• When did Stoudemire start shooting (and hitting) threes?
• Wanna guard Melo this year? Good luck with that!
• Yes, you saw that right: Brandon Bass has a jumpshot. I didn’t know that…shame on me.
• I really do like Chris Wilcox. Too bad the big fella is not in Detroit anymore. He brings effort and energy every game!
• Boston will miss Big Baby Davis more than they probably think…
• Melo made this his team in a heartbeat. Stoudemire is doing a really good job and those guys look like a good team with no alpha dog issues. This is huge. I was always afraid that they would break because they have two big time stars.
• The 1st quarter looked really good for the Knicks. Boston looked kind of unprepared and sometimes even confused on offense. Without Rondo doing his thing this team really would be in big trouble – “Big Three”? How about “Great One and his Three Amigos”?
• It’s been a long time since I have seen the Knicks have any kind of ballmovement, not even a good one. Now they look really good (at least for their standard from the last couple of years).
• B. Diddy looking sharp on the bench! He looks trim and fit – this could be a comeback year for him. I’d really like to see him get back to his all-star-self. He is a very good point guard (when he feels like it).
• Douglas is the spark of the bench for the Knicks that every team needs in the league today.
• We’ll see Spike Lee even more often on TV this year than we are used to.
• Brandon Bass has moves! He has way more skill than I thought…maybe Big baby won’t be missed that much. Bass played a big part (maybe even the biggest) in the little comeback from the Celtics in the 2nd quarter. He will get way more minutes ’til the end of the season.
• It was very cute to watch Pavlovic try to guard Carmelo…like a puppy trying to guard a T-Rex…or a baby trying to fight Brock Lesnar……or me trying to guard Melo…I guess you get my point…
• It’s scary how easy Melo can take over a game.
• Shaq to TNT – YEAH!!! I was really looking forward to this. He didn’t look that comfortable, but it was his first appearance – he’ll be good. BTW: Did Barkley slim down or is it Shaq making him look thinner?
• What happened to Paul Pierce’ face? He looks like he has lost a lot of weight.
• When Carmelo went down in the 3rd quarter while trying to block a Jermaine O’Neal lay-up, his teammate rushed to him to help him up. That’s what I want to see! Keep that up!
• The 4th foul by Melo was really unneccesary and dumb, but those things happen. Sure wasn’t on purpose, but keep those elbows to yourself, Melo. Don’t swing them around.
• C’mon N.Y., leaving Ray Allen open in the corner? Twice in a row? Really? Don’t you get League Pass in New York? When Allen gets going, it usually gives Boston a spark and the whole team starts to play better. Don’t let Allen take over.
• The Knicks left all their skills in the locker room during half-time. Hope they can back into the game after looking so good in the 1st half. Douglas and Stoudemire got the crowd back into the game. You can feel the crowd being scared that the Knicks are self-combusting…not these Knicks, tho!
• Celtics up by 10 with a little less than 11 minutes to go. You know what this is going to be called in N.Y. from now on? Melo-Time! He is starting to take over! Big three pointer to bring the lead down to his jersey number.
• Brandon Bass got some big rebounds for the Celtics. He knows where the ball is going to be – you can’t teach that.
• Another shot by Melo. Making it look really easy.
• Spike Lee trying to work the officials. Always fun to watch.
• Nice alley-oop from Melo to Chandler after the time-out. Well done!
• As much as I like you, T. Douglas, please pass the ball to Melo and get out of the way when he is feeling it and stop shooting three pointers…
• I don’t know what to call the “thing” Jermaine O’Neal did, but I’m going with “Reverse-Jordan-Effect“. You know when Jordan flew through the air and it looked like he spent an eternity up there? Jermaine O’Neal can do the same thing, but just the opposite way: Dude just jumped in slow motion, I swear! Check it out, 6:38 to go in the 4th quarter. He was up there for an hour without moving…that’s against the laws of physics!
• 2 point game with 6 minutes to go. Yes, sir!
• When, exactly, did Rondo get a jumper? Why hasn’t anybody told me that? Can you spell u-n-s-t-o-p-p-a-b-l-e? I, obviously, can’t…
• Big three by Douglas! That’s what happens when you double-team Carmelo.
• Melo ties it up with a three of his own! This guy is a weapon!
• KG is used to these moments…hits a shot like he is warming up…no emotion what-so-ever…
• It feels so good to see the Madison Square Garden rockin’ again!
• Don’t forget: No Paul Pierce – with their best scorer, the game would have played out differently…maybe still not with a W, but differently…

Blake is bringing the s…tuff! He is dunking hard, blocking shots recklessly and even distributing the ball. With DeAndre Jordan as his running mate and CP3 distributing the ball, the Clippers are the team to watch this season. People tend to forget that the Clippers are actually a decent team. They won’t win the championship (yet), but they are better than you think.

...finally, this means something again!

Do you know where Caron Butler is playing right now? No? How about the Los Angeles Clippers? Yeah…yes…I’m not kidding you. Butler is kinda like Lamar Odom – only missing the Kardashian. As the Sport’s Guy would say: he doesn’t take anything off the table, but he can do a whole lot for your – no matter what you need. Points? Check! Assists? Check! Rebounds? Check! Defense? Check! He had his (un-)fair share of injury problems, but he will be back better than ever including the…

...straws!

The Clippers miss a few key guys coming from the bench to keep the energy up through the whole game. They have a decent point guard back-up in Chauncey Billups, but other than that…

Time will solve this problem: ‘Til then…LOB CITY!!!

That’s exactly what the Pistons are doing for the other NBA teams since a couple years. Very nice…unless you care about things like improving your own team or small things like that. Let me explain:

Chicago Bulls

Man, I really do miss Rip Hamilton. He had his fair share of problems in the last few seasons, because of the coaching changes and a few other factors we probably don’t know enough about to judge him. I don’t know what it is with the Bulls, but they kinda love the players the Pistons don’t want to keep or can’t keep (see Ben Wallace a couple years ago).

Rip will probably have an outstanding year in Chicago, at least this is what I hope. He used tob e a class act and the last few seasons kinda dimnished that (which I think is unfair). Of course I’m rooting for Detroit, but he brought a championship to Motown – this has to count for something, doesn’t it?

The only game he has played with Chicago so far was a pre-season game, but man…did he look good on the court. Liket he commentator said: he played like he is part of the roster since years. He can shoot (as we all know), but he can make plays for other guys too and he has a very high basketball IQ. Everybody will act all surprised when he goes back to his usual self (aka before Curry and Kuester took the fun away for him).

Los Angeles Clippers

When you have Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan on your team and you go for one point guard, it gives you a new nickname: Lob City. That is a fitting nickname! CP3 to Blake Griffin all day long…yeah, they ain’t former Pistons, but Chauncey Billups is. He is getting older, but his style hardly was based on speed and flash – he is more about size, making good decisions, playing hard defense – effort. Those skills don’t go away with age. Being the back-up for CP3 is the perfect role for him at this age.

Let me just say one thing: it is very sad, as a Pistons fan, to see your starting backcourt from the championship days separated – one guy in Chicago and one in L.A. – but I guess that’s the business part of the game.

Anyway, what I don’t get about this thing is why we are keeping Tayshaun Prince. It doesn’t fit. Don’t get me wrong, I really do like Prince and I hope his former, humble self will rub off on our young guys, but getting rid of about everyone and re-signing him for a couple years just doesn’t really make sense. I doubt that we are going to trade him. He has a lot left and he can teach our youngsters a lot, which I’m totally looking forward to. I trust in Joe D and I think he knows what he is doing.

Tayshaun Prince

People tend to forget how much those players meant (and still mean) to Detroit. Sports fans can be cruel – they want to get rid of you as soon as you aren’t at your best. They hardly ever give you a chance for redemption – players are treated like animals sometimes. Well…animals that get paid millions of dollars, but still…that’s not fair. Tay will make this team better – on the court, off the court – overall! Go TAY!

1. Brandon Knight -another guard? Oh, c’mon…
2. …Stuckey, Rip, BG, Bynum…we don’t have enough minutes for the guys we have…
3. I want Biyombo! Okay, forget about that…thanks to Darko we had our fair share of “talented international big man that just need a little bit of developing their skills” already…
4. Brandon Knight – University of Kentucky…a Wildcat? I hope he has a higher ceiling than John Wall – yup, I’m not a fan.
   

   Brandon Knight

Well, after doing some very professional research (aka googling the guy), it’s not looking too bad. Actually, I’m becoming a bigger fan by the minute! What got me first, was the following quote from the NBA homepage:

“Knight broke the Kentucky freshman scoring record for points in a season (657) that had been only a year old. John Wall scored 616 points a year ago. Knight also knocked down a Kentucky freshman record 87 three-pointers.”

That sounds pretty good to me. Knight also went through the Calipari PG drills like Derrick Rose, John Wall and Tyreke Evans before him – not exactly the worst company to be with, right? If you want to read some further reviews on this guys from University coaches, check this link out and scroll down: NBA Prospect Brandon Knight. Little excerpt:

“I told him that his curve is probably sharper than even Derrick’s or Tyreke’s or John’s.” – Kentucky coach John Calipari

“He’s got the ability to not only score, but he makes players better around him. … He is a heck of a player. He is a challenge to guard.” – Ohio State coach Thad Matta

“I think he’s a better player in the half court than John Wall was. He shoots the ball better. He goes by you on the dribble. He’s got a super mind for the game. He makes passes that makes players better.” – Georgia coach Mark Fox

A point guard who knows how to score and who makes players around him better? I’m sold! Yeah, I’m easy like that. Give me a cool stat and a few nice quotes and I’m thinking next Derrick Rose here – okay, that’s a bit far-fetched, but you get my point, I guess.

One thing I need to get rid of about the Draft while we are at it:

If Kemba Walker, who was picked by the Bobcats right after Knight, has a better season than Knight, people will start questioning Joe Dumars again. Walker is a flashy, high-scoring guard in a league where the current MVP is just that – attacking the rim, scoring at will and so on…very good pick.

In Joe we trust…but don’t mess this up. Please.

Everybody is talking about LeBron James and his Houdini-Disappearing-Act in about every 4th quarter in the NBA Finals 2011 – in my humble opinion most people don’t have a clue what they are talking about, because saying somebody isn’t as good as he could be while the guy is delivering a triple double, is kind of exaggerated, isn’t it? Anyway…

Well, if LeBron James keeps up not delivering the goods (you know, if triple doubles aren’t enough), there is one guy who needs to step it up: Dwyane Wade. We could include Chris Bosh too, but everybody knows that this guy is definitely overrated – c’mon, I would average more points while playing with LBJ and Wade. He got more open shots than anyone in the history of basketball teams and he still seems to be a non-factor in the Finals (yeah, he hit a shot that became the game winner 44 seconds later, but you need to do waaaay more when LBJ and Wade are keeping the defense on their heels).

Game 6 is as much about Wade showing us what he is really made of as it is about LBJ. Don’t forget about that.

Here is the short version for everyone using Lost (because everybody knows that show): LeBron is Jack, Kobe is Sawyer and Kate is the Championship. Easy analogy, right? Jack is the hero, saving the day, making other people feel better and being an all around good guy. Sawyer is minding his own business, doing what is best for him, having a mean streak…but after a couple episodes/season’s, we start seeing them in a bit of a different light…Jack isn’t the nice guy anymore, Sawyer’s is actually doing the right things but his way, that’s why it took us a while to get to like him – when the right chance presents itself, he is even a really nice guy…get my point? If you need a more detailed statement, click the cute little ‘More…’-button:

Do you remember the flick that came out about 13 years ago named “Face/Off“? A John Woo joint starring Scientologist John Travolta and Nicolas Cage (who named himself after Johnny Cage from ‘Mortal Kombat’ btw)? The plot looks like this: ‘A revolutionary medical technique allows an undercover agent to take the physical appearance of a major criminal and infiltrate his organization.’ (Thanks, IMDB!) Anyway, the ‘major criminal’ kinda get’s the idea and turns everything around by taking the physical appearance of the undercover agent…if you want to know the rest, you’ll need to go out of your house and legally buy the movie somewhere (thank me later, RIAA & MPAA).

Now, let’s pretend this ‘revolutionary medical technique’ is ESPN, the ‘undercover agent’ is LeBron and the major criminal is ‘Kobe’. (Something’s wrong with the ‘ ‘ ‘ somewhere…)

...must become him?

Anyway, is it possible that a one-hour tv show on ESPN can change our perception of athletes this much? ‘The Decision’ was pretty bad…well, not the decision itself, but ‘The Decision’…you know what I mean…if it takes one hour for LeBron to tell us where he is going next, I don’t want to know how long it takes him to plan his vacation. Back to the point:

LeBron used to be our hero, well, sort of. You could dislike him of course (especially if your favorite team had to play him 4x times a year), but most people were simply amazed by what he could do on the court and how easy he made it look. A walking triple double that was true to his home his whole career, trying to bring glory to his tormented home…uhm…state. Kinda like highschool sweethearts <3. Kobe on the other hand was the guy that pushed Shaq out of town, argued with Phil Jackson, was a bit of a headcase, cheated on his wife (like Paul Brogan said: ‘Nobody can slow him down, except for young girls from outta town’)…you name it, he probably did it (at least according to TMZ).

A one-hour tv show later and the roles changed. Well, Kobe stopped being the villain some time ago actually, but the LeBron role change to suddenly becoming the bad guy was perplexing.

Now Kobe is the guy that never left ‘his’ town, who is definitely staying a Laker 4 life and, well, a guy that stood by his team even when the situation was really bad (and it was really bad – Smush Parker, anyone?). Yeah, of course he pushed for a trade back in the day, but he never actually went to another team – he forced the Lakers to surround him with better players.

LeBron on the other hand just joined the ‘dark side’ to keep the movie references going. He quit on his team and is now sleeping in Dwayne Wade’s guest room. Did the Cavaliers trade for about every f’n guy in the league they could afford to surround the Choosy One with better talent? Yup.  Could they have done more? Wasn’t surrounding him with shooters and role-players enough? Legitimate questions some ‘former fans’ ask. Don’t get me wrong: LeBron did what he is supposed to do, choose the best situation for himself…but he did it the wrong way…

The Choosy One

Maybe it’s too easy to look a this situation like it’s a movie, but let’s be honest: Free Agency, especially everything including stuff like ‘The Decision’, isn’t business anymore, it’s show-business – so we should rate it accordingly. Can you imagine Face/Off ending by John Travolta saying: “You know what? F’ it, I can’t destroy this criminal organization – I better join it to improve my chances of winning. Yo, Nic Cage, you need a side-kick?”? Not exactly Hollywood, is it?

If LeBron wants to be in the media spotlight, he better learn to follow the rules. They are simple:

• No naked pictures on the internet
• People love happy ends! Yay!
• No semi-naked pictures on the internet – especially southern territories
• Don’t be boring (thank you, Jim Gray, thank you so much…not…)
• No naked videos on the internet
• Don’t break a whole state’s heart on national tv

You don’t want that? Than handle your business like it’s BUSINESS and not show-business, okay? Do you see CEO’s of companies making major decisions on NBC or something? (Maybe if you want to be the Donald Trump of basketball…and I’m not talking about money here, but getting made fun of…)

If you did a poll a year ago asking which player looks more like a ‘nice’ guy – Kobe or LeBron, I guess LeBron would have won by a wide margin. Now…well, I just don’t know. Kobe is trying hard since a few years and in the last couple months it didn’t even seem to be forced anymore – he was really funny at Jimmy Kimmel after the Lakers won the Championship, right? (C’mon, you know I’m right.) I did root for the Celtics in the Finals a lil bit, but I was happy for Kobe after the last game anyway…he got 5 rings. 1-2 more and we maybe can start talking about him being the best shooting guard ever…and you know what? He did it by his rules, with his team (one…no ‘s‘ at the end…) and he definitely did it his way.

I’m usually rooting for the underdog or if it’s 50-50, I’m always rooting for the team from the Eastern Conference – it’s just how I roll. But do you know what? If the Lakers and the Heat should meet in the Finals…I’m not sure I would root for the Heat…LeBron, Wade, Bosh…nah, right now, at this moment…I’d probably root for the Lakers…never thought I’d say that…

(BTW: What is it that makes Chris Bosh look so f’n creepy? He is evil, I tell you…evil!)

Now you can’t find this blog under www.dunkonu.com or www.dunkonyou.com anymore, because I didn’t feel like paying for the URL when I wasn’t writing anymore.

So, here is a quick recap of what happened since the last post (which I wrote last freakin’ year(!!!)):

• The Pistons didn’t exactly blow their competion out the water…injuries, bad chemistry, not-playing-together for a long time…excuses over excuses…
• The Celtics showed the world that the regular season doesn’t mean anything as long as you can turn “it” on in the Playoffs
• The Lakers showed the Celtics that you can dominate the regular season and the playoffs

Now it’s draft time where the so-called experts write stuff they regret a few months later…but they’ll do it next year again anyway. So, just hope for a few good trades, some funky suits worn by the new guys and enjoy the show. Other than the Las Vegas Summer League there won’t be much going on ’til the season starts…except for the LeBron sweepstakes.

This team is surprising me every time I watch a game. I don’t know if I’ve been that excited on a game-to-game-basis ever - there just aren’t any letdowns and the team is bringing the effort night in & night out. Keep it up!

Was this his breakout game? No, sir, you didn’t pay attention. He had his breakout game last season – now he is doing this stuff on a regular basis. The Pistons are missing several key players (Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Ben Gordon) while some others lost their rhythm (Will Bynum) and some hardly found it (Charlie Villanueva). It was hard watching this game on several possessions when Rodney got the ball in his hands, the double team attacked him and there was no real offensive option to pass to…and still the Pistons managed to win this game on the road. Jonas Jerebko was the 2nd best player wearing a Detroit jersey in this one. Talk about maturation…

...winning the game...

Stuckey dropped 20+ points 9 times this season (5 times in the last 7 games). Ball distribution? Are 7+ assists in 4 of the last 6 games enough for you? He couldn’t have a better timing to step his game up. Right now his team needs him the most because of all the injuries and Rodney Stuckey delivers. Here are the highlights of the game. If you want to know what Rodney had to say after the game, click here.