Wednesday, June 29, 2011

The Trading Block part 2 of 2


Jose Barea
     The shortest player on the championship Mavs is able to control the tempo, make good decisions, draw defenders with cuts through the lane, and play point guard or shooting guard. His services will be sought after, but expect Dallas to keep him around. He fits well into Dallas' system and they're better together.

Tyson Chandler
      Pretty much every team in the league now wants Tyson Chandler and his defense, hustle, and ability to create second-chance opportunities. Third in Defensive Player of the Year voting, he is valuable playing in the frontcourt with Dirk Nowitzki where he offsets and compliments the former MVP's skill set. Rather than seek more money, say in Sacramento, Tyson should stay in Dallas where he found his niche as a player.

Glen Davis
     The Celtic we call "Big Baby" is now a second bench option to Jeff Green, and has considered taking his talents elsewhere. I could see him fitting in well in Philadelphia; a grinding, well-coached and under-rated team that could use Davis as a scoring option with or without Iguodala in the picture.

Andrei Kirilenko
     Forget triple-doubles, AK-47 used to be the guy to explode the stat sheet with the all-around great 5x5 stat lines. Still a great defender and good shot blocker, his veteran presence could go a long way on the perimeter in Oklahoma City. He wouldn't fight for time with Harden, allowing him to develop and could offset Durant with a defensive mentality. The Clippers could use his defensive presence and leadership on the wing as well.

Tracy MacGrady
     First of all, T-Mac has to get out of the quicksand that is the Detroit Pistons roster right now. If he really wants to spark his career he should sign with New Jersey and try to be a legitimate offensive weapon for Deron Williams and the Nets. He could also be useful for the Utah Jazz who could use some *cough* leadership, and more scoring from the perimeter.

Kenyon Martin
     K-Mart would be perfect in Boston. If Denver ends up re-signing Nene like they want to, they may not have the budget to keep Martin around. The Celtics still need frontcourt help, although Jermaine O'Neal performed admirably, and Martin would be rejuvenated with the veteran squad that eats, sleeps and breathes winning.

Yao Ming
     Yao is now an enigma. A former #1 pick that hasn't been 100% since late in 2005, Yao's strong fanbase continues to vote him into the All-Star game year after year. Though it has been rumoured Yao may never play again if things don't go well, a team like Sacramento may take it's chances on the big man and his marketability. Otherwise, expect him in Houston, if anywhere.

Nene
     Nene is thought by many to be the best free agent on the market and the Nuggets want to resign the resilient Brazilian centre. Nene may test the waters because there is a significant market for his talents, but may end up back in Denver. Teams like the Miami Heat or the Boston Celtics would love the frontcourt versatility and rebounding he provides, but he could also anchor a young team and be able to reach more of his potential on a young team like the Golden State Warriors or Toronto Raptors who need his kind of help the most.

Lamar Odom
     Odom was linked to trade talk already this offseason, and maybe the Lakers are concerned his potential isn't being lived up to, and he faces constant distraction with his LA/ Kardashian lifestyle. He could stay in the Pacific and play for Golden State to take on more of a leadership role, where his diverse skills and fluid play could be best used. Washington also needs a player willing to come off the bench, play big at multiple positions, and mentor the young guys like Wall and Vesely.

Tayshaun Prince
     Prince is another veteran rotting away on the Pistons who need to go into rebuilding mode. With a similar skillset to Tony Allen or Shane Battier, he could be a good fit on the gritty Memphis Grizzlies. In Portland, Prince could provide length and defense on the perimeter on a Trail Blazers team that plays his style of basketball.

Zach Randolph
     Look for Memphis to lock up this player, who had a breakout year with the Grizzlies, but Randolph may test the temperature of interest out there after a strong season, just to see his relative worth. Many smaller-market teams would love to have exactly what he brought to Memphis (toughness and tenacity), such as the Wizards or the Bucks.

Michael Redd
     Redd is a former all-star and Olympian, who has seen his career curtailed by injuries. A great shooter, Redd is still valuable even if not as athletic as he once was. San Antonio does a good job with it's veteran revivals of shooters and Redd could buy into the role of veteran leader. New Jersey is also looking to stockpile weapons around Deron Williams. If Iguodala leaves the Sixers, Redd could be a good fit in Philadelphia too.

Jason Richardson
     Richardson could really shine with the Chicago Bulls. An athletic scorer and dunker, J-Rich has also led the league in three-pointers. If used the right way he could be deadly, but he is close to being "over the hump." He could use a good run at a title with a motivated coach and MVP Rose. With a defensive mindset the offensive punch next to Derrick Rose, J-Rich would look good in a Bulls uniform (almost better than Iguodala).

DeShawn Stevenson
     The Mavs want to keep a good thing rolling, but with the recent acquisition of Rudy Fernandez from Portland, Stevenson may be the odd one out. Barea started for him at the end of the finals, and Caron Butler is coming back as well to crowd the backcourt. He's one of those players the Nets would love to overpay.

David West
     West unexpectedly opted out of his deal in order to become a free agent. His stock is not at it's highest right now after a late season, season-ending injury that saw West miss the end of the regular season and the entire playoffs. It's not confirmed when he'll be 100%, and he's still rehabbing. He could fit into the system in Indiana or Milwaukee as a scoring power forward that either team could use to take them to the next level.

- Devin Gray

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

The Trading Block part 1 of 2



Andrea Bargnani
     Now that DeRozan is the face of the franchise, and the Bargnani experiment is losing the patience of Toronto fans, the Raptors may look to move their former #1 overall pick. Bargs was underwhelming as the team's primary option for the 2010-11 season, but with the lockout looming nothing is imminent. In Orlando, he wouldn't have to rebound next to Dwight Howard and could kill teams from range by straying out to the three-point line to receive kick-out passes from a double-teamed Howard. San Antonio has had a good history of starting low-energy, shooting centres next to Tim Duncan, and Denver or New Orleans could also be a good fit.

Andrew Bynum
      When Bynum took his Lakers jersey off while leaving the floor in Dallas after being ejected for a blow to JJ Barea that was called "bush league," I thought it might be the last time he removed the purple and gold. With calls to "blow up the team," the Lakers may take offers for their talented big man. Young, talented, injury prone, but oozing with potential when he's healthy, he's the kind of player Chris Paul needs to work with in the middle like he did with Tyson Chandler a few seasons ago (Okafor moves to PF), and it might entice Paul to stay in New Orleans. The Heat would love to have a centre of Bynum's quality to fill the lane, and the Raptors could move Bargnani to PF if they had Bynum to rebound, defend and grow with the young team.

Vince Carter
     Does Vince want to win? Or, does Vince just want to get paid? A team like the Bulls would give Vince the ability to cement his legacy on a championship-potential team. The Bulls would whip him into shape, unlike the Knicks where Vince would stay unmotivated (especially on defense).

Baron Davis
     Where can Baron Davis stay motivated? Not in Cleveland with new #1 pick Kyrie Irving. Davis was motivated when he was having fun with Blake and the kids in Clipperland. He may be similarily motivated working with the young core of the Raptors and sending lob passes for DeRozan, Sonny, and the Johnsons.

Monta Ellis
     His scoring could be used in Minnesota, which will need the points this season, or in Phoenix's aging backcourt that likes to run.

Rudy Gay
     After the Grizzlies cinderella playoff run this 2011 postseason, without leading scorer Rudy Gay, speculation was that the club felt they played, perhaps, better without him and he could be traded for another asset. Gay would be a great fit on the Lakers to replace Ron Artest with some real talent and potential. He could also help give some size and scoring punch to the Houston Rockets backcourt. Both the Rockets and Lakers have decent trading chips.

Rip Hamilton
     This mask-wearing veteran needs to find his way out of the mess in Detroit. He is still serviceable and could be a good veteran presence on the Chicago Bulls. He could start, but would also be happy to come off the bench as long as he is respected and given the minutes he deserves (something he didn't get in Detroit), and has a crack at another championship to keep him motivated.


Devin Harris
     The Jazz say they want to hold on to their point-guard they got in exchange for Deron Williams, and drafted Enes Kanter rather then Brandon Knight or Kemba Walker so it looks like they want to keep Devin in the picture. Utah is a good fit for the one-time all-star Harris, but Toronto would be able to provide him the minutes, and the touches, and make him a part of the franchise rebuilding project.

Dwight Howard
      Dwight is too good for any one team to hold on to him. I would love if he stayed in Orlando, but players move to find a winning situation midway through their careers if their drafting team can't impress them. Howard could do some real damage teaming up with Amar'e in the Knicks frontcourt, but without the rich getting richer, I think Howard would be a stabilizing presence on Detroit who could use a competent defender in the paint again.


Andre Iguodala
     This 6'6" forward-guard combo is athletic and plays tremendous defense. He helped team USA to a win in the World Championships last summer. It is rumored the Sixers are looking for trade partners. He has been linked to deals for Golden State's Monta Ellis, and LA's Lamar Odom. The best place for Iggy might be the vacant SG spot in Chicago, where his defense would shine and he would provide Rose with a second option. He could also fit with the LA Clippers to round out their young core, or on the NY Knicks where he would be able to run and also be a defensive compliment to Melo and Amar'e.

Steve Nash
     The Suns say they're keeping him, but that just seems like speculation. Not much is certain yet in terms of finances and the potential lockout so the Suns and Nash have agreed to stay tight-lipped until anything is resolved. Nash has been linked to a few potential trade scenarios, but they're just dreams. One has him rejoining former head coach Mike D'Antoni and running mate Amar'e Stoudemire in New York, where Nash has lived for years, to take over from Chauncey Billups. Miami also needs a crafty and reliable PG, and the rumors persist that Nash wants to come to Canada (and he does), he just wants to win a championship first.

Greg Oden
     This big man can't get a break. And now his contract is up. He owes Portland big-time for sticking with him, and he is acquainted very well with the team's medical staff so he should stay, but he would be a good experiment and a worthwhile chance to take for the Atlanta Hawks who are one piece away, the Toronto Raptors while they wait for Valencuinas, or the Detroit Pistons with lots of trading chips and not much to lose.

Tony Parker
     I hope he spends his career in San Antonio, and he's the youngest of the Big 3 of Duncan-Ginobili-Parker. The Spurs shouldn't break up their trio until Timmy retires. Parker has been rumoured to Toronto, and he'd be an interesting fix at 29 years old, where he'd also have the immediate impact Raptors fans are craving.

Josh Smith
      If the Hawks plan to go in another direction, this athletic but unrefined 6'9" small forward may end up on another roster. His poor shot selection and lack of rebounding focus make him expendable, but could be an asset for certain teams. New Jersey would be a spot willing to pay him, and he's a high enough impact player to keep Deron Williams happy. Smith may also be able to find his niche as a compliment to the loaded backcourt of the run-and-gun Golden State Warriors, or as a more-mobile option in the frontcourt for the Utah Jazz.

JR Smith
      This dynamic scorer needs to find a place that could use his scoring punch and can give Smith major minutes. His unpredictability would be exposed and he could develop as a player with the responsibility of being the go-to scorer on a young team like the Charlotte Bobcats or the Cleveland Cavaliers.

- Devin Gray

Thursday, June 23, 2011

NBA Draft Preview

Pick 1 - Cleveland Cavaliers take Kyrie Irving
The Cavs were gifted with this pick in LeBron karma and have held it tight to their chest ever since. They have also seemed content to let Kyrie Irving rumours fly ever since. When Harrison Barnes, Perry Jones and Jared Sullinger dropped out Irving became the concensus #1. There hasn't even been an inkling that the Cavs would take someone else, even though Irving missed most of his freshman year at Duke. They will also eventually need a replacement for Baron Davis, and he would be a hilarious mentor for Irving.

Pick 2 - Minnesota Timberwolves take Derrick Williams
Derrick Williams is the best player in this draft. The Timberwolves have been teasing other teams with dangling the pick because they supposedly don't need him with Mike Beasley already at the position, but I think Minnesota needs to keep piling up assets. If they can't deal the pick for something they like they can always deal Beasley or Williams later.

Pick 3 - Utah Jazz take Enes Kanter
This pick will send the Cavs into a frenzy because they want Kanter at the 4th pick. The Jazz are rumored to be picking Brandon Knight at PG but with Devin Harris already in place I think they stay with the one-time All-Star and see what a full season can do for him. Enes Kanter is a big unknown after sitting out the full NCAA season because of ineligibility, but he wowed scouts at pre-draft camps with his quickness and athleticism for his size. He could end up the best player in this draft but that's a gamble.

Pick 4 - Cleveland Cavaliers take Jonas Valanciunas
The Cavs will need a big man with this pick and with Kanter off the board they will turn to a big Lithuanian to replace fan-favourite Zydrunas Ilgauskas who followed LeBron to Cleveland. The best players still on the board are Knight and Kemba Walker but the Cavs won't take 2 point guards in the top 5, the T-Wolves showed us all why not to do that in 2009.

Pick 5 - Toronto Raptors take Bismack Biyombo
With Knight and Walker still on the board this is a stretch pick, because the Raps could use a PG to spur their rebuilding. However Biyombo has a huge upside and big potential and would be a nice defender in the front-court for the Raps that they have been missing forever. I kind of hope they take Biyombo, but Kemba Walker would be nice too. Biyombo is a project but the rebuilding Raps can afford to wait.

Pick 6 - Washington Wizards take Kawhi Leonard
With John Wall already in place the Wiz will take an excellent all-around player in San Diego State's Leonard.

Pick 7 - Charlotte Bobcats take Tristan Thompson
Thompson from Brampton Ontario becomes the highest drafted Canadian ever, and will have to impress MJ if he hopes to not be labeled a bust.

Pick 8 - Detroit Pistons take Brandon Knight
Could move Stuckey who hasn't lived up to expectations.

Pick 9 - Milwaukee Bucks take Marcus Morris
The better of the Morris twins, he'll be a solid pro but his potential is somewhat limited.

Pick 10 - Sacramento Kings take Kemba Walker
Would allow Tyreke Evans to play off the ball at SG while somebody else handles the offense.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Dunk Vs: Part 5

JR Smith on Gary Neal vs JR Smith 360 Alley-Oop

     JR Smith is the ultimate NBA could-be. As erratic as can be, Smith shows flashes of brilliance and unstoppable offensive ability. Standing at 6'6", 220 pounds, Smith's ability to blast off the court makes him one of the highest risers in the NBA. Last year Smith scored 12.3 points per game and his career high is just 15.4. His athletic ability combined with his deft shooting touch (in 09/10 he had the second most three pointers in the NBA) should make him one of the top players in the NBA and a perennial All-Star, but he never seems to stay consistent. When Smith is on target he makes it all look too easy, like he's playing a pickup game with the other professionals and dominating. When Smith is not on target he is unbearably frustrating.
 
     Thankfully Dunk Vs judges a player based not on consistency, but on a sporratic moment of exceptional ability. JR Smith has produced many of these in his seven-year NBA career, but the two dunks I've selected are the two most noteworthy. 
 
     When Smith dribbles down the court with less than six seconds on the clock, a smart play might be a desperation three-pointer. But when the defense opens up, Smith finds the lane and takes off to the basket. Gary Neal gets in the way just enough to get blasted into oblivion, and send Smith even higher while legitimizing his hanging on the rim. His swinging on the rim causes the Denver home crowd to whip into a frenzy while Carmelo looks on and nods in approval. Gary Neal falls like a corpse, and JR asks the crowd to let him hear their fervor. This, combined with the announcer's call "We've just seen a man fly! Ride 'em cowboy!" turn this spectacular dunk into spectacle.

     While not a poster dunk on anybody, JR's 360 alley-oop in Minnesota is a stunning rarity in an NBA regular season game. This dunk is the type of dunk Nate Robinson would have to try twelve times in the dunk contest to nail it, and JR pulled it off during a game. Chauncey Billups sends a nice lob, and JR makes it more difficult than it needs to be. But JR has always been a showman.

     As powerful as the dunk on Gary Neal was, the 360-oop is some serious uncharted NBA territory. Like the Snyder/ Wafer Vs Wallace/ Nachbar matchup in Dunk Vs: Part 3 I'm going to argue for originality and creativity over straight bangin'. The dunk over and through Gary Neal is strong, but ranks higher than maybe it should because of the pageantry after the dunk and the announcer's legend-making call. A "360 alley-oop" just sounds cool, and when you see it you know that no announcer's call is needed to explain how spectacular the dunk was. JR's 360 alley-oop is what 360special is all about.

Winner: JR Smith 360 Alley-Oop

Sorry Gary
JR 360

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Dunk Vs: Part 4

Blake Griffin on Timofey Mozgov vs Tyrus Thomas on Jermaine O'Neal

     This episode of Dunk Vs poses the question; "If people say it is a better dunk, is it?" It's hard to put any dunk up against the Griffin-on-Mozgov facial, if not simply because of Griffin's popularity. Blake's rookie season was filled with dunks, 214 of them in fact. Many of them are dunks that would make the career highlights of many decent dunkers pale in comparison to Blake's body of work in just one season.
     No dunk is more emblematic of Blake's season than this crush against the New York Knicks, in LA. LA has been Kobe's town in NBA recent history, but this game made Blake into an overnight celebrity. Both the dunk over Mozgov and the spinning dunk on Gallinari were sensational dunks, and this game's legacy depends on the combination of the two dunks.
     Yet, taken by itself, the dunk on top of Mozgov is a moment that stands alone in Blake's rookie season. It spawned a website, and made us question "what counts as a dunk?" yet again. Blake's throw-in is akin to Dwight Howard's superman dunk contest jam, where dunk is defined as "forcing the ball downwards and through the rim," not necessarily even touching the basket at all.
     Tyrus Thomas' dunk was almost immediately forgotten. More likely it was explained away. Thomas had been a rookie with alot of promise and athletic upside coming out of LSU, but had been a bit of a dud in the NBA and couldn't find any kind of consistency. He showed flashes, and they were often brilliant like this end-to-end play, but the optimism of this dunk being able to define a career wasn't the same as the Griffin dunk. It was as if people said "wow, great highlight, but show me that on a regular basis" and neglected to think of the event by itself, the way we can now on YouTube. There was a time when dunking on Jermaine O'Neal would have meant something, but even at this stage of his career he a more high-profile victim than Mozgov.
     Griffin's dunk is great, and Mozgov's "boost" sends Blake even higher in a Tom Chambers-like mounting. Just when you think Blake has topped out he keeps on rising and whips the ball through the basket with force while seemingly floating. I give Mozgov credit for standing in place, taking the punishment, and neither falling nor even reacting at all.
     Jermaine O'Neal wasn't so lucky as he gets knocked back, slides across the baseline on his butt, and his feet kick up a little bit. It is the full court effort that makes this play stand out initially, but that side-view of the dunk itself shows just how powerful Thomas' extension was.
     Both players are dunking on their home court, but Blake's sends the bigger shockwaves. Nevertheless, I'm going to argue Tyrus Thomas' dunk was better and you can debate me on this. Thomas gets the block on one of Toronto's big men, runs the floor with intent, and knocks his challenger to the ground. Blake's dunk was huge in the halfcourt, but is more of simply a vertical dunk than ploughing through a defender. Plus, he never even touches the rim. Thomas' dunk was underrated, and unloved because of his questionable "bust" status in the NBA. Let this moment stand alone, and for once allow that Blake Griffin isn't the undisputed dunk champ.

Winner: Tyrus Thomas on Jermaine O'Neal

Griffin

Thomas


Monday, June 20, 2011

Dunk Vs: Part 3

Kirk Snyder on Von Wafer vs Gerald Wallace on Bostjan Nachbar

     This dunk matchup is one of unheralded dunks by equally unheralded players. Through the use of YouTube, viewers can now watch dunks on demand, playing and replaying basketball's greatest slams. It also allows dunks to become sensationalized, and set aside from the game itself as a singular highlight, an entity unto itself. A dunk represents momentary triumph; the battle won, but not the war. Yet, on YouTube each play exists for the glorification of that singular moment.
     And this blog exists to glorify it even further. This matchup is "the best dunk you've never seen" both of these from obscure games with obscure dunkers and victims. Of this blog's four-man cast, Wallace is the best-known, but primarily he is known as an underrated player.
     Both dunks got a huge initial reaction from all the people lucky enough to actually be in the building to witness the night those dunks happened. Many people will have watched the games on TV that night and jumped out of their seats on this dunks, but the majority of the people out there (like you and I) sharing and enjoying this dunk are a result of the communicative power of the internet. Still, only a measley 40k people watched the Snyder dunk, while just 16k have viewed the Wallace dunk, but both are dunks that would probably have been forgotten in the pre-YouTube era.
     When you ask people the best dunk they've ever seen, it's an easy call to make Carter over Weis the throwaway #1. He goes over him. It's something that people will argue has never happened before or since, and certainly not in an NBA game. Yet, here we are. And this Dunk Vs series is about the best NBA dunk, not about bending the rules to include international competition. Sure, Von Wafer is no seven-footer, and Kirk Snyder is no Vince Carter, but the effect is the same; completely over a guy. Plus, it's at home, against the Lakers.
     If the Snyder dunk was right over a player, the Wallace dunk might be the best example of going through a player. This is one of the most explosive one-footed dunks I have ever seen and it always surprises me how fast and how high Wallace gets up. Gerald "Crash" Wallace is young in this clip, still with the Kings before becoming the face of the Bobcats and currently with Portland, making him even more of an unknown at the time of this dunk. The twist on the way down makes it almost seem like a 360 dunk, but that's just part of the dismount as he sticks the landing. Wallace is at home too and the crowd responds, and the announcer says the play was "boombastically dunkalicious" or something like that...
     It's a tough call, but I give the nod to Kirk Snyder over Von Wafer. The fact that he goes over the top of him makes this dunk unique. I'm sure that Wallace would have cleared Nachbar with the height he had on this dunk, if their bodies were angled differently. Wallace may have risen higher, and knocked his victim to the ground, but the sound of the rim snapping back on the Kirk Snyder dunk perfectly punctuates an NBA milestone; jumping directly over a player. In the future, there will be a top 10 "dunks over players," but for now Kirk Snyder is a pioneer. Vince Carter's lambasting of Weis may have been the Big Bang, but the Snyder dunk makes it a reality and hopefully Kobe, Melo, Blake, Durant, Bron and Wade, DeMar, Josh Smith and Rudy Gay are watching this right now saying "Ahhh... so it is possible."

Winner: Kirk Snyder on Von Wafer

Snyder

Wallace

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Dunk VS: Part 2

LeBron James on Damon Jones vs LeBron James on James Johnson

     Yes, yes. These are both LeBron dunks. And they're both on players who are totally unprepared to experience LeBron James' athletic shock and awe. LeBron, whether you like him or not, is the most athletically perfect player to ever play the game. He has produced many highlights, but these two capture different moments of his career and capture an otherwise unspectacular player into legendary "dunked on" status.
     The first LeBron dunk came early in his career. He was drafted in 2003, so he was still a new player in the League when he dunked on Damon Jones February 2, 2005. I'm throwing all these dates out here like tombstones, but trust me they're essential for building the mental timeline. At the time, Damon Jones was an ex-teammate of James. You can also see Shaq on the bench, not yet an ex-teammate of LeBron James. Shaq narrates this video and he describes what is a career moment for LeBron. In this dunk he is raw, talented, effortless, and graceful and Damon Jones just happened to photobomb.
     LeBron was young in that dunk. His career was on the rocks by the time the second dunk happened. Facing Chicago in the first round of the 2010 playoffs, it's LeBron's last stand with Cleveland, April 19, 2010. Shaq is in town to win a ring for the King. LeBron has to step up, and as far as statement dunks go, it doesn't get much bigger than this. Damnit, when I rewatch this I remember how unsure everybody was with the Cavs relationship with LeBron and there were already Free Agency rumblings. LeBron needed a championship, or he was leaving.
     Both of the dunks are spectacular because they show the almost-divine power of James at his finest, bearing down on a lesser opponent. And they could be anybody, there are many nameless, could-be and have-been victims of LeBron James in the NBA. Damon Jones and James Johnson are lucky enough to make history with him.
     The first dunk shows LeBron in full stride, wearing a mask for caution, and sprinting with the power of a train. He had come back quickly from a facial injury and the protective mask only made for more show, when Bron removed it to smile at the crowd. And to high-five Robert "Tractor" Traylor, (a more pear-shaped, and less eager Reggie Evans) (RIP "Tractor" who has since passed away). LeBron kind of stares at Damon, and Damon kind of holds his face either in shame or possibly real physical pain inflicted by LeBron James.
     The second dunk is LeBron at his unguardable, half-court iso self. Nobody could have guarded LeBron on that drive. He stared down James Johnson too and I remember this moment as I leaned forward off the couch and yelled "he's gonna do it! he's gonna do it! Ahhh!" Then he explodes to the rim after the slight stutter-step fake from the triple-threat position. Wow, that was with force and the roar became the inspiration for an article I wrote.
     The Cavs won the game against the Bulls at home, but when LeBron was younger, they lost 100-88. You can debate me on this, but I like LeBron's dunk against the Bulls better. It's the quick reflexes and the explosive athleticism of the 1 on 1 matchup that make it a better dunk. Plenty of players have caught other players in the open court, none maybe as big though as LeBron on Damon Jones, but the half-court play is something more rare. I think it's a harder dunk to pull off. And the announcer's call, and LeBron's reaction are better in the James Johnson video. James Johnson almost got there, but Jones could only cower in fear. LeBron wins either way, whether you make it easy for him or not.
Winner: LeBron on James Johnson


Bonus, photo!

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Dunk Vs: Part 1

I will be doing daily blog entries until the NBA draft upon which day, next Thursday June 23rd, I will be finished my year-long Raptors Study; "What's wrong with the Raptors?" as well as how to fix the franchise. For now, get psyched for a weeks worth of Dunk-offs between some of the best dunks of our time. I've focused on the modern era, (ie since I started watching) so I don't think these are necessarily the best of all time, in a meaningful and league-defining way, just in a way that dunks are measured in a game-by-game basis. This means sheer awe, athletic ability, power, swagger, and airtime will all be factors. I have watched more dunks than you can imagine prepping this first blog series and have chosen matchups that work well against each other. Enjoy entry number 1, and stay tuned because things are heating up on 360special.

Kobe Bryant on Dwight Howard vs Dwyane Wade on Anderson Varejao

     To begin with, both of these dunks are poster dunks. They are both composed by dynamic, slashing, celebrity wing guards dunking on bigger opponents. Both are with ferocity, and both dunks are meant to send a message.

     Kobe is welcoming a young Dwight Howard to the league on November 12, 2004. It was just Howard's sixth game in the NBA. As the number one pick in the draft, he was a target for dunkers across the League. Kobe probably surprised Dwight because Kobe was supposed to have a sore foot at the time and Dwight has since gone on to win the NBAs defensive player of the year award for the past three seasons beginning in 2008/09. This dunk shows Dwight's immaturity and is a rare "deer in the headlights" moment for his career.

     Exactly five years later, on November 12, 2009, Wade's dunk on Varejao came at the height of Wade's rivalry with James. When meeting up in their Cleveland vs Miami matchups they always tried to out-do each other. In this series of dunk attempts, James can't finish the dunk that would have swung momentum in Cleveland's favour, and Wade uses his deceptive cross-step foot plant to change direction and catch an unsuspecting Varejao in the air and unprepared.

     Who wins the game? While Kobe's dunk was a statement, his Lakers fell 122-113. Wade's dunk was a crowd-swayer and momentum changer yet his Heat lost 111-104. Neither player managed to win the game after their acrobatic heroics, and we remember with tragic fallacy.

     Wade is at home, Kobe is on the road for their masterpieces. This means the crowd reaction to Wade's jam was bigger, but the imbalance continues onto Youtube. Kobe's dunk has 1,070,453 views while Wade's has 2,268,520. But publicity isn't everything, let's talk about form.

     On Kobe's dunk he knocks Dwight but doesn't topple him. The interaction is closer to a mounting. The Wade dunk is the result of a full-court, transition break that sends Varejao sprawling with his legs over his head. Kobe maybe dunks with more force, but Wade takes the contact and forces the body of Varejao into the ground. Plus, Wade steps over him.

     I have to give the Wade dunk the slight edge. Although Dwight is a more high profile victim, he is not the defensive stopper he is today. And Varejao's feet touching the stanchion over his head while Wade steps over him and the crowd goes wild, lends a swagger to the dunk whereas Kobe's was nonchalant (although it produced the better still photo, see below). Besides, Dwight got his revenge.
Winner: Wade on Varejao 



Tuesday, June 14, 2011

NBA Finals Reflection

     This 2011 NBA finals is the ending of a cycle for me. Events have come full circle in more ways than one. When basketball wrestled a hold in my heart, the Lakers were the undisputed champs at the end of a dynasty. They were talented and enjoyable, but nobody cheers for goliath. When the Pistons collectively beat the Lakers, with the sum greater than their parts in the 2004 NBA finals, and I first bought SLAM magazine, my love of the game took off and has developed exponentially ever since. The Pistons won with heart, they were a solid team that took down a loved yet hated star duo in Shaq and Kobe. This years' Mavericks were similarly positioned with a team compiled from journeymen and veterans determined to win their first championship through teamwork. By knocking off the Miami Heat and LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, the Mavericks proved that talent wins games, but it takes something more to win the NBA championship.

     This season's championship also marks the full circle return to the 2006 finals when I loved Wade. He was my second favourite player in the NBA next to Shawn Marion at the time, who oddly enough met in this finals. Marion was a 20-10 guy, led the league in steals, tops in fantasy, intangibles off the board, had an exciting nickname "The Matrix," caught alley-oops from Steve Nash, and was underrated enough for it to be cool enough to like him. Wade, however, was the young Flash, backed up my a still-(more than)-serviceable Shaquille O'Neal. I cheered for the Heat to beat the Marion-less Mavericks in their original finals meeting in 2006, but look how things changed in 5 years. I used to loathe Dirk, for many reasons, but have very recently come to appreciate him. This Finals, I, like most of the world, seemed to believe Dirk was the lesser of two evils with the hatred surrounding LeBron James and the Heat, but what I didn't expect was to genuinely cheer for Dirk's jumpers to snap twine every time he kicked the leg on that goose-step fade. Dirk was different than he was in 2006, and virtually unguardable. In 2011 he showed poise, composure and clutch, going on scoring runs at the ends of games to secure wins, where choking was the expected norm in the past. Management and coaching put their faith in Dirk and he delivered time and time again. Dirk truly earned Finals MVP.

     Some people will say Mavs coach Rick Carlisle outcoached Heat bench boss Erik Spoelstra, which is true, but Spoelstra relied on a tried and true recipe of LeBron ball-domination which let everybody down. I would try to let Bron off easy, but he wasn't the proven team strategy, and devastating closing machine that made the Heat unbeatable against the Celtics and Bulls in late stretches of games. The media uproar has been cacophonous following the Heat defeat, and I won't dwell on LeBron's failure, but some things irk me. His "Chosen 1" persona led him to tweet following the game "The Greater Man upstairs knows when it's my time, right now isn't the time." LEBRON!, you have to make it your time. I said in my blog response to his initial "decision" last year,

"The court should be LeBron’s sanctuary, free from the media and the hate, where he can just play. “What should I do?” LeBron asks. He should rise to the occasion, play, win and let his game speak for itself. Titles and legacy are within his reach, but he must be clutch amid the pressure. His cage is not permanent, he can free himself if only he roars and really lets the league have it. Then he will be free."

     LeBron failed. And he can't accept criticism, only point fingers even if that means pointing them straight up. Using God as a crutch won't endear you to anybody, nor will the cocksure attitude of simultaneously re-affirming his uninterrupted, self-imposed destiny to win multiple titles and be called The Greatest Of All Time. LeBron averaged just 2.2 points in the 4th quarters of this series and clearly shrunk from the moment. Still, LeBron gets his way in the end; everybody will make this series and this season about him and what he did or didn't do, rather than give the Mavs the credit they deserve. It's just a better story.

     When Mark Jackson said at the mid-way point of the third quarter, "you look at the body language [of this Heat team] and it looks like a heavy weight champ that realizes he's held on too long, he's in trouble," I too realized that it was too late for a comeback, and a Mavs 2011 title was a reality. The Heat were against the ropes. The Heat were done. The only reason I would have wanted the Heat to win this series was so that we didn't all have to go through this, the questioning, the doubting, the LeBron having to awkwardly explain himself, but here we are. And it all kind of does feel like a rite of passage, a bump on the way to a dynasty which we can reluctantly agree with LeBron still seems probable, but it is one that will have to be rightly earned.

     Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd, Shawn Marion and Tyson Chandler, Jason Terry, JJ Barea, DeShawn Stevenson, Brian Cardinal and Peja Stojacovic all deserved this championship. None of the players on the Mavs roster had ever won a championship ring before. And Rick Carlisle and Mark Cuban deserved this championship. And Miami didn't.

     Miami will be back. They'll come knockin' next year (lockout pending), and the next year and the year after that. Isn't it fair that they had to wait a bit? The Mavs were an aging team, that came together and meshed at the right moment to provide titles to many players who deserved it and may never get this close to another opportunity. The Heat can lick their wounds, and restock their arsenal, but they remain the walking drama machine that they have made themselves into for the foreseeable future of professional basketball. 'Beat the Heat' will be a fun phase of the NBA. It will be an evil dynasty, periodically interrupted, with every other team striving to keep up with the Jones'. And it'll be alot of fun. See you there.

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Ricky Rubio: Coming to Minnesota

The 2009 NBA draft featured gifted stars Blake Griffin, DeMar DeRozan, Stephen Curry, Tyreke Evans, Brandon Jennings, Taj Gibson and James Harden. It also featured a prodigy point guard Ricky Rubio, the enigma from Europe who, as legend had it, was the next great point guard. Subtly, he was also the next "great white hope," and he fit the mould of the white baller; slight build, not supremely athletic, with high basketball IQ, hair like Steve Nash, and the stereotyping could go on and on. Conjugating aside, Rubio was an exciting talent who many believed could be the 2nd pick in the draft (Blake Griffin was a concensus #1).

But on draft night his unproven game from a North American perspective made him slip to fifth pick in the draft. It wasn't like Rubio hadn't faced adequate competition, he was a prodigy. As a 14-year old playing in the professional ranks in Barcelona, in his native Spain, Rubio excited scouts with his play. Rubio also showed his game as the starting point guard for Spain in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, helping Spain to a silver medal while matching up with Jason Kidd and Chris Paul from the American squad. The professional pedigree that this engendered made him a ready-fit player for the NBA hardwood who had already been playing professional basketball for years, but some feared that the transition from Europe to the NBA is more difficult than the NCAA to NBA transition. The Timberwolves and questionable, punching-bag GM David Kahn, selected Ricky Rubio in a hair-brained scheme where they had the fourth and fifth picks in the draft and decided to take consecutive point guards. Johnny Flynn went fourth, and Rubio went fifth.

Kahn said he was planning on playing the two young guards alongside one-another. Rubio meanwhile was blindsided that the Wolves drafted him after refusing to a pre-draft workout in Minnesota. Kahn, either courageous or incorrigible, decided "what the hell, I'll draft him anyways." This began a Steve Francis-esque standoff where the NBA team drafting has the right to draft any player who enters his name into the NBA draft, and the young diva baller who believes they're bigger than the game, and bigger than the team and can demand front-office decisions. This eventually led to a mutual decision to stay independent together, the Wolves retaining Rubio's draft rights and Rubio maintaining his begrudging stance on not playing a role in a rebuilding Timberwolves franchise, while the Wolves occasionally shopped his contract and entertained offers but ultimately waited Rubio out. They could afford to wait.

This attitude made him none-too-popular with a North American NBA audience who were already xenophobic of Euro influence in the NBA. After all, it was around this time that Josh Childress moved to Greece rather than accept an NBA contract, and Brandon Jennings had played a season in Italy rather than attend an American college and was also a cornerstone of this 2009 draft.
 
But news recently broke on June 2nd, 2011 that Rubio had reached an agreement to a buy-out from his Barcelona team and would be playing in the NBA next season. If there is a season, pending the outcome of a financial dispute between the owners and players.

Will Rubio have the influence on the NBA that was expected by some in 2009, and throughout the years of hype leading up to that fateful draft night? There have been whispery rumours that he has been slowed by injury and his development has stalled out. His range on his shot was something he made up for with his pass-first mentality and showmanship, but it now looks like a glaring weakness. He's not getting any taller or any faster, and his slow improvement while in his Euro bubble has many observers doubting the potential of Rubio in an NBA landscape dotted with young, talented point guard talent. What remains to be seen is if the Timberwolves with a #2 draft pick this year, plus Kevin Love, Mike Beasley, Wes Johnson, and a motivated Ricky Rubio, can climb out of the NBA's bare bottom basement they've been in the past two years. The Wolves also have a couple of other players once thought to be legitimate prospects, now seeking refuge on the "we'll try anything" Timberwolves. If it works, The Wolves will be a surprise this year, but I can also see this ending poorly. I wish the best of luck to both Rubio and the people of Minnesota, and may all this drama come peacefully to an end. - D.G.

NBAdraft.net profile of Ricky Rubio

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Kobe Bryant Watch 5: In pursuit of 28,596

Shaquille O'Neal announced his retirement Wednesday, June 1st. He ends his career with 28,596 points. Now his disciple, running mate, ex-lover and reconciled friend Kobe Bryant can catch Shaq's all-time tally and move into the top 5 all-time NBA scorers with a set goal in mind. 28,596 put it on your wall, put it on your fridge, paste it in front of your treadmill, sing it in the shower, whatever! just be conscious of it. With 728 more points, Kobe can catch Shaq next season in somewhere between 28 games (if he averages 26.0 ppg) and 33 games (if he averages just 22.0 ppg) . When Kobe passes Shaq, it will be the most meaningful of his all-time points milestones and a beacon on his continued climb up the all-time scorers list by settling into the top five. For Kobe to pass Jordan next year he would have to score 4424 points, an average of 54 ppg over 82 games (so let's focus on the Shaq goal for now...)
"Best of Frenemies"

Awesome Lakers Fan Interview

One of my favourite old clips.
A YouTube classic. 
I watched it again and again, now it's here to share.