THE scariest player in the L.

Yeah, we're going to be hearing analysts and beat writers talk about the possibility of Bron going to NYC (Knicks or Nets) as a free agent for the next 2 years. Get used to it. He's the single scariest player in the league right now. Sorry Kobe. If the Erz wind up evolving enough to scratch into the playoffs, I'll be more nervous about them potentially playing the Cavs in Round 2 than about them playing the Lakers in the Finals -- and the Lakers are a much better all-around team.

Just look at what LBJ has slapped together so far THIS SEASON. In just 14 games. Jesus Christ on crutches.

For no particular reason.

This is an adlob I had sketched up, featuring my daughter:

A picture says a thousand words.

No Comment, Just Sharing

From Bill Simmons latest column......

I thought Warren Sapp summed it up well:

"Donovan, your legacy will be throwing up in the Super Bowl, Rush Limbaugh and now -- not knowing there were ties!!!"

I'd also throw in Campbell's Chunky Soup commercials, but, yes, that's probably it.

A few words on EMPATHY.

We haven’t had nearly enough philosophy on this blog, so here goes...

I’ve long understood the value of empathy, and have generally viewed it as a trait of the altruist. It is easy, for example, to hate your enemy; but if you can truly understand your enemy, to see from his vantage point, to feel his emotion in a visceral way — and if he can do likewise with regard to you — then the possibility of a dialogue emerges. And forget enemies; how much damage do we inflict on our benevolent relationships due to an inability to hear one another? Throughout history, countless arguments between spouses, between parents and children, between workers and their bosses, etc., have been punctuated by one yelling to the other, directly or silently, “Why aren’t you LISTENING to me?!” Understanding in lieu of judgment. It may be the source of all resolution — and the source, then, of all major interpersonal and social progress. Empathy’s sediment is integral to the monolith of enlightenment.

But is empathy something we should expect only from the enlightened? Or is it, rather, something we should demand of and expect from each one of us — the way we do nonviolence and respect for property? Are we committing a kind of moral crime by not striving to understand the other? By living in our own heads, dishing out silent verdicts, engineering unspoken distances between one another? Ironically, by elevating ourselves above the mass of humanity on the hierarchical moral ladder, when the very quintessence of morality is to see the other as your equal?

The Big Dirty a.k.a. Shaq the Enforcer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXuolMTzuz0&feature=related

Have we now entered the dangerous 'Shaq realized he can't play so he's just going to intimidate opponents' phase of Shaq's career?

Wasn't he flinging around Rockets' players the other night?

They need to bring Barkley back so someone can step to this dude. In today's NBA, is there anyone with the cajones to answer Shaq's demand for satisfaction? I can't think of one. Who really wants some from an old, bitter 360 pound has-been? This is like when Andre the Giant was drunk during matches.

Class of '09

Much will be written over the next few months about some very exciting names in the free agent class next summer. Unfortunately, the biggest of those names (Kobe and Booz) won't be in play for the 28 or 29 teams in the league. Both these guys have early termination options on their contracts. Restricted free agents usually need to be paid more than market value in order to lure them away from their current team. Plus, no one's really jumping off that list as a great addition. Ranking in the top of the unrestricted free agents are a couple of very dubious investments, Lamar Odom and Ron Artest. So, let's say the Sixers keep Dre' through the end of the season, make their run, see what happens and let his contract expire. In that case, what would they do in July?

I'm not sure, but there are a couple of interesting possibilities. The two I will hit quickly here both have to do with Detroit. Sheed and AI will both be available come next summer. Could either one possibly have a role on our 2009 Philadelphia 76ers? My partner in crime Greg thinks that Sammy needs to go - that he's unreliable and soft in the paint. Sheed is unreliable, but he's not soft in the paint. If Sammy can't hack it, could Sheed be a lockdown big who could compliment Elton in the paint and spread the offense with his shooting? He does have strong Philly roots (shout out to Gratz High). He could definitely handle our media and fanbase. He would be a veteran presence on a team that has to make it's run in the next 2-3 years. A 3 year, $15-18 M deal might not sound bad for one last crack at a ring.

The other guy I mentioned is Chuck. If Iggy scares us into believing that he's not worth $80M, would we consider moving him if we can find a taker and bringing back the guy who brought tats and cornrows to professional sports? Would he come home for Dre' money over 3 years? If shot creation and ball handling is what AI2 lacks, would the original AI be a fit replacement?

Imagine the team with either one of these deals made:

Sheed, Elton, Thaddeus, Iggy and a midlevel pg.

or

Sammy, Elton, Thaddeus, AI and Miller or whatever we could get back in the Iggy deal or the draft.

Like either of these teams better than the other? Like either of them better than what we currently have? For me, option B's not drivin' me crazy, but option A is kinda' alright.

Big Time Players

Last night against the unbeaten Hawks who gave Boston fits last April, PP hit a 3 to win the game with 0.5 seconds left.

Last night, to seal the victory late in the 4th quarter while fighting off ridiculously tight defense from James Posey, Kobe Bryant hit a poorly considered, off balance fade away from 5 solid feet behind the 3 point line.

For the beneift of the Hive crowd Kobe left his hand in the post J arch that you do when you put it in someone's eye as he skipped backwards towards his bench and the Hornets called time. PP, for his part, did the muscle flex with the scream aimed at the rafters.

The NBA, where superstars having something to prove 3 weeks into the season happens.

Sixers vs. Jazz (11/11/08)

Never thought I’d say this, but...Elton Brand reminds me of C-Webb. Not the old, crippled C-Webb WE had, but the younger Sacramento version -- a passing/scoring forward who could work the high post, command a double-team, and facilitate your offense. Hmm.

He ain’t a banger. And as we already know, neither is Sammy. So really, we got no one to lock down the middle. Not good.

Umi and I went to the Center and caught the Sixers on a poor shooting night, which was a good thing. Strong shooting can hide other offensive weaknesses -- like sloppy ball protection, lousy communication and choppy ball movement, and piss-poor rebounding. (Yeah, Sammy had 11 rebounds, but just about every one of those either fell into his hands off a weird bounce, or he was able to pick it out of the air with his height; dude gets position on NO ONE.) So we saw some concerning blemishes live and in full-irritated-color.

This offense simply doesn’t know what it’s doing. Sure, they get out on the break well (when they’re rebounding, that is). But they don’t know what to do in the half-court. At all. They have no pick-and-roll skills. They don’t have a 2-guard who runs off screens to get open. They’re getting no second-chance points, which means they’re giving up the ball too much on the offensive end (...and that doesn’t even count the 17 turnovers they coughed up).

This is what I saw over and over again last night: ‘Dre bringing the ball up, and four guys hanging around the perimeter, lost for what to do.

I’m going to allow myself to be less-than-measured here and ask some possibly too-dramatic questions:

1. Is Mo the right coach for this team?
2. How much do we need ‘Dre? (Strange question to ask after a night where he led the team with 25 and 6. But if you do run your offense through Brand, which they kind of have to, how important is the PG position? $10M/year important?)
3. Who can we sucker into trading for an “athletic, shot-blocking center,” so we can clear Sammy’s $10M off our books and get something that works instead?
4. Why isn’t Speights getting more minutes? He gets position in the paint and has shooting range out to 12-15 feet. Am I missing something?
5. Why is Willie Green getting ANY minutes?
6. Why are ‘Dre and Lou Williams on the floor together so much?

Let’s say hypothetically, the front office was able to trade Sammy to Chicago for Ben Gordon (not beyond the realm of possibility), and ‘Dre to Miami (who is desperate for a pure PG) for Udonis Haslem and a draft pick. Your starting five would look like this:

1 – Lou Williams
2 – Ben Gordon (running off screens for catch-and-drive/shoot)
3 – Iggy (playing his natural position)
4 – Brand (running the offense from the high post)
5 – Haslem

With Thaddeus, Reggie Evans, and Speights coming off the bench (plus Rush and/or Donyell in reserve if you need to spread the floor and/or nail a couple 3s). Add a coach who stresses perimeter D and knows how to use screens and picks (whether that’s Mo or someone else).

To quote Martin Landau from Entourage, “Does that sound like something you’d be interested in?”

Da Iggles

It's time for Andy Reid to go back to his job selling pretzels at the Linc. He's had a good run, but really.... When every game your team loses for 5 years is for the same 3 reasons, it's time to stop coaching.

The 80 Million dollar man

Iggy gave us 2 points last night.

Now, I've been saying since the end of last season that Thaddeus will be better than AI2 when it's all said and done. I just don't expect it to happen in the first 2 weeks of this season. I figured he's got a little catchin' up to do. Iggy better figure out how to earn his keep, or he'll be on the first thing smokin' come the deadline. I know it's early to get on Iggy, but damn G. Act like you just got paid. Make me believe, at least a little it.

Who’s #1?

Wait, wait. Rodney Stucky HAS to give up his #3 to A.I., right? I mean, RIGHT???

I just checked the Pistons roster, and it has Stucky keeping his number and A.I. picking up Chauncey's old #1. That’s just wrong, Yo.

HOPE!

“The biggest race problem we had to start was not with the white voters,” Mr. Axelrod said, “but with African-American voters, a deep sense of skepticism that this might happen.”

Since last night I've considered writing about several different themes related to the election. As I was reading the NY Times this morning I came across this quote and think it offers a great place to start.

Like people who have had their hearts broken by a lover, it has been hard for many Black people to believe in the promise of Barack Obama's candidacy. We didn't want to let ourselves believe, even if all signs pointed in the right direction, that this thing could actually work out. I can not speak for all Black people, but I will say this about myself: only after Iowa did I even concede that it was possible. Even after finally putting down the Clinton machine, it was still hard to imagine it really happening.

For me, watching President-elect Obama give his acceptance speech last night was profoundly surreal. It was a moment not grounded in the present, but instead like a glimpse into the future. As a Black man I am proud of what my brother has done. He ran a better campaign by all measures than anyone in history. And he is, undoubtedly, the right man for the right time. But more than anything, I'm proud of us, as Americans. We proved something to ourselves yesterday. Instead, of punching our way through the darkness of fear and ignorance, we have decided to not give up hope on being our best selves, and finding our way in the world in that mode. We restored ourselves yesterday; gave ourselves yet another shot at getting the American Dream right. I'm more proud than I've ever been to be from this place. And I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I needed help getting here. I'd be lying if I said that, after electing Bush in the first place, I wasn't ready to write us off as a hopelessly lost if we made the same mistake again. I was not in a place of fighting ceaselessly to make sure that we didn't do it again. Michelle Obama hit it on the head about a half year ago when she said that Black people were scared to believe it was possible, and that's why they weren't supporting her husband like htey should. She was right. And I know that because I got angry at first when she said it. But it was the call to action that I needed, maybe many of us needed. In a way, I feel that I was late to my own party. But that's ok because that's what truly great leaders do. They make people believe in themselves in a way that they never have before.

I feel like this election has been our Civil Rights Movement. A defining moment of struggle (without the same tremendous level of sacrifice). We canvassed and prayed and hoped and donated, and now have achieved something that seemed hardly possible to most even as recent as a year ago. And like the fight against racism going all the way back through previous generations, it has been a fight fought by people off all types working hand in hand. When I take a step back and look at the history, I almost wonder why I didn't believe from the very beginning. I think now that we've had this victory, hope is something that will stay inside me.

Obama believed from the beginning that it could happen, even if he wasn't sure it would. That's his greatness, and why the American people love him before he's even "done anything". He's already done something no one else has been able to do for what feels like a long time. He described himself once as a conduit, saying that his presence allows people who wouldn't normally to come together come together. He hasn't just been galvanizing people in his camp. He's allowing people to dream, cross lines... feel a part of a whole. It speaks to our purest social instincts as human beings. It's something that the entire world hears and needs. It is not him who will make a better future, it is us. That's the hope.

Let it be, oh please let it be.

It's Tuesday, people. Get out there and get your Obama on.

Sing it, Sam...

No way. No fucking way.

I’m gonna be sick.