Cam & Bilbo Weekly Chat: THE Christmas Day Massacre; Lakers & Heat



Bilbo teaches son to work for him



Cam teaches son to do the Blue Steel







Bilbo: After a morning of pork and an earful of mother-in-law, I was ready to relax and watch the epic Christmas battle between The Heat and The Lakers. I had actually been looking forward to this game since the start of the season and I will freely admit that I was hoping Kobe would demolish LeBron. But then something weird happened. As the game went on, I started loving it when The Fakers struggled early and I found myself cheering when LeBron drained 3 after 3 in Ron Ron’s face. And then I realized, as much as I disliked the way LeBron handled his move to Miami and the media orgy that followed, I had to admit to myself that they are very entertaining to watch. I also realized that no matter how much I tried to convince myself, I could never, ever, ever root for the Lakers.

Cam: Yes, as true blue (and yellow) Warriors fans it is very tough to feel anything but spite (and jealousy) for the Lakers as a whole. You can respect what they do on the court but their fakeness and ego perfectly personify the LA region. This is a very Nor-Cal perspective and is really the only way Warriors fans can cope with the disparity in accomplishments, but it is important to know where we’re coming from. Regardless, I hope that our liberated fandom (dude, we rock) allows us to be somewhat appreciative of the Lakers and how they play the game of basketball. On the other side of this matchup, you bring up the communal eye-rolling that collective EXTRA! EXTRA! pop-culture-knower has towards the Heat and LeBron in general. I’m pretty sure my wife’s mom knows that “The Decision” has to do with LeBron James, basketball, and is bad. So here we had two of the best and most hated teams in the NBA. I had been looking forward this game too and was happy to see somebody lose big with the game not living up to the hype. From Phil Jackson complaining that playing on Christmas is a bad idea to Kobe saying that it’s “just another game” to the Heat keeping their mouths shut (finally) and just going out there and kicking the Lakers ass, it was fun. I would have avoided my family for 2 hours on the holiest of present-opening holidays if the Mavs played the Spurs, but this matchup was fun to drink egg nog to and chat with your family about. Shall we dissect the game?


Bilbo: I skipped the egg nog and had a 6 pack of IPA at my side for this game. Minus the suite opening alley oop dunk from Bryant to Odom, the first quarter was horrendous for LA. Gasol was very timid, Kobe was in his “lay-back-the-first-half-and-turn-it-on-in-the-third-quarter mode taking only four shots, and Artest was trying to “get in LBJ’s head” and failing miserably by picking up two quick fouls. Kobe/Gasol/RonRon were 0-12 in the 1st quarter!! Meanwhile The Big Three shot 50% and Chris Bosh was on fire with nine points in the quarter. He threw down a huge dunk off a great pass from D-Wade and Odom stood motionless as he flew by. That would be the theme for the Lakers. No passion, no urgency, no nothing. But despite the slow start the Lakers were only down 6 going into the second so they were still in the fight…for now.

Cam: The only thing the Lakers had going for them were those glow shoes they were wearing. Maybe if they went with green socks and red shoes like the Warriors did later that night they would have had the Santa karma on their side. This game was so hyped that I couldn’t believe there wasn’t another Nike jive talking puppet commercial set in a puppet barber shop or in the shared puppet house with puppet Kobe and puppet LeBron. Word on the street (literally) was that tickets to the game were fetching $15,000 a piece and that crowd was ready to cheer. Two great Odumb dunks set it off for the Lakeshow fans until Bosh hammered one down off a dump pass by Wade. I found it funny that Bosh outplayed both Bynum and Gasol. The Lakeshow should have a huge advantage in the post but credit CB-4 for having a great game on the block. Bosh has been playing much better of late and is the key to this whole win streak. As a basketball enthusiast, I’m really glad he figured it out. Wasn’t it just a few weeks ago that the Heat were doomed and the Lakers were unstoppable? Oh, how things change quickly in quick-hit forget the past sports media land.

Bilbo: Speaking of those hideous shoes, I found it interesting that only three of the five Laker starters chose to wear Kobe’s new neon green kicks. Maybe Pau Gasol and D-Fish didn’t like the color, or their size wasn’t available. But maybe they said to themselves, fuck Kobe, I’m not going to support him by wearing his gear during the biggest regular season game since 2004 (ratings-wise). To me this speaks to the detached, individualized style of Laker basketball. This is not a new idea, obviously, but in the next game I saw that ALL five starters for OKC were wearing Durant’s shoes. Unity, apparently, is more important for The Thunder (and Team Crunk Juice?) than it is in LA. I just wish that it would translate to more titles for Durant and co. than for Kobe and Phil.

Cam: Though the Lakers cut their deficit to single digits with around 4:30 left, they ended up losing by 16. Kobe shot 6 for 16 and his plus/minus was a -21. Gasol and Bynum combined to shoot 11 for 22 and their plus/minus (-11 for Gasol, -4 for Bynum) wasn’t as bad as Kobe’s. The week went on and the Lakers had a “really great” post Christmas Day Massacre practice and ended up getting blown out by the Spurs by 15 led by Kobe’s 8 for 27 from the field gem. Kobe has recently called his teammates complacent. He says they don’t work hard enough. He got thrown out of a game with two technicals a while back just to make a point. We are in one of those “Kobe being Kobe” phases which is code for being an asshole and the blame game is on. In these phases of Kobe he doesn’t trust his teammates and does some awfully weird stuff. This can involve shooting way too much while taking terrible shots (not quality shots, as he once explained to Gilbert Arenas) or just not shooting at all as in Game 7 vs. The Suns in 2006. To break out of this pout-fest I would recommend that Kobe start giving it to his big men. If there was any advantage on Christmas day, it was that Gasol and Bynum should have torched Bosh and whichever lackluster body they put down low. But they didn’t. I’m pretty certain that LA will turn this thing around. But if they are going to win the NBA Championship and 3-Peat, it will only be if Gasol ends up being the Finals MVP. Mark my words. Or don’t.

Bilbo: Right on. Check out these Laker big-men quotes from Johnny Ludden of Yahoo! Sports: Afterward, the Lakers offered their usual veiled criticism whenever Bryant goes off the deep end.“We need to really stay inside the system, attack teams and use the mismatches to our advantage,” Bynum said.“We didn’t play a smart game, put it that way,” Gasol said. “ …We have to recognize what’s going on and understand what our strengths are against certain opponents, and try to exploit them.” “It can’t be an individual effort from nobody,” Gasol added. “It has to be altogether on a string, like a family.”

Cam: Great find, Billy. You are a Golden God.

Warriors Talking Points; 12/27/10 76ers @ Warriors

12/27/10: 76ers @ Warriors Highlights (thanks to gumbyorpokey and Golden State of Mind)




Talking Points (so that you look like you read 30 Warriors articles a day):

• Warriors are riding a 3 game win streak and are now 12-18 on the season.
• Monta Ellis was celebrated as Player of the Week for the Western Conference for games played 12/20 - 12/26 where the Dubs went 2-1.  He averaged 39.7 ppg, 7 assists, and 3 steals.
• David Lee's arm is healing and he is playing with more confidence.  His outside shot is dropping.
• Curry is getting more and more healthy with his ankle and his conditioning is improving. He shot better tonight compared to the Christmas Night victory over Portland.
• Jeremey Lin was demoted to the D-League.
• Dorell Wright shot 8-11 tonight, 5-7 from three.  He has made more three's this season than over his last 6 seasons in the league combined.
• Warriors now leave for a brutal 5 game road trip: @ Hawks, Bobcats, Heat, Magic then Hornets.

Adrei Kirilenko Ticket Promotion

AK-47 has a very special ticket promotion for Utah Jazz games coming up at the beginning of January. For $47 you get a Fanzz Gift Card and a ticket to an upcoming game. I'm pretty sure the Fanzz Gift Card has something to do with hair care products but I could be wrong. Does anybody want to go with?

NBA Intro Videos: Pacific Division

NBA Player Intro videos are pretty entertaining these days. Even though things have become pretty streamlined needing approval by Czar Stern before fan consumption, it is still cool to see what the multimedia departments of each team put together.

Golden State Warriors:
Theme - a new hope with new players



Sacramento Kings:
Theme - we're different, we're from Sacramento, we have young guys



Phoenix Suns:
Theme - let's follow Steve and his super-focused look at the 0:48 mark. Scary.



Los Angeles Clippers:
Theme - there is none because I couldn't find a Clippers video that wasn't a shaky handheld videocameraphone shot by a fan. So enjoy Blake Griffin dunking a lot instead.



Los Angeles Lakers:
Theme - 4D bitches! We're the champs so eat it. Plus, we know there are only 7 fans who will see this because the 405 sucks and they won't be at the game until half way through the 2nd quarter anyway.

Warriors Talking Points; 12/25/10 Blazers @ Warriors

Highlights:  12/25/10 Blazers @ Warriors



Talking Points (so you don't have to read Tim Kawakami)

• This was the last of 5 Christmas Day NBA Games and was nationally televised on ESPN.
• Most all Warriors (now 11-18) wore green socks and red shoes.
• This is the Warriors 2nd win in a row.
• Warriors were outrebounded 53 to 32.
• Curry's 1st game back produced 2-15 from the field but dished out 11 assists.
• Monta continued his tear with 39 points (hitting 10 of 11 free throws) but turned his ankle with 1:04 left in the game.
• Udoh played 16 minutes scoring 4 points and blocking 3 shots (with only 1 rebound).
• David Lee shot 8-11 from the field with an array of mid range jumpers.
• Warriors won this game by closing out the 4th quarter with a big run at the end.

Cam & Bilbo Weekly Chat: THE Rashard/Arenas/Richardson/Gortat/Carter/Pietrus/Hedo/$/Bench Player Trade




Bilbo likes Sam Adams and blondes

 


Cam likes 40's and chicks who work out





Cam: So we’ve read the breakdown of these trades sending has been’s, salary, and a few still legit ballers to different squads. We don’t need to break down each trade or everyone’s motivation since most people who see this chat are already well informed. But is there anything out there that you still have questions about? I'm intrigued by Orlando, obviously, and how these guys will come together. Will Gil-Zero’s attitude change to where he can once again feel free to be himself? Can SVG corral Gil to become someone who plays defense and fits into the system? I think that J-Rich is going to be great and is twice the player that Pietrus is. Hedo is intriguing as well but is this guy even someone who can be trusted at this point after flopping the past 1.35 seasons when compared to how much he's making in salary?  Is it awesome that three former Warriors were included in this deal and that former Warriors rookies Jason Richardson and Gilbert Arenas finally are able to be on the same team again and play full court one-on-one against eachother after practice?

Bilbo: My biggest question is…what were The Suns thinking? Hedo needed to go, but why give up J-Rich? Who is going to spread the floor for Nash? Carter is injured and even at full strength he can’t replace Richardson’s skillz. I feel this is just another in a long series of mistakes the Suns front office (Sarver) has made over the last few seasons. I can’t see this current team succeeding this year. On the other hand, I think the big winner over the weekend was the Wizards. You get rid of Arenas and you open things up for John Wall by giving him a legit 3 pt shooter. If he ever gets healthy, I think Wall will make a 2nd half push for ROY. Yeah, write it down. F-you Blake Griffin!

Cam: It’s hard to argue that Phoenix’s primary motivation for this trade was nothing more than financial. So, yes, it was a mistake in the basketball skillz sense for The Suns but Sarver knew what he was doing by reducing his overall payroll. Sarver is a notorious cheap ass as we have seen many times before. Vince’s contract comes off the books at the end of this year, Hedo’s contract is gone, and it’s hard to make an argument that Phoenix is over the moon happy about receiving Marcin Gortat. I know Gortat was a big deal free agent in 2009 but that was just because Daryl Morey wanted him and all of the other GM’s therefore acted accordingly. I feel really bad for Steve Nash. Here we have a 2 time MVP who just signed an extension in summer 2010 instead of going to another organization because he trusted Phoenix management and he just got royally kicked in the nuts. I’m talking “swinging from the rafters from a harness cord with your legs splayed wide open met by a Chuck Norris roundhouse perfectly timed for when Nash swings to shoe level” kicked in the nuts. For someone who can impact a game as much as he still can and who has given so much to this franchise, this sucks for him. Even though there’s no way in hell that he would, I really think Nash should demand a trade. Be a dick, sit out with many bad backs, complain, get the heck out of the Sarver cheapo system. Oh, and I totally agree with you on John Wall. I hope he gets well soon (I sent him a Hallmark) so that this ROY race can really get going. This thought is totally swaying from subject and could be a whole chat in and of itself but would any team in The Association take Tyreke Evans overJohn Wall right now? I mean, wow. Sophomore’s are slumping indeed.

Bilbow-wow: I think Nash is reaching a point where he has to go to a contender. This is the same thing that Garnett went through with The Timberwoofs. He was almost too loyal and people were begging him to jump ship and land somewhere for a chance at a title. Things worked out for him and I think if Nash demanded a trade no one would think any less of him. The question is, where would he fit in (contracts/salary caps aside)? Would it be crazy for him to go to the Knicks? Or what about the Lakers where his defensive deficiencies could be absorbed by the other players? Miami? Houston? Atlanta?
So now that Kahn is earning back his credibility, is Sarver the worst Executive (as the Owner) in the league? Worse than Wallace (GM) giving away Gasol?

Cam: No, nobody is as bad as Wallace. That was just a joke in a box. Man, that hurts to even remember…thanks broseph. Nobody is talking about Nash leaving because it won’t happen. He’s just too good of a dude and too loyal to the organization that made him Two Time MVP Steve Nash. He is also super gullible if he believes in this dump salary & rebuild effort is worth it while he is nearly 37 years old (birthday = 2/7…also known as Steve Nash Day in Canada). The problem with Sarver is that he is doing what it takes to make a few bucks here and a few bucks there. He’s acting like a dreaded business man with this shiz which total destroys a fan’s confidence. Many popular and successful owners treat owning a team like they are the custodian of the organization and aren’t in it to make money as a first priority. You have to have tons of dough made elsewhere and use NBA ownership as a hobby with the end goal of Playoff Performance in order to be successful. Anyway, enough about Sarver. Let’s talk about Otis Smith (Orlando GM) and Ernie Grunfeld (Washington GM). Otis gave a terrible contract to Rashaaaard “Sweet Lew” Lewis and Ernie gave the key to the Wizard coffers to Gilbert “Agent Zero/Shoe Pooper” Arenas. These guys got to simply swap terrible contracts and, in essence, rid their scrolls of their biggest mistakes. “This week on Mistake Swappers!” So who is the biggest winner in all of this? Gilbert? He gets to go back home to his childhood team, wear #1 in tribute to his favorite player of all time Anfernee Penny Hardaway, and not be the franchise player while still making franchise player coin. Lucky.

Nextian's Offical Theme Music; Girl Talk

Two years ago hated and loved DJ mixologist Girl Talk dropped "Feed The Animals" which was widely touted as THE Nextians theme music of the year.  Last year there was no Girl Talk album so we had to listen to classic music from the 70's and 80's while then turning to Sirius XM channel 43 Hip Hop Nation to get the latest jamz.  But now it is 2010/2011 and we have a new Girl Talk album titled "All Day".  At 70 minutes long, this thing is legit all the way through.  I can only imagine the work that Gregg Gillis puts into these efforts and hope that he is making enough coin somehow to keep the receipe flowing for many more efforts like these last two.

DOWNLOAD ALL DAY FOR FREE HERE (don't worry, this is his real site and it isn't some mixtape virus bs, folks.  OG Nextian wouldn't steer you to something harmful)

Cam & Bilbo Weekly Chat: Darko Milicic

Cam doesn't know where Tyreke was picked in 2009

 

Bilbo Likes Moutaches



                 

          

Cam: Did you see Darko against the Warriors on Tuesday (12/14/10)? I know it was against The Warriors and I know that he scored his career high of 25 points and I know that I rarely watch Timberwolves games but that was some fascinating stuff.

Bilbo: It isn’t that difficult to have career games against the Dubs. I think you could put up a 20/10 game against them. I didn’t see the game and I don’t watch many Teen Wolf games either. But it’s hard to explain why Darko has suddenly put it all together this season after seven years of doing nothing. What has made the difference this season?

Cam: The Warriors suck at defense, this is true. No matter what Keith Smart does or who owns Golden State, it just seems to be in the Nor Cal DNA to not play D. Back to Darko……the blogosphere has called David Kahn an idiot for many things including re-signing Darko to a 4 year $20 Million contract in July of this year. But even genius savant Billy Simmons had to take back his Kahn bashing based on what Darko is doing this year for The Timberlinewolves. He’s a good complement to Kevin Love the rebounding mad man/future All-Star and he currently leads The Association in blocks. Darko’s having a very good year. Not a better year than Carmelo or D-Wide mind you (who he was drafted in front of in the 2003 draft with Dumars’ 2nd pick). But it’s a good year compared to his prior history. Come to think of it, he may be having a better year than Bosh who was in the same draft class. This story is going to be very fun to follow this year.

Bilbo: Wait, I thought this was a Simmons Free discussion? Here is a cool “what if”. How would Darko’s career in the YeeBA have been different if he had waited a year and became eligible in 2004? For one, the pressure of being taken ahead of really good players would be gone and the expectations lowered considerably. I don’t think the “experts” would have delivered so much hate if Darko had been selected ahead of Emeka Nakkafor as opposed to Melo (assuming, for arguments sake, he was the 2nd pick in 2004). Second, he may have ended up on a team that actually could have developed him into a decent center, like the Warriors. Just kidding. But what if the Charlotte Dragons…I mean Bobcats had taken him and just decided he would be their guy from day one? They were a brand new expansion team and had nothing to lose by starting Darko. The fans would have realized that a rookie center on a first year expansion team wasn’t supposed to make it to the playoffs, so he would have had a year or two of relatively pressure free hoops. Taking this all into account, where do you think he would be now compared to other centers in the league?

Cam: I 100% agree with you here. The expectations were off the charts for this 2nd overall pick at age 18 on a team that just made it to the NBA Eastern Conference Finals with Joe Dumars as your GM and Larry Brown as your coach. Plus, you’re from Serbia and you don’t speak Engrish well. He heard that he was a bad pick from day one simply based on his lack of playing time and how well others who were picked after him were doing and this didn’t earn him an ounce of respect from elder statesmen teammates like Chauncey, Rip, Big Ben, Tayshaun, and Sheed. Nathaniel Friedman a.k.a. Bethlehem Shoals actually started a successful NBA writing career by launching Free Darko back then with the simple premise that he really liked Darko’s game and saw his need to be let go from the Detroit tyranny at the time. Well, it took lost seasons, poorly spent contract dollars, and media humiliation for Darko to finally be freed. And now I think his contract is better than many in his draft class, especially Rashard Lewis’. Watching the T-Wolves it is obvious that their front line of Darko/Love (hilarious) is legit. It’s their pathetic guard play that holds them down. Kahn could have been fired for drafting Johnny Flynn and Ricky Rubio infront of Tyreke Evans and Steph Curry. But he just saved his ass by freeing Darko. Darko is on a developing team (another way to say “shitty team”), he’s gotten paid, he’s getting minutes from Rambis, and he’s all growns up. Kahn Freed Darko. Who woulda thunk?

Cam:  Bilbo, why didn't you email me back?  I had one more thought about Darko.  If you look at the way he plays in the post, he's got some very interesting post move skills.  Most big men release the ball with their arms extended to shoot over people. Well, every big man but Dwight Howard who takes bank jumpers with a 90 degree arm angle Shawn Marion style.  But Darko flicks the ball from his side when he shoots right handed.  It's quick, impossible to block, and he's mastered the shot.  His left hand turn around hook is where he extends and he can shoot that out to a very impressive 12 feet.  But his skills are strange and intriguing to watch.  Now I understand why the Free Darko blog came out in the first place.

THE Annual Nextians 2010 Trade Summit

THE Nextians 2010 Trade Summit was a great time out (GTO) yet again this year.  With 8 of 12 Nextians finding time to take a weekend off from their manly man duties and summitize, the house was packed and the good times were on.

7 Nextians made their way up to the Truckee region area known as Donner Lake to stay at THE Pad on Friday night.  With 2.5 levels, 3 bedrooms, 2 futons, and floorspace for air mattresses, most Nextians felt right at home.  In fact, for Nextian Toomie the single bed was a generous upgrade over his current living conditions.  Friday night activities included pizza, beer and the Heat at Warriors game.  Luckily we DVR'd the game and got our drinking games underway.

Game 1 was a 7 manager two round draft of 14 players in the Heat/Warriors game.  With Dwyane Wade falling to the OG Nextian (that's me) at #4, my squad of Flash and Mario Chalmers was off to the races.  With everyone keeping their own scores when their guys did something, two categories were tracked in each segment with one of them always being points.  Every six minutes of real time involved a switching of the secondary category being scored which looked something like:

*1st 6 minute segment: Points & Rebounds (rebounds = 2 multiplier)
*2nd 6 mintue segment: Points & Assists (assists = 2 multiplier)
*3rd 6 minute segment: Points & Steals (steals = 3 multiplier)
*4th 6 minute segement: Points & Blocks (blocks = 3 multiplier)

When all was said and done, Wade led my squad to victory with 34 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists and a steal.  Drinks were handed out for each scored point and the 1-7 order of finish was tracked.

Game 2 of Friday Night Fun was pin the tale on the Bilbo THE Nextians NBA quiz.  With 38 laugh inducing questions, some with multiple answers, many participants had a tough time coming up with answers to questions such as "what did Gilbert Arenas do to Andray Blatche's shoe last year" and "which former Athen's, Greece born player is now a hot DJ spinning at clubs in cities such as Miami, New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Ibiza".  Nextian Toddmy won that round with Hundox Beefcake coming in last place only getting 5 correct answers (I told you his league victory 2 years ago was a fluke!)

Game 3 was an incredible mini-hoop shooting challenge from free throw (where many players shot one-hand underhanded for added touch), mid range (where only Bilbo tried to shoot underhanded) and long range atop the fireplace (where there were only 3 total buckets made....none of them shot underhand).  Once again, yours truly OG Nextian won the game with his amazing Hoops King-learned abilities thereby proving to be the perfect combination of smarts and skills.

The average finish through all 3 games gave each of the 7 Nextians their t-shirt draft order.  OG Nextian (me) picked first and grabbed the old school Denver Nuggets logo'd T.  Toomie finished second and took the felt print "Rambis" shirt in Laker colors.  Everyone else picked after us so don't even ask me to remember the order because I was about 7 bud lights in at that point.

Saturday got off to an early start with 5 of the 7 Nextians in attendance at that particular time rushing off in hand me down snow gear to make their 8:00 am snow mobile excursion.  The snowboys had a great time wearing enormous helmets, jamming up to 50 mph in an open field, and enjoying the fresh alpine air which is clinically proven to rid hangovers. 

Matt did an amazing helmet headspin on the snow after this photo was snapped

Myself and Hundox took off to ride slushy snow at Squaw Valley on our shred sticks for a few hours while enjoying dollar beers.

At 2:00 pm we met up at Crystal Bay Club (CBC!) to re-start the shenanigans.  With NBA gear in tow, we began to scout the afternoon college basketball games and play video poker.  After some deep conversation, we all decided to bet on BYU defeating Arizona by more than 3.5 points at home.  Thankfully, they won by 20.

Nextian Toomie....

Toomie is a HUGE Curt Rambis fan

......then got a straight flush at video poker played with a 25 cent hand......

If only he had played 2 quarters instead of one.

......and turned his winnings into orders of hot wings, nachos and Pabst.  Thanks to Toomie for sharing the wealth!  The Nextian Crew was very happy.

Why isn't Hundox wearing an NBA shirt? He then lost all of his bets. Don't mess with the hoops gods

Most of the crew took over a few blackjack tables trying their best to avoid the CBC's version of The Closer.  This hobbit-like female(?) dealer was overweight, had a cold, mute, and wore a Santa hat.  It was hilarious to see 3 or 4 Nextians get up and leave the table right when they shifted to her time and time again.  Toddmy won some $300 or so, BK was up a ton until he got buzzed on his Coronas and only made out with $150, and others were up a few bucks.  The end of our CBC time involved us cheering like mad for Kansas to beat Colorado State by more than 21 points.  The Nextians were raucous as The Jayhawks kept building on their 7 point halftime lead.  With 20 seconds left they had a 21 point lead.  But shot after shot on the final possession missed and all game bettors pushed this final and most entertaining bet.

Our car ride home involved making BK use his winnings to purchase 8 Four Loko drinks from 7-Eleven.  The cashier told us that they just pulled the amazing beverage from their shelves so we had to settle for the lesser potent (in both energy and alcohol content) Tilt.  Well, Tilt sucks.  Don't buy Tilt.  In the other car, Bilbo came up with a sweet song about tagging his dick on Facebook.  Yes, this led to many jokes about "tagging my dick on Facebook so that your mom can see it", and, "my dick poked you on Facebook".  Good times.

That night back at THE Pad was the actual THE Trade Summit at 8:00 pm.  Barthy made it up (finally) and added to The Nextitude of the event.

Matt and Barthy discussing some terrible trade ideas while on Tilt

Last year there was one measly trade that went down between Barthy and Toddmy.  But this year, possibly aided by the alcohol/energy combo of Tilt, there was an amazing 5 trades that occured.  After looking at all of the trades later on, everyone actually did a pretty good job.  I won't bore you with trade analysis but let's just say that Lebron was traded for Dirk.

Champagne toasts celebrated the trades and the 4 Nextians not in attendance were peppered with calls and texts all night.  I'm sure they loved that bugging on a Saturday night.

One guy is happy to get Dirk for LeBron, the other is already second guessing

After THE Summit was actually completed the BGH experience was on.  This is where we cram as many straight dudes (I think) into a hot tub and then proceed to spill beer in the hot tub and break it.  Nice work to all involved.

After a rap battle with Toomie and few hours of poker, the 8 Nextians in brought the festivities to an end.  Since the events on Sunday were nothing more than cleaning THE Pad and watching the morning game of football before driving back to the Sacramento and Bay Area regions, this is where this blogpost will stop.  Bottom line, the 2010 Annual THE Nextians Trade Summit was a success in more ways than one.  And, yes, I'm talking about more than the BG hot tub.

LBJ & D-Wade; Photo of the Year

Now if this picture doesn't make you cream your jeans, then you are more jaded than THE Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (a show which I totally don't watch when my wife has it on).

Check out the Fanhouse article with photog Morry Gash (awesome last name) to get the scoop.

David Lee's Wound

For those of you who watch Warriors games and see D-Lee constantly grimmacing whenever he gets hit on the elbow, this is why:

PEEP THE TWIT PIC B/C IT'S TOO GROSS TO POST ON THIS FAMILY FRIENDLY BLOG

It's a wonder why he doesn't wear some sort of McDavid Hexpad Technology arm sleeve or something instead of just a little bandage. I guess that pain don't hurt for David Lee.

For those of you who need some background on the injury that nearly cost Lee his career and cost Wilson Chandler his tooth last month, please Read This. Now you know, and knowing is half the battle.  GI Joe.

Terrence Williams & His Ball Boy Advisor

Thanks to BallDon'tLie for this vid:

Steve Nash; Perfection

Mike Schmitz of Valley of The Suns blog puts together an awesome video analysis of Steve Nash's game vs. the Wizards a few nights ago.  Enjoy:

Hoop Sking: New Totally Awesome Videos!

A basketball player can amuse themselves on the Hoop Sking website all day long!  (By The Way: they spelled "sking" wrong.  It's "skiing".  By The Way II: why did they combine "Hoop" and "Sking" to form their website/company name?  I don't get it.)

You may remember a post on this fantastic blog about all of the incredible basketball aid products from Hoop Sking in early 2010.  Well, now they have video to back it up.  Get you credit card ready because you're not going to be able to resist purchasing "Pivitology" once you see this teaser:



Awesome footwork dude!  Those drills will totally help a baller in the post and probably at the ski resort.  Now get ready for some extreme jump rope:



I don't know about you but I'm totally down to purchase all Hoop Sking training aids and training videos and go into debt.

Like a Boss - The Remix

Those of us who drafted Chris Bosh this year in fantasy hoops know what kind of anchor he has been. What happened to the nightly 20/10 this self-proclaimed 'superstar' has put up for the past seven years? Anybody who has watched the Miami Heat play surely noticed this raptor-like skinny dude moping around the court, getting posterized by point guards (WTF is he thinking in that pic "Rajon don't worry I will catch you if you fall!"). He is playing with no emotion, no energy - frankly it looks like he is playing scared.

He is most definitely not playing LIKE A BOSS, a phrase which has surprisingly stuck in my head since I witnessed this memorable lonely island skit:

Until now, I've associated this skit only with New York Giants football tight end Kevin Boss. But thanks to some doudes at the Basketball Jones, I now have a new phrase and new player to associate with this witty ditty. When something is supposed to be good and stinks, its now LIKE A BOSH! Or you can follow the official definition per TBJ, which is

“Like a Bosh” [idiom, ~2010]: When someone or something desires the limelight only to wilt under the newfound pressure.

Peep and love the video:

TBJ exclusive: Like A Bosh from The Basketball Jones on Vimeo.

Warriors Ticket Promotion; Free Turkey

New Golden State Warriors owners Joe Lacob and Peter Gruber have been making the rounds lately after the sale of the franchise was approved last Friday.  Monday's game had a "50% off everything" promotion (which was awesome b/c it included beer) and now new management has an even better ticket-selling idea:  go to the Nuggets at Warriors game next Monday 11/22, purchase 4 tickets, and get a FREE Turkey.

I'm really confused.  These guys sound good in the media but the email promotions coming from the organization they now officially own are really wacked out.  What type of NBA fan gets excited about a free turkey?  My mom sure as heck isn't going to the Warriors game for a free turkey.  I would know what to do with a "Free Turkey" voucher from Lucky other than try and donate it to one of the guys on the walkway between the Oracle and BART.  More to come on promo-gate as the emails keep pouring into my inbox.

Pat Riley's Facebook Status Update

As we all know it is only matter of time, or losses, before that spunky coach of the Miami Heat Erik Spolestra, goes on a fishing trip with the club President and doesn't come back. If you need to check on the status of this soap opera every day, I suggest you add to your internets favorites this simple world wide web page that Stan Van Gundy recently created*.

*allegedly

Kevin Love & Wesley Johnson's Low 5 Gone Wrong; Volume II

PEEP the startling reaction to the handshake gone terribly, terribly wrong. Kevin Love and Wesley Johnson have tried their best to remedy the situation and it looks like it's still a work in progress.

THE Nextians brough you the original reporting of the handshake a few weeks back. Thanks to True Hoop for the links.

New Warriors Owners are Very Happy

Now that Joe Lacob and Peter Gruber have been officially made owners of the Golden State Warriors, they would like to say "thank you" to the loyal Dubs fans with a ticket promotion.  No longer are players being used to market the team.  And thankfully, the Warriors aren't using LeBron and Kobe as marketing tools with the message of "we suck, but check out these really good players who are going to whoop us!"  But plaster the faces of the new owners on an email campaign?  This is weird and slightly funny.  Enjoy their mugs:

Just Say No To Drugs; 1987 Lakers

This has been posted to The Nextians blog of what's Next before.  I recently saw this posted on Deadspin's "Hunt For The Worst 80's Team Song" and wanted to put it up here again.  Remember, just say no to drugs:

Fantasy Glimpse -- 11/10/10

Welcome to a new edition of Fantasy Glimpse: the Nextians post where we discuss the beautiful game of Fantasy Basketball.

All Fantasy Basket Ballers know that the key to winning a league is picking up a few players who perform better than originally advertised.  The more bang for your buck the better. Through draft strategy and waiver wire grabs a team can be built which thoroughly outperforms your leaguemates (aka "Leagueians" in THE Nextians Fantasy Basketball League).  Today we sort the Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Basketball rankings to see who is off to a great start with a current Rank significantly higher than their Overall Rank (Rank = real stats for this season.  Overall Rank = pre-season Fantasy rankings).  This is called THE Nextians Differential sponsored by NBA Vitamins For Kids.

Rudy Gay is off to a very hot start and actually holds the #1 Rank through 9 games played in this early season.  With an Overall Rank of 39 (3rd or 4th round draft pick), Mr. Gay is putting up great percentages on a high volume of shots (most FG attempts in the Association so far) averaging 25.6 points, 7.2 boardbounds, and 2.7 assists.  Rudy is also swiping nearly 1.5 a game and only turns it over 2 times/game.  Some complicated mathematical algorithms tell me that his Nextians Differntial is +38.

Paul Millsap's Florida (sexytime) Explosion has left all South Beach and Orlando females wanting more Milli and The South Beach A-Holes and Orlando Tragic wanting the Bad Azz Jazz to leave the state already.  Milli is shooting 61% from the field, scoring 23.9 with 10.1 rodmans, 3 helpers and three straight 3 pointers in the last 40 seconds of regulation the other night.  His #3 Rank with a 69 Overall Rank give Milli Millsap a +59 Nextians Differential.

A surprising star on the list to those non-Warriors fans (who are currently 6-2 sukkas!) is Dorell Wright.  The Wright Stuff went late in drafts with an Overall Rank of 143.  His 16.2 points, 5 boardbounds and 2.8 assists might not sound that special but his Association leading 26 tre-bombs have put him at a #9 Rank giving him a rather impressive Nextians Differential of +134.

Last on the Fantasy Glimpse is former UCLA Bruin (and, therefore, former teammate of Jrue Holiday, Kevin Love, Darren Collison and Luc Richard Mbah A Moute) Arron Afflalo of the Denver Nug Show.  Afflalo is the Nug's starting SG and is putting up a respectable 13.6 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 2.8 assists with a 57.4 field goal percentage and 91% from the line.  His 221 Overall Rank and #21 current Rank give him the biggest Nextians Differential (that actually helps a fantasy basketball squad) of +200.

Stayed tuned for the All-Suck squad with the biggest negative Nextians Differential coming soon!

Arenas vs. Blatch; The Poo Shoe Story

Gil-Zero is no longer allowed to pull pranks. You see, Gil-Zero thought that leaving a gun out in the locker room for former teammate and now former NBA player Javaris Crittendon constituted a "prank". Agent Zero confessed to going prankless in a recent interview with some Sports Illustrated Guy.  But not without talking about one of the nastiest pranks ever.

I could go on, but please hear it from the Agent's mouth:



Gil, where's the beard at?

After Watching The Highlights.....11/9/10

Utah 116, Miami 114

Before leaving work last night I checked my fantasy team that happens to have Deron Williams on it.  It was in the 2nd Quarter and the Jazz were down by 18 with D-Will not playing terribly well.  I was chalking this up to a typical Bad Jazz night (as recent losses to Denver, Phoenix and Golden State show how bad the Jazz can be in this early season) until I saw the NBA TV highlights after dinner (corndogs, of course).  Surprised doesn't begin to explain how I reacted to news of the vicious comeback on the South Beach A-Holes thereby cementing their Bad Azz Jazz moniker.

And they did all of this with limited Al Jefferson usage.  Millsap connected on his first 3 three point shots of the season enroute to 46 points on 68% shooting (Milli was 2-20 career from the arc).  Who does he think he is?  The Power Forward version of Monta Ellis?  The cool thing is that all of his 3's were shot in the final 40 seconds of the 4th quarter.  And he scored 11 points in these final 40 seconds to push his squad into OT:



The Heat should be able to defend a bit better than they did and there's no doubt that they eventually will figure it out.  I read somewhere that the Jazzholes scored 84 points in the last 29 minutes.  CB-4:  Do you know how to defend the block?  D-Wade: is your defense only tied to taking chances on steals and help defense blocks?  LeBron Raymone James: weren't you the 2nd best defender of the NBA for the 08/09 season?  Like Canadians say: C'MON GUY!

New York 80, Milwaukee 107

I'm pretty sure that the Knicks are better than THIS (38% shooting).  7 Seconds or Less style basketball should result in something more than 80 points in a game.  The Bucks do play decent defense and Bog-nuts probably popped Amar'e near his Oakley Blades-covered eyeholes a few times limiting him to 4 measly boardbounds in 26 minutes of practice action.  But unless Gallinari starts becoming the second best scoring threat on this squad there may be some problems in Knicks land that have nothing to do with how crazy Isiah is.  I'm not sure if I should be happy or scared that they have to fly back to MSG to play the beloved Warriors tonight on the back end of a back-to-back.  The Knicks will either stink up their own decaying joint or play with some swagger.

On the Bucks end of things, it looked to me like they just showed up and played a pretty good game.  And I need to check out Basketbawful to see if there's a term for someone like Luc Richard Mbah a Moute who puts up "meh" stats, plays a decent amout of minutes, but contributes to with a + 26 plus/minus.  Thank Jeebus there are ways to measure guys like this.  Unless Bawful has a pre-made name, I'm calling him a Glue Gun Guy.

Denver 113, Indiana 144


Did Don Nelson sign on as a special assistant to George Carl? 147 points per 100 possessions is a rather insane number that I'm not sure we'll see again for a long time. But with Golden State using the "Smart" approach of valuing defense, is there any other team out there who could allow such numbers to a non-playoff team? It just had to be the Nuggets when you think about it.

The Pacers took 3 less shots during the game. They also made 11 less free throws. Yet then won by 31 points. Excuse me Mr. John Hollinger, but how do the numbers work out like that? I guess that when you toss in 64.6% from the field, this can happen.

The Pacers shot 20 for 21 in the 3rd quarter and blitzed Denver with a 54 to 27 point margin. What the heck did Jim O'Brien say to those guys at half time? Dunleavy scored 31 with a plus/minus of +34, Josh McRoberts dropped 2 entire points and was +25. There are times when crazy creates connundrums, and JR Smith, Carmelo Anthony, and Al Harrington couldn't do anything to stop that Indiana train. The Nugs could have really used Birdman to lay down some smack. Just kidding.

Cleveland 93, New Jersey 91

Will the LBJ chip-on-the-shoulder-Dan Gilbert-letter/promise fuel the Cavs to an 8th seed this season?  At an improbable 4-3, I like what I see.  I can see the battle for playing time/production/stats between Mo Williams and Ramon Sessions (named after LBJ's middle name) causing an issue but Byron Scott seems to be utilizing his fast don't lie backcourt, heck, lineup very well.  You don't go on the road and win games by 2 points without having some heart as a team.  Hickson had a double double, Varejao's hair went crazy on the court, and Jamison rose from the dead to score 15 and grab 8 off the bench (Antawn had 19 points for the year up until last night).

I'll comment on the Nets when someone tells Devin Harris and Travis Outlaw to pass the frigging ball to Anthony Morrow aka the best pure shooter in the game.  Avery Johnson better grow a sac and tell Travis to stop gunning so much.

OK, that's all I got for today.

Clevelanders Response to "What Should I Do?"

Continuing on with the "What Should I Do?" LeBron commercial meme, some dude in Cleveland has put together the Clevelanders version. Pretty solid!

Kevin Love & Wesley Johnson's Low 5 Gone Wrong

This is totally ripped off from Ball Don't Lie, but this video is great:

What Should Cartman Do?

South Park's hilarious recent episode makes fun of the LBJ "What Should I Do?" commercial:

Mysterion Rises
Tags: SOUTH
PARKEric Cartman,Mysterion,more...

Thanks to South Park Studios (where you can watch full SP episodes) for the clip.

LeBron's Post-Decision Nike Commercial

So, what should he do?  Classic commercial:

Vin Baker -- Another NBA Financial Casualty

Success came early for Vin Baker.  The 8th overall pick in 1993, Vin earned $80 Million in salary over 13 seasons.  He played on an Olympic Team, in four All-Star games, and then fought alcohol abuse while sitting on benches at the end of his career.  Everyone knew about his problems with alcohol while Vin was still apart of the Association as his expiring contract was used as a token to make trades work.  The Clips and T-Wolves tried to see if he could be revived as a basketball player at the end of his career to no avail.  He was released from Minnesota in November of 2006.

Vin opened up a seafood restaurant in his hometown of Old Saybrook, Connecticut which a bank is now forclosing on.  His 10,000 square foot house was also forclosed upon in 2008 and bought by a bank for $2.5 Million.
True Hoop explains this as yet another all too common situation of a retired NBA player blowing through all of his money.  But peep the Stan Smith Show for the full video of where Vin is at now and what he plans to do in the future.

LeBetard on James/Wade/Bosh Contracts

This guy wrote THIS ARTICLE about the new "Big Three" and how between the three of them they sacrificed $47 Million to sign Udonis Haslem.  Haslem then called up D-Wade and professed how much he loved him. He should do more than that.

Remember the old Big Three?  No, not those Boston misfits.  The real Big Three who won 3 Championships (thanks to @johnhollinger's twitter).  No love for Timmay!

Adidas Basketball: Slim Chin w/ Dwight Howard & Derrick Rose

Dr. Ken Jeong (yes, he's a real doctor and used to work at Kaiser) is expanding his comedy chops by being Slim Chin on Adidas Basketball's latest shoe campaign. I won't bore you with the video that lets you play a game as D-Rose and unlock some code but here is the main intro video from Adidas on who Slim Chin is and how he thinks Derrick Rose is cool because of his new shoes.




The "Fast Don't Lie" slowjam isn't that funny but the clips of Slim Chin and D-How are. I just don't get or like Dwight's comedy routine (and his "I'm totally Christian" routine of years past either). Oh well, I guess it's OK to not get someone and leave it at that without pointing out how terrible his post game is....ooops, that's already been done. Scratch that last thought.

Will you get these new Adidas? Personally, I'm still a huge corporate Nike flywire technology guy (who's currently rocking the Hypermax 360's) until Adidas man's up and makes a new Gil-Zero line.

Love For Hakeem

It's kind of sad that lame post move attempts by Dwight Howard got me thinking more of Hakeem Olajuwon these days.  That video on this here blog last week of Hakeem trying to teach Dwight something (...anything!) regarding post moves is stuck in my mind as I've probably viewed it 8 times in it's entirety so far.  And I'm not watching it because I want to see Dwight Howard shoot with a bent right arm and try to make jokes.  It's all because I can't get over how incredible The Dream still is and was.

So peep this video of Hakeem talking about, no, laughing about how he schooled everyone with the Dream Shake:



Also enjoy the recent Free Darko post on Dream Week (an apparent week of writing dedicated to The Dream).  This post really got me thinking about the what-if's of the Jordan era and that is something very fun to ponder....at least for me.

Monta Ellis' New Shot

The Warriors blew out The Clippers by 40 points in hot pre-seaon NBA action last Friday.  After their win on Monday 10/11, the Dubs sit at 2-0 in the season before the real season.  Across the bay in San Francisco, the 49ers went 4-0 in pre-season and have yet to win a real game now sitting at 0-5.  So obviously lame pre-records don't mean anything (so why do they even keep them?)

One has to have an eye for detail to learn something during pre-season games.  And one thing I've picked up so far is Monta's new Judo Kick Jumper.  The flying right leg creates space from taller defenders and presents a potential to pick up a shooting foul.  Ryan Gomes had no chance defending Monta's Judo Kick J in last Friday's Clip destruction.

ESPN 30 for 30

Tom Ziller writes a great preview of the latest ESPN 30 for 30 documentary titled Once Brothers. This story explains the relationship of Drazen Petrovic and Vlade Divac and I highly advise you not only read Ziller's piece but also peep the airing of Once Brothers at 8:00pm tonight (October 12th).

Warrior Open Practice 2010

Things are happy in Warrior land.  I've read few "experts" predict 49 and 50 wins for the Dubs this year.  I've also read a few who said 19 to 25 wins but I don't listen to those guys.  A new owner, a new coach, and a rebuilt roster have put smiles on people's pre-season faces.  Can't you just feel the good karma in the air?

The annual rookie right of passage took place after open practice last night.  Warrior Rookies had to dance the Dougie, sing happy birthday to Brandan Wright, and were presented with their season backpacks and lunchboxes as apart of the hazing ritual for first years.  Enjoy the video below:



A few other things I'm digging from the Open Practice. 1) I like how Monta is MC'ing the rookie hazing. That shows some leadership. 2) David Lee totally doesn't want to be there. 3) Curry was too busy to participate because he was signing autographs. 4) Reggie Williams is still considered a rookie?

Good times, Warrior fans.

Carlos Boozer Loses to Kid in HORSE

Man, the great content keeps coming from sponsors, teams, and media outlets as the NBA pre-season is getting revved up.  After months of "Big 3" breakdowns and Amare studying Judaism we now have some fun stuff to enjoy as evident in the many Nextians posts the past few days.

So I present to you Carlos Boozer losing a game of HORSE to a high school kid.  Of course they just shot a barrage of 3's which isn't exactly Boozer's specialty and once C-Los dunked the shooter got to tag in his taller dunking teammate.  Also, when Boozhound lost it meant that the school got some money from Gatorade.  So this isn't on the same level of some balding CEO beating Michael Jordan in one-on-one at a Jordan camp or a Brit in jeans and a v-neck sweater schooling Devin Harris on a drive to the hole.  This is all good fun.  Enjoy the last Boozer footage before he comes back from a broken hand in 2 months:



Thanks to Ball Don't Lie for the video.

Iguodola, Westbrook, Smith In-Studio

This could be one of the weirder NBA things I've seen in a while.  When Andre, Russell, and Josh visited Varney & Co. studios to talk about NBA 2K11 they never imagined having to defend themselves from this barrage.  I guess that's what you get when you go on Fox News.

Although it was tough for these guys to slip the question, I was impressed by Iggy's ability to drop a little knowledge on the viewers and not be taken for a fool.  The other guys did OK too.



Thanks to Free Darko for the vid.

Hakeem Helps Dwight

There's good reason to believe that D-How spent three days with Hakeem only because Adidas told him that it would be great for his image.  But the video below is still a lot of fun to spend nearly 9 minutes of your life.

I just love Hakeem's teaching style a passion for the game. Didn't we see this same type of video last year with Kobe getting some schooling from The Dream? If I remember correctly things seemed to work out pretty well for Kobe last year.



Thanks to True Hoop for the link to the vid.

NBA TV Commercial; The Season Is Almost Here!

Booblehead technology has taken quite a leap in this new NBA TV commercial.  This has heightened my anticipation for one of the most anticipated seasons in NBA history.  So stop anticipating and watch this hilarious commercial already:

New NBA Season, New Shoes

The official NBA basketball shoe has been released just in time for you to get your pair before the season begins!  At the price of $29.99 it's almost impossible to pass up this terrific value.  The NBA only puts its name and Jerry West logo on the finest quality of apparel.  Therefore I have little hesitation in recommending these kicks for your basket balling efforts

Golden State Warriors Win 50 Games

One thing the new owners didn't do was change ticket promotions away from "look who's coming in town".  I call this Loser Marketing.

Wages of Wins sees the Warriors winning (that's A LOT of w's) 50 games.  I am choosing to believe this guy over any other expert.  I don't care how they get to 50 wins (by stumbling into them) or who gets the credit (the fans for forcing Cohan out).  I just really want it to happen.

Joakim Noah's New Contract

Clownboy Joakim Noah is offically all growns up!  A 5 year $60 million deal by the Bulls all but says to the world that Chicago management thinks more of Noah than they do Carmelo Anthony.  His defense is solid, his hussle is great to watch, and his crazy attitude is something that his teammates actually rally around.  For however disturbing it seems to us on the sidelines, Noah's schtick works in the NBA.  Congrats to his crazy self.

Plantar fasciitis hobbled Joakim during the end of last season but the Bulls seem fine with his progress.  They also seem fine with allowing Noah to continue to wear his French brand Le Coq basketball shoes.  I guess his dad must have been sponsored by Le Coq back in his tennis days?  These look like they take a good foot and give it plantar fasciitis.