Rondo's elbow

Heroic?  A Soldier?  Rondo's fall onto an outstretched arm resulting in the elbow bending in a way it shouldn't certainly looked bad, but was it?

It's impossible to know how much pain someone is in, and for that matter, how much pain they're playing through.  We can guess based on how an injury looks or sounds, but we really don't know.  An athlete has everything to gain from appearing to play through pain.  Who doesn't love an athlete that's willing to sacrifice for the team?  He gets all the accolades, praise and cheers - or jeers if he decides to "sit out" what the public has diagnosed as a mundane injury (hello Cutler?).  So much is lost in communication from the athlete, to the doctor, to the trainer, to the reporter, and finally to the braodcasters.  Rondo was diagnosed with a dislocated elbow, which was subsequently popped back in to place.  He then returned to the game, miraculously carried his team to victory with one arm and gave Boston new life in the series...or so the story goes. 

What if the elbow was merely subluxed, or slightly dislocated, and not completely displaced from the joint?

Then we may have something like this:




She seemed to bounce back pretty quickly, huh?

We'll never know exactly. 

Bosh, the Hungarian Hammer Thrower

Are you kidding me?!?  Bosh FINALLY does something of use outside of the first quarter and he reacts as if he's just launched a gold medal worthy hammer throw...something like this (a little surprised there weren't better clips, but you get the picture)

It was a huge play of the game, no doubt, but it not only seemed way over the top, but seemed quite telling.   It seemed telling of a third wheel unlike any we've seen recently.  It's hard to generate such a reaction that's not on the heels of a game-winner or title-clinching shot.  To reach that high 'C', there must have been an element of "holy crap! I did something!!  Did you all see it?!?  LeBron?!??  Wade???  Did you see me?"  Kind of like a 5 year old jumping of a diving board and screaming for the approval of his parents.  Very odd, and I'm sure there will be some good mocking forthcoming.

Bron Bron

I actually think this is kinda funny...like he's whispering something in study hall

We're really tied 2-2 ???

32 shots is way too many, but what are the other options?  Everything the Bulls do on offense hinges on Rose's ability to penetrate and then make a split second decision to shoot or dish.  One problem that is not new is that the Bulls have no other guys to do this.  One problem last night was that no one could hit a shot.  Korver, Deng, and Watson were 6-34.  So, yeah, maybe Derrick shot too much, but when his guys weren't shooting well (and they had a few open looks) seems like we just have to chalk it up to a bad night as opposed to an indictment of the Bulls in general.  I hope.

Also:
Boozer was 7-10, but nowhere to be found in crunch time.
God-awful officiating down the stretch, especially the non-call, turned jump-ball when the Bulls were down 6 and it looked like Rose was going to the line to cut it to a one possession game!  Are you kidding?!?

Josh Smith has several screws loose.  Pachulia is flat out dirty.  Joe Johnson is flat out over-payed.

Short of signing a superstar which is beyond a pipe dream, which player would be the best fit at shooting guard?  Jamal Crawford?  I don't think so.  He's Ben Gordon...we've already done that.  Is there a budding Ray Allen?  If so, we need him...now.

Deng! It’s My First Post on the Bri Blog!

Looks like Davis beat me to the punch for the first non-Bri post on the Bri Blog. I’m excited to add my non-expert analysis, comments and Brants™ in the weeks to come. I’ll try not to overlap with Brian too much even though we root for the same Chicago teams, the Michigan Wolverines … and the Evanston Wildkits (yes, we were the “Wildkits,” not “Wildcats”).

Brian and Davis have been talking NBA playoffs, so let’s stick with that. Everyone’s commenting on the mess that is Carlos Boozer – indeed, if I have to see him get into that low crouch one more time, only to be immediately blown past by the man he’s guarding, I might lose it. But let’s step back and give a shout out to Luol Deng, who’s been flying a bit under the radar this playoffs.

Many of us have been critical of Deng in recent years – particularly after he got his big contract – but this year, and throughout the playoffs, he’s been fantastic. Deng is the kind of guy you can’t help but root for, in part because of his life story and humanitarian efforts (see this and this), but also because he works his butt off to extract every ounce of talent from his somewhat limited athletic potential. He clearly worked hard last summer to improve his lateral quickness and shooting range. The three pointer, in particular, has been a nice addition. He also logged some serious minutes during the regular season, playing in all 82 games and helping the Bulls endure the injuries to Boozer and Noah. Although he didn't have to do much in game 3 due to Rose’s ridiculous 44 point outburst, assuming the Bulls get past Atlanta, his defensive matchup with LeBron or Paul Pierce will be key.

I'd love to see him add some championship hardware to those humanitarian awards.

Random Thoughts

Well done Davis on your first blog post.  I was interested to see what direction you were going to go with your blog career.  More to come I hope.



NFL Draft:  Ryan Mallett was selected, eventually, by the Patriots in 3rd round and 74th overall.  Predictably, he's using the good ol' "I'll make 'em pay" routine as help to get motivated.  My question: If the Patriots thought he was so great then why did they take 4 players prior to slecting Mallett and risk losing out on him?  Seems to me Mallett should make New England pay for not drafting him earlier by signing with the Arena League.

Bin Laden tweets:  The world of twitter.  Gotta love it.  Every nit-wit not only gets to have an opinion, but is able to spread that opinion instantaneously and on a whim across the world to thousands.  There is no sensor and no filter.  Which brings us to Rashard Mendenhall of the Pittsburgh Steelers who, upon hearing of Bin Laden's death, tweeted something along the lines of not knowing if Bin Laden is really a bad dude since we've only heard one side, and also insinuated that 9/11 was an inside job.  Oy vey.  Champion sports apparell promptly dropped Mendenhall as a sponsor.  Yay!  Good for them.  It's fascinating that some of these athletes are so distanced from the real world.  The guy grew up in Skokie, Ill for God's sake!!

Rondo:  Have I mentioned that I dislike him?  I've noticed he does an insane amount of hand gesturing, pointing, talking during the game.  Normally, this may be an indication of good communication with teammates or setting up a play, but in Rondo's case I really think it's all nonsense to make himself appear as if he's doing something important.  He's always pointing, waving, nodding, etc...I think it's all for the cameras.

and........

Davis' first blog post

Jacover has been kind enough to open up the Bri Blog for outsiders(me and Aric). He may come to regret this decision. But either way here goes.

Big Bulls-Hawks game 3 tonight. Not a must win for the Bulls. But I'm not a believer in ATL so if they get down 2-1 in the series i feel really good about the Bulls chances. Game 1 defense was not up to par but game 2 looked a little more like Bulls fans have become accustomed to this year. I expect strong performance from the Bulls tonight in taking a 2-1 series lead. And maybe even Brian's favorite player, Boozer, will show up with a strong double-double.

Other series in the NBA we have a big surprise in Dallas up 2-0 on the Lakers after two games in LA. I dont think anyone would have expected this. Maybe a split like NOLA got in LA but two games? No way. And now Artest is suspended for game 3(he did win the league citizenship award after all). Things are looking really good for Dallas. But if Kobe and the Lakers can steal game 3, i wouldnt count them out. Obviously if they lose game 3, its over. Might be good for the league if the west can get some new blood like OKC or Dallas in the finals. I know Dallas made it a few years ago but that seems like ages.

Miami has looked great in beating Boston the first two games. The series has shifted to Boston in a must win for the Celtics. Miami to me has been the team to beat for quite awhile(even dating back to whipping the Lakers twice in the regular season). Even though they didnt get the top seed in the east, they have arguably the two best players in a league where individual talent goes a long way in determining success. As much as I despise them and their pathetic fans, they are the clear favorite. Boston might win a few in this series but I dont think the Heat are intimidated by them they way they looked in the first three regular season meetings between these two teams. In those games it looked like Boston was toying with them. But James and Wade are on their game right now and that does not bode well for the rest of the league. Here's to hoping Boston and/or eventually Chicago have something to say about that.

Halftime Game 2

I really dislike the Atlanta Hawks.  Maybe "hate" is a little strong, but they really annoy me.  It's a different kind of irritation that they draw out of me however.  They're not dirty like the Bad Boys Pistons or the Mason/Oakley/Starks Knicks, and they're not a rival like Reggie's Pacers or the Celtics.  I just hate how they play.  All one-on-one.  It's just really annoying to watch.  They don't deserve to win anything.

Also, the Atlanta Hawks team that scares me the most is when Al Horford is their best player, not Crawford and/or Joe Johnson.

Atlanta can keep Johnson's indifference and Josh Smith constant scowl, we'll keep this

Bulls-Hawks: Game 1

Weird Game.  I really thought the Bulls were in control even prior to getting the lead in the second half, and when they went up 6 I thought the Hawks would fold as usual amidst hoisting up awful, contested jumpers.  Nope.  Not this time.  The slow start yet again was really disappointing.  We kept making excuses for the Bulls against the lesser Pacers as if they just couldn't get up for an eight seed.  At this point, the fact remains that the Bulls overall skill and talent level just isn't that much better than most, if any playoff teams.  They're main adavantage during the season, effort, has been heavily neutralized by the inevitable increase of playoff intensity.  The other advantage that never materialized was the Noah-Boozer front court destruction.  The dream of a combined 35 and 25 seems like a pie in the sky fantasy right now. 

Things I want more of:
- Rose shooting the wide open three pointers that Atlanta is begging him to take
- Feeding Boozer
- Taj to make open jumpers
- Hard foul on Crawford/J.J.

Things I want less of:
- Slow starts
- Boozer screaming
- Noah missing layups

Game 2:  Must win

Heat-Celtics Game 1 Reaction

Heading into this series, and even as game one ended I still couldn't really decided: a) who I thought would win this series, and b) who I wanted to win this series.  It was pretty obvious that the Heat were the better team from start to finish, and the forumula they used to buid their lead and hold onto it did not deviate much from their regular season script.  Miami will destroy you if you turn the ball over or take bad shots.  This is not only their best offense but it's their most consistent form of offense -as every now and then Miami will struggle to create decent shots in the half court.  I would've thought this problem would be underscored during this series against Boston's #2 ranked defense.  Not so much. 

Chris Bosh?  Hello?  He barely scored, and he didn't do much else.  His most memorable part of the game was when Garnett pulled a "Dikembe" on him and sent Bosh's dunk attempt and Bosh himself crashing to the floor.  I don't care what he says or what his teammates say, his demotion to the supporting cast has to be tough for him. 

Rajon Rondo might be the strangest player in the NBA.  What does he do?  He literally will not shoot the ball outside 15 feet.  Every now and then we see a big man who has a certain skill but is deficient in several others which severely limits his impact on the game.  But again, these are usually centers like Shaq and Dwight Howard who can be dominant but are crunch-time liabilities - and Rondo certainly isn't anywhere near the class of those elite centers yet at times he's talked about as an elite point guard.  Very strange.

Paul Pierce is the most annoying player on the planet right now.  He flops and flails more than anyone yet becomes uncontrollably disgusted when an opposing player attempts to mimic his lame-ness. 

Kevin Garnett seemed a big subdued to me compared to his normal borderline psychotic self.  Something to watch. 

I guess I'm rooting for the Heat and want the Heat