Had a couple of meetings today, so I was contemplating taking a week off from the power rankings, but I think I should be able to bang this out (abbreviated perhaps) without problems.
1. Chicago Bulls (PR=1, 41-11)…Had a bad loss at home to the Nuggets, but they are the 1st team this year to clinch a playoff berth, and this is all with their stud nursing a gimpy groin.
2. Oklahoma City Thunder (PR=2, 39-12)…Was this close [pinches fingers together] to making OKC number 1 for the 1st time all year. Here was their week: withstood Kevin Love’s 50 point game to win in double overtime, beat Miami at home, and went on the road to beat Portland and the Lakers.
3. Miami Heat (PR=2, 36-13)…Recovered nicely at home against the Mavs last night following 2 straight road losses to OKC and Indy, but teams are starting to take advantage again of Miami’s lack of frontcourt size and scoring outside LeBron, Wade, and Bosh.
4. San Antonio Spurs (PR=4, 35-14)…If a 5-0 week isn’t going to move you into the top 3, I’m not sure what is. Have won 9 out of 10 overall, and Tony Parker continues to be the most under-the-radar MVP candidate of the year…he won’t win it, but he should at least be in the conversation.
5. LA Lakers (PR=5, 31-20)…Picking the number 5 team is almost as painful as picking the bottom 5 now. It’s become increasingly apparent that NBA teams don’t care about the prestige associated with this blog! LA went 2-2 this week, but they were in the news for all the wrong reasons: Kobe’s benching, Andrew Bynum thinking he’s Ray Allen, and a home loss to the Thunder.
Ever just been goofing around and yell, "Kobe!" after taking a jumper? Hmmm...
26. Sacramento Kings (PR=Not Ranked, 17-33)…DeMarcus “Boogie” Cousins had 38 in a loss on Monday. They have backed up their 3 game win streak with 4 straight L’s…ummm let’s see, remember when they had C-Webb, Bibby, and Peja? Yea, we’re not doing the rest of the bottom 5 (aside from flipping the Hornets and Wizards, same old, same old).
For the 2nd month in a row, I’ve smashed my previous record for most posts in a month. I feel like I deserve some type of reward…maybe not. A high 5, maybe…no, maybe not that either. Last Thursday, the 5th season of “Jersey Shore” mercifully ended. Krissy and I kept repeatedly asking ourselves why we continued to subject ourselves to this Guido torture rack week after week…and yet our weekly return to the show was just as inevitable as Deena and Snooki “Jersey Turnpiking” on the dance floor at Karma. From its inception, the show had little to no redeeming qualities, but it was at least fun. For those that were unaware of the little pocket of the universe that Guidos and Guidettes inhabited, watching “Jersey Shore” was probably like watching a special on the Discovery Channel about some strange species. For those who were already well-versed in the world of blowouts, tanning lotion, and hair extensions, “Jersey Shore” still acted as a steady supply for hilarity and hijinks the 1st few seasons, bringing things like “grenades,” “GTL,” and “juiced-up gorillas” into our daily lexicon.
Enjoy it while it lasts, guys...
Season 3 was when the show kind of started to nosedive for me. The most despised member of the house from the 1st 2 seasons, Angelina, wasn’t coming back. The producers had an opportunity to spice up the show with a replacement Guidette, but for some reason went with an even dumber, even less attractive version of Snooki. To me, Deena was a show-killer in many respects, but the show had gotten stale anyway. Every episode was basically hijacked by the Ronnie-Sam relationship explosion angle. The other most interesting characters from the 1st couple of seasons, Situation and Snooki, became increasingly uninteresting. The daily cycle of GTL, drunken club debauchery, and smush room hookups had started to get boring. (The producers originally tried to shake things up in Season 2 by moving the cast to Miami, but while South Beach is a different scene entirely from Seaside Heights, it wasn’t different enough to throw a real monkey wrench into the show.) The plan to have the housemates shoot a season in Italy for Season 4 sounded like a disaster before it even started, and anyone who watched would be hard-pressed to argue against that point. Miami didn’t take the cast far enough out of their comfort zone…Italy was a little bit too far. Personally, I think that the no-brainer location for them to shoot a season (if they don’t make other changes…more on that in a sec) would be Las Vegas. The possibilities of a Vegas season seem endless: Pauly D and Vinny hooking up with strippers, Situation going broke at the Blackjack table, Ron and Sammi getting married at an Elvis chapel and then getting the marriage annulled the very next day, and on and on and on…
Instead, Season 5 disappointedly took place back at the Jersey Shore. It appears that the producers are content riding this thing out using the status quo until people stop watching entirely. On the one hand, it’s hard to blame them. No one could have predicted the show’s success. Everyone involved got rich off of something that probably cost little to nothing to make (as far as TV shows go). And even as naysayers like myself sit and complain about the show, I still didn’t miss a minute of it this year…not exactly a lot of incentive to keep it fresh. If not for a Vegas season, which I think would be great, I fully subscribe to some ideas that I’ve heard Bill Simmons and Dave Jacoby rattle off on the “BS Report” podcast. A completely new cast would definitely stir things up. We have fallen in love with these guys over the years, but I think we could just as easily get geeked-up over 8 new people…and the amount of people lined up when the producers were casting the “New Jersey Shore” (pun intended) would rival “American Idol.” How would the talent level of the show not be upgraded? Another suggestion those guys had that I’m stealing is to keep the old cast, but create a new rival house with 8 new characters. The potential for tension, bar fights, and Romeo and Juliet type romances seems pretty high there (all of which would make for good TV). At the very least, some type of format change is needed (also a stolen idea). The show is still shot in the same way it was back in Season 1, when we didn’t know J-Wow, Pauly D, and Vinny from any other young drunk people at the local bar. Now, these guys are legit celebrities, and it’s obvious how aware they are of the cameras and their celebrity status. To pretend that there aren’t hundreds of people who know who they are and are trying to get at them when they walk into a club or a dozen security guards on the other side of the camera at all times is silly. Also, having them work at a boardwalk t-shirt store or a pizza parlor is just asinine at this point. Why not show these guys living it up a little (and I don’t just mean drinking at Karma)? Otherwise, we are stuck with watching Snooki urinate in places not called a toilet over and over. Come on, “Jersey Shore” people…let’s try a little bit harder here. And now because I like making lists so much, here is somewhat of a “Jersey Shore” power ranking, listing the least likable to most likeable cast members at this point in time.
Really? Again?!?
8. Deena…She has been killing the show for me ever since she 1st appeared. Frankly, she grosses me out. However, she did provide probably the funniest line of this past season when she mistakenly called Mike a “hermaphrodite.” The word she was looking for was “pyromaniac” though…close enough I guess.
7. Sammi…Was Sam even on the show this past season? Did I miss it? In earlier seasons, she probably would have been around this spot on the list because her “Ron-drama” was too obnoxious to take, but I would have rather her be annoying than not even notice her at all. And if she’s merely meant to be eye candy for the male viewers, I feel like MTV could do better.
6. Situation…After the 1st few “Jersey Shore” seasons, I don’t think it’s wrong to say that Mike became the biggest “star.” Now, Mike just seems, for lack of a better word, “weird.” The past few seasons, he either had a producer in his ear telling him to start shit whenever the show hit a lull, he was too heavily medicated, or not heavily medicated enough…or maybe his loss of ab definition was the source of his confidence and swagger all along. Is it possible that his ever-fading 6-pack is the root of his growing weirdness?
4. Snooki…She is still good for a couple of one-liners and what only can be described as “Snooki moments” per show, but her act has gotten kind of old as well. Her having a boyfriend has also made her less interesting the past couple of seasons, as part of Snooki’s likeability and the comedy that followed her early on in the show revolved around her insecurities and her constant search for a man. I guess we can look forward to a Snooki Junior now sometime in the near future at least…scary.
3. Vinny…He’s grown on me over the years as he’s gone from probably the most reserved roommate to one of the most outspoken and humorous. He definitely seems like the most sensible person in the house, but this is my basketball team analogy with Vinny: on a championship team, he is like the solid, does-all-the-dirty-work power forward (setting screens, grabbing tough rebounds, running the floor etc.); if he has to be the superstar that you throw the ball into the post to 20 times a night, his team is bound for the draft lottery.
2. Ronnie…I acknowledge most people wouldn’t have Ron this high on their list, but I’ve always had a soft spot for him despite his roid-rage, furniture-rearranging moments. It’s nice to see a gentler, calmer version of “relationship-Ronnie,” as I think his sense of humor really started to come out this year, but there’s still a part of me that longs for the “single-Ronnie” who lies and makes out with girls on stripper poles, or at least the old “relationship-Ronnie” that throws mattresses and yells, “Come at me, bro!” to guys who mess with him on the boardwalk.
1. Pauly D…What a transformation for Pauly...he started out as the guy that we saw but never heard. He was almost like a mannequin of every exaggerated Guido trait: crazy blowout, unnaturally tan skin, gaudy chains, ridiculous tattoos (Cadillac…really?). As the show went on, we still knew little to nothing about him, but he at least became the show’s catchphrase guy (“T-shirt time,” “Cabs are here,” and, “Yea buddy,” among others). Somewhere between Seasons 3 and 4, he sneakily had become everyone’s favorite character on the show. The only thing I can really compare it to from my TV universe is “Family Matters,” where Steve Urkel started as a bit character playing the annoying, dorky, clumsy kid neighbor, and then morphed into the only reason people were even tuning in. I fear that Pauly’s meteoric rise is going to be followed by an equally meteoric fall though. In Season 5, he was still the most enjoyable person to watch on the show, but he almost seemed like a caricature of himself. His accent seemed even more over the top than before. His mannerisms seemed too rehearsed. It’s like he was trying to play up the things that people liked about him a little too hard…which stinks because what made him so likeable in the 1st place was that he had always seemed genuine and sincere despite his wackiness. In that way, Pauly D’s probelm is emblematic of the show’s problem as a whole. Now, sensing the wave of success that Pauly is riding on, MTV is going to spin him off into his own show, “The Pauly D Project.” I’m not sure whether Krissy and I will tune in or not, but I hope for his sake it’s not terrible. “More” is not necessarily always “better.” This is an idea that MTV has never really grasped before, so unfortunately I’m not sure why they would now.
Spring is not my favorite season for the most part, but there is at least 1 good thing about it: it makes it easier to sneak out of work early. If you don’t care what your supervisors and fellow employees think about you, you can just roll out whenever in broad daylight (like a boss, I add parenthetically). For those of us who are equipped with some good ol’ fashioned guilt and fear, we have to learn to use some smoke and mirrors though. There are 2 general principles for good work sneaking-outage. 1st, location is key. Good luck trying to sneak out early if a thousand offices and eyes are between your cubicle and the exit door. Also, the more concealed workspace you have, the better. My old office building at APG was a dump, but I loved my cube (my last 1 at least). That cubicle type was basically walled-off on 3 sides, and out of dumb luck the 4th side was an actual wall. Mostly everyone else’s cube was similar, so if I timed my break just right I could reach the door without anyone seeing…better yet, my desk was not in a well-traveled area of the building, so the likelihood of anyone noticing my cubicle being empty was small. The off-post building I work in now is new and shiny, a big improvement over my old digs. The only bad thing is that the cubicle design is more open, and it’s easy to spot when someone walks away from their desk (or when it’s uninhabited all together). The 2nd principle of rolling out early is to travel light. This is where spring comes into play. Some people bring everything but their kitchen sink up to their desk: backpack/laptop case, lunchbox, gym bag, etc…not me. My lunch comes in a plastic bag, so other than a spoon nothing is coming back home with me, and I don’t work out in our office gym, so the gym bag is staying in the car. The only thing left to worry about is a jacket, and if the weather is nice, there’s no chance I’m bringing 1 to work. I’m not saying I dip out of work early every day, but the number 1 giveaway of an early office escapee is a jacket. It’s basically the equivalent of when a bank robber gets sprayed in the face with that blue stuff. You get up from the desk with your jacket on, you’ve been marked. In the spring it’s, “No jacket, no problem.” I could be going anywhere: the bathroom, outside for a private phone call or a quick smoke, who knows? (I don’t smoke, but I could.) Just leave your computer on, don’t make a scene, and no one’s the wiser…actually, they all probably know anyway. Actually, they probably know, and don’t care. People generally care much less about what you’re doing than you think…anyway 4 words (well, 3 words and an acronym): weekly NBA power rankings.
Hey, buddy...where are you off to?
1. Chicago Bulls (PR=1, 39-10)…The Bulls keep the top spot for the 3rd straight week. Tough to argue with going 3-1 this week all with D-Rose on the bench dressed in his Sunday best, but Rose’s lingering injuries are starting to worry me (especially given the fact that Chicago so heavily relies on his offense come playoff time).
2. Miami Heat (PR=3, 34-11)…Miami moves back up a spot this week, but they have an interesting 3 game road trip this week: at Detroit and at Indy with their 1st meeting of the year with the Thunder in Oklahoma City sandwiched in between.
3. Oklahoma City Thunder (PR=2, 35-12)…OKC very quietly built up the best record in the league earlier in the year, and they have just as quietly played unevenly over the past few weeks. They actually have alternated wins and losses in their last 8 games. However, as much as I like to hate on Derek Fisher, he does finally add some stability to their backup point guard troubles with Eric Maynor out.
4. San Antonio Spurs (PR=4, 30-14)…Even with some movement every once in a while in the top 3, this makes the 7th straight week the Spurs come in at number 4 in the rankings. You can seemingly mark San Antonio down for a 2-1 record very week. How they finish the year will depend on the extent of Tony Parker’s hammy injury though, as he has far and away been their best all around player this season.
5. Los Angeles Lakers (PR=5, 29-18)…The Lakers were tied with the Magic with the 5th spot last week, and both went 2-2 this week. I will give LA the edge because Ramon Sessions seems to be a huge upgrade at the point for them. Whether or not Kobe actually allows Sessions to touch the ball when they’re both in the game is another question entirely.
How much longer can John Lucas III and company keep this up?
26. Toronto Raptors (PR=26, 15-32)…I have liked Jerryd Bayless since he was at Arizona, and I’m glad he’s actually getting some decent run in the pros finally. There, I said something nice about the Raptors. Moving on…
27. New Jersey Nets (PR=Not Ranked, 15-33)…So much for my “onward and upward” theory with the Nets. 4 L’s in a row and 6 of the last 7 (including home losses to New Orleans, Cleveland, and Washington) is not so good.
28. Washington Wizards (PR=28, 11-34)…No movement for DC this week, but the moves they made (trading Nick Young and Javale McGee, telling Andray Blatche and Rashard Lewis to go home, and picking up Nene) have them looking up in my opinion.
29. New Orleans Hornets (PR=29, 11-35)…Eric Gordon is expected to return to practice sometime next week according to his Yahoo fantasy basketball profile (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/4469/news;_ylt=ArxaqooQg3GDwkk8vWMSFvPSPaB4). So, that’s something.
30. Charlotte Bobcats (PR=30, 7-37)…Have actually won 2 of their last 5, which is almost 25% better than the pace they’ve been winning at for the whole season.
Nene looks pretty good in red, white, and blue to me at least.
Rising: Milwaukee still (6 W’s in a row now), Utah (only a half game out of the 8-seed in the West), and Sacramento (won 3 in a row to get out of the bottom 5)
Because of my man-crush on Blake Griffin, the Clippers instantly went from a team I cared little about to a team that I would follow incessantly when they drafted him number 1 overall. I have a longstanding love affair with freakishly athletic power forwards who have a penchant for putting people on posters (how’s that for some alliteration?). See "Kemp, S." and "Webber, C"…Griffin missed the entire year in what would have been his rookie year due to injury, but while the Clips finished below 0.500 last season Griffin created a buzz around the franchise that hadn’t existed in…ever? When the Clippers acquired probably the best pure point guard in the game in Chris Paul prior to the season, LA’s expectations immediately went through the roof. As they were, the Clippers were probably thought to make a natural jump from up-and-coming yet losing team to a team that at least finishes with a winning record and possibly challenges for 1 of the West’s final playoff spots. With CP3 on board, the thought was that this team might possibly even contend for a title. Sure, at the start of the season the Clippers had glaring holes (a lack of front court depth past Blake and DeAndre Jordan especially), but so did all of the other contenders in their conference as well.
Adding CP3 will definitely raise your team's profile.
In the 1st edition of my weekly NBA power rankings on February 3rd, I had the Clips ranked as the 5th best team in the league with a record of 13-7. They would remain in my top 5 for 2 more weeks, but during week 2 something happened that affected how the Clippers approached the rest of the season. When Chauncey Billups 1st signed with LA, my friend Mac (a diehard Pistons fan and ardent Chauncey supporter) asked me what I thought. I told him I wasn’t sold on it really. Billups’ skills had declined in recent years, and they were going to ask him to do things he had never had to do (at least full time) in his career: play off the ball and guard opposing teams’ shooting guards. Chauncey was and is a great spot-up shooter, and he was a strong enough defender earlier in his career that he had shown an ability to guard bigger guards at times as well (at least in short spurts). I thought asking him to play that permanent role for the Clippers might have been too much to ask at this stage of his career though. I couldn’t have been more wrong…his shooting percentage this year left something to be desired, but Chauncey was shooting almost 40% from 3 point range, was averaging 15 points and 4 assists a night, and was probably playing the best backup point guard in the league. More than that, he was the 1 old head on a team full of young bucks. He was a calming influence on the Clips’ young roster, and someone they could look towards to see what it was like to be a true pro. Billups, as he has shown throughout his career, was also unafraid of the moment and of taking (and making) big shots at the ends of games. When he went down with an achilles injury in early February, the Clippers lost all of that.
LA seemed to tread water for a little while after that. As of February 16th, Lob City was still 18-9 and in 1st place in the Pacific Division, but since then they are only 8-10. Their lead in the division over the Lakers is gone, and they would be a middle-of-the-pack playoff team if the postseason started today. More than that, when you watch a Clippers game, there seems to be a certain sense of joylessness about them, particularly in Griffin. Last week, a Grantland column noted that Blake seems to be more concerned with staring down officials and opponents than anything else as of late, a point that I’m sure hasn’t gone unnoticed throughout the league. Part of all this may just stem from the grind associated with this abbreviated and highly condensed season. I guess it could be tough to get up for your 4th game in 5 nights or whatever. Opposing teams also seem to have learned the formula for beating LA: make the game not fun, thus removing their joyfulness in the 1st place, as the Celtics did in LA a few weeks ago. After all, you can’t have Lob City without the lobs.
Believe it or not, officials don't enjoy being shown up...a lesson Blake will hopefully learn sooner than later.
Due to the slide, the Clippers have made some tweaks to their roster that probably wouldn’t be considered “panic moves,” but they’re pretty close. The Kenyon Martin signing is defensible. Like I mentioned before, front court depth was their biggest issue prior to Chauncey going down, and K-Mart definitely aids LA in that area. His athleticism isn’t what it used to be, but he’s still a reliable defender/rebounder off the bench, and he can also kind of act as an enforcer if anyone decides to cheapshot Blake, which has been known to happen from time to time. Martin hasn’t been all that productive though, and his 36% free throw shooting may make him, Blake, and Jordan the worst free throw teammate trio of all time.
The Clippers also were hot in pursuit of JR Smith prior to him signing with the Knicks. He may have filled another need, but then again how much does a team that is in its 1st season as currently constructed and is still working on its chemistry need a gunner like Smith anyway? Naturally, the Clippers then traded for the next best thing: Nick Young. I couldn’t believe my eyes and ears, as some people covering the league actually thought this was a great move for LA. The thought was that the change of scenery for Young back to his hometown and his ability to create his own shot would help the Clippers out a great deal. To me, I could see Young working out if he played a specific role: coming in off the bench and having the freedom to fire at will once the 1st team is out of the game…but the Clippers already have a guy like that anyway (Mo Williams), and that’s not how they’re using Young anyway. In his 1st 2 games since the trade, Young has played starter’s minutes (32.5 per game). In those 2 games, Young is a combined 6 for 19 from the field. Wizards fans will be happy to know that Young is passing the ball at the same fantastic rate he did in DC though (1 assist per game). You think there’s no joy now? Don’t expect many smiles form Griffin and Paul in a couple of weeks as they watch Young hoist up another fall-away 25-footer with 19 on the shot clock.
"Hey guys, might as well get ready for an offensive rebound. I'm taking it. Yea, just stand under the basket for now. Right there, that's good..."
All in all, it makes you wonder if the Clippers should have just played the year out with what they had. I can see the school of thought though. With no clear favorite in the West, the Clippers’ brass probably thought they had as good of a chance to win a title this year as anyone else. Might as well go for it, right? The only problem is that the pieces they added don’t seem to fit, and the additions might have actually made them worse overall. At least Young and Martin’s contracts expire after this season…as a fan, I only hope the damage done to Lob City isn’t irreversible.
So much for my bracket predictions, huh? On Friday, I made mention that my bracket suffered a few minor losses on the 1st day of the tournament, but it was in good shape overall. Most people probably felt similarly regarding their own brackets, as Thursday didn’t exactly produce a plethora of bracket-busting upsets. Friday was a different story though. I made it home just in time to see my pick to win it all, Missouri, fall to little known Norfolk St. Later that same day, Duke lost to Lehigh, meaning that only 6 number 2 sides had ever lost to a number 15, but that a third of those games happened on March 16, 2012. Friday was a veritable field day for double digit seeds though, as 13 seed Ohio won as well, knocking off Michigan. This actually seemed somewhat karmic though, as Michigan coach John Beilein deliberately refers to his conference rivals as “Ohio” instead of their actual school name.
Still, while my bracket is a mess from top to bottom, nothing stings quite like your predicted champ going down before you even get to the tourney’s 1st Saturday. I knew the risks of picking a team like Missouri going in. Their guard play and in-sync-ness was as good as any team in the country, but any team that plays a 4 guard lineup is obviously going to be susceptible on the glass and to hot shooting. A big, athletic, physical team that hounds you defensively can usually offset that. Even a hot shooting team will struggle when they can’t even get off good shots in the 1st place. Missouri’s lineup offered no such resistance. Norfolk St. shot the lots out (especially in the 2nd half), and there was nothing the Tigers could do to stop it. The Spartans banked in 3’s from the elbow. Their center was just seemingly throwing the ball at the basket like a toddler on 1 of those toy mini-hoops (without any arc or rotation on the ball at all), and everything seemed to drop. Even Norfolk St.’s winning basket, an offensive rebound tip-in/putt-back while getting fouled on an ugly airball, was about as lucky as you could get…all of which is the recipe for an upset. The Tigers may have played a little bit tightly at times in the 2nd half and hoisted up some bad shots of their own, but it’s hard to knock the offensive gameplan of a team that scores 84 points in regulation.
Wipe that smile off your face, Norfolk St.
In the round of 64, I actually picked well enough on the other games to tie for 3rd or 4th in a pool with 50-some bracket entries, but I knew that wouldn’t last. Sitting here on Monday, I am towards the bottom of my pool standings. Other things I missed on…I said that I didn’t see a deep run by any weaker seeds this year, but Xavier (ranked in the preseason), North Carolina St. (as hot as any team in the country right now), and even Ohio (the playing status of UNC point guard Kendall Marshall is currently unknown) all have matchups that could allow them to advance even further in the tournament. I saw the Big 10 being a big bust (aside from Michigan St.), but 4 of those 6 teams still remain. I also said Baylor, Indiana, and Ohio St. wouldn’t survive the 1st weekend, and I’m pretty sure all 3 are in this year’s Sweet 16. All in all, not a good year of bracket-picking by myself…at least maybe I can root for the Cinderella that upset my championship pick. Oh wait…Norfolk St. lost to Florida in their next game by 34. Where’s the justice in that?!? I guess like the bad state-name pun goes, Missouri loves company…better luck next year.
Had 1 of those dreams last night where I would have been scared out of my wits if I was a kid…actually, I’m man enough to admit that when I woke up I was still a little scared (as evidenced by me hiding my head under the covers for a few seconds). For some reason, I was staying at a motel with 2 guys from work is some random locale, which is odd because while business trips are not uncommon at my work I have never actually been on one. Anyway, I had that “Inception” feeling that I was in fact in a dream rather than reality, but it was still eerie to look out my motel room window to see 3 dudes wielding big, big guns and asking a hotel worker questions. Next thing I knew, bullets were flying through the room, and I was hightailing it out the back door and through some neighboring woods. I assume I had to live “Man Vs. Wild” style for a while until I got in touch with the authorities, but that’s around the time I woke up. I’m never sure whether dreams like this are stress-induced or just the leftover dribblings of the brain (maybe due to Krissy making me watch too many slasher movies lately or something), but my 1st conscious thought after waking was, “How’s my hand?” The answer: very sore…I had tried to do chest at the gym yesterday, and apparently the required grip strength needed to perform most of those exercises was enough to cause my hand/finger to really stiffen up again overnight. I was hoping that it had progressed to the point that I should start forcing myself to use it as I normally would again…not just lifting, but using that hand to open doors and water bottles, etc. Turns out it may have not been the best approach just yet. I still don’t think it’s broken, but I’m disappointed that it hasn’t progressed further by now. If it feels like this tomorrow, I should be able to deal with the pain enough to play, but I would rather it feel at least a little better than this, so maybe a day of strict R&R will do me some good. And if it doesn’t feel any better by the end of the weekend, a trip to the doctor for an x-ray just to be safe might be in order too…boo.
Other notes…day 1 of the NCAA tournament started off promising in terms of my bracket (emphasis on “started). I think I picked the 1st 7 games of the day correctly, but then stumbled to an 11-5 record overall. Mediocre, but such is life in filling out an NCAA bracket. Just to rub it in, Krissy was 14-2 for the day. Alright, on to the weekly NBA power rankings.
1. Chicago Bulls (PR=1, 36-9)…Chicago is probably justified in standing pat as the trade deadline passed. As they proved again in Wednesday’s win over Miami, this team is more than just the reigning MVP. D-Rose has now missed 11 games so far this year due to injury, and the Bulls are an impressive 8-3 in his absence.
2. Oklahoma City Thunder (PR=2, 33-10)…In the midst of the happenings of the Bulls, Heat, and Knicks as well as the start of March Madness, OKC’s less than stellar week was kind of lost in the shuffle. The combination of Miami’s rough patch and their 4 game cushion over San Antonio served as a nice buffer for that number 2 spot though.
3. Miami Heat (PR=3, 31-11)…Didn’t I say this was going to be a tough week for the Heatles? Tough to kill Miami too much losing for losing back-to-back road games against the 2 other best teams in the East (even if Chicago wasn’t at full strength)…interested to see if they bounce back in Philly tonight and with a home date with the Magic on Sunday.
4. San Antonio Spurs (PR=4, 28-13)…With Miami and OKC stumbling last week, San Antonio probably had a chance to at least move up 1 spot, but their home loss to the Clippers canceled out that possibility. So, we’re back to no movement among the top 4.
5. [Tie] Los Angeles Lakers (PR=Not Ranked, 27-16) and Orlando Magic (PR=Not Ranked, 28-16)…While Orlando visited the top 5 briefly once before, this is LA’s 1st appearance. The Lakers went 4-0 last week against weaker competition, and the Magic went 3-1 with impressive wins over Chicago, Indy, and Miami. Both find themselves with the 3rd best record in their respective conferences after slow starts, and despite being fringe top 5 teams all year both made good trade deadline decisions. The Lakers got younger and more athletic in their backcourt with Ramon Sessions, and the Magic finally got the Dwight Howard saga off their collective back (for another year at least), which put the team’s mind at east for the rest of the season. Plus, Orlando’s quirky Dwight-and-4-shooters offense is starting to look eerily like that of the team that went to the Finals 2 years ago.
No change to the bottom 5 at all, so they are hardly worth providing any type of descriptive analysis. It’s depressing to write about these teams in great detail every week as it is. The only thing I will say is that my Wizards did pull off what I think is a good deadline trade for them. They rid themselves of 2 of their 3 knuckleheads (Nick Young and JaVale McGee), and they got a proven post player (Nene) who they sort of went after last offseason anyway when he was a free agent. So what if he’s aging, battled injuries, and underperformed so far this year…if he can stay on the court, I personally like his game, and honestly I would have taken back a ham sandwich if it meant I could unload Young, McGee, their 3rd knucklehead (Andray Blatche), or contract albatross Rashard Lewis…2 out of 4 ain’t bad.
26. Toronto Raptors (PR=26, 14-29)
27. Sacramento Kings (PR=27, 14-29)
28. Washington Wizards (PR=28, 10-32)
29. New Orleans Hornets (PR=29, 10-34)
30. Charlotte Bobcats (PR=30, 6-36)
Rising: Milwaukee (won 4 in a row, and are currently 8th in the East)
I usually get pretty hyped filling out my NCAA bracket, but this year I just don’t feel great about it. Maybe it has to do with a somewhat odd college basketball season. Every team, even the really good ones, seems flawed in some way, shape, or form. There is no dream matchup that everyone really wants to see like Ohio St.-Florida from a few years back or Arizona-Duke from even further back than that. Consequently, I went through my bracket without much conviction on any of my picks. Before the brackets came out, I did have my eye on a few teams regardless of seeding including Michigan St., Missouri, Marquette, and Louisville…and of course those teams all ended up in the same region. Thanks a lot, NCAA selection committee.
I didn’t pick many upsets, which made for a pretty boring looking bracket to be honest. I can see the possibility of quite a few early round surprises, but I see mostly chalk as we get to the later rounds. Part of the fun of a VCU or George Mason breaking through is that no one sees it coming, so it’s unlikely that I would correctly predict a Cinderella story like that anyway, but I really don’t see a deep run by a weaker seeded team this year. There just seems to be such a gap between the best 5 or 10 teams in the country and everybody else. What other things do I see in my crystal ball? I see the Big 10 flopping like usual (except Michigan St., like usual). I see teams like Indiana, Baylor, and Ohio St. failing to advance past the 1st weekend. And I see 3 number 1’s making it to the Final 4. My Elite 8 is equally boring with all 4 top seeds, 3 number 2’s, and a 3. This wasn’t so much based on my confidence in the top teams as my lack of confidence in the rest of the field (kind of keeping in the theme of what I said before). Even the news that Syracuse will be without the services of Fab Melo only caused me to take them out 1 round earlier than before (losing in the Final 4 instead of the final game).
Could we see a similar scene in NO?
Lastly, I see Missouri cutting down the nets in New Orleans. This is probably somewhat of a risky choice, as the Tigers style of play lends itself susceptible to a team with the right gameplan and personnel (and some cold shooting on their own part). This Mizzou team plays such a quirky, unorthodox style (their small-ball lineup resembles some of the Villanova teams that made deep tourney runs several years ago) that most teams probably won’t know how to handle them though. Couple that with the fact that they play together as well as any team in the control, and they should be difficult for most teams to handle. Anyway, tipoff of the real 1st round is in about half an hour, so it’s time to wrap this little preview up, and enjoy the show. March Madness…the most wonderful time of the year.
My feelings about being productive at work today are kind of “meh,” so sue me…actually, please don’t sue me. I could really use the money. Anyway, let’s get to some news and notes from the weekend, shall we?
- This weekend was not a good couple days for me injury-wise. Without getting to the how, where, and why, I’ll at least give you the what: fat upper lip, bruised knee, sprained left index finger, sprained right wrist, bruised left elbow, bruised left hip (all sports-related by the way)…I guess that’s the cost of doing business, so I don’t expect anyone to shed a tear for me, but at least nothing seems broken (I don’t think). Give me a couple more days, and I should be good to go.
- 2 things that Krissy and I watched this weekend that are from completely different ends of the spectrum but both highly recommended by us: ESPN’s Magic Johnson documentary “The Announcement” and the Zoe Saldana flick “Columbiana.”
Not a bad movie pick by the ol' hubby if I do say so myself.
- Mark Turgeon’s 1st season as head honcho of Maryland’s men’s basketball team ended in the 2nd round of the ACC tourney on Friday, as the Terps probably had no chance of making the NCAA’s aside from winning their conference tournament. They finished the year 17-15 overall (6-10 in the conference), and the only 2 tournament teams they beat all year were Colorado and Notre Dame. Hell, the Terps didn’t even get an NIT invite, so it might have been the worst Maryland basketball season that I’ve ever witnessed…and yet, the notion that it was a successful 1st season for Turgeon might be true at the same time. Looking at the roster going into the year, I thought this could be a truly awful team, the kind that only wins 2 or 3 conference games and finishes well below 0.500 overall. Their best player from the year before, Jordan Williams, stupidly entered the NBA draft. He would have been a junior this year, and undoubtedly their best player. He’s limited overall, but to me he resembles a poor man’s Jared Sullinger, and he most likely would have been All-ACC this year had he stayed in school. When Gary Williams abruptly announced his retirement last spring, Hauk Palsson (who probably would’ve started at 1 of the forward positions had he stayed for this season) decided to bolt, and 3 recruits chose to jump ship when they heard the news as well. Those were some pretty big handicaps for Turgeon to overcome right off the bat. Add to that the fact that starting point guard Pe’Shon Howard missed early parts of the season recovering from a broken foot and the end of the year after tearing an ACL in practice, and you would think this team would have 2-14 in league play written all over it…but Turgeon seemed to be able to piece together a team that was at least competitive in a year they probably shouldn’t have been. Next year, the Terps will return all the key components of this team sans senior Sean Mosely. If Howard can make a full recovery, Terrell Stoglin can eliminate 2 or 3 (or 5) bad shots per game, and Nick Faust can make the traditional leap from his freshman to sophomore year, the Terps should have a pretty decent backcourt. The development of their 2 frosh bigs should be interesting as well. Alex Len got pushed around too much at times, and Ashton Pankey seemed somewhat rusty (he had been injured his senior year in high school and redshirted last year), but it’s conceivable that both could make a decent leap in their respective sophomore seasons as well. On top of that, Turgeon is supposed to have a pretty strong recruiting class coming in. All in all, I’m definitely buying the Terps as a team on the rise next season.
- While I might be all-in on the 2012-2013 Terps, I can’t say that for my woeful Redskins. Over the weekend, news surfaced that the Skins were going to make a blockbuster trade with the Rams in order to acquire their number 2 pick in this year’s upcoming draft. The Skins swapped this year’s 1st rounder with St. Louis’ pick, and then gave the Rams 2 additional 1st rounders and a 2nd round pick as well to presumably select Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III. There are 2 schools of thought here. The 1st is that you have to have a franchise quarterback to win in the NFL, and if RG3 is viewed as that guy by the Redskins brass, you have to go get him. If he’s a bust, well, you were probably going to stink while you played “journeyman quarterback-X” over the next couple of years anyway. Peyton Manning didn’t seem to have any interest in coming to DC, and you couldn’t go into next year with Rex Grossman, John Beck, or even someone like Kyle Orton as your number 1 guy. The 2nd school of thought is the 1 that I’m leaning towards, and that is that you basically just traded away 4 starters for 1. 1st and 2nd rounders are expected to at least start and possess the potential to be All-Pros when they’re drafted. Statistically, it’s about a 50-50 proposition that a quarterback drafted in the top 5 picks will be a bust, so Robert Griffin and Andrew Luck better take a good hard look at each other because 1 of them might be your local insurance salesman in 5 to 10 years. The keeper of the 2 could very well be Griffin, who by all accounts is a beast, a freak of an athlete, and is bursting with charisma and smarts to boot, but who’s to say for sure? Anyone that says the Skins had to make this move regardless of whether RG3 flops or not because they were going to stink without him anyway should take a second to think about that. The Skins have drafted pretty well in Mike Shanahan’s 2 years in Washington. I held my breath every time Rex Grossman dropped back to pass as much as the next diehard Redskins fan last year, but if you’re saying Grossman couldn’t have had a slightly better record last year with a solid right tackle, a stud receiver, or a lock down corner on the other side of the ball you would be out of your mind. The Chicago Bears somehow made it to the (and probably should have won) the Super Bowl with Grossman at the helm several years ago. They probably got there in spite of Rex on some level, but it showed it’s still possible. Now, the crapshoot nature of the draft says that those 4 picks they swapped away for the 1 they got back are all just as likely to be busts as Griffin is, and quarterbacks drive the bus in the NFL, so why not take a chance on a QB you think could be the man for the next 10 years? All true, but the Skins mortgaged their draft future on him, and they are stupidly being penalized about $36 million in cap space over the next 2 years by the league for the contracts they signed in the un-capped season as well, so don’t expect Washington to be able to bring in a whole lot in the way of reinforcements for Griffin over the next couple of years either. RG3 better be every bit as fast as he looked at Baylor and when he ran in tights at the combine, because he might be running for his life next year. I sincerely hope I’m wrong, but, lifelong Redskins fan that I am, I naturally fear the worst.
I consider facial hair my 1 area of expertise. If the proficiency by which one can grow a beard could somehow be worked into a money-making endeavor, I would be a very rich man. When I was younger, I tried out probably every conceivable facial hair style. Usually after a week or so I would get bored with that particular look (or the upkeep of it at least), shave it off, and then start all over again. For several years spanning parts of high school and college, this was my thing. That phase pretty much ended when I met Krissy though…girls have a way of ending those kinds of phases one way or another. She liked my face mostly clean shaven, but she found a week’s worth of lazy, unshaven scruffiness to her liking as well. Consequently, I haven’t tried out many beard variations in the 5-plus years I have known her. It’s probably for the best. I definitely can rock a mean looking beard, but I usually prefer myself sans facial hair also. I’m kind of like the tall kid that is pushed into basketball his whole life when all he really wants to do is play the tuba…or something. It’s not that he doesn’t like basketball; it’s just not his passion. Anyway, a week or 2 ago we were with my family, and the conversation turned to baby-making. It was brought up that my Dad rocked a “pregnancy beard” when my Mom was carrying my siblings and I around. I guess it’s akin to the “playoff beard” you see hockey players sport every year, where they don’t shave until they win the Stanley Cup (or are eliminated). This idea appealed to me as well, so that was kind of the genesis for me growing out a full beard over the past week and a half. The problem is that Krissy hates it…well, she doesn’t “hate” it, but she hates the fact that I trim up some of the neck hair portion. She likes it “au naturale” or nothing at all. For me, king of all bearded people, this is not going to work out well. I am a hairy dude, and without any man-scaping my facial hair goes basically from my chest hair almost all the way to my eyebrows…not really a great look for me. I’m really only a step away from being 1 of those “ape people” you see on National Geographic who are shunned from society and have to live out in huts in the woods or whatever. I guess I could just say, “Mind your business, woman,” and keep the beard, but being that she’s my wife, she does control my access to the “fun zone”…yep, definitely going to shave it as soon as I get home from work…on to this week’s power rankings. This week, we have the most movement in the rankings to date, as things finally got shaken up in our top 3, and we have some new blood in the rankings as well. Here we go…
D-Rose and the Bulls have gone streaking.
1. Chicago Bulls (PR=3, 33-8)…As the only team in the top 4 without a blemish last week, it was only right to bump them to the top spot. With Rip ineffective and now injured again, they still have the same ol’ shooting guard woes, but a healthy D-Rose and a suffocating D should be good enough to carry them (especially in this wacky lockout-shortened year). Tough to argue with 8 straight W’s and a 15-2 record since February 1st too.
2. Oklahoma City Thunder (PR=2, 31-8)…6 weeks of power rankings, 6 weeks of being ranked 2nd for OKC, as Chicago leapfrogged them this week. A loss in Atlanta was the only thing keeping them from jumping to number 1, but don’t cry too much for the Thunder. They have won 14 straight at home, which is where they play 8 of their next 10.
3. Miami Heat (PR=1, 30-9)…After 5 weeks at number 1, it was only a matter of time before the Heat stumbled a little. And while it was fun seeing LeBron play more power forward, Bosh’s absence really showed his worth to the team, as Miami’s biggest weakness may be their lack of quality bigs. A combination of Joel Anthony and Juwan Howard is not going to get it done. Also, take note of this tough stretch coming up for Miami: Indy, at Orlando, at Chicago, and at Philly.
4. San Antonio Spurs (PR=4, 26-12)…Another ho-hum week for the Spurs. Tony Parker continues to play out of his mind though, averaging 21 points and 6.5 assists per game since the break, all while shooting 55% from the floor.
5. Memphis Grizzlies (PR=Not Ranked, 23-15)…The number 5 spot continues to be a revolving door, but Memphis seems to finally be taking that step forward many thought they would after last year’s playoff run, and Z-Bo’s return looms as well.
Jimmer's 1st year in the pros hasn't been all smiles.
26. Toronto Raptors (PR=27, 13-26)…Went 2-2 last week, but next week could be make-or-break for them in terms of the power rankings, as they play 3 teams (Detroit, Milwaukee, and Cleveland) who’s record is not much better than their own, and 1 team (NJ) that’s just below them. Toronto, you control your own destiny.
27. Sacramento Kings (PR=Not Ranked, 13-26)…With Toronto, New Jersey, and Detroit all around 0.500 in their last 10 games in the East, it’s time to give some love to the next stinkiest Western Conference team. Ended a 4 game losing streak by (barely) beating fellow woeful West team New Orleans, but this team is a mess overall.
28. Washington Wizards (PR=29, 9-29)…The Wiz jump a spot after an up-and-down 2-1 week: a win on the road against the Cavs, followed by a Golden State drubbing on their home court, and then finishing up with a win against the Lakers. As bad as Washington’s been, they boast 2 of the 3 (more on that in a sec) most unlikely W’s of the season (last night’s win and their January win against OKC).
29. New Orleans Hornets (PR=28, 9-30)…So much for my “what if New Orleans played in the East” argument. Losers of 3 in a row and 5 of 6, the Hornets seem to be destined to finish right above the Bobcats in the standings. Can someone buy this team already?
30. Charlotte Bobcats (PR=30, 5-32)…Charlotte had what will probably be their best win of the season against Orlando, but it just goes to show how firm their hold on the bottom spot really is.
Rising: Minnesota (3 in a row, 7 of 10, and it hurts me to say it being a Blake fan, but Kevin Love is the best power forward in the game right now)
Falling: New York (lost 3 in a row and the league seems to be up to speed on them now), Milwaukee/Cleveland (getting closer and closer to bottom 5 territory every week), and LA (both the Clippers and Lakers aren’t the same team away from Staples)
Obviously, anytime you sit down to watch a movie, you want it to be a “good” movie, but unfortunately everyone can’t be a winner in life. There are some really shitty movies out there. Have you ever just gone on Netflix or iTunes and browsed through movies? I know I speak of MySpace as a virtual wasteland, but there are sectors or quadrants of online movie rental databases that are right up there with it on the worthless-piece-of-garbage scale…just tons of insanely bad movies that you’ve never even heard of, never seen a single trailer or commercial for, that never would have even existed in your consciousness if it wasn’t for something like Netflix. Fortunately though, the next best kind of movie after a good movie is a dreadfully awful one. Watching a mediocre movie can be painfully boring…awful movies are at least filled with unintentional comedy and moments that you can turn to the person watching it with you and say, “What the hell just happened?”
Rewind to Saturday night, when our DVR queue was blank, and there weren’t any college or pro basketball games on that were really worth watching. Krissy logged on to her older brother’s Netflix account (hooray, free movies!) and began searching for something (anything), but the cupboard seemed pretty bare there too. Finally, we found ourselves looking at a still-shot and description of something called “Freestyle.” I made the unfortunate mistake of noticing that in part of the description it said something like, “If you liked Step Up, then you will love Freestyle.” Krissy of course loved the original “Step Up,” so that was enough for her to at least check it out right there, but the movie cover also appeared to somehow incorporate basketball into the plot, which made us even more curious.
Looks suspiciously bad, but how can you turn down new music by Toddla T and Lethal Bizzle?
Before the movie even started, I figured we were in for a night of bad movie watching, but I noticed something about London in the opening screen where the production company is being shown, which made me wonder, “Wait…is this a British movie?” Sure enough, the opening scene shows a 3-on-3 streetball game, and the trash talking includes words like "rubbish" and "cheerio"...ok, I made the 2nd part up, but this definitely appeared to be a "hardcore" game of "streetball" on the mean streets of London. (I'm sure there actually are mean streets of London, but it still made for a funny scenario.)
Anyway, to say the whole movie was a farce would be putting it nicely, but I somehow found it weirdly fascinating. The acting and the plot were terrible and ludicrous, respectively, and there were plenty of those "Wait, what?" moments I was describing before. The movie is centered around a from-different-sides-of-the-tracks love story. The guy is the poor, thug streetballer. The girl is a gymnast who is going to Oxford. They made mention of her being a gymnast like twice the entire movie, and yet in the climactic freestyle tournament (more on that later), the guy uses some kind of like gymnastics handstand dismount move as like his show-stopper. It's supposed to be tribute to the girl and an infusion of one style into another and blah blah...except there were basically no gymnastics throughout the whole movie, so why do I care? There was also the prototypical rape scene where one of the male lead's boys tries to have his way with the girl lead after she gets over-served at a house party. She eventually got away in time thanks to a stiff kick to the groin, but then her love interest (who had been looking for her all over town) finds her as she walks outside. When the attempted date-rapist walks outside moments later, our hero slugs the guy in the face...sounds great, except he had no idea about any sexual assault or anything, so he basically punched his boy in the face for no reason whatsoever...nice job, "Freestyle."
Aside from the typical plot holes in a bad movie, most of "Freestyle's" entertainment stemmed from the "freestyling" that the movie was based around. There were at least a dozen aspects that made me say to myself at one point or another, "Is this what British people think of when they think of basketball?" The freestyle competition is nothing more than a glorified dance contest. There is some random dribbling or spinning the ball on your fingers, but it was mostly like watching some type of combination of dance and rhythmic gymnastics, where the participant uses a ball or a ribbon or whatever as a prop. Heck, in the female lead's freestyle routine, she laid the ball on the ground the majority of the time while she just writhed her body around it. It was all very strange to watch, as even the wildest And 1 Mixtape players would agree that saying this had anything to do with basketball would be a stretch. (The dancing itself was weak at best as well.)
There were also a bunch of other elements that you couldn't help laughing at and saying, "Oh Britain, you slay me." For example, Luol Deng is the idol to these guys. Ok, fringe All-Star who I believe has some UK ties...I get that, but I don't think Deng gets much recognition as a streetball legend or anything. I might have missed that part of the Luol Deng story...but really, of all people, Luol Deng? Another thing was that the ballers' dresscode on the court was comical. They looked like they were more likely to be in a Paul Wall music video than do anything basketball-related. Also, our rapist-to-be wears nothing but brightly colored matching jumpsuits (not to mention a gold pinky ring), and I assure you that his wardrobe choice is not intended to be ironic. Best of all though, in the final scene referenced above, our male lead dons an away-blue Gilbert Arenas Wizards jersey...classic, just classic. Unbelievably, "Freestyle" was rated with 3/5 stars on Netflix (1.9 out of 10 on IMDB though). In terms of watchability, it's pretty cringe-worthy overall. The acting, the "basketball," the plot...I'm not going to lie, it's all pretty horrendous, but that's also why I think it deserves someone trying to start an underground cult-following for it. If not me, then who? So, if you ever have an hour and a half to kill and want to see some truly awful movie-making and butchering of basketball culture, "Freestyle" is your go-to. Let's get this thing going, everybody. See the trailer below...
I’m not going to speak on All-Star weekend very much here. Despite it being a glorified pickup/exhibition game with little intensity or defense (until the last 2 or 3 minutes), it’s still probably the most fun to watch of all the major sports’ all-star games. Can we agree that the dunk contest is officially lame though? It’s basically devolved into a 30 minute circus act of guys jumping over people and objects of various heights while changing jerseys several times in between. Just about everything that could be done seems to have been done, and aside from the occasional year where a Vince Carter, Dwight Howard, or Blake Griffin participates there’s little to no star power either. You can make the argument that the best dunkers in the league are not necessarily the best players if you want, and there are guys like this year’s winner, Utah benchwarmer Jeremy Evans, who are probably up there with other more household names who have in-game throwdowns regularly, but I’m not really buying it. These guys are the outliers, the exception to the rule in my opinion. Evans’ 2 ball, jumping over teammate Gordon Hayward, alleyoop was pretty cool. It took tremendous athleticism and skill, and I had never seen anything like it to be honest, but it didn’t exactly get me hyped. It was a parlor trick. It reminded me more of the weird guys you see at halftime shows who can spin 5 basketballs at once on their head, hands, and feet (or whatever) than a dunk contest clinching jam. And yes, maybe everything that is possible has already been done (thus the seemingly never ending parade of props), but I’m pretty sure I saw 4 or 5 dunks in the actual All-Star game that were better than anything I saw on Saturday night. You don’t think a dunk contest featuring LeBron, Dwight Howard, Blake Griffin, and either Durant or Russell Westbrook (let the teammates play H-O-R-S-E or rock-paper-scissors or something to decide who goes) would be electric? The NBA and its sponsors need to figure out a way to make this happen next year at all costs. On that note, on to this week’s power rankings…the All-Star break made for a lack of games and changes, but maybe that will be cause for some brevity on my part…maybe.
Come on, man (and by "man" I mean the NBA).
1. Miami Heat (PR=1, 28-7)…Eviscerated Jeremy Lin and the Knicks prior to the All-Star break, and rattled off their 9th straight in Portland last night, where LeBron showed he is the ultimate Swiss army knife.
2. Oklahoma City Thunder (PR=2, 29-7)…Like Miami, the Thunder don’t appear to be going anywhere unless KD or Westbrook suffers some type of catastrophic injury. Have won 7 straight themselves, and started off a tough East coast road trip right by beating Philly and Orlando.
3. Chicago Bulls (PR=3, 29-8)…Gutted out a tough win in San Antonio on Wednesday, and it’s hard to be critical of a team that has the 3rd best record in the league and has won 4 straight, but they just seem to be missing something on the offensive end (much like last year). Rip Hamilton doesn’t appear to be the answer.
4. San Antonio Spurs (PR=4, 24-11)…The Spurs stay here almost by default, as the top 3 in the power rankings seem to be a class ahead of everyone else (as shown by the Bulls coming into their house and beating them).
5. Indiana Pacers (PR=Not Ranked, 22-12)…Much like the Spurs in their loss to Chicago, the Magic kind of showed why there’s a top 3 and then there’s everybody else in their home loss to the Thunder last night. Even though the Pacers lost 5 straight prior to their current 5 game winning streak (in which the schedule has been kind), they are owners of the 5th best record in the league right now. They might need 1 more year of experience to really challenge Miami and Chicago in the East, but I like what I see.
26. New Jersey Nets (PR=28, 11-25)…I’m telling you, man…the Nets are by no means “good,” but they are not terrible either. They’ve won 3 of their last 5, and those 3 wins all came against teams that would be in the playoffs if the season ended today. If Brook Lopez never got hurt, this would be a borderline playoff team (for what that’s worth in the East).
27. Toronto Raptors (PR=26, 11-24)…Have won 2 of 3, beating fellow bottom-feeders Detroit and New Orleans, but the Raptors may be perpetually stuck in the rankings anywhere from 26-29 for the rest of time.
28. New Orleans Hornets (PR=27, 8-27)…Eric Gordon is still technically their leading scorer on a points per game basis for the season. What could be sadder than that?
29. Washington Wizards (PR=29, 7-28)…Can I just say I’m all for Randy Wittman’s recent benching of JaVale McGee and Nick Young? And it’s not like Wittman’s going to be back next year anyway, so it’s no skin off his back, but it’s a big fat (and deserved) “f*** you” to GM Ernie Grunfeld for doing his job in an exceptionally stupid manner…bravo.
30. Charlotte Bobcats (PR=30, 4-29)…The Bobcats might not ever be moving from this spot. Maybe next week I will think of some commentary for their entry, but for this week I’ve got nothing!
Rising: we’ll give the Lakers a mention here, as they’ve steadily climbed to only a game out of 1st place in the Pacific Division
Falling: Philadelphia and Dallas (both losers of 3 in a row)
"Don’t pay attention to what other people are doing." "When you enter the gym, leave your ego at the door." "If you're not using proper form, then you're not doing it at all." These are the mantras that are always hyped up in fitness magazines, so anyone that has ever frequented a gym and got at least somewhat serious into training knows these catchphrases well. I think I have even written similar things in this forum, and yet it’s one of those things where it is tough to follow your own advice. I wrote on here a week or 2 ago that I had felt myself start to plateau (in the upper body at least…I feel like my legs have a lot of room to grow still). I’ve come to the conclusion that the main reason for this is 1 basic premise: my form is crap. If I’m being honest with myself, as I’ve started to lift heavier (for me), my form has started to break down in most of my lifts.
I 1st noticed this when I lifted with Krissy’s brother, Mike, in New Jersey over the holidays. Mike is built like an action figure, and he took me through the most difficult chest workout of my life. Going into the day, I felt pretty good about myself. I had gained some size and strength since the last time he had seen me in the gym, which was a few years before this. It wasn’t long before my confidence (and upper body) was completely shot. I was getting scolded for cheating in most exercises by using too much shoulders and arms. My main takeaway from that workout was that my form wasn’t good, but there were other things that Mike was saying that just didn’t register at the time. For example, when benching, he told me to try to not even thinking about pushing the bar, and instead focusing on "squeezing," or contracting, my pecs all the way through the motion of the exercise and to try to let my shoulders and delts overpower my chest. I basically ignored/didn’t get that part of the advice until I watched the following video earlier this week.
The monstrous dude from the clip’s name is Kai Greene, a pro bodybuilder, and for some reason a lot of the little tidbits (which I had probably heard a million times before) stuck with me when I heard him say them. "I’ll never be a weightlifter." "How much do you lift? It’s really not important to me." "This stuff, this will make you feel good, but it’s not going to benefit you." And what he kept repeating over and over throughout the clip was, "Full stretch, maximum contraction." It should be noted that in the video, Mr. Greene is using the same weight that I use for that curl move, but I’m obviously not seeing the same benefit he is (so, I must be doing something wrong). I’m not saying I want to or ever will look like him, but to say there’s room for improvement is the understatement of the century. Now, some will say that bodybuilders only care about looking pretty with their shirt off, and the real beasts in the gym don’t necessarily subscribe to a bodybuilder philosophy. However, it also should be noted that there’s another video of Greene on YouTube benching 495 for reps, so I think it’s safe to say that the top bodybuilders are beasts too. Anyway, aside from the goofy narration at the end of clip, I would say this video is worth a peek. I am going to try to, as Kai said, lower the weight and clean up the quality of the exercises. I have made some strides from when I 1st started training, but crappy form and poor lifting execution may have taken me as far as it can. Maybe it’s time to try something a little different…doing it the right way.
