Could Miami Actually Get A Big Three?

A Transaction Unnoticed

A small transaction took place yesterday in the NBA that a lot of people did not notice. The Miami Heat traded Daquan Cook and their first round pick, (No. 18 respectively) to the Oklahoma City Thunder to clear cap space and OK City gets a shooter. The conventional thought was that Miami could sign two max players with one being Wade, but what this move actually does is give the Heat an opportunity to sign three max players. So the possibility of DWade, Lebron and maybe a Chris Bosh or Amare' Stoudamire. The balance of basketball power could shift dramatically from the west to the east.

I don't think Lebron stays in Cleveland as I have previously written. The have never constructed the right team around him and its not his fault. Its just didn't workout. But if Lebron goes to Miami, then he really means what he says that it is about winning championships. Partnering with Wade and possibly another superstar would definitely give him the opportunity to winning multiple championships. Wade would provide Lebron the edge and leadership he needs to learn how to win, Wade has been there before. He's a former Final MVP. Miami is also perfect because it provides Lebron a place where there is no state income tax on his large paycheck. That's why New York would never make sense, that state tax income is way too high. That is also why I am eliminating the Clippers, even though their roster and the exposure is very appealing. If Lebron sits down with Pat Riley in South Beach on his recruiting trip, its over. Riles and the natives with the beautiful beaches and the exposure that Miami can give will be hard for the King to turn down. Riley knows how to appeal to players and knows how to win championships. If Lebron really wants to win, then Miami is the best option for him, with Chicago being second. The one person I feel sorry for is Eric Spoelstra because if Miami gets Lebron and Bosh or Stoudemire, the Riley will come down from the front office and lead the team to another title.

July 1st is right around the corner and the intrigue is building. Another big three could be coming and that might be the right formula to dethrone the Lakers.

A Dark Cloud Hangs Over The NBA

When will the NBA and mainly David Stern wake up and realize that no one trust his product? That game last night was a complete joke and at the root of the problem is the perceived rigging or at least awful officiating that has plagued the league in the last 10 years or so. What the NBA is doing by solely marketing individuals and not teams is purely hurting them from a casual fan point of view and the hardcore fans are starting not to care as well. Over the last week no has paid attention to the Finals and the ratings have shown it. NCAA realignment, World Cup, hockey and the NFL off season has been the top story while the NBA Finals have been mired in obscurity.


I understand home teams generally will get a little more calls than a road team. However, a 37-17 free throw difference is absolutely insane. Missing over the back calls and random charging calls while the officials hold their whistles. I did not know in basketball you could clothesline a player and that is a good no call. Pau Gasol took Kevin Garnett's head off on a rebound and no call was made. Or Rondo being clobbered by Artest on a rebound while Joey Crawford the referee looked on and he did not any look to call a foul. I love the flopping performance that Derek Fisher puts on and how the so called announcers say that good defense. Fisher looks to fall on every play because he does not have the foot speed to keep up with today's point guards. When the games were called evenly and the right way, the Celtics won. Yahoo! Sports had a story after game 3 that the Celtics owners went up to Stern and cussed him out about the horrible officiating. One of the things he stated to was was have the same officials call the series and stop rotating guys in. Right after that confrontation the Celtics won the next two games. Coincidence, I think not.

I believe Stern has decided to dictate the league's champion not based on the best team but on the single individual who he can market. If you think about when he came into the league Magic and Bird elevated the league to a new plateau. The NBA in the 70's was drug infested with lackluster stars. The Magic and Bird turned the league around not only with their play but their image. Michael Jordan was next in line and made the NBA global. Now Stern is trying to endear Kobe to the public and no one outside of L.A. cares for him and that hasn't changed since his first three championships with Shaq. Stern cannot use his marketing genius to sell a product that people don't want. He is trying to manipulate history by having the Lakers win and thinking that it will create more buzz around his league. Actually have the games officiated correctly and let the players decide on the floor how the game is won and that will create buzz for the league.

Stop The Comparisons



In the instant analysis world we live in today, the questions were asked if Kobe can compare to Magic or Michael. The answer is a resounding NO!!! Magic was a 6'9 PG who could play all five positions on the floor. He could dominate by either scoring or controlling the tempo of the game. Magic prolonged the career of Kareem and made Worthy, Cooper, Thompson and Scott household names with Showtime basketball. Magic was an innovator during the 80's. Michael Jordan did things on the court I have never seen and I am only 32. His moves and body control in the air were never seen before. People marvelled at the hang time at first, but later they saw his will to win and they way he made his teammates better. There was not a more ruthless man on the court. His flair for the dramatics were unmatched. Kobe has not brought anything new to basketball. All he has done is imitated Jordan from his walk, talk and mannerisms on the court. To me, probably why I have not connected with Kobe is because I don't think Kobe knows who he is. Kobe looks and acts like somebody he is not and that disconnects him from the public. Winning the championships does not make him a leader are vault him over the great Lakers before him. Think about this, Kobe went out and got a tattoo so that he could gain some street credibility. Does that sound like a leader? Leaders lead by examples not follow others. Magic and Michael found ways to lead on the court. They let their PLAY get the street cred, not a tattoo. People today need to look at the history of the game before they make such ridiculous statements.

Its tough to watch the NBA. I have been a fan since 1990. Maybe its time I move on like most of my friends. Its just hard to that because when basketball is played the right way, its the most beautiful and exciting sport to watch. Hopefully someone in the league office will recognize that and turn back the clock and give us all back the game of our youth.

Mizzoued Themselves Again

Too Slow To The Show

The Show-Me State has showed up last again to the party. Weeks after everyone thought Missouri would be going to the Big Ten first, but it was Nebraska who surprised everyone and left. Next Colorado went to the PAC-10, with Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Ok St. to follow. How did the University of Missouri screw this up one might ask. They simply Mizzoued themselves again.

As previously stated in a previous post, the Tigers have a history of hosing themselves over. Extra downs in football, unbelievable plays against them in basketball and now the administration has shown how to bungle a slam dunk invite to a major conference. With all the poaching of schools from the Big 12, everyone assumed Mizzou would join the Big Ten and be the twelfth team. It would work geographically with natural built in rival in Illinois. The St. Louis and Kansas city TV market are in the top 30 which would only enhance the Big 10 network. The school's basketball and football programs are nationally recognized as well as the baseball and women's softball program. The academics are there, its in the heart of the Midwest. The stars were aligned to gain some revenue from the TV network that a lot of pundits laughed at. The Governor said go, regents of the university said go, curators said go, but the chancellor and athletic director stood pat. Now Missouri is going from a major conference with the BCS to a school that is on the outside looking in.

Texas made it clear that Missouri did not matter. All of the Big 12 South said that Missouri was replaceable. The national view of the school is that of consistently underachieves in athletics. Add to that, when the school goes to big time events like NCAA tournament or a bowl game, the fans don't travel well. These are a few reasons why the Big 12 conference catered to the South part of the conference.

Second cause of all the poaching was the Big Ten network. The network has generated billions of dollars and has helped all of its schools grow in revenue, which this is what its all about, football revenue. The Big Ten ends its football season before Thanksgiving and their teams for the most part have been ran over in bowl games. People forget about the the conference and their teams for the most part have lackluster showings in bowl games.

Final Thoughts

Nebraska President Harvey Perlman taking shots at Mizzou for listening to overtures from the Big Ten is completely uncalled for. Mizzou has the most beef of anyone from the North because they got hosed two years ago when they beat Kansas head to head and got a Cotton Bowl berth instead of the Orange Bowl. Nebraska feels that they are back on the scene because of Pelini and their football staff. But a word to the wise to Perlman and Tom Osborne, just because you are preseason ranked for the first time in five years does not mean you are relevant. The once dominant Huskers used to own the upper part of Missouri as well as Nebraska. But Gary Pinkel and Mizzou started winning and recruits started flocking to Columbia instead of Omaha. From a basketball standpoint, the Huskers have not made the tournament since 1998 and have been to a championship game since the 60's. To me, the Big Ten has not improve itself with Nebraska. If its about revenue for the network they haven't gained very much because Omaha is barely in the top 100 of TV markets.

Mizzou is still dealing from a position of strength if one of these two things happen. Either they get picked up in the Big East and they can definitely dominant in football and get an automatic BCS bid and have a higher profile conference in basketball. Or if they go to Mountain West and that league becomes BCS eligible. The only drawback with the Mountain West is that the teams out west aren't really known nationally and therefore that will hurt recruiting overall. I also fear that by moving to that conference that coach Anderson and Pinkel would bolt for bigger schools at the first sign of an opening of a major program.

Texas put on the front that they could hold the Big 12 together but they are the ones who were really looking to leave. Here's why I say that. Notre Dame and Texas are the two prized recruits in all of this because overall they generate the most revenue. If Texas really felt secure about its place in the TV market outside of Texas then they would keep the Big 12 together and start their own TV network, they wouldn't need an outside entity to woo them. Being associated with the Pac 10 will cost them a lot of the casual fans that they have because who wants to watch them kickoff at 10:30 at night. They could have easily kept the Big 12 together and let Nebraska and Colorado walk and found suitable replacements. Now they will probably have the Pac-16 championship games played either in New Mexico or Las Vegas.

If you cant tell I'm a little disturb by all this movement for football. As much as I a huge college football fan, this is the sort of thing that just might drive me away. I know in life you have to adjust to change. But when you see grown men acting like babies and chasing dollar signs instead keeping the students in mind, its a little disturbing.