On the verge of getting up off my ass and actually playing some basketball, I stopped on TSN before turning off my TV and saw the pregame pep-talk. Was it by Mr. Colt 45 himself, Billy Dee Williams? I’m not sure. Either way, TSN thought it would be a good idea to show Canada’s newest basketball-playing citizen, Mr. Samuel Dalembert, and his Philly Sixers taking on the Detroit Pistons in Motown. Keep reading →
April 20, 2008
TSN listens to me and gets the biggest upset of the first round, so far (playoff Sunday continues)
April 20, 2008
Playoff Sunday (aka the Best Day Ever)
Thanks to some intricate playoff scheduling working out in my favour, I’ve got Sunday off. That means I get to plop myself down on the couch and watch three of the four playoff games that are on TV (only in Canada would you have a NBA playoff game sitting on the table, in the Detroit-Philly series, and no network picks it up).
First up is game 1 of the Raptors-Magic series in Orlando. Rod Black, Chuck Swirsky and Leo Rautins are on their respective m-i-c’s, while my main man Paul Jones works radio. Good choice, TSN. Let’s get into it. Keep reading →
April 15, 2008
Finally…an update (and the 2008 NBA playoffs)
I woke up this morning and saw one of my favorite things—the trusty old if-the-playoffs-started-today brackets on nba.com. The playoffs are upon us. The invitations have all been sent out, the tables are set. We just need to figure out where everyone in the West is going to be sitting.
I don’t have a lot of time (the AJHL finals have been eating that up the last two weeks) to get into each matchup. I just want to look at two series right now, one from each conference.
Orlando (3) vs. Toronto (6)
Down the stretch, the Raps’ season has turned into a disappointment. The unwritten goal for the team was the second round of the playoffs, but I don’t see that happening this year. It pains me a little to say it, but Dwight Howard is going to get the best of Chris Bosh and a surprisingly effective as of late Rasho Nesterovic. The Raps have no answer for Hedo Turkoglu. Orlando has had too strong a season, and Toronto has plunged too deeply into mediocrity for them to make this competitive. A Magic sweep wouldn’t surprise me, but the Raps fan in me would at least like to see it go five.
I know it sounds crazy but…
Don’t count out the Dallas Mavericks. They’ve underachieved all year to get to a pressure-free spot and should they catch New Orleans in the first round, I wouldn’t be totally shocked if they were able to derail the Mardi-gras that they’ve been having in NO this year. The Mavs might have enough experience to pull the rug out from under the young Hornets and sneak into the second round, where I’d fully expect them to wilt under the pressure that would come flying back onto their shoulders. So, don’t count them out in the first round. You can count them out anytime after that, though.
April 8, 2008
Welcome to April
Or, as it’s known ’round these parts: “NHL playoffs”.
Or, as it’s known to me: “The reason why going to grad school was a bad idea.”
April 3, 2008
Why is it Always Atlanta?
Seriously? What is it about that city that causes the NBA to have major issues?
Once again the Raptors get screwed, this time because the clock starts early on the inbound. I didn’t know Vince McMahon was part of the stats crew for the Atlanta Hawks.
April 3, 2008
Who are the people on your basketball court? The overlooked assassin who has no technique.
If action movies have taught me anything, it’s that you should never underestimate your opponent. Even the guy who fought monkey-style in Bloodsport won a couple of fights before he ran into Chon-Li.
Playing pickup ball, it’s tough to not underestimate some of the people who make their way onto the court.
April 1, 2008
Basketball’s equivalent to a thumb to the eye
When I was in grade four, I loved the WWF more than anything else in my world. The school guidance counselor came into the class one day to give us aptitude tests or something and part of it included listing what you want to be when you grow up. For the past few years I had put NHL player in that spot. In grade four, I broke it down seasonally: in the winter, I would play pro hockey. In the off-season, I’d be a pro wrestler.
I think about this now and wish there was an athlete who did this every year. He (or she—not sexist) would be a fantastic story. I’ve digressed.
Keep reading →
March 31, 2008
Sneaker critiquer — Nike Zoom 95, aka Zoom Flight Premium
Disclaimer: Since my regular forum for sneaker reviews has stalemated, I’ve switched it over here in a more compact version. Enjoy. If you don’t care about sneakers (Rossy), don’t enjoy.
It’s been a long time since I’ve paid for shoes, but when I walked into Champs at the beginning of March and saw the Zoom 95 retro on the shelf I knew I had to act quickly.
March 30, 2008
Stephen-wolf (Davidson-Kansas game notes)
Rather than hit the court in my latest sneaker acquisition, I’ve elected to sit at home and get fat, watching #10 Davidson try and knock #1 Kansas over on their path to the NCAA Final Four.
I’ve grown attached to Stephen Curry over the last week. I liked his play in last year’s tourney, and while the 103 points he’s scored in his last three games are enough to make anyone force the guy on the end of the Davidson bandwagon to scooch over a little more, it turns out I’ve got a little history with the guy.
In April of 2002, I went to my first Raptors game. The Nets were in Toronto and had already locked up top spot in the Eastern Conference. The Raps were riding an eight-game win streak that was fuelling their playoff hopes. The streak was one part impressive, one part ominous, because they were doing it without an injured Vince Carter.
But that’s only the frame on the picture. Me and my friends got to the Air Canada Centre at least an hour early, just to watch warmups and take in the whole ACC/Raps atmosphere. A little kid was on the court, messing around with a ball.
You could tell he had a gift, just in his handles. When he started shooting, he went from good to great. Keep in mind, this looked like a 10- or 11-year-old kid on the court. He started by hitting a few midrange shots. Each time he’d hit, he’d back up. I was sold on him when he hit a three (keep in mind it’s a NBA three—23 feet, nine inches). He wasn’t done yet, though. He kept stepping back, kept hitting shots. He had made his way out to halfcourt and was still hitting when Hakeem Olajuwon came out and the kid went and sat down.
Watching, we knew he had to be a player’s kid. It wasn’t until this week, six years after my first trip to the ACC, that I found out that it was Dell Curry’s son, Stephen, torching the nets, just like he is this year as tiny Davidson College marches its way through the madness, hopefully into the Final Four.
Anyway, on with the notes.
Keep reading →
March 29, 2008
“I play for the Raptors, I don’t play for Jose Calderon.”
I was working an AJHL game on Wednesday night and as I was writing my story, a TV behind me had TSN on it. After three hours of hockey talk, they finally made their way to the NBA’s slate of action (didn’t see you on the Celts/Suns highlights, Danny).
During the Raptors/Pistons highlights, they mentioned that Jose Calderon had surrendered his spot as starter to TJ Ford, because he thought it would help the team win. That kind of re-ignited my love of all things Calderon. It also reminded me that I completely forgot to post the transcripts of my interview with numero ocho from last month. So here it is. Of course, you can and should pick up SLAM 117 if you haven’t already, to read the In Your Face that I wrote on him.
