Well, here I am typing away on the night that Canucks are on their way to the Stanley Cup finals!! It's been 17 years since they've been there and I am pumped to watch them on their quest. I hope they get there because we all know how hard it is to win the championship in the NHL. A true grind. A war. A battle. And this Canucks team has battled very hard to get where they are. Great job boys!!
I thought I should chime in on a few other things as well...
The draft lottery was held and the Cavaliers struck gold and will pick 1st and 4th in this year's NBA draft. They actually won the #1 pick with the Clippers 1st rounder that they acquired in the Baron Davis for Mo Williams trade. A lot of 'experts' were criticizing the Clips for making that deal...but come on, the chances of the Cavs getting the #1 pick with the Clips choice was so small they had to make the deal. The Clippers were able to unload Baron's contract and pick up a former All-Star PG in Mo Williams. Who would you rather have as 3rd wheel (behind Blake Griffin and Eric Gordon)?? Kyrie Irving or Mo Williams?? I'll take Mo please. I know he's over-rated and we saw that he can't be the #1 option but he's very serviceable when he can just be the #3 or #4 option on the floor. Which is why this trade for the Clippers still made sense. From the Cavs perspective, when you're rebuilding, they had to acquire more #1 picks and if it means taking on a bad contract like Baron's then they had to do that too. Now, they have two top 4 picks (in a weak draft) but can at least speed up the rebuilding phase. They should pick Kyrie Irving 1st overall and then will get another pretty good building block at #4. Win-win in my books.
I recently read that the Lakers were interviewing Mike Dunleavy for their now vacant head coaching position??? I'm sorry, but is there another Mike Dunleavy that I don't know about. There's Mike Jr. who plays for the Pacers and then there's Mike Sr. who was fired from his position in Clipperville because he was the shittiest coach Bill Simmons had ever seen. And for those of you who know me, I respect what Bill has to say. And I saw a few Clips games - Dunleavy's an idiot. So why would the Lakers be even remotely interested? I don't get it. I see they are interviewing Mike Brown, Rick Adelmann, and Brian Shaw as well. If you were Shaw, wouldn't you be pissed?? I always thought he was next in line when Phil retired. I think a lot of people thought that. Now, he's just not good enough?? I have a feeling that all changed once they got swept by Dallas this post-season. My opinion? I'd go with Adelmann.
And speaking of the retired Phil Jackson...now that he's gone - does that mean the LA triangle offense will also be retired? I am presuming the answer to that would be yes. So, if that's the case, can the T-Wolves and Kurt Rambis finally admit it was a HUGE mistake to try and duplicate this offense!!?? Look at why the triangle was so successful...the SG in the scheme was a guy named Jordan and a guy named Kobe!! In Minny, they had a guy named Martell Webster and Corey Brewer - no wonder it didn't work!!
Speaking of Minny - does anyone else feel like Ricky Rubio is going to be a massive bust when he arrives?? I just don't get it - why wouldn't the kid want to come and play in the NBA? Is he really not coming over because it's Minnesota?? Is he pulling a Steve Francis? Or is it because he knows he's really not that good and has just made a name for himself on a couple of key moments in time (playing for his national team). If Rubio was that good why isn't he putting up bigger numbers overseas?? I think the kid is all hype and will turn out to be a bust. I don't think he's the next Steve Nash...I think he's the next Luke Ridnour. Don't get me wrong, I love Luke, but he never got the hype that Rubio is getting and I'll bet Luke's numbers will be very comparable to the spanish kid.
I'm thinking the NBA Finals will be the Mavs vs. the Heat. And for what it's worth, I hope the Mavs win. I want to see Dirk win a title. He was so close in 2006 and I don't want to see 'The Decision' turn out to be a success. If the Heat win then there will be a whole bunch of players getting together with their buddies and joining forces in whatever city can pay them to try and create uber-teams and win titles. The NBA will become like MLB with only a handful of teams capable of winning the title at the start of each season. Go Mavs.
I was watching the Thunder play the Mavs the other day and I realized that they are my Sonics. Curse you David Stern for taking them away!! Also, watching Kendrick Perkins made me realize that he's really waaaaaaay better in the NBA than he is in Fantasy basketball. He's a very important piece and reason of why the Thunder are in the Western Conference Finals - but his value does NOT show up in a boxscore. I'll be knocking him down a few spots when it comes time to draft in October.
Speaking of the JBL draft - Phoenix has entered the equation for a destination in October. Flights from Bellingham to PHX are in the $250 range and there would be no shortage of things to do in the area. Golfing would right near the top of the list for many JBL'ers making the journey. If PHX doesn't pan out we could be looking at Whistler, Seattle, or Portland as potential draft locations as well. Vegas is still an option but currently direct flights are not cheap. We'll see what happens over the summer.
The ECF between the Heat and Bulls is almost over. Heat are now up 3-1. Boozer has been disappointing and the Bulls are being exposed at SG. I guess the combo of Bogans, Brewer and Korver just wasn't good enought. No shit sherlock. Guess what their #1 offseason priority will be? I wonder if they will have any interest in a guy like Jason Richardson now that Orlando has said they will likely let him walk away this summer. Could the Bulls even afford him?
Well, that's all from me for tonight. Go Canucks!!
