Woooord!

I gotta start out this week by sending out some birthday shots to my man Sirmac! Happy birthday man…

Now back to the hardwood…(That’s what she said!)

For Christmas, my wifey’s sister bought me “The Last Season: A Team In Search Of Its Soul” by Phil Jackson which is basically The Zen Master’s journal from the 03-04 season. If you remember, that’s the year the Lakers signed Karl Malone and Gary Payton in the off-season, the Kobe vs. Shaq rivalry was at a fever-pitch and Kobe was also flying back and forth to Colorado for his sexual assault court hearings. The book is both interesting and well-written and Phil provides intriguing insight into how he has learned to manage personalities and egos. One of the main issues the book centers around is the Shaq/Kobe beef which to me, after reading this book, was the most juvenile and immature occurrence I’ve ever came across in professional sports. A wise sage said that it takes two to fight, but for the most part, Kobe was the hand over-rocking the cradle in this case. Phil even started seeing a shrink just so he could communicate with Kobe without damaging their relationship or Kobe’s ego. Throughout the book, Phil makes mention of Kobe’s anger and temper tantrums and even goes so far as to say he is the epitome of today’s selfish player. I’m sure Kobe has matured since then (afterall, the book was written like 5 years ago) but it was still interesting to see things from Phil’s angle. If you get the chance, read this book.

Charles, Charles, Charles...there’s nothing wrong with getting wasted on New Year’s… and there’s nothing wrong with wanting to cop some head…but getting wasted, driving, picking up another girl who's NOT your wife and then getting busted??? Shit man…

The same night when Charles was getting his freak on, George Karl was busy snatching up his 900th career coaching win as his Denver Nuggets took down the Raps. Karl joins an elite group consisting of guys like Red Auerbach, Pat Riley and the aforementioned Phil Jackson and currently sits in 10th on the all-time wins list. I watched a couple Denver practices when NBATV had that behind-the-scenes shit going on during training camp and Karl seems pretty laid back. To further my point, he cracked a beer in the Nuggets dressing room after the win in Toronto and said he prefers a cold beer over champagne. “After a win, beer tastes like champagne anyways."

Break up the Pistons! The boys in The D have been tearing it up lately and are currently riding a 7-game win streak. With guys like Rip, AI, ‘Sheed, Tayshaun etc., they should be tearing it up anyways, but up until their recent streak, they’ve pretty much been mediocre at best. The brightest spot during their streak is undoubtedly the play of Rodney Stuckey who has been lighting it up since being injected into the starting line up. Personally, I always compared Stuckey to D-Wade based on their size (Stuckey 6’5, 205, Wade 6’4, 215) and style of play but now Stuckey is putting up some serious digits as well. Fresh off a 40-point outing the week before, Stuckey hung 38 chips on Sacramento this past week and followed it up with another 24 against the Clips. He also copped Player of the Week honours in the Eastern Conference and if he keeps it up, the Pistons could find themselves knocking on the Cavs door in the Central division.

Rookie Check-Up: Anthony Morrow
Remember awhile back when Warriors guard Anthony Morrow was shredding teams up? Well now, not so much. Morrow’s minutes have been significantly decreasing over the last couple weeks and his scoring average is down to just over 9 chips a game compared to around 15 chips a game just about a month ago. A lot of it certainly has to do with his minutes but playing for a Don Nelson coached team, what do you expect? Nellie is notorious for giving guys 30+ mins. one night and giving them 5 the next and Morrow is no different. Last week Morrow clocked 8 mins. and 2 pts. in a loss to the Clips, and then clocked just 2 mins. and 0 pts. in another loss to the…Thunder. Wamp wamp waaaaamp.

If you missed these over the last week, you’re lucky I’m here…

Tayshaun takes Al Thornton to the spa…

Pau Gasol…haha…

Wilson Chandler. I’ve been meaning to mention this guy for a couple weeks now and how the Raps should trade Kapono and Hump for him. The Raps need an athletic, slashing swingman who can create his own shot and isn’t a liability on the defensive end. Enter Chandler. He’s an above average defender, solid rebounder, can score (14 ppg), is only in his 2nd year and best of all, is dirt cheap (only $7.5 mill over the next 4 years). Once the Knicks get Maybury’s insane contract off the books, they’ll have plenty of room for Hump and Kapono and even if they don’t intend on keeping these guys, they’re both decent trading chips in the future. Here’s some of Chandler's work over the past week. Nasty.

And with that, another week has come and gone.
I’m trading in my toque and timbs for a speedo and flip-flops and am heading down south so you’ll have to get through a couple weeks without me…

Keep my seat warm ‘til I get back.

-Gliz