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What do you think about the Spanish national basketball team posing for a picture while using their fingers to make their eyes look slanted “like Chinese people”?  While I don’t think they had bad intentions, it’s still an incredibly ignorant thing to do.  Calderon even referred to China as the “Far East”, I guess that’s how they still think of us.  I guess we still sport Fu Manchu moustaches, queues down our backs and smoke opium all day.

What do you think about the Spanish national basketball team posing for a picture while using their fingers to make their eyes look slanted “like Chinese people”?  While I don’t think they had bad intentions, it’s still an incredibly ignorant thing to do.  Calderon even referred to China as the “Far East”, I guess that’s how they still think of us.  I guess we still sport Fu Manchu moustaches, queues down our backs and smoke opium all day.

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LINK
Re-ranking the West’s future

This is a great article by Tim Kawakami about the state of the NBA’s Western Conference teams — not their championship/playoff hopes for next season, or even the season after that, but for the next 3-5 years. I disagree on some points though:

#1: I don’t agree with the Spurs being #4. I think their window is only a year or two, because after that, Duncan will be on his last legs and they have NO replacement plan for him. The Duncan-Ginobili-Parker triumvirate will keep them competitive for the time-being, but is it enough to beat the Lakers, Celtics, Hornets or any other contender? Bump the Rockets up one spot.

#2: I’m uncomfortable puttingHouston at #5, but here’s what I’m thinking. I love the make-up of their team right now, with Artest in the fold. But Yao has proved that he can’t play more than 60 games a season, and T-Mac is not exactly an ironman either. Also, nobody on this team has really proved that they are a legitimate leader or winner. I really think they have 1 chance to win it all in the next four years, and that will be that magical season when everyone is healthy for the playoffs.

#3: What to do with my Warriors? I think this is a probably a spot or two too high for us. While I like our moves this summer, I think this is still a “Don-Nelson” roster on a team that might only be coached by Don Nelson for one or two more years. What do we do after that? We’ll have to change the makeup of the team, and that will push our window back further. And while I like Mullin at the helm because he usually makes smart decisions, he’s been unable to bring in a franchise player like KG or Brand during his watch. I think #9 is a more accurate spot for us.

Dallas, while aging, has Mark Cuban’s cash to woo some legit talent after Kidd’s contract expires. Phoenix still has the potential for life without Nash with Amare, Barbosa and Diaw.

Here’s my updated rankings:

#1: Lakers
#2: Hornets (their time is now, while Blazers have to wait)
#3: Blazers
#4: Rockets
#5: Spurs
#6: Jazz
#7: Mavericks
#8: Suns
#9: Warriors
#10: OKC (I believe in Sam Presti)
#11: Clippers (They’ll never win with this team)
#12: Grizzlies (Gay, Mayo and some cap space)
#13: Nuggets (Melo + Kiki + fairly desirable FA destination)
#14: Wolves (some young talent but McHale will mess it up somehow)
#15: Kings (nobody wants to play in Sacramento)

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VIDEO

My friend Pong shared this video of Baron Davis and Steve Nash in their movie spoof of Step Brothers on ibeatyou.com. Check it out! It’s basically just the two of them dressed up as dorks and messing around on the streets of LA. I guess Baron is enjoying his new surroundings.

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Me tangling with Shaq. Jump ball ref, jump ball!!!

Me tangling with Shaq. Jump ball ref, jump ball!!!

LINK
What should Oklahoma City's nickname be?

By now you’ve heard that the NBA filed for trademarks to 6 possible names for the new Oklahoma City basketball team: Barons, Bison, Energy, Marshalls, Thunder and Wind. My initial reaction was BWAHAHAHHA!

First of all, I absolutely hate team names that come in the singular form. You never know if you should say “the Heat are…” or “the Heat is…” It’s also gimmicky and amateurish. This isn’t the NBDL or the WNBA.

With that said, at least we’re saved from the misnomer created by NBA teams taking their old team names to new cities, like the Lakers, Jazz, Hornets, etc. Well, not like “Seattle Supersonics” ever really made any sense.

Energy, Thunder and Wind are horrible, horrible names. Bison is pretty bad, but at least I kind of associate bison with the frontier and OKC. My vote would be for Barons over Marshalls — Barons is slightly cooler, if only because it would be one of the highest-flying team names (2nd to the Suns). We’ve never had any plane names.

Marshalls loses because of the inevitable association with the discount-clothing store and/or Marshall Hao. Besides, you can’t have a marshall without a gun, and you can’t have guns associated with NBA teams, like the Bullets proved.

What should the OKC team be named?

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Where have all the basketball players gone?I’ve been walking around New York for 2 weeks now and every time I pass by a park, the basketball courts are completely empty, but there are hordes of people playing handball! If you haven’t seen people play handball, it’s basically a bunch of people slapping a small ball against a wall. Like racquetball without any racquets. But the people who I’ve seen play it are muscular and intense!How can we be expected to regain international basketball glory if the youth of today are not fine-tuning their jumpshots or practicing their handles, but slapping a ball against a wall? Where will the next generation of And 1 Mixtape Tour stars be culled from? What will become of Rucker Park? Something must be done about this…

Where have all the basketball players gone?

I’ve been walking around New York for 2 weeks now and every time I pass by a park, the basketball courts are completely empty, but there are hordes of people playing handball! If you haven’t seen people play handball, it’s basically a bunch of people slapping a small ball against a wall. Like racquetball without any racquets. But the people who I’ve seen play it are muscular and intense!

How can we be expected to regain international basketball glory if the youth of today are not fine-tuning their jumpshots or practicing their handles, but slapping a ball against a wall? Where will the next generation of And 1 Mixtape Tour stars be culled from? What will become of Rucker Park? Something must be done about this…

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All it took was $7-8 mil in cap space and a 2010 SECOND ROUND PICK to trade for Marcus Camby??? The Nuggets are so lame…they could have at least gotten a couple of first round picks (esp. since it’s the Clippers and they’ll suck into forever-tude), some cash, and/or a young player or two…this isn’t some scrub. This is the former Defensive Player of the Year who averaged 13 rpg and 3.6 blk last year! Mullin is lame for not being in the loop. Biedrins-Camby-Wright would have been the longest frontcourt in the league.

All it took was $7-8 mil in cap space and a 2010 SECOND ROUND PICK to trade for Marcus Camby??? The Nuggets are so lame…they could have at least gotten a couple of first round picks (esp. since it’s the Clippers and they’ll suck into forever-tude), some cash, and/or a young player or two…this isn’t some scrub. This is the former Defensive Player of the Year who averaged 13 rpg and 3.6 blk last year!

Mullin is lame for not being in the loop. Biedrins-Camby-Wright would have been the longest frontcourt in the league.

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Turtle Power! With Corey Maggette signing with the Warriors, he can now pair with Al Harrington to form the first all Teenage-Mutant-Ninja-Turtle frontcourt in NBA history. I’m actually a fan of this move. Granted, I’d rather have Brand, but he was never coming to GS. My second choice would have been to keep Baron, but a $65 mil deal is pretty rich for a guy with a lot of baggage, and he probably wouldn’t even have stayed if we matched the Clipper’s offer. Maggette gives us a dimension that we didn’t have last year: somebody who will consistently get to the free throw line. Our starting lineup — with Monta, Sjax, Maggette, Al and Biedrins — suddenly becomes pretty good from the line, whereas it was shaky with Baron in there. Our offense is now very balanced and dynamic, with Monta using his midrange game and getting to the rim, Sjax and Al bombing away from outside, Biedrins cleaning up inside and catching passes, and Maggette slashing through defenses. If we’re able to snatch away Turiaf from the Lakers — I’d put our chances at about 40% right now — we’d add the toughness and rebounding that we really needed last year. The Millsap / Brandon Bass-type force. Hopefully Richard Hendrix and Brandon Wright can provide some energy as well. Are we done? We’re still in the running for a backup PG. One with range and experience would be preferable. I don’t think Keyon Dooling is the answer. As stupid as it may sound, I think someone like Jason Williams would really fit the bill. Yes, he hasn’t improved in years. Yes, he can’t defend anyone. But he can run the offense, make plays, shoot the 3, and get out on the break in Nellie’s system. And he’ll be cheap. He’d take the pressure off of Monta, who will be our starting PG next year. Carlos Arroyo is another option, but he’s more of a halfcourt-type PG. I heard Barnes is gone, which I’m sad about. He brought a lot of intangibles. But he wasn’t worth a long-term contract. I’d really like to bring back Kelenna Azuibuke and (obviously) lock up Monta and Biedrins. I’m not crying any tears over losing Pietrus, as long as we re-sign Kelenna. Projected Lineup: PG: Monta Ellis, <player to be signed>, CJ Watson SG: Stephen Jackson, Kelenna Azuibuke SF: Corey Maggette, Marco Bellinelli, Anthony Randolph PF: Al Harrington, Brandan Wright, Richard Hendrix C: Andris Biedrins, <Rony Turiaf> Are we a playoff team? Who knows. People are sliding the Blazers into that 8th spot, but I think we have as good a roster as they do (Monta/Sjax/Maggette/Biedrins >= Roy/Aldridge/Oden). We’ll see how things shake out in an offseason that has become much more interesting than I expected. I’m still not ruling out the possibility of a deal that lands us Kirk Hinrich and a big man (Nocioni?) for Al and someone else (Brandan Wright?). That makes a lot of sense to me.

Turtle Power!

With Corey Maggette signing with the Warriors, he can now pair with Al Harrington to form the first all Teenage-Mutant-Ninja-Turtle frontcourt in NBA history.

I’m actually a fan of this move. Granted, I’d rather have Brand, but he was never coming to GS. My second choice would have been to keep Baron, but a $65 mil deal is pretty rich for a guy with a lot of baggage, and he probably wouldn’t even have stayed if we matched the Clipper’s offer. Maggette gives us a dimension that we didn’t have last year: somebody who will consistently get to the free throw line. Our starting lineup — with Monta, Sjax, Maggette, Al and Biedrins — suddenly becomes pretty good from the line, whereas it was shaky with Baron in there.

Our offense is now very balanced and dynamic, with Monta using his midrange game and getting to the rim, Sjax and Al bombing away from outside, Biedrins cleaning up inside and catching passes, and Maggette slashing through defenses. If we’re able to snatch away Turiaf from the Lakers — I’d put our chances at about 40% right now — we’d add the toughness and rebounding that we really needed last year. The Millsap / Brandon Bass-type force. Hopefully Richard Hendrix and Brandon Wright can provide some energy as well.

Are we done? We’re still in the running for a backup PG. One with range and experience would be preferable. I don’t think Keyon Dooling is the answer. As stupid as it may sound, I think someone like Jason Williams would really fit the bill. Yes, he hasn’t improved in years. Yes, he can’t defend anyone. But he can run the offense, make plays, shoot the 3, and get out on the break in Nellie’s system. And he’ll be cheap. He’d take the pressure off of Monta, who will be our starting PG next year. Carlos Arroyo is another option, but he’s more of a halfcourt-type PG.

I heard Barnes is gone, which I’m sad about. He brought a lot of intangibles. But he wasn’t worth a long-term contract. I’d really like to bring back Kelenna Azuibuke and (obviously) lock up Monta and Biedrins. I’m not crying any tears over losing Pietrus, as long as we re-sign Kelenna.

Projected Lineup:

PG: Monta Ellis, <player to be signed>, CJ Watson

SG: Stephen Jackson, Kelenna Azuibuke

SF: Corey Maggette, Marco Bellinelli, Anthony Randolph

PF: Al Harrington, Brandan Wright, Richard Hendrix

C: Andris Biedrins, <Rony Turiaf>

Are we a playoff team? Who knows. People are sliding the Blazers into that 8th spot, but I think we have as good a roster as they do (Monta/Sjax/Maggette/Biedrins >= Roy/Aldridge/Oden). We’ll see how things shake out in an offseason that has become much more interesting than I expected. I’m still not ruling out the possibility of a deal that lands us Kirk Hinrich and a big man (Nocioni?) for Al and someone else (Brandan Wright?). That makes a lot of sense to me.

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