Wallace Could Do Wonders

About 2 1/2 months ago when the Celtics were battling in the playoffs, I half-jokingly posted about the importance of the return of Brian Scalabrine.

That was the main problem -- it was only half a joke. What the C's desperately needed was someone who had the length to alter shots on defense and could stretch the floor on offense.

Scal did those things. Rasheed Wallace does them better. Way better.

That's why the Celtics impending signing of Detroit's big man to a 2-year, $11.5 million contract is a big deal. 'Sheed gives the Celts size, rebounding and a perimeter game that they were lacking at the tail end of last season.

Leon Powe is out for half the year and probably not coming back. Big Baby is undersized, has an inconsistent jumper and may not be back either. Signing Wallace was basically Plan A and B for the Celtics. Their whole offseason hinged on it.

Now they can sit back, with a core of Wallace, Kevin Garnett, Kendrick Perkins, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Eddie House and Rajon Rondo and hope the likes of Grant Hill, Tyronn Lue and some sort of backup big man feel like joining the fray and gunning for a title.

Boston still has the cap-friendly veteran's minimum ($1.3 million) and biannual exception ($1.9 mill) to dole out. Hill and/or Lue would be a candidate for one or both. Another low-cost big man (like a Patrick O'Bryant, but maybe not as stiff) will be added as well.

All in all it gives the C's a solid compliment off the bench or starting in place of KG or Perk, the former coming off knee surgery and the latter susceptible to annual shoulder injuries.

I'm not saying this is on par with the Cavaliers getting Shaq or the Magic landing Vince Carter, but it certainly helps the C's in various areas of need.

And what more do you want in your offseason signings?

--Nick

What are the Celtics up to?

Quick Answer: Who the hell knows?

In-depth approach: Hmmm...after the latest rumor to surface today involving point guard Rajon Rondo -- Rondo and Brian Scalabrine to Memphis for Mike Conley and and Rudy Gay -- it has become 100% clear that the Celtics are intent on shopping around their once-prized point guard to at least see if they can get anything of value.

Why? Well it looks like Danny Ainge sees trouble ahead in his contract negotiations with Rondo. The Kentucky alum has one year left on his deal and has already been quoted saying he's looking for max money. That's laughable unto itself, but the fact that Rondo legit thinks he's worth that much has to be scary for Ainge and the C's brass, especially considering they already have three players (Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen) making max or close to it.

Ray will be off the books by then and you can bet that's the ONLY reason why he's being shopped around in these reported Rondo deals. A) In the downtrending economy and in a league that was hesitant to make trade-deadline deals because of financial concerns, Allen's $19 million+ expiring deal becomes a valuable trading chip. B) The Celtics regardless if they trade Allen or let him walk after next season (can we all agree he's 3-years-and-done with the Green?) it will free up plenty of cap space for the vaunted Summer of 2010 when Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, Amare Stoudemire, Dirk Nowitzki and plenty of others becomes free agents.

In fact, the C's have already been linked to DWade by more than one outlet.

Still, it remains a bit perplexing to see the Celtics so adamantly shop their fine young point guard. When we first heard Rondo and Ray to Phoenix for Amare and Barbosa, we all laughed, Ainge denied it and we shrugged it off. Then a few weeks later we heard Rondo to Sacramento for Jason Thompson and the No. 4 pick. Peculiar we thought, since this is widely held as one of the weakest drafts in recent memory, one where the difference between the second and 15th pick could be negligible. Why would you want to trade up in a draft like that? Rubbish, we thought.

But thennnnn, yesterday the big bombsell dropped. This wasn't just a few reports on local radio stations or various blogs, this was SportsCenter, the juggernaut of all things sports, leading off it's morning program with a whopper of a rumor: the Celtics approached Detroit about sending Rondo and Ray Allen to the Pistons for Rodney Stuckey, Tayshaun Prince and Rip Hamilton.

Of course we were told that this was just a few "lower level" execs talking shop. Not Joe Dumars or Danny Ainge. Predictably, Ainge broke his cone of silence yesterday to address the swirling Rondo and Ray to Detroit rumors. Here's what he said YESTERDAY:

“I’m not sure why his name keeps popping up, but I’ll tell you this: We love Rajon, and I think everyone in here knows what kind of a player he is and what kind of a bright future he has.

“I’m not going to comment on which trade rumors are true and which ones aren’t true, but it’s amazing. And I hope you can all maintain your integrity in this world of media that we live in. It doesn’t seem that you have to have any source anymore. You can just write stuff and print stuff and things just come out of the air.

“The one thing I can assure you - I will never sit up here and say there is one player that is untradeable ever,” Ainge continued. “But the notion we might be trading him because of some reason other than we think we can be better trading any player because of any (other) reason (is not true).

“Because of his contract situation, I’ve heard speculation. I’ve heard speculation of we’re dissatisfied with him or his attitude. That stuff is so false. He showed up late for a playoff game so we’re going to trade him. None of those things are true. We love the kid and we think he has a very bright future.”

OK, damage control. But WHY were the C's so intent on shopping Rondo for the past few weeks? I mean, didn't we all think things were working out fine after last year's title run and this year's KG-less second-round exit? All of a sudden Chad Ford is on ESPN telling people the C's are unhappy with Rondo, that he has an attitude problem and he's tough to coach??

We've had Doc Rivers -- always the player's coach -- throw a few veiled references out there that Rondo may be a bit stubborn. But after his first year and the first half of the 2007-2008 season, we didn't hear much else. And when was Rondo late for a playoff game? No Celtics beat that I read covered this?

Well, things got a whole lot more interesting today. Here is what Danny Ainge had to say this morning on WEEI. Let me remind you, this is today, ONE DAY after he said the aforementioned comments above.

On being late:
"We expect him to play by the rules and be a leader as a point guard. We need him to be more of a leader," Ainge said. "There were just a couple situations where he was late this year, I don't know if he was sitting in his car, but showed up late and the rest of the team was there. We have team rules and you have to be on time. He was fined for being late, he said he was stuck in traffic, and it's just unacceptable."

On the playoff series with Orlando:
"As we saw in the Orlando series, they left him wide open," Ainge said. "His presence hurt us in winning right now because his man went and doubled onto Ray [Allen] and Paul [Pierce] and made it difficult for us."

On Rondo's attitude:
Ainge said Rondo wasn't "that disruptive of a player," but that he still hasn't fully matured.
"He's got to grow up in some cases, and I think he is, too," Ainge said. "Slowly but surely Rondo is maturing. He's getting a little bit more control over his emotions and he's responding in a more positive way as he gets older and more mature in the league."

On Rondo's contract situation:
"Not right now, I don’t think that Rondo’s a max contract player. I think it’s a good goal for Rondo to have from a monetary standpoint, to be that kind of player that warrants a max-contract player. I certainly don’t see Rondo as a max contract player today."

On signing LeBron or Dwyane Wade:
"It’s something we’ve discussed, and it’s something we’ve actually set ourselves up for, to have an opportunity to think along those lines. This year, it’s a tough call because we’re trying to win now. If we try to improve our team this summer, it could prevent us from having an opportunity to be in the stakes for a big superstar in 2010 unless it’s through a sign-and-trade. A sign-and-trade might be a more viable way to get him than through cap space.

"You’re at a disadvantage with cap space because you can’t pay them within $30 million of what their team that they’re currently with can pay them, and you can’t pay them the length of the contract for the same amount of years. So it’s better and more likely to get a superstar free agent, in most cases, through sign-and-trades.

"That’s probably our best opportunity. You also have to be an attractive team, and a team that has some value. You can’t just have the money. You have to have other players that will allow that player to win. With KG and Paul and the contracts that remain going forward, that may be the attraction. We may not have enough money, but if you have some assets to trade for that superstar, that may be your best opportunity."

--What the?? What the F is going on here. The Celtics sure kept a good lid on how unhappy they were with Rondo during the past few years. Why did no reporter cover this story? And where is Doc Rivers on all this? Wouldn't you just love to get his take?

There are possibly a few things going on here, all or none of which could be true:

1) The Celtics really are unhappy with Rondo, don't think he's going to be signable for an amount OK for them, and wouldn't mind dealing him for a young point for cheap money and either a draft pick (Ricky Rubio?) or a complementary player.

2) The C's are more concerned with clearing cap space for 2010, getting Ray Allen out of here and using their one solid trade chip (Rondo) to do so.

3) But why come out and bash Rondo in the public eye if you're trying to trade him? Makes no sense. Red's Army had an interesting theory that maybe Ainge is trying to negotiate throgh trade rumors and the media. Something like: "You haven't been the perfect model citizen and team player for us, we even tried to trade you and no one bite, you know you aren't worth max money, but we'll pay you X instead."

or 4) Ainge has zero clue what he's doing. Why would he want to trade a pass-first point who has proven he can deal with 3 superstars and is more than capable of running the offense and driving to the hoop when he absolutely has to. It's like the pre-Big Three Era when Ainge flip flopped between making a playoff run (Gary Payton, hello again Antoine Walker) and rebuilding (tanking, trading Ricky Davis for nothing, etc.) every other year.

What's the answer? I have no idea. But if you believe in one of the four options, or have a theory of your own, by all means comment. I know we have some serious hoop fans here. So lemme know what you think.

--Nick

Peep The Playoffs

If you are watching the NBA playoffs right now then you have been treated to a couple solid conference final subplots. Cleveland getting twerked and the Thuggets giving the Lakers a hell of a series. If you are a casual fan I would suggest getting back on the wagon as soon as possible.

I didn't see Cleveland getting handled like this in a milli. I still think they win the series down 3-1. Orlando is a real good 3 point shooting team but they have had to be in order to be in it. Orlando blew teams out when they shot over 40% from three land in the regular season (27-3 with avg margin of victory at 14 pts). The Magic have shot over 40 from down town three times this series with a 1 point loss, a 1 pt win, and an overtime win. Don't be surprised if they cool off and King James makes this a series. Plus the league/refs want Kobe/Lebron, and Im serious when I say that is a real and large factor for me.

The other series, Den/LA, has had a large story and implication too. No, Im not talking about Kenyon Martin still wanting to kill Mark Cuban's horse, cut off its head, and put it under his covers when hes sleeping. And no Im not talking about JR Smith dropping gang signs. Im talking about Carmelo Anthony turning himself into an unstoppable force before our eyes. Melo is threatening to put himself back in the Wade/Lebron-osphere. If Melo makes a final and LBJ doesn't, all three will have an appearance under their belt.

Another cool thing I heard about Melo was when I was listening to a JA Adande interview and he said that Kobe told him Melo is stronger than Lebron. Im not sure if I completely buy that. Maybe functional/retard strength, but whatever, still. If Kobe said it, it impresses me. Melo makes scoring look effortless. Another thing Adande was saying was that we play up the Kobe/Lebron relationship at the Olympics but the truth is that it was Kobe and Melo who got the closest. Melo doesn't have Kobe's mean streak or anything, but you can tell he smoked only 1 blunt a day instead of 5 this season. Observing how hard Kobe goes after it day in and day out when they were in Athens will do that to ya.

-Here is a cool article exploring whether or not Lebron could really play in the NFL. What do I think? I think he would pwn everyone and make 10 probowls.

-Wolfie

Dont Fck With Method Man Or Kenyon Martin

Only a few hours until the Lost finale and the Caps/Pens game is on at 7 so I figured you should probably see this if you haven't yet.

The other night after the Mavs/Nuggets game I guess Kenyon Martin's mom was sitting near Cuban. As the game ended Cuban leaned down and said something to the effect of "That team is a bunch of punks and that includes your son." Nice one Cubes, dumb ass. I like that goofy rich chooch usually but you don't say things, especially insults, to the mother of scary dudes from the hood. I mean Kenyon is pretty much a supersized version of Method Man. Actually Ive seen Meth (Cheese for you Wire fans) have some hood threats for people before too. Ill find the vid. But yea, peep the vid of Martin yelling at Cuban and Cuban pretending like hes not scared. RLOL look at that bouncy goof, guys crappin inside.





Hoooooo. RLOL the last 30 seconds of that clip is so ill.


Other

-If you guys want to see a good 9/11 video check out Press 4 Truth on youtube. Its not like Loose Change, just diggin for facts, very tastefully done. Someone recommended it to me and I liked it a lot. I know Nick Chilliams loves shit like this too.

-And oh yea Im on a swearing binge right now on the blog. Never swore on her before yesterday Im pretty sure. Im not sure why, kinda funny I guess. If the fuckin blogfathers or the blogmother hates though, I am willing to consider stopping all this vulgar filth flowing from my fingertips.

-First streaker on Citi Field. I was laughing at his boy being so proud. And I laughed not because hes so proud his buddy is streaking but because I would probably be saying the same thing if that was Sev. Although Sev would probably nakedly knock out 3 security guards before finally succumbing to a Clydesdale tranquilizer while sprinting with the 4th security guard on his back.



-Wolfie

Wolfie's Rundown - Profile Style

This post is going to be a colossal version of my old AIM inf0/profile. People used to enjoy those so I feel like I owe it to the original readers to follow up.

Random
-Here is a ridiculous story that I haven't told many people. A few years back, on a dark and stormy night (not really stormy) I was hanging out with a different kind of crew than my normal squeaky clean friends. Guys that I hadn't seen in a while. I'll keep the names generic. So people are partying after a night at the bar. Everyone is swillin beers and there are some other drugs going around. I look over in the kitchen and see Johnny Doe destroy a line of blow. Then my other friend Tim Smith is right next to me on the couch and he blasts down a rail of booger sugar himself. Im hammered, wondering what the hell is going on. It feels like I'm backstage with guns and roses, minus the groupies and instruments. So next I throw out this fun fact to the coke heads. Did you guys know that cocaine was what they used to use as a topical anaesthesia before novacaine? Johnny Doe goes "I guess I could see that, it does make you numb". So I google it to make sure Im remembering it right. "Yup they used to use it on eye surgeries too" I read. The next thing I said was pretty ridiculous... "John, you should put some coke in your eyeball and see if you get fucked up". Then to my surprise he answers with "F-ck it. I'll do it if you put it in for me", incredible. So next thing you know Im standing above my buddy, whos high as a kite and on his knees, and Im lining up cocaine to sprinkle into his eyeball that hes holding wide open. So I drop the powder bomb onto his moist eye, direct hit, and he immediately goes "AHHHHHHHH!!!" flipping out holding his eye. At this point Im dying laughing at both the sheer absurdity of the situation and the fact that John is in a ton of pain that will wear off in a few minutes. A couple minutes later we examine John's eye and it looks like it belongs to a zombie while the other one is normal. The thing is completely snaggled and dilated, I was geeking out at this thing. John tells me he cant feel it at all and tells me to poke it. I poke his eye and he doesn't flinch then I give his eye lid a power flick and he doesn't flinch either. Thats about it for the story though. Its nothing to be proud of but not everyone can say they've put coke in their friends eyeball ya know?

-on a lighter note, craisins are awesome. I recommend putting them on your cereal, craisin bran anyone?

-The Stimulus package is no joke people. We should probably be keeping up with it because its so significant and unheard of before. When I want to understand an economic or business issue, the first thing I do is see what Warren Buffet has to say about it and then go from there.




-You might be wondering who that is licking my face in the picture above. I'm not exactly sure though because its not me. Its a picture of Yahoo Fantasy Sports expert Brad Evans. I was trying to research for the big draft the other day and see a sweet lookalike of me. Tell me if you agree. (get outta here if you dont see it, thing is so me, maybe a little bit of zim mixed in?)

Blog
-Williams American Idol post was really good. I need to catch up. That show is pretty unique in the fact that the auditions and actual competition are completely different shows and both get great ratings.

-Im going to try and do more of these grab bag / AIM info / random thoughts posts. This one is going to be long because I have a lot built up, but Im sure you understand...I am using this to tie up loose ends and ideas but I also wouldn't mind responding to comments and questions in my posts. Also going to try and do more comedy and stories because I know my material have been sports and more sports. Retta was telling me to bring back some old classic stories and not to worry if some readers have heard em before.

Entertainment
-LOST was awesome last night. I think I said it last time but it didn't just break into my all time shows, it kicked the door in. Ive never looked forward to like I do with this one. I almost get nervous because I know they are going to blow me away with something crazy every week. Its very unique, absurd, and awesome.

-I had a nice slacker day today so I watched a couple movies, Jaws 2 and The Matrix. J2 is good because its funny to watch how much it sucks. I hadn't seen it in years so I completely forgot about the part where Jaws eats a helicopter. I was dyin laughin as Jaws sinks and then pretty sure eats the chopper with the pilot inside as ppl are watching and screaming. As for the Matrix? Forgot how awesome it was. Such a good idea and really well done. The original is definitely the best.

-Oscars are coming up on Sunday. Looks like Slumdog is the heavy favorite for best picture. Also note that Ledger is an absolute lock for supporting actor. Hes -1000 on the sportsbook.

Sports
-I somehow missed when Weezy was on PTI a couple weeks ago, even when I had it marked down on the calendar. Click that link and you can see all his answers consolidated. The performance was pretty akward as you can imagine but I think Weezy was actually serviceable. You could tell he took it somewhat serious. I could listen to his doped up take on life or sports every day.

Here is Weezy on Manny Ramirez, "People in LA need to calm themselves down. Manny Ramirez is going to end up in a Dodger uniform. He's gonna take the three year deal at some point because there is nothing else on the table. LA fans are getting hyper in the mailbag, but they don't need to worry. And like I said, if he goes to the Yankees I'll record my anti-Manny song for the next album and it will be the best song on the album."

And on Alex Rodriguez (Actually solid), "If I were his manager I wouldn't know what to tell him other than to play his butt off. Hell, I'd probably just tell him to retire at this point. You know there's something else that's gonna come out, and he better retire and sell his book before it comes out and he turns into Canseco. But he's not going to retire so the one thing I would tell him to do right now is focus on being a better teammate. He needs to bust his ass for his team and hope they have his back because it's going to be a long season."

-The 50 second pause in the middle of a sentence before Rodriguez uttered thank you to his teammates "to my teammates.....(50 secs elapse for forced dramatic effect)........thank you" in the press conference made me want to barf. Wow that was terrible and painful to watch. Thats the thing that turned me away from the Rod. I was on his side until then but hes just too much of a tool. Don't try to play me bro. Hes gonna keep getting put on the flambe and rightfully so because hes not telling the whole truth. A-Rod is a mental midget. I don't think he even understands how risky it is to spill so many details mixed in with with half truths. The more complex a lie is, the easier it is to trip yourself up and easier it is for a good cross examiner to tear your shit up. I think its only a matter of time before he gets Frost-Nixon'ed.

-Following up on Dumars taking Darko... Detroit was filthy at the time and didnt need anyone in particular so they took a chance on the raw euro kid who could be the next Dirk. In the process they passed on Melo and Bosh, both number 1 picks in a draft that didn't include the basketball Jesus. Dumars dropped the ball with the pick but I think they also blew it in terms of development. Darko never broke into the culture there. He couldn't relate to black america, seriously, guy is a goofy eastern european. They never let him in the inner circle because they didn't need him to save the franchise like most top 2 draft picks. Bosh is outgoing (and black). Cant you see him going to that team as a 6th man, working with the vets, buddying up with Sheed, and winning them an extra title as a starter down the line? Check out an excerpt from an old interview with Darko I found. Read it and you'll know what I mean.

Question: What has the coaching staff worked on with you in particular?

Darko Milicic: Everything, everything. Play one-on-one, and all this stuff. Post-up moves.

Question: Is practice heping? What is focused on with you in practice?

Darko Milicic: Playing five-on-five, but there's not a lot of practice, because there's a lot of games. We don't have a lot of practice like five-on-five, it's just working on shooting, because the guys, they're tired. And that's why I don't have a chance to play against these top guys.


-Chris Paul hasn't got the attention he deserves this season because we are so enamored with the collision course LeBron and Kobe seem to be on, and rightfully so. Just make sure you consider or acknowledge the fact that CP3 might be the most efficient PG of all time. Read that last sentence again, whoa. Then balance CP's spectacular play so far with the play of a big man about the same age in the other conference. Dwight Howard isn't just playing well, hes dominating. The young talent in the league is so impressive. I don't see the Celtics beating the Cavs to be honest, but if they do we need to finish out another title quick. The window is closing.


-Also, this was awesome.



-Wolfie

The Raja Bell Watch...

After the Celtics “trade” of Sam Cassell for a future protected 2nd-round pick to the Kings in exchange for Sam I Am and a half a mill, we now have about an hour and a half to see if the Celts do anything before the trading deadline.


What the Cassell deal did was effectively save the Celts about $800,000 of the cap while freeing up a roster spot (they have 2 now that Tony Allen is on injured reserve).

The No. 1 pursuit is Charlotte guard and former Boston University star Raja Bell. While the Celts have shown interest in the only current NBA player from BU, reports indicate that they may not have the chips to get a deal done. Boston really has nobody to trade outside of JR Giddens and a draft pick, both of which won’t pry someone like Bell.

What is more interesting is the fact that New Orleans’ trade of Tyson Chandler to Oklahoma for Chris Wilcox and Joe Smith was vetoed by the Thunder over concerns of Chandler’s big toe (weird because the doctor who looked at him was the doctor who performed the tow surgery last year when the Hornets were in OK: “Yea, turns out I did a sucky job.”) This is relevant because now Smith – highly coveted by Danny Ainge and the Celts’ brass – is now back on the market. And while, again, we may not see a trade happen, if Smith does get bought out, he’d like to come to the Green.

Also, Calvin Booth was just traded to the Kings along with Rashad McCants with Sheldon Williams and Bobby Brown headed to the Timberwolves. Booth has played just one game for Minny this year and he, like Cassell, should be waived by the Kings soon after his acquisition. Booth, for some reason, is another target of Ainge.

And finally, Stephon Marbury. Starbury won’t be bought out before the trade deadline, but there are reports that he still will get cut by the Knicks in time to join a team for the playoff run. If he is finally bought out, look for him to come to Boston.

We end with this sweet video of KG “dressing down” one of my fav gimmicks, Craig Sager:

NBA - Young Money

45/19/8 blocks for Howard tonight? Jesus. Thats domination. What the hell has gotten into these kids lately? That looks like a line for Blake Griffin (beast himself) against a sub .500 college squad. Superman was in the building tonight.



47 points for Durant tonight. A little bit of confidence after he won horse this weekend? He has been on fire over the last month. This kid is still so young. Theres just no doubt that he is going to be unstoppable over the next 10 years as he keeps improving the jumper and some go to post moves. Hes just too long and too good. Benjamin Button... I mean Oden is a nice kid, but Durant should have been drafted first.

The league has such a fantastic crop of young talent. Good god I love it. We have been lucky to see a lot of amazing talent enter the league and pan out over the last 5 years. The NBA's popularity is really dependent on its superstars. Remember how noone really cared about the NBA in the late 90's and early 2000's? Well there was a direct correlation with that lull and the lack of big time talent coming in after Duncan in 1997. Number 1 overall picks after Duncan were Olowakandi, Elton Brand, Kenyon Martin, Kwame Brown, and Yao. Are you kidding me? Wish I was born as a future 7 footer. And Im not playing it up either, there werent even any successful top 5 picks in that dark age. Kenyon Martin made an all star game but other than that, noone in the lottery in 2000 even starts in the NBA right now, unreal.

Things have changed drastically since Melo won a title at Syracuse and LeBron's high school games were being televised. The rosters at the all star game this weekend were just stacked with young stars. There is a handful of 10+ year veterans like Pierce, Duncan, Shaq, Kobe, KG, etc, and the rest is just loaded with 22-27 yr olds. Thats why there is such a large number studs hitting free agency around 2010. Lebron, Stoudemire, Wade, Bosh, Dirk, Joe Johnson, Redd, Manu, McGrady, Rip, Ray, Stephen Jackson, Chandler, Josh Howard, Jermaine O'Neal, TJ Ford, and more. Better clear some cap space for the Summer of Lebron, whole leagues gettin flipped.

I flip on Sportscenter tonight and see Howard and Durant just crushing it. Think about the Darko draft being about 5 and a half years ago so those cats are in their prime. Lebron went first and rightfully so as his potential knows no limits. Darko 2nd to Detroit which is that much worse when you see the next 3 selections are all franchise players. Melo is a beast. Bosh made the leap to a top 10 player this year. Wade is being overshadowed by Kobe/Bron but he is the third or fourth best player in the NBA.

Im not sure if you've heard of PER, or player efficiency rating, but its a stat that John Hollinger came up with to show how good a player is on a per minute basis. "PER takes into account positive accomplishments, such as field goals, free throws, 3-pointers, assists, rebounds, blocks and steals, and negative ones, such as missed shots, turnovers and personal fouls. The formula adds positive stats and subtracts negative ones through a statistical point value system. The rating for each player is then adjusted to a per-minute basis so that, for example, substitutes can be compared with starters in playing time debates. It is also adjusted for the team's pace. In the end, one number sums up the players' statistical accomplishments for that season." I don't buy into it as the be all and end all because it falls short on defense, but it is pretty impressive. The score is based on 15.00 as league average. It gets a lot of attention as the best measure of a players performance, and some of this years numbers are off the charts. The top 4 are James, CP, Wade, and Howard (young blood). Lebron James PER of 32 is the best of the last 30 years and only matched by a couple of Jordan's seasons. Same thing with CP3's 30. Its one of the best PER's of all time for a point guard.

The NBA is stacked with young talent. Lets hope the Celts can steal another one before LeBron puts on more muscle and the big three get arthritis.

Fun Fact: 24 year old LeBron James is criticized for his outside shot that manages to go in 32% of the time. Well when Michael Jordan was 24 years old he had played 4 years in the NBA and attempted 189 three pointers and only 16% of them went in. So Michael Jordan scored 31 three pointers through age 24 while LeBron is at 580 and counting.

-Wolfie

NBA Stuff - Dunk Contest Edition

The NBA All Star game, like all AS games, are pretty hard to get into. Still, I like seeing the best in the business mess around with each other and crunk some alley oops. Tonight wasn't bad. I am more of a fan of the three point and dunk contest though.



I liked how King James was getting interviewed and announced that he is entering the 2010 dunk contest. I really miss the big names from throwing their names in. Dwight Howard is one of the best players in the game and I think that him being involved as the main attraction has brought the contest's popularity back from the catatonic state its been in since Richardson last won it.

The video below is Lebron, Melo, Pierce, and VC at the high school dunk contests, pretty cool. Its too bad that Melo and Pierce packed on a good 30 pounds and dont have the ups that they used to (no big deal, just sayin check the air).



Its hard for a tall guy to look that good in a dunk contest just because dunking 10 feet seems too easy. Dwight Howard is freakish enough that he can pull it off. Howard once dunked on a hoop that was 12ft 3in. He would be in my handpicked dunk contest for sure, but who would the others be if I could pick the 2010 lineup? Give me Lebron, James White, Howard, and Josh Smith.

Kobe can throw down pretty hard but hes so good in real games that his dunking could only be disappointing. Kobe And the Nate Robinson thing was kinda cool but it was too much of a novelty, and novelties get dull fast. VC might have been the best but hes well past his prime, so is Jason Richardson's knee. An honorable mention would be Andre Iguodala. I like seeing him glide and slam. A thing to remember when trying to decide who would be the best is that there are probably 10 or 15 guys with verticals approaching 50 inches, so a lot does come down to creativity, fluidity, and showmanship.

Look at Lebron in warmups man. His ups are just spectacular. Im pretty sure he isn't even going all out here. Its crazy how he has put on so much muscle since coming into the league and hasn't lost any speed or ups.



This is James White. He is still in the D-League but I watched him in the college dunk contest a few years back and was blown away. A lot of the players say hes the best dunker in the game right now. Too bad thats pretty much all he can do because you need to be able to dribble to graduate from the D-League. Still, this is my custom picked contest so I'll pick who I want.



I already talked about him above, and this is the last youtube (or ill get called into Perk's office and be reemed out), but here is Howard practicing for last year's contest. The sheer size and power makes this maybe my favorite video out of all of these. He should get a car on the court next year and sky over that. (Edit: kinda been done before I guess)



Lastly I would go with Josh Smith. This kid is a decorated veteran and I love watching him throw it down. Thats him in the picture at the top of this post. His nickname is J-Smoove which is incredibly ghetto, but when hes air-born he actually is smoother than a babys butt. Smoovy reminds me of Larry Nance, Julius Erving, or even Dominique. A long explosive leaper that likes the windmill type stuff to show the hang time and power.

-If you're into the NBA at all, I would recommend checking out Bill Simmons annual Trade Value Column. I am a huge fan of Simmons anyway, but his NBA knowledge is actually his strongest subject in my opinion.

-Simmons has been saying for a couple years that they should add horse to all star weekend and they finally did this year. He was criticizing it though because of the fact that they put young guys out there for it who aren't super confident and have the necessary swag and experience to talk trash and take it serious. Picture Kobe, Pierce, Garnett, Iverson types out there mic'ed up. That would be unreal to me.

-I have a lot more NBA stuff I want to talk about but this is getting a little long. Ill come back to some things soon. Hope you enjoyed some of the dunk clips. Leave some NBA thoughts in the comments if you'd like. I think I'll do a post on Amare tomorrow too.

-Sir Blogalot

Visiting The King

I'm kicking myself for not making some money last night. I loved the Cavs only laying 4 at home. I was even writing up the pick of the night post when two of my places I check for handicapping advice had the Celts as their lock so I layed off. Oh well, you always seem like a better gambler when you don't actually bet. There aren't many worse things then listening to stories about gambling losses though. Well unless its really amazing like the time my buddy lost a grand when he had the over in the Pacers/Pistons Brawl game. He needed 2 more points with 45 seconds to go for the over to hit. Then Artest charged the stands, the last 45 seconds never got played, and it stayed under. Anyway, back to the Cavs/Celts.

In terms of how the game played out, it was all about The King. Lebron is on another planet. The MVP this year should probably be unanimous. I had to write a little bit about him after seeing that.

"James scored 38 points, 23 in the second half. He added seven rebounds, six assists, four steals, three blocks and made Pierce's life miserable for 35 minutes." - AP

The King's evolution from average defender to one of the best in the world is frightening (for the Celts). On the perimeter he is shutting people down. I heard Steve Kerr say in an interview that this year Lebron has turned himself into the best perimeter defender since Scottie Pippen in his prime. Thats what happens when the best athlete on the planet applies some technique and effort to that end of the court.

The aspect of James' freakish athleticism that allows him to do a lot of the superhuman things he does is his lateral quickness and agility. He can play tight on guys out on the perimeter with his huge frame and wingspan, while at the same time not be worried about getting beat to the hoop because of his shuffle prowess. You can also really see that lateral explosion in action when he is driving to the hoop and takes gazelle angles to get there. Its to the point where defenders can't attempt to draw a charge because when he sees them set their feet he just power hops to the left or right, blows right by them, and still somehow has enough speed to crunk a dunk with one more jump.

Lebron has officially passed Kobe as the best player individual player in the game now. Lebron's talent has finally caught up to Kobe's polish and work ethic. In that debate before this year, you could always point to Kobe's defense and scoring. And now Lebron might be playing better defense than Kobe and they both can score for days. The reality of the situation is that Lebron has more potential than anyone in the history of the game. Kobe is a hall of famer, an all time great even, but he is Jordan Lite. Lebron is different. He is a hybrid of all the all time greats, a frankenstein, a perfect storm. He could be the G.O.A.T., its atleast possible. And thats enough to keep me watching...

-This Celts slide is ugly but they will get it together and make it to the Eastern Conf Finals. Can they beat Cleveland though? I was petrified of that matchup when the Celts had 2 losses all year and had won 20 in a row. So at this point, with Cleveland looking like they have a good chance to get home court after Boston just ripped off 7 losses, I don't like their chances. We can't count out a KG led team though. If Boston and Cleveland are both playing their best basketball, that playoff series will be gold.

Rondo vs Stuckey (Vote In Poll Below)

There is no more wondering how well Rodney Stuckey would play if he had the chance to start. That time came in December when Michael Curry decided to Play Iverson at SG and give the heir apparent his shot at the point. Any question marks about him were erased when he put up 40 on Chicago shortly thereafter. The Pistons are now 13-3 in games where Stuckey starts at PG. At this point, Stuckey is having big games more often, including last Friday against the Kings where he put up 38 (even without hitting a 3ball) with 7 assists and 2 steals. Rajon Rondo handled the ball for the 2007-08 NBA Champions. And in my opinion this year Rondo is just as important to their success as Paul, Kevin, or Ray. Rondo's potential is through the roof. Both Stuckey and Rondo have legitimate cases to be named All Stars. Name me better PG's in the east, its tough huh? What I want to go over though is how they stack up against each other and who is the better baller. Lets look at their strengths and weaknesses. 

Rondo is never going to have a jumper, thats just a fact. He has gotten his field goal percentage up to respectable levels now but I bet that is more due to him torching defenders and getting layups. I would characterize his shooting as serviceable at best. The foul shooting percentage in the mid 60's is just awful for a starting point guard. Rondo's foul shooting holds his game back because he can torch almost anyone off the dribble, but drawing fouls with him usually only 'nets' 1 point. Rondo also has less range than KG on his shot and for some reason he always lays it up right handed and gets terrible rolls from the rim. So I basically could have just said shooting for Rondo. Stuckey's skill set is pretty well rounded. An early knock was his defense but he has actually been playing D well so far this season. One thing Stuckey can't do is distribute as well as Rondo, though not many people can. Stuckey can get shot happy as you might have seen when he launched 24 shots against the Clippers on Sunday.

These two young point guards are the future at the position in the Eastern Conference. Both Rondo and Stuckey can break people down off the dribble extremely well and are top notch athletes. Rondo is a little better at it but 5o cent, I mean Stuckey, is the better finisher. Rondo has extremely long arms at 6'1 and plays very good on the defense. Rondo legit has AI's number when they go at it. He shuts guys like that down if they can't use their size against him. Rondo has very good court vision, and you'll see the oops to KG on a regular basis. He is a very good passer and doesn't turn the ball over at a high rate. Stuckey is a big guard at 6'5 and is an explosive scorer. He plays a little like his backcourt mate Iverson in that he still gets assists but he loves putting the ball in the basket. Stuckey is big and strong but also has excellent quickness and can go left or right off the dribble and pull up for the silk J or take it to the rim and finish in traffic.

"Rondo has the ring and is proven. Stuckey is all flash and no cash. Seriously, Rondo is the better player right?". Its not that simple to me. Sure, most Celtic fans are going to say Rondo without blinking. But if you are being honest with yourself, and have seen Stuckey play, you have to atleast think on it. I am a big Rondo fan. For this Celtics team he is almost perfect. The youth, speed, handle, vision, distributing, athleticism and defense. Boston's 6'11 big man shoots 80% from the line, the franchise player is the best scorer in Boston since Bird, and their shooting guard is one of the best pure shooters of the last 30 years. In other words, Rondo's weaknesses aren't a huge problem. Rondo also has games where he is flat out dominant. Games where his confidence is on mars and he is eating the other pg's lunch, blowing by defenders effortlessly, his jumper is falling, making passes like Hot Sauce from 'And 1', and snatching rebounds. He even had a couple triple doubles this year so far. Danny Ainge described Rondo as a superhero who just found out about his powers and can't control them all the time. Sort of ridiculous but also pretty real.

"Stuckey is a future superstar. He already had 40 and 38 pt games in his short time as a starter. Rondo plays with 3 hall of famers, any mediocre PG could do that". I disagree with the Rondo knock that its all about the big 3. Of course that helps the teams success but Rondo's game has improved exponentially over the last 2 years. Theres no doubt in my mind he would do well anywhere. Stuckey is a future superstar. I also think its interesting that AI and Stuckey both start for Detroit now but thats for another blog. Back to Rondo vs Stuckey. Both players are young studs, but it really depends on what your team needs. If I have my scorers already, I am taking Rondo to run my squad. If I am starting from scratch or have a team of scrubs, I take Stuckey over Rondo. Keep your eye on both of these cats in the future.

-Jared Wolfe

Barkley Follow Up

We love Charles here at WKFTB.

Well maybe not that much, but still. Sorry if that image is a little disturbing. Its from when an obese Sir Charles challenged the fit old man and referee Dick Bavetta to a race on live TV. I actually won money on this as Barkley absolutely dusted that fossil as a 3:1 dog in the sportsbooks. Charles probably wagered on himself too now that I think about it.

Williams post earlier reminded me of how great and entertaining Barkley really is. This is nothing new, but I still wanted to pay homage. Barkley is a man born without the ability to filter the things that travel from his brain to his mouth. Sir Charles is a funny, candid man. He is also an absolute degenerate gambler of epic proportions. He freely admits he has lost over 10 million gambling including 400k on the Superbowl last year. I hope he really does have it under control now or soon though so he can do more things like pay a busboys tuition. Barkley also might run for Governor in Alabama in 2014 which would be a great show.

The last paragraph is all talk of him after his playing days too. Some people forget, and others are too young to remember, just how good he was on the court. Barkley was an 11 time all star, has a league MVP under his belt, and was selected as one of the NBA's top 50 players of all time. There was even a point where, as you can see, people wondered if he was better than Godzilla. (I remember this poster on Adam Yakavonis'(a follower of this blog) bedroom wall about 15 years ago)

I might as well post the famous ugliest golf swing in the world while am at it. Its so bad that it almost seems fake. There is another youtube of Tiger doin an impression of it which is funny. Picture swinging like this and gambling hundreds of thousands on golf anyway.

The main reason I wanted to post and follow up on Barkley though was to list off my top 10 quotes of all time by him. Remember, we don't necessarily agree with these quotes here at WKFTB, but we do find them amusing.

10. When asked if he was serious about running for Governor of Alabama in 2014. "I am, I can't screw up Alabama. We are number 48 in everything and Arkansas and Mississippi aren't going anywhere,".

9. "I know why his name is DMX. Because his real name is Earl."

8. "When I was recruited at Auburn [university], they took me to a strip joint. Once I saw Buffy's titties I knew the school met my academic standards."

7. "You know it's going to hell when the best rapper out there is white and the best golfer is black."

6. After throwing a guy through a 1st floor window in a bar Charles was in front of the judge.
Judge: "Your sanctions are community service and a fine, do you have any regrets?"
Charles: "Yeah I regret we weren't on a higher floor"

5. "I'm not a role model... Just because I dunk a basketball doesn't mean I should raise your kids."

4. "I can be bought. If they paid me enough, I'd work for the Klan.""

3. on his thoughts about retiring before the season: "I remember sitting down with the Rockets and saying, 'Yeah. I'm going to retire.' They said, 'Well, we'll give you $9 million.' And I said, 'You got a pen on you?'"

2. After Kevin Garnett threw a ball into the crowd out of frustration and was ejected. They showed footage of the man that got hit by the ball being taken away in a stretcher and his daughter was crying. Charles commented that players take passes to the face all the time. He topped it off by saying: "You know why that little girl's crying? It's because she's thinking 'my daddy's a wussy'".

1. Kenny: "There's guys who go over to Europe and play overseas from America, and they dominate!"
Charles: "Those are called 'brothers'

Do People Forget Marbury is ill?

“Do people forget Marbury is ill?” – Chris Hall

In the wake of the Celtics’ recent run of futility, the above statement is becoming more and more poignant.

Do the Green need some outside help? After six losses in the past eight games, the answer seems unequivocally to be ‘yes’. Is it panic time? Of course not. But it’s evident this team needs a little bench help.

I mean, could Boston use a backup point guard who has averaged nearly 20 points and eight assists per game? I think so.

Quite frankly, Stephon Marbury would help this basketball team and here’s why:

1) The Celts have no backup behind Rondo. Cassell is a coach, Gabe Pruitt is too raw (why do you think they have interest in Marbury to begin with?) and Eddie House is a shooter, not a ballhandler, and he’s playing abysmal this season anyway.

Marbury shores up this spot considerably. Can you think of a better Sixth Man than a two-time All-Star who has the potential to drop 30? I can’t. Plus, in certain situations that you’d want to leave Rondo in, you could bring Marbury in at shooting guard and let him fire away.

2) The Celts could go (scary) small. Remember Game 4 of the NBA Finals when the C’s were trailing LA by 20-something, looking hopeless, then on top of it all lost Kendrick Perkins to a shoulder injury? Well, they went to a smaller lineup after that (Garnett at the 5, followed by Posey, Pierce, Allen and Rondo/House) and literally shot their way back into the game, eventually overtaking the Lakers in one of the best comebacks in NBA history.

Marbury would allow them to do something similar. Whether it’s because they’re in a huge hole like the LA game or if they just want to matchup against quicker teams that may go small against them (think Golden State, Charlotte, etc.), the Celts would at least have the opportunity to play Garnett, Pierce, Allen, Marbury and Rondo.

3) Ahh, what you’ve been waiting for this whole time: the attitude. You really, honestly think that after all this, the whole draw-out battle with the Knicks, his reputation tarnished beyond repair, the hoards of sportswriters talking heads out for blood, that Marbury would come in here and become a cancer? No. Chance.

He knows this would be his last stop. He knows everyone would be watching his every move. And he knows that if he did anything, anything bad at all, he’d simply get cut. He’d be making the veterans minimum or whatever portion of the mid-level exception the Celtics have remaining and he’d come in knowing it would be in a reserve role. The Celtics have a locker room full of veterans, a coach who relates to point guards and a tradition and attitude of winning. Hell, even Garnett said he’d take him.

There’s no risk here – and I don’t understand why some people don’t get that. Marbury would be pumped to play again. He’d play with fire and intensity whether out of spite of the Knicks or the thrill of a championship atmosphere. When you can get a veteran former all-star with the potential to be a game changer, and for practically nothing…I say it’s a no-brainer.

--Nick