The eve of the real NBA season

The Mavericks are one win or one Phoenix loss away from locking up home court throughout the playoffs. The Mavs seem bored at this point and are taking turns at sitting out games to rest up for the postseason. The Spurs on the other hand are playing great basketball right now and look poised to make an impressive showing this Spring. I think the final four of the NBA playoffs will be Dallas and San Antonio in the West and Detroit and Miami in the East. I also believe that it will be a coin toss to see who goes to the Finals in both series. The Finals will be heavily contested but I like the winner of the Dallas San Antonio series to be hoisting the trophy at seasons end.

Gators Dominate

The Florida Gators easily handled the Ohio State Buckeyes beating them 84-75 to win their second straight state championship. Greg Oden dominated in the paint for the Buckeyes on both offense and defense, but Florida scored 32 of their first 40 points from the perimeter cancelling out the super freshman's impact.
The fallout from the game is that four of The Gators impact players are declaring early for the draft. Cory Brewer, Al Horfors, Joikem Noah, and Taurean Green are all heading for the NBA early and figure to be drafted. All except Green figure to be picked in the top 10.
The Buckeye nation is still holding their collective breath on Oden's decision to either stay or head for the NBA. My money is that he'll stay for one more year.

Revenge!

It's time for the Buckeye nation to get their shots in, its time for revenge. The Ohio State Buckeyes have an opprtunity to avenge the football's team humiliating defeat to the Florida Gators in the National Championship, and to avenge a blowout loss in Gainsville earlier this year. Superfrosh Greg Oden was still ailing from a right wrist injury and the young OSU club (three freshman starters) was still gelling at that point. They are a different team and this is a different venue.
That being said, I still like Florida to repeat. They are just too deep and too talented. They have experience, confidence, and superior talent. The only team that can even compare with the Gators level of talent is the Buckeyes who have a ligitament shot to upset Florida.
Dont forget that OSU has won 22 straight games and have won in a variety of ways.
Either way it should be a good game. Oh by the way, I chose both of these teams to make it to the championship, with OSU beating the Gators and to cut the nets down. We'll see, it all goes down in less than an hour.

Final 4 is Set

There is only four teams left vying for the ultimate prize in Hotlanta. #1 Ohio State (my pick to win it all) won the South region Saturday and was the first team to secure a spot in Atlanta aftr beatin Memphis 92-67. Super freshman Greg Oden had 17 points and nine rebounds and dominated the game with his shot blocking prescence while in the game. The Buckeyes have looked vulnerable at times during the tournament but have continued to survive and advance.

March Madness???

Shhhh! Don't tell anyone but the first two rounds of March Madness were fantastic! Don't let all the one month (every March) college basketball fans fool you; the level of competition, emotion and skill level was at its highest. All that the wannabe NCAA basketball fans want (besides their picks i.e. brackets to win) is a series of underdogs to root for and favorites whos demise they see as their divine right to ridicule and laugh at. Duke is a perfect example. Anyone who reads my blog knows that I am no Blue Devil's fan, but I was surprised how quick the media were to trash their favorite school. Dickie V, whom I am a big fan of and ESPN, has never been afraid to play favorites. Duke has been their undisputed college basketball mascot for almost two decades. ESPN, always trying to feign objectivity took this opportunity to trash the Blue Devils following their humbling first round loss to VCU. It led SportScenter, it was on the front page of their website, and every radio talk show host proclaimed how this was proof that they did not love their mistress Duke.
Wow! Congratulations ESPN! You took the opportunity to kick a program (that has been the face of an enire sport and made tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars for you) while its down. What a statement. What a stand for journalism! You certainly have made your point! Jump ship and get out before it goes down and proclaim that you didnt fund the voyage. Dont look now true college basketball fans but I think Atlas has shrugged.

No Worries in D-Town

Every pundit, every hater, every Spurs fan, every Suns fan, etc. has been waiting for the Mavs to lose following that 17 game win streak that was just ended by Jason Richardson and the Warriors. I heard "Warr-iors!?" all day from the haters mimicking the cult classic movie. All I could say was, "hey, if you are that excited about one loss than they must be doing something right."
That was not the cou-de- gras though; that came two days later when the Mavs let a double digit lead slip away to Super Nash and the Suns in the waning seconds of Wednesday's game. To many of the haters out there (and you know who you are), it was another sign of The Mavs inability to close out close games against tough competition. What a joke! The Mavs have the best record in the NBA, they have the best record against the elite (2-1 over Suns, 2-1 over the Spurs this year), and oh by the way they knocked both of those teams out of the playoffs last year. Don't forget the last time the Mavs and Suns hooked up Dirk hit a J in the last seconds to seal a victory.
To me it showed what a great OFFENSIVE player Nash is, and what a great competitor he is as well. To Mav fans and anyone who watches more than a handful of their hometown team's games a year it was just an aberration and maybe even a much needed wake up call for a Dallas team that has devoured the competition for much of the year...
That being said, they need to get it together and start winning again. The Mavs Maniacs are not used to losing anymore, especially not two in a row.
Look for my next post on the first weekend of March Madness. (The first round should be a national holiday!)

Teflon Coach

Why do some people seem to get breaks with the media? Why are some public figures roasted at the steak every time they step out of line while others get away with highway robbery? There may not be an answer to the question of unexplainable public perceptions. One thing is for sure, Coach K is definitely one of those public figures who always seems to come out of scandals looking clean. Why? Is he really that powerful, I think not. The latest scandal coming out of Duke is the intentional foul or flying forearm/elbow by Gerald Henderson to UNC'S Tyler Hansboro that knocked the Tar Heel to the floor, breaking his nose, and spouting blood all over his jersey and the floor. It was late in the game and was the Dukies fourth loss out of five to their hated rivals.
What's crazy is all the people who have proclaimed to have seen the replay of the mugging and have then turned around and said that it was obviously unintentional. What are they looking at? Why are they defending Duke? Does Coach K have dirty pictures on most of the media and is holding them over their heads daring them to say something negative about his program? What a joke! Coach K is like Tim Robbins character in the Shawshank Redemption, "He crawled through a river of shit and came out clean on the other side."
I don't think Coach K is evil, or that he even runs a dirty program, but I do think that he receives preferential treatment for no reason other than the fact that a) he has been tremendously successful and b) he schmoozes the press.
His comments after the game did little to suppress the feeling that he had given out the order for the hit on Hansboro. "The game was over, or at least the outcome was, Coach K said. "I don't know why those kids were out there in the first place. I guess that's what happens, so be it."
I guess this is what happens when the media lets an individual become bigger than the game and allows him to wield too much power.