Madison Square Guard-en

For months and months, there’s been one consistent theme about the 2009 NBA draft. It’s horrible. It’s awful. It’s so bad it is ranking up their with a certain infamous, turn-of-the-century draft that was so ghastly in it’s lack of talent that it GM’s across the country dare not even speak of it. It produced three allstars. No.1 pick Kenyon Martin, Jamaal Magloire (yeah…) and pick no. 43 Michael Redd. Take out Magloire and his freak selection and add in the Pizza Guy/Bond villain Hedo Turkoglu, that’s three guys with solid careers. Maybe throw in Jamal Crawford, but Mike Miller is pushing it.

Makes you wonder why then that all of a sudden we’re getting so hyped up and accepting Hasheem Thabeet as a good pick at no.2…

Of course, the draft means so much more for so many teams. It’s about the potential for a new era, salvation, redemption, and thus everybody gets caught up in it. My problem is, aside from the over analysing we see every year and picks based purely on “upside” despite the guy being 23 and unlikely to ever get any better, we suddenly start elevating these guys as if they’re going to be real difference makers in the NBA. Even in the golden 2003 draft there was still Michael Sweetney, Marcus Banks and the irrepressible Darko Milicic.

There’s always going to be misses, but every year there are a handful of franchise guys selected. For every Shelden Williams at five, there’s a potential Brandon Roy at six. For every Shaun Livingston at four, there could be a Devin Harris at five.

Just not this year. As much as commentators can whiff on prospects, you rarely get a year where you find them turning round and saying “No, actually, this is bad. Real bad. Zach Randolph taking a three bad.” That would indeed be this year.

With that in mind, let’s go for a recap of last nights action.

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With the no.1 pick in the draft, the Los Angeles Clippers select… Blake Griffin.

It’s becoming a disappointing trend in both the NBA and NFL drafts, the no.1 pick being a consensus and decided days, even weeks before the draft. Talking of disappointing, how sad is it going to be to watch Mike Dunleavy destroy this kid as he sits through three, possibly four years of horrible Clipper futility before being traded away, by then an empty shell of a man with all the life sucked out of him. That’s what Los Angeles can do to you.

There’s really no such thing as a surefire pick, Greg Oden was supposed to be dominating the league for years to come (it could still happen if he manages to get his bucket count higher than his foul count), and I’m not even totally sold on Griffin as an All-star in this league. Maybe the odd selection but I see him as a solid player, could easily be top 3-4 guy on a championship team. Just that team isn’t going to be the Los Angeles Clippers.

Personally I was rooting for OK City to nab the no.1 spot for Blake, because he could potentially fit there. The Clips? They have Marcus Camby, Zach Randolph (all $18 million of him), Johnny Depp look-alike Chris Kaman AND a talented young guy in DeAndre Jordan. The franchise is just a mess and we can only hope it doesn’t take Blake down with it. Still, there’s parallel number 1 with the draft that shall not be named, a power-forward as the consensus “only good player in the draft”.

Verdict: Long-time starter as long as the Clippers don’t ruin him.

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With the no.2 pick in the draft, the Memphis Grizzlies select… Hasheem Thabeet.

Oh, so that’s how long it ended up taking. Two picks before we got to a guy that someone’s going to regret picking. And hey! Parallel no.2. In 2000, Grizzlies selected with the second pick, C Stromile Swift. How did that work out? Quite similar to this pick I think.

Thabeet is a prime example of someone who put up some flashy defensive plays in college this year, has the physical attributes and thus shot up the draft board. Block a few shots and watch the dollar bills mount up. Don’t worry about the total lack of any post moves, or say, an offensive game at all. That can be coached

No it can’t. Or, at least it won’t.

Verdict: Bust. Bust bust bust.

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With the no.3 pick in the draft, the Oklahoma City Thunder select… James Harden.

Sigh. As a reluctant fan of the Thunder, I hung my head with this pick. Durant is this franchise, Westbrook may be locked in at the point and his lack of a mid-range jumper meant that a SG was the obvious option in a talent-free draft in terms of forwards, but passing on Ricky Rubio is unforgivable.

Rubio has been compared to Steve Nash, Bird, Magic etc when it comes to his passing ability. That’s not potential, that’s now. He’s as good as those guys now in terms of passing and reading the game. He reads the game two, three plays ahead. He’s not on the next page, he’s finished the book and is writing the sequel. And he’s 18. Think he can’t improve his jumper by 21?

James Harden was a sensible pick, IF RUBIO ISN’T THERE. Ok, he might not be a perfect fit but you make room. You’ve got one of the most exciting young trios in the NBA. Westbrook, Green and future MVP Kevin Durant. Imagine Rubio in that set up, creating for someone like Kevin Durant, would you not pay to watch that?

After all that Sam Presti’s done right with the Sonic’s corpse, this is a blunder. I mean, if you really really really don’t believe in Rubio, then why not take Curry? In my eyes, there’s only three players with all-star potential. Rubio, Griffin and Curry. Why not bring in Curry to add that shooting dimension if that’s what you want. Ugh, but it shouldn’t even be an option, take Rubio.

Sigh

Verdict: Probably will turn out to be a solid player, I like him. But he won’t be Ricky Rubio.

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The 2008/09 NBA Season in Review…

Courtney Lee’s missed lay-up, Jameer Nelson’s defense, Kobe’s elbow, Rashard Lewis’s disappearing act, pizza, candy, the 2009 NBA finals alone had talking points aplenty. But as Kobe and the gang put away the Orlando Magic to capture his fourth ring (and remove that proverbial marsupial from his back), it sadly signalled the end to another fascinating NBA season. But of course, to many of us oblivious Brits over here (and let’s be honest, finding the TV coverage was needle in a haystack stuff) it was just a ten guys running up and down a court for a couple of hours and then “next bucket wins!”. Besides, most of us were tucked up in bed before a ball was thrown in anger so you can be forgiven for perhaps letting it pass you by.

But look what you missed! We’ve had the real life Benjamin Button in 21-going-on-51 year old Greg Oden, who could quite possibly be aging backwards, half-time locker room twittering, Shaquille ONeal joining America’s Best Dance Crew, a Nike puppet-centric ad campaign that backfired horribly and L.A. fans celebrating in the most appropriate way deemed possible; setting cars on fire and looting.

But fret not, rather than leave you sitting in the dark like Gordon Brown when it comes to what the rest of his party is up to, I’m here to flick on that lightswitch with a whistlestop tour through the 08/09 NBA season, and we start our countdown with the Atlanta Hawks…

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10. The Hawks lose… their hawk?

Mascots are great fun aren’t they, but most teams are sensible enough to settle for a guy in a costume. Not the Atlanta Hawks however, who thought a live mascot would be much better! Not as if it’s a real bird of prey or anything…

During the Hawks’ playoff series with Miami, Spirit the Hawk (what a fantastically American name that is) did his usual performance of rousing the crowd, getting the arena pumped for the big Game 2 clash of the seven game series. But the problem with these animals is that if you put them in the spotlight, they’ll get a bit of an ego, they’ll get a bit “big-headed”. Obviously fearful of being replaced, Spirit decided to get back in on the action, taking it upon himself (herself?) to fly around the arena for a bit before perching himself on one of the basket supports.

Now, if this was an eagle, the game probably would have been stopped, but the NBA wasn’t going to stoop to accomodate the prissy demands of a attention seeking harris hawk! Play continued with Miami’s James Jones sinking a bucket as Spirit watched on, happy as a Larry. However, the game was eventually stopped with the pesky prima-donna perched right on top of the backboard, allowing for the trainer to eventually call him back.

The final score? Miami 108 Atlanta 93… Time for a new mascot maybe…

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9. We don’t want him.. but you can’t have him either…
Poor old Darius Miles. As if being drafted by the hapless Los Angeles Clippers wasn’t bad enough. Never really living up to expectations, Miles suffered a horrific knee injury midway through the 2005-06 season that caused him to miss the next two entire seasons. Problem was, Miles had a huge $18 million contract that was hampering the Blazers attempts to sign other players, so they petitioned for an independant doctor.  The doc deemed the injury to be career-ending meaning Portland could now get rid of that hefty contract, seeing as the player wasn’t able to fulfill his side of it. The Blazers’ released Miles and all was well.

Except it wasn’t. If Miles played 10 games the next season, the salary cap relief for the “career-ending injury” the Blazer’s had been allowed would be reversed, and they’d have to pay out that $18 million. By January, Miles had played 8 games (6 in the pre-season) and he had just been released by Memphis after a 10 day contract. Sensing their wallet was about to get substantially lighter, in their wisdom Portland actually threatened to sue any team that signed Miles, citing it would be a cynical move to sabotage Portland and it’s cap situation.

Luckily for poor Darius, who, by the way, had done something completely unprecedented in coming back from such an injury, the NBA stepped in (although only after the NBAPA threatened to counter-sue). Miles was inked for the season by Memphis and to this day Portland fans curse the name Darius Miles…

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8. “Yeah well your momma’s so fat…” “Uh, she’s actually just over there…”

Mark Cuban is one of those owners. Self-made, young, unfathomably rich and certainly not afraid to speak his mind. While other owners sit in luxury boxes, he’s courtside berating referees. He’s conducted post-game interviews from a treadmill, he started a booing campaign against San Antonio’s Michael Finley, he’s racked up nearly $2 million in fines through outbursts. He was even suspended for what the NBA called “un-owner-like behaviour.” He’s that guy.

In the second round of the heated playoff series between Cuban’s Dallas Mavericks and the Denver Nuggets, as usual Cuban was incensed about something. This time, it was the physical play of Denver and an admittedly missed call that cost Dallas a crucial game and left them in an 0-3 hole. After ranting at the scorer’s table, he departed back to the locker room. After a fan commented about Denver being thugs, Cuban pointed at Denver forward Kenyon Martin’s mother and added “that includes your son”, as well as reportedly referring to the rugged Martin as “a punk”. But that was OK according to Cuban, because apparently he knew Mrs. Martin as she had “approached him with trash-talk type comments” before. Hmm…

Then, what has to be the leading contender for Owner/Mother Feud of 2009 really took off. Martin vowed to “take care of him (Cuban)” before, naturally, the fans jumped on the story in the next game in Dallas, with Martin and his mother recieving some choice words.

Cuban apologised via his blog, but it didn’t appease Martin. ““He’s a coward,’’ Martin said about Cuban. “He couldn’t face it… You all read the only apology that he’s made (on his blog )… The world got to see it before the person who it was meant for got to see it. That tells you how that goes. I ain’t never known nobody apology to somebody through other people.’’

Cuban admitted he had erred by not yet apologising in person, but the barbs didn’t end there.

“I still intend to apologize to Ms. Moore,’’ Cuban wrote. “I made a mistake and will keep my commitment. But I would also like to know if Kenyon is going to take responsibility for his actions rather than hiding behind ‘no comment’.

“Will he apologize to the wife of our staff member that he called a ‘(expletive) fat pig’ immediately after Game 3? Will he apologize to fans that he threatened to, and I’m paraphrasing here, ‘(expletive) beat the (expletive) down’ during Game 4?”

Denver went on to eliminate Dallas with ease 4-1 but next season’s Denver/Dallas matchup is going to be circled on a lot of calenders.

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7. Darko Milicic Hulks Up

Darko Milicic has a lot to be angry about. Drafted second overall in 2003, to say he didn’t quite pan out would be an understatement. At the time Detroit were a powerhouse in the NBA, and through trading, had managed to land themselves the 2nd overall pick in one of the most talent-filled drafts in years. Yet, rather than pick a future megastar like Dwayne Wade or Carmelo Anthony, they selected Darko Milicic… A name that will haunt Pistons fans for years. Milicic never came close to reaching his supposed potential and faded from view.

Milicic currently plys his trade keeping the bench warm in lowly Memphis, but provides our number 7 moment for us after a bizarre incident back in December. We’re not quite sure what irked Darko, but he was incensed enough almost rip his jersy in half, Hulkamania style. Keep an eye on his teammates trying not to laugh when he returns to the bench

In a brilliant move by the Grizzlies, they went on to actually auction off the jersey for charity, complete with Darko’s signature.

DARKO SMASH!

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The Wrong Answer?

Detroit’s President of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars today announced they’d be shutting down their high-maintenance star Allen Iverson for the rest of the season, effectively ending the former MVP’s stay in the Motor City with the team having no intention of extending his contract. But A.I.s tumultuous lone season in Detroit and the acrimonious circumstances in which Iverson has effectively left could mean that the star could practically be retiring himself.

For years, Detroit have been the ultimate 5-guy team. They made six conference title games from 2003-2008 including a title in 2004. They sent an unprecedented four starters to the All-star game in 2006. They had numerous stars, and they definitely had egos, but they didn’t have a Kobe Bryant, a Kevin Garnett, a Lebron James; instead their roster was packed with talent and they were a great team.

Only a season removed from a 59 win campaign, and the team has struggled ever since that Billups/Iverson trade. It was clearly a cost-cutting procedure from the Pistons who will see a huge number lifted when Iverson comes off the books this offseason and the drop in performance perhaps can be expected after competing at such a high level for so long, but this season has been about one guy, A.I.

The Pistons will keep on going, they’re a strong franchise. This little episode will be irrelevant come next season, but this, for me, has spoken volumes about A.I. He’s always been relatively selfish with the ball, but he’s a scorer, one of the best the league has ever seen. He’s won an MVP award, something even Kobe hadn’t done until last year. But his style of play means the team needs to revolve around him, and in the past few years the teams he has been on haven’t seemed to be able to get over the hump.

Much was made of the prospect of A.I. teaming up with Carmelo in Denver back in 2006. Anthony would be given another superstar beside him, providing even more opportunities for himself and the team would thrive, yes? Well they did put up numbers, the two led the league in scoring while even dropping a ridiculous 168 on the Sonics in 2008. But while they made the playoffs, they recorded just one postseason win in two years. Chemistry was a problem and while they could score at will potentially, they were never seen as a real contender. 50 wins may have been impressive, but an 8th seed and a 1st round sweep from the 57 win Lakers meant another season that counted for nothing.

And so to this season, the Billups trade and look at the Nuggets now. There may be external factors such as perhaps the standard being slightly lower in the West and the strange positive of losing Marcus Camby but they already have 50 wins. They have a 2 game cushion in the race for the no.2 seed and while I have often been critical of Billups in the past for not being consistent enough, his style has suited that Nuggets team a lot better. A style that is quite frankly, a lot less selfish than A.I.

Over in Detroit we have a team 3 games under 500. Iverson has had his injury problems but that team has not been better by having him in the line-up. By March it was becoming apparent that Rip Hamilton was the much more effective option starting, and it wasn’t music to A.I’s ears.

It’s tough to find a bigger contrast between two guys who were in essence competing for the same spot. Previously the notion of Hamilton coming off the bench has been brought up and while Hamilton has admitted he’d much rather start, he’s accepted that if that really is the best thing for the team, then he’s fine with it. A.I? His reaction to, by his standards, a paltry 18 minutes on Wednesday was “”I’d rather retire before I do this again. I can’t be effective playing this way. I’m not used to it. It’s tough for me both mentally and physically.” He went on to lament his lack of full fitness but retire? Because he can’t come off the bench?

Iverson needs to face facts, he’s 33, had a superb career but ultimately is still trophy-less with 1 finals appearance in 2001. He is no longer going to be able to play on a team and be “the guy”. There were talks of him reuniting with Larry Brown in Charlotte next season but after this episode and Charlotte making a playoff push with a young and talented, deep roster, would you really want him going in there and being “the guy”? Add Iverson as a willing sixth man in Charlotte and that team could really push on, but add him in the way he is now and you’d have to say that team would probably suffer.

If A.I. really loves basketball and not just himself, he’ll realise it’s time to become part of the supporting cast. He’s had teams built around him, like Lebron now he had the roster tailored to him once upon a time in Philly. His time as the superstar is gone, and unfortunately that may be too much to bear for him.

And really, it shouldn’t be. The tragedy is, Iverson could become a much more effective player if he was willing to accept the new role. Look around the league at some of the sixth men or role players that are talented enough to be a starter, but are most efficient in that role; Jason Terry, Barbosa, Ginobili, Kirilenko (well, in theory), Nate Robinson, previously Rip Hamilton.

There are plenty of veteran teams that would love to add a guy of his ability onto their squad and it could be a huge improvement. But if things stay as they are, he might as well retire now, and I think that’s a strong possibility. Iverson has always felt the need to be the guy, the superstar, the face of brands and now that time has pretty much come to an end, now he can’t call himself the best, he may well just decide to call it a day. What’s more important, the game or his pride?