Reefer Madness here, checking in with a quick look at game four of the NBA Finals which goes tonight in Orlando. The Magic are looking to even up the series that many people thought (including myself) they didn’t stand a chance in, but so far they have proven to be the better team, aside from game one, despite trailing in the series. The first game the Magic looked overwhelmed by the whole finals atmosphere and got spanked by the Lakers’ experience, they are only one Courtney Lee alley-oop layup away from winning game two and leading the series. They are a team that lives by the jumper and dies by the jumper, and after setting NBA finals shooting records in game three they only won by four points. I do not think they will be able to repeat anywhere near the same type of shooting performance, but if they realize it early and start feeding the ball down low to the beast that is Dwight Howard he could put them on his Superman-esce shoulders and get it done. The Lakers have done well in limiting Howard’s offensive contributions, but you can only hold him down for so long, with a lower shooting percentage comes more offensive rebound opportunities for D12 and he will have his best game of the finals for sure, but will it be enough? I know if GOAT were here (and we all wish he were) he would be all over his boy Dwight tonight, but he’s not, so I hate to break it to you all but it’s not going to happen for you tonight. Kobe won’t allow it.

Game three was a bust for Kobe and he knows it. He shot only 50% from the free throw line, and talked about letting his team down after the game. Kobe has come a long way since his last championships with Shaq, he has matured both on and off the court into a more complete player and person. He is still grumpy as hell though when he doesn’t win. I expect him to have a dominant performance tonight to makeup for leaving more than the margin of victory at the charity stripe last game. That doesn’t necissarily mean dropping 40+ points anymore, but it might. Kobe has shown more trust in his teammates all season long than ever before in his career and has become a leader on the court. He will look to get everyone involved early and then look to take over down the stretch, and when the Magic throw everything but the kitchen sink at him he won’t be afraid to look for guys like Fisher or Ariza to make a big shot.

Key for me tonight is the Lakers’ energy off the bench, if Lamar Odom comes ready to play and gets his fair share of rebounds to keep Howard away from the offensive glass then I think the Lakers will take the win. If the Magic are able to get Howard involved early and often on the offensive end that is their best chance at winning. I don’t see them shooting 62.5% from the floor again so I don’t see them winning this game. I am picking the Lakers tonight 102-98.

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View discretion is advised.

Kobe and Artest: The ‘Lost’ Trash Talk from The Basketball Jones on Vimeo.

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So if you are an eligible Brit living in the US and have no shot of ever playing basketball at a competitive level… go by yourself a plane ticket cause you may have a shot.

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Yup, you read correctly… 6 TIMES in one play. Someone needs to nail down Corey Maggette’s shoes, that man has faster feet then Muhammad Ali!  If you think this is a one time thing, check out the video after the jump (pretty old and sketchy) but clearly shows Dan Majerle  takes about 8 steps in a PLAYOFF game back in the day!

This is a good one for the GoatDiesel comments:

Do you think the NBA needs to crack down a bit on it’s loose footed players?

Thanks to @ajv for the tip on this ridiculous video.

Peace!

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Tonight we are going to start with the Lakers/Raptors game and see how it works out. Make sure you post your comments on the game as you watch it as well and feel free to let me know how terrible I am doing at this new venture too. It won’t be a play by play but more of a every 2-5 minute update about the nuances of the game. From the feel on the court, to the way certain players are playing and of course some recaps of big plays.  Come back at 7pm ET tonight and add GoatDiesel on TWITTER as a friend.

 Tonight you MAY have to refresh your page every few minutes, as we are just getting adjusted to this as well.

See you at 7pm.

Peace!

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1/4 Man, 1/4 Beast, 1/2 Superhuman

Let’s be honest, it’s JUST too easy for this guy!  Blessed with a body from greek mythology, the smile of 5 year old kid about to steal some cookies and the althletic ability of well, a superhuman. It’s hard to believe there is anything Dwight won’t be able to achieve while in the NBA.  Except maybe a 6th Man of the Year or Most Improved Player award.

Less than a month from his first career triple double (a nasty one at that: 30pts, 18rebs and 10 blocks). D12 hasn’t slowed down and the scary part is, he seems to be getting better.  I haven’t seen lines in box scores like this since another overgrown manchild donned a blue and white  jersey with Magic across the front.  The difference between the two great centres in my mind, Shaq used his dominant size and undying hunger to eat rims and beast his way to massive box scores.  While Howard uses a more fast paced, high flying, did you just fuc… see that approach to his game.

I think the difference in the end will be, while Shaq’s body eventually broke down carrying his massive size around and his pound, pound, pound attitude on the court. For Dwight, I think it will be how long can he continue to turn off a pick, jump through the roof and throw any ball lobbed in his general direction through the rim on his way down. I do believe his penchant for rebound will always be there, his timing on blocks is a inate ability, so as long as his superhuman ability to leap only decreases to human or above average human, he should continue to dominate. Don’t get me wrong, Shaq is a beast, in my opinion one of the 5 best centres ever and he’s having a great season this year.  But for me, I think D12 represents the new breed of Shaq if you will.

Like the NBA Shaq first played in compared to the NBA they both play in now. D12 is leaner, faster and more high flying than Shaq was.  When Dwight ends career will we still be able to compare the two? Will he be in the top 50 players of all time?  Who knows, I would be crazy to make that claim but he does have the tools and time on his side (He’s 23 in his 5th year).  Can he even come close to touching Shaq’s legacy of 4 championships?  Again, who knows? If he was put in a position with players like Kobe and Dwyane Wade it is almost a given.  The only thing I do know is the man is a freak of nature, a hell a lot of fun to watch, a great person and someone to keep your eye on.

Peace!

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Sam Mitchell in his classic 4th quarter pose.

Salutations,

I apologize if I cannot hide my glee as I type these words but ITS ABOUT TIME. For those of you living under a rock or just not interested in Toronto sports, Toronto’s “other” team has finally severed ties with what felt like a 20 pound anvil tied to the ankles of the players and organization for the past two seasons.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not a Sam Mitchell hater. I really think he was a great motivator, player developer (if you’re not in his doghouse, see: Joey Graham) and team guy. But when it came to X’s and O’s, I don’t think there was a worse coach employed in the NBA. I only have some mid-level basketball experience and A LOT of basketball watching experience but I can say with complete confidence that I could out coach Sam in the last 5 seconds of any game. And let’s be serious, would you ever let a player score 81 on you? Sam just sat there with his usual “Oh well, here’s another loss” look with his hand rubbing his brow. I have an idea, don’t let Kobe isolate his defender, double team him or even FOUL him hard enough to make him think pass on his next wide open drive to the tin. But I digress, the past is the past, so let’s move on.

If you haven’t guessed by now I am a maple syrup drinking, beer chugging Torontonian. So it brings me great pleasure that we not only have a new coach but one of my favourite coaches, Jay Triano. I will never forget when he took team Canada to a 5 and 2 record at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. Of course you can say this team had the services of back to back MVP Steve Nash but unless you’re Canadian or lived in Dallas in 2000, you probably hadn’t seen Nash much. And unless you went to highschool with anyone else on this squad you had never heard of these guys before or after. It came down to coaching. Triano had these guys believing they COULD win and he gave them the right system to do it. For Triano to turn this Titanic away from the iceberg I think he only has to tweak a few things.

First off, play your $5M dollar man (Kapono) A LOT more and when he does play, MAKE SURE HE ONLY SHOOTS. Show him some tapes of Dell Curry rocking that fade and jacking J’s in his purple dino jersey. He had no problem collecting cheques by shooting and pretending to play defence, why do you? You’re the greatest shooter in the world (sorry Damon Jones), dont try to be a slasher or a distributer…SHOOT!!!

Which brings me to Jamario Moon, talk about playing to your contract? Maybe he has a fear of 7 digits? Or the rim? It was only 12 months ago, Moon was slapping gravity in the face with his fuzzy walnuts on the way to the rim.  He had people believing he could take off from a solid foot behind the chairty stripe. Now, he settles for his awkward J not even near the key, he doesn’t rebound well, he take DUMB fouls and it doesnt look like he cares. He needs to start attacking the rim or take over Joey’s spot on the pine because Kapono can at least shoot.

And last but not least, BALL MOVEMENT!!! I am lucky enough to have season tickets to the Raps, so I get to see first hand what ball movement can do. I say this because on TV it’s hard to get a grasp of how confused other teams are without hearing them yelling at each other when the Raps get into one of their ball movement grooves. There have been SOME glimpses that this year, 4 or 5 nice passes around the perimeter for an open J or to the open man inside for an easy deuce. Don’t get me wrong, Chris Bosh is and ANIMAL this year and derserves all the accolades and hype he is FINALLY receiving. He also deserves to not to settle for that 18 footer he is forced to take so often. Of course we can’t blame Mitchell for that totally but with more focus on ball movement and hustling it,will be a lot harder for Bosh to settle for that jumper when he’s trying to whizz the ball around to Parker or Kapono for a wide open trey.

At the beginning of the season I was thinking 45+ wins for this team, when J.O went down I was thinking 41 MAX. A lot of this just had to do with Smitch’s inability to utilize players properly and to put his pride aside when it came down to making the right decision. Now that he is gone with some tweaking to the system and maybe a minor trade, we can be top 5 in the East.

In closing I would like to say “So long Sam, thanks for memories”! (well most of them) and congratulations Jay make us proud. Now hopefully I won’t have to spend my days defending how a team can get blown out by 39 points, blowing a 13+ point lead late in the game or watching VC dunk my Friday night down the crapper.

Peace!

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