Hornets Hype

Like every other sports pundit in the world, it seems, the TNT crew was talking last week about the Summer of 2010 (say it twenty-ten and hear Bryan Adams). Barkley, speaking his mind, as always, called out LeBron. He said he was disrespecting his teammates by even entertaining talk about his free agency two years away. He wondered aloud what his current teammates must be thinking. Barkley reiterated this stance last Wednesday on the radio, saying:

“If I was LeBron James, I would shut the hell up. I’m a big LeBron fan. He’s a stud. You gotta give him his props. I’m getting so annoyed he’s talking about what he’s going to do in two years. I think it’s disrespectful to the game. I think it’s disrespectful to the Cavaliers.

LeBron, clearly, could care less. Instead of saying anything about his teammates or the next two years he is under contract, instead responded: “[Barkley]’s stupid. That’s all I’ve got to say about that.” Wow. Inspiring. But who knows, maybe Bill Simmons is right, when he posited his pet conspiracy theory:

Team LeBron is making everyone think they have a chance at LeBron in 2010 so multiple teams clear cap space and weaken themselves competitively in the short-term (like Detroit did) … which inadvertently gives Bron a better chance to win a title over these next two years!

Maybe. Who knows? But that’s the point, no one knows. It is the future. Why aren’t we focused on the great basketball being played now? The moves that might be made now? In the same vein, why hasn’t Stern stepped in? Is he just so happy that people are constantly talking NBA that he doesn’t even care about the game itself? Is he that invested in global marketing and bottom line concerns that he doesn’t even care about the game? Is that crazy or is that possible? One thing’s for sure, it’s something the media just can’t let go of.

Case in point, today’s NBA Home Page on ESPN is “The Cap Deals,” focusing on the contracts of Bibby, Odom, and Kidd. I get that financial realities are things GMs are concerned with; and because that’s real, the media has a legitimate concern with it. And at least these are all contracts that expires this year. But it doesn’t take long for the article to get to 2010. Sure, this is just one day, but now a days, it’s hard to go to an NBA web page and not find a reference to the summer of 2010. It’s lame.

Thus, I propose the Barkley Corollary: if LeBron should shut the hell up about 2010, so should everyone else. Only the GMs know their long term strategies, and they don’t like to talk about those things. Ask Jeff Bower. The man never gives a straight answer on personnel moves. Nor should he. So the rest of us, who can supply absolutely no facts, should shut the hell up about it.

The present is full of good basketball. That’s what I’ll concern myself with.

Okay.  Seriously.  We’re 10 or so games into the 2008 basketball season, and the most significant headlines are still on the summer of 2010.  Would I like to see Bosh and Wade join CP, sure?  Do I really care now?  No.  That’s Jeff Bower’s job.  And trust me folks, he has his eyes on the situation.  So, you know, I’m just sick of it.  There is a lot of good basketball out there being played now, and maybe we should all focus on that.

Which brings me to my second point about this whole situation.  I got DeShawn Stevenson’s back: Lebron is overrated.  (Author waves his hand in front of his face.)  To tank your next two seasons, as apparently the Knicks are willing to do, is retarded.  So Lebron can explode to the hole and dunk so hard that he almost breaks his wrist.  Woo.  Let me give him $30 mil a year for that.  So he’s freakishly big and fast.   Woo.  You know what James really reminds me of?  Anyone ever see that stupid pseudo-basketball game they play on trampolines, and the dudes just bounce around and jam it hard by coming down to the rim?  Yup.  That’s “_____ James.”  He can score at will.  He can pull his team through the Leastern Conference to the Playoffs.  Let me fall out of my seat.  Just one thing, this is a team sport.  You need to make your teammates better to win.  Lebron doesn’t do that. Instead of focusing on winning in Cleveland, how many of his teammates are thinking who cares what we do now, or how well we gel, or learn our schemes, because this guy is gone after 2010.  And he allows that distraction to go on to the detriment of his team because he likes the media glory.  He likes being called “_______.”

Now, you may be asking yourself, why does this guy keep putting blanks in his post.  It’s this, why the hell do people call him King James?  What does he rule other than marketing revenue? Which, when you think of it, is a self-perpetuating delusion: he’s them most marketable because everyone thinks he’s the best because he’s marketed as the best so we say he’s the best, etc.  But what does he really rule?  The NBA?  Right.  Show me a ring.  College?  Nope, didn’t go.  Oh, right, he was great in high school.  Yeah, so was Shaq, and everyone laughed at him when he said he’d won at every level other than college or pros.  Of course, Shaq shut them all up and got a ring or four.  But “King James”?  Please.

I’ve done a little poking around at titles of nobility.  And I don’t think he measures up to a King.  I considered Duke, but that brings up memories of Hunter S. Thompson, and so that’s way too good for him.  There are already guys in the League with names of Earl, Baron, and Marquis, and that would just be confusing . So I guess we should go with Viscount (pronounced vye-count).  You heard it here first, “Viscount James.”

You want to drool over him in 2010?  Go for it.  But after watching the Olympic games this past summer I honestly wasn’t impressed with James.  He always slowed down ball movement and made us more predictable.  Honestly, it was the CP, Wade, Bosh-driven second unit that impressed me most.  So if you want to put people in seats, feel free to chase VJ.  But if you want a championship, I’d look elsewhere.  Like New Orleans.  And Chris Paul.  You go for the crown, Viscount.  We’ll go for the rings.

Yeah, yeah, the Hornets won tonight.  They looked great, etc., etc.  Whatever, they played the Boomers.  And if they don’t win by 20 again tomorrow night I’ll hurl.  Let’s talk about basketball in general.  Ryan Bowen.  A great man.  Works his ass off, even though he hasn’t even dressed for several games this year.  He finally got some time tonight and looked stellar.  Point?  He makes a little over a million a year.  Quite a bargain, relatively speaking.  But, now, imagine if at practice he told Byron he didn’t feel like playing that night.  Nope.  He would rather sit out.  Coach Scott would punch him in the face and tell Bower to trade him the next day.  For a million a year.

Stephon Marbury, of the New York Knickerbockers, makes over TWENTY million a year.  Dude, I don’t even know what that means. It’s a lot.  If you really do the math, any one of us could live on that much money alone ($20 mil) for the rest of our life, and just live off the interest, forgetting the principal.  So this bastard, who just happened to make this much in ONE YEAR, told his coach he didn’t feel like playing tonight.  If I was D’Antoni, I would tell him that’s “Conduct Detrimental to the Team” and suspend his ass without pay.  Who gets paid for not working?  Also, just to clarify, I grew up in New York, so this isn’t just hateration.  To the contrary, I really, really, want to root for the Knicks. But shit like this makes me ill.

Marbury refuses to take a buy out because he claims he’s “earned” his money. Whatever, I’ve yet to see anything in his career remotely worth $20 mil a year, but fine.  Then EARN it.  How the hell can he CHOOSE not to play.  Can anyone reading this imagine telling their boss, “you know what, I don’t feel like working today.  I’m just going to hang around the office and chill.”  We all KNOW we’d be fired instantly.  Must be nice to have guaranteed money.  Shit, I need to get in a union like that.

Oh yeah, the Knicks got blown out tonight.  And the Hornets, led by a coach who doesn’t put up with that shit, rocked.  You do the math.

This is the last batch. In case we, like, care about the Lakers or something. As if the Lakers are going to do anything this year.

Golden St. Warriors
Rob Mahoney: Upside and Motor

LA Clippers
ClipperSteve: Clips Nation

LA Lakers
Kurt: Forum Blue & Gold
Josh Tucker: Respect Kobe
Trevor Smith: HoopsAddict

Phoenix Suns
Phoenix Stan: Bright Side of the Sun

Sacramento Kings
Tom Ziller: Sactown Royalty

Also see links to all the previews at CelticsBlog.com

Denver Nuggets
Jeremy: Pickaxe and Roll
Nick Sclafani: The Nugg Doctor

Minnesota Timberwolves
Derek Hanson & Staff: TWolves Blog
Andrew Thell: Empty the Bench
wyn: Canis Hoopus

Oklahoma City
xphoenix87: BallerBlogger
Zorgon: Blue Blitz
Royce: The Thunderworld

Portland Trail Blazers
Mookie: …a stern warning
Benjamin Golliver: Blazers Edge
Coup and SJ: Rip City Project

Utah Jazz
UtesFan89: The Utah Jazz
Basketball John: SLC Dunk

Also see links to all the previews at CelticsBlog.com

Chicago Bulls
Nels: Give Me The Rock
Matt: Blog-a-Bull

Cleveland Cavaliers
Rock: Waiting For Next Year
FTS: Fear The Sword
David Friedman: 20 Second Timeout
Amar Panchmatia: Cavalier Attitude

Detroit Pistons
Brian Spencer: Empty the Bench
Natalie Sitto: Need4Sheed.com
Matt Watson: Detroit Bad Boys

Indiana Pacers
Tom: Indy Cornrows

Milwaukee Bucks
Jeramey Jannene: The Bratwurst
Frank Madden: BrewHoop

Dallas Mavericks
Jake Kerr: Mavs Moneyball

Houston Rockets
grungedave and UofTOrange: The Dream Shake

Memphis Grizzlies
Joshua Coleman: 3 Shades of Blue

New Orleans Hornets
Rohan: At the Hive
ticktock6 & mW: Hornets Hype
Ryan Schwan & Ron Hitley: Hornets247.com

San Antonio Spurs
Graydon Gordian: 48 Minutes of Hell

Also see links to all the previews at CelticsBlog.com

Since we are a young blog, this is our first time doing a season preview. You’ll have to wait until Thursday for ours, because that’s the Hornets’ day. I’m sure we’ll be positively clairvoyant… Nah, we’ll probably we’ll just wait until 247 posts theirs and then copy off of them. (Kidding! Kidding!)

Boston Celtics
Jeff Clark: CelticsBlog.com
Jim Weeks: Green Bandwagon
FLCeltsFan: LOY’s Place
John Karalis: Red’s Army
Dustin Chapman: Celtics 24/7

New Jersey Nets
Dennis Velasco: About Basketball

New York Knicks
Joey: Straight Bangin’
Seth Rosenthal: Posting and Toasting

Philadelphia 76ers
Dannie & Pete: Recliner GM
Jon Burkett: Passion and Pride

Toronto Raptors
Franchise: RaptorsHQ.com
Ryan McNeill: Hoops Addict
Cuzzy: Cuzoogle

You can check out links to all the previews (more divisions coming up this week) at CelticsBlog.com, who are the folks responsible for orchestrating this whole shindig. Unless you already go there because you have a crush on Paul Pierce– wait, was that out loud?

Ju-Ju is taking on the presumptive champ, Shane Battier, in Round 3 of HoopsAddict.com’s Floor Burn Tournament, celebrating all things hustle.  This could be his last match unless you all rustle up the votes!  Do it!  Do it!

Um..yeah, and there was some U.S.A.-Germany game.  Sorry about that.   

these electronically stored zeroes and ones with the world, which results in words and images slow-loading or snap-loading, depending upon your WWW connection, onto your screen. And all to know that too tall too strong overpaid gladiators will kill lions for another team this year–or in Europe. Enjoy, you animals.

• Someone decided not to let lie the sleeping bear; only instead of roaring, it sniffled, poo-pooed its waker, and whispered that a measly $11.6 million per year, for five of them, would be enough to buy the summer’s most coveted restricted free agent, when the Grizzly has about forty-seven billion under its cap, hasn’t spent anything all summer, and the I-don’t-want-to-be-a-Hawk-and-am-not-cool-with-my-head-coach-player in question’s team had vowed to retain him. Seriously? Were they upset that they didn’t have another Pao Gasol to give away? Perhaps Chris Wallace has Alzheimer’s? News flash: the Hawks giddily matched, dancing their way to the bank, counting all the way the money they don’t have to pay their biggest name.
• Dear God, man, who knew it? Who knew it? Mike James is the next big name in the game of orange balls! Well, he does have the initials MJ. So did Michael Jordan, you know. And Magic Johnson. And, maybe, kind of, the “Chinese Magic Johnson.” Yup. He exists (CMJ, not MJ (James)). A.K.A. Sun Yue. At 1.8288 meters and 96.1615 kilograms (6′9″, 212 lbs. you anachronisms!), he is the archetypal point forward, just like MJ (Earvin). He was drafted by last year’s last losers in 2007 and can be glimpsed this year getting pummeled by other, better teams in the Olympics. And then on the end of L.A.’s bench next to Coby Karl.
• Some people like white chocolate, nothing wrong with that. But it’s dark chocolate that has the health benefits such as, among other things, lower blood pressure. So if the Clippers have done anything right this summer, it’s not throwing wads of cash at White Chocolate and pretending it’s a big move. Jason Williams got his new team, his new deal, but the 32-year-old is a back-up now, and the Clippers’ fans’ blood pressure can rest easier knowing that B-Diddy is their mainstay. And when Dark Chocolate’s knee/ankle/back/[insert injured body part here] goes out, the Clips know they have a starter-quality point guard they can rely on. Albeit, one that causes higher blood pressure.
• By the way, the reason we’re even talking about antioxidant-rich food is because the Clips first choice for their second point guard turned them down. Their former first point guard, Shaun Livingston, was offered a one-year guaranteed contract and said no. Interesting. No one knows if the man can take practice, let alone a full speed game, and he said no. Hmmm. Ask the 76ers second center, Jason Smith, how fragile these things are. He just blew out his ACL without any contact being made in practice. Wonder if his contract’s guaranteed? Then again, even making a pro-rata minimum (like G, Shannon Brown, who just signed with the Bobcats for 1-year and $800,000 following his 2nd season), the amount of which depends upon how long you’ve been in the league, is more than any one person could ever deserve to earn. These capitalist pigs will be the death of us all, I say!
• While we’re on the subject of the Clippers (are we? Damn, how did that happen!?), the other-L.A.-team also made the masterful move of swooping down and gathering in freakishly tall sharpshooter Steve Novak from the Rockets. He’s so valuable, the Rockets received the option of switching second round picks with the Clips in 2011. What?
• The Sky is Falling, The Sky is Falling! some say. It’s all Much Ado about Nothing! others say. Ballers to the Euroleagues is no big deal. Or maybe it is. Unless–they ALL say–you know, we lose someone like “King James”, LBJ, “Video-Game James,” or “The Chosen One.” Then it’s real. Then we’re in trouble. Then Boston and L.A. and the Knickerbockers can finally dispense with the cap to compete globally and buy their championships just like baseball teams. But that won’t happen. It won’t. Unless, those guys in question say, each doing something different around the pool, they pay him $50 mil a year. Or help him become a billionaire. Even MJ (Michael) lost a good $11 mil or so out of his $30 mil a year to taxes. But not if you play for the right team in Europe. Then THEY pay your taxes; what you read in the papers is what you keep (minus what you pay your agent, your publicist, your chef, your housekeeper, and the dozens of other blood-thirsty man-servant leeches). Think it’s crazy? Dime Magazine unearthed some interesting comments from ‘07, where the Lebrons talked about going global. Does it all fit into some masterplan? Think about it. Let’s say you’re a bank teller in Metairie. They pay you $10 an hour for 40 hours a week, 2 breaks a day, and an unpaid lunch. Only you talk to some cat from Greece while on vacation in the mediterranean and learn that their bank tellers make $50 an hour, work 30 hours a week, get several weeks more vacation, and their employers pay their taxes. Could you say you wouldn’t do it? It’s a global world, man. (Postscript: Kobe says he won’t sign an extension until he tests the global market. Read: I’ve won a scoring title, an MVP, and a championship, what do I have left to prove other than that I can get more money than Lebron from Euro teams with no cap?) P.S.S. What’s three inches shorter than me, weighs about twenty pounds less, and will make about 3.5 million more a year than I ever will in the coming year? Earl Boykins. Italian League. Virtus Bologna. [Author shakes his head dejectedly...]
• The floor, the floor, the floor is on fire. So for fuck’s sake go vote in the Floor Burn Tournament and give Ju-Ju his props. Vote! Vote again. Vote from a different computer. Trick the statistical gods with celebratory defiance! Hahaha! The man is only winning by 1449 votes, so get out there and Hype him!
• Meanwhile, in their effort to regain legitimacy, and to fill the gap at PG, the Heat signed former-Nugget, swingman forward, Yakhouba Diawara. He’s over 3 in reverse dog-years and started his career in the French leagues. Whoo.
• And what the hell is wrong with Oklahoma City? Wait. Scratch that. What the hell is wrong with Oklahoma City’s NBA franchise? When internet evidence pointed to their franchise being named the Thunder, they pulled the website. Just pick a fucking name already. No one’s going to care anyway.
• Darko hurt his Achilles playing with the Serbian National Team. Bummer. You gotta feel for a kid that’ so young and has struggled so much on the floor to be what people want him to be. No, not really, the man’s made obscene amounts of money just to disappoint people. We should all be so lucky.
• Toronto Globe and Mail reporter questioning Chris Bosh–Q: “Chris, would you take this opportunity [at the Olympics] to make a political statement?” A: “No.” Q: “Have you been instructed not to?” A: “Yes. It’s a no-win situation these days.” But ITS THOSE CHINESE COMMUNIST PIGS THAT CENSOR US!!! With their damn socialism, equal pay for disparate jobs, healthcare-for-all, government controlled propaganda….oh.
• Scraps to end, Warriors sign G, Anthony Morrow, and Cavs sign G, Tarence Kinsey. ‘Cause, you know, neither had enough players that you’d never heard of.

Just because, I’ll sign off with Kobe’s quote when asked about playing overseas: “I’d probably go,” Bryant said. “Like Milan or something like that, where I grew up … Peace out. Do you know any reasonable person that would turn down 50?” Nuff said.

Just kidding. This is a Hornets site. I leave you with this quote from SI.com:

Though Team USA boasts an eye-popping 49-0 record all-time when Kidd is listed on the roster, blind adherance to the history book is the worst mistake Mike Krzyzewski could make. The sooner Chris Paul takes over primary duties at the point, the better America’s chances to reclaim the gold.

That’s the end. For now.