POLL: Who should the Celtics trade away?
Considering their recent improvement in play: Who should the Celtics be trying to trade away?
Vancouver Grizzlies Court for Sale on Craigslist
For Sale: One former NBA practice floor. Slightly worn, minor scratches, used occasionally by wing-eating 7-footer. You too can practice like a champion on a floor that has seen the likes of Vancouver Grizzlies’ greats Bryant “Big Country” Reeves, Shareef Abdur-Raheem and Doug West (who, upon discovering that he had been traded to the Vancouver Grizzlies very famously said, “I stood at the bar and drank 17 Heinekens.”).
Amongst the mm4w listings and bath house meet-ups generally found on an average craigslist day, there is also this important piece of NBA kitsch. Yes, as it turns out, you can own a piece of NBA History for the low, low price of $13 000. The ad seems legitimate:
Our company has moved into a new building which used to house the training court for the Vancouver Grizzlies and we are looking for anyone interested in taking the floor off of our hands!
Asking $13, 000. Pictures attached. Perfect for any fan of the Grizzlies when they were around or even an NBA collector!
Please reply to this ad!
But if thirteen grand is too steep for you: Maybe try some of these other, more affordable pieces of Vancouver Grizzlies memorabilia also found on craigslist:
Here’s a sweet teal and black Grizzlies Starter Jacket; appears to need a wash. Or these Upper Deck Shareef and Big Country Rookie Cards, worth at least five bucks. If you have kids this Youth Sized Champion Grizzlies Jersey will be the Christmas gift they’ll never forget. And best of all, you can have a pair of these Unused Grizzlies vs. Clippers Tickets for an unlisted price–sure to be a great investment down the road.
I’ve contacted the poster of the listing. Updates will come as I receive them. The 6th Man is on the case.
Source: NBA Vancouver
Source: 6thmanblog.com
Orlando Magic: Dwight Exodus
Dwight Howard requested an audience with Otis Smith. He needed to speak with the General Manager of the Orlando Magic. Dwight was on a mission, delivered to him in a dream the night before.
In his dream he wandered the desert, lost and alone. He saw in the distance some smoke billowing into the sky, so he walked in that direction. When he arrived, he saw a bush that was on fire but that did not burn up. Confused, he approached the bush, and the bush spoke to him.
“Dwight,” the bush said, “Dwight you must leave Orlando.”
Confused, Dwight asked the bush why. The Bush explained that his time with the Orlando Magic was coming to a close. The bush promised Dwight championships, endorsements and fame beyond his wildest imagination. All he had to do was leave Orlando. Dwight was intrigued by this prophecy, and in an instant the fire was extinguished. Dwight awoke from his dream in a sweat. He knew that he needed to deliver this message to the Orlando Magic:
Let Dwight Howard go.
And so an audience with Otis Smith was granted, and the Orlando Magic sent for Dwight Howard in a chartered jet. He came to the meeting and was greeted with a hero’s welcome. There were little cookies on the table, each carefully decorated with the #12 in icing.
Everyone was so nice, especially Otis Smith. They explained that there were big plans in place to build a championship contender around him. They promised to provide him with real help. They guaranteed that if he were just a little more patient, the Magic would be relevant once again. This was all very pleasing to Dwight Howard. And he really enjoyed those cookies.
Satisfied with what he had heard, Dwight forgot all about the instructions from the burning bush and returned home in his chartered jet.
Dwight relaxed, sure that his friends at the Orlando Magic would do everything they could to build a team around him. But they promptly did more of nothing to build around Dwight Howard.
So again the burning bush appeared before Dwight in a dream. The Bush rebuked him for not paying heed to the warning. The bush explained to him that the Magic were a team in total disarray. It cautioned Dwight of his impending doom, should he do nothing.
Dwight wasn’t sure exactly how to respond, so he did his Stan Van Gundy impersonation, but the bush was not impressed. Once more the bush instructed Dwight to deliver the message to the Orlando Magic:
Let Dwight Howard go.
With renewed purpose, Dwight Howard met with the Orlando Magic. Again they prepared the cookies that he loved so much. Again he was greeted with a hero’s welcome. Dwight enjoyed the fanfare, but today he had difficult questions for the people who were all so nice to him.
Dwight wanted to know why they had yet to do anything about his team. He wanted to know why he couldn’t have a point guard like Deron Williams to pass him the ball. He wanted to know why he had to play beside a man named Big Baby. He wanted them to fire the fat man with the funny mustache who wasn’t very nice to him.
The Orlando Magic were not providing Dwight with real solutions, they were merely saying what they thought would make him happy. This superficial appeasement made Dwight very unhappy. He knew it was time to go. Dwight was very sad.
Dwight desperately wanted a reason to stay, but they failed to give it to him. Instead, word of his wishes were leaked to the fat man, which only lead to further conflict and awkwardness. Dwight Howard didn’t like awkwardness. He realized that the burning bush was right.
Not long after, Dwight’s season came to an end. He realized that this was as good a time as any to treat his lingering back pain, so he opted for surgery. The Orlando Magic did not send a chartered jet for Dwight this time, he would fly standard air. There were no decorated cookies waiting for Dwight either. He was not received with a hero’s welcome.
Ultimately, the Orlando Magic brokered an obscene four-team deal, sending Dwight to Los Angeles and receiving very little in return. It was the final punch-line to a joke that nobody found very funny.
Dwight had become a freed man. The Red Sea was parted and it was a direct route to the land of milk and honey. This was a magical place, where Steve Nash lobs would rain down like manna from heaven. There would be rebounds aplenty from Kobe Bryant’s 30 shots per night. He would carry less of the scoring responsibility so that he could focus on his strong suits, like defense and pulling pranks. And Hollywood. There was Hollywood right on his doorstep.
This was indeed the promised land for Dwight Howard. He was happy now. So happy, in fact, that he forgot what all the commotion was about altogether. Why did everyone make such a big deal about his free agency anyways?
Orlando, on the other hand, could not forget. They had begged him to stay. But in an instant they were banished from the land of milk and honey. Instead they were punished; forced to wander the desert for years in search of a new prophet to lead them. JJ Reddick and Glen Davis were about as much of an empty dream as the Amway company that sponsored their brand new stadium.
It wouldn’t be the first time that this city was abandoned by a giant, and it surely wont be the last.
The Prose Rankings are a series ranking NBA teams from the bottom to the top in a less than traditional manner.
Source: 6thmanblog.com
POLL: D’Antoni the right guy for Lakers?
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Detroit Pistons: It’s So Cold in the D
The season opener at the Palace of Auburn Hills was not a wildly anticipated event, but they treated it like one. Official attendance was just over 16,000, though this number appeared to be quite generous.
Nevertheless, the Palace production crew put on a pregame ceremony that was worthy of a more relevant basketball team. But unfortunately for local fans, this would be the only Detroit Pistons highlight of the night:
James Harden stole the spotlight that night in what could only be described as a giant “F U” to the Oklahoma City Thunder. This game was SportsCenter material, but in Detroit it was for all the wrong reasons.
And after laying down consecutive games to the Los Angeles Lakers and the Denver Nuggets–which were much-needed wins for each–it was becoming abundantly clear to the rest of the NBA that the Pistons were the cure to what ailed them.
So here are your 2012 Detroit Pistons: professional basketball team, storied franchise, travelling comedy of errors.
Three-game losing streak? The Pistons will fix that. Chemistry issues? The Pistons will fix that. Offense not clicking? The Pistons will fix that. Star player with something to prove? You get the idea.
But unlike other bottom-feeding teams in the NBA, the Pistons seem to have less of an excuse for their early mediocrity. They finished the final stretch of the 2011-12 season on a high note, winning more than they lost. And with an unimpeded offseason and full training camp to hang their hats on, they are now a year further versed in Lawrence Frank’s defense-first philosophy.
Returning standouts Rodney Stuckey and Greg Monroe were to be an anchor for this fledgeling roster and help propel them forward. But Stuckey, a ball-dominant player, has slumped since being shifted off the ball to shooting guard, in favor of a more traditional point in Brandon Knight. He has admittedly struggled to find his place in the offense.
The contract of Tayshaun Prince now exists more as a haunting reminder of past successes than it does as an asset to the team. At this point, his services would be better utilized on a playoff-bound team and I expect him to be gone come trade-deadline.
Then there is Charlie Villanueva, noted headcase and psychopath. Villanueva predicts a renaissance year for himself, declaring that he is finally in the best shape of his life. He claims to have spent the offseason in a boxing gym with the intent to improve his defense. Though he won’t spar, mind you, because that might actually hurt.
It seems, however, that Charlie V. will need a miracle to crack into Lawrence Frank’s rotation. His lack of defense and propensity to chuck the basketball, combined with his utter disconnection with reality make him a glaring liability on and off the court. Sadly, this could mean the end of histweeting in the middle of games, tunnel brawls and run-ins with Kevin Garnett. For shame.
The Pistons are shaping up to be the wrong kind of catalyst this season. It may be a problem when you are the team that other teams can’t wait to destroy. Basic logic would dictate that you watch another team and wait for the Drummond highlights in the morning. But if you are determined to go down with the ship (or the local economy?), this guy may be your only silver lining.
It’s cold in the D, as they say, and this team isn’t making things any warmer.
The Prose Rankings are a series from the 6th Man, ranking NBA teams from bottom to top in a less than traditional manner.
Source: 6thmanblog.com
Washington Wizards – The Audacity of Hope
Things were looking up for the Wizards. They really were.
The final pillar of the Gilbert Arenas era had fallen as Andray Blatche was dishonorably discharged from the team that once believed he could be an elite forward in the league. It was the final step in a long and expensive cleansing process.
Free at last, free at last.
Per collective bargaining rules, the Wizards had a one week window to amnesty Big ‘Dray Blatche, and sure enough they waited the entire week to pull the trigger on the clause. Perhaps they needed the time to deliberate over such a substantial financial decision, or perhaps they just wanted him to sweat a little for all the times that he didn’t sweat during the regular season. All told, $23 million was what it cost the Wizards to ensure that the coming year would be nothing like the previous decade.
It was a small price to pay for a little peace of mind.
And while this was a sad day for D.C. area strip clubs and prostitutes, it was a monumental one for Wizards’ fans everywhere. Gilbert Arenas, Nick Young, JaVale McGee and Andray Blatche would no longer be able to torment local hoops fans with their parody basketball act. For fans in Washington, it was a time for jubilation. They no longer had to shoulder the yolk of the Gilbert Arenas era. At last there was legitimate cause for hope in the Capital of the free world.
Well, that was until John Wall suffered a stress fracture in his knee. Scheduled to miss at least eight weeks.
Any (and all) emotional momentum that the Wizards and their fans had luxuriated in during the off-season was stolen away by this devastating news. The future of the team was wholly invested in the success of John Wall. This was his year. This was their year. John Wall was to take the reins of superstardom and lead his team into the playoffs—or, at the very least provide them with some semblance of hope. This season was hinged on John Wall, and John Wall, quite literally, was hinged on his knee. Both were fractured before you could say the word ‘lottery.’
One more year of waiting for next year.
What remains of the Wizards are some nice pieces but no glue to keep them together. Bradley Beal is touted to be the next Ray Allen—and he may very well be—but he isn’t that just yet. Nene is good, but this year has the feel of one of those shut-him-down type of seasons. Trevor Ariza is, sadly, still Trevor Ariza, and the same goes for Emeka Okafor.
It’s bleak. Very bleak.
The story in Washington should be one of new beginnings, but instead it’s the same old narrative: ripe with disappointment and unfulfilled expectations. Fans in D.C. are tired of being cautiously optimistic. They want something tangible. They need hope. Something. Anything. Just not this.
For now, and indefinitely thereafter, they will wait. It remains to be seen if the wait will ever be worth it.
The Prose Rankings are a series from the 6th Man, ranking NBA teams from bottom to top in a less than traditional manner.
Source: 6thmanblog.com
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Prose Ranks: #30 - Paradise Lost
On a recent trip to Seattle I came face to face with an NBA relic. There was Key Arena, former home of the Seattle Supersonics, standing no more than a block from our hotel in an unassuming area of downtown.
Arena staff were preparing the concourse for a WNBA game that night between the hometown Storm and the Phoenix Mercury. Posters of Sue Bird and Lauren Jackson lined the windows and walls of the pro shop. A few young girls loitered the area, donning Seattle Storm jerseys that featured the ridiculous ‘Bing’ logo across the chest.
If it weren’t for the faded paint on the wall where the Seattle Supersonics logo was once perched, you’d never know this was a building steeped in NBA history.
That Supersonics logo—and the history that comes with it—is currently the property of Clay Bennett and the Oklahoma City Thunder. Seattle is a city stuck in basketball purgatory.
As I walked around Key Arena towards the Space Needle, it became depressingly obvious as to why the NBA had to move on. The building was charming and quaint, designed with a nod to the culture of the Pacific Northwest, but it was noticeably small.
It was set right on the edge of a beautiful entertainment complex, lined with trees, an art gallery, a science center, large parks and the aforementioned Space Needle. The path lead to a mono-rail station that looked and felt every bit of the fifty years old that it was. The train was something straight out of The Jetsons, complete with a futuristic hiss from the doors as they opened and closed. It was fun, but if I’m honest: I felt like I was walking through a museum.
Seattle seems intent on preserving this antiquated part of the city exactly as it was conceived, but the fiscal landscape of the NBA has evolved past the limitations of Key Arena. And so I came to understand why the NBA had to move on. The value of history and nostalgia have no weight in David Stern’s grand global scheme. The hipsters will tell you that basketball is an intimate game, best viewed in an intimate setting, but the NBA needs to appeal to the 1% just as much as it does the 99.
When Seattle erected two behemoth-sized stadiums for baseball and football and completely neglected basketball, the NBA took note. They are a jealous league and they would not sit idly by as a city so brazenly slighted it. Seattle took their NBA team for granted and now they are paying the ultimate penance for sins committed.
But life goes on at Key Arena. The area is still alive and bustling with people, even on an average weekday. While any physical trace of the Sonics’ legacy has been removed for the exterior of the building (that I could see), the spirit lives on through its people.
Everywhere I went there were reminders of the former NBA franchise. From the t-shirt stands in the mall, to the posters in random store-fronts, to the countless people wearing jerseys and Sonics gear in the streets. We spoke to a couple of local sports merchants and they were eager to plead their case. They were spitefully gracious to the people of Oklahoma City and admitted that they have attended many rallies for the ‘Save Our Sonics’ movement. As I listened to these two locals rant about the arena upgrade clause in the CBA and cursed the name of Clay Bennett, I realized that, sooner or later, a team would have to come back to this city. They care too much.
Gary Payton predicts that Seattle will have an NBA team as early as next season in an interview with SLAM:
The NBA has already given us an OK to go look for a team. So the pieces are in place to make moves now, and we’re working on having a team for next season. In 2015, the new arena is gonna be ready. So if everything goes as planned, we’re going to revamp Key Arena and play there for one year, while the new arena is being finished.
So when news of plans for a downtown Seattle arena officially broke, I was excited. I was excited because I understand that these people want their damn team back. They understand the error of their ways and they intend to make amends. And this new deal is Seattle’s way of standing on David Stern’s front lawn with a boombox over their heads, seeking forgiveness. Now entering the twilight of his tenure as commissioner, there are reports that David Stern intends his swan song to be the reuniting of Seattle with their beloved Sonics.
Even Clay Bennett and the Thunder have declared that they intend to return the history, the banners, the records, the colors, the name and everything Sonics when (and if) Seattle has a team again.
All the pieces are in place for a happy ending.
Perhaps what Seattle needed to truly appreciate what they had was to lose it for a moment. You can bet that they’ll never take it for granted again.
The Prose Rankings are a series from the 6th Man, ranking NBA teams from bottom to top in a less than traditional manner.
Source: 6thmanblog.com
