The Screaming Viking

The mav’s managed to best the heat last night in convincing fashion.  Both teams had a few runs, but the mav’s were just too hot to handle.  Dirk went 1-12 in the first half, but Dallas still has a 2 point lead going in to the half.  All series long the talking heads have said that dirk needs some help and last night he got it.  I’ve been on wax a couple of times saying that I think the officiating is bias…last night I think it was pretty bad as well.  The heat had 15 more free throws than the mavs…which is quite a difference in the NBA.

Obviously my opinion means nothing, but I like the way things turned out.  I like to see guys that have worked hard for many years finally earn themselves a title (Dirk, Kidd, Terry…).  Those guys have been in the league quite a while, been to the finals at least once each and finally earned themselves a title.  I like seeing Mark Cuban win a championship as well.  He’s been outspoken and can be an ass but whenever he talks about his teams you get the sense that he is as much a fan as anyone.  He wants his team to succeed both on the court and financially, he pushes for that and seems to have passion.  I like the feeling I get from an owner who seems invested in winning year in and year out.

I also like that James didn’t win a title his first year.  I’m sure his will come, but I just don’t like his public persona.  The move from Cleveland to Miami put a very bad taste in my mouth.  I have never had a problem with a guy moving teams, I just didn’t like the way he did it.  Call your former boss, tell him your moving on…call your new boss, tell him you accept…hold a press conference.  Some heads have said that they do not like the way he kept Cleveland in limbo for a few years during his last contract with them.  He seemed to act like they owed it to him to get him a title instead of him earning one.  I realize the decision earned 2mil for charity and that’s cool, but I think he should have at least notified his former boss before he went on the air.  Even if it was a phone call a couple min before he announced…it could have been handled better.  I also don’t like the “Chosen 1″ tattoo on his back…it seems awfully arrogant.  If he’d have brought multiple titles to Cleveland..then by all means, ink it up.  But to do it before you have won anything is a bit ridiculous.

LeBron also seemed to shrink from the spot light.  An average of 2.5pts or something in the 4th quarter of the finals?  In a press conference he tried to point to the “other things” he does in the 4th…but the bottom line is when the game is on the line the ball should be in his hands and he should be taking the shots.  Maybe he’ll mature in to his role but it would be a shame if he continued this mediocre performance in the finals and was able to win a championship on the back of someone else.

I’ve been watching some NBA action as of late, the conference finals and the championship round.  I also caught parts of games through out the season.  I haven’t been much of an NBA fan for years…I’ve been turned off by the game.  I think being back up in this area and getting involved with the basketball program at the school has reignited some interest in watching the game on T.V.  That’s probably fairly normal I would imagine.  I’ve also posted several times on here that I listen to lex and terry quite a bit.  Chances are their commentary on the world colors some of my opinion.  I heartily agree with some things they say, and don’t so much agree with others.  Politically I think they are blind morons, but when it comes to sports I believe they have some opinions that are valid to me.  They have had Tim Donaghy on a few times during the conf finals/finals and his commentary and insight into what happens is nothing short of fascinating to me.  I believe that to a certain degree the NBA is far more rigged than other sports.  I think they have more interest and ability to make a series stretch out 7 games, keep the game close and hand the game to the team they want to win.  It could not have been more evident than in game 3 of this years finals.  If you don’t think things are rigged, you need to sit back and objectively watch this past game. Read the rest of this entry »

I don’t think I’ll ever understand how coaches are hired at the professional level.  It seems like at the NCAA level at the very least a little bit of past success is necessary.  They might be coming off of being fired somewhere or had a bad stop at their previous school, but chances are some where in the past they have demonstrated some sort of competence.  Maybe it was at an assistant or coordinator position, a past head coaching position…but somewhere down the line a head coach has shown some level of competence.  I’m only speaking for football and basketball.  I don’t follow hockey or other coaches enough to know if they follow the same pattern.

In the NBA it seems like no coaching proficiency is necessary before the chair is pulled out for them.  This is especially true for star players that want to break into NBA management/coaching.  Magic was my favorite player to watch and listen to, but he made a horrible coach…his little stint with the Lakers was not good, but he wasn’t there long enough to get a solid sample to know if he wasn’t effective.  Jordan, great player…horrible executive.  His insistence on hiring Larry Brown was a bad decision, his personnel moves have been bad.  He just hasn’t been able to put together a solid team.  Some guys have had success, Jerry West, Larry Bird…hrm.  It might seem like I’m drawing a black/white line there, but I don’t mean to.  Those are the high profile guys I can think of off hand.  I’m sure there have been successful black players that have transitioned into coaches and management, but I can’t think of one off the top of my head.  Maurice cheeks maybe, I’d have to research some on that.

Enter Kevin McHale…what has this guy done to prove that he is a decent coach or front office guy?  He has stumbled around Minnesota for years and done nothing with that team.  For many years he had Garnette to build around and simply failed.  He was forced to coach the team he put together and failed at that as well.  What do the Rockets see in this guy that would garner a head coaching opportunity?  There are many guys out there that are available for this spot that have some proven success…yet McHale gets the nod.  I’m not sure why he is favored in Houston, I could see it in Boston where he was a star…but in Houston?  If anything, given his history in Minnesota I can see this costing the rockets money in season tickets.  I wouldn’t follow a team this guy is running.

Weird stuff.

The heat moved past the bulls last night.  I watched most of the game and I will say that the bulls looked like they were working harder, but the Heat were the much better team.  It seemed like the bulls made quite a few mistakes and over all didn’t play tight enough to win.  The heat seemed to push less hard but made less mistakes, so the overall feeling of the game was the better team won.  I think quite a bit of that stuff has to do with playoff experience.  The bulls had to work through sync issues, while the heat were on basically the same page.

LBJ IMO looks to be the best player in league right now and might be on his was to being the best player ever…but I still don’t like him.  During these last two games with the bulls he put the weight of the team on his shoulders and took over the game.  The difference this year compared to previous years was when he decided to take over the game he did it through his own scoring as well as facilitating the scoring of others.  In previous years he was all about his scoring.  Maybe he didn’t have the supporting cast to be able to do that…we could debate that ad-nauseum…but this year he seems to be maturing into a great player.  I think he will need to win multiple rings and MVP’s to be considered the greatest ever…but he might be on his way.  I still don’t like him, solely for the way he left Cleveland.  Maybe that’s lame…but it’s my opinion and I’m entitled to it.  Me not liking the guy doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate the great player he is though.

Last night LBJ won the douche award for “drawing” a foul on Rose.  I don’t think that kind of acting has any place in sports…it was a foreign soccer player move at best.  We also saw last night how, once again, the refs turned the tide of the game.  It took a couple of crap calls from them to bring the bulls down enough for the heat to get back in the game.  I firmly believe that there is an effort by NBA officials and execs to get the match-ups they want during the playoffs.  It’s tough to watch the game…but it’s entertaining to me to watch the crap fest.