Everybody knows those numbers are bad and not to be messed with.

June 6, 2006, only two teams remain in the NBA Playoffs, meeting in the NBA Finals.

June 2006, Dallas Mavericks defeated Phoenix Suns in six games, winning their first ever conference title, advancing to their first ever NBA Finals. Mavs go 2-0 up on the Heat, then the curse strikes. Miami wins the next 4 games and Mavs have an entire summer to make themselves believe they still are a good team. Next season, they go on to win 67 games (good for sixth best regular season ever) only to be humiliated by the Warriors in the first round. Season after that, they are battling for a playoff spot in an extremely competitive Western Conference, they trade Harris and Diop for Jason Kidd, who fails to give them a win against a winning team in 8 tries. They have a 15-19 road record, where they will be playing 7 of the 12 games they have remaining, 8 of those 12 against winning teams and they suck playing those, remember? And most (perhaps all) of those 12 without Dirk Nowitzki. With a 2 games edge over ninth placed Denver Nuggets. Should’ve never messed with the numbers!

June 2006, Miami Heat beats Dallas Mavericks in six games, winning their first ever NBA title. What happens afterwards is just amazing. Multiple injuries to top players, getting swept in the first round byt a not-that-good Chicago team, and a historically bad season in ‘08. Just like Dallas, Miami wanted success more than anything and were willing to do all it takes to get there. Even sell their sould to the Devil! Do not mess with those numbers!

Note: No way i believe those numbers bring bad luck or anything like that, at first i was going to name this post ‘the curse of the 06 nba finals’ but this might generate more traffic, right?

That looked bad. No … that looked awful really.

First I thought it was knee, then that it is his ankle and finally I realized he probably sprained (lets hope its only sprain) both. There is no doubt in my mind that this ends Dirk`s regular season and even if Dallas stays strong enough to make to the play-offs they could be without their franchise player for deciding games. Thats a huge blow and most likely is the biggest events yet to happen in this season. Basically one contender could be out. I think seeing 2nd half of tonights game and how the Spurs controlled the Mavs after Dirk went down says enough about how Dallas will look without him. In competitive West there is no way for them to come through. Is it me or does this Kidd trade look like a stupid move now?

I hope for sake of every NBA fan that this injury is less serious as it looked and Dirk will come back very soon. Until then no disco moves (video) …

I’m getting sick of the ‘annual Kobe’s great but he’s no MVP’ talk. I mean, it is obvious that it’s either him or LeBron this year, with KG, CP3, D-Will and a few others battling for a distant third. What i fail to understand is, how can anyone consider LeBron a legitimate MVP candidate after what happened two seasons ago. Remember, it was Kobe and his Lakers nearly upsetting Suns in the 1st Round of Western Conference playoffs. It was Kobe averaging 35.4 points per game. It was Kobe scoring 81 points in one game, cutting down his turnover numbers by one per game compared to season before, having two months where he averaged more than 40 points per game, only to finish fourth in MVP voting, falling behind Nash, LeBron and Dirk. My point here is, Kobe was at exactly the same spot where LeBron is right now, and he got screwed. Or maybe not. His team still only had 8 wins more than losses, similar to Cavs right now (39-30), and the players ahead of him played on better teams with stats not quite as good as his. His teammates really sucked, probably a lot more than those LeBron is playing with right now, or even the ones he had before the big trade, forcing him to take more resposibility and helping him improve his stats. Fast forward two years and you’ll see Kobe and his Lakers playing the most entertaining basketball in the league, holding the #1 seed in the West while Cleveland is battling to preserve the 3.5 games advantage they currently have over Toronto (playing without Chris Bosh for the last 20 days) for home-court advantage in the first round. In the East. Please! It’s Kobe’s turn.

Went to have a lunch with my friend the other day. He has been following NBA for few years and knows few things about it, but currently he isnt actively following it anymore so he gets most of the information directly from me when we meet here and there. Houston just lost a game and the streak was over – thats the first thing I told him. He didnt actually think that was such a big deal, but changed the topic right away when asking “Has Isiah been fired already?” Thats our “inside joke” cause we both really think (like 100% of the world minus Dolan) that this should have happened a long-long time ago. For not just answer “No, he hasnt” I made it a bit more interesting and said “Of course not – you dont fire GOOD coaches!” We both knew I was joking, so we had our laughs, but that all led to a discussion what is really good and what is bad when it comes to coaching a basketball team and who is really a good coach and who is bad.

Considering the amount of money the Knicks players get for their job one could say they should be a very good team. Well the reality is that they are not as talented as money shows, but rather overpaid due to Dolan`s habit not to be worried about the money and Isiah`s habit to use it in his own advantage and not always look for the value (quality/money). But of course they should at least be a solid team and get to the p-offs without any big problems – especially in the East. The fact itself shows that Isiah sucks … as a coach. He could be the one who percentage wise gets the least talent out of his players.

I know I am not making a huge discovery here, but the good example for a coach is Phil Jackson. And for me not for those 9 titles he has as a coach, but for the work he has done with the Lakers in post Shaq era. They have had maybe the most taleneted player in the league, but thats about it. Still Lakers has been a p-off team and has given a scare to the Suns in last 2 seasons when they really should have been erased without any problems. Think about what Phil and his staff have done with Bynum, Farmar and Odom even Kwame had his moments in previous seasons before Bynum got too good this year. Kobe has never lost a step and of course the team plays well together. Thats a quality coaching I would say.

Difference between Isiah and Phil is that when Isiah is making his players to play worse, Phil is making them play close to their potential. That makes one good and one bad coach. I mean if we would exchange Phil and Isiah between the teams in my mind Lakers would have double digit number wins less and the Knicks double digit number wins more in few years even if the players would stay the same. That could still mean that Lakers would have a better record as Knicks, but of course wouldnt change my mind about who is bad and who is good coach.

There are also coaches in grey area – like Larry Brown. He got the most out of Philly and definately the most out of Detroit`s players. What happened in NYK could be described as a disgrace, but I tend to think he never wanted to get anywhere with this team, but rather saw it as an opportunity to milk some cash from Dolan.

Point of the story? Just wanted to say that if the Knicks ever wants to get better they should start from booting the idiot running the things. Cause you can trade for good players, but bad coach still gives you such a disadvantage and always finds a way to kill all the potential. As for the Lakers … their real MVP might be sitting on the bench wearing a suit and tie when its “showtime”.

December 8th, 2001. No, that day doesn’t mark a big game in the NY Knicks history, a huge trade or anything like that. On that day, the Knicks sported a 10-9 record, not as good as expected, but hey, it was still better than .500, right? The roster probably wasn’t good enough for winning a title, but Spree, Houston, Camby, Kurt Thomas, Mark Jackson, that’s a playoff team, no doubt about it. Then, all of a sudden, Jeff Van Gandy quit his job. Next thing you know, you got two long-term underachievers in Shandon Anderson and Howard Eisley. You lose Marcus Camby and Mark Jackson and get McDyess and Frank Williams back cause your GM thinks Camby is done. Six years later he is the reigning defensive player of the year and one year after that he’s playing on an even higher level. Cool, we got McDyess, all we gotta do is wait for him to get back into form, cause, remember, his injuries were far worse than Camby’s. But then you get a new GM who has a brand new masterplan. Why wait? Let’s get rid of the knee-less guy, let’s get a hometown hero (i was cool with that then, cause the Knicks had no pulse, but i had no idea what would happen between GM and the ‘hero’) and start winning. Let’s get an expensive coach who happened to be at the right place in the right time and took advantage of the LA Lakers implosion. It just has to work, right? I mean, an old school ‘teacher’ coach that loves calling all the plays and a new-generation shoot-first, shoot-second, pass-if-you-re-falling-out-of-bounds point guard. Why wouldn’t that work? And why exactly would it work?

Then, as if that wasn’t enough, the coach gets fired, bought out, whatever. Not like he didn’t deserve it, he used 42 different starting lineups, started hometown players in away games, compared his track record with Marbury’s, had his players quit on him, as well as quitting on them himself, and still got a 18.5 million dollar settlement. Wow. Think that’s bad? He was replaced by the guy that fired him, Mr. Smile. Cause no matter what happens, Zeke will flash a smile. Good (hasn’t happened yet) or bad, Zeke has a smile on his face. I thought, once Larry Brown is gone, players that deserve minutes will get minutes, but i was a fool. How can a man that traded Trevor Ariza for Steve Francis, the definition of a wasted talent, recognize talent, even if it fell in his lap. Unless, of course, if it’s the Draft Day. But what good does drafting a Renaldo Balkman do if you won’t play him and if you’re planning to sign his clone in Jeffries? What good does drafting Channing Frye do if you trade him for Zach Randolph? Mardy Collins? David Lee? Playing guys like Lee 24 minutes one night, then 40, then 20, then 40 again, means you have no clue what you’re doing. Cause he’s not a Lee Nailon kind of guy, someone that gets off the bench, throws a couple of shots, then if he’s hot you keep playing him, otherwise he gets back to bench and sits there till the game is over. Losing Ariza hurt like hell, seeing him playing in LA and being a key piece of their puzzle makes me feel good, cause he put his misery behind him, but he could’ve done the same thing in NY, right? Losing Lee or Balkman, or both would be even worse. And unless Mr. Clueless starts playing them, why would they wanna stay?

Let’s just hope Donnie Walsh talk has some truth to it, cause EVEN the Pacers are built better than NYK. Pacers!!!

5. Lebron is on his way to 30-8-8 season. Impressive no doubt. He and Kobe are 2 hot favourites for MVP award. Well lets face it noone else really has a chance. While Kobe`s team is better, Lebron arguably has much less help. Bron`s numbers are also better and that all in all could lead for LBJ getting the award. One thing those asshole wannabe ”expert” voters should consider though is Kobe`s one sentence: “Put me in the East and lets see my numbers then!” … most likely it wont matter though as hype is doing the job. BTW I am not underestimating LeBron`s performance this year just that you cant really fairly compare those two players. 

4. 168 points in 48 minutes. Thats how much the Nuggets scored against the Sups (48 points in 1st Q). Let me pick 4 of my friends all under 2.00 cm and I swear we can hold them below that number.

3.  Miami is officially the worst team in this league. What should make my dear friend Sani “happy” is the fact that you can make a case for the Knicks being the second worst (although they have few more wins than SEA, MIN and MEM they play in much weaker Conference and those other 3 are officially rebuilding). Actually Miami is also rebuilding … so lets face it Knicksboys are the worst. Is this the rockbottom for one of the legendary teams of this league? I doubt. 

2. Can someone please explain me how is it possible that Western Conference is SOOOOOO tight? Its just crazy. Difference between 1st and 6th team is exactly 2 wins. 9th team is only 6 wins behind the leader. I feel really sorry for the team that will be left out of p-offs cause with such a record they would be in top 4 at least in the East.

1. This crazy winningstreak has reached to 22. Unreal and even more unreal if you consider the team and the roster that has done it. Houston is currently leading the West, but in my mind they are hot favourites to lose in the first round of the p-offs again (almost whoever they meet) and this current streak will probably be one of the reasons.

Well Houston fans are so bored of winning that they have to invent new ways to entertain themselves (video) … 

On lonely nights, when normal people are sleeping, and I find myself watching some “not so interesting” NBA game my mind sometimes drifts on strange things. For example last night I started to think that the Heat has probably made some world record when turning their title winning performance 2 season ago to a ” the saddest team in the league” performance this season. Yeah, I know things like this have happened before, but not when cornerstones of the team have stayed in the same place. So whats up with that sh*t?

 First of all its obvious the Heat were overachieving 2 seasons ago and riding on D-Wade`s amazing performance(s). I remember myself thinking at that point that maybe Dwyane is better than Lebron and remember myself also asking same question from my friends and getting confusing answers. So its not like I didnt take my pills at that time, but a general feeling was that D-Wade could be (or become) better than Lebron. That all changed in one shoulder popping injury in a game that had no importance what so ever. If someone would dare to question who is better now he/she would earn white shirt with long sleeves. 

Secondly, this let down was constructed and expected when Pat Riley signed (old) stars like Shaq, Walker, Payton. Those deals had no easy way out. It was a all or nothing gamble THAT PAID OFF. I think most of teams and players would rather have 1 title and 4-5 years of struggles than 0 title and 5-6 years in p-offs. So although this situation tastes like some “brown thing” right now it has been worth it. I am one of those who fully support that tactic, so I have no plans of pointing my finger at Pat for basically ruining this team. They have to start all over again, but if Wade gets healthy (that is not a small IF btw) they can build team around him to be contenders in 3-4-5 years time.

The thing that amazes me though is that in my mind Heat and Wade are good enough to even stumble on more wins that they have right now. It feels like they are tanking and have been tanking ever since Zo and Shaq got injured to get more balls in draft lottery machine. Not that I like that tactic, but right now winning doesnt even matter for the Heat.  

… and then a more interesting game started so I shook those pathetic thoughts off and fell to more cosy reality.

 Turning point for the franchise (video)

Yes, i was on a strike, if some TV writers can go on a strike over internet rights, why can’t i boycott my beloved NBA cause Baron Davis, not my favorite NBA player, was not given an All-Star berth he definitely deserved. So another All-Star weekend has passed, we’ll have a look at the most colorful memories from it, but let’s focus on B Diddy a little bit more. In his first game after the snub he goes for 29, 6 and 6 (something he can do on any given night, easily) against the best team in the NBA, hitting the game winner at the buzzer. Not an All-Star? Hmm.

Ok, that officially marks the end of my ‘Baron Davis is an All-Star’ campaign. Now let’s see what the ‘real stars’ did during the weekend.

Is there anyone in the whole world who doesn’t think ‘Dwight Howard’ when someone mentions All-Star? I’m sorry LeBron, i’m sorry Jason, i’m sorry Derron, i’m sorry Timmy and David, but unless you can fly, or at least pretend that you can fly, you are not the All-Star weekend (super)heroes. You’re not even the second best unless you can ride Gerald Green’s tailcoat and prove that the cupcake he used was your birthday cake. The game itself was fun, no doubt about that, and a definite proof that there are entertainers in the league not named Shaquille. Perhaps the biggest moment in the game was ‘Gimme My PG Back’ dunk by LeBron. Call it an act of desperation, call it demonstration of power, call it good old showing off, just don’t ignore the fact that it was LeBron James going one on four once again. No, i’m not trying to say that he’s selfish and he does that no matter who he plays with, i’m just saying that we’ll see a lot more of that as the season progresses. More as in scoring all his team’s points in the fourth and OT against the Pistons last year, unless of course he gets help today, the last day of the trading deadline, which is very unlikely.

This brings another hot topic in the NBA, the reshaping of the Western Conference. I mean, GM’s of West top teams have made more huge trades in a week than Isiah has made in 4 years. I thought that was not possible. And there just has to be one more huge deal made today. It’s just a hunch, but it just has to happen. There still are quite a few teams feeling left out of the madness. My guess is Artest to Nuggets, but who knows. Vince Carter, Zach Randolph, Andre Miller, Eddy Curry, the list goes on and on.

That was all folks. At least my comeback lasted longer than the ones of Aaron McKie and Keith Van Horn. My last words for today: Tan tanaaaa tanananaa:

I’ll try to keep this as short as possible. Not gonna grade the deals or anything, just plain facts. And they just don’t look right if you’re a Grizzlies fan. Pau has always been one of my favorite NBA players, many have dubbed him soft throughout his career, but i strongly disagree with that. But this is not about softness, this is about high draft picks (#1, #2 and #3) and how they have utilized their talent. Remember, Gasol was a #3 in 2001, and ROY the next season. He’s a legit 7 footer with great wingspan and he can bang inside using variety of post moves, as well as hit a long jumper. He’s also solid on defense, averaging nearly 2 blocks per game for his career and altering many more shots. So, it’s pretty safe to say that he hasn’t disappointed, maybe he could’ve done more, but definitely solid so far.

Let’s have a look at the new Grizzlies’ frontcourt. That’s Kwame Brown, drafted 1st in ‘01, Darko Milicic, 2nd pick in ‘03, and Stromile Swift, the 2nd player taken in ‘00 NBA draft. In Jim Carrey language, that’s Bust and Buster. And Busterer. Not necessarily in that order of course. Those three top-2 picks have 19.5 NBA seasons behind them, only three of which featured a double digit scoring average. No one ever went over 11.8 ppg (Swift in 2001/02). They have only one 30+ mpg season (Kwame in 2003/04, 30:18). Not single one of those three once hot-prospect centers ever averaged more than 7.4 rpg in a season. They totaled 1501 turnovers and 1269 blocks in 1140 career games, although they are supposed to be solid defenders and don’t have the ball in their hands too much on offense (TO numbers justify that). Grizzlies fans, i am truly sorry. You now have the dumbest frontcourt in history of basketball.

Today’s Daily Nickel will be a little bit different. I don’t even know the last night scores, and i promise not to look at them before i’m done with this. I’m still amazed of Baron Davis not getting a spot on the Western Conference All-Star roster, so let’s have a look at five possible conspiracy theories to why Diddy was left off.

5. They taught he was riding with Osama Bin Laden

It has to be the beard and the bullets, i’m sure. Well, MORONS, check out what Baron’s screencap says. Dumbass NBA coaches. Wait, BOTH Riley and Isiah Thomas are NBA coaches, meaning they voted for All-Stars. Now it makes more sense.

4. Voters have mistaken him for John E or Rudy G

We all know NBA coaches are, let’s say not smart, so all that info that was on TV these day, with all those presidential candidates pulling out of the race must have caused a confusion in their poor little minds (don’t forget that i’m basing this statement that every NBA coach is extremely stupid on a very small sample of just two). Dumbasses, he didn’t pull out of the All-Star race.

3. David Stern knew that one of the voted players wouldn’t be able to play so he left Baron Davis as a last second surprise

It still makes more sense than Baron Davis not playing.

2. Baron Davis is too good for an All-Star game

Sounds like one of those Chuck Norris Facts, but it still sounds better than ‘08 ASG without Baron.

1. Ashton Kutcher you better show up…

…cause Baron is just being Punk’d, right? Gimme a break, David West AND Brandon Roy are in the All-Star Game. Ashtoooooooooon, where areeeeeee youuuuuuuuuu? I’ll tell Demi on you if you don’t show up. Seriously, it’s not even funny.