'NBA Trash Talk: Speaking in Tongues; Passive-Agressive; No Country for Old Men; Kriss Kross, and More'

Dirk finally back, and finally producing going forward hopefully? He had 19 points today which is huge since he's basically been scoring a little bit more than Dominique Jones and Rodrigue Beaubois since his return from knee surgery some time a couple weeks ago. They lost to the Heat but it looks like some of his swagger is coming back. Shiiit, even seen him do that litte retarded sideways tongue thing, which is inspiring.

I'm back bitches!

Jose Calderon 0 points and 13 assists today and Kyle Lowry also had 0 points but nine assists. Terrence Ross dropped a career-high 26 points and Amir Johnson had 17 points seven boards. Ed Davis had a good game too, and Landry Fields is back. Could this make Toronto relevant again? And by relevant I mean...aw fuck, I forgot what I was gonna say.

Baby, I just wanna hold you and never let go.

When is this Will Bynum and Rodney Stuckey flip-flop gonna end? I mean, it's really not that difficult Lawrence Frank; put Kyle Singler's ass on the bench until he starts producing and start Stuckey while finding ways to get Bynum the basketball more. I know you don't want to disrupt team chemistry and blah-blah but fuck that. You're not making the playoffs. At least let the fans see the best available players play the most significant amount of minutes.

I don't care if he's 1-for-13 Rodney, he hasn't played 30 minutes yet.

Avery Bradley came back today. I would say his stat line but it's not really important. The Celtics suck ass right now and it's really very frustrating. Two HOFers and Rajon Rondo but no type of inside game whatsoever outside of Jared Sullinger. Brandon Bass looks lost on this roster. Jeff Green can play a little, but that's only on offense. Any big man that faces the C's imposes their will on them. Case in point: Joakim Noah and DeMarcus Cousins each have triple-doubles this year. Both games have come against Boston. I won't say anymore, this rant will take forever.

But Doc, I ain't played center since the 5th grade!

It's not the end of the world that the Clippers have lost two games in a row guys, they're just looking at the monstrous margin they've built between themselves and the Western Conference (with the exception of San Antonio) and saying, "mane, we can coast most nights" and they're probably right. They got spanked on the road by the Warriors, who have 16-year old guards Steph Curry and Klay Thompson. Ain't nobody got time for chasing them young boys up and down the court all night. Especially when you have a "Look Who's On Top Now?" game coming up on Friday against the Lakers.

We finna play y'all in 5 days.  Yup, me and Klay.

It's finally been confirmed today that D.J. Augustin is in fact alive and well and does stil participate in the National Basketball Association. Augustin, who had so many dazzling plays when he was the University of Texas point guard that no one thought he would turn out worse than T.J. Ford or Daniel Gibson (at least Boobie fuckin Keyshia Cole though), but has in fact found himself to on the path to the D-League, a place where neither of the two aformentioned preceding Longhorn point men have ever achieved. Luckily, George Hill got hurt and Augustin has been seeing starters minutes and actually producing. 18 points, 6 dimes, and 4 boards sounds like what we would expect him to average on a nightly basis, but for now it will suffice as some sort of a pulse that Augustin isn't dead in this league just yet.

Mane...y'all niggas all in shape and shit.

Which brings us to Jameer Nelson and the ongoing Yahoo! Fantasy Basketball saga for yours truly. You see, Nelson is one of those guys that will either have an 8 point-8 turnover game, or a drop 30 with 5 three's, or tweak his ankle and miss four games in a row. On this particular night, Yahoo!, who uses Rotoworld.com reports, still had him with the "injured" icon, yet he played and had 32 freakin points...from my bench of course. Look, I know it's my fault: I should've checked his injury status 5 minutes before the game started, but Jesus H. Christ, can they find a way that you can check a box for a player to start if he's going to be available to play, and as soon as they receive notification, it swaps him for the scrubby utility guy (in this case, Carlos Delfino, who lit up for 2 whole points) of your liking? It's 2013. Get on this guys.

Damn, shoelaces fucked up...I ain't playin' to somebody fix this shit.

8 Things To Watch For Now That The NBA Lockout Is Over

1 - Will LeBron, Wade, Bosh, make the Finals again?

The Heatles have one year under their belt together and should put together a sound round through the Eastern conference on the way to the Finals.  Atleast that is what the talent of the roster indicates.  Pressure is on LeBron James again to see what he can do down the stretch.  I'm not sure his career/legacy can take another 4th quarter late playoff meltdown/disappearance.

2 - Chris Paul, Dwight Howard on the move?

King James can't afford another 4th quarter playoff letdown.

This was originally fifth on my list of things to watch for before the events of this past week transpired, with Paul almost becoming a Los Angeles Laker and Howard seemingly on the cusp of becoming a New Jersey Net.  It's going to be interesting to see now how the league handles CP3 and the league-run New Orleans Hornets.  Paul may have to just become a free-agent as it will be difficult for teams to propose a trade for him without other league owners having a problem with it and urging commissioner David Stern to step in once again.

3 - Can Kobe be a good teammate without Phil Jackson as coach?

Mike Brown is the old coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers and the new coach of the L.A. Lakers.  So this means he is going from coaching LeBron to coaching Kobe Bryant.  If Brown couldn't really check Bron's ego, what the hell is he gonna do when Kobe starts throwing up 30 shots a game?  It will be something to watch to see how coach Mike handles that yearly slide that the Lakers always go through, when they're losing to teams they shouldn't lose to and people act like the world is coming to an end.

4 - What rookie will take the NBA by storm?

It's happened for a good four straight years now where a rookie has hit the scene and looked like a future dominating presence in the NBA (see John Wall, Derrick Rose, Blake Griffin, and Kevin Durant).  It's been a while since we've seen these guys because of the lockout but write me down for Minnesota Timberwolves forward Derrick Williams and Sacramento Kings guard Jimmer Fredette as the top two rooks to have big impacts.

This might be the last chance for the 'Big 3' to get that second ring.

5 - Boston Celtics 'Big 3' final run?

When Boston Celtics general manager Danny Ainge put together the team that would eventually win the 2007-08 NBA Championship in its first year together, most basketball fans found it likely that this team probably could win a minimum of two rings barring any major injuries.  But of course, sports are sports and injuries do happen.  Kevin Garnett went down with a knee injury the following year and really gave the C's no chance of repeating.  The 2009-10 squad made it back to the Finals, only to squander a 3-2 series lead at the hand of the rival Lakers.  Last year, most Celtics fans would blame Ainge for the team not making the Finals, as long time center Kendrick Perkins was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder late in the season, effectively destroying the team chemistry and morale.  But Boston still has K.G. (age 35) along with Paul Pierce (34) and Ray Allen (36), but the window of oppurtunity for that second 'chip keeps getting smaller.

Dirk is the reigning NBA 'baddest man in the clutch'.

6 - Can Dirk establish himself as one of the greatest players of all time?

Dirk Nowitzki led the Dallas Mavericks to the franchise's first championship ever last year while running through the Western Confrence and the likes of Kevin Durant and Kobe Bryant and stunning the star-studded Miami Heat in the Finals.  This was no doubt one of the best individual playoff runs in NBA history, as the Mavs were not anyone's favorite to win the title before Dirk began his unconscious tear.  Can Nowitzki repeat this type of playoff performance in 2012, with the target of 'baddest man in the clutch' squarely on his back?

7 - Short season to benefit veteran teams or young teams?

You would think that this short season would help the veteran teams because logically they already have chemistry playing together, but I'm not so sure.  Sometimes it takes the older guys some time to get things rolling, it's only 16 less games, yeah, but those games definitely could effect where teams are seeded when playoff time comes.

8 - Blake Griffin?

What do I really have to say here?  It's Blake Griffin folks!

Look out below!!!