A few days late and a comment or two short, but here’s the clip showing the chippiness between former Dub Matt Barnes and Kobe Bryant. Watching the Magic tonight, with the fans chanting for the team to bring Adonal Foyle onto the floor for some garbage-time minutes, made me reminiscent. Was I really waiting for TNT to switch over from the Barnes, Foyle, Pietrus team to the D-Leaguers? Yes, I was. Did I wonder whether Nellie, et al., are tanking? Yes, after several quarters, I did. Am I wondering if Monta Ellis came back from injury solely to showcase his considerable–but seemingly self-serving–skills in a play for a better life elsewhere? How could I not?
No box score. No highlights. Instead, a video from Sunday’s action where Barnes and Kobe gave a possible preview of what might be in store for this year’s finals. Who won? You make the call. Who lost? The Dubs. Again.
Turman
PS. The NBA will probably remove this video, as it has done with several others of the incidents between the two, so if it doesn’t work by morning send mail to D. Stern.
After a brief hiatus, we now resume our regularly scheduled absurdity to report on the firing of Clippers GM Mike Dunleavy, Sr. Why wasn’t he fired as GM when he was relieved of his coaching duties some weeks back? Is there a long-term solution being lined up? Or does Donald Sterling just like being unpredictable because it adds to his air of being a mysterious and incompetent owner.
Personally, I think that Baron Davis’ beard would make a fine GM for the Clippers. Boom’s Beard has proven to add valuable swagger when clutch decisions are needed. It’s basketball IQ is off the chart. And if it can make Chris Kaman an all-star, well, I think that seals the deal. Besides, I would pay good American Dollars to hear David Stern say on draft day: “…And with the eleventh pick, Boom’s Beard and the Los Angeles Clippers select…”
Two nights ago against The Beard’s Clippers, Steph Curry had a monster game. A rebound in the final seconds gave him an epic triple double for the night, with 35 points, 10 assists, and 10 boards. Exactly how epic is that? According to Marcus Thompson of the Contra Costa times, only five players in league history have hit or exceeded these numbers as a rookie. Wanna hazard any guesses as to who they might be?
Jason Kidd. Michael Jordan. Jerry West. Oscar Robertson. Elgin Baylor.
Honestly, I’ve been waiting for someone to spoof the Dos Equis “most interesting man” campaign for a minute now. So, in comes Nasty Nash for Vitamin Water to add another “X” to the equation. The “Canadian Tuxedo” is only one of about 19 jokes about Canada he sneaks into 43 seconds.
Apparently, I’m not the only one who’s nostalgic for the good old days of the NBA on NBC. Particularly the theme song. Which, of course was written by John Tesh. Yep, that John Tesh. Ever wondered how he wrote it? Wonder no more. Watch as the erstwhile host of Entertainment Tonight, explains the song’s origin. And then plays it live. It’s like eight kinds of awesome dipped in magic pixie dust.
But the origin myth revealed is the best part. Because he came up with it in exactly the same way we can all recall it. Go ahead, hum it. Without much provocation, almost any serious American fan of basketball can kinda half hum, half sing the song. Which, as this video shows, is exactly how he wrote it. That said, the enthusiasm with which he plays “Roundball Rock” is really something to watch and learn from. Who says you can’t just Nietzsche up on being something nobody thinks you should try to be. John Tesh wanted to play music and a lot of us laughed when we first heard about it. And yet he went on to write what is arguably the best song about basketball ever written.
John Tesh, forever linked to my memories of Michael Jordan-era Bulls game Sunday brunches and Marv Albert’s hyperbolic game intros, I salute you. And sometimes when I walk into my local gym, I might be humming this song.
The good folks at IBeatYou dot com are again sponsoring a best-beard contest. No, you can’t win by putting up a picture of Katie Holmes. Actually, maybe you could win by putting up a picture of Katie Holmes. And, now I’m gonna get sued by a crazy pint-sized Scientologist. All because Baron’s having another contest. Okay, let’s try this again. Enter, win some kicks. Try not to get sued.
Be careful out there,
Daniel Turman
PS. Looks like Anthony Morrow’s knee might be on the mend. The Warriors can’t get his shooting back in the lineup soon enough. As for his Twitter game, he’s starting to become a must read.
There seem to be more rumors than usual coming out of Warriorsland. When your team is 12 and 375 you need something to keep the fans entertained, right? I’m going to keep this brief, so here are the highlights
Rumor number three is the only one that would really mean anything if it happened. The trades would be just more La-Z-Boy reshuffling on the Hindenberg. Frankly, I’m shocked that there are any Warriors left on the team from two years ago. Speaking of which, Cap’n Jack’s back tonight at The Oracle with the Bobcats where he’s having a great season so far on a team making a playoff run. Trading away talented players, getting nothing in return while traded player thrives elsewhere - as DT would say, if you don’t like that, then you don’t like Warriors Basketball.
M. Meschery
PS - Writing about Warriors dysfunction can get old real quick, but watching this “Rumors” video with a young Mike Meezy never gets old.
When I met my wife she lived in San Francisco and I lived in Oakland. The girlfriend I had before her lived in London. I remember thinking at the time, “Damn, I don’t want another long distance relationship.” So, when Melina Jones sings “Here we are, a whole ocean apart” in the new Do D.A.T. track “The Bridge” I feel exactly what she’s talking about. I think most of us in The Bay know this all too well. We all have that friend on one side of the bridge or the other who just ain’t coming to visit you….ever. I remember this other time when I was working with Oakland teenagers and we took a trip to The Mission. We might as well have been taking a field trip to Pandora. Seriously, Mission hipsters were like 9 feet tall and blue to these kids.
Anyway, it was at that same youth program, The Bay Unity Music Project - a music enrichment program for high school students in Oakland - where I first met Do D.A.T. who was a young, up and coming emcee who would volunteer on occasion and provide lyrics workshops. Nearly five years later, Do D.A.T. is helping to run that program, as committed to the community as ever, and his music has evolved to what you see here - the intelligent type of hip hop that can survive in a post-hip hop world.
Anyway, there have been Bridge-related hip hop battles going back to K.R.S. and MC Shan, but this is the first bridge-related hip hop love joint that I know of - more of a love song for the whole Bay Area than anything. For all those Bay-themed mixtapes that will be made in the future, this might have to be the closing track, because despite the fact that The East Bay and The City can seem so different - from the hipsters to the hip hop - the rest of the world perceives us as one place so might as well join forces and be Bay against the world, right? Right. Finally, one of my favorite things about this video is that even though The Bay Bridge is the central metaphor for the song, Do D.A.T. finally takes BART across The Bay to connect with Melina Jones. Yes, The Bridge is indeed over.
M. Meschery
PS - My wife and I now live in Oakland. Take that Frisco!
When I first caught wind of this, I was sort of pissed off. I mean seriously. Come on college kids. Think of your own damn concept. But no. You take the name. The PaperBeard™ idea. Certain graphical elements. And yeah. Did I get an e-mail? Nope. A “Hey, we’ve got this really rad bearded point guard and we want to borrow your concept for a few months? Is that cool?” Not so much.
Not cool, Kansas State. Not cool.
On the other hand, I’m not all that perturbed really. Jacob Pullen, the bearded point guard in question, clearly has ignited fan interest in a team that just knocked off highly ranked rival Texas last week, before dropping one to Oklahoma State. They’re eleventh in the country. Their best player has signature facial hair. And half of the home crowd has on a PaperBeard™ during the game. I can’t really hate on that. As much as I would have liked for FTB to be consulted before the hijacking, there’s so much that’s right about this that I’m more inclined to get on the Pullen bandwagon. I mean seriously, how can I not look at the scene and want to pull for them? How many people can turn on the TV and see a prominent college baller rocking an Abe Lincoln beard on his way to 19 points a game with the student section wearing PaperBeard™ and t-shirt ideas stolen from them?
Well, three of us at least.
In fact, I’ll probably start following and covering their games every once in a while. They play Baylor tonight. Not sure where that finds a home on my 800 channels of hoops but I’ll poke around. They sit third in the big 12, where often annoyingly sanctimonious Kansas teams always rule with an iron fist. I’ll do some more scouting on Pullen, but the short is that he’s an explosive six footer originally from Illinois. Maybe I’ll even call the PR department over there in Manhattan Kansas and see if I can get an interview request through. Or a couple of press passes and a Fun Saver fare on Southwest.
After all, they do owe us something.
Turman
Props to the bloggers at (irony alert) Larry Brown Sports for connecting the dots for me.
Just finished watching The Warriors get their twelfth W of the season in their MLK Day matinee game against The Chicago Del Negros. This also was Kids Day sponsored in part by the good people over at Golden State of Mind. So, based on the effort on the floor, I’m thinking we need more kids at games. As Ol’ Dirty Bastard said, “Keep it good kids. Cause you know I love you.” (Is there a law against quoting ODB on Martin Luther King Jr. Day? If not, probably should be. My apologies.)
Back in November, DT and I were thinking that today might be a good day to stage a boycott of The Warriors as a way of sending a message to their craptastic front office - you know, in the spirit of civil disobedience and all. However, as the injuries started to pile up, that started to seem like not such a good idea after all. Even if people went to the game and protested our ineffectual management by not buying concessions and merchandise, it would make a statement, but still probably couldn’t avoid bumming the players out. It’s not their fault that they have the luck of The Griswold’s on vacation and the most inept management in sports. Not like I feel sorry for Cohan and Rowell in the slightest (No, I don’t believe that Haitians are cursed because they made a pact with the devil, but Chris Cohan, uh, not so sure), but the team needs nothing but good vibes now. Even Don Nelson looks like a wounded puppy - albeit a hungover wounded puppy. Anyway, we’ll wait until the Dubs are healthy again to protest - maybe Cesar Chavez Day?
So, some observations of today’s game:
1. We had three D-Leaguers playing. The Warriors are single-handedly giving basketball players in places like Bakersfield, Reno and Sioux Falls a sense of hope. Hope that they can make the NBA, get in the rotation and then get injured, collecting a pay check with a view from the bench. Beats hanging out in Erie, Pennsylvania, right?
2. Defense and rebounding won the game. What a concept! D-Leaguers couldn’t shoot a lick, but came through on the glass. Stay focused on the boards D-Leaguers - we like.
3. Unless you thought that all of a sudden we started prioritizing defense, I need only mention that Monta Ellis took 39 shots and still Maggette scored 32 and Curry 26. Uh, that means we were trying to score…a lot.
4. And finally, I realized that Monta Ellis shoots a higher percentage with his trick, behind-the-back-from-the-tunnel shot than Biedrins has from the free throw line. This is disturbing. Maybe we can convince The League to let Monta take that shot each time Biedrins gets fouled in the act of shooting. C’mon Stern, fans would love it. It’s a win-win for everyone.
M. Meschery
PS - my wife will be seated on the floor at The Fakers v. Orlando game tonight. I told her she has my blessing to cheer for ex-Warriors (except Derrick Fisher) and Dwight Howard’s biceps. If I see her on TNT jumping up and down and high-fiving Andy Garcia after a Kobe dunk, trust me, there will be consequences.
