Basketball blog with takes on basketball and anything related to basketball . . . as well as a haven for jingoists everywhere - in America.

 
Reserves help deliver Hoosiers to title game

Bobby who?

--posted by Tim at 6:48 PM | | Permalink

 
Indiana Winning With Knight's Players

I have been hearing this a lot on talk radio and this quote is typical of the sentiment:

"Every single player on that team came to play for Knight, not Davis," Duggan said. "(Davis) turned on Knight. When he tried to get the Tulane job, he said Knight didn't help him, and that was a flat-out lie. He's a . . . dog. I'm not saying he didn't do a fine job coaching that team, but he's a dog, for turning on Knight."
- Brad Duggan, former CCSF (City College of San Francisco) coach and friend of Knight's

This is such crap. So what if they came to Indiana to play for Knight? What the hell did he get done with them? Knight hadn't done much with those Indiana teams in almost a decade. Everyone needs to realize that this is not an accomplishment for Bobby Knight. Mike Davis and the players deserve all the credit. Bobby Knight did nothing but terrorize the players and intimidate elderly secretaries. They may be "Knight's players," but he isn't the one that own with them.

--posted by Tim at 10:43 AM | | Permalink

 
CHARLES LIFTS THE CURSE

I found this on the web site for the Chucky Brown Fan Club. I believe in the Chucky Brown karma (for examples see Frank Hughes article "The Kings Call On Chucky Brown Kharma" for ESPN.com). The fan club site is great. Here is a line from the Barkley article from Chucky Brown Fan Club Director of Public Relations Satchel Tsai.
"Invoking the name of the Lord and chosing a nationally televised platform rather than some crap-local-talk-show has surely appeased the powers in charge of the Chucky Brown Karma. Mr. Barkley is clearly sincere and fully rehabilitated. Thankfully, the ugliness of past years is, at last, fully in the past. We wish Mr. Barkley well, and look forward to his future successes."
Before this they fan club would only reference Barkley as "Food World" and "the fat three-point specialist who shot 16% from beyond the arc." These are my kind of people.

--posted by Tim at 10:38 AM | | Permalink

 
Indiana back to Final Four

I am actually happy to see this. I like Mike Davis and he has handled the job and how he got the job with a lot of class. I think Oklahoma is gonna beat them, but no one outside of Bloomington thought this team could make the Final Four. Davis deserves it and I hope there are more in his future.

--posted by Tim at 11:45 PM | | Permalink

 
Iverson breaks bone in left hand in first half

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

--posted by Tim at 10:41 PM | | Permalink

 
Seeing Red after all these years

Bill Simmons latest article is about a morning he spent with Red Auerbach. Auerbach is so damn cool, even if he is like 150 years old. First off, you gotta respect the guy's contribution to the NBA. 16 championships in 30 years! Some of the stories Simmons relates from Red are great too. Red straight decked the then St. Louis Hawks owner Ben Kerner before a playoff game. Auerbach is a bad ass. I probably can't appreciate him the way someone who grew up with the Auerbach Celtics can, but Red is probably one of the 5 most influential people in NBA history.

--posted by Tim at 10:41 AM | | Permalink

 
And It Continues . . .

As my bracket illustrates, it has become obvious that I am the kiss of death for tournament teams this year. After the Thursday games, I am down to two of my Elite Eight teams remaining. God help Kansas and Maryland. So in conclusion . . . Rock, Chalk, Jayhawk . . . I don't want to finish last in any of my groups.

--posted by Tim at 11:18 PM | | Permalink

 
Tim's Bracket

See all that red? Bad times . . . baaaaaad times. I have already been mathematically eliminated from one of my groups. Maybe Gonzaga in the Final Four wasn't such a good pick?

--posted by Tim at 5:24 PM | | Permalink

 
Hardaway Tosses and Gets Tossed

This is to tide you over til I figure out how to post my bracket here so everyone can see it. Words won't do justice the pain my bracket has brought me. Anyway, Tim Hardaway got tossed out of the game and on his way out went Bobby Knight and tossed a TV from the scorer's table onto the court. Equally funny was the way that Darrell Armstrong, who was the reason Hardaway had gotten ejected (Hardaway was T'ed up for throwing an elbow at Armstrong's dome - his 2nd T of the night), went and picked up the TV, placed it back on the table and even plugged it back in. I think we all know that Armstrong didn't do it out of the goodness of his heart, but did it to make Hardaway look all that much worse and get into his head. I also like how they both signed it after the game so it could be auctioned for charity. If I played for Denver I would want to throw things too.

--posted by Tim at 12:47 AM | | Permalink

 
Gators' Nelson hurt in fight with teammate

Looks like my bracket with the Creighton first round win isn't as much along shot as I thought.

--posted by Tim at 2:12 PM | | Permalink

 
Magic act: Dee Brown leaves front office and unretires

If he does that forearm over the eyes dunk in a game I will never watch an NBA game again.Wait a minute, can Brown even jump anymore? Doesn't he have Charles Oakley hops now? Guess I don't have to worry.

--posted by Tim at 10:33 PM | | Permalink

 
The Brackets are Here! The Brackets are Here!

I am happy to finally have brackets and all, but I have a bone (or two) to pick. First is how is Gonzaga a 6 seed? 5 wins over tournament teams and being number 6 in the national poll is only good for a 6 seed? A team that was supposedly the sixth best team in the country is ranked in the tournament as, at best, the 21st best team? If you say so . . .

But that isn't all. Tell me what is wrong with the following set of data. South: Greenville, SC, Sacramento, CA and Pittsburgh, PA. West: Pittsburgh, PA, Albuquerque, NM, Dallas, TX. East: Washington DC, St. Louis, MO, and Chicago, IL. Midwest: St. Louis, MO, Dallas, TX, Chicago, IL and Sacramento, CA. Those are the game sites for each bracket region. My question is, does the NCAA not have maps? Sacramento is not in the Midwest or South. Pittsburgh is not in the South or West. You get the picture. What the hell is that all about?!?! Mix in a map!!!

--posted by Tim at 10:27 PM | | Permalink

 
And He Takes a Shot to the Pride

I was watching the Warriors-Mavericks game earlier today. There was one play where Danny Fortson was driving in for what he thought was an easy lay-in. What he failed to see was that lurking off to the side of the key was Dirk Nowitzki. Nowitzki proceeded to deposit Fortson's "easy lay-in" into the third row (literally). I've heard people say that getting posterized on a dunk is the most demoralizing thing that can happen to you on a basketball court. However, I (and probably Danny Fortson) disagree. There's nothing worse than getting absolutely swatted. Note that "swatted" means shot sent several feet in a different direction, not the guy swings his hand and brushes the bottom of the ball with his finger tips to make it go straight up in the air. A swat gets the crowd into the game just as much as a monster dunk does and the swat gets into the guys head more than the dunk. If someone dunks on you, you're still gonna try and block him the next time he comes through. But if you get swatted, you're gonna think twice about driving the lane again. There are several plays that would fall under the category of demoralizing, but the single most demoralizing play in basketball is the swat.

--posted by Tim at 11:27 PM | | Permalink

 
What Happened To Ben Braun?

So I'm watching the second game of tonight's Pac-10 Conference Tournament action, and then they flash over to the Cal bench and show a guy they say is Ben Braun, but they are liars. I don't know what happened to the real Ben Braun, but why they chose David Duchovny to take his place is beyond me.

--posted by Tim at 9:36 PM | | Permalink

 
Grunwald backs embattled coach

Poor Lenny Wilkens. Now that Glen Grunwald has given him the dreaded vote of confidence, I fully expect to see Lenny fired by the end of the playoffs.

--posted by Tim at 10:46 PM | | Permalink

 
SHUT UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This was in the chat on ESPN.com with Dr. Jack Ramsay
Brian (Cleveland): Hi Dr. Jack -- thanks for your chats -- they're great. I was wondering what your general thoughts on the Cavs are. They have been playing better since Tyrone Hill came back -- I was hoping they'd hit rock bottom and get a better draft pick, personally. (I'd love to see them get hometown boy Labronn James next year)

First off his name is LeBron. Secondly, and I want all of you morons who this applies to to listen carefully . . . LEBRON JAMES IS NOT GOING TO THE NBA NEXT YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He has to complete high school and he won't be old enough to enter the draft anyways. He could try and challenge the NBA legally, but he won't and he would lose if he did. So let it go!

--posted by Tim at 9:24 PM | | Permalink

 
A Big Shout Out Goes To . . .

Ryan Wilkins, one of my partners in crime over at BaseballJunkie.net, for making the aesthetic changes to EotB for me. Now we have links, a centered title and a slightly different by line. Tell me what you think of the new look.

--posted by Tim at 10:54 PM | | Permalink

 
It's Madness!!!!!!

It's March and that means brackets, bubbles, cinderellas and conference touraments. I am rounding up my friends for the annual bracket fun on Yahoo! Hopefully my bracket won't be as much of a mess as it was last year. I have faith. It looks like 6 teams from the Pac 10 are gonna make the tournament, but there is only one of those that matters. Cal is looking at probably a middle seed somewhere between 6 and 8 at this point, but the re-incarnation of the Pac-10 conference tournament could end up changing that. I hope not, but we'll see. Go Bears!

--posted by Tim at 10:21 AM | | Permalink