NBA

Nobody's handing it to Miami...everyone in the East still has to go through Detroit to get to the finals.

Yeah, Webber is a "soft" player. It's like he just doesn't have that killer instinct. Sort of like Vince Carter. It is frustrating to see guys like that who just don't seem to want it bad enough.

webber is the darryl strawberry of basketball.
all the talent in the world, but something's not wired correctly in the noggin...

Word around here is that Webber's been handed eveything since he was eight or nine years old. So it might be a case where everyone's been telling him how great he is his whole life, coupled with getting upwards of $100,000 from boosters at Michigan, and then, of course, all his NBA money, he just doesn't have much left in the desire tank (like you said, Kickycan).

... Frankly, he may just be the next Shawn Kemp.

He's gonna have to hit the steakhouses to catch up to Kemp.

I think Webber really wants to be a showman more than a competitor. Nothing wrong with that -- I like a good show, too -- but it's not what wins, and it's not who should lead. Dr. J was the show when he was in Philly, but Mo Cheeks led the team. (And wasn't Moses there then, too?)

Ok, listen all:

Miami has The East wrapped up unless Shaq or D-Wade goes down. Give some credit to Haslem too, he's a key part of that team.

As for Detroit in The East. They aren't the same team they were last year. They are Rocky in Rocky IV, lost the eye of the tiger, so unless they get Apollo to train with them, and regain that eye, they will lose to The Heat in The Conference Finals, or even earlier.

The West is not that easy.

The obvious choice is The Spurs. But Duncan is iffy, and even if he does comeback healthy, Ginobli is hurting, and he is VERY IMPORTANT to The Spurs.

Then you have The Suns. They have Nash, who has never played well in the playoffs, Stoudemire, who can do nothing but dunk, Marion, who is streaky in a very bad way, and Q-Richardson, who I am not sure of.

You also have Seattle, but I don't have to tell you why they won't win anything.

So with all those question marks, who is left? The Dallas Mavericks. They are much improved on Defense, and have 2 good young players in Howard and Daniels. They also have the deepest team when healthy; They have Van Horn and Stackhouse coming off the bench, oh my. Then they bring one of the best all around players in the league with Dirk, and a firey leader with Michael Finley, and now Avery Johnson. Avery is gonna be the key to them winning in the playoffs.


With all that, I think it will come down to Dallas and Spurs in West, and Miami in East.

Also, Webber is much better than Kemp. Kemp was a dunker, Stoudemire style. Webber has a small amount of outside range, and he is an amazing passer. It isn't easy playing with AI, rhythm is hard to find. He is shooting 30 something percent with The SIxers, because AI prevents him from finding his rhythm. They will get it together though, eventually.

Aaaah, I was wondering when the Jedi Master of B-ball Predictions was gonna show up. I'll be sure to put all my money on the Heat then.

To get there, I didn't say they were gonna beat The West...I'm still thinking about that one..

For those who missed it, and don't know what Kicky is talking about, check this out:

Last Years Picks

What Kicky says after my picks is classic.

Yeah...wearing that loaded diaper was hellish at first, but then, after a little while, I began to actually enjoy the squishiness of it.

It's actually Rocky III you're thinking of, but I agree. With the Pistons, it's all about effort. Their whole persona last season (and really the past three seasons) was that they were willing to outwork everybody. This year, they seem to show up about 40% of the time.

But there's two ways to look at that. That is, if I'm right, the whole "flip the switch" philosophy becomes plausible: they're coasting through the regular season knowing come playoff time, they can get it in gear and run the table. That's the only reason I'd advise people not to write them off.

Having said that, saying they "can" flip the switch and saying they "will" flip the switch are two different things. Add on the fact Larry Brown is in the news lately, saying it's still a possibility he'll not coach at all this season, let alone return for next year. I'll say this much: without Brown, they won't make it past the second round.

Gettin' all psyched for my favorite time of year...here's where we stand right now.



Man, I hope Philly can get past Indiana, so they don't have to meet Shaq and the boy wonder in the first round.

We're thinking the Bulls will pull into 4th before the season ends.

I knew it was Rocky III, I just typed in IV while thinking III.

I hope the Bulls win a playoff series.

Celtics are killing me. I was at the game tonight.

And Antoine is playing like a retarded brain amputee victim.

36/9/5 Dirk pooned their asses.

Yes he did. He's got an unreal shot.

And they pooned themselves too.

Former All-Star Kemp arrested

SEATTLE (AP) -- Former NBA star Shawn Kemp and another man were arrested early Monday after officers found what appeared to be marijuana and cocaine in a pickup truck owned by one of the men, authorities said.

Kemp was being held for investigation of drug possession and is due in court Tuesday, King County Jail spokesman Troy Bacon said.

The county sheriff's office said the arrest happened in suburban Shoreline after an officer smelled marijuana while talking to two men standing by a pickup in a parking lot.

After receiving permission from the vehicle's owner to search the truck, the officer found what appeared to be a small amount of cocaine, about 60 grams of marijuana and a semiautomatic pistol, the sheriff's office said.
(article)

Don't look now, but the champs have won ten straight.