I know this is late, but I had to chime in on the "nickname" jerseys that the NBA debuted about a month ago in Brooklyn. Norris Cole aka Cole Train? Rashard Lewis aka Sweet Lew? Mario "Rio" Chalmers? Who calls these clowns by those names besides themselves and their baby mama's?  Also, seeing Ray Allen with "J.Shuttlesworth" standing next to Lebron and his "King James" jersey made me want to puke. Save the nickname jerseys maybe for the All Star game . Seeing these nickname jerseys in a regular season game was embarrassing and made the NBA look like a bigger joke than it already is these days.

Rashard Lewis and his well known Sweet Lew nickname. I'm sure these jerseys are flying off the shelves at the Heat pro shop.

One more reason to hate this clown. Cole Train? Who actually calls you that?

Try to be a bigger egomaniac than you already are, Lebron. 

                                           Ew. Also, how many Shaun "S.Dot" Livingston jerseys were sold at this game?
                                            O/U set at 1.



                                         

We have all heard the rumor of a possible Kevin Garnett to L.A trade for Eric Bledsoe and Deandre Jordan. While adding Kevin Garnett obviously makes the Clippers a better team, Paul Pierce would make much more sense for the Clippers needs. The Clippers need a reliable wing scorer in the playoffs and Caron Butler is not the answer. Paul Pierce is the perfect scorer to add to this Clipper team who has a weakness of executing in the half court. With a healthy Pierce in the playoffs the Clippers can win a championship this year. Whenever you have a chance at winning a championship you make whatever trade you can to put you over the top and worry about the future when the time comes. The Clippers should be living in the present right now and take advantage of this opportunity to win a championship.

As usual,  TNT has a great lineup for its Thursday night broadcast. At 8pm eastern time we get to see Lebron and the Heat go into Oklahoma City for the first time since game 2 of the NBA Finals. After that we get to see the Clippers go on "the road" to play the Lakers. Heres a few things to look for in these games, lets start with Miami at OKC.  The first thing I am curious to see is whether Russel Westbrook will continue to try to do too much when playing Miami. I realize this is because of his competitive spirit and he wants to beat Miami badly but he needs to play smarter and let Durant do the offensive work. Speaking of Durant, I want to see him do something to Lebron. I am not saying I want him to fight Lebron, but enough of this overfriendly atmosphere in the NBA. Lebron is not your boy, stop working out with him in the offseason and start dunking on him. He is your main rival and is playing tremendous basketball right now, take the challenge to defend him and give him a few hard fouls to let him know the deal. I hope I see no conversations or handshakes between Durant and Lebron before the game. If Miami plays up to their potential then they will win comfortably, but if Oklahoma City can force Miami into contested jump shots and get their great crown involved then they can win this game.

Next we have the Clippers trying to put the dagger into the Lakers. It is still hard for me to convince myself that a team with Steve Nash, Kobe, and Dwight Howard can actually miss the playoffs but this is starting to seem likely. Kobe is playing his heart out and I have to give him a tremendous amount of respect, but Dwight is a clown and will always be a clown. He feels bad for himself after he misses shots and has a poor attitude overall. I know that Kobe and Nash can not stand playing with this clown. On Thursday I expect the Clippers to play inspired basketball with CP3 back and attempt to blow the Lakers out. We know Kobe will, but unless Dwight shows up then the Lakers will be blown out.
                                                                        

Ever since Rajon Rondo has been out for the season and the Celtics started to win a few games in a row I have heard some blasphemy in the Boston media. After a win in Toronto a few nights ago, Gary Tanguay and Michael Felger of Comcast were bashing Rondo and saying that Boston is better off without him. Even going as far as saying that Rondo is a selfish player who cares more about stats and his assist record than winning. Are you kidding me? Since when has trying to get your teammates involved been considered selfish?

     Even after a loss last night in Charlotte, Boston has been playing amazing team basketball. They have been moving the ball effortlessly and have been playing great defense. I feel that their winning is more of a result of their increased effort since Rondo has gone down. They have been playing inspired basketball trying to prove that they can still win without their best player. With that being said, I am excited to see Rondo play in a system like this next season where he does not dominate the ball as much in the past. 

Ps- Thanks for finally showing up this season, Jeff Green.

This game has a weird feel to it. There is almost no bad blood between the two teams. Jim and John Harbaugh held a group press conference with their parents yesterday and made this whole thing feel like a family vacation instead of the Super Bowl.This is a great matchup on paper but it is missing something. However, I am thrilled that Super Sunday is finally here. I will soon be able to watch ESPN again without hearing stories about Jim and John Harbaugh having pillow fights before bed when they were growing up, and no more stories about Ray Lewis and his heroic 12 tackles a game this postseason( his average tackle is 6 yards down the field).
            I see this game going in either one of two directions with nothing else in between. In the more unlikely scenario, this will be a tight game throughout with Baltimore's and Flacco's experience being the x-factor to help them prevail in something like a 27-23 final. This is the only way Baltimore can win, they need to keep it close and pull a New York Giant at the end. If it is tied going into the fourth I would be very worried if I am in California.  With that being said, I do not expect a close game today. Baltimore's experienced (old) defense will not be able to get Kaepernick off the field. Expect Kaepernick to have plenty of third down runs to move the chains. He is just too quick and the 49ers have too many weapons on offense to not score at least 35 points this game, especially since they are indoors. San Francisco will have many long drives which will give their great defense plenty of time to rest. This will stay close for a quarter or so but dont get fooled, San Francisco will win big.

               STEEZE REPORT PREDICTION- SAN FRANCISCO 42 BALTIMORE 21

A full day has set in since we heard the news of Rajon Rondo tearing his acl Friday night in Atlanta. (Quick note-Rondo finished this game in Atlanta with a torn acl and ended up with a triple double).The Celtics must figure out what to do next. Anybody who says that Boston may be better off without Rondo this year due to his attitude and defense needs to get a grip. Anybody who says that Boston can still make noise in the playoffs without Rondo also needs a reality check. There is absolutely no chance Boston gets anywhere close to the Eastern Conference Finals without Rondo.  The first option is to trade Pierce and Garnett for younger players and save these two from having to be on a team with no chance at winning the finals. Remember Pierce and Garnett are at the end of their careers and this was perceived at the last go around for them. I know that Pierce wants to retire a Celtic but nobody can blame him for wanting to spend the last few years of his career on a contender.
        However , it may be hard to find a deal for these two due to their contracts so Boston has one more option and can hope for the best. If they do not trade Pierce and Garnett, they should drastically lower their minutes until the end of the season and completely shut them down with about two weeks left in the season. There is no reason to put any more miles on these two with no hope at winning a title this season. This will allow young players like Avery Bradley, Jeff Green, Jared Sullinger, and Fab Melo to gain more experience and groom them for next season with a (hopefully) healthy Rondo.

Well this sucks. This was my most anticipated celtics season in a while. I thought for sure we were headed for Celtics Heat III with the changes Boston made to the roster. What hurts even more is that this will also be the end for Pierce and Garnett in Boston. Danny Ainge needs to do them a favor and trade them to a contender for the last years of their career because Boston is looking at the lottery for the next two seasons. I would not be surprised if KG ends up retiring after this season. Miami must be thrilled not having to see Rondo and Boston again this postseason, they basically have a free pass to the finals now.

Yes the Celtics still lost last night but up until the last minute I like what I saw. Rondo had his patented national television triple double with 23 pts 11 assists and 10 rebounds. Pierce had 22 points but unfortunately did his best Wes Welker impersonation in the final two possesions. All in all though the Celtics showed some heart and fire last night. This is the type of effort you will see from Boston in the playoffs when it really matters. These games are merely for entertainment during this 82 game marathon. As long as Boston is healthy headed into the playoffs they will be fine although I would like to see a trade for a big man before the deadline. Hopefully Jeff Green starts to play well so he can be used as trade bait.

As much as defense wins championships, so does momentum. The past two Super Bowl Champions have been number six seeds who had caught fire at the right time. The Green Bay Packers and The New York Giants have both won multiple road games in the past two postseasons to reach and eventually win the Super Bowl. Will The Baltimore Ravens continue this trend and win the Super Bowl this year after winning consecutive postseason games in Denver and then in New England? I dont know that answer but I do beleive that we are looking at a consistent trend in the NFL. I thought New England had plenty of momentum after beating Houson to beat Baltimore. Ironically, the only thing that can counter momentum is defense.

It is not always what you do, but how you do it. This is what steeze is, it is making the difficult look effortless.  The way Russel Wilson surgically went in on Atlanta in the fourth quarter yesterday looked effortless to him. It is too bad Seattle didnt unleash him earlier in the game. The way he calmly evaded the Falcon pass rushers then finding the open receiver was fun to watch. He has "It". It seems like he always knows the right time to either pass or throw and he never turns the ball over. Turnovers are not steezy.  I will miss watching him play this season but I think its safe to say we can expect many Russel Wilson vs Colin Kaepernick duels in the future.

 I expect Aaron Rodgers to have a performance tonight comparable to Lebron's game six in Boston last year. Aaron Rodgers has been waiting for this game for almost eight years now. He grew up three hours north of San Francisco, was expected to be drafted by the 49ers who instead drafted Alex Smith. With Alex Smith now watching on the bench, I expect Aaron Rodgers to completely shred the 49ers. The only way San Francisco has a chance tonight is if they dominate time of possesion and therefore keeping Rodgers off the field. Kapernick's running game will be key tonight, if he controls the tempo of the game and makes timely runs for first downs that keeps their offense on the field then San Francisco will have a chance at the game.

 Prediction- Green Bay 36-27

           What if OKC had traded Russel Westbrook for Rondo while they had the chance last year? Would they be a better team than they are right now? I say yes. Westbrook is a great player and plays his hardest and with heart every game, there is no denying that. However this trait is also detrimental to OKC in big games. Westbrook tries to do too much in big games and usually ends up dribbling for far too long before taking his inevitable elbow jumper. So what point guard would have been perfect for a team with the best scorer in the league? Rajon Rondo. Sure you can say he is a punk sometimes and maybe does not always have his head in the game, but in the playoffs Rondo steps up every year.  Last season Rondo averaged 17 pts 12 assists and 7 rebounds per game in the playoffs. This is exactly what you are looking for in your point guard, try to get everybody involved with your passing while scoring when needed.   Westbrook averaged 24 ppg in the playoffs but with only 6 assists per game and shooting barely above 40 %. Swapping Westbrook for Rondo would have been a great move for OKC. This also would have let them keep James Harden who was more valuable to OKC in my opinion. Imagine a starting lineup of-             
                                                                        Pg- Rajon Rondo
                                                                        Sg- James Harden
                                                                        Sf- Kevin Durant
                                                                        Pf- Serge Ibaka
                                                                        C- Kendrick Perkins

I believe Rondo would have been the most effective for a team like OKC who already have plently of people who can score. He would get everybody involved, especially Kevin Durant who sometimes falls victim to Westbrook's patented dribble, dribble, dribble, elbow jumper special. Rondo would get Durant, Harden, and Ibaka going every game and would take over in the playoffs when needed.  When Boston needed him to do to score in Game 2 of The Eastern Conference Finals Rodno had a casual 44-8-10. When Boston needed him to do everything in Game 7 in Miami he had another casual 22-14-10. Rondo can change his style and adapt to what the team needs depending on the pace of the game and what his teammates are doing. Westbrook is a great player but only has one gear. So what if OKC had traded Westbrook for Rondo? I guess we will never know.
                                                                       

TNT is by far my favorite network that covers the NBA. Not only is the Inside The NBA Crew the best, but their in game commentators such as Marv Albert, Steve Kerr, Mike Fratello, and Chris Webber are also great. Listening to Steve Kerr tonight after listening to that clown Jeff Van Gundy on ESPN only makes me appreciate TNT more.  With that being said, Shaq needs to go. He is not as bad as he was last year but for some reason his humor in interviews as a player has not translated to television.  I can not stand listening to him make noises during highlights while Kenny and Charles are trying to analyze games. When he does actually give an opinion on a player or game, his statement is usally something obvious or boring. Part of his failure has to do with being on the same show as Charles Barkley ,who is by far the best NBA analyst on TV.  Either way Shaq needs to go, replace him with Chris Webber or just have Ernie, Kenny, and Charles.                                                

 

Lebron's last five games in Portland- 38-11-6, 44-13-6, 41-10-8, 34-7-14, 37-14-4.)

 

Also, if you haven't seen him yet this season, watch potential rookie of the year Damien Lillard for the Blazers. He reminds me of Russel Westbrook mixed with a young Chauncey Billups. 

The best 2k team of all time is the 2011-2012 Golden State Warriors. And just to clear things up, Miami does not count, if anybody considers themself good at 2k and uses Miami online needs to get a grip.  The 2011-2012 Golden State Warriors has the perfect video game team, lets take a look at the lineup.
           
             PG- Monta Ellis- quick, can get his own shot, and can dunk on ppl.
             SG- Stephen Curry- does not miss a shot when you get his release right
             SF- Dorrell Wright- Great driver/dunker and very good 3 point shooter.
             PF-David Lee- Great  off. rebounder, can get about 5 put backs a game
             C- Andreis Beidrins- Great rebounder/dunker/blocker.

                                             
   This is the perfect formula for a 2k team. This Warriors team has a point guard who can do everything and get 30 plus if needed. They have a two guard who wont miss a shot if open, but can also hit most contested shots if the release is right, this is clutch at the end of close games. Then you have a small forward can hit threes consistently, get fast break points, and can also drive baseline extremely well. Either Monta Ellis , Stephen Curry, or Dorrel Wright could be the leading scorer in any game. The big men do their job perfectly by getting put back dunks and layups on offensive rebounds and grabbing defensive rebounds so the guards can fast break.  Perfect 2k Team. I was depressed when Milwuakee traded for Monta last season.

BEST 2K TEAM EVER

 
If anybody can think of a better 2k team please share.
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The only person I feel bad for in this Lakers debacle is Steve Nash. It hurts to see one of the best point guards ever waste away on this team and have to be teammates with Dwight Howard (he looks like such a clown with that headband). Dwight brought all his bad karma to L.A and is getting exactly what he deserves for what he did to Stan Van Gundy and the Orlando Magic. Nash does not deserve to be on this Lakers team, he still doesen't look right in a Lakers jersey so lets hope something can be done to get him out of there asap and forget all about this. 

For anybody who hates Kevin Garnett let me ask a simple question, what if he was on your team? Would you not love Garnett for doing these things to other teams? Garnett clearly got into Carmelo's head which lead Melo to shoot 6 for 26.  More players should do this instead of trying to be best friends with each other. Durant should be doing things to this to Lebron instead of being best friends with him on Team USA and working out with him all summer.

Garnett and Anthony getting physical last night

Quick thoughts on Celtics vs Knicks   

     

   -  Anybody still saying the celtics are too old to make another run need to get a grip.Without the steeziest player in the league ,Rajon Rondo, Boston smacked the Knicks. Paul Pierce carved up Carmelo for an efficient 23 points including three cold blooded jumpers at the end of the fourth. The Celtics are now 17-17.   At this point last year Boston was 15-15 and we were hearing the same doubts about the Celtic's title hopes . All the Celtics ended up doing was take Miami to seven games in what was basically the NBA Finals and would have beat Miami if not for Lebron's ridiculous game 6.  The NBA better hope Boston doesen't make a trade for a big man without having to give up Avery Bradley.