Off Topic: Met Rajon Rondo

By Kalen Patrick

On Saturday September 24th, Rajon Rondo was the 'Host' or 'Star' player who attended the Basketball Competition on Alcatraz Island just off San Francisco, the Tournament was dubbed "King of the Rock". Many many players from all over the world were involved and it was essentially a fun filled yet extremely competitive day for everyone involved.

A PICTURE FROM THE COMPETITION ON ALCATRAZ

The previous day while at work, the star of the show Rajon Rondo of the Boston Celtics himself came in to my store. He ended up buying a few shoes and caps, was really nice and down to Earth and best of all took the time to pose for a picture with me. While I'm not necessarily a Celtics fan, I am a big Rajon Rondo fan and after meeting him in person I can say that he has now become one of my favorite NBA players if not Athletes in general.

RAJON RONDO OF THE BOSTON CELTICS AND ME

Most Spoiled and Tortured Sports Towns

By Kalen Patrick

Real fans only know what it's really like when things are good and when things are bad. Real fans will stick by their teams through thick and thin no matter what. But which cities have it the best and which cities have it the hardest? Lets take a closer look....

Most Spoiled
Boston. My aim is to keep it in the recent years, Boston have celebrated a World Championship in all 4 major sports in recent years. The Bruins won just a matter of weeks ago, the Celtics won in 2008, the Red Sox in 2007 and 2004, the Patriots have won 3 Superbowls this decade. Not only this, but the Celtics have been to numerous Finals, Patriots were in a Superbowl a few years ago. All of the Boston teams are always in the playoff discussion and most are legitimate championship contenders. Honestly, if you are a fan in the Boston/New England area, you have absolutely nothing to complain about and just relish these times because they won't always be this good.

Most Tortured
Cleveland. It has to be Cleveland right? Lebron leaves the Cavs, the Browns are well the Browns, the Indians gave the city some hope but have crashed all the way back down to reality, and since Lebron left the Cavs only had the 2nd worst record, tied a record for most consecutive losses and had the 1st and 4th overall picks in one of the weakest drafts in recent memory.
While the teams do have some glimmer of hope, doesn't it just seem like they are cursed? The Browns are in a division with 2 of the best run franchises in Baltimore and Pittsburgh. The Cavs have a serious inability to attract any kind of talent and the Indians are the definition of mediocre. How things could have been different if the Cavs traded for Amare Stoudemire and not a 40 year old Shaq.

Warriors Come Out To Playyyyyyy

By Kalen Patrick

Fans of the 1970's Cult Classic "The Warriors" will get this reference

While I do love the movie, I am of course talking about the Golden State Warriors. This offseason has been incredibly busy and exciting for Golden State. Bring in Jerry West, MarkN Jackson, Klay Thompson and Jeremy Tyler.

Klay Thompson and Jeremy Tyler are 2 of the 3 draft picks made by the Warriors in the recent NBA Draft. Thompson the 11th overall pick is a 6'7 mixture of a SG and SF. I don't see him playing too much initially but as the season goes on (if there is a season) I expect his minutes to add up and for him to effective off the bench. As for Tyler, this is a guy the Warriors just paid straight up money for to get. He is a major boom or bust prospect at the Center position. I expect the Warriors to take is very slow with him, don't expect to see him at all unless the Warriors get crushed with injuries.

WARRIORS DRAFT SELECTIONS

Rumors are the Warriors are very interested and serious about wanting to bring in Nene, a free agent who has played in Denver. I expect the Warriors would only do this if they can somehow dump the majority of Andris Biedrins contract. Nene would be a solid fit in GS. He would play beside PF David Lee and they would be very effective on the offensive end. If Mark Jackson can get them playing better defense then it could be a real nice duo in the paint.

As much as I love Monta, I'm still in favor of trading him for Andre Iguodala, time for the Warriors to put out a more typical NBA starting 5 out on the court. Sure we all love watching Monta, but do we love watching the team love 45+ games a season too?

Lots of changes in Warrior Land but I expect them to be ready to "come out to play" in the upcoming season.

Lebron James - The Chosen One?

Lebron James has a tattoo saying "The Chosen One" across his back, he also wore the same number as Michael Jordan with Cleveland, he also did the whole intro of throwing the powder in the air, another gimmick stolen from Jordan, he declared himself 'King James', so one would be led to believe that he is the best current player in the NBA. In all round talent, he probably is, but there is one thing missing, he doesn't believe in himself. The thing with Lebron is in my opinion he is afraid of failure, whether its not wanting to deal with the media if he does fail, or if its having to deal with it himself. He is afraid, and while understandably he will never admit that, I believe it to be the truth.

I hate to take a great career so far and then pinpoint 2 games to define a player, but the Finals show true character, you're on the biggest stage and there is no hiding who you really are. In the 4th quarters of game 4 and 5, Lebron James has 2 point. No that is not a typo, he has 2 points. But it goes beyond stats. One of my favorite things to do is ask this simple question, "If someone who never watched basketball before, turned on and watched, who would they think are the best players out there?" The answer I feel I would get from this question would be (in this case) Dirk Nowitzki, Dwyane Wade but definitely not Lebron. In fact, I think even first time NBA viewers would say that, hey #6 for Miami, what's his deal? He should be shooting more, or getting to the basket more.

Maybe in Lebron's mind he thinks, if I pass and someone else misses, then it's not my fault. This could be why Lebron went to Miami with Wade and Bosh. He figures I will pass to these guys in crunch time and they should finish. Game 5 is the perfect example of why this is just bad thinking by Lebron. Wade gets hurt, is clearly no where near 100%, it was Lebrons time to shine, and sure he got a triple double, but it may have been the quietest, the most non-impactful triple double I've seen. The only reason why I or anyone else critiques Lebron so much, or has such high expectations, are for 2 reasons; 1) He brought it on himself by doing everything stated in the first paragraph and 2) he has the talent and potential to be that great.

We want the next Jordan, we want to see the greatest player right now, and whether it's fair or not, the pressure of this is on Lebron and will always follow him.

NBA Off-Season - Golden State Warriors

The Golden State Warriors, where do we start? This team has been one of the most dysfunctional of all the teams in the NBA. Countless trades gone wrong, bad contract after bad contract and worst of all, this is a team which is bad BUT they are just good enough to always put themselves out of position to get a top 3 pick. In recent years the Warriors just seem to always pick between 7th and 11th. Granted they were able to get Point Guard Steph Curry 8th but still. This is a team that in the last 3 years just seems as if its been stuck in transition and just staying in that position.

Is Mark Jackson the right guy to resurrect the Warriors? 

So lets take a look at whats happened this team so far this offseason. They bring in Jerry West (credible NBA guy), they hire Mark Jackson (Boom or Bust type hire) and they get Mike Malone (X's and O's guy to help Jackson). I like bringing in Jerry West, smart move by Joe Lacob to bring some more credibility to the franchise as a whole. I'm not sure how I feel about the Mark Jackson hire, I try to look at the positives: Well known and popular among NBA players which could help bring in potential Free Agents, played the PG position which is essentially the coach on the floor and he has a great Assistant in Mike Malone to help him out with strategy and game planning. This is all good and well, but then I keep coming back to the fact that he has ZERO coaching experience. Nada. Who knows how he will react, if the Warriors are in playoff contention, big game and he has to make big decisions, can he inspire the team? So many question marks. Granted it worked with the Celtics and Doc Rivers, but did you notice Rivers suddenly became a whole lot smarter when they added Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Rajon Rondo emerged? Hmmmm.

Andre Iguodalas presence would make perfect sense for a Warriors team severely lacking defense

So lets look at some of the things the Warriors can do this offseason to put themselves in good position going forward. Biggest question is what to do with Monta Ellis? Trade him or keep him? I love Monta, I love watching him play but I just don't think the Warriors can win with Ellis and Curry. It's time for the Warriors become a more conventional team (weird idea right?). Make the trade for Andre Iguodala and you can maybe get a pick or role player on top of Iggy. You add Iggy to drastically improve your defense, he is also decent on the offensive end, now that he realizes he should not take many 3's. That is the main trade that the Warriors do.

Nene would be a 'BIG' addition to GS. See what I did there?

In Free Agency I want the Warriors to make a big splash and the main targets won't be travelling far. I want them to pursue both Aaron Afflalo and Nene from Denver. Afflalo is very good on the offensive end and an underrated defender. Nene along with Marc Gasol are the prized Free Agent Centers. I see ZERO chance of Gasol getting away from Memphis. Nene is an active big body in both the defense an offensive ends. The Warriors current Center Andris Biedrins has become soft to the point that he is afraid of contact because of how bad his free throw shooting is. I do think his career can be salvaged, and I do think the Warriors can and will trade him, even if they will be eating up some of his contract. If Gilbert Arenas, Corey Magette, Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard lewis can get traded, so can Biedrins.



These moves give the Warriors a much more balanced and conventional starting 5, along with having some real nice depth too. Starting 5 of:
PG - Steph Curry
SG - Aaron Afflalo
SF - Andre Iguodala
PF - David Lee
C - Nene

With role players including: Excellent 3-point shooter Dorrell Wright, good young defender in Ekpe Udoh, solid role player in Reggie Williams. Plus the Warriors have the 11th overall pick and can maybe select another big guy to help out on defense. I do think the Western Conference is gonna be weaker in coming years. Spurs are old, Mavs are old, who knows how Lakers do without Phil Jackson. I think the 7th and 8th seeds are absolutely attainable with solid moves including the ones I made in this mock offseason.

Let me know what you guys think and give me feedback and what not. Check back regularly for updates. SPREAD THE WORD

NBA - What Next?

While the NBA is not my strongest sport, I do wanna touch on it now and again. The Finals are approaching and I for one am very excited for it. However, with this post I want to take a look in to the future of the NBA and make predictions and give my views on what I expect to happen. Lets start from the bottom and work our way up. 

You can't get much lower than the Cleveland Cavaliers and as everyone knows, last summer Lebron James left Cleveland for South Beach and surprise surprise the Cavs end up with an awful record. Well Lady Luck (or David Stern) has come to the Cavs help and gave them the 1st and 4th overall pick. While this draft is not that strong, this is a good place to start building for the future. According to sources the Cavaliers are attempting to make a trade to hold the #2 pick as well, here is the link: Possible Trade . Despite this draft being considered weak, the Cavs would be able to acquire the far and away top 2 prospects in Point Guard Kyrie Irving and Forward Derrick Williams. This would be a great building block for the future. 

Cavs owner Dan Gilbert finally had a reason to smile at the outcome of the 2011 NBA Draft Lottery

It is difficult for the Cavs to attract free agent talent, but I'm thinking if they throw enough money at either Marc Gasol or Nene, one of them may bite. Another option, is Greg Oden, the oft injured Center for the Trail Blazers. Trading for Oden would be a gamble for sure, but it's one that if it pays off (and I know its probably a long shot) could be huge for the Cavs going forward. I'm thinking even with Irving and Williams, and a possible addition at Center, that relying on 2 rookies will require a steep learning curve. Maybe the Cavs get another high pick next year, add another quality player and are back in playoff contention. 

Who can seriously challenge the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference going forward? It's gonna come down to Chicago or New York, while Boston have maybe a 1 or 2 year window for being a highly competitive team. 

Chicago is the best competition for Miami, one thing which became painfully obvious in their recent playoff series was how much they needed another scorer at the SG position. Lucky for the Bulls there are going to be quite a few options for them, including guys like Jason Richardson and Aaron Afflalo. Personally I like Afflalo, as he provides the better defense, which is stressed by the Tom Thibedeau coached Bulls. I think the player that would fit them perfectly however would be Monta Ellis. If they can swing a trade to get Monta from the Warriors, they would be impossible to defend. Also while Monta's defense isn't great, Rose is big enough to take on the opponents SG, while Ellis can take on the smaller PG. By adding another scorer, along with their talented big men (Joakim Noah, Carlos Boozer, Taj Gibson and Asik), that would be Miami's biggest competition.

                      Which team will be the Kryptonite to Miami's Supermen? 

The New York Knicks are a team which will have to be respected going forward. When you have 2 superstar players (Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire) your team is gonna be in good shape. The Knicks seem on a mission to do whatever it takes to become a championship caliber team. There are already rumors of Chris Paul landing in New York eventually. A team that has the best pure PG in Paul, a top scorer in Carmelo and an excellent post presence in Stoudemire will be a tough out for anyone and even for the likes of the Heat. 

The Boston Celtics cannot be discounted even at their age, just when you think they are done they always seem to bounce back. Obviously they will have Paul Pierce, Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett anchoring the team, however one thing which held them back this postseason was their big men. You have to assume they are gonna do better than Jermaine O'Neal, Shaq and Nenad Krstic at Center.

The other notable teams in the East like the Magic and the Hawks will provide some competition but won't really pose much of a realistic threat to the Heat in my opinion.

What I will be watching tomorrow:

MLB - San Francisco Giants (Matt Cain) vs Milwaukee Brewers (Gallardo)

Previewing the Day In Sports

What a great time of year, NBA Playoffs, NHL Playoffs, Baseball in full swing. So much sports, so little time. I will give my recommendations for the must see games. Here goes:

NHL - Boston Bruins vs Tampa Bay Lightening. In Tampa Bay, Florida. 10:30AM Pacific.
Sitting here watching this game. Real fast opening to this game. Back and forth action. Currently Boston up 3-0 in the 1st period. Even if you are not a hockey fan, Conference Final games are always worth watching.

MLB - Oakland Athletics vs San Francisco Giants. In San Francisco, California. 4:10PM Pacific.
For me Tim Lincecum is always a must see. What makes this even better? A great matchup against Brett Anderson who's having a stellar year so far. If you like pitching duels, this one is for you. Add to the fact that this is the always entertaining Bay Bridge Series, check this game out if you get the chance.

NBA - Dallas Mavericks vs Oklahoma City Thunder. In OKC. 6:00PM Pacific.
Dirk Nowitzki vs Kevin Durant, 2 of the premier scorers in the NBA. Both players always create huge mismatches and either can go for 35+ points on any given night. This game has excitement and offense written all over it.

Lots of good games on today, Interleague play in Baseball this weekend. Tomorrow we get Lebron James and the Heat vs Derrick Rose and the Bulls in the ECF, while in Hockey we get the Canucks vs Sharks. Enjoy friends.