Gilbert Arenas Suspension

So the NBA officially announced the punishment for the Washington Wizards players Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton for the gun incident that shook the world in the middle of December and stole all of our Christmas spirit and wishful thinking that NBA don’t have guns. Both players will be suspended for the remainder of the season, while Arenas has to sit out for 50 games and Crittenton only misses 38. For both players this appears career threatening.

What’s bothering me about Crittenton’s punishment is he’s only charged with a misdemeanor, so he has not done anything essentially wrong. He won a card game and Arenas owed him $25,000 or something around that number. There was a heated exchange, and apparently, he feared for his life so he brought the gun into the locker room. I’m not a fan of guns for protection and anything other than killing animals for the purpose of eating them and to survive. I do not think they serve any good and should be locked aways afely and away from kids and certainly do not have any business in an NBA locker room.

But I’m of the opinion that Javaris Crittenton didn’t know any better just like a lot of NBA players, including Arenas, he grew up in a world where he was the king for so long and never had to see any restriction. I endorse a punishment, but 38 games? That’s far too much for a player like him and I would have welcomed a lesser punishment.

As for Gilbert Arenas. The level of the stupidity he’s shown throughout the process is astounding. Bringing four guns, although unloaded, to the locker room, showing them off, and threatening a team mate … A ten-year-old should know better than that. I could go and ask my ten-year-old cousin if he thought this wasa good decision to do that and I’d bet my money on him he’d say “No, Jake, it’s not!”. 50 games are a lot of games and a lot of money, in this case I’d say it’s the right penalty in my opinion. I just don’t like the proportion. Arenas was the iniatiator, he brought four guns into the locker room, he lost a bet, he provoked Crittenton, mocked the matter, and just accomplished to finally shut his mouth when NBA Commissioner David Stern had to suspend him indefinitely. Is what Crittenton did really four fifths as bad as what Arenas behavior has proven to be. It’s way too much for Crittenton, Fifteen to twenty games should be enough, and that’s it, I think Stern should look at Crittenton’s penalty again.

As for the Wizards likely upcoming attempt to void the contract. Don’t let them get out of the contract. Various experts warned them for various reasons about a max contract when they handed it out. Hell, Arenas thought the contract wasn’t right and left a few bucks (namely $15 Million) on the table, which was a popular gesture back then. He just came off knee surgery and a kind of surgery that usually limits the players production for a while. So there was a strong possibilty he would never return to form. So when he finally had an entire summer to recover and just produced like an above average guard who had to get accustomed to a new role in a new system with a new coach, a lot of people already regretted the decision about signing him to that contract. Don’t let the Wizards get out of this one unless Arenas prefers to get a fresh-start somewhere else. I strongly believe there is a market for him elsewhere, not for $20 million per season, but seven to eight should be a good deal still. He wouldn’t have to act as a superstar and maybe could play the two-guard towards the end of his career. A strong locker room could certainly make him fit in and he is way too gifted to be on the shelf for a long time. He might not be your 30ppg guy he used o be, but he can still score 15 points and dish out 10 assists efficiently and on a regular basis.

The Wizards signed him to the contract and he pretty much is what a lot of people expected, not the same. I would prefer for Gil to go somewhere else and find his old happiness and swagger. He now has time to rest his knees and sit out until next October. He can re-evaluate his life and decisions we will see what kind of player comes back.

It’s not been that long ago that everybody was in love with Agent Zero, ironically he’s now being penalized for having weapons in the locker. A sincere Good Luck to you Gil!

Pistons lose to Blazers

Man that was a tough loss last night. I don't think you get as many chances to tie the game with a three in the last 30 seconds or so as we did last night. Rip, Stuck and Charlie V all missed good looks, Stuckey's attempt was by far the closest while Rip was off by a far bit. Now we just have to get over this loss and start winning again. At least we were in the game right to the end and fought back after being down.
We've had a few comebacks this year, as Dan Feldman said it, but can't seem to win those comebacks which makes the comebacks burn down to wasted energy that we might need in other games or we could rest the injured players. This is where a go-to scorer like Gordon might help, a superstar doesn't hurt either of course, but I don't see one coming since we haven't had one (I'm not counting Iverson for obvious reasons) since Dumars took over as the GM and had a say in whether he wants one or if he doesn't. Maybe Stuckey will become one, to be honest though, he's at an age where he pretty much is what he is. He won't develop a whole anymore. He's a really good player and scoring point guard, if he doesn't learn how to shoot the three with consistency we won't be able to rely on him down the stretch on a daily basis. He will be able to close out some games and in others he will fail because when he can't get into the lane his abilities are off set by his short comings.

The fight wasn't a good thing, not entirely bad though. It shows that this team is still alive and wants to win and fight back whenever they can. It surprised me that it was Villanueva of all players since he always appears mild-mannered to me. Still I wonder if there's something wrong that aggrevates the players. Tay went off on John Kuester and I still haven't really figured out why. Tay is a quiet leader, I like that he's taking on the leadership role and that he doesn't take the losing, barking at the coach usually doesn't help all too much in my opinion. The Pistons teams off recent years have had trouble respecting coaches and I hope this isn't a start of something bad because Kuester has been doing a nice job thus far and I'd like to see what he can do with a healthy and improved roster.

When I said the Pistons were most likely to trade Rip I don't think that anymore. He's far too valuable to the team right now. He's the only guy who can facilitate the offense and get some assists for his teammates. So either we find a guy similar to Rips abilities, which would be bogus because why trade a player who's been within the organization for so long for a guy with the same abilities, or Tay is the odd man out. Tay is a great guy, but to be honest, he hasn't played great for several seasons. He's been bad in the postseason especially and his defense isn't what it used to be. I don't know what it is, but I'm afraid he'd be his old self for another, defense minded team like the Spurs, where he has big man who's protecting the rim. Nothing against Ben, he's just not a guy like Duncan or Shaq who protect the paint by their sheer size.

That should be it for today, have a nice Sunday!

Utah beats Cleveland at the Buzzer

Man this Sundiata Gaines is a feel-good story. A call-up and then he gets to attempt a game-winning shot and makes it. That's one helluvaguy! Postgame interview right here:



The Jazz belong right in the group of teams the Lakers don't want to face during the postseason. It's stunning, but LA has looked rather bad against other contenders. I'm not talking about Dallas btw. They've lost to a lot of good teams this year it seems. Last year they mainly lost against mediocre or bad teams because they weren't hustling. This year they've lost to Cleveland in LA, to San Antonio, to Houston and so forth.

But this Gaines guy. I like him. He's got confidence and I'll keep looking for him on the rosters. He seems to be a genuine guy who's travelled a lot to get to the NBA, playing for Idaho and in Italy so he deserves it. Great job by Brewer, I think it was him, passing the ball.

Money question: If you were a proven NBA player and you're down two with the game clock winding down, would you pass it to the guy on a 10-game-contract? Kobe could name two players he would possibly pass it to, but a D-League player? So nice job Ronnie!!!

So long!

Winning again

What's up Guys!

I know I haven't kept up with my posting, but I had a lot of stuff to do, I still followed the Pistons but didn't make time for it so here we go.

We ended our 13-game losing streak. But guys, this is not over, we'll probably have a few more losing streaks to endure until we are competetive again. I don't see this team going anywhere right now, we'd a playoff contender if everybody was healthy, bumming around .500. Due to the injuries, we are nowhere close to that mark. Even if we were .500 or slightly above even, just getting into the playoffs is not what this organization is about. We want a championship and Joey D is building a contender. What is bothering me is that he doesn't know how he will do it so to me that's not the best of outlooks for the future. Maybe something will just pop up. Maybe we'll run into another Chauncey Billups, maybe Michael Jordan decides to trade Stackhouse for Hamilton again. On the other side, back then we at least had a guy like Stackhouse. Dumars will have to pull off a great move. I don't see Charlie Villanueva working in a defensive system. He's not going to be taught by Larry Brown.
You can say what you want, but Carlisle's and Brown's coaching of defense made the Pistons what they've been for the past years. Carlisle even taught Dirk Nowitzki a little bit of defense and that's gotta account for something right.
So either Dumars goes for natural defenders OR tries to get a coach who's really good at teaching defense. I realize that our biggest problem is scoring, and we have a bunch of great scorers supposively. Villanueva goes off at time just burrying three after three after three. And then he takes games off and is pretty much a no show. He's not that young anymore, he's not a player you can build a contender around. Ben Gordon would be a capable defender, but he's a little short for his position so he has problems at times.

I guess I'll just have to get used to the new team. First we have to get healthy and then the stock of the team and players is going to rise and everything will work itself out. I'm not crying for a trade, don't get me wrong, but we are a few moves (not that many) away from where we want to be. If we reach the lottery and get a decent pick (range 3-10) maybe Joe D can work his magic. Maybe there's a guy like Tyreke Evans, like Brandon Jennings, that'd be enough, then you can develop something. A lot of great players weren't drafted that high (I'm not saying Gilbert Arenas anymore) but Dirk Nowitzki was drafted 9th and Kobe 12th. Just being in the lottery is a great chance, we got Stuckey rather late, right? So there we have our window. We can draft, except for Milicic, Dumars has done a terrific job seeing talent and drafting it. Jonas Jerebko is the latest example.

So I put my trust in you Joe!!! And I'll just keep rooting for whatever team we currently have. And even if it gets worse, we will never be as bad as the Nets!

Doing Some Thinking

Today, I'm not gonna get into a lot of the game. It's beginning to become frustrating. When you have a double-digit lead on the road against the second best team in the West ... Just DON'T BLOW IT! I know they are trying but you just can't do it, know the losing streak is in double-digits and none of us wanted that to happen. Charlie V was hot but couldn't stop the longest losing streak in 15 years of Detroit Basketball. Last season looked bad, and this season ... well, it's not as big a mess teamwise, but we are losing even more so ... Maybe we can get something going sooner rather than later, otherwise we have to hope the lottery balls fall in our favor.
None of our starters played badly statwise, maybe Jerebko, although he was the only starter with a +3 for the game, the rest of the team (except for Gordon) had numbers below zero.

Some other thoughts on the league:

Kobe has a crazy left hand. Takes so much work ethic to shoot like that with the left hand.

Remember when Roy Hibbert was a sure shot Top 3-pick after his sophomore year at Georgetown, stayed two more years and dropped. You think he's gonna be a good center. He lit up Dwight Howard last night, more than that, frustrated him. How man 7'2" centers do you know who can hit the outside shot? I'm just saying he could be a nice pick up for a contender, like, say the Mavericks or Houston.

Jason Kidd's bounce pass was off the chain. How can you play that pass without looking passed Tayshaun's arms. Tay didn't even see the possibility of that pass until it was too late.

Never seen a better jump shot of a 7-footer than Nowitzki's. I'm German and I've seen him play a lot, but it's just so pure.

Next game up against the Spurs. Don't know how we'll handle Duncan, Big Ben couldn't really stop him or contain him in his prime, how is it gonna look this time around ...

Kobe's Clutch Performances

I know there's an ongoing debate whether you'd take Kobe over Lebron or Lebron over Kobe on your last possession. The debate has cooled off ever since Kobe won the championship and hit 3 gamewinners in 28 days (by the way two more than Mr. Iverson hit his entire career, go figure). But last night you see Lebron having a chance and he doesn't only miss the shot, he takes a bad shot.
It doesn't have to be Lebron's fault, but you know what's funny and what, to me, makes the difference? Lebron can take a bad shot at the end, Kobe can't ... Kobe has hit so many clutch shots, fadeaways, lefty three pointers, off one leg in Wade's face, a fade away in Yao's face, fadeaways from 35 feet out and so on. Just get him the ball with three seconds left and he'll get off a GOOD SHOT. No matter where he's at ...

Maybe Lebron has better stats, or even some other guys that you at least have to consider, and I'm not saying that every shot Kobe takes goes in. And it's a different question whether you'd take Lebron or Kobe to build a championship team (I'm still not sure, I'd go with Dwight Howard I guess) but last minute, tight game, I'd want to want Kobe on my team. No other player and no doubt! If you need further proof, check out the video below!