Do You Believe In Magic? - Thursday Breakdown

I'm not really sure. One thing I know is that every time I think of the Magic, I think of Stan Van Gundy being the 'master of panic.' I can't help but feel like his demeanor trickles down and effects the confidence of his players.

Nonetheless, tonight the Magic got the win. It wasn't pretty, but I'm sure they'd rather take off to Boston than stay in Orlando for good.

*What's this? It's May and the Knicks are actually in the news? We're hearing rumors of a Tracy McGrady to New York trade, sending Larry Hughes and Cuttino Mobley's contracts to Houston in the offseason. I'm not exactly sure why the Rockets would do this. Perhaps they just want to ensure a healthy body at the 3 (and they might not resign Artest, and need to replace his D)? The rumors started over with Frank Isola, and then I got a little confirmation from David Thorpe at ESPN on his chat:

Evan (NY): Coach There is a rumor of TMac to Knicks x Hughes, Mobley contract.. I really like it for both teams, your view?

SportsNation David Thorpe: I think it could happen.

*Dirk Nowitzki was engaged to a con artist, she got arrested at his home mid-playoffs, and this isn't supposed to effect his game?!?! Interesting and still developing story.

*Awesome Elias Stat I saw on the Daily Dime. Chauncey Buh Buh Buh Billups is the man: Denver's victory means that Chauncey Billups will be playing in the conference finals for the seventh consecutive year. Since 1970, only four men have played for their conference's championship in each of seven or more straight playoff years, and all of them did so for the Lakers. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Cooper and Magic Johnson had eight-year streaks (1982-1989), and Kurt Rambis had a seven-year run (1982-1988)

*Lotta chattin goin on over on ESPN. Picked this up out of the conversation. We heart LeBron.

Brian (SF, CA): John, can you put Lebron's playoff PER in perspective? It seems he is almost too far ahead of the pack, is there a specific reason his PER is so high?

SportsNation John Hollinger: (3:16 PM ET ) I can't put it in perspective, actually. It's completely off the charts. As for a specific reason, other than "he's awesome," I can't offer one -- he's just been exceptional in every category. I expect his numbers to come back to earth a little in the next two rounds, obviously, but these last eight games have been among the best eight-game stretches you'll ever see.

Some really funny LeBron Kobe commercials!!

Defense Wins Championships; Tuesday Breakdown

Liked what I saw in today's Daily Dime from Coach Mike Brown. "Sometimes you have to win ugly like this, and it's good to know that you can,...I'm sure Atlanta feels like they didn't play their best. I know offensively we didn't play our best. But the way we defended tonight allowed us to make some mistakes."

Fact of the matter is, even when the shots aren't falling, you can still rely on getting stops.

Over at TrueHoop, they have similar thoughts..."You can go through nearly twenty clips of defensive possessions before witnessing a single blown rotation. Every Cavalier closes out on every shooter, and contests every shot. The Cavs move around the court mindful of every open space, chasing guys off their spots, and walling off anyone with the temerity to drive or cut to the basket. "

In other news...

*One of the big stories so far this week is Mark Cuban yelling at KMart's mom, screaming that her son is a thug, etc. etc. Well, I'm glad my man Ken Berger calls out Cuban for what he is: an idiot. How many times has this guy done something bone-headed and then issue an apology and think everything is OK?

*Practice makes perfect right? Right. Ballerblogger has some great stuff about LeBron's practice habits.

*One of the best GM's in the game, Rocket's Daryl Morey goes one on one with ESPN.

*Pretty awesome summary of Mavs/Nuggets Game 4 from SLAM Online.

BDTG is NOT DEAD!

What's up people. I'm getting a lot of hate mail and posts about BDTG being dead. As I mentioned in an earlier post...we just didn't quite make the playoffs this year. Next year, without a doubt, we're going to be back and better than ever. But until I quit my day job (not likely anytime soon), I must prioritize and good ole "40 games in 40 nights" has also taken it's toll. If you have something to say, write a post, send it over, and I'll put it right up!

Quick summary of where we're at right now?

Amazing stuff so far this year in the playoffs. We have LeBron and Co completely dominating almost every minute of every game against the Hawks thus far. Hawk fans rejoice; you've gotten to the second round and that'll be that. Maybe next year it'll be the ECF. Speaking of dominating...how bout them Nuggets?! JR Smith is passing the ball better than I've ever seen (or thought possible). The Birdman, Anthony Carter, and JR off the bench has easily made for the best bench in the NBA Playoffs (easssssily!). The Lakers struggled in their first game of Round 2 against the Rockets, but after a crazy Game Two, with blood, sweat and tears (Scola's bullshit flopping counts for tears right?), the Lakers regained control.

Round one brought us a reedunkulous Boston/Chicago series that went to 7 games and about 25 overtimes. The Celtics are now up against a much better Magic team, who could definitely have had something special....and then you have the dumbass play of the year, with Skip to my Lou (Rafer Alston for the NY-challenged) smacking Eddie House across the back of the head, which seemed playful, but is a clear 1-game suspension. No choice; he swung at the head, and made contact: suspended.

The East is done. The Cavs will go to the Finals, and there's even a chance at this point they don't lose a game until they get there. The West, is not so set in stone anymore. Kobe and the Lakeshow were the easy favorites, but you can NOT ignore Denver any longer. They're the most exciting team in basketball, with a Finals MVP running the point, the best bench in the playoffs, a seasoned coach, and this guy Carmelo Anthony who is probably the best pure scorer in the game. Add to that their high altitude home-court advantage, and the Denver crowd being louder than this outfit, and Denver is a clear contender to the Lakers...and that's if the Lakers get past a very difficult Rockets team with not one, but two perimeter defensive specialists in Battier and Artest (one who got chopped in the face by Kobe, and one who got elbowed in the neck by Kobe....NBA, where Kobe is allowed to do whatever he wants happens...).

If i had to pick a Western winner today, I have to pick Denver. My reasoning is simple...how the hell is Aaron Brooks or Derick Fisher going to contain Chauncey "Big Shot" Billups for a series? It all starts at the point (this is why the Suns always suck), and i think a Finals MVP and Championship ring might be the deciding factor (not even Kobe has both).

So that leads us to...."the bet." A few years back, my man Doc J and I put a Benjamin on the line. I have LeBron, he's got Melo. First to get a chip wins. Go Cavs!!

Monday Breakdown

Okay, okay, okay...let's break it down...

*The 2009 Hall of Famers were announced, and somehow Michael Jordan squeezed into the pack. He's joined by Jerry Sloan, David Robinson and C. Vivian Stringer. Scoop Jackson makes the case that Jordan should have his own induction; it's only fair.

(Forgot John Stockton, thanks Bert).

*News just in, Manu Ginobili is done for the year, playoffs included. Ken Berger says you can stick a fork in the spurs.

*Another argument that defense wins championships. Basketball-Reference breaks down "Go To" guys and their effect on championship success. Interesting stuff.

*From Truehoop; Seven reasons to fear the Orlando Magic, and a look at who the hall of famers of today resemble most in today's NBA. After the whoopin the Magic put on the Cavs a few days ago, I think that's enough to worry about them come playoff time.

via Ball Don't Lie: LeBron does it again...



and The best thing the Wizards have made all season:



via Dime Mag: Von Wafer's Crazy Dunk (good name)

NBA Strike Approaching?

For the 5 or so readers (joke) who come here often looking for updates, my sincere apologies for not blogging as frequently as I'd like. With March Madness upon us, the NBA takes a backseat to the NCAA, where my bracket has finally fallen below the average in ESPN's 6 million or so entries (although my entire South section is fully intact). We're fortunate this year to have a Cinderella story, with 12 seed Arizona making it to the sweet 16. We also see a future NBA star in the making, in Blake Griffin, as he completely dominates every game he's been in (his last game making 14 of 20 shots, finishing with 33 points and 17 rebounds). Let's just hope the god awful Wizards land the first pick in the draft.

Well, that's about it for my NCAA speak (although I'll finish with once again displaying my hatred for Duke basketball and hoping they lose).

Back to the NBA...

This weekends ESPN Daily Dime brings us a FAQ on the looming NBA lockout. With the salary cap going down, and economic struggles apparent for all NBA owners, a lockout seems inevitable. If David Stern is really going to make his mark on history, he's going to prevent this at all costs. The resolution will probably end with both sides being unhappy, and well, that means he did a good job, right? Fortunately, now more than ever, we're seeing NBA players understand their place in society, and the fact that their making enormous amounts of money while most people struggle. Unfortunately, the head of the players union takes that with a grain of salt, since his job is to get his players the best deal possible, or they walk.

Later in the weekend, David Stern did address the media to talk a bit about the future of the collective bargaining agreement, and how he plans to get it resolved sooner than later.

I'll be back in town on Wednesday. Currently enjoying the weather in sunny San Diego while I am out of town on some business, and also getting to see some family at the same time. Based on my schedule, I doubt I'll be able to blog again until Thursday or so, so I apologize in advance, and thank everyone who stops by for continuing to do so.

Next season, BDTG hopes to make it to the blogging playoffs, and get some more national exposure. But for now, we're very happy with the 6 or 7 times we've been on CBS, and the few times we've been in Newsday and our link/name being spread out throughout the blogosphere, meeting awesome basketball people from around the globe. So like any non-playoff bound team, we wanna keep practicing hard, keep improving, and next year make a big splash. That doesn't mean this season is over, in fact, we have a ton more to write about. The real March Madness is for that 8th spot in the east, and playoff position in the west.

Tuesday Mini-Breakdown

*MJ doing a moonwalk on the Kwame pick? Super agent David Falk on MJ and more.

*75% of the season is over and Ken Berger sums up what's gone down so far. Add Raptors to the disappointment list, they were pegged as a top 4 team in the East.

*Dwayne Wade is incredible and easily top 3 in the league with Kobe and LeBron.

*Marc Stein, ESPN, reiterating what I said previously regarding Iverson possibly shutting it down and not accepting his role on the bench:

But he'll grudgingly accept it when he gets back. He has little choice.

We repeat: C-O-N-T-R-A-C-T year.

*Not much to like with the Wizards these days, but at least we have this feel good story about owner Abe Pollin, who refuses to quit and has his eyes on the prize.

Meet the Knicks

Thursday night brought about the annual "Meet the Knicks" Event for season ticket holders. Took a few pics with the Knicks Dancers, went into the locker room, got some autographs, and my favorite, took some shots on the garden floor. Good times. Here's a sample of me and my buddy Joan's night: