The Beginning of the End for David Stern

I think David Stern tonight did more damage to his career and legacy than the entire lockout did. It was the fairest trade the Hornets were going to get for Chris Paul. Yes, the Lakers can pair Chris Paul with Kobe, but the price was both Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom. Bringing the Rockets in the deal and New Orleans gets a team that's like last year's Nuggets, in that they are deep enough to compete for a playoff spot and who knows if they can flip an asset for a better player. Hornets GM Dell Demps should be commended tonight for a great haul for a player everybody knew was out the door.

Instead, after a few owners were upset that Chris Paul was Laker-bound, David Stern takes it upon himself to kill the deal. Now to be fair, the NBA is the owner of the Hornets and in any normal case, an owner can overrule the GM if he/she doesn't want to make a trade. However, it's not normal when a league owns a team and they can't use the same rules that any other owner would. The conflict of interest is too obvious (since the 29 owners own the Hornets, we saw 2 of them approve this trade). And yet, Stern puts the kibosh on the agreement.

I actually could understand the move a little more (still not like it, but understand it) if this was about getting an owner to pay more money to buy New Orleans. Yet, the league's position is that this trade was blocked for "basketball reasons" (leading to a fun night I had on Twitter with the hashtag #basketballreasons). Read the story Adrian Wojnarowski wrote about the trade (my first link in this post) and it's apparent that Stern is trying to control where players going so that the players don't have the control in this instance. Then you find that Dan Gilbert (Cavs owner; of comic-sans fame) continues to write humorous letters to people. Oh, wait, he's serious and is nearly reaching Ted Septien-levels of head-shaking ownership. So much for labor peace; the players just signed the new collective bargaining agreement this afternoon.

So what happens now? Does Chris Paul even get traded? How about Dwight Howard? If they are force to stay with their respective teams, what happens next year when both men are free agents and want to leave and won't make the same money that they can if they sign with their own team. Seems to me that a collusion suit can and will be filed. As for David Stern, this is the last straw. I only remember two other commissioner pulling a move like this; Stern's former protege Gary Bettman putting the Devils signing of Ilya Kovalchuk on hold for circumventing the salary cap (despite many instances of other teams doing the same thing) and Bowie Kuhn blocking the A's from selling Vida Blue, Rollie Fingers and Joe Rudi in 1976 for cash. Seems to me that Stern is using the blocking in a much more irrational way. It's only a matter of time before Stern will no longer be able to be irrational in his way of dealing with the NBA.

UPDATE: I forgot the last point; this is horrible news if your a fan of the Lakers, Heat (well, they got their guys), Knicks, Bulls, Clippers, even Mavs (eventually). Now, you can't use your money to grab franchise players if you already have one. So don't be celebrating the Lakers losing a player, because you could be in the same shoes the next time.

Randomness while learning from Rajon Rando that it's okay to slap a man

- You see Charlie Murphy, Rick James was right R.I.P.

- Bill Simmons is right, this Bulls-Celtics series is on it's way to being the best first-round series since the change to a best-of-seven. From the KG subplot to start, Derrick Rose showing us the future, the new Vinnie Johnson (sorry for dated references, but I'm a sports historian) in Ben Gordon, Ray Allen proving to be as certain as death when the game ends, Paul Pierce taking the mantle from Larry Bird officially, Doc and the refs, Vinny Del Negro and his wasting timeouts and Rondo shattering his ceiling for the next 15 years. The Celtics will be a factor is one way or another once KG, Allen and Pierce move on because Rondo will lead this team through it.

- As for last night's controversies, I'm glad the refs didn't charge a flagrant on Rondo because I hate when the refs put the game in their hands, unless its absolutely necessary. As for D-Ho, he should of been thrown out last night, though they got it right with suspending Howard.

- Looks like the Heat are just about finished. I don't doubt Dwyane Wade, unless he's hurt. He was hurt against Detroit in 05, he was hurt against the Bulls in 07 and I don't think his back will help him if they need him for Game 7 on the road with Atlanta, assuming they get there.

- I could opine on the Blazers-Rockets and the Magic-Sixers, but honestly, I'm not interested, aside from Howard's elbow.

- So let's move on to the Spurs losing to Dallas, as predicted on The Cycle. I could tell in Game 1 that I was going to be right with this one when J.J. Barea ran while. The Mavs finally look good since the Jason Kidd trade. Back to the Spurs, obviously the Ginobili injury was a killer, but now Tim Duncan isn't the same player he once was. I thought last year was the last chance for the Spurs to win the title. They remind me of the late 80s, early 90s Celtics when Bird started to get injuries, McHale had been reduced after playing with a broken foot in the 87 playoffs, but had Reggie Lewis leading the team to successful seasons and still had the respect of their opponents and even pushed the Cavs to Game 7 in 1992. The Spurs could have the same thing as Parker and Ginobili will lead this team, but Duncan keeps getting old and they have drafted too low and have too many old men and flyers on the bench.

- We go from one "dynasty" who I hate to the Devils, who completely collapsed last night when Maaaaaaaaarty Brodeur gave up two goals, in the last 90 seconds to lose the series to Carolina in seven games. So after falling on my face when the Rangers lost, the Devils were the pillow I landed on. After being disgusted by John Tortorella benching Sean Avery, then fighting with the fans; the fact Colton Orr wasn't in the lineup after Donald Brasheur bumped him in practice; to the cheap shot Brasheur laid on Blair Betts not getting a major penalty or having to fight Orr; to the ridiculous letter that Glen Sather wrote embarassing me to Isiah-like levels; finally a Game 7 where once again we couldn't score and couldn't even get Lundqvist out of the net for an extra skater. All of that, and the fact that Marty choked makes it even for me, at least for the next two months when Sather continues to make Mike Milbury look good.

- So now hockey fans, and most importantly non-hockey fans, you have your marquee series. Ovechkin vs Crosby, Semin vs Malkin, Caps vs Pens. This is the series that determines the future of the NHL if it's great. Then people who don't know what a blue line is will be ready for this series if it becomes a yearly occurance, like it was back in the 90s. Add three Original Six teams (Boston, Detroit and Chicago) and Vancouver for our fans up north, we could have our best possible Stanley Cup finals for a TV standpoint. Unless of course Carolina and Anaheim win, then we're screwed, especially with Kobe vs LeBron in the NBA. Series picks: Wings in 6, Hawks in 6, B's in 5 and Pens in 6 (unfortunately).

- It's one thing to trade away draft picks for a future QB, it's a whole other thing to trade more to move to the top of the third round to draft a RB. No way to you win a draft if you have three picks, sorry Jets. As for the Giants, I have full confidence in Jerry Reese, so I'm impressed. We drafted a WR in the first round, that's good enough for me.

- Now the bullpen has had trouble for the Mets the past couple days, so my Met fan readers, start to panic. Oh wait, you've already been panicing. But seriously, can they hit after the sixth inning. And David Wright seems to finally lose the Met fan, particularly my friend Brian. Unless something gives, this team won't be a .500 team, let alone playoffs.

- As for the Yankees, I'm off the ledge thanks to Phil Hughes. I couldn't watch much of his start due to the Rangers, Devils and NBA, but he was impressive and finally could have got it and most importantly, placating me as to why he wasn't traded. The hitting is better but let's see what the Yanks do against the Angels for 4 at the new stadium.

- Finally, I want to commend the New Orleans Hornets. Obviously, they read my scathing blog about them laying down Monday and have played better. Seriously, they're giving the Nuggets a game right now and even if they lose (this will be posted before games end), they're pride will be restored. However, if I'm a Hornets fan, I'm still pissed off unless they win.

UPDATED 1:15AM- Scratch that. I rescind my commending of New Orleans. They couldn't get the game to an over for my in Streak for the Cash on ESPN, lost by 19 so nevermind Hornets, you're still in my doghouse.

A Tale of Two Teams

I wasn't planning on writing tonight about the NBA playoffs, I'm worried about the Yankees pitching, satisfied with the job Jerry Reese did in the NFL Draft and at the point of walking off the ledge with the Rangers, who are their own story, which I will write when it's over. But watching the games tonight now got me ready to vent. The Utah Jazz should be commended for making their series with the Lakers a much more competitive one that it could of been if you look at the 3rd quarter scores. At the same time, words can't even describe how awful the New Orleans Hornets were tonight.

I'll start with Utah, since I don't have NBATV and watched none of the Hornets game. To be perfectly honest, I checked out of the Lakers-Jazz game when the only man slowing down Kobe was Steve Javie and proceeded to watch the Sharks finish their choke. After Ryan Getzlaf scored to make it 4-1, I flipped back to TNT and the Jazz, who were down by 22, cut the lead to 6 because of the play from Ronnie Price, Kyle Korver and Paul Millsap. Charles Barkley all week has said that the Lakers are lacking a killer instinct and proved it again against a proud Jazz team that once again made it closer than it should. That's how it is with Jerry Sloan teams, always tough. Unfortunately in the NBA, if you don't have the talent, you rarely win in the playoffs. But at least the Jazz compete.

Enter the Hornets. They played at home tonight in Game 4 with a chance to tie the series and proceed to lose the game 121-63. READ THAT SCORE AGAIN 121-63!!!!!HOW DO YOU LOSE AT HOME BY 58 POINTS?!!! When I saw this score on ESPN.com, I was first shocked, then disgusted. It is absolutely reprehensible to lose by that margin in your home building. Everyone should be given a refund for buying tickets to that game to watch an effort like that. And no, I didn't watch a minute of this game and I'm just going by the score. I don't care, it's a 58 point loss. There is no excuse for this. Bill Simmons has wrote on a couple of occasions that the Hornets are quiting on Byron Scott. Obviously, you can't disagree with the effort set forth tonight. Denver is proving to be the better team, but they can't be 29, 15 and 58 points better than them. I really can't say any more, just it's ridiculous for an NBA team to lose by this much in any situation. I don't care if it's the Kings or Wizards, much less a playoff team, put an effort. Show up, especially if you're home playing in front of fans who spend good money when there isn't a lot to spend during this recession.

The ultimate appitizer to the main course playoffs.

There is a feeling that this year's NBA playoffs are particularly anti-climatic, now that Kevin Garnett looks to be done for the year. The two players above are almost locks to make the NBA Finals. So does that make the NBA Playoffs a complete waste? As a basketball fan, I say no because in the 1st round, we have six series that are going to be interesting to watch and you can even see what to expect from the Cavs when they play Detroit. So lets start with them in the East.

#1 Cleveland vs #8 Detroit- If the Cavs are serious about winning, they will destroy the floundering Pistons. If the Pistons take this series to a sixth game, the Cavs failed and only make the road to the Finals tougher. This isn't like Boston last year who were thrown together and needed to learn to go through adversity, the Cavs have been able to roar through the 1st round before. I don't see any way LeBron let's them lose and the Cavs sweep.

#2 Boston vs #7 Chicago- So you have the KG-less Celtics taking on the 10th straight edition of the Baby Bulls. The Bulls had a golden opportunity to avoid this matchup on Wednesday and face the shaky Magic, but they embarassed themselves against the Raptors. Now, they get the champs who are much discussed without Kevin Garnett (as well as GM Danny Ainge, who had a heart attack). The Bulls will push the C's with ROY Derrick Rose, but the championship experience of Paul Pierce and Ray Allen will lead the Celtics in 6.

#3 Orlando vs #6 Philadelphia- Once again, the Magic are this year's honorary NBA TV series as they take on a Sixers team that stopped playing until the Cavs sat out their stars and beat them in Cleveland. Orlando has a great draw now that it's Philly and not Chicago. The best case for the Sixers is they have a third game at home. Unfortunately, the Sixers aren't important in Philly anymore so the Magic ride D-Ho and will win easily. And yes, I meant to write D-Ho for Dwight Howard. Magic in 5.

#4 Atlanta vs #5 Miami- The best series in the East features Dwyane Wade against the lovable Hawks who pushed the Celtics to 7 last spring. Atlanta has plenty of things you like: young, Joe Johnson is a legit go-to-guy at the end of games. If all things are equal, Atlanta beats Miami. Unfortunately for them, when Dwyane Wade is healthy and dominant, things aren't equal. He is the best player in the series and you don't go against the best player without a REALLY, good reason. Add the fact that Wade draws fouls when he's breathed on wrong, I see Heat in 7.

Western 1st Round

#1 L.A. Lakers vs #8 Utah- The only series in the West that you're pretty sure of the result. The Jazz are however, the last team the Lakers should be playing in the 1st round. The concede the PG advantage to Deron Williams, the coaching matchup is a push and the Jazz have a bench. Plus, they have a better home-court than either NO or Dal. If the Lakers had played Dallas or New Orleans, they beat them in at most five games. I think the Lakers win in 6 as Utah will steal a couple in Salt Lake City.

#2 Denver vs #7 New Orleans- Where I don't see the Hornets able to beat the Lakers in the 1st round, I certain think they will be in this series against the Nuggets. The good thing for the Hornets is that Tyson Chandler is starting to get healthier and might be a factor in this series. Of course, they have Chris Paul and they have an underrated roster, with James Posey, David West, etc. As for Denver, they rode their way to the 2nd seed behind Chauncey Billups stabilizing this team and giving Carmelo Anthony a legit chance to exit the 1st round. They also have many people who think they aren't a real contender in the West. If Chandler isn't healthy in this series, Denver will win. I think Chandler will be effective enough and last year's playoff run helps CP3 and the Hornets win in 6.

#3 San Antonio vs #6 Dallas- All year, the Mavs have been in my eyes the only one and done team in the West playoffs. All of a sudden they get the 6th seed and will get to play a Manu-less San Antonio team. The Spurs were on my short list back on April Fools Day, but the loss of Ginobili knocks them out of any title hunt. As for this series, the Spurs you would think should have no trouble with the Mavs, but remember, Dallas is playing their best basketball right now, they split the series with the Spurs and beat them in a Game 7 in San Antonio back in 2006, when Dirk Nowitzki had his greatest game. Unless Tim Duncan averages 25-15 in this series, Tony Parker could average 30 and the Mavs still win in 7.

#4 Portland vs #5 Houston- As good as the Mavs finished, the Rockets gave up home-court in that final game loss to them and now have to go on the road to take on a very good Trail Blazers team. The Blazers when they had the chance to win home-court crushed the Nuggets and are everyone's sleeper. What's not to love, Brandon Roy is going to be the next superstar in this league, they have depth everywhere and are young to boot. They will be fighting the Lakers every year pretty soon. As for the Rockets, they are in the same boat as Denver, needing to win a series. Houston can get a game early using the experience they have, but in the end, Roy's the best player and the Blazers win in 7.


Based on these picks, you would have Cavs-Heat, which would be interesting to see how many games Wade can take; Celts-Magic, where we find out if the Magic are for real and if the Pierce and Allen can carry the C's. The West would have Hornets-Mavs, where we find out if the Mavs can handle Paul or if the Hornets blow them out again and Lakers-Blazers, which could be the Lakers toughest series. Eventually, it will be Lakers-Cavs in the NBA Finals and I think the Cavs win in 6 and King James gets his crown.