Radman to the Rescue

The first half was a thing of beauty. The Lakers D held strong holding the Mavs to only 38 points in the half and executing the offense to perfection. Tex has to be proud of the way the sqauad was sharing the basketball. Then there was the small fact that, oh yeah, there was another 24 minutes to play. While #24 stood strong to carry the team in the first half, who would rise to provide a spark for the second? That's right, the space cadet! Not too much needs to said here, as one play describes it all. Shot clock winding down and coming out of a timeout, Phil draws up the play... Radman for a step back three ball from the corner, bottoms. The Mavs made quite a run, basically due to the Lakers questionable decisions to leave three point shooters in the closing minute of the game, but nevertheless on this day Vladamir Radmanovic was captain planet.

Stop Hyping Mark Mads...I mean, Tyler Hansbrough

During the Va Tech and UNC game yesterday, there was so much hype being given to Tyler Hansbrough that I had to mute the volume on the television. Here is a video sampling the ridiculousness being thrown out by Mike Patrick. Oddly enough, Dicky V. seems pretty fair in this video compared to Patrick. My personal favorite...trying to say that Hansbrough deserves half a block, for playing help side Defense....or that he is as fast as anyone else on the court.

Who the Hell is Deron Washington?

After taking a brief look at the bracket.....ok, I'm lying, I've been studying it for the past six hours, I'd have to say that UCLA has the easiest path to the Final 4.   Duke is by far the weakest of the 2 seeds and Xavier is a pretty solid 3.  I would have been more worried had Wisconsin grabbed the 2, due to the fact that they play a similar style to UCLA, which at times can cause problems for the Bruins.  As for any snubs, I think the only real gripe would be Arizona getting in over Arizona St.  For some reason though, Arizona is always considered a high profile team.  They remind me of the old Steve Lavin UCLA teams that under achieved but always seemed that they could make a run to the sweet 16.  As for Va Tech, well, their best non conference win was against St. Johns.  Oh, and St. Johns was so good they didn't even qualify for their own tournament.  Va Tech was also 1-5 against ACC teams that made the tourney.  I think the only downside to not letting in Va Tech is that we won't be able to keep asking the question "who the hell is Deron Washington"

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?