Lets get this party started

Today is Christmas day for most sports fans. NFL is back after a tumultuous off-season where we were even threatened that the season may be locked out and we may start losing games. Luckily, better sense prevailed and here we are, on schedule for game 1. The compressed training camp is done, pre-season is all wrapped up, our fantasy teams are all drafted and ready to roll and we are ready for a phenomenal season opening game - Green Bay versus New Orleans. NFL did a lot of things wrong this off-season, but I don't think they could have come up with a better season opener. Even a Green Bay - Chicago matchup, which I am sure they considered given the rivalry and the playoff last year, would not have us all juiced up quite like this matchup. Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers on the same field is what will remind us of why we love the NFL. Elite QBs make the NFL and these two are as good as it's going to get in the NFL these days, especially since the native New Orleanoian and the sheriff of all QBs, Peyton Manning seems to be in real danger of missing the entire season. I will definitely miss watching Peyton - he is one of my favorite players to watch in the NFL. It will also be interesting to see how the Colts do. Kerry Collins is old, but can surprise you once in a while. Lets see how he does with this cast of characters. Peyton's injury is definitely the biggest news in the NFL right now and rightfully so.

But, tonight is all about the Packers, their ring ceremony and a contest between 2 elite QBs, offenses and teams. They are after all the last 2 Super Bowl Champions and they have not fallen off too much like some Super Bowl rosters tend to do, especially 2 years removed like the Saints. Thats the strength of having a good QB. You can stay on top regardless of what happens around him. In fact, I would give the Packers a great shot at repeating this year. Though that doesn't happen that often anymore, this year could be different. Shorter training camps mean lesser chances of those last to first teams, rags to riches stories. Even if some teams upgraded their talent significantly, they may have problems putting it all together due to the shortened off-season. So good teams with continuity may do even better this year and the Super Bowl champion is obviously on top of that shortlist. Plus, as good as Aaron Rodgers has been so far, he is still getting better. Watch him do some amazing things this season now that he is totally out of drama queen Brett Favre's shadow and has a championship ring of his own. Thats going to remove a lot of his inhibitions and unleash him. Philadelphia seems to boast of a dream team, but thats going to be a Miami Heat story all over again, only with a slightly more likable cast of characters. Not to digress, but how badly did LeBron and Heat screw up if I am saying the Eagles with the dog killer Vick are a slightly more likable bunch?

I see Philadelphia, Atlanta and tonight's opponent New Orleans as Green Bay's primary threats. I like what Kolb brings to my team, the Arizona Cardinals and I am sure they will be good. But not sure if they can make it to that top-tier. In the AFC, I like the Baltimore Ravens and the New England Patriots to be up there and the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New York Jets fighting them for the top spot. Peyton's injury pretty much eliminates the Colts. It's not just the talent that he takes away, but the way that offense is structured, it's all him and without him, even a talented replacement will take a while to figure out what to do. Peyton Manning is the NFL equivalent of "throw the ball into LeBron and get out of the way" strategy. Football is a lot more structured and coached than other sports, but Peyton pretty much is the one exception to that rule. He took a box of chocolates onto the field and picked one out every play and only he knew what and how to pick it. Now Collins will have to learn the bag of tricks and learn it in a hurry. The Houston Texans have been trying to win the AFC South for 3 years now and they may get their wish this season. Unfortunately, even they may not enjoy this tainted victory as much as they would have liked to without the sheriff watching over that division. Long story short, I like a Packers-Patriots Super Bowl with the Packers winning it all.

NFL is king and today is another proof of that fact. Even President Obama had to play around with the timing of his address to the nation because of the NFL season opener. Even the President cannot compete with a nicely thrown Drew Brees spiral. Fantasy football is a major part of the reason for football's popularity and I can't even imagine what would have happened to millions of American males if the lockout had eliminated a couple of weeks of football, let alone the whole season. May be we would have invested all our energies in college football, which is not a bad plan B, but it aint no NFL. The college season always gets us in the mood by kicking off first. Last weekend was fun since it reintroduced us to football after a challenging 7 month period. There were some good upsets as usual and Notre Dame losing is always fun, but the college season doesn't really kick into top gear until week 3 or 4. Arizona State won last weekend, but they are playing one of the few ranked match-ups this week. They are hosting 19-Th ranked Missouri and hope to improve their own 23-Rd rank. Of course I am going with the USA today ranking because thats the only one ASU has broken into. Coincidentally, Arizona will be going against the 9-Th seeded Oklahoma state and let's hope the Wildcats don't surprise us and themselves by pulling off an upset. Whatever happens, we will be watching and we are all collectively happy to be talking, reading and writing about football again.

Welcome back NFL! We sure missed you

600 is the new 300

When it comes to our age, people these days say things like "30 is the new 20" and "60 is the new 10" etc. Some of this is just idle chatter, but some of it does make sense due to changes in our lifestyles, priorities, development in health sciences, and workout habits. This is a good thing. The story is the same with home runs. 600 home runs these days doesn't get you the respect and attention it got 30 years back. This is not a good thing and Jim Thome has the rampant use of steroids and other performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) in baseball over the last 2 decades to thank for it. Thome just hit his 600-Th home run and nobody seem to care. Thome has stayed relatively clean in the eyes of people, but who are we to judge? These guys are all considered guilty until proven innocent because of the extent of the use of PEDs and the spate of shocking revelations over the past several years. It is what it is and I don't blame the fans or the writers for the way they are forced to think on this issue. It's baseball's fault that they never instituted any drug testing for decades.

Writers may take their time debating whether or not Thome belongs in the hall and delay his induction. MLB is exclusively to blame for this predicament. They knew there was a big problem for years and still had their blinders on for a decade or two. Is this fair to Thome? Of course not, assuming he is clean. But he only has his league's management and to some extent, his player's union to blame. Haven't we all been in that situation? Where our managers and our company's executives mismanage everything and end up adversely affecting our careers, earning potential, and the company's bottom-line and future. It's the same with MLB, NFL or the NBA. Baseball's executives and the player's union mishandled the PED issue and underestimated it's importance to the average fan and now, everybody is paying the price. Thome has to deal with the fact that 600 is the new 300. Thome is past his prime and also has a low-key personality and that contributes to his relative anonymity as well. But his feat would have definitely been celebrated way more if not for the specter of PEDs hanging over every baseball feat these days.

On the field, the Diamondbacks are leading the NL West ahead of the World champions Giants and I think the young team has a great shot at holding onto that prime spot through the season. They are different from the Pittsburgh Pirates who have declined rapidly towards the depths of the NL Central standing. The Brewers are on a roll and dominating that division right now. In the AL, the Central is tight as always with the Tigers owning a small lead. The Yankees and the RedSox are all tied up, but both will be in the playoffs - one of them as the wildcard. This is normal for those 2 teams. Few years back, this is when Bob Costas would typically start complaining about how bad an idea the wild card is. That train has long left the station and we don't hear Costas anymore on that topic, but his point is still valid. Yankees and RedSox should be involved in a heated pennant chase right now, but instead, they are humoring us with a mildly amusing and marginally relevant fight for the division. What we get in return for this diluted pennant chase is a whole bunch of teams fighting for the 2 wild card spots every year and a potential Yankees-RedSox ALCS contest. That would be Christmas, New Year and election day all rolled into one for the East Coast media.

Kolb in da house!

The only thing better than football being back in our lives is having a QB back in our team. As a closet Arizona Cardinals fan, I am used to mediocrity and failure more than success and excellence. Kurt Warner changed all that for a couple of years, but then the Cards went back to where they belong once Warner retired. As bad as Matt Leinart was and as much as I hated him, it still was a bad idea to let him go last year just because they had no other option. As soon as the lockout was lifted this week, there was a flurry of activity around the league and I was glad the Cardinals triggered one of the bigger moves right away. They traded Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and a second-round pick to the Eagles for Kevin Kolb. They then signed him to a 5 year 63 million dollar deal. Big money for a new QB.

Did they pay too much for Kolb? Probably. Is Kolb still unproven for the most part? You bet! But you are nothing without a QB in this league. You might as well stay locked out. And the QBs don't come cheap. You either pay for promise or pay a rookie similar money and wait for a year or two hoping he turns out to be a Sam Bradford and not Alex Smith or Matt Leinart. I would rather pay for promise and somewhat of a known entity like Kolb instead of gambling on a rookie in the draft who has taken just as many NFL snaps as me. It was also important they did this now because Larry Fitzgerald is a free agent next season and there is no way he resigns without a good QB. So I am perfectly fine with this trade and this is one more reason I am looking forward to this NFL season.

The Eagles were involved in the other big splash too. They signed Nnamdi Asomugha as if DRC and Asante Samuel were not enough in that secondary. They now have 3 stud corners and given all that talent on offense, they are now promoted to a title contender status - may be even ahead of the Packers. They just need to take care of DeSean Jackson and they will be a great team this season for sure. The Raiders, the other team I like, are a losers here but they never had a realistic shot at retaining Asomugha anyways. The Patriots are working the phones as always. They got themselves 2 huge gambles and if it works out, watch out for the hoodie. Lets hope Chad Ochocinco and Albert Haynesworth are not a "programmatic non-fits". I absolutely love all this NFL chatter.

Locked out!

It's been more than a month since I blogged. This should be the longest break I have taken in a long time. If you were wondering why, it's because I have been locked out by the NFL and the NBA. Just kidding! But I do have less to talk about like most sports fans these days because of the dual lockout. All we have is baseball right now. The NL beat the AL in the all-star game and it was good to see a bunch of new faces. MLB is going through a changing of guard as well with some of the stars getting older and of course with the steroids removed from the system for the most part, a few stars have disappeared from the horizon as well over the last few years. Now, the second half of the season starts and as always, the playoffs will be fun.

My rooting interests these days are confined to rooting against the Yankees, RedSox and the Giants. Looks like all the teams I like are all doing bad and all the teams I don't are doing good. So I am reduced to a little bit of sadistic hatred. Baseball is interesting, but some divisions are too predictable. It really heats up towards the playoffs and then they get our attention for a month or so. Given the situation now with the NFL, they may even get our undivided attention. While speculation is rife that NFL is close to a resolution, the reality is, it aint over until the fat lady sings. The new CBA should be in place soon, very soon, but the average fan is not too bothered right now. They have no interest in getting into a dispute between millionaire players and billionaire owners.

Fans will be bothered if and only if NFL starts to miss games. Hopefully, it will not happen and this lockout will be a distant memory soon. Fans care even less about the NBA's lockout. NBA is just coming off a great playoffs featuring a great villain in LeBron James. All that goodwill will be lost in no time if the NBA loses games next season. Fans will cut some slack for football because it's so much more part of their lives, but they won't for NBA. The sad part is, the NFL owners are just posturing, but most of the NBA's problems are real. They may have a protracted fight and a real lockout in-season. Thats just all bad news if you are a NBA fans. Let's hope it doesn't happen. But first things first. Lets hope NFL gets unlocked soon.

Everything and more is riding on this game 6

This game 6 of the NBA finals is it! I can't remember a more important, historically relevant, pivotal game in the recent past of the league than this one, Two games come to mind, but even those 2 got to be important in hindsight. I had only a faint idea of the importance of those games before or during the game unlike today. Both involved the LA Lakers and both were Western Conference final games. The first was the Portland Trailblazers' epic 4-Th quarter meltdown in game 7 against the Lakers in 2000. This game had the potential to alter history. This was the year when the Kobe-Shaq championship run started and it wouldn't have if not for the Blazers choking away a comfortable lead in the 4-Th quarter. This Portland team was loaded and arguably more talented than the Lakers with Pippen, Sabonis, Steve Smith and Rasheed Wallace starting and Detlef Schrempf, Bonzi Wells, Brian Grant and a young Jermaine O'Neal coming off the bench. They were championship contenders that year and they would have won it all if they had gotten past the Lakers. That could have potentially started a Blazers dynasty and nipped the Lakers run in the bud. It might have even accelerated the Kobe-Shaq divorce and the NBA might look a lot different now, but the jail-blazers blew it all that day.

The next pivotal game was towards the end of that Lakers three-peat - Kings-Lakers game 7 in 2002. This was the game that followed the infamous game 6, but by losing game 7, Kings lost a golden opportunity to win a championship and start a run of their own. Again, they were legitimate contenders and possibly more talented than their southern Californian counterparts who were coming off a back-to-back championship. But their inexperience in game 7 (and the NBA referees in game 6) accelerated the end of a special era for the Kings. The Sacramento faithful will never forgive the NBA for that game 6. I could add another Western Conference final game to this list - the Suns V Spurs game 4 in the 2007 series where Robert "the devil" Horry hip-checked Nash onto the sideboards and Amare and Diaw got suspended for game 5 due to the ensuing altercation. This changed the whole complexion of the series and my Suns might have lost their only shot at a championship for many years to come. But I still left it off the list because who knows what would have happened in games 5 through 7 even with Amare and Diaw playing in game 5. I would like to think the Suns would have won game 5 and the series, but you never know.

Here comes game 6 tonight in the 2011 NBA finals. The Mavs have 2 shots to win this series, but seriously, would you be willing to put your 5 bucks on the Mavs winning game 7 on the road? I am not. Though if anybody can do it, this Mavs team can. They have the experience and Nowitzki to make that happen. Whoever replaced all of the blood in Nowitzki's veins with ice-cold water from Antarctica should be the MVP of this series. Nowitzki has been unbelievable throughout the playoffs! With all that said, you don't want a game 7 on the road against a team with Wade and LeBron, especially Wade. Thats what makes this game 6 the most important game ever, at least until game 7 that is! If you hated "The Decision", if you think it was stupid to "take my talents to south beach", if you were appalled by LeBron's public dumping of the Cleveland Cavs in favor of the sexier Wade and Miami, if you thought it was disgusting for the big-3 to come out of WWE-style smoke and celebrate even before winning a pre-season game - which even Wade now agrees was stupid, then you absolutely want the Mavs to win game 6. If you are like me and conform to the widely held belief acknowledged even by a whining Wade earlier in the season when he said "the world is a better place, the Heat is losing", then this is the game you want the Heat to lose. You don't want a game 7.

This game is for more than all the marbles as I see it. When he went to Miami, LeBron said "Not 1... Not 2... Not 3... Not 4... Not 5... Not 6... Not 7" referring to the number of championships they might win. This is a distinct possibility if they win their first ring this year itself. That statement sounded preposterous even halfway through the season and I still maintain that they are even lucky to be in the finals in year 1, but it becomes very real if they clinch their first ring right away. Success breeds more success and with this talented group, just their uptick in confidence after a ring this season will be an enormous addition to their repertoire. And more talented veterans will flock to them to win a sham ring and retire as a champion. Once that train starts rolling, it's hard to stop much like the 2000 Lakers. On the flip-side, a defeat tonight (and in this series) puts more self-doubt in the Heat. It might even derail the big-3 and Bosh trade rumors might start sooner than later. It will also give the necessary opening to young teams like the Bulls and the Thunder to grow and challenge the Heat both in the East and in the finals. Thats very important because those teams are almost there, but not quite. I don't think a victory tonight for the Mavs helps them a lot in terms of their future given their age, but who cares anyways! This series is all about the Heat. Nobody cares about the Mavs - we are just rooting for them!

It's amazing how even the markets that have traditionally been Dallas-haters are all pulling for them only because they hate the Heat. And Wade and LeBron's stupid coughing video before game 5 didn't win them any new friends either. There has never been a more polarizing NBA team than these Miami Heat and there is this sense of joy in people when the Heat lose or when LeBron struggles that is almost universal. Never has a superstar gone from most beloved to most hated in such a short-time and that too not because of issues involving sex, hookers or wives. Now LeBron is trying to turn that around and reclaim his most-beloved spot again and it starts with tonight's game. Thats why this game is so important for those on the other side. If you are one of those guys or girls who believes the integrity and the moral fabric of this culture is dependent on LeBron losing, then you want him to lose game 6. Game 7 is too risky and Nowitzki's shoulders are too slender for us to place the weight of the World on it on Tuesday. But that game 7, if it ever happens would be one of the most entertaining and engrossing NBA game in ages. May be since 2002, when the NBA "fixed" game 6 to force the aforementioned game 7 between the Lakers and the Kings. These finals have already been one of the best series and many bet that the NBA wants a game 7 and will get it. Time will tell, and we don't have to wait a long time, just a few hours before this question is answered. I personally want and expect the Mavs to win tonight.

Best of 3

The NBA finals is now down to a best of 3 series. Thats good news for the Dallas fans since the Mavs won game 4 to tie things up. But the bad news is, they got to play 2 of the 3 in Miami. Not the toughest place to play, but these are still finals games on the road and are no joke. May be the Mavs look for some poetic justice here. In 2006, they chocked away the home court to Wade and the Heat. They came from ahead to lose after a 2-0 start to the series. May be now, they win it all in Miami on Wade's home court and erase some bad memories. They had a lot of complaints back then about some serious home-cooking served by the referees to D-Wade. Dallas thought they couldn't even breathe on Wade without being whistled for a foul that entire series. Some agreed that it was the best treatment a superstar got from the NBA officials since MJ retired. The scary part for Dallas is that Wade has really stepped up his game lately in these Finals. And going back to Miami, he will be a load to handle in those games 6 and 7. Mavs better be prepared.

As Wade asserts his influence on his team and this series, LeBron has faded into the background and almost the oblivion in game 4. 8 points in game 4 is not king-like for sure. He is getting a lot of attention in the media and also some trash-talking from DeShawn Stevenson. I don't know why DeShawn is yapping and adding fuel to LeBron's fire. He did the same back in his Washington days and is now compensating for his boss Mark Cuban, who has surprisingly gone quiet this playoffs. Now the media is talking about this game 5 as being the biggest game of LeBron's career. He is expected to come out firing on all cylinders. Honestly, I find all this criticism a little over the top. Granted, the standards for LeBron are high, but isn't this the whole point of becoming the "big 3", so that one of them can afford to have nights like this? Especially when the other 2 are going great like Wade and Bosh were in game 4 - Wade had 32 and Bosh had 24. This is not the same as LeBron scoring 8 for a Cleveland team where he was the only scorer.

Actually, I expected a lot of such nights for LeBron with the Heat. I thought LeBron would be their best player all-around, but Wade would be the premier scorer for them. It turns out that I under-estimated LeBron's effectiveness as a scorer. He surprised me by becoming option number 1 for the Heat throughout the season and leading them in scoring by more than a point over Wade - known as a more prolific scorer. I guess he raised the bar higher for himself by being such a consistent scorer throughout the season and this is not the time to be dropping just 8 points! It would be interesting to see how he responds. The media is putting all sorts of pressure on him, but Wade has got it going right now and the last thing LeBron should try and do is hog the ball to save his image. This game 5 might very well be decided on how Miami and LeBron react to these criticisms. As for Nowitzki, he will be there for Dallas in game 5 - sick or not, fever or not. And he will be very interested in finding out which LeBron shows up just like us. This finals just keeps getting better!

Dallas needs to heat up and Sabean needs to chill!

If you are a Dallas Mavericks fan, I don't know if there's a more hated and frightening athlete than Dwyane Wade. After owning the Mavs completely during the 2006 finals, Wade is again putting on a show in these finals. Wade and LeBron have been sharing the leadership role and the limelight throughout the season for the Miami Heat. But it became more and more LeBron's team as the season progressed and he was impressive during the earlier round of the playoffs. Now, it's almost like Dwayne Wade telling him "step aside son. These are the finals and I got this". I don't know if it's because it's the finals, a stage more comfortable for Wade than to LeBron or is it because it's the Dallas Mavericks, but Wade is dominating right now. Mavs fan would kill him if they could. He won game 2 pretty much on his own. Nowitzki did all he could, but Wade has got much more help around him and the talent once again showed. On some days, Heat just have too much talent on offense and that's all they need. Can you imagine double teaming Wade only to see the ball goto LeBron James? As if that's not enough to give a defense nightmares, LeBron can then swing the ball to Bosh if he gets closed out. Bosh is a terrific offensive talent himself and he is option number 3 on this team. This scenario played out exactly like this towards the end of game 2 and Bosh nailed an important bucket. Nowitzki kept the Mavs rolling all by himself, but fell one makable jump-shot short.

The series is at 2-1 in favor of the Heat and I would be stating the obvious if I mention that the momentum is on their side now. They won home court back and they now know that the series will go back to Miami. So they won't get eliminated on the road and Dallas has to win 1, if not 2 at Miami. One is hard, but doable. 2 is almost impossible considering that it also mens they will have to win game 7 on the road. The win in game 2 no doubt makes Miami the favorites now, but these 2 teams are so close! This has really been a great and competitive finals and it will continue to stay that way. Both game 2 and 3 were decided by 2 points and it's hard to say which team is better and by how much. Miami is clearly the more talented team, but they have enough weaknesses too. So Dallas clearly has a shot and they have to focus on winning games 4 and 5 at home. The games in Miami will be difficult but then again, who said winning a NBA championship is easy? Nowitzki better stay ready to continue his brilliant run. He needs help and Jason Terry better give it to him starting tomorrow. This series will be difficult for Dallas without a solid contribution from Terry. Kidd, Barea, Marion and Chandler can help too, but it's been Terry sharing the load at the offensive end for several years now, he can't disappear now. Dirk needs him and if his threes start falling, this will be a different series altogether. Miami is shooting the long ball better than Dallas right now and that's not a winning blueprint for Dallas. They need to shoot the 3-ball better and it starts with Terry. Otherwise, the only interesting discussion coming out of these finals would be who is better and more important for the Heat - Wade or LeBron? Many pundits are leaning towards Wade these days.

In other sports news not related to the NBA finals, Shaq retired. He will be missed. I was not a big fan of his game nor his teams, especially the Lakers, but I was a big fan of his quotes. The best might have been "“Our offense is like the Pythagorean Theorem. There is no answer.” He was truly funny. He had a unique personality and sense of humor. He was dominant on the court and charming off it. He really had a shot at winning more than 4 rings, but 4 is his final tally. Hard to call him an under-achiever, but he was to some extent given his enormous physical tools. I am sure he will be on TV soon. I wonder if he unseats Barkley as the most edgy and funny personality on sports TV. It may be real fun to see them both in the same studio booth. In MLB, I was surprised by the vitriolic reaction of San Francisco's GM Brian Sabean to Scott Cousins plowing into Buster Posey at the plate and ending his season. I know the Giants need Buster and Sabean is just sticking up for his guy, but for him to say he wouldn't mind if Scott Cousins never played another game again was too hateful and classless. First of all, Cousins did nothing wrong. May be the MLB needs to do more to protect the catchers and eliminate those collisions, but thats unfortunately part of the game today and has been going on for 100 years! Cousins didn't do anything that hundreds and thousands of baseball players before him didn't do. There are some idiots in rec-league softball who try to level the catcher! So chill out Sabes, I always thought he had an "holier than thou" attitude and he took that to a whole another level with this stupid interview. I am glad he is getting reprimanded and is forced to apologize for his idiocy.

Mavericks sitting pretty

They always say you learn more from your losses than your victories and I was counting on that when Dallas lost game 1 at Miami. For some reason, I felt like it was a good thing for the Mavs. Dallas has this vibe of a veteran, mature team that learns and adjusts game to game. They also have the depth to switch things up and Rick Carlisle is a thinking man's coach. He is not headed to the hall of fame yet, but I consider him to be under-rated. Also, game 1 was on the road and the Heat are a young team prone to letting things get to their head and can act immature at times. I think both Wade and LeBron still have these youthful tendencies and that shows from time to time. They don't possess the killer instinct of a Kobe or a MJ and don't effectively step on the throat of the opponent when the opportunity presents itself. All this led to my belief that the Mavs are going to be fine after the game 1 loss and even be better for it. I thought they will learn from it, adjust, and come out with a more aggressive game plan for game 2.

Of course, all my theories looked shaky when the Mavs were trailing by 15 with around 6 minutes to go in game 2. This is a close series between 2 equally matched teams and the Mavs were doing very well in the first half. But then the Heat went on one of it's runs and the Mavs suddenly were staring at a 15 point deficit and some early celebrations from the Heat. Here is the amazing thing about this Dallas team and Nowitzki. They never give up. They have supreme confidence and never panic. They did to the Heat what they did to the Thunder earlier in the playoffs. They focussed a little more on the defensive end, unleashed Nowitzki on the offensive end and chipped away at the lead. Next thing you know, the lead was gone and the Heat didn't know what to do. When LeBron and Wade start hoisting long 3's, you know you have a shot at winning. They have become decent long-range shooters, but still thats not their game. As a defense, thats exactly what you want them to do. LeBron has been making more of these shots in the clutch than in the past, but still he is "settling" anytime he attempts those and we saw a few of those in that 4-Th quarter of game 2.

Mavs finally outdid themselves when Nowitzki kept scoring and killed the Heat down the stretch. At least they needed overtime during their comeback against the Thunder, but Nowitzki finished things in regulation here. May be it was the Heat's premature celebration that fueled this run. Whatever it was, it wasn't pretty for the Miami Heat or it's big 3. Jason Terry did his best to give the Heat a shot at redemption when he left a 3-point shooter wide-open, but Nowitzki erased that mistake in a hurry at the other end. It was either that or he was going to erase Jason Terry off the face of the Earth after the game! Thats how angry he was after Terry's defensive brain-cramp. Reminded me of Nowitzki publicly yelling at Terry after Nash nailed a 3 to tie a playoff game for the Suns back in 2005. But Nowitzki is a lot more mature these days. He didn't show any emotion on the court, but apparently was hot in the huddle during the timeout. Terry seems like a good guy, but it's funny how he always finds himself in the middle of something interesting.

Now the series goes to Dallas for 3 straight games. It has traditionally been hard for teams to win all of those 3 middle games. The reason for that is very simple. It's just hard to beat a good team 3 times in a row and more often than not, good teams make it to the NBA finals. It can happen if there's a big talent differential between the 2 contending teams. But thats not the case here. So I expect Miami to steal one game out of the 3. Then the series becomes even more interesting and Miami would have won home court back at that point. Thats when home court is truly relevant because game 6 and 7 would be at home and it's almost impossible to win game 7 on the road. If anybody can, it's this Dallas team with the experience and depth. Still if I were Dallas, I wouldn't want to "take my talents to South Beach" for that game 7 on the road. So this is basically a 4 game series for Dallas now where they have to win 3. Doable for sure and thats why that game 2 win was big. But game 3 is also equally big. If Heat comes back and wins game 3, momentum is right back on their side and probably will never return to Dallas again. But if the Mavs win game 3, then the pressure builds on the Heat and Dallas can really work it.

When it's all said and done, I think Dallas takes it in 6.

Cuban or LeBron

The NBA finals that most people did not expect and I personally did not want is here. Either LeBron James or Mark Cuban - two of the most polarizing figures in all of sports, will win their first championship. Of course, Nowitzki, Kidd, Marion, Bosh and a bunch of others are also in line for their first ring. But those kids are not as polarizing as the two principals in this contest. In fact, I personally don't mind some of them winning a ring and would actually like them to. Case in point, Kidd and Marion. I would be happy for those 2 if they win. Nowitzki is not too "hatable" either. My only regret about him winning a ring would be that he would have it before his buddy Steve Nash, who the Mavs and the Cubans let go. This ring will never vindicate that stupid move, but some people in the media and Cuban would try to spin it that way. Being a Suns fan, it's really the Nash angle that makes me hate on the Dallas in this context. Otherwise, they are definitely the team to root for in the finals for all of us who didn't appreciate the big-3 coming together and LeBron dumping Cleveland through the "decision".

The Nash-Dallas discussion is very nuanced and I feel compelled to get into before these finals. First and foremost, shame on Robert Sarver and the Suns management that the Suns have still not even made it to the Finals with Nash. It's not Nash's fault that Cuban and Nowitzki have gotten to the finals twice without Nash while the Suns management has just refused to invest and improve the team. In fact, by letting a blue chip talent like Amare walk last off-season, they have made sure Nash will probably not win a championship, at least not with the Suns. When Nash first moved to the Suns, they were better than the Mavs and then the tide turned when the Suns ownership stopped feeding the beast - the core of that great 2004 Suns team. Cuban on the other hand has not showered money like he used to when he originally bought the Mavs, but he has definitely tried to improve the team and has spent the money when and where required. This has kept Nowitzki well-fed with solid talent all around. It's ridiculous how deep this Dallas roster is.

Secondly, when Cuban traded for Kidd, it was an implicit acceptance that the Nash decision was a mistake and that he had to go back to a legitimate assist machine in the form of Jason Kidd. Granted, you could argue that Kidd is a better defender than Nash, but that was not the driver in Cuban getting him. The Dallas system and Nowitzki needed a legitimate point guard and Cuban made a mistake by letting Nash go and he made it right by getting Kidd back. Last but not the least, one could even argue that the Mavs could have done better with Nash and the rest of that roster Cuban has built over the last 6 years. The catch this year was Chandler anyways! So who knows where Cuban and Nowitzki could have been with Nash around them. So given all these dimensions, it would be hard for me to digest a Dallas championship. There is a little sadist in every one of us that doesn't want to see certain teams and athletes win, especially their first championship. I hate the Lakers but I was counting on them to beat the Heat even if the Heat got past everybody else. It was so much more important to stop the first championship for the Heat than to stop the 6-Th for the hated Kobe and the Lakers.

Now that we are stuck with this finals match-up, who do I root for and who do I think will win? After all the drama of the last off-season and the totally unexpected gang-up of 3 of the most sought-after free agents of the 2010 class, I just cannot bring myself to root for the Miami Heat. They signify everything thats bad about the way free agency in the NBA should be managed. Granted, they came together to win, but this is just not the way to do it. And if they win this year in their first season together, it's just too easy! I can't even imagine how arrogant these guys will be next year if they win it this year after all the drama and losing streaks. I still maintain they are not championship material. LeBron is, but the Heat as a team are not. They are just catching the league on a down year when the Celtics and the Lakers have both mysteriously took a step back while the Bulls and the Thunder are on the way up, but not all the way up there yet. So I don't want them to win. Do they have a shot? Of course they do. With LeBron and that defense they play, I can totally see them winning it all. But the Dallas Mavericks are slightly better and Nowitzki is balling out of his mind. So the Mavs will hoist the Larry O'Brien trophy. I also want them to win, I think.

Bad Guys 3, Good Guys 1

The teams that I don't like and don't want to see win the NBA championship are both leading their respective series 3-1. I am part of the group that doesn't want to see the Heat win. It is indeed a "have" versus "have-not" bias plus the whole anti "Decision" sentiment, but the reality is, the Heat are not even that good. I feel like they are catching the NBA during a proverbial "down" year and are doing really well to take advantage of it. At one point, it seemed like they had no shot at winning it all. But then the Celtics self-destructed by trading away Perkins for younger pieces. Great job Danny Ainge! All that KG, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen really needed in their mid 30's is an in-season rebuild of a championship caliber team! Not only did the Celtics give up size and toughness with that trade, it also completely ruined their chemistry and derailed a good looking season. So after Aingle removed the Celtics from the path of the Heat, all that was left was a young and upcoming Bulls team in the East. The Bulls are playing great and Derrick Rose is insanely talented, but that whole operation is inexperienced and immature. Their future looks bright and all they need is another offensive piece, but they clearly can't handle the pressure of an Eastern conference finals yet.

Ironically, this assessment of inexperience should have been true for the Heat themselves - a brand new team with 3 superstar pieces figuring out how to play each other under an young, inexperienced coach. But the Heat have a couple of things the Bulls don't. One, they have 3 stud offensive pieces as opposed to just one for the Bulls. Secondly, LeBron and Wade have experienced this stage and beyond individually, if not as a team. You can clearly see that they are a lot more comfortable than Rose at the end of games. Rose is still learning these playoffs and the rest of the Bulls team is of no help sometimes. They are neither talented nor experienced. The Heat on the other hand are better off on both accounts. The only issue was, they were supposed to take a year or two to build chemistry. But it seems like a championship is within their grasp right here, right now. The only thing worse than these 3 dudes winning a championship is them winning it right now in year 1. That makes LeBron's predication of 6 or 7 championships realistic. Thanks to Ainge and the total collapse of the Fakers, they can smell the trophy. The only thing on their way now are the Dallas Mavericks - the traditionally soft and under-acieving Mavs.

Unlike the Heat, the Mavs are legitimately good, but they are also benefitting from the inexperience of their talented, but young opponent in the Thunder. The Thunder gave the game away yesterday after leading by 15 with 5 minutes to go. It's the type of defeat that can crush a team for a couple of years! Nowitzki has been unbelievable in this series and the playoffs. Durant's game is very similar to his, but Nowitzki's experience is now trumping Durant's youth. The Mavs are a collection of old, talented and decent dudes that we can get behind, but I just can't because of the fact that they are one of Suns' major rivals and I don't want them winning a championship while Nash is languishing at home. It would legitimize Cuban's stupid decision with Nash and thats why me and most Suns fans have a huge problem with the Mavs winning. But they will be the favorites against the Heat and they may be the lesser of the 2 evil. Nowitzki sure is playing like he deserves a championship and those 4-Th quarter shots he made in game 4 against some good defense were unbelievable. We live in a "what have you done for me lately" culture and hence feel like this playoff performance by Nowitzki is one of the best ever. I am sure many legends including MJ and even Kobe and Shaq over the last 10 years have had runs like this that is not fresh in our memory. But I can't remember a stretch where a defender gets appreciated for great D on a superstar like Nick Collison is right now, but still get torched routinely for 40 points on 60% shooting! Thats how good Nowitzki has been this series - unstoppable with or without good defense.

Time to mentally get ready for a Mavs-Heat finals. The Mavs have home court this round and there is no way the Thunder win all 3 remaining games with 2 of them at Dallas. At least the Bulls have 2 of the 3 at home. So I sill have some hopes for Da Bulls.

Roller Coaster

The Eastern conference finals in the NBA is tied at 1-1 while Dallas just went up 2-1 in the West. The road team won the 2-Nd game in both the series to even things up and "steal home court". I didn't think any home court was really stolen since both these series are going to see a few more road wins. The teams are too close and they are not mature or strong enough to take all home games. So the home court in either of these series is going to be helpful only in game 7. Until then, I expect a roller coaster ride in coasts. As if to prove my point, Dallas went into OKC and took game 3 away. Where's the home court now? The experts will now start talking about how pivotal game 4, and then 5, and then 6 are. Of course, game 7 will be in Dallas and I can't see how the young OKC team will win that if it gets that far, which I think it will.

The Durant-Nowitzki matchup is real fun, but the defense in the Bulls-Heat series suggests that one of those 2 teams will hoist the championship trophy when it's all said and done. The Heat do look and feel like a championship caliber team right now. The way they play defense just adds to their 2 great individual talents and makes them very formidable. Bulls play equally good defense, but they don't have a LeBron or Wade to shoulder the offensive load. If the game is close, they need a flawless 4-Th quarter from D-Rose to win the game and thats going to be hard against the Heat defense. They need Boozer to step up to ease some of the pressure on the offense. If Udonis Haslem starts playing like it's 2007 again, the Bulls might be in trouble unless Boozer neutralizes him and then gives them some more. I think the Bulls have decent talent, but not the experience.

In the West, Nowitzki won the first game 48-40 against Durant. These 2 guys are just awesome to watch. Nowitzki's shooting in this series has been amazing so far, except for the first 3 quarters of game 3. And that dunk by Durant in game 2 deserves to be you-tubed if you have not seen it yet. Scott Brooks put Westbrook on the bench and won game 2 with his subs and Durant. Thats a talented bench he got there and my man James Harden is bringing it. That guy can ball and is not intimidated by the setting at all. Brooks needs Westbrook in this series, but Westbrook needs to scale down his shooting, which is easier said than done. He got Durant, he doesn't have to shoot every-time down the floor. The problem with OKC is that they are still young and inexperienced and it shows. There were a couple of 3-point attempts late in game 3 that made you scratch your head. One was by Westbrook and another by Daequan Cook which were both horrible shots to begin with. But they were both not even close and that says a lot about the way these kids are handling this stage. Unfortunately, experience can't be taught and you can only hope these guys will relax, settle down, slow down and make better decisions.

But the story of the series so far has been Nowitzki's shooting. The dude is unbelievable. This year has been a MVP type season for him and the proof was in those games he missed during the regular season. Mavs lost most of those games and looked like the Clippers. Too bad the voters will never give him a MVP ever again because of what happened in 2007 when he won the MVP and the Mavs exited in the first round of the playoffs. Since then, he and the Mavs have never been able to shake the "soft" image. But there is nothing soft about Nowitzki right now. He is dominating and carrying the Mavs all by himself. Even in game 3, when he didn't shoot that well, he made all the clutch shots in the 4-Th quarter just as OKC nudged back within 6. If you are an OKC fan, Nowitzki's jumper is the scariest thing for you in the World right now even after a 7 of 21 shooting night in game 3. Durant didn't shoot any better in game 3 and that has to change if the Thunder wants to win this series. They also need to give the ball to the Sun Devil Harden a little bit more.

New Boyz

The NBA playoffs look and feel different right now. Except for Dallas, the other 3 surviving teams are new and young outfits. Seeing LeBron there seems very familiar, but he is now wearing a new jersey. Thunder and the Bulls are young and these 3 teams are all going to be around for a while. They might have replaced the likes of Spurs, Lakers and the Celtics. It would be great to see a Thunder-Bulls finals signaling a new beginning in the NBA. I am not sure about the TV ratings of such a series, but these 2 teams aint bad at all. I am definitely in the anti-Heat camp and am pulling for the Bulls all the way. I want them to win and I think they will win. They took care of game 1 rather easily, but their maturity will be tested in game 2. The Heat are still a collection of 2 superstars and one star whereas the Bulls are a real team. Whatever it is, I want the Heat to lose. I have always been a Laker-hater and this was the year I thought I would rather have them win instead of the Heat. But just when I needed them, the Lakers let me down and got eliminated a round or 2 earlier than expected.

Phil Jackson and the LA Lakers were swept in shocking fashion by the Dallas Mavericks of all teams. I don’t know how many people picked this upset, but if somebody claims they called this, the odds are, they are probably lying. The Mavericks are perennial softies who do a lot of great things during the NBA regular season, but are usually guaranteed to under-achieve when it matters the most. The Lakers on the other hand are the 2 time defending champions with a lot of skill, size and playoff moxie. They under-achieve during the fall months and are usually unstoppable in the playoffs. They turn on the proverbial switch when they want to and then they turn the lights off on their playoff opponents. This looked like a mismatch on paper, but little did we know it was mismatch going the other way!

These 2 teams have been perennial contenders and playoff regulars, but for some reason, they have never met in the playoffs after 25 long years. The Mavericks slept through the entire 90’s, but I find it hard to believe that they never ran into the Lakers during the Nowitzki era. That’s some strange luck of the draw. The Western conference has featured some heated and stable rivalries over the last 10+ years in this whole Kobe, Duncan, Nash, Nowitzki era – Suns-Spurs, Suns-Lakers, Spurs-Lakers, Spurs-Mavs, Suns-Mavs and even Utah-Lakers. For some reason, the Mavs had never met the Lakers in this era and now I wish they had met them every year. The Mavs ripped the Lakers’ hearts out and stomped on it. The Lakers have way too much talent for then to let this happen to them. You had to wonder sometimes where was Kobe?

Kobe is on the downward slope of the career and this is the year the slide officially starts. He is still awesome, but you can feel a slip. The first stage of the slip manifests itself as follows. The athlete will still dominate with all the talent in the World, but he or she can’t do it as consistently as they used to. Kobe is exactly there now. It’s hard to see him play and pinpoint exactly what he is lacking or what is it that he used to do that he can’t anymore. But he just can’t do all the things he used to (and still can) for 48 minutes on a day-to-day basis. He is Kobe for stretches of the game and Latrell Sprewell for the rest. I was shocked when Steve Kerr casually mentioned in an interview that Kobe is not a superstar anymore, but he is still a star. That’s what a sweep will do to you.

In any case, the playoffs are not about the Lakers anymore. I can only hope the Thunder and the Bulls prevent the Mavs and the Heat from winning

Lakers may be winning 2 series

The Lakers are winning their series against the Hornets 3-2. It's following a known pattern as the Lakers first lost home court and then seized it back. Then the home teams have won 2 "must-win" games. CP3 was awesome in game 4. This playoff series has been a comeback tour for CP3. The last couple of years, he has taken a step back for some unexplainable reason - both him and the Hornets after looking like the team of the future in 2008 when they extended the Spurs to 7 games. He was not super-dominant through the regular season either and the season of course started with him demanding a trade. He should have been the consistent league leader in assists the last couple of seasons, taking over from MP3 Steve Nash, but Nash is still the top dime-dropper. Paul is a distant 4-Th. But this playoffs have given him the stage to excel and boy did he do that in game 4! Of course the series came back to LA and Kobe dropped a couple of rim-rattling dunks. Now the Hornets may win game 6 and lose in 7 or I would not be surprised if the Lakers finish things off in 6 as well. Thats typically how the NBA cookie crumbles.

There has been a couple of odd cookies in this playoffs so far as well. While I expected the Celts to win, the sweep was surprising even with the Knicks injuries. Of course the Bulls win should have surprised nobody. The Heat and the Thunder are doing good as well while the Mavs and the Blazers are involved in a street fight. The odd-ball surprise is the continued trouble the Spurs are in against the upstart Grizzlies. While the Spurs have been fading fast late in the season, home cooking during the playoffs is supposed to cure a lot of ills. But it seems like they are going to suffer the ignominy of losing to the 8-Th seed in the first round. Those upsets are few and far between and the Spurs are the last team I would expect to suffer through that. They still have 2 home games, but they have to win all 3 games to avoid the upset. Looks like Zach Randolph is going to have the last laugh and may be come up with a Dikembe Mutombo type moment after the upset. Or may be he may just light up a joint right there on the court after the win!

The other upset could be the Hawks over the Magic. This is another series where the real winners might actually be the LA Lakers! In the rich get richer World that the Lakers typically live in, there is already rampant speculation that Dwight Howard will bolt the Magic and end up with the Lakers. That would be the perfect, late-career side-kick for Kobe and possibly a great future focal point for the Lakers once Kobe fades away, though I am still not entirely sold on Howard. A defeat in this series will only push Dwight Howard away from the Magic in a hurry, if not towards the Lakers. Of course, my favorite coach Stan Van Gundy will probably lose his job too, but Howard is clearly the bigger piece here. The Hawks are honestly going nowhere, but they may take the Magic down with them. The Magic fans would be really disappointed if they lose Howard to the Lakers after losing Shaq to them many moons ago. But thats exactly how the media is drawing this up. Not sure if the Lakers want him that bad or if thats what Dwight Howard is dreaming about, but the media is actively brokering this marriage. And a first round playoff exit for the Magic will be the perfect engagement gift.

Playoffs for real

The NBA playoffs often has a very predictable cadence and rhythm to it. This is primarily because these series are all 7 games long and more often than not, the better team always comes out on top in a 7-game series. Sure, we always say the playoffs are all about match-ups. But the better team can usually overcome a couple of match-up issues and they will win at the end. The longer series is really fair - given the long, grueling regular season that is the NBA. You don't want a fluke victory to decide the champion after such a long regular season. So demanding the teams to show consistency over a 7-gamer makes perfect sense, though the sudden-death elimination format is really fun and we totally enjoy that in the NCAA tournament and even the NFL. The NBA playoffs are a lot of fun, but you can predict certain games at certain points in this 7-game series rather easily.

For instance, most people probably knew the Lakers are going to win game 2. No team, especially a good one like the Lakers, will lose game 2 at home against a 7-Th seed in the playoffs to go down 0-2. You may ask how did they lose game 1? That would be a great question and Chris Paul is the short answer. But once that game went down, you knew for a fact the Lakers are going to seal game 2. Lakers won't lose in round 1, but even if they do, the Hornets have to beat them in 6 or 7 games and that game 2 belonged to the Lakers. This is what I mean by "predictable cadence" to the playoffs. The only unpredictable part of that game was the dominance of Bynum. He led the Lakers in both points and boards and that may be the best news for the Laker-fan. Health is really wealth with this dude.

The same formula worked for the Spurs-Grizz as Ginobli returned and the Spurs tied the series up. The Spurs are probably more in trouble than the Lakers. They have been visibly aging and fading towards the end of the season much like the Celtics and they may lose the series against a lively Memphis team, but it's not going to be easy for the Grizzlies. It's amazing what this team has done without Rudy Gay, but it's going to end in 7 games against the Spurs. It's funny that the first and second seeds are tied 1-1 in the West while the 3-Rd and 4-Th seeds seem comfortably placed. Of course, I like the saying the series doesn't start until a road team has won. So the Thunder and the Mavs can't get too complacent.

In the East, Celtics - the other old team, has survived the 2 home games. They are up 2-0, but not an impressive showing at all. Carmelo did anything he wanted against the Celtics except win. Now he goes back home and the Knicks should win at least a game. It will be hard for them to win the series without a healthy Amare and Chauncey, but it will be interesting to see how efficient the Celtics are against this team. The top 3 seeds in the East are all up 2-0 and my prediction for a superior Eastern conference playoffs might be happening in the next round. Bulls are going to be hard to deal with, but who better to challenge them than the talented Heat and the veteran Celtics? Of course playing the Pacers in the first round is not going to prepare the Bulls for the real playoffs. Who let the 37-45 Pacers into the big dance? The bottom of the East is still the L-East.

The Phoenix Suns are 3 games better than the Pacers and they have been eliminated from the playoffs for a while in the West. They lost interest and motivation and lost a few more games and are still better than a couple of playoffs team in the L-East. I guess thats how the cookie crumbles. Thanks to the horrible management of Mr. Sarver, Nash is at home while his arch nemesis Mavs are as good as ever and his old coach and running mate are also playoff bound in New York. What a feel good story for Nash and his fans. Speaking of running mates and a "predictable cadence", I expected a loss or two early for Wade and LeBron in this, their first playoff run as a team. But their first round opponent, Philly, is so horrible that the losses have not happened yet. Then again, a word of caution for these 2-0 teams - playoff series really begins only when a team loses a home game.

Game of the season

The Suns and the Lakers played a game on Tuesday that should be on ESPN classic anytime now. The Suns were at the losing end of what should easily be the game of the season so far - a triple overtime, 139-137 thriller on national TV. The only thing that could have made this any better is a Suns victory. I am not saying this just as a Suns fan, but after trailing by 21 in the third quarter, that ending would have made this gem of a game even more improbable and dramatic. But the game was loaded with dramatic moments anyways. Between the brilliance of Kobe and Nash, Channing Frye and Kobe Bryant's clutch shots, ice-in-the-veins free throws by Pau Gasol and Channing Frye, this game had everything. The game started slow for the Lakers and they looked disinterested and looked like they were just waiting to turn it on in the second half and put the Suns away. And sure enough, they did seem to step it up a notch in the third quarter and they were up by 21 before the Suns knew what hit them. The Lakers were ready to call it a night, but the Suns had other ideas. They may not be the most talented bunch these days, but they showed they are resilient, well except for Vince Carter of course. Channing Frye is especially awesome and is fast becoming one of the best clutch players in the league. Before the Lakers knew it, the Suns were back powered by the Suns' 3 point shooting.

Nash ignited that 3-Rd quarter comeback as always. There are many things we could talk about when it comes to this game and there are several game reports on the web doing the same. But I wanted to focus a little bit on what Nash did late in that third quarter to turn this game completely around. It was an amazing and underrated stretch of the game where Nash showcased his under-appreciated leadership skills. Oftentimes, talent in sports is mistaken for leadership. Not every talented player is a leader capable of doing the right things to show his team direction. But Nash totally is. He is unselfish and has the ultimate sense for what his team needs and when. He can turn his scoring on and off anytime and does it so deftly at specific points in the game, you are sometimes left speechless. In this game, the Lakers were running away with it in the third quarter and it looked like the Suns offense was stuck in mud. He could sense that the Suns were getting close to giving up when he went down the floor and hit back-to-back 3's and another 3 a few possessions later. You could sense that this totally galvanized the team and they started playing with a different rhythm right after. Nash again went back into his usual role as the Suns woke up as a team and started scoring. Granted, he had the talent to hit those shots and without that, he is no leader. But the way he senses his team's needs and provides whatever is needed is just a true leadership trait. Hope people like Carmelo Anthony understand this.

Coming back to the game, even as I was watching it late in the OT, I thought it was one of those games which meant more than just one W or L in the standings. I think this loss pretty much takes the Suns out of the playoffs. This is the reality both literally and emotionally. The Memphis Grizzlies seem to be well entrenched at that 8-Th spot and if they keep winning tough games on the Road against teams like the Celtics, the Suns a'int got no chance. But, a triple overtime loss like this takes way more out of you. It was impressive that the old Suns team came right back on Wednesday and won a back-to-back against the Raptors. But they have to make-up 3 games in 12 tries and leaf-frog 2 teams in Houston and Memphis. Utah is done as expected, but Denver without Melo and the Grizz without Gay are surprising everybody. All that the Suns have to show for this season might be this classic game. I don't mind if they miss the playoffs. Thats a better reality for the front-office and the ownership to deal with instead of thinking we are good just because we made the playoffs. Also, it doesn't hurt to have a couple of balls in the lottery. Of course, I still wanted them to win this triple overtime thriller against the hated Lakers, but the Lakers got it done at the end. It should have been contagious because the Clippers and the Wizards played an entertaining double overtime game the very next day on the same court. And the Hornets today beat the Jazz 121-117 in another entertaining OT game.

March Madness is here

Fun times are here again. The 2011 NCAA tournament kicked off in style today with some tremendous games early. It was amazing to watch these kids hit great shots in the clutch with time running out. For some reason, it feels like these guys do better in the clutch than their NBA counterparts. There are a few buzzer beaters here and there in the NBA, but there are way more in college, especially in March. It should be the better defense in the NBA or something. Also, the number of NBA teams and the player pool is pretty small and players know other players' tendencies and goto moves pretty intimately. In the tournament, schools that have never crossed paths in 20 years meet and anything can happen despite the best efforts by the coaches to prepare their players for the specific opponent. Not sure if it's real or just an illusion, but I thought these college games today featured a lot more big shots than your typical NBA games. I was totally thrilled to watch the fantastic finishes and amazing shots this morning and afternoon.

There were 6 really close games, though UCLA took a blow-out and unnecessarily made it close at the end. Brandon Knight sealed the deal for Kentucky against Princeton with a drive and a shot, though it's a credit to Princeton that Kentucky needed that to win. The better game-winner today belongs to Temple's Juan Fernandez against Penn State. He was stopped cold by the defender, but somehow found a way to use his pivot foot to jump away, create some space and hit that shot with the defender all over him. It was not quite "Kemba Walker against Pittsburgh" good, but a great shot nonetheless. Butler won on a buzzer-beater, but that one should be rough on Old Dominion because Matt Howard won it on a rebound and a put-back after the defense played good D and forced a bad shot. 13-Th seed Morehead State sent Rick Pitino and Louisville packing behind Demonte Harper's game winning 3. I think some of these kids should coach LeBron James and Dwayne Wade. In the same bracket, 12-Th seed Richmond got Vandy for the usual 12 over 5 upset. Thats becoming so common, I am surprised if 5-Th seed win these days. How did Utah State and Clemson lose?

Sydney Johnson, Princeton's head coach and Kalin Lucas, Michigan State's senior guard, both teared up at the post-game presser showing us why we love this event. The single-elimination, sudden-death format is thrilling, but it should also be heart-breaking to the players and coaches. Their entire season and in some cases, their college basketball careers come down to one shot and a few plays here and there. It's real tough. These guys still stay cool and focussed enough to take and make those game winners. Just the potential of ending some senior teammate's careers with a miss should put immense pressure on these kids. It's all part of the allure of the tournament. Speaking of the allure, Kemba Walker and Jimmer Fredette had big days and did nothing to hurt their star status. Jimmer's range is just incredible with some of his shots. The kid is going to need some help soon, but I will be watching him as long as he is playing. The "watching" was really fun today with the coverage across 4 channels. It's a brilliant idea and you never miss anything. Especially with the way they stagger the start time of these games, you get to enjoy the last 5 minutes of every game on a different channel and the action was continuos all day. This is exactly why I love the first weekend of the tourney more than the rest. Of course, the "first round" on Tuesday and Wednesday didn't do much for me except confuse me a little with the bracket. Anyways, can't wait for more of this tomorrow!

Tradeoffs

Now that we have seen teams in action for more than a week since the NBA trade deadline, it 's a good time to evaluate the trades. This, surprisingly, was an especially busy trade deadline in the NBA. All the talk for months leading into the deadline was about Carmelo Anthony and he did move. But there was many more players switching jerseys and zip codes. Some trades are over-hyped, while others are under-valued. I can see what the excitement is with Melo and the Knicks. The Knicks have been hurting big time for many years and Amare has finally bought them some legitimate hope. Now add a prolific scorer and a clutch player like Melo, it's a formidable 1-2 punch that almost guarantees them a playoff trip every year. But the problem is, they are both similar in what they bring to the table - lots of scoring with very little outside of that. They are both mediocre defenders and bad rebounders for their size. They have both been accused of being ball-stoppers. So I expect good things, but not great things from this combo. They still need a third piece and the best part of the deal for the Knicks might be Chauncey Billups. He is another clutch player, but he is also a good point guard who can manage the 2 scorers on the floor. He has already won them a game against the Heat and he may win them a playoff game or two down the road. With all that said, this Knicks team is incomplete and I am not sure if they will ever have the cap room to become complete.

The Russian Billionaire really scared the Knicks into trading for Melo while the Knicks thought they could wait for the off-season and just get Melo off the street as a free agent. Denver had no leverage in their negotiations with the Knicks and Mikhail Prokhorov gave them the leverage. Now, the Nuggets are not looking that bad with all the pieces they got back. It's not quite the elite roster without Melo, but it aint bad at all. The rich and creamies are running, gunning and even winning with the young and talented roster with better defenders and no "ball stoppers". Danilo Gallinari has a lot of potential with a Nowitzki-like game. Raymond Felton and Wilson Chandler are not bad either. Timofey Mozgov, the guy who almost held up the trade from the Knicks side because D'Antoni didn't want to give him up can actually make this trade one-sided if he develops as a player for the Nuggets. Speaking of D'Antoni, the Nugges roster looks like something he would love to coach even more than the Knicks roster he coaches right now. But Pokhorov made sure the Knicks lost a lot of talent in this trade and Pokh got Deron Williams fromt he Jazz in a shocker of a trade at the last minute. I don't know if Deron wants to stay there, but if he does, I would say Nets hit the jackpot. Give me Deron over Melo any day of the week and twice on Sundays. Deron is under-rated a little and a great point.

The Jazz didn't want to deal with any kind of Deron soap opera and hence dumped him in a surprising trade. But they now lose legitimacy in the West and have to deal with the under-achieveing Devin Harris. For all his talents, Devin is invisible these days and may be the change of scenery will do him good. I won't put money on it, but the Jazz are now in trouble without Sloan an now trading away their heir-apparent to John Stockton. They are slipping down the Western seeding and I am not complaining as a suns fan. The other shocker trade was the Clippers banishing Baron to Cleveland. Thats the last place Baron is going to play hard for, but they have him now - enjoy! The other big trade was Boston trading away big body Kendrick Perkins, the guy who could have won them their championship last year. They got good scoring talent in return in Jeff Green and Nenad Kristic, but thats not what they need for a championship run this year. They better hope Shaq and Jermaine are healthy now for the playoffs. Otherwise, they are going to be soft in the middle. Perkins hardens the Thunder's middle immediately - if he stays healthy and plays. Portland got Gerald Wallace, Atlanta got Krirk Heinrich and the New Orleans got Carl Landry from Sacramento in other good moves. The Suns joined the party by trading Dragic for Aaron Brooks. I have always liked Aaron Brooks and I am expecting good things from him. Some people are reading too much into this move with regards to Nash's future, but it's a decent move for the Suns.

I still can't believe Baron is in Cleveland. The Donald is cruel.

Mid-season wrap

The NBA all-star weekend is now in the books. The all-star game and even the dunk contest was not too bad this time. The contestants came up with some creative dunks for a change and made it slightly interesting. Blake Griffin even brought a car in to jump over with Baron Davis sitting in it. Now the stars can go back to their teams for the second half push and playoffs. This is a good time to look back at the first half and also hand out some interesting awards. Most teams have played 54 or 56 games and that makes up about 68% of the season. So we are way past the halfway mark of the season though we consider this the official mid-season. Everybody and their grand moms are handing out mid-season awards and here's my list.

MVP:
There's a lot of momentum building for LeBron James for MVP despite the pre-season projection that his days as a MVP candidate are over. Even LeBron himself said it would be difficult for both himself and Dwayne Wade to win MVPs from now on since they have joined forces. Surprisingly, LeBron has managed to distinguish himself both through his individual brilliance the last several weeks and through the great run the Heat is on. Even more than the Heat's record, it's the Cavs record thats helping Bron's MVP candidature. The Cavs are 10-46 and they are basically the same team as last year, minus LeBron. Yes, they have had a couple of injuries, but with LeBron, they would still be winning 60 games. That just shows how important and unique a player he is. With all that said, my MVP is Derrick Rose. He is scoring almost 25 points and dishing 8 assists per game and has the Bulls just 2 games behind the Heat and the Celtics. And he is doing all this with injuries to Boozer and Noah. The Bulls may not be better than the Celtics, but don't be surprised if they shock us with a deep playoffs run. LeBron is great, but I am going to hold Wade against him. Though he is clearly emerging as the biggest of the big 3 in Miami, Wade isn't exactly chopped liver. Wade is still averaging 25.4 PPG and thats no joke. Also, keep an eye on Kevin Durant in the second half. He could steal the MVP if the Thunder make a major push in the West.

Coach of the Year:
Chicago's Tom Thibodeau is a top candidate in many people's eyes for the coach of the year. I would instead give the MVP to D-Rose and give him most of the credit for the Bulls' season. Thibodeau has done a great job, but that Bulls roster does have some talent. If anything, they were expected to breakout the last couple of years and it has taken D-Rose's brilliance for them to take off this year. My coach of the year is actually Gregg Popovich. Not only does he have the Spurs leading the league with a ridiculous 46-10 record, but he is doing it with pretty much the same team as last year. But he has reinvented their style and approach and has convinced Tim Duncan to take a backseat on offense. I have never seen such a seamless adjustment by a coach with the same roster. Risky, dangerous and brilliant strategy all at the same time and he deserves an award for it.

Rookie of the Year:
Easiest award of them all, unless you are disputing the fact that Blake Griffin is even a rookie. Blake Griffin is averaging 27.6 points and 14.4 rebounds per game and brings a load of excitement to every Clipper game with his effort and power, not to mention the monstrous dunks he is known for.

Executive of the Year:
I guess this is an easy award too, considering all that has happened in Miami. Pat Riley deserves this award for buying LeBron and Bosh to run with Wade. I don't think they will win the championship this year, but Riles should still pat himself on the back for bringing arguably the best player in all of basketball to Miami. Speaking of, Reggie Miller during the all-star broadcast on TV referred to Kevin Durant as the guy who is going to be the best player in the NBA in 2 years. Barkley immediately responded like only he can by saying "you better hope LeBron is dead for it to be true". Thats would be a "LOL" moment if I was a teenager, but that's exactly what I am grappling with as well. I totally see Durant becoming an absolute monster, especially as a scorer in a year or two, but I don't know how anyone can be more complete or better than this LeBron James dude. It's going to be great watching those 2 grow into their NBA greatness.

Most Improved Player:
Another award for which Derrick Rose can actually qualify, though I won't give it to him. This goes to Dorell Wright from the Warriors over Russell Westbrook of the Thunder. Westbrook has become a legitimate second option behind Durant and a force to reckon with, but he was still good last year. Also, I think he is still slightly over-rated. But Dorell Wright has been lighting it up for the Warriors with 16.5-5.7-3.2 per game. Thats impressive for a guy who barely left the pine in his previous stop. The Warriors GM not only found the right guy, but also found a way to use him.

Defensive player of the year:
At almost 14 boards and 2 blocks per game, it's hard not to give this award to Dwight. He definitely makes his presence felt on the defensive end and he needs to play like a defensive player of the year the rest of the way to keep the Magic in it and then take them further in the playoffs.

Power Rankings:
Here are my NBA power rankings - just the top 8. Who cares which is the 18-Th best team in the NBA - not even a hard-core Suns fan like me.

1) San Antonio Spurs - Their record is real, their lead over the Lakers is legit. I think it's going to be a Spurs-Celtics finals.
2) Boston Celtics - The East is not going to be a bed of roses, but these veterans can handle any thorns on their way.
3) LA Lakers - The Lakers are slipping, but the Black Mamba is still lethal.
4) Dallas Mavericks - The Mavs should probably be ranked higher, but they have disappointed us too many times in the past.
5) Miami Heat - I am not a believer yet, definitely not against the big, talented playoff teams.
6) Chicago Bulls - With a healthy Noah and Boozer, this team has everything you could ask for.
7) Orlando Magic - Good team, but too much going on in the East these days. They might fall short.
8) Oklahoma City Thunder - Durant's next step may not happen this year.

500 and beyond

The new-look Suns are on a roll a little bit. They have now won 7 out of 10 and are just 2 games behind the 8-Th and final playoff spot in the west. They finally got past 500 and are now 27-26. They can still lose a winnable game anytime - like they did the other day against the Sacramento Kings at home, but they are playing much better overall. The new pieces are finally fitting in well, though the Suns are not getting a whole lot from Vince Carter, the biggest name in that trade. But Marcin Gortat has been great and Mickael Pietrus has fit in seamlessly. Both of these guys have significantly upgraded the shaky Suns defense. Nash is making the best use of Gortat’s size and abilities and Pietrus is never shy to take and often make those open 3’s. It’s a shame Vinsanity is not producing even close to what his talent-level demands, but what’s new? That has been his M.O forever and it seems to have only gotten worse as he has aged and moved through multiple stops.

The Suns have had some impressive wins off-late including 2 games against the Utah Jazz. The brutal schedule that we were talking about at the start of the season has eased a little and the results reflect that. The team’s chemistry and performance have also clearly gone up over the last couple of weeks. As always, Steve Nash has been a big reason for this. Nash is just amazing. He is still pouring in the assists and it has gotten better lately as Gortat and the gang has gotten comfortable around him. His numbers are as impressive as ever and he would be in the running for the MVP if the team was in the top 3 spots in the conference. He is averaging 11.3 assists per game without Amare and is averaging over 12 assists a game since Jan 1-St. He is just a freak and a treat to watch. He can score a lot more if he really wants to. I felt the same way when I watched John Stockton late in his career. Nash could easily average 5 more points per game if he was a little more selfish and took a few more shots. Rando’s assist numbers are falling while Nash’s numbers are increasing. It will be interesting to see where they both end up.

It does look more and more like the Suns are going to end up in the playoffs. They are only 2 games behind Utah and Memphis and just 3.5 games behind the 5-Th seeded Portland. There are a whole bunch of good teams in the mix, but no great team. So Suns should like their chances as much as anybody else in that mix and the Warriors are not too far behind either at 26-29 and playing well. I am not sure what making the playoffs really means if it’s just going to be about finishing 7-Th or 8-Th in the west and getting eliminated in the first round. But it’s still a prestige thing and I will take it and so will most people in the valley of the sun. The long-term plan for this team is still not clear because we need something big in the short-term here. Nash and Hill are two of the best players for the Suns and they are not getting any younger. Vince’s salary comes off the books next year, but I am not sure what’s the plan for that money. Hope it’s not just going straight to Robert Sarver’s bank account so he can buy another foam finger to wave at Suns games. He should never be allowed to wave the number 1 sign ever again because it’s his leadership that has basically taken a number 1 team and made it number 10 in the west (at the time of writing this article). But finishing 7-Th or 8-Th instead of 10-Th is a good first step in this road to redemption.

End of an era

Over-paid athletes with long-term contracts and leagues that are more worried about television contracts than the sport itself define the sports world today. This era is not exactly known for loyalty, longevity, commitment, toughness or old-school work ethic. A singular exception to this rule was Jerry Sloan, the now former head coach of Utah. He was a head coach at one place for 23 years - which is equivalent to 25 dog years, which is about 120 human years. He was the longest tenured coach in all of US professional sports. It’s almost impossible to enjoy such long tenures at this day and age and NBA is especially notorious when it comes to hiring and firing head coaches.

High salaries, unrealistic expectations and a general cultural shift towards instant gratification are all challenges to extended tenures for these high-profile coaches, GM and even superstars. But Jerry Sloan survived all of that and more. He also survived the retirement of two Hall of Famers – Karl Malone and John Stockton. He was able to do his thing for 23 years due of several reasons, but primarily because he was a great coach. He was one of the best at his craft even though his style is old school and several modern day athletes definitely didn’t enjoy it. Case in point – Deron Williams. Sloan and D-Will have clashed often and recently during the halftime of a loss to the Chicago Bulls. This incident is rumored to have pushed Sloan over the edge.

Williams is a talented and hard working guard who doesn’t have a reputation of being a cancer or even a bad seed. But I can easily see how Sloan and him clashed over stuff. That’s going to happen in any high-stakes environment like the NBA. But whether or not that caused his exit, only Sloan knows. The theory is that the ownership was getting more and more friendly to Deron’s position and Sloan felt like his authority was being compromised. He apparently told them that if this is how they want to run their franchise, he doesn’t want any role in it and walked away. This is probably what happened because I can’t imagine Sloan quitting in the middle of the season without a strong trigger like that. Sloan is one of the toughest SOB and he is definitely not a quitter. He is not going to be pushed out by a kid like D-Will after 23 years at the helm. He has seen it all and handled every conceivable situation. So the only plausible explanation for him exiting like this is that he thought the front office was not behind him this time.

This actually means the front office is probably more responsible for him leaving than Deron Williams, though this will probably stick to Deron. It will be interesting to see how the Jazz faithful responds to D-Will now. They are a nice, well-behaved, religious fan-base and you could say that’s one of the reasons why Sloan even survived 23 years. But they may still turn on D-Will, especially if Utah starts losing a lot. I think that won’t happen because the team is loaded with talent and the new coach Tyronne Corbin might open it up and make it more fun for Williams and the team. While Sloan was a great coach and preached fundamentals, toughness and defense like no other, he did not often tweak his style to suit his talent. It was always the other way around with Sloan. The talent on the roster had to get on with the proven program or sit on the bench. If Ty Corbin finds a middle ground between the rigidity of a great system and the versatility of the phenomenal talent at hand, Jazz could have a great rest of the season.

As for Jerry Slaon, he should be retired for good at this stage. He is 68 years old and I can’t imagine him coaching anywhere else. That’s probably a good thing because this way, he would always be remembered as a Utah Jazz and we don’t have to deal with things like him coming into town as a visiting head coach. I can definitely see him in a television role, but I am not sure if he wants that. In any case, this was a shocking culmination to a recent spate of long tenured coaches retiring, resigning or getting fired. First, it was Atlanta’s Bobby Cox retiring after 21 years as the manager of the Braves and the longest tenured manager in MLB. Then it was Jeff Fisher getting out of Tennessee in a surprising move after 17 years at the helm and the NFL lost it’s longest tenured coach. Now it’s Sloan who was the leader in the NBA and all of sports - all 3 changes happening in a 5-month spam. As of today, the NFL honor belongs to Andy Reid, Greg Popovich leads the NBA in terms of tenure and the longest tenured coach in all of sports now is MLB’s Tony LaRussa. Not bad replacements, but it’s still a sad day in sports and an end of a glorious era. We will all miss Jerry Sloan.