With Malice…

Unbelievable. D’Antoni at the Knicks. Guess money was the over-riding factor in that decision, huh? Rick Carlisle at Dallas… and Avery Johnson will get a job - somewhere.

Have 2 days of basketball to talk about… so let’s get on with it:

• The Lakers lost in Utah, 104-99, and as a Laker fan I’m not too disappointed, even tho’ that brings the Jazzmen up to 1-2 down.
  The Jazz are beatable.
  The Lakers nearly did so, and that was with everyone-not-named-Kobe playing at a less-than-average level, and Mr MVP himself having a poor first half.
  The Jazz tho’, are very, very tough. Ideally, the Lakers steal game 4, and head home to Staples only having to win one more.
  The match-up that’s tough is Boozer, as when he’s on his game, LA has no-one who can play him. He’s too long for Turiaf, and too strong for Gasol/Odom. When firing, he demands a double-team - a combination of length ‘n’ strength - and that opens up their shooters. Did you SEE the alley-oop pass Kobe did to himself? Nuts-stuff…
  
  Bring on game 4.
• Detroit stole one from Orlando, winning in Orlando 100-99. Geez… 3-1 lead in the series, and game 3 was sans-Billups.
  One more game won, and the Pistons are back in yet another Eastern Conference final.
  They really do know when to turn it on, huh?
  They are much more convincing than the Celtics at the moment, and really seem to be able to afford to rest Billups, and have him ready when needed. Gotta feel for Dwight Howard tho’… he’s gone from being a superman to being a mild annoyance… if that.
• The Cavs & King James hold court in Cleveland, and take one back in fine fashion - beating the Celtics by 24 points: 108-84.
  Cleveland ran away from Boston early on, and the C’s never looked in it. James had yet another off night shooting, but support was their - Delonte West had 21 off very efficient shooting to go with the inaccurate 21 James put up.
  Now, what is it with the road-woes Boston’s had this playoffs? Struggling to compete in Atlanta, and getting hammered in Cleveland… anyone who faces them must be thinking “if only we can steal one in the Garden…”

In tomorrow’s games:

1. LA Lakers at Utah - this is it. Really like the LALAs to win this one… that’d put the Jazz in a 3-1 hole that I don’t think they can climb out of. The key is Gasol & Odom… and Fish on D-Williams. Kobe’ll get his…
2. New Orleans at San Antonio - now we get to see what the Spurs are really made of… well, if they win this game, it’ll speak highly of them. Then back to New Orleans for game 5, and that will be not only for putting themselves in the lead, but they have a legacy at stake now… and are the Hornets the real deal? If they are, they win this one.

Lastly, ever wondered what your NBA nickname would be?  Wonder no longer - NBA.com Where NBA nicknames happen… (no idea why, but mine was “The Fijian”… my son’s was “The Fad”)

Oh ye gods. Busy at the moment - busier than a 3-legged dog trying to bury a bone on a marble floor, and that means some important things have been left by the wayside… like telling you what you should be I’ve been reading.

1. Neate Sager’s take on the Hockey. Over at Epic Carnival, but you can catch Neate over at Out Of Left Field. Sometimes…
2. Chuck Barkley. Gotta love him. Love him all the more over at The World Of Isaac.
3. Richie Sexson’s mind-fart. Get the details from the excellent Five Tool Tool.
4. Ed Ziti from MVN Lakers Library writes his impressions on the entire Mike D’Antoni episode.
5. Red’s Army has a laugh at a Laker-fan having a dig at the C’s… almost funny clip tho’!
6. You’ve Been Blinded - Jason Whitlock interview. Damn good reading.
7. Over at Ball Don’t Lie, Kelly Dwyer tells it like it is with the Lakers loss to Utah in game 3.

No love lost: Derek Fisher & Deron Williams…

Not too shabby…

This clip was made specifically for With Malice by Jeff Fraler.
Born in September of 1986, raised in Dallas, Texas, Jeff became a life-long Laker fan in the 4th grade and has been a basketball fanatic ever since then. The greatest years of his life were 2000-2002 when the Lakers cemented their place with one of the greatest dynasty runs in sports history…he started making videos about 2 years ago, just as a hobby…he attends Loyola University New Orleans as an English-Literature Major and hopes to one day be a teacher.

Enjoy this, there’ll be more of Jeff’s work around here.

Away on a small trip for the next day and a half, but just thought I’d leave you with the post game notes/interviews after game 2 of the Utah/Lakers series (hopefully Brad’ll post his weekly NRL bit…).

See ya soon…

Read a good tongue-firmly-in-cheek post over at eTrueSports.com on the reasons behind Kobe saying that he couldn’t have done it (win the MVP) without his team-mates…

Why Kobe Said I Couldn’t Have Done It Without My Teammates
Top ten +1…
11. Now more people will say Jennifer Aniston is LA’s most self-absorbed person
10. Will increase traffic on his Facebook page
9. Good conversation starter with Jack Nicholson
8. Improves chances of getting good references for next career
7. Better shot at pawning off those crappy halftime interviews

… if you want more than that, you’ll have to head over to eTrueSport’s article!

Amazing what distances a year can take you, huh?
On a personal level, I’ve moved a complete two islands away from where I was a year ago.
Kobe Bryant has gone from being a complete diva to the MVP of the league.
In the past (most noticeably during the off-season), it’s gotten to the stage where I have not been a fan… but during this season, I have been won back - I’m (yet again) an enthusiast.
But given Kobe’s taken such steps into adulthood, and reaped the benefits - there can be no backsliding into childish tantrums. Fairly confident that we’re all beyond that.

In today’s games:

• Utah’s Carlos Boozer had stated prior to game 2 that he was hoping to spoil Kobe’s MVP celebrations. NEWSFLASH Booze! You have to stay on the court to do so! Carlos couldn’t do so, hitting foul-trouble early, and LA ran out 120-110 victors over the Jazzmen. Kobe had a game worthy of an MVP, with a 34 point (61% shooting), 8 rebound, 6 assists effort. Boozer’s 25 minutes of court time saw him with 10 points (3-from-10), and 5 rebounds.
  Deron Williams remained dangerous… it’ll be interesting to see how the games are called in Utah - to see if fouls are called as fouls, and the tradition of games in Salt Lake City as ‘physical encounters’ remains.
  Always thought that was a BS way to officiate.
  
• Orlando ripped Detroit, winning 111-86. Who was the monster? Well, although Howard hit his 20 points/12 rebounds, it was Rashard Lewis who won the game. 33 points on 11-from-15 shooting - Lewis picked the right time to have his coming out party. A little late, but better late than never - and what a game to do so. Huge impact for the Pistons: Chauncey Billups strains a hamstring - they’re hopeful that he’ll be back for Saturday’s game… but who knows?

Tomorrow’s games:

1. Cleveland in Boston - Hopefully, this is a much better game than #1 of the series. Some people are talking ‘defensive intensity’… to me this just looked like ’shooting ineptitude’. Ugly stuff. Still, the makings are there for it to develop into a great series. Fingers crossed.
2. New Orleans in San Antonio - Out with the old, in with the new? The Hornets are up 2-0, and head to the Alamo. Some big questions will be answered in this very game…

You really have to feel for the Denver Nuggets franchise. Despite putting up the third largest combined salary in the NBA, they were the only team swept out of the first round.
Denver owner E. Stanley Kroenke has never shied from spending his cash to make improvements on the roster… but either he’s getting some very bad information on those roster decisions, or he’s guilty of pulling the trigger precipitously on personnel choices all by his lonesome.

Given the velocity of which the Nuggets departed the playoffs, it’s clear that the assembled players aren’t working out - despite the plenitude of talent there. Clearly, there are problems that require resolution before this roster goes any where.
And what’s the problem?
Maturity.

When the most mature senior guy on your roster is Allen Iverson, your club has issues. The 2003 drafting of Carmelo Anthony was a good move, but he needed to be surrounded by a group of players that were going to set a good example for him, both on and off the court, so that he could develop into the player that his potential prescribed.
There’s no doubting that ‘Melo has become a fearsome scorer… but on defense he’s a liability, and off the court he’s a veritable man-child, the focus being on the latter part of that oft-used expression.
Carmelo Anthony is the Peter Pan of the NBA, the ‘Boy Who Would Not Grow Up’.

Now he’s the much-maligned face of a much-maligned franchise. Cited for marijuana possession, not once but twice. Numerous traffic violations. The infamous “Stop Snitchin’” video. Then the April 14th DUI this year. And most recently, on Saturday 3rd of May - ‘Melo was arrested for speeding. Add this to his cheap-shot on Mardy Collins in the infamous Knicks-Nuggets brawl on Dec 16th 2006… and too many clashes with coaches to mention (”Don’t just sit there!“).
Quite simply, Carmelo Anthony doesn’t get it.
At least not in the way that LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh and numerous others of the 2003 draft do. If James is the poster-boy for what’s right with the NBA, then Anthony is his polar opposite - a lesson in what’s wrong with the NBA.

Who have his guardians been? His paradigms supplied by his club? Allen Iverson and Kenyon Martin. Nice choices there.
Iverson is a singularly amazing talent, but his off-court behavior isn’t always have you jumping up and down proclaiming what a fine example he sets. K-Mart has been a player of All-Star caliber, but of recent times he’s been far more talk than walk. Both have cultured a such a ‘bad-boy’ rep that whether or not it’s intentional is irrelevant.
It’s simply is.

Carmelo Anthony has a had a veritable shopping list of chances, and the continual litany of “yes-I-get-it-now” & promises broken just rings on deaf ears now.
Just recently, post his DUI, Carmelo apologized to both the Denver Nuggets, the fans of the team and citizens of Denver itself. Now it’s apparent to all and sundry just how much Anthony valued that apology. Look at the picture to the right. Denver: this is who you want to be the face of your franchise?

So what to do with Anthony? A while back, on the blog ‘Fire George Karl’ (which by-the-way is still in existence, but now renamed ‘Denver Stiffs‘), a commenter mentioned that he felt that Karl wasn’t the reason behind the many failures of the team, but that the ‘face of the franchise’, Carmelo Anthony, was responsible. He suggested that someone could make a site called “Sell ‘Melo”… and that could truly be what Denver need to do before they can get back on track.

Dump the guy. Get some value for him now, before he commits a faux pas of truly Michael Vick proportions.
It’s inevitable.

:: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::

We’ve all been waiting for this match-up. Talk about anticipated… and game 1 failed to deliver.

Here’s the NBA Promotion of Garnett/LeBron