Uh Oh

I dont remember the Spurs losing 3 straight since Jamie Feick and Vinny Del Negro teamed up to send the Spurs to the Lottery. Anywho, I have long awaited the day when the Spurs could lose to the Sixers, and now that has come and the NBA will be better off with the Spurs returning to mediocrity. (Hopefully I didnt just jinx them into winning the title)

Weekly Fugazy Rankings

Not too much has changed here, as Tim Thomas continues his place at #1.  Bruce Bowen took over the #3 spot for his shameful stomping on CP3.  

1.  Tim Thomas- Go to hell for balling during one series and hitting a 3 when you weren't even on the team weeks before.  You will forever be #1 on this list.

2.  Lebron James- The Global Icon needs to fix his nasty jumper before he can be removed from this list.  Oh, and growing up being a fan of the Bulls, The Cowboys and the Yankees when you lived in Cleveland is super Fugazy of you.  

3.  Bruce Bowen-  You're a dirty player and a fugazy in every sense of the word.

4.  Shaq-  I will always be grateful for what you brought to LA, but you're an egomaniac and you turn on everyone and everything the moment something goes sour...ie, Orlando, LA, Miami...and soon to be Phoenix.

5.  Steve Nash-  The 2 time MVP has twice as many MVP's as Shaq and Kobe combined, and zero Finals appearances to show for it.  That my friends is what we call a Fugazy.

Bruce Bowen Needs to Get Socked Out

I have no idea how Bruce Bowen has gone through his career with zero suspensions, but its true.  At least until today.  The league has announced a 1 game suspension for stomping on C. Paul during their last game.  Bruce Bowen is lauded as one of the games best defensive players, but he is also the most shameful and by far the dirtiest.  He doesn't even try to move his feet on defense and simply holds and grabs as players dribble the ball by him.  I truly believe that over the years, refs simply have bought into the fact that he is a "good defender," so anything he does must be acceptable, because hey, its Bruce Bowen!  He continually rides people as they dribble and uses the illegal hand check.  The one move that the league should crack down on, besides the whole tripping people and stomping on them, is when he reaches out and pushes the offensive player ever so slightly.  He will do it several times in one possession, and because it is so light and seemingly harmless, he does not get called for it but it puts the offensive player off balance and should be called every time.  In celebration of his suspension, I leave you with a hilarious video tribute to Bruce Bowen a.k.a. Fugazy #3.

NBA Power Rankings

1. Rockets- Hard to argue with winning 20 straight and 29 of their last 32. Does this put McGrady into MVP consideration? I think it definitely does.
2. Lakers- Since the Gasol Trade, Lakers dominated weak opponents however lack of rebounding and turnovers seem to be the glaring problem for this team as of late.
3. Celtics- Best record from Jan 1st on in the East. They still suck.
4. Hornets- No way I would put spurs ahead of this team, not after the shellacking the other night.
5. Spurs- We will see if all that "playoff experience" will pay off. Although teams are less and less scared of this team than in years past.
6. Detroit- Can they beat Lebron in the playoffs? Not if they let him get to the rim at will.
7. Utah- Yes, Deron and Boozer are studs, but they don't have that one guy that will get them to the next level. Who is exchanging shots with Kobe in the 4th?
8. Suns- As last night showed, they are much better with diesel sitting and watching. Doesn't say much about their team other than a 1st round exit.
9. Denver- Any team with Melo and AI can be dangerous. But really, is anyone scared of them?
10. Dallas- This team is flawed. Kidd is washed up and who thinks the Scarecrow will really take over this time?

DeShawn Can't Feel His Face....Calls Bron Overrated

It really is not intentional for us here at the neckbeard to have such a myriad of anti-bron posts, but someone has to balance out the amount of coverage, so it might as well be us. As previously noted by our resident Bron hater, the Wizards took down his highness last night and afterward, Deshawn Stevenson commented on a few things regarding the game.  The most telling was his statement, saying, "He's overrated," DeShawn told Mike. "And you can say I said that."  Considering many say he is already the greatest player ever, I'd have to agree in DeShawns assessment at least until the Global Icon can learn to shoot the ball consistently and truly make his players better.

So, You Still Think The Lakers Shouldn't Have Traded Shaq??

Seen here dishing out one of his 5 fouls, Shaq, in foul trouble the entire game, logged only 14 minutes while scoring 9 points and grabbing an impressive 4 rebounds. The Suns looked like they were in jeopardy of losing to the Warriors and free-falling even further in the western standings until Shaq picked up his 5th foul and was forced to leave the game. From that point on, the Suns went back to their old ways, rained down threes on the boys from Oaktown, and won going away. Shaq, I loved you as a Laker, but...

Sound Familiar?

20,173 Wizards fans on their feet. Antonio Daniels has just made the second of two free throws to put the Wizards up 101-99 with seven seconds to play. Cleveland inbounds to LeBron, eyeing the clock as he starts his dribble. Playing on the road, you can see that he wants to go for the win. LeBron drives to his left and raises up . . . clank, front rim. 25 points on 22 shots, 1-7 from three point range, 7 turnovers.

LeBron fans, holla at your boy.

Drew Gooden Thinks Bron Made Him Worse

Drew Gooden dropped 24 points and 10 boards against the Jazz a few days ago.  According to him, he could do that all the time.

It's easy to go out there and play 27 minutes and grab 8 rebounds and then watch LeBron James do his thing," Gooden said. "You don't really have to work out that much to carry out that job. But there are bigger shoes to fill here. I'm going to work at it and become a better player." [...]

"I don't want to sound cocky, but I think I possess everything," Gooden said. "I could pass, I could block shots, I could play great defense, I could play help defense, I could shoot 3s. I believe I could do it all, and confidence is the No. 1 factor when it come to offense.  

Reason #1 Lebron does not truly make his teammates better = Larry Hughes.
Reason #2 would be Drew Gooden. And although it was only one game I am excited for that beard to make an appearance at the all-star game next year.

ESPN or is it Cosmo?

Yes, it is true.  ESPN has hired a fasion editor.  According to Women's Wear Daily, ESPN has hired a style director and will begin crediting fashion designers. "People want to know what athletes are wearing to the ballpark," according Steven Binder, the VP of Magazine sales. Apparently ESPN is also considering a fashion show in Milan.  ESPN, you are the devil.

Jordan Not "Client #10" in Spitzer Investigation

Thank God.  I mean, without Michael's attorney stating today that he received confirmation from the assistant U.S. attorney, I would have certainly thought that he had Emperors Club on speed dial.  I actually still think he does.  Maybe he was using the alias "Johnny Kilroy"

UPDATE---I just had to add this photo.

Lebron James....Neckbeard Historian?

Is it possible that Lebron's use of the neckbeard is just an ode to history? Abraham Lincoln famously rocked the neckbeard, as did Henry David Thoreau. Countless men fighting during the civil war used the neckbeard as a sort of morale boost. Maybe I haven't given bron enough credit.

The aformentioned Thoreau.   Could Bron just be a fan of Walden.  The reflection of simple living and natural surroundings?  Maybe he misinterpreted Civil Disobedience, saying that he respected a fan's passion for running on the court, perhaps in his desire to make a statement of his opposition to an unjust state?  


Is it possible?  Is a mild tempered philosopher trapped in the body of a freak? Like Caine wandering the globe in Kung Fu, the legend continues.

Tim Duncan, Lebron James, Deee-troit Not Good Enough

Tonight didn't go so well for a few of the NBA's "top teams" ( the cavs wouldnt even be in the west's top 9, let alone be a considered a title contender as some "experts" are saying). Speaking of the cavs, Lebron did score 42 points, but shot only 2-7 from three and missed 7 free throws in a 5 point loss to the strug-a-ling Nets. Proving their collective worths, Tim Duncan and Tony Parker combined to score 48 points and shot a combined 63% in a blow out loss to the Hornets. Finally, the Pistons came up one point short against the surging sixers with Chauncey and Rip combining for 24 points on 38 percent shooting. All in all, it was an interesting night around the league, but the Clippers did get blown out in Orlando...some things never change.

Locked Up Ballers Rock Alligator Shoes and Mink Coats

A great read for anyone interested in the prison ballers locked up in different places around the country. Seth Ferranti over at hoopshype does an awesome job depicting everything that goes into being a prison baller. From former high school stars to death row inmates. Here is my favorite passage from one of his articles.

And for prison basketball superstars like Purple life was sweet. “We wore street clothes so dudes were walking around in alligator shoes, Hugo Boss jeans and one dude even had a full-length white Mink coat. Don’t forget we were doing time. We had visits seven days a week and if you were in the loop, you had the opportunity to have sex with your woman seven days a week. It wasn’t nothing for a dude to be walking around the Hill with two or three thousand in his pocket. I remember a shakedown where the law found 48 grand in the ceiling."

And that my friends is the life of a prison superstar.

John Hollinger = Kobe Hater

I ran across this article today by John Hollinger. Its from 2003 when Tracy McGrady had the best season of his career. Hollinger raves about McGrady's 33 ppg and his ability to carry a terrible team to almost a 6 seed. It made me laugh because he praises McGrady for everything Kobe did in 2005-06. If you don't remember, 05-06 is the season when Hollinger thought Kevin Garnett of the lottery bound T-Wolves should have won MVP. ESPN should start doing background checks on the people they hire so we don't have to deal with biased writers. I'd also like to note that not once does Hollinger mention his beloved PER stat. Maybe this article was written back when he actually used to watch games.

Lakers Looking to Add Player...I Hope Smush Didn't Change his Name to Ira Newble

Real Gm is reporting that the Lakers are looking at the possibility of adding Ira Newble.  Although the benchmob 2.0 (original bench mob located here) has been struggling lately, I don't see what he brings to our team.  Yes, he is a defensive player who is tough-minded, whatever the hell that means, but he also played 33 games with Bron.  God knows that that did to him.  I think this actually is more of a sign that Trevor Ariza may not be back this season.  Or just maybe this is a way for him to get more publicity on the signatures and letter sent by players in the NBA to the Chinese Government, regarding the situation in Darfur.  Shaq did come to LA for a similar reason.  

Andrew Recovery Update

The LA Times is reporting in an article in todays paper that the Lakers stud center, Andrew Bynum, has made progress in his rehab by running on a treadmill for the first time.  This is a great sign, although the key is to make sure there is no swelling or pain in the next few days.  The Lakers struggles recently really points to pick and roll defense and rebounding.  Both of which Drew will help greatly when he returns.  Lets hope we just don't get lobbed on all night this friday against the N.O.  Last time we faced them, we ran them out of their own gym, mainly because of Andrew's emergence.  We will see how things turn out this time. 

You Stole My Chili Cheese Fritos!!!

Here is good ol' tommy, getting tossed from a spring training game.  Now I don't know if he thought the umpire ate his meatball sub before the game or if he wanted to get tossed to get to the buffet before everyone else, but c'mon.  ITS SPRING TRAINING!  On another note, I have hated Tommy Lasorda for over ten years now.  It all began on that summer afternoon at Chavez Ravine.  Forty minutes to the 1:05 start, and somehow or another I am sitting on the dugout watching players warm up.   I notice Tommy signing a few autographs right in front of me, so I say "tommy!" and roll my baseball down to him for a signature.  Below you will find a full transcription of how that turned out:

Me:  "tommy!" (rolling baseball down dugout)

Tommy:  Hey!  You don't do that!!! I know these people!!! Gotta have more respect!

Me:  (blank stares)

Tommy:  I'm only doing this this one time, you hear me?

Me: Um, ok.  

Now, I wish I had a few more years under my belt, but I was 10 years old.   I would have taken that baseball, thrown it at his melon, and told him to fuck off.  

Lakers Send Raptors to Extinction...Or Beat Them in NBA Game

Photo Courtesy of (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)

TJ Ford and the rest of his dino-buds tried to make it a game against Kobe, LO, PAU and the guys, but in the end, well, they lost. Most interestingly, Coby Karl seemed to jump start the team a little with his rare first half appearance, gettting a block shot and a three pointer. In the end, the Lakers looked a tad better than last game, but they will need to pick up the play on this upcoming road trip, if they hope to stay atop the west.

Black Mamba Strikes Without Fear

This being Mamba's Day, I feel that it is necessary to recall a passage from Jason Whitlock's recent article regarding Kobe, the Lakers, and the KB24 v. Bron debate.  From this article Whitlock writes

The Kobe-LeBron debate is silly right now. LeBron is a once-in-a-lifetime athlete who plays basketball. Kobe is a once-in-a-decade basketball player with exceptional athleticism. When you watch Kobe play, there is little doubt that his father played the game, too. Kobe plays with an instinctive intelligence that can only be passed generation to generation

Thats the difference.  Those silly commercials may just be that, with Kobe dressing up as Einstein among others, but a true genius uses full potential for his or her creative power and ability.  He is able to understand the game.  Pick up on players tendencies.  Takes over the game when he needs too.  On top of that, his game is a thing of beauty.  It is an artistic rendition of grace and power.  Hate Kobe the person, but there are things that Hollinger Freaks cant recognize when they simply read stats.   That there is no comparison between the two.

Every Day is KB24 Blog Day Around Here

To send it to Over time



And to win the game. One of my favorite moments of his career. The man simply can not be denied. There is a reason why he will go down as one of the all time greats, and that is because of his cold blooded nature to win at all costs. Other players in the league may simply be happy with what they've accomplished, but mamba always wants more. When Kobe's career finally comes to an end, there will be no doubt that he maximized his potential to the fullest. There will be no 'what ifs', no 'but he could have's'. Simply the G.O.A.T.

My Attempt to Write like the Sports Guy!

So I'm sitting there the other day watching spring training and I see that Derek Jeter had a great game. There is nobody, with the possible exception of Grady Little, that I dislike more than Derek Jeter. In the pantheon of people that 'Make the Sports Guy's head explode,' these two are on top of that list.

The phone rings. It's my friend Bish. Bish is always willing to discuss our mutual distaste for Derek Jeter. Don't get me wrong--we respect his abilities. But he's the Ross from Friends of sports. Totally annoying, yet on TV all the time. Bish mentions that it would be nice if Jeter caught a case of bubonic plague at the beginning of September, paving the way for the Red Sox to the playoffs like Mack Strong on HGH.

Bish points out that the chances that Derek Jeter will come down with bubonic plague in September are minimal, but that if we expanded the possibilities, there would be a greater chance for debilitating success. As usual, Bish is a crazy genius.

Here is what we came up with:

4. Derek Jeter receives a vicious tight waist arm chop from Paps in front of 40,000 fans jammed into Fenway.

(On a side note, has there ever been a greater moment in sports than when The TLC Triple threat match for the WWF tag titles at Wmania X-Seven between Edge & Christian, The Hardy Boyz & The Dudleyz. Probably the best well-worked entertaining extreme tag match ever in WWF history.? I don't even care if it was fake, that was awesome. That rivals when The ending of bloodsport when Van Damm fights with his eyes closed. for 'Most Inspiration Non-Real Sports Moment 2006.)

3. Derek Jeter is informed by his wife that their child was not fathered by him but rather by either Eric Gagne or Billy King.

2. Derek Jeter hangs scrapbook-style clippings of steve sanders and Daniel Larusso in his locker and is immediately put on the DL.

1. Derek Jeter meets The Miz from The Gauntlet, falls in love, and leaves team to begin filming 'My Fair Yankee.'

After we finish with the conversation about Jeter we turn ourselves to the real topic of conversation, the upcoming draft of the Andrea Kramer is Sexy Memorial Baseball Association, a new fantasy league that Bish and I will be joining this year.

Ordinarily, I'm never an advocate of partnering up to own a fantasy baseball team. That's like getting picked up by Eva Longoria and going back to her place, only to find out that shawn kemp is already there. If the best you get is to share, sometimes it's not worth it at all, right?

However, this league only had one slot open, so Bish and I agreed to partner up, in the hope that one of us could switch over and manage the next vacancy. After much debate, and eliminating the excellent possibilities of 'Naked candyland with napkin holders' and 'Refrigerator Perry's Shiny 1 Legged Hookers as potential team names, we settle on 'The double d's.'

The thing that's exciting about this league is that it's an auction format league, which is totally different than a draft league. I mean, it seems as though it would be the same as a draft league, but it's not. It's like the difference between NHL 93 and NHL 94-you take out fighting and add one-timers, you've got a whole different game, even if they are both hockey. Any good sports fan knows that undefined but not everyone knows how to do an auction.

Pre-Auction preparation is important. First, it is important to choose a date when the auction will take place. This is easy. Choose the date when the whipped guy does not have to Call home every 2 minutes, and that's your date. Finding the whipped-guy-can-make-it date is crucial for auction success. (speaking of which, what is with all these girlfriends who think that 'fantasy draft' is code for 'I'm going to have my buddies over to watch the police perform songs by mike tyson while eating a banana? Though that would be cool.)

Next, and more difficult, is the auction location selection. Many times people will choose to have their auction in a strip clubs. This is a bad idea. Nothing good can come of this; at the end of the day every person in the room is going to be goin crazy and extremely sore after four hours.

No, the auction must be held in someone's house-biggest furnished basement wins. The coolness of the wife/significant other can be a deciding factor if two people have similar options-say, if owner A has a mario kart arcade game, but owner B has a case of natty light. Nothing will kill a fun evening faster than the host's wife emasculating him with a 'youre sleeping on the couch tonight.' We have selected next Tuesday night, at 8 pm, at a guy's house where his wife will be in shopping, and therefore unable to disrupt the festivities.

I will not be sharing with you my player ratings for this coming season-after all, johnny chan doesn't play poker with the hand face up-but I will give you some insight into my auction strategy. The thing is, an auction has so much more of an influence on your season than a draft does. In an auction, every player in the league is at your disposal. Everyone starts out equal. It's the democratic rule of fantasy sports.

It's also like a triathlon. It requires endurance, it requires stamina, it requires concentration and planning. Without further ado, here is my 'Sports Guy Auction Strategy Guide':

Round One-keep your hands up

Once the auction starts, timing and strategy are much more important than they are in a traditional draft. The first hour or so of the auction has to be spent feeling out your opponents. Are they particularly loyal to the tampa bay rays? Do they have a tendency toward talks too much? You are looking for weaknesses that you can exploit later on. Store these like receipts

Here is a good place to test people by chucking out a few names of guys you-d never want on your team-aging, oft-injured players, like Eric Gagne, or over-hyped rookies that will never pan out like Wilton Guerrero.

Everyone is going to get some good players at this point, so make sure you don-t overpay and find yourself begging for money like turtle asking for Vinny Chase's AMEX Black.

Round Two-Have a Sense of the Moment

In round two, there will be one moment that defines your draft. Things will be going along smoothly, and all of a sudden you'll get involved in a bidding war on a player. It's not unlike a big pot in a no-limit hold-em tournament-you'll have your Scarecrow-Batman in Batman Begins moment, and you need to decide what to do.

Oftentimes, this will come down to a single dollar, here or there-if you bid 10 dollars for darryl strawberry, you know you'll get him, but you're facing a bid with the clock ticking. Are you going to be a hero, carried off the field like big papi? Or are you norv turner, skulking off the field into the jeering history of your team's fans, with only your family still willing to speak with you. Now is your moment. Set the tone.

Round Three-Moving Day

Hour three of the draft is moving day, like the third day of the masters. You need to shoot a 72. This is where you'll fill out a lot of the players that, while less thumping, make up the core of your team. Do not discount the importance of moving day. If you wait until the next phase to build the core of your team, you'll find yourself as lonely as Paris Hilton in a Catholic service.

Moving day is the time to make things happen for your team. This is where you are going to define the season that you have. If you end up moving day by taking an accurate mix of future stars, injury-risk players, and orlando cabrera, you'll be okay.

Round Four-The Game of Trivial Pursuit

By the end of the fantasy auction, the endeavor has become . The only thing it can be compared to is a game of Trivial Pursuit, played among friends. Something that, at the beginning of the endeavor, seemed like such fun, but by the end of it, is just a group of people banging their heads against the wall, adamantly trying to finish what they started, the joy of competing against your friends replaced with a desire to prove that you are the prince of All Trivia and that is that.

In this phase of the auction, you must be careful. This is the 'One day the kids from the neighborhood carried my mother's groceries all the way home. You know why? It was outta respect. ' moment of the draft. People will be exploding like my head, screaming incomprehensible things like Ron Harper and threatening to hits a wall if they do not get their way.

Just bite your lip, set your jaw, and try and endure. It's a long season coming forward.

'theres no place like home'

Billys Balls Rain Ridiculous Shots

I came across this video a while back and have been battling with a friend of mine (fellow neckbeard contributor) on whether or not it is real or not. I say that it is not only real, but these guys deserve a slot on network tv, battling against other teams every week for the The World Beer Pong Championship. These guys are as skilled with those balls than any basketball player is with a basketball. And way more creative. Judge for yourselves.

One Play Does Not Decide A Game, But That Is One Flop I Think Sasha Wants Back

Photo Courtesy of Wally Skalij and the Los Angeles Times

Jack Haley is Harder to Find than Waldo and Carmen San Diego Combined

I don't know what it means about his ability as a basketball analyst, but it took me about 30 games to notice that after years of sucking up to Kobe and reporting imaginary trades, Jack Haley was missing from the Laker pre and post game show. I must admit, when I finally did realize Jack and his Comet were missing I got a little sad, I mean, how often can you say that your local basketball analyst was not only nicknamed "the human victory cigar" for his crucial role on the Chicago bulls as a garbage time specialist, but is also considered the only man that Dennis Rodman really trusts. Ever since that fateful night when I realized Billy Mac's sidekick was African-American and therefore couldn't possibly be Jack, I have wondered why he was gone and what he was doing instead. Of course, due to his immense popularity world-wide, hundreds of rumors about J-Hal have been flying around the Internet. Unfortunately, I could only find two of them, Google must not have been working or something. It was reported that Jack doesn't know why he was let go, and it was also reported that he was fired after an afternoon tea misunderstanding.

These stories though, don't shed the type of light on the story that I need to feel comfortable. So I came up with some theories of my own. Based on his unabashed love for Kobe, it occurred to me that maybe Kobe lost interest in Jack, and Jack, so hurt by Kobe's refusal to grant him pregame interviews during which Jack could complement Kobe's suit, sunglasses, hairdo, tattoos, jewelery and house keys, that Jack left Lakers Live and has spent the last few months eating Digiornos and watching replays of The 81 Game. Plausible as that theory is, there is one inherent problem, Kobe is extremely proud of his house keys and could never stay mad at someone who gave him dap for his exquisite taste in key metal. So that brought me to another, even more likely theory.

Jack, known as Dennis Rodman's Babysitter in his days with the bulls, could have been in some sort of "Dennis Rodman Incident", after which some Sacramento King's dancers type photos surfaced around FSN headquarters leading to Jack being quietly "let go" and leading Jack to a life of getting Kobe's voicemail and reliving that one time he scored a basket.

As for what actually happened to Jack, we may never know, but what we do know is that Carlos Boozer still has not been traded to the Lakers...Jack you are missed.

1st Quarter live blog: Spurs & Suns

courtesy of fanhouse.


- Let's hope the Suns are a little more awake today than they were the last time they played a Sunday afternoon game: a 36-point loss to the Pistons on February 24th.

- Despite the Suns' 3-6 record since acquiring Shaq, they really have been playing better of late. They handled Utah for most of the night on Friday ... before allowing them to shoot 12-16 in the fourth quarter, that is. Pretty tough loss for Phoenix, considering Shaq was literally sprinting back on defense, to the point where the Suns' announcers were actually joking about it.

- What's with the country-rock band opening the show with Def Leppard's corpse? The NBA seriously does not know it's fan demographic.

- What about starting Boris Diaw instead of Shaq? It might allow the Suns to begin the game playing their (now old) uptempo style. That probably wouldn't go over well with Shaq, but it might be worth a shot.

- "Los" Spurs? Seriously? Meanwhile, seventeen chances for the Suns will send Shaq to the line.

- The "Los" Suns jerseys look kinda cool, the Spurs' ones look like they just slapped a LOS on them above the normal ones. Who knows, maybe they didn't want to risk making Popovich angry by rolling out brand new uni's.

- Okay, one more thing on the uniforms: do normal NBA jerseys say "THE Suns" or "THE Spurs?" I just checked, and they do not. How about dropping the Spanish translation of Suns (Sol) or Spurs (aburrir) on the jerseys instead?

- Seems like Nash could have that jumper in the lane anytime he wants, doesn't it?

- Same with Parker on his 15-18 footers. Shaq dominating early with 8 of his team's 12.

- Nice pass from Shaq there, but that's over-passing. Someone on Phoenix needs to shoot that, instead it results in their second three second call of the game. Shaq with 8 points and 3 boards, and Suns are up 12-8.

- Yikes. Nash's nose in HD: not pretty. Still looks messed up from that hit he took in last year's playoffs.

- Nash ended up guarding Timmy on a switch ...and shut him down! Meanwhile, nice to see Suns fans booing Horry every time he gets the ball.

- Really nice half-court defense there from the Suns. Doubled Timmy, scrambled to cover the shooters, then the loose ball ended up being a three second call. STAT scores on the other end, Suns up six.

- That was a nice move by Ginobili to get out of the double team, but I think he probably lifted his pivot foot to do so.

- JVG mentions how horrible the buyout thing is, but I'm not so sure. Look how crazy the playoffs are going to be thanks to all of these players changing cities.

- Barbosa's consistency (or lack of) discussed. Let's all remember that Barbosa's reputation is built on playoff performances the last two years over the Lakers, while he was being guarded by Smush Parker. I'm just sayin'.

- As well as the Suns' started, the defense of the second unit let them down, and they find themselves trailing 25-22 after one.