Game 7. National TV. Celtics short-handed.
It all adds up to another amazing, yet unsurprising, triple-double performance by Rajon Rondo. The most frustrating thing about Rajon Rondo is that at any given moment he can morph into the best player on the court – no matter who is playing.His 9th career playoff triple-double now puts him in a tie with Wilt Chamberlain and one behind Larry Bird for third all-time, and two behind Jason Kidd for second. Magic is the all-time leader with a staggering 30 triple-doubles in 13 years.
“People don’t mix orange juice and milk simply because they’re both cold and staples of the morning” —
The most succinctly accurate synopsis of why the Knicks’ vision of teaming Amar’e and Melo was a horrible idea.
Furthermore, Percey Davis provides a brilliant account of the Amar’e saga in New York. I think we can all agree that James Dolan, Donald Sterling, and David Kahn are the Big Three of horrible NBA decision-makers – off the court that is. Apologies to Ramon Sessions for the confusion.
UPDATE: I believe I have just solved the ills of my two most hated teams. One trade will save both the Knicks and the Lakers: Pau for Amar’e. For the Knicks, Pau gives them a big guy that doesn’t need to command the ball and will let Melo do whatever he wants, while solidifying the middle with Tyson Chandler. On the west coast, Amar’e gives the Lakers a dynamic big man whose game can easily fit with Kobe, and might give the team a duo (Bynum and Amar’e) to build on when Kobe hangs it up. In fact, why don’t the Lakers fire Mike Brown and hire Mike D’Antoni? D’Antoni, Kobe, Amar’e…now that would be fun to watch.
I can’t believe I just said that.
Another great find by foldback.
“Chris Paul, Tony Allen, Lebron James, Serge Ibaka, Dwight Howard” —
NBA All-Defensive Team 2012
Umm, isn’t someone missing?
Why aren’t the Yankees in last place? The Red Sox.
[video]
Monta Exel…a nickname is born.
Since the mid-90s I have always been a fan of little guys who had the ability to score 20 points in the blink of an eye. The quintessential example in my youth was Nick Van Exel. He was, and hopefully forever will be, the only Laker outside of Magic when he returned in 1995 (remember that ball fake on Sprewell?) that I actively rooted for. Van Exel only averaged over 20 ppg once, his last season in Denver, but every now and then he would suddenly drop 40 points in a hail of threes. This scoring acumen was the reason that, outside of the Kemp/Schrempf team, Van Exel and Vlade Divac were my prized duo in NBA Jam on the Game Boy (only on the Game Boy and Sega CD could you play Van Exel…some guy named Worthy was in the other versions).
Van Exel then begat Bobby Jackson, who begat Earl Boykins, who begat my current favorite Monta Ellis. Whether coincidence or by design, all of these players have played for either the Nuggets or Warriors – both historically run-and-gun teams – at some point in their career. Either way, I love watching these guys.
Speaking of NBA players I love. On a whim I drafted up my top 10:
Honorable Mentions:
The Onion wins again.
“LeBron left Cleveland to get a little help. Is he suddenly right back where he started?” —
Frontpage of the ESPN website.
Really, ESPN? Lebron James is such a basketball messiah that you would give Dwayne Wade the same distinction of Boobie Gibson? Granted, Wade has been no hero against the Pacers, but are you really going to call him one of Lebron’s “overmatched teammates”? Let us not forget that it was Wade who put the Heat on his back in 2006 and ripped the championship ring from Dirk Nowitzki’s finger. How did Lebron fair against that same opponent six years later?
Focusing back on last night’s old fashioned ass-whuppin’ handed down by the Pacers, it cannot be stressed enough that the Heat’s true messiah last night was Mario Chalmers (25 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 0 turnovers) and, in fact, it was Lebron who was an “overmatched teammate”. Although he finished with 22 points, Lebron was dreadful in the second half, scoring just 6 points on 3-9 shooting.
More to the point, however, Lebron James once again exhibited his timid, “I don’t want the ball” nature, which he has inexplicably adopted since losing to the Spurs in the 2007 NBA Finals. Not once in the second half did James attempt a shot in the paint, instead settling for six jumpers from more than 17 feet away from the hoop, of which he made one. By the end of the third quarter, the Pacer’s had stretched their lead to 14 points, holding the Heat to just 12 points in the quarter. What did Lebron do to open the fourth quarter? If you said, “Take charge and light up the Pacers”, you clearly haven’t been watching NBA basketball in the last five years. It wasn’t until the 8 minute mark that Lebron attempted his first shot of the quarter.
That’s right, a 6’9” behemoth of a man could not exact his will upon a far-less talented group of players. Does this sound familiar? Even if you got a D in “NBA history 101”, one name should immediately come to mind: Wilt Chamberlain.
To this day there has never been an athlete that was so physically beyond his competition, able to do anything he desired on the court effortlessly (e.g., 100 points in a game, leading the league in assists, routinely grabbing 30+ rebounds a night). Yet, like Lebron James, Wilt did not have the mental psychology to handle pressure situations. Come playoff time, Chamberlain would routinely back down from the competition, and be dominated by lesser physical specimens (e.g., an aging, worn-down, player-coach Bill Russell in 1968).
Lebron James is so often compared to Michael Jordan, but his statistics, physical capabilities and, to his detriment, psychology align him more with Wilt Chamberlain. Unfortunately for the Heat, I’m not the only one who has made this connection. During last night’s game Danny Granger grabbed Lebron’s jersey on a fast break, halting the play with the obvious foul. Out of frustration Lebron thew an unpenalized, and obvious cheap shot, elbow in the direction of Granger. Granger promptly ran up to James, who shrank away slightly from the conflict, and began having words inches from the messiah’s face. Referees quickly pulled Granger away, but his goal had been accomplished. Much like in Game 2, or any one of those other pressure-filled situations he has participated in since 2007, James went to the free throw line and missed.
This messiah is no savior.
After seeing the argument presented by Got ‘Em Coach, there’s no doubt in my mind that Wade should have been suspended for that blow to Collison.
What happened to you, Dwayne?