Even though FTB’s Meschery actually works for the arm of PBS that is airing Baron Davis and Stacy Peralta’s documentary, local programming still calls the shots sometimes. Thus, while much of the nation enjoys Crips and Bloods: Made in America, we in the Bay Area have to wait until May 27th.
But fear not. With minimal finagling, we are able to offer up something to hold you over. Baron and company have done a fine job of promoting the film down to recruiting an all-star lineup of hip-hop heavies to record a mixtape as an homage to the film. And here’s the link. You’ve got your Snoop, your Weezy, The Game, Kurupt, Raekwon, Freeway, and others. That’s why we’re here. The film will air soon enough. The beats are here today.
The regular season is long gone, and so are the dubs. Now all we have left is this Warriors propaganda. Frankly, they’re going need lots of this in the off season.
How many of these plays do you remember? I, for one can tell you that #6 is etched in my mind. Particularly memorable since “Chocolate Rain” (as MM dubbed A-Mo) did it on Baron Davis and the Clippers crew.
Hey, if season’s got you feeling a bit apathetic, I can totally empathize. I want to throw the towel. But then there are those damn rays of hope. Pulling me back in. Like Marrow’s 37 in his first start! Maybe a visits to GSW’s YouTube page for a tour of the top 10 dunks, assists and blocks will get me back on the bandwagon.
It was bittersweet seeing BD last night. My ticket benefactor, Yuri, and I kept remarking that during timeouts Boom Dizzle was walking over to the wrong bench. At least it looked like the wrong bench to us.
After what was apparently a warm reception, the crowd took to booing (or perhaps they were yelling “booooom”) every time Baron had the ball in his hands. Frankly, I thought all of the booing was silly. Al got it too when he was here, but I think he earned his a bit more, asking publicly to be traded.
But Baron, he wanted to stay. He loved being loved in the Bay. Even worked on his karma to get his contract matters in order. But the Warriors just couldn’t come correct.
At one point I turned to a neighbor who was booing loudly during some Baron Davis free throws and asked, “What are you booing at? Yourself”? That’s kinda’ how I interpreted it. Self hate.
In the end, the Dubs won the game. Handily. Both Monta and Baron had banner games, with almost identical box scores. 29 points, 5 rebounds and 6 and 7 assists. I just kept thinking they should be playing together. That was the plan, Right? The best back court in the NBA since, well, Baron and JR. Certainly it would have been better then “oil and water”. Blah!
Enough of this. Let’s discuss the picture above. The image, snapped by Yuri at the halftime shoot around, is most auspicious. Baron sauntered over to a couple of well-to-do silver hair gentleman sitting courtside and engaged in a few minutes of lively banter. All while displaying various dribbling techniques. I quickly dubbed the duo “CEO of this.com and Chairman of that.com”.
“It’s definitely like a homecoming,” Davis said last week, anticipating his return to Oakland. “A lot of memories are there, and the adrenaline is going to be circulating. It’ll be good to see a lot of familiar faces in the stands.”
Familiar faces indeed. Yuri and I’s conjecture was that Baron (or as he’s known in Scrilla-con Valley, “iBoom”) was getting a little business advice form his NorCal tech-savvy brethren. Perhaps he was even lining up the next round of VC funding for his own social network play, IBeatYou.com.
With not much else going his way in Oakland last night, I certainly hope so.
This week might kind of suck. Just a little heads up. I could see it coming though. Friday, I took a call from a certain columnist from the LA Times. He was calling about Baron Davis. And what he meant to the Golden State Warriors. And how this season had unfolded for both. As it turned out I didn’t burn any of my 15 minutes of fame in his column, but he did an admirable job of correctly capturing the disappointment that binds us still.
Then came the Suns.
Jason Richardson returned to Golden State to score a season-high 31. Matt Barnes was back too. He had 20 points and a season-high 11 assists. One was the signature play of the game, on an alley-oop to JR. This, on the way to the Phoenix Suns scoring 154 points. As they coasted to victory.
But no. That’s not enough. More pain.
The utter meltdown of the Warriors. It was almost enough to turn me off of my tortilla soup. Captain Jack went back into “Crazy Eyez” mode and got thrown out. And since he’s now over the league-mandated limit for technical fouls, he’s probably gonna have to sit out on Tuesday when the Clippers are in town. And finally, there’s Don Nelson. “Crazy” has been his signature in a good way for decades. Tonight, he was also tossed. And with his manic “opt out or face a trade” conversation with a mostly-silent Jamal Crawford making news all week, his crazy is starting to get a little grating too.
But okay, that game is now in the past. Just another shotgun-blasted mile marker on the lonesome highway of the 2008-2009 season. But then there’s Tuesday. The long-awaited (at least in this corner of the Internet) return of the swagger that got away: Baron Davis. Tonight, he mustered precisely the sort of leadership that we all remember so fondly in an improbable Clippers win over New Jersey. The win was so improbable that I had actually switched off NBA League Pass for traditional television after Vince Carter drained what seemed to be a dagger three. As it turned out, Boom calmly hit two free throws and then cracked off the dime for the winning three after an intentional foul.
Guess what? He wants to prove something. Read More »
Is this the same guy that dated Tara Reid? Seriously, Carson Daly appears to be genuinely engaged in a smart conversation. It helps that he’s interviewing an extremely smart dude, Stacy Peralta, who is something of a legend for most Southern California white boys of a certain age - the definition of an OG for anyone that ever put two feet on a skateboard. So Carson, no doubt, knew he had to bring his A Game and in this case, he played up to his competition. Peralta still had to school Daly, but Daly held his own, even dropping “J. Edgar Hoover” on the crowd.
Yes, most of the questions to Peralta regarding the Boom Dizzle-produced documentary that he directed, “Crips and Bloods: Made In America,” weren’t deep, but from a guy whose show is called “Last Call” we can’t expect the conversation to go all Cornel West on us. I mean, c’mon, Joey Fatone was the guest a few nights before. At least we got an honest conversation about racism and violence in this country from two white dudes on a mainstream talk show. That doesn’t happen enough. Kudos to Carson and the Crips and Bloods: Made in America team for making it happen!
This is the article I never wanted read. How it all went to hell in LA for Baron and everybody lost. And a day after Baron is one rebound shy of an impressive triple double against the more then disappointing Warriors.
I tell Baron he needs to regain his mojo. Warren nods. We both decide that Baron needs to approach the next two months as if he were an actor. He needs to play the role of Boom Dizzle. That’s what they called him during his happier stint with the Warriors. “You’re one of those guys who play with their hearts on their sleeves,” I explain. “When you’re not happy, we can see it.”
Hey Boom, we want you to regain your Dizzle too. And your smile… Peppered, of course, with that game winning fearsome scowl. Wherever you may be.
I’m thankful for your short stint in the Bay – because da’ town regained our mojo and I found my love of basketball again. Unfortunately, now, the economy is in the pisser, the Bay Area’s mojo is fading and blogging is considerably less fun.
Frankly, it’s a bit sad that the Clippers are still stinking it up with the Crypt Keeper while the once overachieving Warriors are simply hapless again. I don’t know who’s worse off. Hey, Ric Bucher, Chris Broussard, what do you think?
Harrington’s blunder, Davis’ three help Clippers top Knicks in OT
Baron Davis hit a crucial three-pointer in the closing seconds of overtime and the Los Angeles Clippers took advantage of a costly technical foul call on Al Harrington near the end of regulation to beat New York, 128-124, securing their 10th straight home win over the Knicks
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Randolph’s tough shot in the lane brought LA within 108-107 with 47.1 seconds left, and Harrington got an offensive rebound at the other end and jammed with two hands with 25 seconds remaining. But after dunking, Harrington pulled himself up on the rim and then used both his hands to slap the backboard.
D’Antoni was clearly upset at Harrington after a technical foul was called, and Novak sank the ensuing free throw.
Randolph then tied the game with a left-handed shot in the lane with 11.2 seconds left, and the game went into overtime after Robinson’s runner caromed off the rim.
The Clippers scored the first five points of overtime, but the Knicks came within 123-121 when Robinson made a layup with 29.5 seconds left.
Davis then stepped back and drilled a three-pointer over Jeffries with 7.5 seconds left, but Robinson’s three-pointer with five seconds later tightened the game again. Fred Jones sealed LA’s win by sinking two free throws with 3.9 seconds left.
Cheikh Samb? I barely remember the name from Sunday night’s game notes. But I fired up the league pass Monday and saw this. Then I had to run back to the game notes. Then Wikipedia: Senegal, Lakers, Italy, Pistons, Fort Wayne Mad Ants, Pistons, Mad Ants, two teeth knocked out, NBA, Mad Ants, NBA again, traded to the Nuggets in the Billups deal, assigned to the Colorado 14ers, traded to the Clippers, and now: mounted to a fine wood frame and hanging on the wall of Brandon Roy’s Portland crib.
Turman
PS. More on the Blazers soon. I kind of like them.
I loves me some Golden State of Mind. Not only is it a fine Warriors blog, but it’s run by some of the best people in the blogosphere, see Atma Brother One (above right). Better still, they host several mass gatherings a year up in the 200s, known simply as GSoM Night. This one was number six. Because they’re all such nice folks, they also now manage to negotiate the improbable about once a year.
A pickup game on the Oracle floor.
You heard correctly. After the Warriors dismantling of the Baron-less Clippers, about 15 of us descended on the arena. I’ll spare you the dissection of the NBA action in favor of the post-game comedy. But before any of that, a disclaimer: I had thought that the game after the game had been cancelled. Until the middle of the third quarter. So our pre-game meal of stadium nachos and 40 ounces of Red Hook ESB provides a convenient crutch when explaining the action below. It also explains the FTB’ers’ strange choice of outfits for a 90-foot run. I don’t think I’ve hooped in jeans since eighth grade. But we’re gamers. And with the hot lights of wannabe-baller-ism exposing every flaw in grim detail, we took to the court. The highlights and the truth in pictures, after the jump. Read More »
