Catching up

A lot has happened since I last blogged. Here are my thoughts:

1. The Rockies fired longtime manager Clint Hurdle and replaced him with Jim Tracy, who used to manage the Dodgers, who suck, and the Pirates. I don’t know why but I’ve always hated the Dodgers. Anyway, I thought it was a dumb move but the team is 19-7 under Tracy, including an eleven-game winning streak.

Last Saturday my ward went to the Rockies game, which I skipped, and which the Rockies won on Todd Helton’s ninth-inning home run. I don’t know why ESPN always starts a friggin’ video whenever you go to their website. With millions of visitors a month that’s gotta be cost-effective.

Anyway, I don’t know what it all means; the Dodgers have the best record in baseball and are 9.5 games up on us. But we’re already in wild-card contention.

2. The Cleveland Cavaliers picked up Shaq O’Neal in a trade with the Phoenix Suns, who got a 2010 second-rounder, half a mill, Sasha “Slover” Pavlovic and Ben Wallace, because one over-the-hill big man deserves another.

Shaq seems to be a great guy (although if you follow him on Twitter you’ll find his goofy antics get old pretty quickly) and a great teammate, as well as one of the two players with an argument as the best player since Michael Jordan (Timmy D is the other). His reputation as a completely washed-up player is inaccurate: he averaged 17.8 points and 8.4 boards last year. Solid numbers. Just not Shaq numbers. And even with the Heat he was inconsistent in the playoffs. When the Magic ganged up on LeBron in the playoffs, the Cavs missed having someone who could hit an open jumper; Shaq won’t fix that, but he might get open for enough dunks to buy King James just a little more airspace. Can he hold it together for one more title run? The odds are against him, but I’ll be pulling for him.

3. Kobe Bryant led the Lakers to an NBA title as the No. 1 guy, so you can’t knock him for not doing that anymore. I think he did it in a down year: the Spurs and Celtics, both formidable opponents for the Lakers, were bitten by injuries to key players, the Magic took out the guy who could match Kobe basket-for-basket, and the Nuggets were still at least a year away.

Bryant probably clinched first-ballot Hall of Fame status in most broadcasters’ minds around the time he turned 19; even I’ll allow now that he belongs in the Hall of Fame. He has four rings, including one as The Guy now, though it’d be at least five if he was a better team player.

The debate now is about Bryant’s legacy in history. I think I’ve seen people put him in the top five guards of all-time. I suppose that might be right. He’s definitely behind Jordan and Magic. (In case anyone’s an idiot, Magic had five rings, three MVPs, and three Finals MVPs to Kobe’s four, one, and one, and Kobe’s already played in and started more regular-season games than Magic.) I think Oscar Robertson and Jerry West belong ahead of him as well. But though there are a ton of guards I would rather have on my team than Bryant (Sam Jones, Reggie Miller, The Glove), it’s hard to say any of them are conclusively better. But I welcome your opinions.

4. Vince Carter got traded tonight to the Magic for a collection of role players. I want to think it’ll work out but Carter, who I had wanted the Nuggets to draft so badly, will probably disappoint. The ESPN frontpage points out that he’s been to eight All-Star Games already…does that mean he’ll be in the Hall someday? I mean, even if he doesn’t go right away people will look back and be like, this guy must’ve been something. If he does make the Hall, that’s kind of depressing.

5. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is like the Josh McDaniels of summer movies, though I guess Josh McDaniels hasn’t destroyed my fond memories of the Elway era yet. (Give him time.) Speaking of the Broncos, if you missed it, Brandon Marshall wants to get out of town.

6. And the whole reason for this post: as LT pointed out in the comments, during a trade in tonight’s draft, the Nuggets picked up former Tar Heels point Ty Lawson, ostensibly to back up Chauncey Bu-bu-bu-Billups! (I’ve had the Nuggets’ announcer stuck in my head for about a week now.) I’d link to the Denver Post article about it but Chrome tells me the page might contain malware. Nice. Anyway, we gave up a future first-rounder, which I thought I read might have started as Charlotte’s or something, but that’s fine with me. We also sold our second-round pick which is kind of savvy if you need the cash. Those are usually worthless. Anyway, here’s an AP story about the trade.

POSTSCRIPT: Now that I'm awake, how did Ty Lawson last until No. 18? Or stay available longer than Tyler Hansbrough? Lawson was masterful under the pressure of the NCAAs; the pros are a different ballgame for a point, but at least we know he has the ability and the quickness. Hopefully soon he can take Anthony Carter and J.R. Smith's minutes at the point. That way we're in better shape if J.R. goes through another cold spell. I am super excited about this pick.

What a win!

Oh, you want me to write about the big game yesterday? Well, I didn’t watch it, unfortunately. But here’s a great recap and some highlights.

ESPN’s NBA Franchise Rankings

The Lakers appear poised to take a 3-1 lead over the Magic, and since I don’t want to pay attention to that, let’s discuss ESPN.com’s ridiculous NBA franchise rankings.

I hate this list probably because I like the concept so much; for some reason NBA history has always appealed to me. Last time I played NBA Live, it was some combination of games among the all-time Celtics, all-time Lakers, and the so-unstoppa-Bulls of the late-90s. (I take turns beating the Lakers with either Boston or Chicago.) Anyway, John Hollinger explains most of his typically numbers-heavy decision-making here, if you’re inclined, but I’d rank the teams more with my gut. Before I get into things I disagree with, let me just say how much I LOVE that he put the New York Knicks at No. 14. I hate how the league sucks up to New York and pretends its team is some kind of marquee franchise.

Anyway, let’s start at the top. Hollinger puts the Lakers as the No. 1 franchise ever, over the Boston Celtics, since the Lakers have more wins and playoff series wins than the Celtics, though the Celtics have three more titles. Hollinger absurdly gives LA 150 points of intangibles for having famous fans, while giving Boston 50 points for having the deepest tradition in the league, which to me seems to be the whole measure of this exercise, but whatever. I also really like how he makes a list of the Lakers' great big men and throws Pau Gasol on it. The real reason Boston should be ahead of L.A.? Because they’re 9-2 against the Lakers in the Finals. It's like putting the Bills ahead of the Cowboys.

The Lakers would be the obvious No. 2, though.

The Spurs go third and the Bulls go fourth; of the Spurs he says, “They may not have the tradition of the Lakers or Celtics, but in the two decades since they drafted David Robinson the Spurs have arguably been the most successful organization in sports.” Too bad the Bulls have six rings in that same timespan to San Antonio’s four. It’s true, of course, that the Bulls were only great when they had Jordan, and the Spurs had George Gervin and all that, but it’s still kinda funny.

The Suns are at No. 5 and the Sixers fall just behind them in No. 6. I don’t like this at all. Screw the Suns. Their point guard already stole two MVPs…isn’t that enough? The Sixers are the one other franchise who get an all-time team on that ol’ PlayStation, by the way. A starting five of Wilt, Barkley, Dr. J, the Answer and Maurice Cheeks? How do the Suns compete with that? (And though everyone always does, let’s not forget Moses Malone, too.) Plus the Sixers have three titles to the Suns’ none. Phoenix’s NBA team has been overrated all decade and, apparently, throughout league history.

The only other listing that really bugs me is the Utah Jazz at No. 7. That’s offensively absurd. I know we’re all supposed to wax poetic about Stockton-to-Malone, but it’s been several years now, and if those guys were so great shouldn’t they have won something? It’s not just that they ran into Jordan and the Bulls; if you have a Hall of Fame point guard and a Hall of Fame big man together for that long you should make more than two Finals anyway. You know, it is weird that Jerry Sloan never got Coach of the Year those two times his team actually lived up to expectations. Outside of that era, have the Jazz ever mattered? Anyway, the Jazz are somehow three spots ahead of the Houston Rockets, who won two titles behind Hakeem Olajuwon, the best big man of the ’90s.

I can’t say much more about the list since ESPN wants me to pay to see the last twenty teams, even though it’s the friggin’ Internet. The Bad Boy Pistons of Jordan Rules fame have a horrible rep in my mind, but No. 13 seems pretty low for Detroit. I’m pleasantly surprised by the Nuggets’ No. 18 spot. And you kind of need to put the Clippers last, though Hollinger places them 29th to Memphis’ 30th.

What do you think?

Magic win Game Three; does it matter?

The Orlando Magic won at home last night, cutting the L.A. Lakers’ NBA Finals lead to two games to one. They put up more than a hundred despite not getting much from Hedo down the stretch, and they have the next two games at home. But this is the same team that was blown out in Game One, blew Game Two, and almost lost their lead last night despite Kobe’s fourth-quarter struggles.

In other words, I don’t think so.

Rooting for the enemy?

Twice today I’ve discussed the upcoming NBA Finals with people, both of whom said they hope the Los Angeles Lakers win the series. Why? Because if the Lakers humiliate the Orlando Magic, then that means the Denver Nuggets were the second-best team in the NBA!

Golly gee, that’s incredible! I forget, what do they call the trophy they give you for being the second-best team? (As a Broncos fan, I’m pretty sure the NFL calls it the “Lamar Hunt Trophy”, actually.)

Why does anyone care about this? The Nuggets are who they are, and what they are is a team not yet good enough to win the NBA championship. I don’t really care for second-place finishes. Seriously, though, I hate the Lakers, and have for years. That doesn’t just change because a Lakers victory might fool the simple-minded into regarding the Nuggets more highly.

* * *

As you’ve probably heard, LeBron James left after getting eliminated by the Magic without speaking to the media, which I guess wasn’t the most grown-up thing ever. I loved his quote the next day, though:

‘It’s hard for me to congratulate somebody after you just lose to them,’ James said Sunday after the team returned to Cleveland. ‘I’m a winner. It’s not being a poor sport or anything like that. If somebody beats you up, you’re not going to congratulate them. That doesn’t make sense to me. I’m a competitor.’

What do you suppose he means by “I’m a winner”? Because I assume it’s not the conventional definition.

* * *

Enough about LeBron. The actual winners of that series, according to the scoreboard, were the Orlando Magic, who pulled off an incredible upset. LeBron & Co. were crushing opponents with ease before they slammed into the brick wall of Orlando.

The Lakers, for my money, played extremely well their last five quarters but were largely inconsistent throughout the rest of the postseason. Nonetheless I am terrified that this is their year, especially considering the regular season they put together. But you know what? They haven’t won anything yet, nor can they keep Dwight Howard off the boards. And since I can’t pick teams I hate (would you believe I once prophesied a Bears Super Bowl victory for this very reason?), I’m calling this series for Orlando in six.