HOPEFULLY LUTHER IS ON THE (W)RIGHT PATH

There’s been all kinds of stories about athletes making it big time and then squandering their opportunity. Whether it’s been drugs, bad investments, or pure stupidity, athletes that are supposedly living the life have ended up in turmoil. The story of Luther Wright is one of the worst that I’ve heard.

After being drafted by the Utah Jazz in 1993 it was all downhill for Luther Wright. His first season was bad, I mean really bad.. He averaged 1.3 points and .7 rebounds, and in January 1994 Luther experienced his first manic episode. He entered a mental institution after the season and never suited up for the Jazz again. Wright moved back to his home state of New Jersey where he got caught up in drugs and alcohol. The absolute low point came after Luther had two toes amputated at the hospital while high and crack, and instead of staying off of his feet, he hobbled back to a crackhouse on crutches.

Wright, a man that admits his size had more to do with him playing basketball than his desire, has started to pull himself together. He’s not working but he is engaged and recently learned that 2 of the children he was paying child support for aren’t his.

It was his size, 6’8″ in the 8th grade, that got him into Seton Hall and eventually into the NBA. All too often we deem athletes larger than life, immune to weaknesses, and time after time we are proven wrong. I’m hoping Luther Wright is big and strong enough to pull through this.

At rock bottom, Luther Wright finds salvation. Courtesy of The Desert News via The Newark Star Ledger

Photo Courtesy of Jennifer Brown of the Newark Star Ledger

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UTAH RAISES THEIR GAME, GOLDEN ST. FOLDS

 

Congrats to the Utah Jazz for moving on to the Western conference finals. The Jazz closed their series against Golden State with a 100-87 game five victory. Utah already defeated my Secret team, and now they’ve taken down Cinderella. These are my Utah Jazz highlights from the series:

•  Derek Fisher showing incredible fortitude and heart after everything he’s been through.
• Carlos Boozer opening the eyes of the people that didn’t know about him. He was serving people for the second straight series. 
• Jerry Sloan getting Utah to the Conference finals again. He’s never been coach of the year?!?!
• Deron Williams playing like a vet. Game 5 notwithstanding.
• Mehmet Okur, Paul Millsap, Matt Harpring, and Gordon Giricek playing their roles well.
• Andrei Kirilenko leaving his tears in the first round and causing havoc for Golden State’s offense.

I don’t know anybody that’s not impressed with Utah. When the Jazz got out to the hot start at the beginning of the season, a lot of people didn’t believe they were for real. I was one of those people. The lack of playoff experience from key players had me thinking Utah would flame out in the playoffs regardless of their record. I admit it… I was wrong. Another thing I was wrong about is Utah’s style of play. I didn’t get to see them too much this season so I assumed they were a slow it down, grind it out type of team. They can play that way, but they just proved in the G. State series that they can run up and down the court too.

As far as Golden State is concerned, what can I say? They pulled off the great upset in round 1, but seemed to be out of gas and definitely over matched in round 2. Baron Davis put the league on notice for next season, and Stephen Jackson proved that the Kings have to trade Artest just to put some miles between Jackson and Ron-Ron. The unfortunate thing is, G. State was in game 5 until they started acting like the 3 point line was an alligator infested moat protected by a 12 foot, 100,000 watt electric fence. I couldn’t believe how the Warriors would stop at the line and jack a three whether they were on a fast break or 1 second into the shot clock. The Warriors need to grow up too. All of the complaining, technical fouls, and cheap shots really put G. State’s nice postseason story in an ugly light.

So again, congrats to the Utah Jazz. The winner of the Suns/Spurs series is going to have it’s hands full in the conference finals.

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BLOGGAS BE TYPIN

Arash Markazi goes fishing with LT. Thank you Fan Nation

I hope you didn’t buy an Akili Smith jersey. Thank you Just Call Me Juice

Lindsay Lohan nip slip. Thank you Larry Brown Sports (NSFW)

An unhappy mother’s day in the bay. Thank you Golden State of Mind

Visual proof that the Spurs are a dirty team. Thank you Miss Gossip at AOL Fanhouse

Rapper The Game released from jail. Thank you All Hip Hop

The rich get richer in Utah. Thank you Our Book of Scrap

The real worth of your favorite baseball team. Thank you The Hardball Times

Shaun Livingston is walking again, fiending for snack food. Thank you Yay Sports

Suge Knight is shooting.. a reality tv show. Thank you XXL

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BLOGGAS BE TYPIN

The 10 PR commandments. (music PR) Thank you Street Census (peeped at Nah Right Lite)

Utah’s Dee Brown is out of the hospital. Thank you B. Shoals at AOL Fanhouse

The most mediocre baseball players of all time. Thank you The Smittblog

The Top 25 Hip Hop albums of all time. Thank you Straight Bangin (scroll down)

Pee your pants for the Brewers. Thank you Pee Your Pants For The Brewers

The Mav’s collapse was predictable. Thank you Hoops Hype (Eddie Johnson blog)

Take a look at these golf babes. Thank you Golf Babes

Freddy Roach got paid to train Oscar De La Hoya but it still cost him. Thank you Max Boxing

Chris Rock, Never Scared, “tired of defending Hip Hop” flashback. Thank you Nobody Smiling (NSFW language)

Yankees pitcher Chien Ming Wang gets his groove on. Thank you Matt at AOL Fanhouse

**UPDATE** I’m not sure how I missed this but The Starting Five has a good and lengthy interview with Dave Zirin. Great stuff in this interview. **UPDATE**

Props to Ball Hype for making this easy to put together.

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DEREK FISHER A.K.A. MAN

Game two between Utah and Golden State was more exciting than game one. Deron Williams picked up 2 fouls right before the game tipped off. Dee Brown, Williams’ back-up, was lost in the first quarter to a neck injury when Mehmet Okur fell on him. The Warriors played their uptempo style, led by the increasingly impressive Baron Davis with help from Richardson, Barnes, Harrington, and Jackson (what the hell is up with Monta Ellis?!?). Carlos Boozer continuesto clown Cleveland with his play, and Andrei Kirilenko looks like a completely different player from round 1. It took overtime to decide the game.. Utah came out on top 127-117.

The Jazz fans are doing their best to be a factor in the series, but who’s idea were those powder blue t-shirts? I kept expecting Roy Williams and the Tarheels to take the floor at some point. I don’t know how it goes down in Utah but pastels are not intimidating. I do know Golden St. can’t wait to get home, back to Oakland, back to the bright yellow tees and the craziness of the Oracle.

The game was great, but that’s not the story. The story is Derek Fisher. D-Fish missed game one and arrived at game two late in the 3rd quarter because he was dealing with a family issue. His 10 month old daughter Tatum was suffering from retinoblastoma, a form of eye cancer that required a combination of surgery and chemotherapy. Tatum had several hours of surgery in New York on Wednesday, and I’m happy to be able to say that the surgery was a success by all accounts. Things went so well that the family travelled back to Utah with baby Tatum Wednesday night.

Derek’s flight landed in Salt Lake City and he was whisked to the game, led by a police escort. He didn’t get a chance to warm-up or anything.. He entered the arena to a standing ovation and went directly to the scorers’ table to check in.

Fisher played great defense down the stretch of the game, and scored all 5 of his points in the extra session. He didn’t have the statistical game of his career but his presence was bigger than anything that happened on the court. Derek couldn’t put the experience into words after the game:

“I don’t know how I got through this tonight. I really don’t. My daughter’s doing very well. We had a successful operation in New York and I flew back, got off the plane, came to the game. I’m speechless.”

I don’t know how he got through it either. If you didn’t feel for Fish watching his post game interview then you’re a robot or completely heartless. It was a tremendous and special moment.

I hope this puts to rest all of the speculation about why Fisher missed game one. I can check a number of things through my blog stats. I can see how many views an individual post gets, I can see what sites link to my blog. I can also check what search engine terms people use to find my site. I was disappointed by these:

• Derek Fisher suspended
• Derek Fisher marriages problems
• Derek Fisher arrest

I hope the people that were expecting the worst of a genuinely good guy feel like jackasses now. The truth is out, the verdict is in, Derek Fisher is a MAN.

Thoughts and prayers to the Fisher family.

Pure Hollywood. Courtesy of ESPN.com True Hoop

Retinoblastoma. Courtesy of Web MD

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MORMENTUM

While the Eastern Conference has Detroit rolling Chicago and the who cares fest of New Jersey and Cleveland, the Western Conference is getting busy. The Suns/Spurs series is being billed as the NBA championship, and Golden State v. Utah got off to an electrifying start.

The Warriors began game 1 in Utah like they ended game 6 in Oakland… Ripping and running, shooting 3s, and getting their And1 on. The Jazz were able to weather the storm even though they trailed by 3, 66-63, at the half. The point guards in this series, Baron Davis and Deron Williams, are giving me flashbacks of Tim Hardaway and John Stockton. Carlos Boozer was a beast down low for Utah (17pts, 20rbds), and Stephen Jackson, well, he’s being Stephen Jackson(16pts, 4ast, 3stls, 12 scowls).

The tempo of the game was up to say the least. Even though both teams were dedicated to pushing the rock there was a little defense played. Kirilenko had 7 blocks and 0 cries while Andris Biedrins had 2 blocks and 3 steals. The most amazing part of the game was Al Harrington’s re-emergence as a member of the Warriors. Harrington carried the Warriors in the 1st quarter with 3 3pt shots, and I was surprised he didn’t get a little more time on the floor.

If the Western Conference can give us 12 more games like the first two of the semis, it’ll more than make up for the Leastern side. While I’m dissing the East, would any of you be surprised if the Pistons won it all? I wouldn’t.

If you missed the Jazz/Warriors game, and you didn’t get a chance to see the highlights, watch the video below for a recap. Utah’s the one in all black.

The actual game was just like that. The two teams went toe to toe and traded blows right down to the end.

This next scrap didn’t work out so well for Jazz fans.

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I SAID IT WOULDN’T BE EASY

I’m not even a real Rockets fan and my stomach is in knots. Houston had the perfect opportunity to shutdown this series and they let it slip right through their hands.. Literally.. Turnover after turnover.. Bad shot after bad shot. It was like they said “hey we could win now, but let’s wait till we get home and share this with the fans”. At least that’s what I’m hoping they were thinking.

I tried to be as positive as possible about game 6 and I thought it was working… 75-74, Utah in the lead, Houston has the ball with 8:15 left in the game.. Things were looking really good. Then Kirilenko decided to wake up. Andrei blocked a Juwan Howard gimme layup, forced a T-Mac turnover, and blocked a McGrady drive to the basket. Even with all of that, the Rockets were still in good position down 77-76, 4:45 left in the game… Little did I know, Utah would go on a 17-6 run to close the game. So close. So frustrating.

Game 7. I don’t care what Tracy says, this is the biggest game of his career. This is his latest attempt to move on to the 2nd round so this has to be the most important game for him. Before this series started McGrady said it’s all on him. I’m gonna stick with that. Tracy, do this for you. Do it for Houston… And positively do it for my blog. A game 7 at home with the chance to shake off your playoff demons is all the motivation you need.

Rockets and Jazz game 6 play by play. Thank you ESPN.com

The Law of Attraction and the Houston Rockets. Thank me

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THE ROCKETS, THE PLAYOFFS, AND THE MVP

 **EDITOR’S NOTE** I started working on this post well before Midnight. I got a call from an out of town friend and missed my “daily” Rockets post. I hope this doesn’t have serious repercussions for the Houston Rockets. **END EDITOR’S NOTE**

Let me make one thing clear: I AM A PHILADELPHIA 76ERS FAN. I am only supporting the Houston Rockets in the playoffs because of this post. When the Rockets win the championship or are eliminated from the playoffs, I will revert back to my normal self. There’s no need to email me and call me a traitor or a phony. I ride with my teams do or die and nothing can change that. On to the playoffs….

The Houston Rockets lead the Utah Jazz 3-2: The Rockets don’t take the court again until Thursday night and I can’t wait. I’m feeling Houston closing this series on the road in Utah. I don’t know what would make me feel that way since the H-Town O has been MIA in SLC. I believe that Tracy McGrady is gonna do everything in his power to advance to the second round… as soon as possible. My perfect Thursday scenario: Gabrielle Union comes over to watch the game with me and brings a bottle of JWB (Johnny Walker Black). The Rockets beat Utah and Dallas beats the Warriors giving Houston a little rest before the next series. I know this scenario is highly unlikely… Dallas probably won’t win in Oakland. Positivity time: THE HOUSTON ROCKETS WIN THE SERIES IN 6 GAMES.

The Detroit Pistons over the Orlando Magic 4-0: I was wrong with my prediction for this series. Get used to hearing that. I picked Detroit in 5 for some unknown reason. Orlando was in a tailspin for the last half of the season and they finally crashed in the playoffs. Nothing much to say about this series. It was like watching a varsity-junior varsity scrimmage. The Pistons get the feisty Bulls in the next round. It’s like the 80s all over again. How long til Rasheed says “if Hinrich were black, he’d be just another player” or something to that affect?

The Chicago Bulls over the Miami Heat 4-0: I was wrong with my prediction for this series (I’m not done yet). Don’t laugh too much, I was only off by 3 games with my Miami in 7 pick. The adolescent Bulls dominated this series in the regular and post-season. I know Wade wasn’t 100% but it wasn’t gonna matter. Luol Deng and Ben Gordon provided the offensive punch, Ben Wallace supplied the “D”, and the team as a whole out fought the old and tired Miami Heat. The Bulls’ sweep of the Heat marks the 6th time a Shaquille O’Neal playoff team has been swept to elimination.

The Cleveland Cavaliers over the Washington Wizards 4-0: Guess what? That’s right, my prediction for this series was wrong too. I had Cleveland in 5 even with Arenas and Butler sidelined for the Wiz. I didn’t think the Cavaliers were mentally tough enough to close out any team in 4 games. I was wrong. Even though I watched this series I didn’t learn a whole helluva lot. The Cavs coasted through the series and should make it to the Eastern Conference finals having lost no more than 2 games. Cleveland’s sweep of Washington completed the Central division’s dominance over the Southeast division… A perfect 12-0 record.

The Phoenix Suns lead The Los Angeles Lakers 3-1: I’m right on pace in this series. I picked the Suns in 5 and I’m sticking to it. I knew Kobe would be good for one win and one win only. I’m sure the Lakers’ Mitch Kupchak is trying to figure out a way to trade Andrew Bynum for Jason Kidd before Wednesday’s game. I doubt that would help since the Suns have the most talented top six in the league. Nash, Bell, Marion, Diaw, Stoudamire, and Barbosa are the murderers row of hoops. You could combine a couple of teams and still not have that much talent on your roster. The Pistons have the second best six with Billups, Hamilton, Prince, Wallace, Webber, and McDyess. In comparing the two, which match-up would you say favors Detroit? Sheed over Boris is the only one I see. Another positive for Phoenix: No team that has gotten rid of Shaq has won a playoff series since his departure. Orlando 0-6 and the Lakers soon to be 0-2.

The San Antonio Spurs lead the Denver Nuggets 3-1: I picked San Antonio in 6 so I’m still alive which is more than I can say for Denver. The Nuggets game one victory got everybody pumped.. Unfortunately for the Nuggs everybody included the Spurs. SA doesn’t win pretty.. They don’t get the hype that some of the other teams get.. They’re like the sheep dog in the old school cartoons. They come to work, punch the clock, whoop your ass, and punch out. San Antonio has managed to win 3 games and stay on the good side of the referees.. Kinda.. Denver has been whistled for 71 fouls, San Antonio for 73, but I’ve seen Duncan fouled at least 10 times with no call. Timmy looked so distraught over the lack of calls in game 4 that I thought he might actually brush his hair.

The New Jersey Nets lead the Toronto Raptors 3-2: I’m looking good here. I got New Jerz in 6 even though they shoulda closed this series out in 5. Vince Carter is the male exotic dancer and his fiance to the Raptors fan’s Payton, Cassell, and Caffey. If you don’t follow, the Toronto fans have been abusing Vince. Jason Kidd has been doing his thing, and it’s good to see RJ back in action. I like the Raps team and the direction they’re headed in. GM Bryan Colangelo is as bright as they come. Look at the moves he made with the Phoenix Suns, Tim Thomas and Eddie House, as compared to the moves the Suns made this year, Marcus Banks and Jalen Rose. Bryan’s number one priority is to sign or replace coach Sam Mitchell. If and when the Nets advance I can’t see them getting past Cleveland. Of course, as you can see, I don’t know what the hell I’m talking about.

The Golden State Warriors lead the Dallas Mavericks 3-2: I picked Dallas in 6 games and at this point the Mavs would be lucky to see game 7. The most exciting series in the playoffs has also been a coming out party for Baron Davis and the Warriors fans. BD has averaged 26 points, 5 boards, 5 assist, and 2 steals while the Warriors fans have produced Jessica Alba. The rest of the fans have been outstanding but who cares, Jessica Alba is there…

The Mavericks started the series on a bad note when head coach Avery Johnson decided to start his small lineup to match-up with Golden State. Why is the 1 seed adjusting to the 8? I’m seriously asking you because I can’t figure it out. Nellie and crew need to be given a ton of credit for the defensive scheme they’ve used against Dallas. Putting a smaller, quicker player on Dirk, and then rushing him with double and triple teams from a variety of spots has worked well to this point. So well that people are calling for Dirk to return the MVP trophy that he hasn’t won yet. This really bothers me.

Dirk Nowitzki or Steve Nash are/were the only MVP candidates this year. The MVP is a regular season award. What do Dirk’s playoff successes and failures have to do with the regular season? Nothing. Does anybody hold the fact that Nash is only the second (Kareem 75-76 & 76-77) back to back MVP to not appear in the NBA finals in either year that he won the award? Nope. Nowitzki led his team to 67 wins and now everybody wants to run him out of the league because of a sub-par series against his former coach. What if Steve Nash was going up against a team coached by Mike D’Antoni? I’d have to guess that Mike and his staff would have a good idea of how to create problems for Steve.

I don’t care who wins the MVP trophy, but it seems to me that people are grinding some sort of personal axe against Dirk. People knock him for his style of play and at the same time celebrate Mehmet Okur or the rookie Bargnani for basically playing the same way. I don’t know if it’s because Nowitzki sings Hasslehoff at the free throw line or our country’s past problems with Germany, but this guy takes a lot of flack. If Dirk and the Mavs can find a way to win the series against G. State how many people will give the MVP trophy back to Dirk? I’ll bet zero.

This is why I’m rolling with the Rockets. Courtesy of yours truly

You can take a look at my brackets here. Courtesy of Ball Hype

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EVERYBODY TAKE A DEEP BREATH

The good news is the series is holding to form and if that continues, the Rockets are on to round two. The bad news..well, where do I start? Too many turnovers, un-Rocket like defense, and some over officious jerks working the game all contributed to the game 4 loss. I was happy to see more people getting involved on offense, but I’m worried about Deron Williams and Okur waking up for the Jazz.

I’m trying to be as positive as I can about the situation. I’m trying to attract only the best circumstances for the Rockets. Obviously I’m not trying hard enough… Or maybe it’s you. Yeah, it’s you. Step it up. Repeat “The Rockets are great and they are going to win this series” 5 times in the morning and 5 more times before you go to sleep.

It’s not time to panic, the sky’s not falling yet BUT winning game 5 is a must. I’m being positive and everything.. Trust me I am.. I just don’t wanna see Houston having to win in Utah to stay alive.

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THAT’S WHAT TIME IT IS

A little reading music….. 

The Houston Rockets are the better team in this series. The season numbers say so, and the duo of McGrady and Ming say so too. Tonight is the night to take control of this series and let Utah know that their playoff stay is coming to an end. Here are my keys to a game four Rocket victory:

• Somebody besides Yao, T-Mac, or Battier needs to step up. A solid ten points from someone other than those 3 will go a long way.
• Work the ball inside out. Utah has no answer for Yao. I don’t see why he can’t drop 30 tonight.
• Flip Utah’s game 3 script. Let Carlos Boozer get his and shutdown everybody else. Giricek, Harpring, and Millsap can not combine for 30+.
• Shot selection. This is mainly aimed at Tracy, but as a whole…running the offense isn’t always a bad thing.
• Big surprise for this one… Take care of the ball. 19 turnovers for 17 Utah points and the lack of role player scoring were the biggest reasons for the game 3 loss.
• If all else fails, hire Flava Flav to cut fingers off.

ALL GOOD THINGS ARE COMING TO THE ROCKETS TODAY

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