NBA Trash Talk: American Psycho; Don't Kill My Vibe; By Oden's Beard

Carmelo suspended one game for waiting for Kevin Garnett at the Celtics team bus?  Yeah, there's no way I'm disagreeing with the NBA on this one, there's just no real way of legitimizing it.  It's not that Melo deserved the suspension because there was a 'confrontation', because as far as the reports show, no hands were thrown.  The reason the suspension is valid is because, if you let a player get into your head to the point you wanna fight him after the game, maybe you need to take a break from playing for a while.
Thing about KG, he's a guaranteed first ballot NBA HOFer.  And also, he will go down in history as one of the greatest trash talkers in the history of sports.  Taunting Charlie Villanueva by calling him 'cancer patient' is not below his standards.  Physically, his game is just as grimey as his speech.  From punching Chandler Frye in the balls to the discrete forearm shiver to Tyler Hansborough's orbital bone last week, there's more than enough evidence to reveal Garnett's obvious propensity for on-court psychotic fits of rage.  Carmelo was trying to show that he's not a bitch, and all that KG tough shit looks and sounds good on the court, but don't mean shit in the real world.  I get where you're coming from Melo.  But on the NBA premises, you will always lose.  In this case, Carmelo let KG beat him twice.  KG succesfully took you out of your game (not to mention some surprising lockdown D by Jeff Green) and you shot 6-for-26 while phasing out your teammates and it was ultimatlely the reason the Knicks lost the game.  And now your team has to play without you in the next one.

Ya wife told me you have a little dick nigga!

There are few things in the NBA I enjoy more than when Kobe Bryant goes into full-on Kobe Mode.  This is the point in the game where Kobe feels like his teammates' intensity is lacking, and it's up to him to be the hero and pull out the win for the Lakers.  As a result, basketball fans get to witness the entire Kobe Bryant offensive repertoire.  You don't know how he's gonna score next: circus layup, miraculous fadeaway, 5-feet behind the line 3-pointer.  But we all know one thing is for certain; he's not passing it no one, no matter what.

Here; give this to Kobe.  I'mma go box out.

It's being reported that former college basketball National Player of the Year and No. 1 overall pick Greg Oden is rehabing his re-surgically repaired knee and plans to make a return to the NBA.  The team being reportedly interested in him is the Miami Heat.  If this were to go down, there isn't a better possible thing for Oden to come out of destroying every possible ligament in your knee after being drafted by the Portland Trail Blazers and before playing 100 games in about a 5-year span.  Oden will get to rehab in Miami, which in itself needs no more further explanation.  And he'll get to come off the bench/sit on the bench and have a high-percentage chance of winning a championship ala Juwan Howard.  At the very least/best, Oden could provide the same amount of impact as Joel Anthony or Dexter Pittman.  Meanwhile, Kevin Durant has all the pressure on him to lead OKC to a championship, and he was the No. 2 overall pick that year.  Now that's what I call coming out on top.

Oden in early rehab for is imminent return to the NBA.

Bad Week . . .

Any Melo could be a scapegoat this week.

If you play basketball and your name is 'Melo', then you're probably having a bad week.  The New York Knicks have lost six-straight games after playing pretty well when Carmelo Anthony was injured.  Now he's back and the Knicks look like they have some big time chemistry issues to deal with.  Anthony could barely get a touch late in the 4th quarter in the 104-99 loss to the Chicago Bulls March 12th, though he did manage to put up a team-high 21 shots, connecting on only eight of them . . . Fab Melo might've ended any shot Syracuse had to win its first National Championship since 2003, when Carmelo Anthony himself played there.  The sophomore center from Brazil has been ruled out for the entire NCAA Tournament for academic reasons.  Melo sat out three games earlier this season for not hitting the books hard enough and the Orange lost their only game of the regular season during that stretch (they were 30-1 entering the Big East Tournament).  Now Syracuse enters the Big Dance without Melo's 2.93 blocks per game, and removes another big man from team that already struggles on the defensive boards.

Throwbackz: LeBron vs. Melo

Magic vs. Bird 2.2

They were supposed to be the Bird and Magic of our era but it hasn't been that way.  LeBron brought one Cleveland Cavaliers team to the Finals and Melo never did with the Denver Nuggets in the first seven years of their respective careers.  Larry's Celtics and Earvin's Lakers met twice in the Finals in the first seven years of their careers, and for a third time in 1987.  Its an unfair comparison, I know, because those 80s Boston and L.A. teams were stacked with hall-of-famers and legendary role players (if being a "role player" can be considered legendary) up and down the rosters.  For James and Anthony, they really haven't played with any HOFers (unless you want to count Melo playing with an aging-but-still-good-for-20-points/shot attempts-a-night Allen Iverson or LeBron with the "Big Fossil" Shaquille O'Neal) to make their matchups significant, entertaining, or even a little bit memorable.  But all of that changes on Sunday when the New York Knicks and the Miami Heat play for the first time since the Melo trade and the Decision have made New York and Miami relevent in the Eastern Conference again.  Melo has been the buzz of the NBA for a good three months now with all the speculation of him being traded by the Denver Nuggets before the trade deadline.  Before that, it was all LeBron and the Miami Heat anybody wanted to talk about.  Both players are extremely popular and if you were a GM wouldn't mind building a team around either guy.  However the one glaring difference between these two guys is the image that NBA fans have of them.  Melo is still loved just about everywhere while LeBron is feeling the full effects of the villain treatment, booed basically everytime he touches the ball at opposing arenas.  If I said I saw this coming years ago you wouldn't believe me, but let me take you back to the high school days to illustrate the difference in personalities.  A friend of mine attended the famed first ever matchup between LeBron and Melo back in 2002 and gave me a little insight.  In case you weren't aware, that year 'Bron was rated the number one junior in the country at St. Vincent-St. Mary in Akron, OH and Carmelo was rated the top senior playing for powerhouse Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, VA).  If you haven't seen the highlights, then you're probably not really a basketball fan.   If you have seen them, then you know they never get old.

Oak Hill won 72-66, and they should have because they had alot more talent than the S.V.-S.M. team that LeBron carried.  Melo dropped a cool 34 and had 11 boards.  James had an ill stat line: 36 points, eight rebounds, five assists, and six steals.  The numbers predicted how versatile a player LeBron would become on the court in the NBA but something before the game occurred that the cameras didn't catch that may be telling of how LeBron is perceived off of the court.  My friend attended the game and told me it didn't feel like a high school game; the game was played at Soverign Bank Arena in Trenton, NJ which seats 8,500, and arguabally the two best players in the NBA at that time, Shaq and A.I. (kinda funny right?), were in attendance.  But it is what my friend told me about what took place before the game that stands out for me the most.  He told me that before the game Melo was signing autographs and taking pictures with kids and that LeBron declined to do any of that.  LeBron as a junior in high school, 16 years old, and its too much for him to sign an autograph?  This could mean one of two things:  (a) He was so focused and committed to the upcoming game that he didn't want any distractions or (b) he is and has been very full of himself and his personal celebrity.  He's a great player no doubt, probably the most physically gifted human to ever touch a basketball.  But I guess he's just never been able to tone down the ego a few notches.  If that's what makes him go than he should keep doing it, because either way, LeBron being loved or a villain, its good for the NBA.  He says he doesn't mind getting booed, but if he does, then I bet he really regrets not taking those pictures and signing autographs for those kids because LeBron knows what karma is . . . As far as Melo goes, his positive karma brought him a National Championship in one year at Syracuse and now a big contract with the Knicks, and a reality show to boot for himself and his wife LaLa.  Melo definitely brings the swagger to New York that the Knicks have been missing since John Starks played for them.  The Knicks and the Heat were rivals at one point too with some classic playoff battles, and the unforgettable fight that ended with Jeff Van Gundy wrapped around Alonzo Mourning's leg! 

Might not see any of that but the court will be filled with very good talent from Dwyane Wade, Amar'e Stoudemire, Chris Bosh, and Chauncey Billups as well as LeBron and Carmelo. 

Throwbackz: NBA On TV

Hold it down, Walton! Hold it downnn!

No offense to Tommy Heinsohn, a Boston Celtic's legend as a player and a broadcaster, but I'll take Bill Walton's color commentary over Tommy's any day of the week.  Let's face it; Tommy's analysis of basketball has been reduced to saying the C's have to "pound it inside" or "get to the rim" on offense, and on defense he always says the Celtics have to "stay infront of their man".  Other than that, he has become legendary now for complaining about the refereeing.  And as we all know, hearing someone who complains about the refs all the time never gets old . . . Anyway, it was definitely a treat having Walton call the game against the Portland Blazers (is the "Trail" still there? or is it just "Blazers" now?) on Thursday and the Phoenix Suns last night.  I love the lyrical verbiage and colloquialisms that come from his mouth.  For a guy that used to stutter, Walton is a wordsmith, a man that can watch a play and describe it as if he were breaking down the differences between Beethoven and Mozart.  Further, and maybe most unique about Walton, is his propensity to say random and oft outrageous thoughts and theories that are usually shared by nobody, especially no one else in the broadcasting world.  My fave from Thursday night was when Celtics big man Semih Erden came out of the game and lead commentator Mike Gorman pointed out that coach Doc Rivers was telling Semih that he should've dove for the loose ball on the last possession.  Bill replies, "If you're so far out of the play that you have to dive for it, wait, and make up for it the next time down."  Gotta love it!

The New York Knicks are becoming relevant again and with the success comes the celebrities in the stands for the big games.  We always see Spike Lee and Jerry Seinfeld, but this year has inspired many a star with New York roots to show out with confidence in the team.  One of those stars is Brooklyn native Tracy Morgan.  Now if you don't know Tracy, a stand-up comic-turned-actor who loves to adlib, he has a way of saying things that, maybe in his mind were O.K., but when they come out of his mouth, you're either gonna be terrified he just said that, or laugh hysterically.  The clip explains itself.

The best way to stop Kobe . . .

Basketball players can't fight.  It's been a known fact for years now and last night's tussle between New York Knicks forward Shawne Williams and Atlanta Hawks forward Marvin Williams proved it once again.  You would think that those type of athletes with the physiques they have would be able to handle their own and scrap a little if push came to shove but we just haven't seen it.  Chris Childs stealing on Kobe comes to mind.  Alonzo Mourning getting into it with the Knicks in the late '90s.  Only basketball dude to really get a clean punch in a fight was when Kermit Washington broke Rudy Tomjanovich's jaw in the '70s, and that was a straight up cheap shot.  Oh, and Stephen Jackson did f*ck that dude up in the stands in the Ron Artest/Palace at Auburn Hills Melee.  Shawne and Marvin Williams (not to be confused with Shawn and Marlon Wayans) last night, could've been alot worse.  They could've actually landed some punches, Houston Texans Andre Johnson-style and did some real damage but, they are basketball players.  Forget throwing hands guys, just stick to the pushing and shoving and face-to-face stare downs . . . and punching guys in the balls when they go up for jumpers.