November 16, 2024

The Desperate Magic

It’s no secret Orlando has been struggling considering they have lost six of their last seven games and are 16-10 overall. Dwight Howard hasn’t been pleased with the Magic’s lackluster start to the season so over the weekend management reacted in a big way. Rashard Lewis was traded to the Wizards for Glibert Arenas straight up and then Vince Carter, Mickael Pietrus and Marcin Gortat were traded to the Suns for Hedo Turkoglu, Jason Richardson, and Earl Clark. Never forget that Howard could become a free agent in 2012 so something had to be done or Howard could become miffed and want out like LeBron, Carmelo, and Bosh.

The Magic went to the Finals in 2009 because Howard was surrounded by three-point shooters like Pietrius, Lewis, Redick, and Turkoglu. Since then Lewis has gone downhill quickly, Pietrus hasn’t progressed and the Vince Carter acquisition didn’t work. Only time will tell, but this move could pay off very well for the Magic and they could be true contenders for the Eastern Conference title.

What is Up with Big Men in the NBA?

Forget whoever Portland drafts as their center of the future will eventually get hurt and generally in their rookie year. Also, forget that Yao Ming was one of the tallest and most versatile players we have seen in the NBA in years. Where have all the true centers gone?

It’s almost like the Heavyweight Division in boxing because what has really happened since Mike ‘the Bite’ Tyson left? The sport went out the window just the centers have done in the NBA.

OK Dwight Howard you say? The guy can’t hit a jumper further than 5 feet from the rim. Pau Gasol maybe? He gets muscled out of the paint by Big Baby Davis. So where are the studs that dominated the paint like Shaq, Kareem or even Patrick used to do?

The NBA has become a guard oriented league with little regard to the front court. With all of the slashers and jumpers getting drafted as ‘Athletes’ this sport can be hard to watch. I’m not sure if the game will revert back to true big men, but in my opinion it really needs to do so.

NBA Bets of the Day – December 15th, 2010

The Celtics are 9-2 against-the-spread in their last eleven road games and play tonight in Madison Square Garden. The home team is 11-4 against-the-spread in the last fifteen meetings between the Lakers and Pacers and Indiana is at home this evening. Good luck!

Celtics -4
Pacers +4

Overall Record:

College Football 26-14-3 (2010) 167-128-4 (overall)
NFL 20-21-2 (2010) 158-111-7 (overall)
College Basketball 26-26-3 (2010) 259-200-9 (overall)
NHL 0-2 (2010) 1-4 (overall)
NBA 25-17 (2010) 69-53 (overall)
MLB 69-48 (2010) 159-117-5 (overall)

NBA Bets of the Day – December 14th, 2010

The under is 14-6 in the last twenty games Golden State has played. The home team is 13-2-1 against-the-spread in the last sixteen meetings between Orlando and Denver and the Nuggets are at home. Good luck!

Minnesota/Golden State Under 216.5
Denver +2.5

Overall Record:

College Football 26-14-3 (2010) 167-128-4 (overall)
NFL 20-21-2 (2010) 158-111-7 (overall)
College Basketball 26-26-3 (2010) 259-200-9 (overall)
NHL 0-2 (2010) 1-4 (overall)
NBA 23-17 (2010) 67-53 (overall)
MLB 69-48 (2010) 159-117-5 (overall)

NBA Bets of the Day – November 24th, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving Eve folks. No college football on this evening and college basketball can be a little tough to predict yet so we will go with some NBA. Good luck!

Bucks +4.5
Jazz -4

Overall Record:

College Football 23-13-3 (2010) 164-127-4 (overall)
NFL 13-17-2 (2010) 151-107-7 (overall)
MLB 69-48 (2010) 159-117-5 (overall)
College Basketball 60-46-3 (2009-10) 257-195-9 (overall)
NHL 0-2 (2010) 1-4 (overall)
NBA 21-17 (2010) 65-53 (overall)

Wild Dennis Rodman Interview

Dennis Rodman has long been considered a ladies man and I think this phone interview will further solidify Rodman’s mystique. Dennis called into Jorge Sedano’s radio show in Miami on 790 the Ticket this morning to discuss LeBron and the other Heat stars. Quickly though the interview goes off the rails and it doesn’t take a genius to determine there is some serious hanky panky going down in Rodman’s bedroom.

The whole call can be heard here: Dennis Rodman interview
(It takes a few seconds to load, but well worth the wait)

Sharapova Soon to Be Off the Market

Tennis star Maria Sharapova and Laker guard Sasha Vujagic have announced they are engaged. Vujagic made the engagement public before his preseason game last night against Golden State. He said he popped the question at his home on the one-year anniversary of meeting Maria at a friend’s barbecue. Obviously Sasha is a VERY lucky man because Sharapova is currently number two on the Top 14 SU.com Sports Babes list. Hat tip Sasha and we wish you two love birds the very best.

Hall Of Fame for the Best Owner in Sports

25 years ago Jerry Buss decided to offer “Showtime” in as many Southern California homes as possible. Just a few seasons after he purchased the Lake Show from Jack Kent Cooke Buss decided to give the average fan an opportunity to watch all the Lakers home games for $20 a month by launching Prime Ticket. Due to his vision of changing the landscape on how he Lakers could be seen along with owning a team that has won 10 NBA Championships during his 31 year ownership Dr. Jerry Buss was inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame.

I salute you Jerry Buss who won a coin flip and drafted Magic Johnson which started a wave of dominance only the NY Yankees have enjoyed since 1980.

LeBron Nike Spoof Commercial

We have all seen the LeBron and Kobe puppet commercials by now, but I’m willing to bet you probably haven’t seen this one before. Internet rumors have run rampant for a couple of months now that Delonte West and Gloria James (LeBron’s mom) did the wild thing and LeBron actually caught the two of them in the act. This rumor also is correlated to why LeBron stunk it up in Game 5 against the Celtics, why he ultimately left the Cavs and so and so on. Well, this spoof commercial goes right at those rumors of Delonte and LeBron’s mom and brings it home hard.

LeBron and Delonte Nike spoof commercial: Shout out to Mad Max for the tip!

One other small point I would like to make. I’m not best looking by all means, but I feel confident I look better than Delonte!

Delonte West

Get It Over With Already

This has become a very busy July in sports especially more so than in any previous years I can remember. Usually after the NBA Finals it’s a bit quiet with just baseball to watch which is only in the middle of their season. So with the most boring time of year approaching, MLB All-Star week, we are actually glued to what is happening in the NBA and there is also a little something going on called the World Cup.

The whole NBA free agency period has been riveting and great water cooler talk for the last few weeks, but in last few days it has become quite ridiculous. We now have an ESPN one-hour show for LeBron James to inform everyone where he is going? Not to mention he is going to sign a multi-million dollar deal with a team of his choice while many people in the country can’t even get a job. If LeBron leaves Cleveland a town hit hard by this economy and does it on national TV than he is complete and total douchebag. I like LeBron James, but going on TV to leave the area who has supported you since birth would be devastating for the city and surrounding area. The only good thing that would come out of the event is James will be providing thousands of dollars of ad revenue from the event to the Boys and Girls Clubs of America.

I believe a three-star team if he actually does go to the Miami Heat will be a force, until something goes wrong. I mean the 80’s Lakers and Celtics were three-star team as were the Pistons, but that was many moons ago. How about the Lakers of 2004 that had Shaq, Kobe, the Mailman and Gary Payton, it failed miserably! If Miami is going to win a championship they need to get bigger and right now they have Bosh and Beasley.  They also need to fill a lot of other roster spots with basically no more cash under the cap. This could work, but a lot of things point to it not working.

In the end I just want this free agency period over so I can go enjoy the rest of my summer.