No Breaks Allowed, Part 9

The “No Breaks Allowed” posts are my way to write about all the stuff that happens around the League which finds a place in my peanut-sized gray mass (also known as my brain), and sometimes it has to come out. Why are these posts numbered? I don’t know, but might as well keep it going.

-Four nights of no NBA Basketball felt like the season was already over and today it’s starting up again. I know it’s not late October, but man, I need some basketball, quick!

-Nets coach Lawrence Frank wrote a Finals preview on njnets.com, and it basically came down to this: Lamar Odom should start instead of Andrew Bynum. Put Odom on Rashard Lewis (better match-up), which also will force Dwight Howard to defend Paul Gasol on the other end. Whether we like it or not, since Howard continues to get in foul trouble, he will have a very hard time staying out of it against Gasol. That’s the way the League works nowadays. Frankly, Frank is right. It seems so simple, but if it works that way is something we’ll know after tonight.

-After having watched the first three episodes of The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien, I realized how glad I am that Conan is back on TV. I know the Lakers are favored to win the title, but wouldn’t it be fun if Dwight would go on The Tonight Show when the Finals are over? Dwight and Conan would be comedic gold together, I’m pretty sure of that. Seeing Kareem on last night’s show was great. He hardly said anything, but seeing him standing next to graphic designer Pierre Bernard was enough for me. Hilarious, and I don’t really know why.

-I wonder what Phil Jackson will do after this season, whether he wins it all or not. I mean, the man isn’t get any younger (he’ll be 64 when the ’09-’10 season starts), and his health isn’t exactly great either. It would be sad to see him leaving the game, but I hope he writes at least one more book about his final coaching years with the Lakers. Not sure if Kobe does after “The Last Season – A Team in Search of Its soul”.

-Big chance that after this summer either Ariza, or Odom won’t return to the Lakers. Signing both of them will probably too expensive. Who would you pick?

-Most ridiculous trade rumor of the summer so far: Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo for Leandro Barbosa and Amar’e Stoudemire. That just doesn’t make any sense. At all. I wonder if anything will top this one in the next couple of months.