the personnel to exploit it.  And since they run Boston’s defense, the Bulls will also frustrate the Heat as well, which has given Miami fits this year.

2. A Contender Making a Trade

Opposing All Stars, Now Teammates

Somebody will pull the trigger on a move.  It may not be a huge move, but it will be something significant to impact a rotation, change game plans, and affect chemistry.  Maybe the Lakers pursue a point guard, the Bulls or Celtics acquire Anthony Parker, or the Mavericks find some bench athleticism in exchange for Caron Butler’s expiring contract.  And maybe, just maybe, the Knicks can land Carmelo Anthony, though the more these teams negotiate without a deal, the more I think he might be stuck in Denver for the year.  He could go to New Jersey right now, but he doesn’t want to.  He wants to be a Knick, but New York doesn’t want to give away their whole roster for him.  I support the Knicks in that decision.  Anthony is very good, but between him and Amare Stoudemire you have two prolific scorers who don’t play much defense.  Anthony is a great singular talent, but is not worth the entire Knicks roster, especially when they might still be able to get him after the year in free agency.

Well, it looks like that Knick deal went through.  Denver ships Anthony to New York along with Chauncey Billups, Shelden Williams, Anthony Carter, and Renaldo Balkman.  In return, the Nuggets get Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov,  a 2014 first-round draft pick from New York, and additional second round picks from Golden State.

3. The Heat Gelling

Get It Together

This is more of a hope than a prediction; I think it’s possible though.  They’ve been together for almost 60 games now, have been through the media circus, and have won a lot of games.  They’ve got to figure out a plan for half-court offense though.   The pick-and-roll game is their best answer with Dwyane Wade and LeBron James getting screens from Chris Bosh.  Since the big three bring a lot of the same elements to the table, you can’t just have them spread out and run a free flowing offense.  James and Wade just are not great spot-up shooters, and Bosh doesn’t thrive with his back to the hoop.  This means that all three guys need space to operate and be effective.  With the pick-and-roll, James/Wade will either get a driving lane to the hoop where they can finish or kick it out, or Bosh curling to the hoop for the finish or popping out to mid-range territory where he can shoot or drive past a slower defender.  The pick-and-roll also causes teams to help, switch, and make quick decisions on defense, so this could also lead to open looks for marksmen James Jones and Mike Miller.  Those two will have to make shots consistently for this team to succeed in playoffs.  Even if the Heat do all this effectively, they still sorely lack a true back-to-the-basket post player that can suck defenses in and create foul trouble for opponents.

4. The Lakers Recovering

The Black Mamba: Coiled and Ready to Strike

They’re 38-18, but if you’ve been reading headlines and watching TV, you’d think they were in danger of missing the playoffs.  I don’t want to discount all of their struggles lately—to be sure, they’ve looked lethargic, disinterested, slow, and lazy.  Only the slow part really worries me though because the other three are byproducts of mid-February NBA basketball for a team that’s been to the Finals three straight years.  They’ve played an astronomical number of games these past four years, and they just don’t have the mental energy to care about a mid-season game in Charlotte.  But they are slow, and that could hurt, especially on defense.  Ron Artest looks like his feet are stuck in the mud at times, and Derek Fisher can’t stay in front of anyone.  That’s worrisome with the likes of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Tony Parker, Deron Williams, Rondo and others lurking in the playoffs.  Still, as their only glaring weakness, it’s no different than last year.  In fact, with the addition of Steve Blake, the point guard position has actually gotten slightly better than last year’s team.  Matt Barnes is also an excellent defender who has been out injured, but he should be back in the next couple of weeks.  The All Star break came at the perfect time for the Lakers, allowing them to charge their batteries, take a break from the grind, and come back refocused on refining their playoff gameplan over these last 30 games.  Andrew Bynum is healthy (please knock on nearest piece of wood), Pau Gasol can be great when fed the ball, and Kobe Bryant looked like he was 25 again in the All Star game.  Lamar Odom has played at an elite level all year, and I look for Shannon Brown to get his game back in the closing segment of the season.  Los Angeles is still the most dangerous half-court offense in the league with the best size in the league, the best coach, and the best playoff performer.  Sure, Los Angeles has a few issues, but I think most any team in the league would trade their set of problems for the Lakers’.

5. The Spurs Coasting

A Familiar Sight for the Rest of the Season

This is not coasting in the sense of mailing it in—I assure Gregg Popovich will never let that happen—what I mean is that with a six-game lead over their nearest competitor, San Antonio will be able to rest some key guys down the stretch.  The Spurs have only 26 games left, and at 46-10, would only have to go 14-12 to finish with 60 wins, a simple task for this highly efficient, well-oiled machine of a club.  If they can win say ten of their first fourteen games coming off the break, they should glide to the West’s #1 seed.  That’s great news for Spurs fans that have worried all year about a crash from their aging roster.  Popovich has done a miraculous job managing his veteran’s minutes all season.  By playing eleven guys consistently, nobody on the team exceeds 33 minutes a game.  Tim Duncan is putting in a career low 29 minutes per contest.  Thus, an already well rested Spurs team should be able to take entire games off down the stretch, and could easily have nothing to play for the 7 -10 games.  Rest always trumps rust for a veteran unit like the Spurs who can play their way into form against whoever they face as the #8 seed.

6. Playoffs Baby

We’ve talked a bit about the playoffs already, but now let’s dig deep.  I really believe these upcoming playoffs could be the best we’ve seen in years.  Yes, the East will have a few stinkers in the first round with the 76ers and Pacers currently filling the seventh and eighth spots respectively.  No way can either of those teams run with Boston, Miami, or Chicago in a seven game series.  But after that it gets really good out.  The Knicks are currently slotted in the sixth spot, and while they won’t beat any of the East’s top teams, they play exciting basketball and Madison Square Garden belongs in the postseason.  It’s just a great venue, and having the Knicks back in the party will be a fun element we’ve been missing in recent years.  The 4 vs. 5 matchup will almost certainly be the Magic and the Hawks squaring off, a more competitive series than people might think.  The Magic will be favored because they’ve made deep playoff runs the past two years and have the most dominant player in the series, Dwight Howard.  Yet, Orlando has serious deficiencies.  Chief among them are that they really have no second star to take the burden off Howard and they rely way too much on the three ball.  Atlanta may not be good enough to exploit these weaknesses, but they could push the series to six or seven games.  Then, I think we get Boston vs. Orlando and Chicago vs. Miami in the East Semis.  In the first matchup you get two teams that know and hate each other, and have faced off the past two years in the playoffs.  The latter matchup pits the young gun teams that don’t have a rivalry yet but could develop one right now.  With Rose and Noah at point guard and center, the Bulls are poised to exploit the Heat’s two biggest positions of weakness, and as mentioned, Thibodeau has been a huge headache for James throughout his career.  I think Boston might make quick work of Orlando again, but the Bulls and Heat could go to seven.  Then we would get either Heat vs. Boston, which everyone wants, or Bulls vs. Boston, which would also be great.  (See the 2009 Celtics-Bulls playoff series that went to seven games where only three of those games weren’t decided in overtime.)

Next let’s stroll over to the Western Conference.  Perhaps there aren’t as many elite teams in the West as in the East—I think Boston, Chicago, and Miami are all serious championship contenders—but its a much deeper conference.  The team currently seeded one spot out of the West playoffs, the Grizzlies, are four games over .500; the East’s current eighth seed, the Pacers, is six games under.  As it stands right now, the West matchups would be Spurs vs. Jazz as the 1 vs. 8 that pits Deron Williams, Paul Milsap, and Al Jefferson against Tony Parker, Manu Ginobli, and Duncan…not bad; Mavericks vs. Nuggets, the 2 vs. 7, though this will be subject to change for Anthony-less Denver; Lakers vs. Hornets, 3 vs. 6, despite the disparity in talent and experience, Chris Paul represents a huge matchup issue for LA that probably negates a possible sweep; and Thunder vs. Blazers, 4 vs. 5 matchup, no way the banged up Blazers can steal a series from the likes of Durant and Westbrook.  Then in the West Semis I would predict Spurs vs. Thunder and Lakers vs. Mavericks.  The Thunder-Spurs matchup would be great much like last year’s Thunder-Lakers series was: A young, up-and-coming team with two super stars would take on the epitome of a veteran squad with a deep and balanced attack.  I think the Spurs are too good inside, too deep, and matchup too respectably at point guard—Parker can stay with Westbrook at least a little—for the Thunder to take the series.  The Mavericks are playing well, and will likely have the home court advantage over LA, but they have nobody to guard Kobe or Gasol and I don’t think they could match the Lakers’ size advantage, even with Tyson Chandler.  That would set up an epic Lakers-Spurs West Final.

Let’s hope we can get a Boston, Miami, LA, and San Antonio Final Four.  That would guarantee as good as any Finals pairings in recent memory, great ratings for the NBA, and great games for you and me.

--from Adam

(images from 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

SHOOT OUT!

Repeat Offenders: The 2011 Green Bay Packers

While repeating as Super Bowl champions is incredibly difficult, the Green Bay Packers have a great shot to do exactly that.  Normally when teams win it all they have the perfect storm of luck, talent, and health.  Yet, the Packers really couldn’t have been less healthy than they were this year.  In fact, unless lightning strikes in the same spot twice, they’re almost assured of being a healthier team heading into—and throughout—next season.   So if they hoisted Lombardi’s trophy this year getting less than perfect breaks, what do you think they could do next year?

I hear you, “The Saints had it all coming back this year, and they couldn’t do it.”  Or, “The Steelers missed the playoffs in both seasons following their last two Super Bowls.”  I get it, and that’s true.  The NFL is the most competitive league on Earth and repeating success is unimaginably tough, but in Title Town, there are many reasons to think differently.

#1: Aaron Rodgers

The People's Champ

This guy is just walking in the door of his prime playing years, and as he showed during this past playoff run, he is fully capable of playing as good as any quarterback in NFL history.  That’s what he did against Philadelphia, Atlanta, Chicago, and Pittsburgh.

Rodgers may put on the title belt as a celebration, but it may as well be a tool belt because he has every instrument imaginable at his disposal: Great feet, huge arm, laser-like accuracy, great awareness, tremendous vision, coolness in the huddle and the pocket, a sponge-like mind for the game, and an insatiable desire to prepare and get better.  This guy is Peyton Manning with a quicker release and twice the athleticism.  He’s not just a top-3 quarterback in the league; he ranks in the top three in terms of any characteristic you would want from a signal caller.

He did have concussion scares last season, but with a new helmet, increasingly strict league rules, an improving offensive line, and Rodgers’ own increased self-awareness, I don’t think he’ll take too many major head shots next year.  Plus, Matt Flynn is a more than capable fill-in for a few games if need be.

#2: This is Green Bay.  It ain’t New Orleans.

Say all you want that the excessive partying in New Orleans didn’t give the Saints a hangover heading into this season, but I don’t buy it.  That whole city had been devastated by Hurricane Katrina.  In winning the Super Bowl, its citizens and the team itself found the perfect excuse (and I totally supported it) to go nuts.  They deserved it, and after the Saints won their ring you could almost feel the whole city exhale.   The Saints were no longer the “Ain’ts,” and they had done so much to revive their city.  It was practically expected for the players to get caught up in the history and magnitude of that moment.  There was simply no way they would be totally focused for the new season, and early on this year, it showed.

Conversely, Green Bay, Wisconsin is nothing but the Packers.  We aren’t looking to party all offseason.  Hell, we just can’t wait for the next season to kick off.  The Packers reflect this in their management and in their players.   The fire burning from the Packers’ championship has already started to dim in the media, whereas New Orleans is still looking for ways to celebrate its Super Bowl from two years ago.   I can’t help but think the low-key nature of Green Bay—and the singular football focus Wisconsin as a state displays—will help keep the Packers on the winning track.

Also unlike New Orleans, we aren’t coming back from tragedy, but we are coming back from Brett Favre treason.  And the only way for us to recover as a collective culture is through more football success.  Every Packer win in the next ten years not only fuels a football crazed state but also puts the treachery of Favre further on the backburner.   

#3: Did I mention the Packers were a bit dinged up this year?

Game Over?  Not Quite

Jermichael Finley, Ryan Grant, James Starks, Mark Tauscher, Rodgers, Donald Driver, Clay Matthews, Nick Barnett, Brady Poppinga, Brandon Chillar, Brad Jones, Cullen Jenkins, Johnny Jolly, Atari Bigby, Morgan Burnett, Al Harris.  No, I didn’t just name the entire Green Bay Roster; I named players that either missed some time or most of the season to injury.  Finley, who has the talent to be an All Pro tight end, hardly saw the field as a Week 5 injury derailed his season.  Grant, a perennial 1200 yard rusher, was lost after just Week 1.  The whole linebacking corps was decimated by injury, and Harris and Bigby were thought to be essential components of the secondary entering this season.

You have to assume Green Bay will be playing with a fuller deck next year than they did this, especially with the return of Finley and Grant.  Granted, some of these players may not be back as the Pack will lose at least some to free agency.  Barnett is Pro Bowl-level player, though Desmond Bishop is younger and had a strong showing, so he may be expendable.  Harris was let go because Tramon Williams suddenly became a star corner.

The story of the 2010 Packers, one guy goes down and another guy steps up and plays even better.  Now Green Bay will get back most of its injured guys and combine them with young, former backups that got huge experience this year.

Just imagine that the Packers make a move or two in free agency and have another solid draft to help bolster the offensive line.  Then the all-world Rodgers is sitting behind a potentially excellent group of blockers, handing off to recovered Pro Bowler Grant and the emerging Starks, and passing to the NFL's deepest receiving corps, which includes superstar Greg Jennings and Finley, maybe the most physically gifted tight end in the league.

Then imagine the defense, which despite the injuries, was the 2^nd best unit in the NFL.  BJ Raji is among the top five interior linemen in the league.  Jenkins is a terrific defensive end who’s still in his prime.  Matthews is the best pass rusher in football.  AJ Hawk comes off his best year as a pro.  Barnett or Bishop will start inside as well.  Jones, who showed a good deal of promise as a rookie two years ago, will be back opposite Matthews.  Williams and Sam Shields represent one of the youngest and most talented corner duos in football.  Charles Woodson is aging, but that won’t matter because as Shields and Williams have emerged as such sticky cover men, Woodson can play wherever he wants.  His position should just be called, “havoc,” because that’s what he creates all over the field all the time.  Nick Collins might be the best safety in the NFC who made perhaps the play of the Super Bowl with his pick six.  Opposite him the Packers will have the choice of three young, talented safeties in Bigby, Charlie Peprah, and Burnett.

#4: The Packers have the second youngest roster in the league…

…that gained a tremendous amount of experience and confidence by winning the Super Bowl.  Nothing will build a young player’s confidence like playing for the best team in the sport.  Rodgers, Starks, Jennings, James Jones, Finley, Josh Sitton, Bryan Bulaga, Raji, Matthews, Hawk, Williams, Shields, Collins.  All of those guys are either stars or potential stars; the oldest guy on the list is 28.  Expect improvement.  Scary.

#5: Ted Thompson, Mike McCarthy, and Dom Capers

Thompson just keeps pulling all the right strings in the personnel department, keeping the Packers financially stable, stocked with talent, and high on character.  McCarthy has full command of the offense, all the right pieces to run his scheme, and the respect that comes with being a Super Bowl winning head coach.  Capers is simply a genius with the best defensive personnel in the league.

Conclusion:  So there you have it, irrefutable evidence points to a Packer repeat.  You can accuse me of gushing about the Packers, but is there anything I said that isn’t true?  This team is stocked, locked, and loaded for another run at the trophy which calls Green Bay its true home.

--from Adam

(first image from blippett.com and second from thesportsbank.net)

Season Wrap Up: Pick-Down Final Standings

Final Results	Adam	Eric
Total Points	182	161
Playoff Record	8-3	5-6
Combined Record (Regular Season and Playoffs)	156-111	156-111

Hey Adam, congratulations ya bastard!

Why Andrew Bynum Must Be Traded

Pick me!

Disclaimer: The premise of this article rests on the assumption that the rumors of an Andrew Bynum-for-Carmelo Anthony swap are in fact feasible, which might not be the case with the Nets and Nuggets agreeing to a deal in principle.  But if they are, the Lakers absolutely must make that trade.

I’ve been a defender of Bynum for a long time, citing his potential, his talent, his rare size, etc.  And in part, that’s valid.  Today’s NBA is center-deprived, and Bynum represents what could be a huge matchup advantage in Los Angeles’ favor for years to come.  He could be a dominant pivot man and a franchise cornerstone.  Yet “could be” is always the key phrase.

Potential is a dangerous thing because it tantalizes us and keeps our eyes locked on the future, sometimes causing us to miss what’s happening right under our noses.  And what’s been happening with Bynum over the last few years is alarming if you’re a Laker fan.   He’s missed 96 regular season games in the past three seasons.  That’s 32 games per season—or nearly half of each year—that he’s in street clothes.  Yes Bynum is only 23 years old, and when healthy, he can be a dominant force, but his healthiest and best extended stretch of play came last year when he averaged 15 points and 8 rebounds over 65 games.  Then he tore his meniscus, extremely limiting his effectiveness in the playoffs, and has missed nearly half of this current season.  15 and 8 is nice, but it isn’t astounding; it isn’t franchise player material.  Besides, you only get that type production for about half the time that he’s actually on the floor, the other half he looks slow and unacclimated into the action.

And though he is young, he has not shown much growth even after six years in the league.  Anthony was playing in his third All Star game by his sixth year; Bynum has yet to make even one All Star appearance at a relatively weak position league-wide.  Eventually potential has to turn into something more.  It has to become consistent, reliable, difference-making production.

Anthony was a star essentially the minute he stepped onto the NBA hardwood.  He had huge potential and realized it almost immediately, yet he still has room to grow.  He’s only 26 years old, he scores 25 points a game, and he’s always healthy.  Bynum could be a guy to build around if everything breaks just right and you get lucky with his knees.  Anthony is that guy you can build around.  No, he’s not the rare seven-footer, but he’s the equally rare top-ten caliber player.

And he’s available right now.

Not making this deal is like saying, “There’s a free mansion down the block that we can move into, but if we just wait, maybe Publisher’s Clearing House will show up and give us 50 million dollars and we can build our own even better mansion.”  Yeah, it might happen, but the odds are about 1 in 20 million (roughly the odds of Bynum staying healthy) and you’ve got this other great option right in front of your face.

You may argue that the Lakers’ size is their strength and they can’t give it up if they want to beat Boston.  Maybe, but their length won’t be a strong point if Bynum is on injured reserve, and if he gets banged up, who knows if the Lakers will even make the Western Conference Finals, never mind the NBA Finals.  With Bynum healthy right now, it’s not as if the Lakers are tearing through the league.  In fact, they’re getting hammered by the likes of Charlotte and Cleveland.

The other thing nobody is talking about, Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol are getting old quick.  Yes Bynum is a nice inside complement to Bryant on the perimeter, and Anthony might not fit perfectly with what the Lakers want to do, but at some point Los Angeles has to stop building their franchise around the 32-year-old Bryant with 15 years of NBA tread on his tires.  Anthony helps the Lakers in the short run by giving them a surefire All Star that’s going to be on the court each night. He helps them long-term because he’s still young and has shown he’s capable of being the best player on a good playoff team.

Laker fans, look three years in the future: Kobe is 35 and on his last legs, Gasol is 33 and no longer elite.  Do you really want the future of your franchise to rest on a largely unproven, incredibly injury-prone Andrew Bynum?  Or would you rather be building around a still in his prime Carmelo Anthony who has shown that he can be a top-5 NBA player?

The NBA is a two star league.   If you have two true stars, you can make a deep playoff run.  The Lakers will always have money because they’re the Lakers.  Once Bryant and Gasol are gone they could still have Anthony, meaning they would be just one more All Star away from another long run of excellence.  And if we’ve seen anything with today’s stars, it’s that they want to play together.  Anthony and Showtime would make a pretty attractive combination for any big ticket free agent that hits the market in the coming years.

And let’s revisit the, “Carmelo wouldn’t work for with this current Laker roster” argument.    The Lakers’ starting five would most likely be Chauncey Billups, Bryant, Anthony, Lamar Odom, and Gasol—Billups is rumored to be involved in any deal with Anthony, so he would come to LA as well.  Every guy in that lineup has All Star talent and three are top-15 talents in the league right now.  That lineup might not be the longest unit in the NBA, but it would be the most talented, best scoring, and most experienced in the league.  Plus, Ron Artest, Steve Blake, Derek Fisher, Shannon Brown, and Matt Barnes isn’t a bad bench, though they would need to find another forward/center to play 10-15 minutes per game.

Billups and Bryant are two of the best clutch shooters in the game, Anthony can do absolutely anything on the offensive end, Gasol is the best post scorer in the league, and Odom does everything.   Chemistry might be an issue initially, but I think with all that talent and experience they could overcome just about anything.   How would you guard this team over a 7 game series?  Who do you double team?  Who can you take away?  This would be one of the most frightening starting fives in NBA history.  Can the Lakers afford to pass that up as they continue to get beaten up by sub-par teams?  The answer is no.

Ultimately, the Bynum dilemma comes down to a case of what might be vs. what surely is.  Even if Bynum reaches his top potential, he still might not be the player Anthony is right now.   This trade makes sense in the present because Anthony is a sure-fire big time contributor, and it makes sense for the future because he is a true franchise building block.  There’s no “what if” with Anthony, whereas Bynum has handicapped the Lakers with nothing but “what ifs” for far too long.  The time is now, the iron is hot, and the choice is clear.  Anthony to Los Angeles makes too much sense not to happen.

--from Adam