All I Want for Christmas is the Curry Family Jumper

Everyone been known about Steph Curry, but his kid brother Seth leads all NCAA freshmen in scoring at 21.4 ppg game. Therefore, the first thing on my Christmas list (yes, I'm 21 and I still make a legit Christmas list) is the Curry family jumper, because it is smoother than a new Akon track (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsSLQWbq_RY).



Nasty Nate's X-Mas List:
1. A 20, 20, 10 game from Dwight Howard (and not just because he is on my fantasy team)

2. A promise from Bron Bron to stay in Cleveland

3. Video of Pau Gasol, Luke Walton, and Kobe sharing Christmas dinner

4. A picture on Stephen Jackson-Claus' lap (Jackson-Claus' pictured above)

5. Gunnin' For that #1 Spot (http://www.gunninmovie.com/)

6. A beard to match my buddy Baron
----------------------------
More importantly, it is time to get the plans down for the 1st annual PnR Christmas dinner. What follows is a guest list that features something each person is bringing to the party.

Josh Howard RSVP'd but ended up having to cancel because of a date with Mary Jane, so he sadly won't be able to bring the greens. Luckily, Josh Heytvelt is taking his place and bringing a mushroom platter.

My man Bassy Telfair called and let me know that he'll be hooking up with NFL star Plaxico Burress in order to provide security.

WNBA Star (is there such a thing?) Becky Hammon is bringing two gorgeous Christmas hams in the form of her luscious ass.

MSU Coach Tom Izzo is bringing his wife's egg nog. Clearly, after what happened against UNC, the only way to coach the Spartans is by getting hammered drunk.

Zags, Top 25, and the NBA in the Burgh???

Mike Miller, the future king of Pittsburgh?

Before we get into a hypothetical Pittsburgh basketball franchise, I feel that it is important to drop some college hoops knowledge on you kids. Feel free to enjoy a beverage with this post (I know I am).

Da Zags

Mark Few has simply built a dynasty over the past few years out in Spokane, but many are wondering if this is the best team he has ever put together. The older teams were built on great guard play and an offensive system that allowed the Zags to play with the big boys. Great shooting was an important element of those teams and execution was especially important as they lacked the natural ability of their big time opponents. The Adam Morrison teams had one of college basketball's elite players, but those teams relied too much on Morrison and got away from the system that had made them so successful. Some things were good; Morrison getting paid and the team remaining in the national spotlight, as well as improved recruiting. Other elements were not as great; no postseason improvement, a year of my college career spent with long hair and a dirty crust-stache.

Regardless of the past, this current team includes the best group of athletes and basketball players ever to suit up for Mark Few. Bouldin and Pargo were top 100 recruits and Micah Downs was a McDonald's All American. Josh Heytvelt provides a great inside presence when he is healthy and not shrooming. More importantly, he provides some much needed comic relief on the the college basketball scene. I haven't even mentioned Austin Daye, a likely lottery pick (and subsequent bust IMO, but that is a story for another day).

It is clear that this is the most talented team that Few has ever had. Outside of UNC, they have as good of a chance as anyone to win the whole damn thing, but they still have a ton of question marks. The bench remains an issue, and despite being a veteran team, they looked very sloppy while holding onto a lead against Tennessee tonight. That being said, I did pick the Zags as the team not named UNC who was most likely to win it all on a college basketball preview on a Wednesday Edition of the WPTS Sports Journal (http://www.wpts.pitt.edu/ , 4:30-5 on Wednesdays and Thursdays). I might have been drunk, or maybe I was just in love with the Josh Heytvelt era, but either way I said it.

I guess the bottom line is that it is too early to tell how good this team is, but they are without a doubt Few's most talented team. Will they end up being his best team?

Harden Stays Flossin

Much like his Brother Walde from http://www.falsefloss.blogspot.com/ , James Harden of ASU stays flossin. Harden went for 40 and 8 tonight against UTEP. For the year, the preseason PnR All-American is averaging 27 points, 4 assists, and 6.8 rebounds per game. Kids, it is OK to have a man-crush.... I sure do. ASU sits at 5-1 on the year and will likely remain in the top 20.

Elsewhere in college hoops, Syracuse is looking to burst into the top 25 after winning the CBE Classic. Cuse is 6-0 and has recently knocked off Florida, Kansas, and UVA in tight games. I had my doubts early on, but Johnny Flynn and Eric "8 mile" Devendorf have me believing.

At 5-1 St.Mary's and Patrick Mills are close to being ranked, but a loss to Cal State Fullerton means that the Gaels will have to win a few in a row before voters will respect them again.

Speaking of respect, Louisville had none for Western Kentucky. #3 UofL fell to WKU 68-54 tonight. That means that the Pitt Panthers, fresh off of winning the Legends Classic in Newark, should be the third ranked team in the country tomorrow. At this point, I see no reason to doubt the Panthers as a legit Final Four team.

Pro Basketball in the Burgh n' at

First, let me say that I highly doubt this ever becomes a reality. The only chance of this happening is Mark Cuban getting banned from the NBA for 5 years. Upon being allowed to return to the NBA as an owner, Cuban would get really drunk on the Southside and then have a Primanti's n'at. At this point, he would decide to start a basketball franchise in Pittsburgh. That being said, I will assemble the roster as if the franchise started playing tomorrow. As for a team name and logo, I'll let yinz readers decide on your own.

Much like the mindset of the Steelers and their fans, the Pittsburgh basketball franchise would strive to build a tough team. Also, being one of the 7 most racist cities in the world (just a guess), Pittsburgh would look for a legit white player. In this instance, the man for the job is none other than Mike Miller. The 6'8 shooter would be like a native son of Pittsburgh. I can actually picture him getting a swinging bachelor pad with Big Ben and throwing massive parties that end with numerous embarrassing/awesome pictures on the internet. We need to make this happen!!!

Now, this is where it gets tricky... If Cuban owns the team, then it would bring in a bunch of high profile guys and win the bidding war for Chris Bosh in 2010. If Cuban is not in the picture, the team would sign Steve Francis, jumpstart the NBA career of former Pitt star (I mean player... not star) Antonio Graves, and trade for Aaron Gray. Now I will give you a 9 man rotation for the 2010-2011 season (the first year after the summer of LeBron, Wade, and Bosh) under both scenarios.

Sans Cuban
PG- Randy Foye
SG- Scotty Hopson (2010 Lottery Pick)
SF- Mike Miller

PF- Blake Griffin (2009 Lottery Pick)

C- Aaron Gray
-----
Bench G- Kyle Lowry
Bench F- Sean May
Bench G- Antonio Graves

Bench G- Steve Francis (well mostly his corpse and his mo-ped.... yes he has a mo-ped)

With Cuban
PG- Raymond Felton (2009 Restricted Free Agent)

SG- Raja Bell (2010 Free Agent)

SF- Hedo Turkoglu (2009 Free Agent)
PF- Blake Griffin (2009 Lottery Pick)
C- Chris Bosh (2010 Free Agent/Undersized Center because he is really a girlie PF)
-----
Bench G- Scotty Hopson (2010 Lottery Pick)

Bench F- Mike Miller
Bench C- Aaron Gray
Bench G- Mike Bibby (2009 Free Agent/Dying of Old Age)

Clearly, one of these teams is good and one is bad. Also, the numbers in terms of contracts have not been run, so it is likely that none of this could even be possible. That being said, if there is ever an NBA team in Pittsburgh, a former Pitt Panther will be on the roster.

Don't Sleep on Thad Matta

I promised to preview Ohio State today as my sleeper for the Big 10 title and a possible deep run in March. It is very likely that that deep run in March could come in the NIT as this team has not looked very good through two games, but nevertheless I am sticking with Thad and the boys for now. One quick note, a few years ago at the Pittsburgh Jam Fest AAU event I was hammered drunk in the bathroom of the Fitzgerald Fieldhouse. Thad Matta bumps into me in the bathroom and says, "they got them real old pissers in here". He was right, the urinals/pissers were real old, circa any arena/stadium built before 1996. Anyways, your 2008-2009 Big Ten Champions..... The Ohio State Buckeyes!!!!

Guards
Ohio State is stocked with athletic wing/combo guys, but they have a huge problem at the point. Right now Jeremie Simmons is the man running the show for Coach Matta, but I suspect that Anthony Crater will take more minutes as the year goes on, because who in the hell is Jeremie Simmons? Exactly, he's Jeremie F'n Simmons. Crater is a former 5 star prospect who lost a lot of his luster and eventually ended up as a fringe top 120 guy based on the fact that he committed early and stopped growing at 6'1. Regardless of who plays the minutes at the point, the production will need to be better.

Shooting guard/wing is a much better area for tOSU because of guys like Jon Diebler, Evan Turner, David Lighty, and 5 star Frosh William Buford. Diebler is an Ohio school boy legend and can shoot the lights out. He came up big in a tight game against Bowling Green. The reason I fell in love with this OSU team weeks ago was because I expected some big time improvement from JR. David "righty tighty, lefty" Lighty, but through 2 games Lighty is statistically the same player he was last year. Lighty is a smart player with elite level athletic ability, but it is time for him to shit or get off of the pot. Buford is a fantastic talent who will come off of the bench to get buckets. As a matter of fact, his only job will be to get baskets and wink at cheerleaders as he runs down the court. Evan Turner is similar in terms of build (6'7) and athleticism, but the kid only shot 6 times against Bowling Green. Thad Matta will have to get Turner to realize his ability and shoot the rock more.

Bigs
OSU has basically been going with a 4 guard look as Lighty has technically been playing "power forward", but he is a power forward in name only. Dallas Lauderdale has played PF/C for Thad Matta and has actually done a pretty good job. Lauderdale was a big time recruit for a majority of his high school career but eventually dropped in ranking because of a subpar senior year.

B.J. Mullens was perhaps the highest rated player in the country, but the 7'0 footer is off to a slow start. Mullens hasn't even played as well as Kosta Koufos, let alone Greg Oden. However, I expect Mullens to come around eventually.

Coaching
Thad Matta is a straight up P-I-M-P and this team will only get better under his watch.

The Final Word
This team will need to improve a ton in order to be a sleeper rather than just asleep. They struggled against a weak Bowling Green team and really need to improve quickly with game against Miami and Notre Dame coming up soon. If Mullens starts to come around and David Lighty and Evan Turner realize how good they can be then this team will really take off. However, if they have to rely on shitty PG play and Jon Diebler shooting 20 times a game then Coach Matta will stab someone. I'll stand by my pick and say that this team will shock a lot of people and maybe even finish ahead of MSU in the Big Ten standings. Afterall, they got them new pissers at Ohio State.

Your 2008-2009 Memphis Tigers- The Texas Longhorns

The PnR loved themselves some Coach Cal and his boys last year. Unfortunately, Slamanna ain't cheering for no team headlined by Lord Tyreke. So I gave myself a self-evaluation concerning who my favorite team in America is this year. Based on talent and potential of winning, I picked my front-running team, the Texas Longhorns.

You may say, "Slamanna, how do you turn your back on all the good times with CDR, Dorsey and Rose?" I say, "But I have also turned my back on KD, DJ, and PJ." I would like to compare and contrast their starting line-ups and coming years recruiting class:

PG- Derrick Rose v. Justin Mason. Winner by KO: Derrick Rose
-Derrick Rose had a flair for the dramatic. The banked threes, the clutch plays, and the rim rattling dunks. Justin Mason is a natural 2 man splitting duties with AJ Abrams who, much like big bro (maybe illegitimate child?) Desmond, only likes to dunk.

SG- Antonio Anderson v. AJ Abrams. Winner by Decision: AJ Abrams
-Abrams wears an Iverson arm band. He looks like Steph Curry, but doesn't quite play like him. He has sick range on his automatic jumper. Antonio Anderson has a well-rounded game and could be a rotation player in the NBA at the 1,2 or 3 positions. He does nothing absolutely terrific. Abrams is a 2-guard and does exactly what he should do: dial it from long distance and do it well.

SF- CDR v. Damion James. Split Decision.
-While CDR was much more productive and an All-American, Damion James has some qualities to be admired. He is like CDR with muscles and explosion. CDR had old man tricks, James has power moves with finesse. Their jumpers are probably a draw. Handle and playmaking goes to CDR. Dunking and rebounding to James. The main thing to remember is they both wear tight Under Armour under their jerseys and play like men.

PF- Robert Dozier v. Connor Atchley. Winner by TKO: Atchley
-I'm drinking Crow for putting him on the "I Can't Believe I Have NBA Potential" team. After watching him today at the Maui, I realized he is an unselfish big man with a vast variety of skills. The most impressive thing is that he focused on baseball in high school. He really helps this team with his shooting abilities and skills. Dozier didn't get to show much last year. This year he will carry more of the load. He was a very capable player, but I was so shocked by Atchley he wins.

C- Joey Dorsey v. Dexter Pittman. Joey Dorsey by choke out.
- Dexter Pittman is an agile 6-10, 290 pound guy who can finish. Very solid college player with size and touch to get a look at the next level. Joey Dorsey was more of an NFL prospect last year. Anytime you're that shredded and the play they run for you is to throw the ball at the rim, you win. Side note: Dexter Pittman lost by choke out after seeing Dorsey, running for 10 seconds and having a heart attack.

Key Bench Players: Shawn Taggart v. Gary Johnson. Winner Gary Johnson for being undersized, powerful, and really long.

Future considerations: Texas wins. They are expecting Jordan Hamilton and Avery Bradley next year. Two stud 5-star wing players. Memphis will be pulling in Xavier Henry, who will be a star. I think 2 is better than 1.

Hook Em' Horns

-Slamanna

Denver-Detroit 21 Days Later... Other Hoops Thoughts

Biff asked about the trade so I felt it was necessary to address what happened between the Nuggets and the Pistons. First, I must let it be known that I will always have a special place in my heart for AI, and that before the year I basically thought Chauncey was dead. After coming back from his injury last year he simply wasn't the same player. That being said, Denver is 8-2 since the trade and Detroit is 6-5.

My first reaction was that the trade made sense for both teams (talk about beating around the bush). Denver had to trade Iverson or else the season would have ended with a three way steel cage death match between George Karl, AI, and Melo. For the record, Iverson would have won as Karl's fat ass would have passed out and Melo would have given up in order to smoke some of Josh Howard's finest kush. The Pistons had to move Billups as they had given it their best shot with their core group of guys and knew that they had essentially maxed out and had no chance of getting another title. The Mr. Big Shot era had to come to an end.

I also completely understand that Detroit is trying to make cap space for 2010 (paging Chris Bosh, because we know Bron Bron isn't going to that shit hole). However, I really don't like that they are placing the whole future of the franchise on the shoulders of Rodney Stuckey. Stuckey is a good player and may develop into a stud, but I just don't see a franchise point guard when I look at him. The biggest problem with Joe Dumars is that he has placed so much faith in guys like Stuckey and Amir Johnson.

Perhaps the best way to look at the deal is that it was right for both teams and could probably make both teams better, but it has not improved either team enough to contend for a title.

NBA Draft Stock Report
Stock Up
Patty Mills-Soph. 6'0 PG-- It is hard to believe that Mills stock could rise any higher than it was to start the season because of his great work in the Olympics, but the Canberra Cannon has looked sharp thus far for the Gaels. Mills has an improved shot and shows perfect form on his pull-up jumper. I don't think anyone on this planet can stay infront of the kid.

Blake Griffin-Soph. 6'10 PF-- Griffin was already considered a top 5 pick, but his stock has improved because of his great start this year. He has actually surpassed the considerable hype. Griffin has improved his outside game and is really one of the most explosive guys in the country. Runs the floor like he is 6'6 not 6'10.

The Memphis Bigs- 6'9 and 6'10 PFs-- Robert Dozier (6'9 SR) and Shawn Taggart (6'10 JR) have looked much better this year with increased roles because of the loss of Joey Dorsey. Even with a recent loss to Xavier both guys have shown flashes of stellar play. Dozier had an impressive 18 point 4 block game against UMass and Taggart is getting 9.4 ppg and 9.4 rpg. Neither guy is a first round type player, but that doesn't mean that they can't find a spot in the league.

Stock Down
Tyreke Evans-FR. 6'5 G-- Evans numbers may look good, but anyone who has seen him play realizes that he is gunner and has not improved on any of the problems he had in high school. Lord Tyreke has to get most of his points around the basket and has yet to show good shot selection or an ability to get his fellow Tigers involved.

Chase Budinger-JR. 6'7 G/F-- C-Bud has certainly improved his defense and overall effort, but two facts are going to continue to kill this kid; he is on an Arizona team that is going to be down again without a real coach, and he really doesn't want to play basketball. He is like a less talented Vince Carter in terms of desire.

-Nasty Nate

CAP WATCH 2010: NEW YORK KNICKS

Greetings. After actually looking at comments below from the video posted in August, the PnR has realized we haven't been fulfilling our civic duties. I think we need to go over what could be the shittiest story line in the NBA for the next 2 seasons: getting under the cap.

Well, the Knicks just gave up all hopes of making their fans happy for at least two seasons. Here are their moves over the current week:

Knicks acquire:

F Al Harrington

Warriors acquire:

G Jamaal Crawford

Winner (at least this year): Warriors. They needed a quick fix until Monta Ellis returns in about a month and Jamaal Crawford will be a fine replacement. If he cant be exponentially better than DeMarcus Nelson I will shit my pants. I like a line-up of Crawford, Jack, Jay Cutler Maggette, Anthony Randolph/Brandon Wright and Biedrins. Wright and Randolph are showing a lot of skills recently which made Harrington and his bad attitude dispensable. It will be interesting when Monta returns how Crawford enjoys being the sixth man. They just gave Monta, Maggette, and Jackson a lot of money and years so we'll see. In the long run, the Knicks have enough cash to potentially sign one of the following: LeBron, Bosh, Wade, STAT, etc UNTIL

Knicks acquire:

G Cuttino Mobley and his 3000 sweat bands
F Tim Thomas

Clippers acquire:

G Mardy Collins
F Zach Randolph and stock in McDonald's

Winner: THE KNICKS!!!!!! Not because of talent, but because they are so dedicated to losing and sucking that they welcome Tim Thomas with open arms. Never in NBA history has there been anyone with so much talent yet such a commitment to being a pussy and sucking. Not to mention all of the cap room that they can sign 2 big names!!! Imagine this line-up playing for NY in 2010-2011:

G Chris Duhon
G Xavier Henry (Projected 2010 2nd Pick)
F LeBron James
F Blake Griffin (Projected 2009 1st Pick)
C Amare Stoudemire

The NBA!!!!! Love IT!!!!!

Team Unfuckwithable

Alright, apparently they NBA didn't get me rolling on bball. But holy crap I love the ESPN Midnight Madness thing. Here's a couple teams I would like to compile (some are nice, some aren't). Here we go!!!!

First Team All PnR (note Slamanna wrote this, so excuse the white men):

PG- Steph "Don't Ever Under Any Circumstances Call Me Cinderella" Curry-- 6'1/155/Davidson
SG- Robert "Dark Vader" Vaden-- 6'5/215/UAB
SF- James "Bitch I'm Hard" Harden-- 6'4/220/ASU
PF- Blake "Way Better Than Eddie" Griffin-- 6'10/230/Oklahoma
C- Tyler "Don't Hate" Hansbrough-- 6'9/240/UNC

Second Team All PnR:

PG: Levance "I'm a Leader and I Hit Huge Shots" Fields-- 5'11/190/Pitt
SG: Jack "Get Head Like Bill Clinton" McClinton-- 6'1/190/The U Got Swag
SF: Tyler "F U...I'M SECOND TEAM PnR? I THOUGHT WE WAS FAM?" Smith-- 6'7/220/TENN
PF: Luke "Nobody Likes Me But I'm on the List Because I Put Up Stats" Harangody-- 6'8/250/ND
PF: DeJuan "Man Crush" Blair-- 6'5 (but he has a the length to make Jay Bilas Blush)/255/Pitt

Third Team All PnR:

PG: Patty "I'm Faster/Better Than Tywon Lawson" Mills-- 6/180/St. Mary's
SG: Lester "25-7-7" Hudson-- 6'1/210/Tenn-Martin
SF: Sam "I Got Something For Your Face/Forget Proactive" Young--6'6/210/Pitt
PF: Damion "I Averaged 12 Boards Last Year and No One Cared" James--6'7/230/Texas
PF: Deon "Justice" Thompson-- 6'8/230/UNC

Honorable Mention:
-The whole Memphis squad sans Lord Tyreke
- Jerome Jordan, C, Tulsa
- Air Bud, F, Zona
- Earl Clark, F, Lville
- Kyle Singler, F, Duke
- Patrick Christopher, G, Cali
- Dionte Christmas, G, Temple
- David Lighty, G, tOSU
- Eric Maynor, G, VCU
- Derrick Brown, F, Xavier

All-Fresh:

G- Jrue Holiday-UCLA
G- Willie Warren- Oklahoma
F- Wesley Witherspoon- Memphis
F- Nasir........ I can't be a homer.......Delvon Roe-Michigan State
C- Tyler Zeller- UNC
C*- Samardo Samuels- Ville

I apologize if I missed any really nasty freshman. I refuse to put any of those one and done guys because they should be on the NBA Rookie team (minus Reke)

The How The F*CK Are You An NBA Prospect Team:

G- Tyreke Evans (All he can do is shoot terrible shots, and that's within Memphis' offense!!!!)
G- Gerald Henderson (Singler is WAAYYYY better)
F- Wayne Ellington (It must be an Episcopal Academy thing)
F- Al-Faraq Aminu (I'm not a believer, he reminds me of Ndubi Ebi.......Google the name see how the NBA worked out for him)
F- Connor Atchley (Since when does: a) being white, b) having a nice jumper and decent athleticism, and c) Averaging 10 and 6 translate to first round status?)

Wish You Were Back Team :( -
G- Anthony Randolph
G- Jerryd Bayless
F- CDR
F- B-Easy
C- Joey Dorsey

Every Dog Has It's Day

So, I'm just checking out slamonline.com today and I see a very inspirational video link for any small white person. It was a video of LeBron James facing off against some warehouse worker in a promotional game of HORSE. LeBron loses 2/3 from the guy! To see the video, click here.

I'M BACK!!!!

Well, I'm back at school and that means I have the internet again. It's great to have the ability to read some of my other sites (youtube clips, slamonline.com, scout.com, nbadraft.net, etc). Here are some of my summer thoughts:

1. The Muzik Man did a great job holding it down. I know Jesus Stanecsworth is hating, but when I saw a post about B-Easy and it had a tag named "Gunners", I knew this is where I wanted to be.

2. NBA Free Agency this summer has been pretty good.
-The Clippers got their PG (Sorry, Shuan). I hope he enjoys dumping it down to Paul Fucking Davis. Haha, money talks just ask Elton.
- The Sixers should've went after J-Smoove because he plays their style. Instead they fucked him over and now he is playing for a lot less than he is worth.
- James Posey to the Hornets is legit as hell.
- D-Miles to the Celtics doesn't make sense.
- Bill Walker to the Celtics rules.

3. NBA trades
- The one that stands out is Houston acquiring Ron Artest. Rumors are that he'll be playing the 4 spot for them (even though they are kinda loaded with Scola and Landry). I love small ball.

4. USA Basketball
- The commercial with Marvin Gaye singing the National Anthem might be the blackest/coolest thing I have ever seen. I thought LeBron was the most unstoppable guy in the world because of sheer size and skill. D Wade is back and gonna beat the shit out of guys this year. Kobe was Kobe. Chris Paul is hands down the freshest PG in the league.

Alright this post was real shitty, I'll try to do better next time.

-ML

Free Agency with a Lil Twist

I have been trying to figure out what has been the biggest disappointment of the week. There are many choices, ranging from Derrick Rose's sub par play, to the fact that I left two open beers out of the refrigerator last night. However, one incident sticks out..... Former NBA player Nick Anderson didn't know what "The Carter 3" was. I was shocked.....I may have cried. For what it's worth, the fact that I start work tomorrow has been the second biggest disappointment of the week. Anyway, in an effort to educate Mr. Anderson on the man that is Lil Wayne, today's blog is a special Lil Wayne edition.

We Takin Over- Perhaps one of the finest collaborations in rap history, and one of my favorite Lil Wayne verses of all time.... We Takin Over can be used to describe the signing of Elton Brand by Philly. Philly thinks that they can pass the Pistons and the Cavs in the East. I have a few problems with this signing. As I mentioned yesterday, I think that Josh Smith would have been a better addition due to his age (22 compared to 29) and because Philly found success last year by playing fast. Brand will be good because he gives them a dominant low post scorer who will command double teams. As of right now though, nothing will come from those double teams because Philly has no one that can shoot the basketball.

Sky's The Limit- After two days of basketball at the Orlando Summer League, this song title can be used to describe the play of Russell Westbrook. Both literally and figuratively, the sky is the limit for Westbrook. Russell has averaged 18.5 over the first two games, and he is the sole reason that I am still tuning into the Summer League.

World of Fantasy- World of Fantasy is one of Wayne's finest mixtape songs. In my opinion, the Warriors are living in a world of fantasy if they think that Corey Maggette will help them get into the playoffs. First and foremost, Maggette has been a career loser and carries a bad attitude. Secondly, isn't Stephen Jackson the leader of the team? Don't Jackson and Maggette play the same position? Does Golden State even have a player on their roster that isn't considered a wing? On top of the Maggette deal, the Warriors over payed for Ronny Turiaf. Don't get me wrong, Ronny is a PnR favorite, but his 6.6 ppg, 3.9 rpg, and endless amounts of energy straight up aren't even close to being worth 17 million dollars.

Sweetest Girl- Arguably the most popular song of the past year, Sweetest Girl saw Lil Weezy team up with Haitian Wyclef Jean. Mickael Pietrus is from France, and since neither France nor Haiti is in America, I felt like this was the proper way to mention that he has signed with Orlando. I feel like this is a good place for Pietrus, and his defense will be welcomed by the Magic. Also worth mentioning that Courtney Lee (a PnR college favorite) has been playing well for the Magic in Summer League.

Grown Man- In Grown Man, we get to hear Lil Wayne's softer sensitive side. Weezy proclaims numerous times that he is a grown man. For years, the West has been considered the far better conference, but perhaps the East is growing up. For example, KG and the Celtics got their "grown man on" on their way to winning the NBA title. Washington has resigned Jamison and Arenas to keep together the East's "near big 3". Detroit has one foot in the grave, but they still have talent. LeBron still plays for Cleveland, and he has already carried Ben Wallace's corpse into the playoffs. Atlanta could be good, and Philly has made a big move in getting Brand. The West is still better, but the East is no longer the NBDL.

"I've been lonely, I've been waiting for you" is the opening to Wayne's Something You Forgot. The line does a great job of describing how I feel about my beer. Therefore, this blog is over, but I'll be back later today with another update.

-PnR

Uncle Russy, Kevin Durant, and Philly

Uncle Russy and KD

Russell Westbrook continues to impress in day 2 of the Orlando Magic Summer League. Sporting a uniform that simply says Oklahoma City, Russell is leading the way at halftime unofficially with 15 points. Jeff Green and KD have 13 points each. In a shocking movie, Kevin Durant decided to play today, apparently he wanted Russy to have a running mate. Westbrook has looked like the Monta Ellis/Leandro Barbosa type player that many think he can be. However, the question still remains if he can run a team as a true point guard.

On the other end of things, Kevin Kruger has played a stellar game for Orlando. Lon's son had 8 assists in the first half, but he probably has no chance of making the actual roster. Big man Marcin Gortat has looked good as well. Gortat actually played in more playoff games than regular season games last year. How the hell does that happen? However, Gortat moves slower than my liver after a hard week of drinking. By the way, my liver and kidneys are currently not working for shit after an unreal drinking binge.

Side note, the past two days I have done nothing but watched these summer league games online while I drinking massive amounts of alcohol. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? As of now I'm going with good.

I feel like Oklahoma City had KD play just to make sure Jeff Green didn't shoot 55 times like yesterday.

Philly-Free Agency

http://www.nba.com//news/sixers_wolves_080708.html

Many sources are reporting that Philly has dealt Rodney Carney and a future #1 pick to the Wolves for a 2.8 million dollar trade exception in order to get some more cap space to make a huge offer to Elton Brand.
Personally, I would go after Josh Smith harder than Elton Brand.

Beasley

Lil' Mike finished 1-13 for about 9 points.... really a rough day for him.

Lil' Mike, NBA Summer League, and Free Agency

Where We Been??
Well, I would like to say that PnR should finally be back on track after a rough start to the summer. Lamanna really doesn't have internet access, so he hasn't been able to contribute to the blog, and until this week, I had been living without internet or cable. Now with the Orlando Summer League I feel that it is important to update.

Summer League (Michael and Friends)
First thing is first, Lil' Mike Beasley had a strong showing in the first game of his NBA career. From the official stats, Mike had 28 and 9, but by my unofficial count, Beasley had at least 12 boards. The funny thing is, the kid hardly played. He did all of his damage in about 25 minutes of court time. Today, against Sean Williams and New Jersey he is having a bad day, but more on that later.

I'd first like to talk about some trouble that Beasley may have in the league. After all, we all know about his strengths. For comparison, Mike Beasley shot roughly 17.5 times a game in college. The player who is most similar to Beasley is Kevin Durant. In college, Durant shot roughly 18.5 times per game, which is obviously 1 more time a game than Beasley. Last year for Seattle/Oklahoma City, Durant shot 17 times a game. Keep in mind that Kevin Durant was joined by 3 WNBA players, a guy in a wheel chair, and Nick Collison (who somehow just missed averaging a double double for the year). Therefore, Durant got to shoot a ton. Beasley will be joined in Miami by DWade..... Last season, in 51 games Wade shot about 18.5 times per game. If Durant has a reputation for being a gunner, then Wade has a reputation for being a shotgun. On top of Wade, Miami has some other possible guns in their lineup. You may be asking what the hell does this mean for Beasley? What it means is, how will Lil' Mike respond to a game where he only gets 10-12 shots? For example, against Rider, Mike had 13 points on 11 shots, and against Xavier he had 5 points on 6 shots. No offense to Sean Miller and his Xavier squad, but the post players in the Eastern Conference should be a bit better defensively.

Want proof that NBA players are better than those guys from Xavier? In one half of play so far today, Sean Williams has held Beasley to 4 points on 0-9 shooting. Williams has also sent two of Beasley's shots to the shitter with massive blocks. Even worse? Mike has 5 fouls and 5 turnovers.

On the other hand, Super Mario Chalmers has been a stud through two days. Yesterday he basically shit on Derrick Rose. Chalmers, who went 34th in the draft scored, took care of the ball, and hounded Rose on the defensive end. We all know that Super Mario is going to play great defense and hit open jumpers. If he proves that he can take care of the ball and run an NBA team, he has a very good chance to start this year for the Heat. Chalmers is a guy who should have went in the top 25 of the draft, and for some reason he fell. I mean really, is he that much worse than D.J. Augustin?

Other summer league news, Uncle Russy (Russell Westbrook) looked like a stud. Westbrook had 18 points, 5 assists, and 4 rebounds. Russy is a freak athlete, and if he proves that he can take care of the ball he can be a star. The Oklahoma City team played the Pacers, and Westbrook got to the hoop at will. Pair him with KD, and Jeff Green on the break, and things could be pretty exciting for the former Sonics. I'm not saying it will translate into wins (it won't), but at least it will keep the fans from falling asleep.

I'll be checking back in later with some more summer league news and a dip into free agency.

-PnR