Tune in to the Sportaholic Show this Saturday!!

  

Adam Douglas

Tomorrow on the Sportaholic Radio Show we speak with Adam Douglas sports reporter of the Tigersportreport.com which covers Memphis Tigers basketball. He is also the food and drink reporter for the MicroMemphis.com, a hyper-local news website produced by the University of Memphis department of journalism. He helps us makes sense of the madness that is March with his expert in-depth analysis and of course he will talk about his Memphis Tigers.

We also hit on Peyton watch as Manning gets ready to pick his next team. We talk to a few experts and sources to get the most complete up to date info on Manning’s next move. It would be a travesty for us not to speak about all of the antics that went on the day of the Manning visit including local Shoney’s offering free pancakes for life, the state of Tennessee taking out a resolution in honor of Manning and the circus like atmosphere at Baptist Sport Park.

All this as well as the latest NFL free agency, NBA trade dead line moves, and the Nashville Predators’s pursuit of Alexander Radulov. It will be a great show as you can see so make sure you tune in to www,Beatknockin.com from 10 A.M. to noon as take your calls, tweets and FB questions live on air!

Miami and OKC show why they are the favorites to meet in the NBA Finals:

The Miami Heat had heard it all about Linsanity and the new look New York Knicks. Dwayne Wade for one said he was ready to guard the sensational point guard as soon as the Knicks plane landed. You could tell that both Wade and Lebron James would ratchet up the heat (Pun intended) for this game due to the nature of hype and anticipation. The result was a resounding 102-88 victory that saw them dismantle what is the hottest story in sports. Lin was assaulted all night as they forced him into 8 turnovers and just 8 points on 1 for 11 shooting. Miami clearly game planned for Lin as they hounded him relentlessly up and down the court I can't remember another game where it was hard to just take dribbles,'' said Lin and it showed.

Don’t think for one second the Heat didn’t see how Lin dropped 38 on Kobe and the Lakers and another 28 and 14 assists on Dirk and the defending champion Dallas Mavericks. They knew this kid could play but they wanted to see him up close and personal. Carmelo and Amare could only sit back and stare as the new found savior point of guard struggled most of the night. Melo is still trying to find his groove and finished 7 if 20 as he was caught in the line of fire that was the suffocating Miami defense. The Heat just wore them down with there intense defense some of the best rotations you will see just as they just smothered the Knicks high octane offense. Lebron would finish with 20 points 9 rebounds and 8 assists. His sidekick Wade added 22 points and 5 rebounds and third wheel Chris Bosh had 25 points and 8 rebounds for good measure. The Heat had heard about the story and couldn’t wait to tear it all to pieces which they did last night.

No one has a better fast break transition offense then the Heat. The only team that is even in the conversation is the Oklahoma City Thunder and they used their young legs to outrun and gun the Los Angles Lakers100-85. Kevin Durant is getting to the point in his career where you just can’t guard him. He dropped 33 on the Lakers and didn’t even seem to break a sweat. His trusty second hand man Russell Westbrook chipped in with 19 and they just overwhelmed Los Angeles. This is a young team that has had the chance to gel together and its starting to pay big dividends. What gets lost in all of the Durant and Westbrook talk is that quietly Serge “I’ll block ya” Ibaka is leading the league in blocked shots. He also is the perfect glue guy big man that cleans up on misses and does a lot of the dirty work for his superstar teammates. Another guy you can’t forget with the Thunder is the bearded Mohawk one himself James Harden. His versatility and wiliness to come off the bench creates a major problem for most teams they face. Harden had 16 points on an efficient 6 of 10 shooting and traded jabs with Kobe Bryant for most of the night. His competitiveness seemed to be contagious as his teammates all jumped in and they just took it the Lakers, making them look slow and old for the most part. Kobe was never able to get on track as OKC held him to 7 of 24 from the field.

So in summarizing, clearly the Miami and OKC are the best teams in the NBA at the mid-point of the season. They are tied for the best record in the league at 26-7 and don’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon. They both have transcendent talents on the wings and are the best fast break teams in the NBA. Both are not without their flaws as well as neither has a go to low post threat which could pose a problem in the playoffs when games tend to slow down. OKC is a jump shooting team that if the shots aren’t falling that night then they are vulnerable. Miami always is at the will of Lebron in the final minutes possibly choking and bad clock management which plagued them at the worst possible times last year. But even with that being said about both teams, it’s hard to pick against an OKC vs. Miami Finals match up. They have the superstars in Durant, James, Westbrook, Wade and Bosh. They have the high paced offenses with devastating fast breaks that would keep everyone glued to the seats. The question now is if they can both make it out of their respective conference and give the fans the collision course they are expecting in the Finals. Stay tuned as the both teams try to make it to the promise land and it appears all but inevitable.

Updated: Join us on the Sportaholic Radio Show this Saturday on Beatknockin.com!

Make sure to tune in to the Sportaholic radio show this Saturday as we are joined by Eddie Maisonet AKA “Ed the sports fan”, editor-at-large of The Sports Fan Journal and contributor for SLAMonline magazine just to name a couple of his projects . We will pick his brain on the NBA’s most burning questions including who has been the biggest surprise of the season thus far, what’s wrong with the New York Knicks  (Is Jeremy Lin the answer?), and who his MVP is so far plus much more.







We also speak with Tennessee State University point guard Will Peters who's Tigers team upset the previously only undefeated and # 9 ranked Murray State Racers.He gives us his keys to Tigers victory and tells us how they were able to knock the Racers off. Said Peters:"It's an amazing feeling," "Most people don't get this experience in their whole college career to beat a team that was unbeaten for a long period of time and to share that with your teammates your senior year is very special and I'll probably remember this for the rest of my life." It will be an interview you don't want to miss.

Also lastly recap the best and worse of the past NFL season including the Super Bowl. Was it more that New England lost the Super Bowl New York winning it? As always we will have our “Diss of the week” and cover all the sports headlines of the week so make sure to listen in on Saturday 10 A.M. to noon on www.beatknockin.com

For booking info contact Sportaholic84@gmail.com

For booking info contact Sportaholic84@gmail.com

Sportaholic: The Association shows us what we missed in first two days of action

For those who missed it (If you could with the wall to wall ESPN coverage) the NBA is back with a vengeance. In two days of action we have already witnessed a Kevin Garnet throat shove, Lebron James and Dwayne Wade looking like Jordan and Pippen 2.0, a Derrick Rose game winner, Chris Paul take over in the 4^th for the Clips,Mr. former Mr. Kardashian himself Kris Humphries drop a 21 point 14 rebound game, and Dwight Howard make up a song about his on again off again trade rumors.  And that’s just half the story. I didn’t know what to expect as a writer and fan when the NBA finally got over themselves and stopped the madness. From “Witnessing” Lebron show up at his alma mater’s varsity football practice, players moving overseas, Delonte West working at The Home Depot, and Kevin Durant do a little bit of everything made me think these guys wouldn’t be ready come when the lockout ended. Just didn’t seem like the focus was on getting better with all of the additional free time they had.

I was as wrong as I could I could be especially about the King himself. James and the Miami Heat look as if they could beat the ’96 Chicago Bulls with their aggressive defense and spectacular fast break offense.  Lebron and Dwayne Wade combined for 63 points 18 rebounds and 12 assists and just continually got in the lane to punish the Mavericks (0-2 now after losing to Denver tonight). The Mavs look to have the dreaded “Championship Hangover” as they have looked old, slow and discombobulated to start the season. Some of that is to be expected when you add veteran players such as Lamar Odom and Vince Carter but the effort just didn’t seem there. The Los Angeles Lakers are clearly a different team under new Head Coach Mike Brown. They are much more post oriented in their offense and will use a lot of screens to open up their 3-point shooters. All that being said the ball still ended up in Kobe’s hands in crunch time and that old bugaboo of them not being able to defend small quick point guards rang true. Derrick Rose absolutely left Derek Fisher stuck to the ground and floated a leathery soft floater over Pau Gasol (Don’t get me started on him) to finish off a sensational 22-point 8-assit game. The Bulls showed they will be able to match superior offensive teams by adding Richard Hamilton (Can anyone tell me why he still wears the face guard mask?)

Carmelo deserves a big mention as well with his 20-point 2^nd half outburst. "Most importantly for us, as a new team, we showed something," Anthony said. "We came together as a team. Even when we got down, there wasn't no frowns. Nobody was down. Mentally everybody was still up about it, and we willed our way to this win." The Knicks have the look of a team that can make a run but the injury of Rook Iman Shumpert going down with a MCL sprain hurts them at a position that they are already thin at. They still can score on you at will wit Melo, Amar’e Stoudemire, and a cast of talented role players. But the most important development for them was the shot blocking by newly acquired center Tyson Chandler. He obliterated 6 shots and showed that as long as he is around New York won’t be pushovers in the paint.

Lastly I can see why Dwight Howard will be traded or leave in the off season if he isn’t The Magic don’t have even half the talent around him to sniff an NBA championship.  Not when you wing player rotation consists of Jason Richardson (1 of 10), Hedo Turkoglu (3 of 10) and J.J Redick (0-3). They would have to pull off some kind of miraculous trade that they don’t have the money to do thanks to a couple of bloated contracts. The Lakers should smell blood in the water soon with Howard’s first choice New Jersey having to deal with Brooke Lopez breaking his foot.  One way or another the writing is on the wall for that situation even if Howard wants to make up little Christmas carols about it.

It was just a damn good way to start off the season after all of the bitterness that ensued during the lockout. The marquee players that we all expect to performed pretty much did that on the first two nights of the season.  Things can only get better from here and it looks like the NBA is ready to make up for dragging us into a shortened season with exceptional play all throughout it. 

Nixed Chris Paul trade creates firestorm of problems for NBA

Lakers Paul trade fiasco is a bad look for the NBA:

There are a lot of ways to take in what transpired yesterday involving Chris Paul and a host of other big names being traded, only to have NBA commissioner/czar David Stern kill the deal. It sets a disturbing precedent for the league right after all of the hand wringing of the labor dispute that has already knocked the season down to a 66-game schedule. Most fans already see Stern as a meddle some power drunk leader who seems to have way too much power over his league. It was first reported by Yahoo! Sports Adrian Wojonarowski that the NBA owners pushed for this not to happen. Now the one thing that I was say is that the NBA does own the Hornets and so that means they do have the final say in their basketball operations. This is the biggest problem with the whole situation. The entire trade was put to a vote from the owners and it was declined. It was inevitable that Paul was going to leave New Orleans when his contract expired and even Hornets president Hugh Weber said as much this year. New Orleans didn’t want to be held hostage like Denver with Carmelo Anthony or just let Paul walk like Lebron James did in Cleveland. The Hornets GM Dell Demps engineered one heck of a trade that saw his team land Kevin Martin who averaged 23.5 points last season, Lamar Odom the versatile power forward. Goran Dragic a decent backup point guard and a first round draft pick. Seems pretty fair to right? The Lakers were giving up their entire identity as they traded away two of the three 7’footers that has defined them over the past few years.



When the league owns a team, then it can pretty much do whatever it wants with it. Cleveland Cavalier owner Dan Gilbert, who of course had his own about face with big time superstarLebron James, wrote a letter to Stern that pretty much sums up what most of the other owners were thinking. This is the letter:





Commissioner,

Cavs Owner Dan Gilbet

It would be a travesty to allow the Lakers to acquire Chris Paul in the apparent trade being discussed.

This trade should go to a vote of the 29 owners of the Hornets.

Over the next three seasons this deal would save the Lakers approximately $20 million in salaries and approximately $21 million in luxury taxes. That $21 million goes to non-taxpaying teams and to fund revenue sharing.

I cannot remember ever seeing a trade where a team got by far the best player in the trade and saved over $40 million in the process. And it doesn’t appear that they would give up any draft picks, which might allow to later make trade for Dwight Howard. (They would also get a large trade exception that would help them improve their team and/or eventually trade for Howard.) When the Lakers got Pau Gasol (at the time considered an extremely lopsided trade) they took on tens of millions in additional salary and luxury tax and they gave up a number of prospects (one in Marc Gasol who may become a max-salary player).

I just don’t see how we can allow this trade to happen.

I know the vast majority of owners feel the same way that I do.



When will we just change the name of 25 of the 30 teams to the Washington Generals?

Please advise….

Dan G.

Hornets GM Dell Deps

Do you feel that stinging feeling of hate and spite from Gilbert? Now maybe that is taking it too far but what other way do you interpret this letter? Its understandably disheartening for small market owners to have to swallow yet another superstar getting his request and being traded to big market team (which was one of the key issues in the recent labor strife) but its another thing for them make such a bold move of this magnitude.

 Lamar Odom

This makes the entire brand of the NBA look superficial and presents more questions then answers. Now what do the Hornets do? Can they not trade Paul at all this season, setting up a scenario where he walks away fom nothing? How do the Lakers explain to Lamar Odom (Who was reduced to tears on radio and then later went on a rampage on twitter) and Pau Gasol? Houston thought it finally had its premier big man and now they are back to square one. And how about Hornets GM Dell Demps? He was so distraught that he reportedly almost quit his job and had to be talked into staying. They have taken away all of his power to be able to do his job. The NBA has to find a way to get this right. Even if the owners are lobbying for it not to, this would set an unprecedented scene for a league that should want nothing to do anymore legal wrangling. The Hornets got what they wanted, ridding itself of the drama that would have ensued with Paul this year, The Lakers got the best Point Guard it would have had since Magic Johnson, and the Rockets got the big man they coveted in Pau Gasol so what is the problem here? David Stern and his cronies have some explaining to do or this could get ugly fast.

What Have The Sportaholic's Been Up To You Ask?

Hey guys, sorry I haven’t been posting this week. I am helping conduct the Run N Gun basketball camp as well as the Elite 3 football camp. Ashley and I are administering interviews and writing articles about each. We will have a full out spread about both coming soon. Ashley wants to thank Jim, Collin, Mike K, and The Sports Cubicle for all of the compliments and promises to surprise all the fellas with her sports knowledge. I have been giving her a hard time telling her it’s going to be hard to top her initial post but she says she is game. Ashley and I will be hosting our own radio show on beatknockin radio each on Saturday’s from 10 am to 12 pm. Beatknocking radio (I know it sounds crazy) is an online radio station, so make sure you tune if you guys get a chance. Here is the link by the way: http://beatknockin.com/

I have had time to notice that Terrell Owens is probably done after blowing his ACL in a workout or his VH1 show. What ever the case may be on how he sustained the injury, it’s going to be hard for a 37-year old receiver to come back from such a severe injury. Granted, T.O. is a freak of nature and isn’t your normal human being when it comes to physical condition but I just don’t see him making an impact anymore after such a severe detriment to his knee.



I will be writing a featured post on this Summer of Bummer that the NFL and NBA have put us through. Can you believe both leagues have let the business side of their respective leagues deteriorate to this point? The summer already sucks in terms of what we have to watch. I love baseball, golf and all the other summer sports but ESPN has turned into CSNBC with all of the legal litigation it’s showing these days. The fans deserve better than this.

I just want to thank all my fellow bloggers for all their support as well. You guys are great and if you ever need anything for me feel free to ask. Hope everyone has a great week and look to forward to some new posts from Ashley and I later this week.

The Sportaholic 2011 NBA draft spectacular

Just like the general managers whose team are near the top of the draft, I have played it close to the vest on the draft this year. This was billed as the weakest draft class since the 2006 draft, that featured the Andrea Bargnani led class of a debacle. That class only saw two eventual all-stars (Rajon Rondo and Brandon Roy) and plenty of busts (Adam Morrison #3, Shelden Williams #5, and Patrick O’Bryant #9 sheesh those were some stinkers). This was definitely a down year in terms American born talent and was supposedly going to have a lot of international flavor. That notion held true to form as four of the lottery picks came from overseas, breaking an NBA record. Most teams had a plan and worked it to perfection but some failed miserably (I just don’t understand for the life of me why GM David Kahn of Minnesota still has his job.)

The Cavaliers selected Kyrie Irving with the number one pick which wasn’t really a surprise but their number 4 pick Tristan Thompson was. The Cavs have now created the new foundation for there future. The Jimmer was drafted by the Bucks but will take his talents to the Kings (He looked awkward in that Bucks hat with everyone knowing he was going to Sacramento). The Jimmer seems to be the most marketable player in this year draft as a Jimmer Jam was held in Glen Falls, NY in hopes that he would land with the Knicks, but to no avail. Speaking of trades, the flurry of established players moving was the biggest story this year’s aside from the foreign players’ takeover. It was too many trades to go over so I will list them at the bottom of this article.

Now for the biggest winners, losers, surprises and best laughs of the 2011 NBA draft:

Biggest Winners:

Washington Wizards: I am surprised to say the Washington Wizards had the best draft in the NBA this year. They drafted the freakishly athletic Jan Vessly at number 6 (Who has a very nice taste in women as ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla properly put it.) He will combine with John Wall and Javale McGee to form a devastating fast break for the Wiz. Washington selected defensive specialist Chris Singleton next with the 18th pick. Flip Saunders probably ran to get the pick in to David Stern and for good reason, Singleton was the highest rated defensive perimeter player in the entire draft this year. He is a pit-bull on defense and has a long wingspan (That Jay Bilas would not let us forget about, but more on that later) that should make him a pest on the wing for the Wizards for years to come. To put the cherry on top of their haul, the Wizards selected former Butler star Shelvin Mack. Mack may not be the most athletic or have the most upside but he will give John Wall a decent spell of the bench and run the second unit for Washington. Damn good draft by the Wizards

Sacramento Kings: With all the turmoil the organization is facing with the on again off again relocation talks, the Kings needed a star that could come in and make an immediate impact for them and they got one. As I stated earlier the most marketable player in the draft was Jimmer Fredette. The Jimmer is a one-man train of publicity and he already has an established fan base out west from playing at BYU. Fredette will move Tyreke Evans off the ball as he takes over at the point which I think he can excel at. He will have some problems defending but he will be ok. The Kings have a chance to become an offensive juggernaut with Fredette, Evans, Demarcus Cousins, Marcus Thornton and the recently acquired John Salmons. The relocation talk may never come to fruition with the Jimmer in town. (Now if they can only get a new arena but that’s another subject for another day)

Biggest Losers:

New York Knicks: I know the Knicks usually boo their picks every year because lets face it; it’s the thing to do as fans for this once proud franchise. But they may have a valid point this year with the Knicks selecting Iman Shumpert from Georgia Tech. Shumpert has all the measurables, jumps out the gym and seems like a nice guy but that’s not what New York needed. They could have went in so many different directions and they had so many needs that Shumpert doesn’t fit. Kenneth Faried and Chris Singleton were still on the board and both would have met an immediate need for the Knicks. They already have a guy in Landry Fields that does the things Shumpert does well. I was booing just like you New York fans as this was just an all around bad pick.

Minnesota Timberwolves: If anybody could explain to me what the hell is going on up there with general manager David Kahn then I would really appreciate it. They continued to stockpile young front court players and future draft picks but they don’t seem to have a concrete plan on what to do with them. Drafting Derrick Williams at #2 was no-brainer since they couldn’t move the pick in a trade but now that gives them Kevin Love, Michael Beasley, Anthony Randolph, Wesley Johnson and now Williams as combo fowards. Don’t forget they have Ricky Rubio also as he finally agreed to come over and play which adds to the chaos that is Minnesota’s locker room. They did trade former first round pick Jonny Flynn and the 20th pick Donatas Motiejunas to the Rockets for Brad Miller and some draft picks but I just don’t get a sense of direction from the front office. They have some talented players but you have to settle on a core and let them develop. And to top everything off, they have an uncertain coaching situation as Kurt Rambis remains in limbo. It’s just a mess in Minne these days. I have to admit that I do like Kevin Love’s “Love in the shower” Old-Spice commercials though.

Biggest Surprise:

Tristan Thompson goes 4th: I could go a lot of different direction here including Markeiff Morris being drafted ahead of his more polished brother Marcus, or the fact that Michael Jordan and the Bobcats had a pretty good draft but it has the to be the selection of Tristan Thompson at the #4 slot. There were rumors swirling that the Cavs were enamored with the former Texas star, who is a bit undersized at 6’8 for power forward and doesn’t have the offensive game to match his rebounding and defensive talents just yet. They had to hope that Enes Kanter, the big man from Turkey would be there at #4 but of course he wasn’t as the Jazz took him at 3. Thompson will pair with the #1 pick Irving and provide a new era for the Cavs but I know they are somewhat disappointed they couldn’t turn this pick into a trade or draft a more skilled big man to compliment Irving.

Best Moments:

Morris twins go 13th and 14th: It’s almost as if all that were watching last night was duped by the producers at ESPN. First, Markieff is drafted and cameras instantly pan to older brother Marcus. He delivered to as he had one of the best lines of the night when asked what it will be like not to play with his twin whom he has played with his entire life. I mean, I'll send him flowers or some fruit. It'll be good." Said Marcus. And right after little brother is picked by the Suns 13th, the Rockets select big brother at 14. If they couldn’t play together I guess the next best thing was being picked one after the other. I posted on twitter (@thesportaholic) that I would wager anyone that the Morris twins would have better careers than the Collins and Lopez twins but no one took me up on the offer. I wonder why not?

Kenneth Faried gets his due: This was sentimental for me as I am friend of Demonte Harper who is the best of pals with Faried. He has come a long way and endured many things that I wouldn’t wish on anybody but he now can say he is a NBA player. It was even more special that the draft was in Faried’s hometown of Newark and his entire family was in attendance. I had the pleasure of interviewing Faired and Harper at a local college basketball all-star game and you could see the hunger and determination in his eyes.(http://sportaholic2112.blogspot.com/2011/04/highlights-and-interviews-from-4th.html) He is a guy that plays with his emotions on his sleeve and that reverberates with fans. The standing ovation he received was well deserved and from me personally Kenny, I hope you have a long and productive career.

Worst Moments:

Jay Bilas’s description of players: Bilas must have been under the impression that we don’t know these guys have long arms because he gave us the wingspan of seemingly every player drafted. I like Bilas’s commentary on ESPN but maybe he could get a little more creative in the player description field.

Jonas Valanciunas’s interviewing skills: I know this kid is just becoming accustomed to speaking English but lord have mercy that was a terrible interview he had after being drafted 5th by the Toronto Raptors. His English was limited at best and he seemed to have a hard time understanding what ESPN analyst Mark Jones was saying to him. Even Jones himself had to acknowledge that Valaniciunas was still learning his way around the language. It was painfully comically to watch.



That does it for my NBA draft spectacular. And to think I got through this entire article without mentioning Lebron James. Wait… ok so now I just did. Hopefully the NBA doesn’t go down the lockout road as the NFL but all signs point in that direction. So this may the last actual basketball related talk we have for a long time. As they say always hope for the best but always expect the worst.

Lebron's failure and the media's obession with it

Hope everyone enjoyed a nice weekend, as for me I’m recovering from a sprained Achilles and sprained ankle I suffered playing some pick up basketball over the weekend. Sometime the mind forgets how old the body is and in my case I was watching too much basketball here lately and thought I was Kobe or Dirk. In any case, I have missed the boat on writing about Dallas’s victory over Miami to claim their first title and as I can see from reading, everybody has had their say about Lebron and his failures and anything else they always wanted to say about the Miami Heat. So I won’t bash the boys from Miami too much who although they didn’t bring home a ring otherwise had a great season. Just to think that this team was put together in a year and went on to take the Eastern conference title and came within two games of winning it all.

The last I checked it was Dallas who won the championship but the more you read the more you notice how much this has become how Lebron and the Heat LOST and not so much on how Dirk and the Mavs WON. This is what’s wrong with the world these days, people are always more concerned the individual than they are with the overall big picture. Dirk, Jason Kidd, Jason Terry, Tyson Chandler, Shawn Marion, Rick Carlisle, and hell even Mark Cuban deserved this on so many levels. Those players named played their hearts out, Carlisle out-coached everyone he faced in the playoffs, and Cuban spent the money and persevered through season after season of long and enduring disappointments to finally claim a title. The media has all but forgotten about the Mavericks already as they are ready to throw Lebron under the bus even though he has been ran over by the entire Greyhound fleet at this point.

Furthermore, to put all the blame on James’s burly shoulders is pure ludicrous. In the words of one my blogging pals Sports HR, those who all blame Lebron should be fired for that notion of thinking. Granted, Lebron did not do the things that have earned him the moniker of “King”. He was passive aggressive, he shot too many jumpers, he defer too much, he didn’t rotate on defense with the authority that we are use to seeing, and didn’t show up in the fourth quarter. Those are things the great ones ALWAYS do in championship moments. Lebron has been chastised to the point of no return in the media and it’s getting to the point of borderline obsession with him. Every sports outlet wanted to capture James in his moment of shame to mock him and criticize. He is human just like everyone else and did bring a lot of this on himself with the ill-advised decision massacre but enough is enough. Everyone that reads this column and knows me personally knows how much dislike I have for the Heat and Lebron, but me as a fan of sports knows the greatness of Lebron and that he is the greatest player on earth right now regardless of poor performance in the Finals.

Just to think that less than a few weeks ago, we were having the discussion of if Lebron was on the path of being the best player ever, even surpassing ‘His Airness” Michael Jordan. Scottie Pippen posed that argument and some people actually agreed that Lebron has a chance to be better than MJ. I think one of the greatest factors in Lebron’s performance is that he has never faced the pressure cooker of being of the big stage that is the Finals. Sounds ridiculous at first though right, but when you take a look at Lebron basketball past, you will notice that he really hasn’t had to face that much adversity in his career. Yes he did face the expectations of being a childhood prodigy, who was predicted as early as 10th grade to go number one in the NBA draft. Those were a different set of forecasts back then as all he had to do was go and play ball and the rest would figure itself out. Now James has the weight of being the best player in the league, an icon in his own right, and the pressure he has created with his antics. Lebron was so much better than his counterparts in high school that it was easy for him to vanquish them and win state titles. Could you imagine being a sophomore in high school and seeing a guy that was a step away from the NBA coming at you? Sheesh. Lebron never had to face the rigors of March Madness and everything that comes with it. Learning how to deal with pressure is different for everyone and unless you have experienced it, than you won’t know to respond to it.

Eventually LBJ will figure it out because he is too great of a player not to. Michael Jordan had to find a way to harness his scoring ability to go along with the team aspect and ditto for Kobe Bryant. Magic Johnson failed miserably in his first attempt in the Finals against Bird and the Celtics (I know this James second try, but he really didn’t have a chance his first time with the Cavs facing the Spurs). The great ones have to experience failure on a level that they never have experienced before to humble them and motivate them in a way that will bring out the beast in them.

Lebron says that he doesn’t listen to all of the negativity but I would put my bottom dollar on it that some does seep into his brain from time to time. His time will come and one day he will perform to the level that we have set for him in expectations. He will also appreciate his championship much more than he ever would have had they won this year when he would have thought “ I did things my way and still won, to hell with everybody and what they think” Lebron has learned a valuable lesson not just in basketball but in life altogether. It’s the best thing for us basketball fans because I guarantee you Bron will be back with a vengeance next year to prove everyone wrong. He has everything in the world but the one thing that would make it complete is a championship. Until then the Lebron hate will go on, but deep down in the heart of every Lebron hater, they know this man will eventually get his. So hate and admonish all you want people but leave yourself a little wiggle room for when he does become a champion.

The Weekend Run-down June 6, 2011

It was another wild weekend in sports. The French Open crowned a new champion and first ever Asian winner on the women’s side in Li Na. The men’s side was more of the same as Rafael Nadal defeated Roger Federer for his 6th French title. The NBA Finals continue to roll on as Miami pulled out a close win with a questionable call. Vancouver took a 2-0 lead against the Boston Bruins thanks to a guy who many think shouldn’t even be playing. And in local news, Vanderbilt defeats Belmont in a game of hometown favorites to advance to the college baseball super regional.

Let’s jump right into it:

Women’s French Final: Li Na and Rafael Nadal win the French Open: Li Na made history as she became the first major winner, man or woman, from Asia. The country of 1.3 billion hasn’t fully embraced the game of tennis yet but maybe this will generate some buzz as Na looks to be at the top of the game now. She defeated defending champion Francesca Schiavone 6-4, 7-6(0). Na admitted on Twitter how nervous she was but said she never showed her opponent. Its great to see history made and Na will rise to no.4 in the next WTA rankings as career looks to continue rising. The French may not yet be use to giving her the winner’s trophy as they mistakenly gave Na the winner’s up hardware instead. When you make history people have get accustomed to something new but more than likely it was just a simple mistake.

Men’s French Final: Rafa and Roger treated us to yet another great finals match-up. Both seemed to struggle just to make it here but they both showed us why they are considered two of the best to ever play the game. Federer came out and set the tone for the match as he hit a number of his signature forehands. Federer would lose steam though as he had a drop shot that went just wide. Rafa would take over from there displaying his defensive style of tennis and would go on to take the match 7-5, 7-6 (3), 5-7, 6-1. The win gives Nadal his 10th major championship and his numbers at Roland Garros are just astonishing. He is 45-1 all-time on clay and his latest major performance against Federer makes him 6-2 against him in major finals. He now is creeping into the talk of greatest ever and at age 25 he should have a lot left in the tank to take a run at Federer’s all-time major wins mark of 16.

NBA Finals:

Miami 88 Dallas 86: The Miami Heat defeated the Dallas Mavericks 88-86 to take a 2-1 game lead in the final series of the NBA season. Dwayne Wade was the difference make in this one as he torched the Mavs for 29 points and 11 rebounds. He dominated early as he scored 19 points in the first half as Dallas could do nothing to prevent the ultra quick Wade from getting to the basket. Miami would take a big lead down the stretch just as they did in game 2 and Dirk would take over for the Mavs again. He would score 12 straight Dallas points to get them tied at 86. The much maligned and Dallas native Chris Bosh broke the tie as he swished a 16 footer with seconds left to play. Nowitzki would have a couple chances for the tie and the win but couldn’t break the steady defense of Miami’s Udonis Haslem.

If the Mavericks are going to win this series, they will have to get Dirk more help. He scored 34 but his next three closet teammates combined for the same amount. Dirk also had his faults in this game as couldn’t get off the screen that allowed Haslem to put a hand in his face and he had a chance to pass to an open Jason Terry but he didn’t and I can’t say that I blame him. Mario Chalmers was also credited on a shot that clearly should not have counted but none of that is here nor there at this time. Fact of the matter is that the winner of game 3 in a Finals series that was tied 1-1 has gone on to win every series in history. Dallas again has their backs against the wall, what will they do Tuesday night?

Stanley Cup Finals:

Vancouver 3 Boston 2 Vancouver leads 2-0: This was just a crazy game from start to finish. Alex Burrows aka biter x thoroughly dominated as he had a hand in all of the Canucks scoring finishing with 2 goals and 1 assist. Burrows, as you know was accused of biting the Bruins Patrice Bergeron who had to be restrained afterwards. Maybe the Bruins should have made sure he was suspended because he just ran through Boston’s defense all night long. Burrows scored on a power play in the first period and helped tie the game midway through the third with an assist to Daniel Sedin. Burrows would cap his busy night by scoring 11 seconds into overtime to give Vancouver the win. Boston now goes home in a two game hole but this not an unfamiliar position for the Bruins as they came back to beat Montreal after dropping the first two homes games of the series. The Bruins played physically again against the Canucks but Burrows was the difference as his speed and precision has been too much for them. Even top defensemen Zdeno Charo has had a problem with the speedster Burrows. Ironically Vancouver hasn’t lost since they were defeated by Nashville on May 7th. I think we lost the game ourselves,” Boston forward David Krejci(notes) said. “Obviously they played well, but we had the game in our hands and we just gave it away.”

The two teams next face each other tonight at 8:00 pm eastern time. Make sure to tune in.

Vandy defeats Belmont to advance to Super Regionals: Vandy got a career high 13 strikeout performance from Taylor Hill as they defeated Belmont 6-1. After beating Troy 10-2 and Belmont 10-0 earlier all the Commodores had to do was beat the Bruins one more time to advance. They had the warm embrace of Hawkins field and Coach Tim Corbin made sure he stayed on top of things. Jason Esposito was named regional MVP as he had three hits with one home run. The win puts Vandy within two victories of their first College World Series, which frankly is hard to believe with all of the success the program has enjoyed over the last few years. A lot of credit has to be given also to the scrappy Belmont Bruins. They faced the tall task of having to win two of three games against regular-season champion and 17th-ranked Stetson to grab the sixth and final spot in the tournament of the Atlantic Sun. As for Vandy, they will face Oregon State as the host but the date and time has yet to be determined. Make sure to go out and support the Commodores.



Hopefully everyone enjoyed there weekend and now unfortunately back to work. At least we sports fans have a week of NBA Finals, Stanley cup finals, and baseball to look forward to. Also Plaxico Burress was released today it will be interesting to see where he lands whenever the lockout ends. Hope everyone has a great week.

Farewell to "The Diesel", "Shaq Fu", "The Big Daddy", "Superman", "The Big Agave", "The Big Cactus", "The Big Shaqtus", "The Big Galactus", "Wilt Chamberneezy", "The Big Baryshnikov", "The Real Deal", "Dr. Shaq" "The Big Shamrock", "The Big Leprechaun", and "Shaqovic."

Say anything you want to about Shaquille O’Neal but, you can’t say that he wasn’t one of the funniest players ever to grace the NBA court. You could always count on a quote from whatever moniker he was going by at time and he would say it in his often inaudible monotone voice. Shaq’s personality nearly overshadowed his game, which is saying a lot for a guy who dominated in a way the league hadn’t seen since the great Wilt Chamberlain roamed the court. Shaq was an immovable force who put up 28,596 points, gobbled up 13,099 rebounds, batted down 2,732 shots and broke numerous backboards. He used his power and surprising agility to overwhelm opponents. O’Neal is firmly entrenched as one of the best centers ever thanks to those talents but it was his off court persona that most will miss.

Shaq’s lovable character made him an easy marketable player as he went on to star in such (bad) movies as Blue Chips, Kazaam, and Man of Steel. He had his own Kung-Fu video game titled “Shaq-Fu” and even his rap group “Fu Schnickens”. Shaq and Kobe’s memorable feud will always be a touchy subject for most because you were either for one or the other, no in-between. For me personally as a Laker fan, I will always be disappointed with the way things played themselves out with those two because they could have continued to win championships if it wasn’t for their ego infused dislike for each other. But that’s just the way it goes for Shaq. (So I guess its safe to say Kobe won the battle of the rings with 5 and Shaq retiring with 4.) 

The Shaq train made stops in Orlando, L.A., Miami, Phoenix, Cleveland, and Boston and he took each city for a ride each time. Yes, his career probably went a few seasons too long and fizzled out in the end and maybe it wasn't the best idea to pair him with Steve Nash in the Phoenix (Great idea Steve Kerr) but no one will remember those parts of his career. His legacy will always be that of gentle giant who was a physical specimen to behold but had a heart as soft as a marshmallow.

O”neal had some many funny encounters its hard to remember every one of them. Who can forget his memorable entrance in the 2009 All-Star game with the Jabbawockeez dance crew? How about his infamous “Tell me how my ass tastes” song he performed in a Miani night club to mock Kobe after winning a championship with the Heat. And who can forget him referring to the Sacramento Kings as the Queens, or calling Erick Damipier Erica Dampier (That was funny I must say). Shaq has never been short for words as you can see and it made him into one of the giants of the game both physically and mentally.

Happy trails to the big fella, I’m sure he will try his hand at movies, reality TV and law enforcement as he always reiterated he would do when his career was over. But none of that will take the place of actually hearing Shaq in the heat of moment interviews. That is where he was at his best. Shaq was more than a basketball player, he was an entertainer. He will add one more title to his laundry list of names, that is Hall of Famer and that’s the best one of all.