Monday, July 6, 2009

No Breaks Allowed, Part 10

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.

-What is Joe Dumars’ plan with Richard Hamilton now that Ben Gordon is a Piston? Will he really deal him to Utah for Carlos Boozer? It would be a great trade for the Jazz, but Detroit has a power forward that probably will be gone next summer. This will make them a major player on the free agent market next summer, but would they have enough to woo one of the big names too join them?

-Another thing I don’t understand: why oh why is Portland so desperate to sign David Lee? He will be too expensive to come off the bench, and they also have Greg Oden, Joel Przybilla and LaMarcus Aldridge. How does Lee fit into that?

-Rasheed Wallace will sign with the Celtics. Imagine him and Kevin Garnett on the court yelling and bitching at everybody not wearing green. Annoying for opponents, a dream for teammates and a nightmare for referees.

-Did Turkoglu pull a Boozer? Or isn’t that a fair assumption to make? Turkoglu is a talented player, but I think now that Portland missed out on him, it’s the best thing that could happen to them, instead of spending 55 million for 5 years on a guy who won’t be the player he is now in a few seasons.

-Good luck Trevor Ariza, you chose the wrong team at the wrong time. Ariza is a great player, I love small forwards who can do it all, but he’s a supporting player, a great fit next to guys like Kobe and Gasol. In Houston there’s…well, probably nobody next to him.

-My guess is Mitch Kupchak signed Ron Artest as a persuasion for Phil Jackson to come back. You have to keep it at least moderately interesting for Phil X. As long as Artest keeps passing the ball instead of chucking up shots after dribbling for 23 seconds, the Lakers will be fine.

-Orlando Magic, incoming players: Vince Carter, Ryan Anderson. Outgoing players: Hedo Turkoglu, Marcin Gortat, Rafer Alston, Courtney Lee and Tony Battie. That leaves the current roster with only eight players, and if Michael Pietrus would be a starter, the bench would be made up out of Anderson, Anthony Johnson and J.J. Redick. Their needs? A third point guard as insurance, a veteran big man who can defend and rebound, and a swingman like Anthony Parker maybe? Can they even afford him?

-And finally, I’ve watched parts of the second half of the Summer League game between the Nets-Sixers against the Pacers in Orlando. Of course was the commentary done by Dante & Galante, which is basically the only reason to watch a Summer League game at all. Some excerpts of their on-air banter:

-“Roy Hibbert takes a ten foot jump shot, which is about eight feet out of his range.” (And Hibbert clanked it)
-After asking to come up with a nickname for Hibbert, one viewer e-mailed “Hungry Hungry Hibbert”, which they used for the rest of the game.
-Since the game actually went to overtime, the two gentlemen were exhilarated: “Aaaand the game goes to overtime…unfortunately.” “I have the rules here concerning overtime in Summer League Games.” “What is it, sudden death?” “It’s actually three minutes” “I wish it was just three seconds.”
-“Eddie Jordan has his head in his hands and thinking ‘just shoot me’.”
-Since they couldn’t use a certain word on air, they read a viewer’s e-mail like this: “The Summer League; where ‘blank’ happens.” They agreed with the viewer though. So did I.
-E-mail from viewer: “Dionte Christmas should ask Santa to get him some game.”
-“Hey you know what I just realized? We have a Holiday and a Christmas in the same game.” (Jrue and Dionte).

8 comments:

andy said...

Dante & Galante are back?! excellent. they make the frigging summer league more watchable than the regular season.

-Gerard Himself- said...

Except for the awful basketball of course haha

Anonymous said...

they might as well use the capspace now because with extensions coming next summer they wont be able to sign a marquee free agent. duh.

-Gerard Himself- said...

I suppose you mean Detroit?

Robbedoes said...

Woehoe Nederlandse B-ball fan!
Wie denk je dat volgend seizoen de meeste kans make voor de titel??
Ik persoonlijk denk de Celtics maar dat is denk ook omdat ik voor de Celtics ben

-Gerard Himself- said...

Een Nederlandse reactie? Hoe kom jij hier nou terecht? Bedankt trouwens! En de kampioen van volgend seizoen.... pfoe.... mag ik daar later op terug komen?

robbedoes said...

Ik kijk wel eens op slamonline(dutch Rob). Ik zag bij dat artikeltje over de salary cap opeens Nederlands:S. Ik denk trouwens de celtics omdat ze Sheed erbij hebben gehaald. Goeie speler beetje op leeftijd dat wel maar deelt wel die passie ala Garnett en Pierce

-Gerard Himself- said...

ah! Dus jij bent Dutch Rob. 3 Nederlanders dus op SLAMonline.... (jij, ik, Hisham)
Rasheed bij de Celtics wordt fantastisch. Hij en Garnett wordt echt een ramp voor elke tegenstander en scheidsrechter. haha