Shaq-Manu

The Cleveland Craboliers: Welcome to a special AnacondaHL edition of WotN! And what better way to crack things open than with our favorite undersea crawlers. Their efficiency in a 32-point first quarter was split in half when they scored only 32 in the second half of a 99-88 loss. That is, a loss to a plucky Magic team using an 'Antoni style seven-man rotation and one Tony Battie with 11 minutes of lacktion. Without Big Z in the lineup, Anderson Varejao stood at center in Dwight Howard's crosshairs. After licking his chops, Superman went off for 22-18, leaving Floppyjao with a team-worst +/- score of -25...and only one notable flop in the 1st quarter.

The Orlando Magic: Having sucked the meat out of their opponent's exoskeleton, up 99-74 with 5:20 remaining, the Magic decided to shift into mid-season cruise control that would make the Spurs proud. This led to a 14-0 fourth quarter run that would make even the biggest Suns fans do a double-take at the jersey colors.

LeBron James: Fresh off a triple-double, our succulent Ohioan King Crab nearly feasted on a second helping, with 28 points, 8 boards and 8 assists. However, his buttery claws were 10-for-27 from the floor and a bitter 3-for-6 on the line. Two of those missed freebies came in the third, where a steamed James was cooked for attempting a crustacea-esque maneuver after a foul call. Thankfully, TNT's Marv Albert was quick to remind the audience that it was not, in fact, a crab dribble. James's potential bucket was waived, yet was given two foul shots despite the travel.

Here's a fun transcript of the conversation between Jameer Nelson and Bob Delaney after the shot:

Delaney: "Because he walks after he catches and after the foul so he gets two shots but he can't score a basket on a walk..."

Nelson: "But you can't...but you can't score a basket on a walk so why is he shooting?"

Delaney: "Because he's fouled in the act of shooting!"

Nelson (jokingly): "I don't agree with that...!"

Delaney: "Well that's okay...we all don't agree with everything in life."

Nelson: (Walking away chuckling, holding back face of disbelief.)
Maurice Williams: Cleveland's only All-Star made some obligatory supportive-of-teammate leadership comments in favor of Mo's inclusion to the weekend in Phoenix. "He deserves it. Look at our record. Look at the way he's playing. … I'll be really disappointed because he's part of the reason we've played the way we have, and he's put up the numbers."

Aww. I'm sure everyone with 17-4-3 (cough) and low popularity deserves a spot. Anyways, with news of this snub, and the inclusion of Jameer Nelson and the $118 million Lewis to the All-Star game, the scene was ripe for a revenge game. Mo responded accordingly with 12 points on 4-for-15 shooting and a technical foul.

Man-region grabbing dunks: A belayed WotN to Nate Robinson who joins Lamar Odom in the junk dunk contest. Worst NBA trend since those single warmer arm/leg sleeves.


The Phoenix Suns: We've seen this same story for five years now. The Phoenix Suns are 11-21 against the Spurs since 2004-05, including three playoff exits. And to make matters worse, the Suns lead the league this season in TOs (16.2) while the Spurs are near last (11.6). This is like seeing a video called monkey on goat on cup on tight rope, and still being amazed at what you're seeing despite the clarity of the title.

Intermission -- Fun Shaq Fhaqs: The Suns are 8-2 this season when The Big Cactus shoots 80% or better from the line? And are 16-5 when he shoots better than 60%? And that Shaq was 3-for-5 tonight? And Phoenix was 49.4% from the field versus SA's 46.1%? And Steve Nash had 9 assists and 0 turnovers in the first half? And Nash properly submitted his revenge game, having just been snubbed as an All-Star reserve, with 16 points and 18 assists?

So pretty obviously, the Suns lost 114-104. Did I forget to mention that the Spurs were 14-0 when scoring over 100 this season? Shaqfu went 5-for-14 with 6 rebounds and Ginobili went off for 30 points. Jason Richardson's inconsistency continued with only 7 points and 5 fouls, which contributed to Ginobili's 18-for-18 FT clinic.

Hack-A-Bowen: Tied 79-79, Phoenix pulled a mini Pops and started to intentionally foul Bruce "Lee" Bowen. Having shot only 8 all year, Bowen promptly sank 6 of 8 on the game. All that was missing was the greatest goofiest thumbs up ever.

Amare STAT: Ok, so his line wasn't that bad, as usual. 28-10 on 11-for-23 shooting would be great, if it wasn't Matt freaking Bonner guarding him. A double fail to Nash, who tripped over Stoudemire on a completely generic pick and roll with 48 seconds left as one of their five fourth quarter turnovers, cementing the show like the goat walking off the tight rope via ladder.

Copafeel
The NBA: Where cop a feel happens.

Officiating: In addition to the plethora of confused looks on players' faces, technical fouls were called on Duncan, Nash, Shaq, and Stoudemire in effort to keep things from getting too feisty. Of course it didn't help that the Phoenix crowd was still pissed about everything that's happened in the last three years and were booing louder than I've ever heard any crowd boo on TV. The home court was promptly rewarded with a 25-to-44 free throw disparity.

Jim Beam commercial: TNT has become infamous among the NBA viewers crowd for their repetitive awful commercials. Well the major showing of tonight was this borderline NSFW Jim Beam commercial. Despite probably being the greatest commercial of 2009, there's just something unnerving about the lack of cleverness, her voice, her appearance, and the number of Lakers fans making comments on the video. Well, at least it's better than Kira Sedgewzczbiak's mug in my face. Needless to say, I will now purchase a bottle and drink it for 1.5 years, complaining to my imaginary too-perfect girlfriend about how bad the Suns are and remembering the good old days. And she won't care if I go to a strip club afterwards.

Update! TNT: Basketbawful here making one small addition to AnacondaHL's fantastic post. Received this email from Nick A.: "Saw this on the TNT Web site, thought of your blog. Notice that Game 2 is listed as the 'Sours @ Suns.' It seems inappropriate: Given Phoenix's play this season, shouldn't they be the 'Sours'? Maybe Chuck has been relegated to the web team."

Sours

Kobe Bryant: Mamba hacked Luke Walton's iPhone to sporadically activate iFart. He charged Luke's account to pay for the app. And then ate a puppy.

About the author: AnacondaHL is a grizzled Internet veteran who watches in despair as his favorite team, the Phoenix Suns, struggles towards June 2010. When not wasting time at his Clark Kent job to read BasketBawful, he can be found playing the Internet computer game du jour, learning how to make small talk at said job by watching some other TV shows, wondering why the Diamonbacks have seven team colors, and browsing other obscure things on the Internet. He hopes someday to learn four languages, discover the Higgs boson, name the largest number in the world after himself, have an intelligent conversation about anime with someone, and to eat a crab grown in Akron.

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39 Comments:
Anonymous Anonymous said...
Another game for the Suns that I should send you an angry, yet logical letter. But since I'm tired of that I'll just say it. This team will never be able to play defense with nash, amare, and shaq all togther. When your three best players can't play defense (pretty important part of the game) then you really need to make a trade. Their trade (first) was to move your best defender for a slow, aging (yet effective offensively) veteran with rings. Not a good choice consdering your lack of D on the front line.

Blogger Dan B. said...
Anderson Varejao may have only given us one notable flop in the 1st quarter, but it was certainly a beautiful textbook flop. The slightest brush of Superman's elbow to Varejao's chest was the equivalent of a grenade going off, launching Varejao and his air backward ten feet, writhing in pain.

-Dan B.

Blogger Wild Yams said...
First off, great post AnacondaHL :)

Second, Nick F is right, the Suns are not going to win anything with that collection of players, cause defense wins championships. Phoenix's problem the last 5 years has been their lack of defense, and their attempts to fix that problem were to trade their two best defenders (Bell and Marion) away. That's not Phi Beta Kappa. I don't really know what they can do at this point to improve the team though, short of just completely blowing it up and trading Nash and Amare (something I'm quite sure they won't do), but I think they're destined to be a first round out this year.

In the East it looks like that Crabs - Magic - Celts trio is like rock, paper, scissors. The Crabs destroy the Celtics, then the Celtics destroy the Magic, then the Magic destroy the Crabs. Back in December when those three teams were at the top I wasn't sure who was the best and figured after they'd all played each other then it would be easier to tell, but it still isn't. Thankfully they'll all play each other a couple more times and maybe it'll be clearer by the time the playoffs start.

David West & Paul Pierce made the All Star team again?

Blogger Unknown said...
Is it just me or does Verajao look like Side Show bob? This cant be just me who noticed this, im not that clever. Him driving into the paint is kind of like that rake-gag in the Cape fear episode too.

Blogger chris said...
That photo represents the wackiest Shaq Fu technique seen yet!

Good work AnacondaHL, BTW.

Blogger chris said...
It has to be mentioned, in a true karma call, that LeBron missed the two free throws after the crab walk.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
Wild Yams:

Not excusing the Cavs last night (only saw the fourth quarter, but sounded like the officials provided many excuses), but I hope they get healthy before the next round with the Magic and Celts. Especially Z.

As for Suns-Spurs: same script as always. Despite the fact that the Suns get an NBA-fifth 27.0 FTA per game and the Spurs get an NBA-last 20.1 FTA per game, the refs doubled the Spurs allotment. No surprise; they won. I wish David Stern would at least rotate through a few different versions for Suns-Spurs games.

Blogger Wild Yams said...
BTW, Graydon Gordian makes a good observation about Shaq this year and why he may not have deserved an All Star spot. Essentially he points out that while Shaq is probably playing the best on the Suns and that he has played well enough to make the team, he's seemingly done so by actually making his talented teammates worse. In a game where people are routinely judged by how much better they make their teammates (Nash won two MVPs on the strength of that argument), Shaq has had a career revival that has coincided with Amare Stoudemire going from potential MVP candidate to a guy who probably doesn't deserve an All Star slot, and it's coincided with Nash going from 2 time MVP and perennial All Star to a guy who the coaches didn't think was good enough to make the squad, even with the game being held in Phoenix. It begs the question: how much is Shaq to blame for how poor his teammates are playing? Shaq is having a great year, but at what cost for the Suns? Does someone who seemingly makes great teammates worse deserve an All Star spot? It's an interesting point.

Blogger chris said...
A "revealing" Kobe interview:

http://deadspin.com/5142644/kobe-bryant-hes-just-not-that-into-poo

Blogger Cortez said...
When I first witnessed Delaney's comments to Nelson I thought the old man had ate an insanity pepper before the game.

Thinking about it some more later I realized what he was saying.

"King Crab" was fouled within his allowed 1-2 step count then he took the obligatory extra couple of steps that only the most exalted of the crab world is allowed and made the basket.

It's left up to the judgement of the ref as to when he started the shot. It has nothing to do with where his arms are, or end up.

Blogger chris said...
Wild Yams: I think that question should be asked for The Answer as well, as far as his Detroit tenure is concerned...

Blogger Victor said...
"James's potential bucket was waived, yet was given two foul shots despite the travel."

This happens all the time in the NBA. You see a guy on a fast break and he gets grabbed in the act of shooting and travels as the guy continues to hold onto him. You get those free throws every time.

"there's just something unnerving about the lack of cleverness, her voice, her appearance"

This made me laugh because that's exactly how I feel. The perfect girlfriend needs to be both less creepy and more attractive. Plus her sweater puppies look like they'd sag once you got them out.

There's a word of the day for what Manu did last night. He got more points from free throws than field goals. Anyone know the word? I think it starts with a D and having no look searching it up.

Oh, and if anyone Tivo'd the Spurs/Suns game, there was an obvious error after the first quarter. When they showed the teams logos next to the scores before transitioning into the commercial break, I think Phoenix has the Trailblazers logo and the Spurs had the Jazz logo.

Blogger Basketbawful said...
Victor -- The word your thinking of is The Dantley. And Chris, Bron's missed FTs weren't an example of a karma call...it's what I refer to as cheater's proof.

Blogger Cortez said...
Is the dame from the Jim Beam commercial Bruce Willis' girlfriend in Pulp Fiction?

I would research myself but I'm too lazy...plus a mountain lion bit me in the ass!

Blogger Basketbawful said...
Wild Yams -- I agree with Graydon. In fact, the broadcasters pointed out last night that when the Spurs throw the ball inside to Duncan, the San Antonio offense whirs around him with efficiency. When the Suns give it to Shaq, everybody stops moving.

In point of fact, the Suns did a disturbing amount of walking the ball up the court in the second half. I guess you could say that they were trying to limit their mistakes or whatever, but giving the Spurs time to set up their defense is as bad or worse than taking the chance of turning the ball over. They want a slowed-down game...the Suns gave it to them.

The bottom line is, as well as Shaq's been playing, Terry Porter, like Mike D'Antoni before him, has failed to properly integrate Shaq with the rest of the team. And Nash, unlike many superstars, is dutifully doing what his coach is telling him to do even though he's clearly unhappy about it.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
I'd note the Jim Beam Commercial is an Australian Ad and has been around for a while.
Glad it's not just me who found that ad bewildering, I literally said the first time i saw that ad "Does she not seem remarkably dumb to you?" to which my friend replied "she's alright". My friends are idiots. There's another one about two hot lesbians which has "the tragedy" at the end of it. It's what is called a blokey ad here (Australia)Translation: For guys who value men's magazines the same way church goes value the bible.

Blogger AnacondaHL said...
Nick - When there were rumors swirling of trading Amare for Marcus Camby, I was one of the few in Phoenix that was actually supportive of the move. But everyone there loves their entertainment too much, the thunderous jams.

Dan - I know. I really wanted a Varejao flop count section in the WotN, but with only one I was saddened to have to omit it.

Yams - PHX will have to participate in Summer-2010 hysteria. It's the only answer.

reuben - I think he can thought to look like anything.

chris - =). Of course.

DKH - It's not even a Stern button anymore, it's a Stern PID controller with statistical forecasting.

Yams - I was sorta hinting at this with my cherry-picked Shaq Fhaqs.

Cortez - It's was a pretty confusing situation, I don't know specific rules, but it just seems awkward to take away an And 1 but still give two shots.

Victor - it's like they were trying to choose an actress who was just not attractive enough to piss of female viewers but attractive enough to capture the male audience.

Cortez - Her name is Armani, a model from Sydney. I think she's married. I'll refrain from posting her MySpace in vain attempt to prevent cyber-stalkage.

Blogger chris said...
So Bill Simmons is having his once-a-blue-moon chat right now and he's going off on the Team Who Is Who We Thought They Were:

http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/chatESPN?event_id=24829

"I want to cover this in more detail at another point... But how the Clippers have treated their season ticketholders by NOT firing a complete fraud by Dunleavy, coupled with Dunleavy's total unwillingness to accept any responsibility whatsoever for this crappy season and/or a roster of players who actively hate him ... I mean, it's honestly one of the most depressing sports-related situations I have ever seen. Mike Dunleavy, I like sports less than I did 3 months ago - just a little, but still - because of you. You should quit. Have the dignity to step down as coach. Keep your GM job and continuing making bad moves. The Clips fans don't care - they are smart enough to know that Sterling will never fire you because he's too cheap. But don't keep going out there with your crappy gray suits and pretending that these players are listening to you. I have been to 11 or 12 games this year - the fans hate you, the players hate you, we all want you to go. Do the dignified thing and step down. Hand the team over to Kim Hughes."

Wow. So Bill says the Clippers have directly reduced his love of sports by a fractional amount? I'm not sure if there's any level of bawful lower than that.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
This is absurd. The backlash from the crab dribble debacle is getting out of hand.

First off, for all the uninformed basketball "experts" (this site's writers included), a crab dribble is a move. If you ever played a day of organized basketball in your life, you would know that. Whether or not Lebron traveled on that particular play (which he did), the crab dribble does exist.

Secondly, how ignorant are you to not understand what transpired on the and-1 foul/travel between Jameer Nelson? Lebron was going for a layup, GOT WRAPPED UP SO HE COULDNT JUMP, then took an extra step. Seriously, how hard is that to understand? He was fouled before the travel. He traveled BECAUSE of the foul.

Blogger chris said...
And one more Sports Guy quote, this time on the great free agent signing that was supposed to save the day for Los Angeles's Other Team:

"Sorry, I had to get that off my chest. My tickets cost $340 for a pair and I get to go watch Baron Davis jog up and down for 20 minutes a night looking like he just smelled a horrible fart. It's so much fun."

Woops!

Spending $1 to get stepped on by Aubrey Coleman sounds much less painful than being...a Clippers season ticket holder.

Blogger chris said...
VN: Uh, this was addressed in a previous edition of Basketbawful:

http://basketbawful.blogspot.com/2009/01/word-of-day-crab-dribble.html

We are (now, thanks to that entry) ALL aware what the crab dribble actually is, which is why its NBA usage is downright comedic.

Blogger Basketbawful said...
VN -- Dude, seriously, before you start holding "this site's writers" accountable for supposedly not knowing what a crab dribble is, why don't you do me a favor. Try actually reading our definition of the crab dribble. Go on. Click the link. Scroll down the post. I know you can do it. You'll notice that I described the actual move in contrast to how LeBron used it. I am now humbly awaiting your apology.

Blogger AnacondaHL said...
VN - It's ok, we all around this site should know it's a valid move. We've linked documents describing and teaching the move, and even Jalen Rose's description of how what James did that day had nothing to do with the crab dribble. His adament 3 day defence against the call is what generated this backlash, and hopefully the absurd number of food/crab word choice in my post will finally let it simmer into basketball meme history.

(fake edit: beaten twice! wow, I am slow on the response!)

And second, it's like there's no penalty for trying to travel to get the And 1. Sure, some guys travel because they are wrapped up, but consider if there was a guy, say, 250 pounds, who could use an extra step to try and finish the shot. Best case scenario: fouled on the shot with an And 1. Worst case: called for a travel, but still is awarded 2 shots. Why not give the "And 1" but take away the basket, so it's not such a win-win scenario for the offensive player? Or if it's a travel, then the foul would be not in the act of shooting, since there's no shot anymore because of the travel? It's sort of a grey area rule, shady like trying to call intentional flopping. IMHO.

Blogger chris said...
AnacondaHL: All you've done in your brilliant WOTN is make me want crabcakes for lunch. :D If the Crabs were smart, this could lead to a whole bunch of endorsement opportunities, not unlike TO and the Sharpie from days of yore...

Anonymous Anonymous said...
VN - It's a valid move.

Oh, sorry. I thought that was a condition of post. I'll leave the rest of that alone.

Props to you, AnacondaHL, for breaking the writer's cherry. :) I *do* want to point out that while you didn't post whatz-her-name's (does she even know) myspace, it seems pretty clear that YOU are pretty familiar with it. Perv.




Please send me the link.

Blogger Cortez said...
"This is absurd. The backlash from the crab dribble debacle is getting out of hand. "

Wrong.

What's really absurd is The King Crab's insistance that he didn't travel, even after reviewing the play multiple times.

His huburis the source of the backlash.

"...what James did that day had nothing to do with the crab dribble."

Exactly.

"...like trying to call intentional flopping."

Which is the dumbest idea ever. It's a no call, period.

*after flopper gets scored on*
"Get up chief and play ball!"
~Official #1

Anonymous Anonymous said...
Fair enough - I actually had read that post a while ago, but must have forgot it was from this site. My bad.

But that really wasn't my beef. My point is that LeBron was obviously fouled (wrapped up) before committing the travel. The travel was a direct result of the foul. How can this even be debated?

Even after looking at the replay, it is questionable whether he traveled at all. Remember, that steps don't count until the player picks up the ball. So as the ball is bouncing back up to Lebron, the step doesn't count towards to the 2-max. Maybe the travel was called because Lebron dragged his feet a little.

Regardless, it just seems Lebron is getting the bad end of many of the calls (especially with fouls) ever since Crabgate. I'm obviously a biased observer, but it seems the superstar treatment isn't being applied to Lebron lately. He is fouled constantly when he drives to the basket, but because the contact doesn't affect his shot, the refs don't call it. Comparable to the Shaq Rules from the Lakers years.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
Manu had himself a nice Dantley with 18Fts and 6 fgs for 30 points total

http://basketbawful.blogspot.com/2008/10/word-of-day-dantley.html

Anonymous Anonymous said...
Before you criticize Lewis and/or Nelson for earning a spot in the All-Star Game, check out the numbers.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/fc/pcm_finder.cgi?request=1&sum=0&=l&p1=lewisra02&y1=2009&=p&p2=piercpa01&y2=2009&=&=

http://www.basketball-reference.com/fc/pcm_finder.cgi?request=1&sum=0&=n&p1=nelsoja01&y1=2009&=w&p2=willima01&y2=2009&=r&p3=rondora01&y3=2009&=

They're both worthy. Snubs happen, but in the case of Mo Williams, he shouldn't be considered a snub IMO. He wasn't deserving in the first place.

If Big Z wasn't hurt, he would have been a shoe-in to get the 2nd All-Star bid for the Cavs. Just unfortunate circumstances for Cleveland.

Blogger chris said...
Ouch, Simmons going after Stat Guy now:

Dgrad Chandler AZ: Bill, what are your thoughts on what the Phoenix Suns are going to do with the team as the NBA trade deadline approaches? Do you see them wheeling and dealing Amare Stoudamire?

Bill Simmons: (3:18 PM ET ) I just don't know what kind of trade value he has. He's about as good of a defender as the chair that Yi Jianlian used for his workouts. How can you win a title with someone who's that awful on the defensive end? It's unbelievable. He is the anti-KG.

Blogger AnacondaHL said...
Too bad, in real life the scenario goes one of two ways:

*after flopper gets scored on*
"Basket waived! Charge! Look at how far that guy just slid on the floor!"
*whining ensues from offensive player*
~Official #2

*after flopper gets scored on*
"We all don't agree with everything in life."
*whining ensues from Spurs playe-uh, I mean, defending player*
~Official #3

erivera7 - Nelson's been good, I'm thankful having him and Chris Paul as my fantasy PGs. And Lewis's stats aren't bad either. I just wanted to remind everyone again that this is only year 2 of his ridiculous contract. I wouldn't have even thought of Mo as an All-Star if it weren't for the ESPN zerg herd bullrushing the media with that story and James's comments prior to Thurday.

VN - It is similar, Shaq's size caused lots of rules confusion, and the ensuing media nitpick on James's travelling has caused an additional lose-lose situation in officiating.

BadDave - Oh you'd like that, wouldn't you. She lets me do anything and it's ok.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
Sure, Lewis' contract is a bit much, but I don't think he should be penalized for it. He's a deserving All-Star.

Can you blame him for taking the money? If anyone should be criticized, it should be Orlando's GM Otis Smith for overpaying him. It is what it is.

Keep up the great work here! We over at Third Quarter Collapse enjoy the material (I'm the Managing Editor over there).

Blogger Cortez said...
"Too bad, in real life the scenario goes one of two ways:"

That's true.

Although I only consider it a "flop" if you didn't get hit at all or you overreact as if you got hit with a goddamned cannon ball.

On the flip side...

Trying to stand toe to toe with someone barreling down the lane on you if you have a legal defensive position will get you nothing more than broken ribs or a busted up face. You're better off "flopping".

As an aside...

Let me offer up an apology to you.

I think a minor misinterpretation, and my grating personality, caused, yet another, conflict.

...and these mountain lions are starting to turn the tables on me!

Blogger stephanie g said...
RE: The Jim Bean commercial, it's not exactly a secret that the average guy wants an attractive subservient girl with questionable intelligence who can barely speak English. I can't wait until they do one for THE boyfriend! (crickets)

It wasn't as bad as the Carl Jr.'s one though.

I think the crab thing is gonna stick for a long time. In 15 years we're gonna have to explain to kids why we're calling them them the Craboliers. You know it's bad when every local and national announcer makes a crab joke when LeBron travels.

Blogger Basketbawful said...
I just had to add a couple thoughts to AnacondaHL's post.

First, I believe that Hedo Turkoglu deserved WotN mention for getting repeatedly burned by Wally Szczerbiak in the first half of the Cavs-Magic game. I mean, Mike Brown repeatedly called isolations for Wall World. I haven't seen that happen since...well, I've never seen it happen. And Hedo couldn't stop him. Worse, as Reggie Miller pointed out, there were times he didn't even force Wally baseline. Turrible D, Hedo.

Also, regarding All-Star snubs: I'm amazed that this even comes up. There is an inordinate amount of bitching done every year and I can't understand it. I mean, fans get their say: They vote in the starters. The "experts" (i.e., coaches) get their say: They select the reserves. Everybody gets to contribute! Yet, year after year, people piss and moan about how so-and-so should have made it over whoever.

Yet most NBA fans couldn't care less about the game. And I have yet to hear or read about a single fan just feeling really, really gratified that his or her guy made it onto the team. I'm a lifelong Pacers fan, and Danny Granger's selection as a reserve barely registered as a "meh" on my "Things I Have Strong Feelings About" scale.

It's like somebody bitching up a storm that Toby McGuire was cast as Spiderman then admitting that they don't really like superhero movies and probably won't go see it anyway.

Also, for the record, and even as a Celtics fan, Paul Pierce did not deserve to make the All-Star team this year. He has not played well. And it's not a case of "I'm sacrificing my stats for the sake of the team." He isn't sharp. He doesn't seem to get really into the game until the fourth quarter. Most nights he's the third or fourth best Celtics rather than the first or second. Hell, the way Eddie House has been playing lately, he's closer to numero cinco.

Again, it's not that I care all that much. But, honestly, the Pierce and Iverson selections were the only add-ons that really caused me to raise an eyebrow and say, "Reeeeeeally?"

Anonymous Anonymous said...
Lol little over the top there with the crab lines.

If crab had feelings they would be offended >.<

Blogger AnacondaHL said...
Cortez - It's cool bro, come on, hug it out, quickly, ok. Continue your feral battle.

Basketbawful - I'm disappointed that the Marbury All-Star '09 campaign wasn't nearly as successful as the Bruce Bowen one. I voted almost every day! Unfortunate that All-Star appearences is a recordable stat, and often used to recap a player's career resume.

On the plus side, there's going to be a HORSE competition! This has so much Bawful upside-potential, it's making me sound like an ESPN writer. Could Bill Simmons's idea actually have pull on the NBA, the way xkcd forever changed YouTube?

stephanie g - I think they have that one already, it's called Every Romantic Comedy And Cosmo Type Magazine Ever Made Ever.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
VN- It's a valid move. Wait, is that joke dead yet? My only sally is that I find it refreshing to finally find a big bad star getting held accountable for something the Debbil started.**

AnacondaHL - I call SHENANIGANS. Pictures. Or an invite - I'd at least consider a Debbil's three-way. I hope my enormous body part doesn't get in the way. And by that I mean my gut, sicko.

** For thos of you wondering, the Debbil (or Devil for non-Waterboy fans) is Michael Jordan. He is to blame for the state of ball today.

Blogger chris said...
BadDave: Is that because the Debbil drafted Kwame Brown? ;)