Where Damon Stoudamire gets his pot.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

The Meadowlands


Let's take a quick step into the Martlet columns.

Here is the first, in which I attempt to make the argument that Bosh will leave in two years. Does the Marion trade change that? Meh, not really. Marion's contract is expiring, he's aged significantly over the past two seasons, and he doesn't make them a playoff-bound NBA squad. Some problems get patched up, others pop up. This is one of those cases. The Raps get much better at SF and get to attempt a Suns-like game approach. However, they lose a post player and bring in a character with questionable locker room attributes.

This other column is from a couple weeks back. The thrust of the article is that the fans are terrible at voting for the All-Star Game. I mean, Iverson and Stoudemire are certainly not the best at their respective positions in their respective conferences. And Bruce Bowen and Yi Jianlian were nearly voted in. AI and STAT are one thing, but the Chairmen represents a level of futility unacceptable for the game. After a couple weeks of separation from the article's release I feel strange about the argument. You can't take voting away from the fans. Stern depends on the Game/Fan relationship too much for the coaches to take those starting votes away. Yet the Bowen thing, especially, registers a furrowed eyebrow.

(Jianlian, on the other hand, doesn't surprise when you've got a nation 1.4 billion strong supporting you. In a sense, it's almost pathetic he couldn't get the votes. Shouldn't Yao-Jianlian be finishing one-two?)

Did Rudy Embarrass all of us White People?

I really don't think so. He finished one point behind JR Smith for last place. Yet both of his dunks were decent. Nothing great, however. The second, disregarding the first eight attempts in which Pau tried some cheeky passes, looks like a dunk that semi-updates the Iguodala/Howard dunk (this time a reverse) and packs a good amount of flair and style. The first was lesser Rex Chapman, a fact pointed out by Kenny 'The Jet' Smith.

Which Brings Me to this Video:



Aside from Nate's dunks - and Nate being a deserved Slam Dunk Champion - listen to Smith and Reggie Miller disagree with each other continually. Did the producers of the show say "Hey Reggie, spice things up a little and say the opposite of everything Smith says?" Or was there a bizarre competition between them as to who the Great Basketball Analyst was? Initially my thoughts were leaning towards the latter. Throughout the telecast, if they weren't arguing with each other over "tactics" for the games, they were calling each other out for failed predictions or whatever else they could dig up.

Now I realize that Miller must've felt a little pressure for taking the Chuckster's place at the head table. Maybe pressure is the wrong word. Miller was a crunch-time player, so a broadcasting situation shouldn't faze him. But filling the role that Barkley brings - ie. hilarity and insight in equal doses - comes down to personality and intelligence, neither of which Miller can fake.

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