Monday Links

Okay, we'll hit some random thoughts to start out and then we'll get to a few links.

• Entourage has officially jumped the shark. The writers screwed up big time. This entire season has been a waste. All of the episodes with the chick agent were awful and last night's episode was a must for the plot but was still very boring and un-funny. By the way, how does Vince have 5 million dollars laying around his house to buy that script? He's done one big movie and he spent all that money on his house, cars and Turtle's shoes. It's dumb already, but don't get unrealistic now. I don't care that Kramer was able to live in an apartment in NY for 10+ years with working because he was funny and the Seinfeld was great, but it doesn't fly when the show sucks.


• Sopranos was huge last night. It is pretty obvious T is losing it. He kills Chris, goes to Vegas, takes payote (???) and gets on a hot streak in the casinos. T is losing it. 3 episodes left.


• 24 is on tonight, I'll TiVo it and watch it tomarrow because of the Suns-Spurs game, which could be the last important game of the playoffs if the Suns lose (down 3-1, they are done and the Spurs will win it all like I predicted in my preview before the year). More on this game later.


• My 24 theory is that Josh Bauer is Jack's son. They have already illuded to how Graham's wife liked Jack before and I have a feeling that is his kid. Plus, Audrey is damaged goods at this point and Heller said he can't see her anymore. She and Jack are done. Anyway, Jack's dad is going to give the Chinese intelligence for Josh and I think Jack will intervene and the reason will be because it's his son.


• Okay, let's get to sports.


• Sekou Smith wrote a great blog about Deron Williams and how the Hawks took Marvin Williams over him.


• Peter Gammons says A-Rod has no worries.


• I Heart KG had a great link to the New York Post's Marc Berman, who says JO didn't ask for a trade to the Knicks and that Isiah is looking at Pau Gasol, KG and Vince Carter. I don't see anyway Zeke could get any of the three because the Knicks don't have the cap space for VC (lol, we don't have cap space until '09) and it's hard for me to believe that we have the assets for Pau or KG. Would they really take Frye, Francis, Nate and Chicago's 1st for KG or Pau? We'll see.


• Chad Ford's Draft Blog (Insider).


• This Mock Draft has the Knicks taking Jason Smith from Colorado St. WHO THE HELL IS THAT??!?!?!?!


• How Bruce Bowen doesn't get any punishment for anything is beyond me. He is a dirty player and I agree with Amare, the Spurs are a dirty team.


• True Hoop on the Bowen suff and the toughness needed for winning playoff
  basketball.


• Golden State of Mind reserved after Game 4 loss. I guess you can't get outrebounded by a ton, miss 33 threes and shoot 62% from the free throw line and still win a playoff game. All I can say is Utah better win Game 5 and end this thing or else Oracle Arena will go crazy for Game 6 in Oakland and this series will go seven if they don't win Tuesday and anything can happen in a Game 7, especially with this Warriors team that can put on a show from beyond the arc.


• Desipio returns and gives us a good bball column.


• Blog-A-Bull angry after a win.


• Celtic's Blog with Links of their own.


• We go to deadspin for out Spurs-Suns link. They bring up the point I brought up earlier, if Phoenix loses, then there won't be any good series' for the rest of the playoffs. Think about it, the Suns donw 3-1 are done. If it's 2-2 going back to Phoenix, it's a series. But, if it's 3-1, what is going to be a good series? Detroit-Cleveland? No, unless LeBron gets all the calls. Spurs-Jazz? No, the Jazz are boring. Spurs-Pistons? Yes, but that's it. I think the NBA needs to reseed, so we get Suns-Spurs in the WCF, not the semis.


• One Nets-Cavs note, I pick the Cavs to win in Jersey and go up 3-1, no reason to watch.

Alright, have a great Monday!

Golden State-Utah Game 4 Open Blog

Happy Mother's Day to all. Here is your game thread for the Warriors game. They are the most exciting team in all of basketball, I'm still praying for a Phoenix-GS western conference final, but it looks like the Suns won't make it (i picked the Spurs anyway).

We go to the Golden State of Mind Blog for our preview. Game 4 Preview....#commenttop

Oakland Sports Fans on Gravy Train ... 5887263

Last one. Warriors launching 3s ....DTL

So, that, Sopranos and Entourage should hold you over until Monday. Anyway, Go Warriors!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYpwjB0IzoU

JO A Knick?

Sam Smith says Jermaine O'Neal asked to be traded to the Knicks ...bulls-headlines

But sources say O'Neal already has told the Pacers he wants to be traded to the Knicks and former Pacers coach and close friend Isiah Thomas. Would the Pacers take Stephon Marbury or maybe a package with Steve Francis, Jared Jeffries and Channing Frye and the Bulls' first-round pick, which the Knicks own in the swap?

I would definitly do JO for Francis, Jeffries, Frye and the Bulls first. I would do JO for Starbury too. This team needs a leader and its pretty clear Eddy Curry isn't it. He is the same guy that shut it down after Zeke got a contract extension last year. Plus, I don't think Stephon Marbury will ever lead a team to do anything in the playoffs, ever. He is just a selfish shoot first point guar with a big contract and a bad attitude. JO has been to the playoffs. He has had success in the playoffs and he could lead this team.

Smith brought up another interesting point in the article. He posed the question if you were the Mavs or the Wolves, would you swap KG for Dirk?

If I'm the Mavs, I do it. Dirk will never take that team anywhere. He has already had his best chance to win a title (last year), I doubt he gets there again. I think they need to blow that team up, if that means trading Dirk, then so be it.

If I'm the Wolves, I have to seriously consider it. Think about it, you have the best rebounder in all of basketball and you can't make the playoffs for three years in a row. I don't put all of that on KG, but Dirk doesn't have that much more help in Dallas (Josh Howard and nobody who can get him the ball) and he would never miss the playoffs three years in a row over there.

Funny Link

http://nbadraft.net/2007stateofthecapnewyork001.asp

I'll post my favorite part of this here.

A few other contracts on the team are less costly, though they are still thorns in New York's side. The Jerome James signing is a disgrace. He can't even contribute more than 6 minutes a game. Speaking of 6, that's about how many millions Jerome will be paid each of the next three years.Jared Jeffries was a silly pickup. Five years and $30 million dollars for 4 points a game and not much else? Well, at least there are only four years left to go in his contract. He did, after all, produce more than Malik Rose who will receive $7.1 and $7.6 million the next two seasons. Rose has had plenty of time to do his taxes while riding the bench. I won't even get into Quentin Richardson's and Jamal Crawford's long-term contracts since they do actually contribute something on the court (though neither of them can shoot worth a damn). Add it all up and it's easy to see why the Knicks are still the league leader in payroll.

I laughed out loud before I remembered that I root for this team.

MaKnick Depression

I have Knicks basketball pegged right at the sad state that they are in and have no chance of coming out of until after the 08-09 season (the next year that we aren’t in salary cap hell, thanks Isiah). That’s what really sucks, there is no future for this team because we have to wait until these contracts come off the books (some of them Layden, some of them Zeke).
Anyway, let me get to this year’s roster.

Everyone in New York seems enamored with Eddy Curry, which I think is absolutely ridiculous because he is so one-dimensional. Great, he can score. Now, will you explain to me how Malik Rose out-rebounds him night in and night out while playing about 15-20 minutes less? Or how Francis and Nate Robinson out-rebounded Curry against Portland two weeks ago? They’re guards, Eddy! C’mon! Grab a board and play some defense.

They still don’t have a point guard who looks for other players. Not one. Marbury, Francis, Crawford and Nate are all shoot-first point guards. It’s the dumbest strategy ever. Marbury leads the team in assists with 5.4 a game. That’s a freaking joke. They passed on Marcus Williams in the draft for Renaldo Balkman (who I like, but Zeke could’ve gotten him with the other first rounder we had).

Losing out put the Knicks at a putrid 33-49 record (yeah, it’s better than last year, but last year was the worst year EVER!). Some of the young players are making strides, but the best thing about a 50-loss season is a good draft pick. It has been well documented that this team doesn’t have its draft pick. That’s why watching them lose 12 of their last 15 (right when Dolan extended Zeke…AHHHH!) has been so farking painful.

Yes, the Knicks had injuries. A lot of injuries (Crawford, Lee, Q, now Marbury and Balkman). But, the recent collapse started right when Dolan extended Zeke and they are making it harder and harder for me to believe that the extension didn’t have anything to do with the collapse. Maybe it was because of injuries, maybe it was because the team isn’t that good in the first place and maybe just maybe it was because they let up when Dolan extended Zeke. Whatever the cause (it doesn’t matter anymore) it was a joke to lose 12 of 15 in a playoff race, especially in this Eastern Conference, the worst league in any sport in my lifetime.

The last thing I would like to mention is that this was not only a bad season for the Knicks, this was a disgrace to the game of basketball. The Knicks are what I hate. They are Bret Petway. They act like a bunch of thugs. The brawl at the Garden against Denver was really the most despicable thing I’ve ever witnessed on a basketball court. Zeke went John Caney on the Nuggets. It was a disgrace.

Then the most recent debacle of mailing it in against the Chicago Bulls and then getting mad when they ran up the score for some Big Macs. Look, if you don’t like getting the score run up on you, then why don’t you go out there and play some inspired basketball for a change? Steve Francis, Nate Robinson and the rest of these clowns have no reason to say anything when you constantly mail it in. The slogan for the year shouldn’t be ‘get me a roll of stamps.’
Anyway, we’ll end on me dreaming of greener pastures.

Just the other day I listened to Grizzlies GM Jerry West talk basketball with ESPN.com’s Chad Ford. You could just sense that he has a plan and knows exactly what he’s doing. Just a year ago he won 49 games in the Western Conference with the damn GRIZZLIES!!! West’s contract runs out in June and if I owned the Knicks I would hire him in a heartbeat. But, there is no quick fix with the Knicks cap situation and that is what makes this whole situation so frustrating. The Knicks are years away from doing anything. Other teams are a few moves away or a few months away with the draft coming; the Knicks are years. That is an absolute killer.

Anyway, screw this season. I’m just going to wait for June and the most exciting phrase in all of sports “The New York Knicks are on the clock.” I swear if they draft some European nobody’s ever heard of, I will….

Fire Isiah Thomas

Thats it. I'm tired of it and I'm going to be writing about it a lot more. I can't understand anything this man does and I'm ashamed to be a Knicks fan. They are in cap hell until '09, they have one good, young player in David Lee and Isiah has made the mess that Layden left into a disastor.

I won't just be writing about the Knicks here, it will be all NBA and a lot of Knicks.