Kobe Bryant took a page out of Tracy McGrady's book and is using his injured pinky to avoid playing in the All Star Game. That sound you hear is Magic Johnson shaking his head in pity. After all, he played in the All Star Game while terminally ill.

Gregg Popovich is still salty and bitter over the Pau Gasol freebie. Popob*tch says there should be a trade committee that could squash blatantly lopsided trades. I wonder what this committee would have said about the Spurs trading Luis Scola for Sylar from Heroes. Minus the ability to cut open skulls with his mind.

Who would've guessed that referee Bob Delaney was a complete badass?

David Stern shot down Dwight Howard's proposal to raise the rim to 12-feet for this weekend's Slam Dunk Contest. Still no word on Big Head Mode or whether three consecutive buckets will cause a player to burst into flames.

Stephon Marbury will miss the rest of the season with season-ending ankle surgery. The Knicks are 15 and 37. I wouldn't say he'll be missing it, Bob.

Latrell Sprewell is flat broke. I guess he really did have a family to feed.

A commercial for WNBA Live 2008. It's as awesome as it sounds.

Labels: dunks, Dwight Howard, gratuitous video game references, Gregg Popovich, Kobe Bryant, Latrell Sprewell, referees, Stephon Marbury, WNBA

The Spurs' apathy towards Beno Udrih was a bit puzzling. I can only assume Gregg Popovich's love/hate relationship with Beno Udrih began in a comedic sequence of misunderstandings, not unlike a Ben Stiller movie or any episode of Three's Company. Or maybe it's difficult to endear yourself to a guy named after a popular flatulence aid. We may never know.

After stringing together a series of respectable campaigns off the bench in 2004 and 2005, Gregg Popovich rewarded Beno with the opportunity to split his 12 minutes per with famous vegetarian and scrimmagin' dud Jacques Vaughn. The inevitable alcoholic depression led to Beno posting career lows in every conceivable statistic (even his technicals were down).

Beno's NBA career came to an apparent end when he was dealt to Minnesota for a protected second round pick (i.e. the Spurs and the Wolves agreed that trading Beno for a throwaway 2nd rounder was a bit of a gamble). Spurs fans rejoiced. Wolves GM Kevin McHale took a long look at the Marko Jaric-Sebastian Telfair tandem, concluded that there is nothing to improve on, and waived Udrih before his plane landed in Minneapolis.

Beno was sitting at home in Slovenia (we assume he was crying softly into his Laško or playing Bordunske Hero III on the Playstation, but we're probably wrong) when the Kings called. One month later, Beno is making minimum wage and posting stats nearly as good as that $13 million dollar Mike Bibby guy he replaced. Did I mention he was out of the league a month ago and is making the league minimum?

But our good friends at Sactown Royalty remain unimpressed. While they agree Benomania is making Mike Bibby expendable, they don't think he is the long-term solution at the point. I think this is a bit harsh. After all, Beno is giving them 15 ppg and 4 assists per while shooting 38% on threes, all without the benefit of a training camp, pre-season, or even knowing the King's offense. He's still young (25) and, as of Saturday, has only notched his 21st career start. If he doesn't improve one iota over the next five years, he's already light years ahead of the slugs teams are hanging their hats on this year (Earl Watson, Sebastian Telfair, Steve Blake, Rafer Alston, Anthony Johnson, Jason Williams, etc.).

(hat tip: Hemotivo)

Labels: Beno Udrih, gratuitous video game references, Sacramento Kings, San Antonio Spurs

This has already been a great October. Bulls tickets go on presale this week, and Isiah Thomas has wasted even more of the Knicks money. All that and a new batch of NBA video games are on the horizon! Good times.

I've always felt that NBA Live wins people over with their sharp visuals and presentation, and presentation goes a long way. Not to mention the EA Sports factor (They made Madden! This is Lakers vs Celtics XVIII!). And it's perfect for when you have people over, a halftime to kill, and you just want to pickup-and-play. But Live 08 is coming and I have this sinking feeling that I'm going to hate it, just like 07. Why does NBA Live always remind me of Double Dribble?


NBA 2K is the slower, less flashy, more realistic of the two (sort of the San Antonio Spurs to NBA Lives' Phoenix Suns). And this couldn't be symbolized any better than Ben Wallace appearing on the cover of 2K5. But 2K isn't for everyone. For one thing, there's a steep learning curve, partially because of the Rube Goldberg-like controls, but also because the CPU can be flat-out sadistic. Get caught in a mismatch or miss a rotation and it will be used against you immediately, like a team of John Stocktons and Karl Maloneses. But it looks like 2K has completely redone their visuals, finally bailing on the "chunky chew" look. Take one look at this video and you'll realize that 2K is worth a look this year, even if the gameplay will make your brain tired.


What are your thoughts on this round of NBA titles? Will it be possible in Live 08 to shoot above 25% in the paint? Will we ever be able to make a free throw in 2K8? Will Live 08 finally stop passing out of bounds and dribbling out the shot clock? Will 2K finally record some new commentary?

Labels: gratuitous video game references, NBA 2K, NBA Live

Tonight, while I'm treated to stomach-turning images of Robert Horry gloating over his seventh ring, I began to ponder the sea of "what-if's" that surrounded Cleveland's performance. What if LeBron drove more? What if Eric Snow turned back the clock and shut down Tony Parker? What if Drew Gooden cut off his rat-tail and stop making rookie mistakes on defense?

And then I realized...the Spurs have won their fourth championship in nine seasons and I am still not giving them any respect. At their core, the '07 Spurs are the same 59-win team that won the rings in '05, except that Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili are now more grizzled and experienced, and are coming off career years. Swap Devin Brown and Nesterovic for Michael Finley and Oberto, and this team is better than the '05 Spurs.

But, partially due to their Conference Semis bounce in '06, the Spurs became the forgotten team. The league was distracted by the Mavericks nearly posting 70 wins, Nash's almost MVP three-peat, the Miami implosion, the Melo-AI tag-team creating nightmares (sometimes for George Karl), etc. But the Spurs quietly went into their business-like defensive assassin mode and, officiating and thuggery aside, a 16-4 postseason run and four game sweep in the Finals is not a fluke.

And there is no reason to think they won't be back again next year. Tim Duncan is 31 and will perform at a high level for at least a few more seasons. Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili are both in their 20s and are the best backcourt in the league (put your hand down, Detroit). The only issues are their older-than-dirt role players. You can only put Bruce Bowen in that hyperbolic chamber so many times.

Labels: Cleveland Cavaliers, gratuitous video game references, NBA Finals, San Antonio Spurs

Labels: gratuitous video game references, NBA Finals, Phoenix Suns, San Antonio Spurs, yawn

Hopefully you've recovered from Cheap Shot Bob and Horrygate in time to watch the Bulls postseason come to a painful, screeching halt.

Over the last few days, I've heard more iterations of "Ben Gordon has finally figured out the Pistons zone", "The Bulls are one of the best home teams in the league", "The Bulls are back...I'm callin' a game seven" than I care to mention. That made tonight's game quite possibly the most heavily stat-cursed sporting event since Buster Douglas punched-out Mike Tyson, sending him on a downward spiral towards unprecedented insanity (much like my college graduation).

Although the Bulls stayed competitive, things went wrong immediately. Kirk Hinrich suddenly turned into Randy Brown. At one point Tyrus Thomas had more fouls than minutes. It took a career night from PJ Brown to keep it close; he was the only Bull in double figures well into the 3rd quarter. Even 'Sheed's imminent meltdown (which was awesome; he nearly swallowed his mouthpiece on an obvious traveling call) didn't get him booted! Murphy's Law in full effect.

The Bulls offseason should be an interesting one. Back in the Jerry Krause days I'd be worried Luol Deng would be dealt to Utah for Rafael Araujo and a conditional second rounder. But John Paxson is smarter than that. Unless he resigns Mike Sweetney, then I'll have to edit this post.

Labels: Chicago Bulls, Detroit Pistons, gratuitous video game references