WEEEEK 14

Word!

Happy trails Stevie Francis. The Memphis Grizzlies recently put the former star on waivers, potentially ending Franchise’s career for good. A former NBA star known for his explosive hops and ill crossover, I can’t recall a player within my lifetime who has seen such a fast decline from stardom. From about 2000-2004, you couldn’t have had a conversation about the best guards in the L without mentioning Francis. After leaving the Rockets in ‘04 and posting career lows with the Magic in ’05, Francis made his way to the Big Apple where he had a subpar tenure with the Knicks in ‘06. The Knicks eventually traded Francis to the Blazers who pretty much slapped him in the face and said “We don’t want you” and bought out his contract. He ended up heading to Houston for a second cup of coffee with the Rockets, but injuries sidelined him for the better part of two years and he found himself at the end of the bench. About a month and half ago the Rockets dealt him to Memphis for a new pop machine (just kidding) and the rest, as they say, is history. It kinda makes me feel old as I sit here and type this because he’s the first guy that I’ve actually watched from start to finish (and have been old enough to really remember his earlier years). I have a feeling there’s someone out there who has a 10-day contract for him but we’ll just have to wait and see…


For the Throwback Clip of the Week, it’s only right I give the nod to Franchise even though these clips are only like 7-8 years old. The first clip is dunks, the second are clips of his once-deadly handle (please note the Moochie Norris sighting around the 0:14 mark of the first clip haha…).

DUNKS



Handles



Just last week I was talking about how AI should come off the bench for the Pistons, which made me wonder why dudes care so much about starting. A couple days later, I got into a discussion about guys who come off the bench but could very well start for a number of squads. Guys like Kirilenko, Ginobli and Barbosa were obvious choices, but one guy I never thought about was Trevor Ariza. As it turns out, Ariza doesn’t like to start and has told the Lakers coaching staff that he prefers to come off the bench. I dig that. The NBA is filled with too many selfish cats so I can appreciate when a player like Ariza does something like that. Also, FYI, in his one start this season, Ariza missed all of his field-goal attempts and ended up with only 4 chips (from the charity stripe) in 33 minutes. He averages 9 ppg in 24 mins. as a reserve.

As some of you may have noticed, I sometimes mention stuff that isn’t exactly NBA-related, but is entertaining none-the-less. This is one of those times. Aron up at Dime Magazine brought this clip to my attention and I just had to share it…Sammy The Owl gets tossed…



Let it be known; Stephen A. Smith is an idiot. Known for his baseless analysis and excessive hyperbole, Smith has to be the worst reporter/analyst that ESPN has on its payroll. His latest grab for attention comes in the form of rumors surrounding Chris Bosh. Smith is reporting that CB4 approached Raps GM Bryan Colangelo last week and put it on the table that he wanted out, and isn’t going to re-sign in 2010. Both Bosh and Colangelo promptly dismissed the story and Colangelo defiantly stated that Bosh was NOT on the trading block. Now of course I can’t confirm whether or not Bosh told Colangelo he was gonna jet, but what I do know is that if he DID say that, Stephen A. Smith wouldn’t be the guy to know. Bosh and Smith have a bit history after Smith compared Bosh’s game to long-time scrub Manute Bol…Bosh eventually contacted Smith and let him know he felt disrespected so I can’t see how Smith would be a guy close enough to the situation to really know what’s going.

The team of the week has got to be the Portland Trailblazers who went 4-0 last week and continue to prove they’re a legit threat coming out of the West. The Blazers currently sit at 30-19 and are holding down the 4th seed in the West, but the scariest thing to consider is that this is the youngest team in the NBA. Just think…Brandon Roy, Channing Frye, Larmarcus Aldredge, Rudy Fernandez, Greg Oden, Nicholas Batum, Travis Outlaw, Jerryd Bayless etc…ALL these dudes are young and all are capable of becoming solid primetime players. Things could get scary.

Whether he’s beefing with Lebron, being the subject of Jay-Z diss tracks or posting his credit card number on his MySpace, Deshawn Stevenson is a walking circus. Although he eventually cancelled his credit card and re-posed with his new one (covering the first few digits this time) the guy still has a few knobs loose. After deciding to go with an all-80’s wardrobe for this season (some of the gear is fresh, I can’t lie), Deshawn was quoted as saying “I’m the new Dennis Rodman”. The irony of it all is that I have an old issue of SLAM from when D-Steve was just coming out of highschool with a subject header that reads “Stevenson mixes Kobe Bryant’s game with Tim Duncan’s Attitude”. Ummm, so when they say Kobe Bryant, did they mean the high scoring, perennial all-star Kobe Bryant? Stevenson has never put up more than 11 ppg in a season. But when they say Tim Duncan, they mean the calm, reserved, and mild-mannered Tim Duncan, right? Right???...

That’s it for this week heathens, but if I could give you one game to watch this week, it’d be the Celts vs. Lakers on Thursday night. The last time these squads met was on Christmas with the Lakers defending their homecourt, winning by 9. This game is in Beantown and the Celts will undoubtedly be seeking revenge so tune in if you’re not working, getting inebriated, having sex, playing pogs...

I’m out like Franchise…

-Gliz