Madison Square Garden

This is a little belated, but last Friday night I got to drink in Madison Square Garden for the first time. I was in town to see family, and was swinging into the city at the last minute for an interview with what turned out to be my future employer. When I told my good friend and college roommate Kevin of my impending arrival, he said, 'boy, too bad the prices for the Heat-Knicks game are so expensive, that would be fun to go to.' I agreed, and we moved on. Thirty minutes later, he emailed that he had found tickets. So much for them being too expensive - though he wouldn't tell me how much he paid. Like I cared - I was going to my first game at MSG! And it was against the Heat, so I didn't even have to root against the Knicks, which was a double bonus (like a double rainbow, but not as fruity).

I finished my interview just in time to change and hustle over to the Garden. The first impressive thing? Security. They managed to inspect everyone coming through without creating a traffic jam, an impressive feat for an outfit in New York City. Tickets - same thing. Everyone got right in. We were on the escalators for what seemed like forever, but then we realized we had actually gone up one level too far.

After getting to the right level, we decided to grab a beer and head for our seats. The beers were $9 a piece, which was steep, but I gladly picked them up seeing as how Kevin had sprung for the tickets. Our seats were in the very last row of the 300 level, but the view was still more than good. A couple of people around me were using binoculars, but I thought that was pointless. Even from the distance, and with my poor eyesight, I could read the names and numbers on the backs of the player's jerseys. That may have been the best part of MSG right there. Even in the bad seats, you were still pretty much right on top of the action. When the crowd got loud at the start of the game, it was absolutely electric.

The first quarter was filled with lead changes, exciting dunks and breathtaking threes. The Knicks got down a bit at the end of the quarter, and sensing that it might be time for the starters to take a breather, I grabbed the opportunity to get us food (and more beer of course). I ended up missing the first five minutes of the quarter, as I ordered hot dogs that still needed some time to cook, but the girl behind the register, Renee R., was incredibly polite about the situation. I dare say that I have rarely, if ever, received better customer service at a sports venue. At this point, I was basically ready to give MSG a solid A - good seating bowl, good atmosphere, good service, good times. I wish I could say the same for the Knicks.

After mounting a furious comeback to tie the game at halftime, the Knicks came out ice cold in the second half. Amar'e Stoudemire wouldn't drive the lane, which is a major issue for the Knicks. He is their only inside prescience, and when he is settling for 15-foot jumpers, it clogs up the perimeter and makes it harder for the Knicks' wing players to score. And that's exactly what happened. The Knicks were outscored 33-17 in the third quarter, and the Heat cruised from there. Looking at the box score afterward on Kevin's phone, we were amazed that LeBron James was credited with nine misses, because it didn't seem like he had missed all game. Without Stoudemire unwilling to kick it up a notch, the Knicks were forced to turn to Danilo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler, and they were no match for LeBron, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. But while on the hardwood, the Knicks didn't fulfill their expectations, everywhere else, MSG certainly lived up to its billing as the "most famous arena in the world."

Why Is Nobody Talking About The San Antonio Spurs?

On ESPN.com, Marc Stein gets 1,811 into his "Weekend Dime" before he talks about the Spurs. On SI.com, the top 2 headlines are about Derrick Rose and George Karl, and the only columnist tackling the Spurs on their NBA page is a narrow look at Gary Neal, by Lee Jenkins. The Spurs are not one of the top five headlines right now on NBA.com. On Foxsports.com NBA page there is finally an article about the fact that the Spurs, not the Lakers, Celtics or Heat, are the only team currently on pace for 70 wins. Of course, it's buried underneath a story on Phil Jackson losing to the Bulls, and the Heat getting their groove back. Maybe it's because the Spurs are "boring." Maybe it's because no one has ever cared about Tim Duncan. Maybe it's because people are afraid to praise Tony Parker since his divorce story broke. Maybe it's because the Spurs have yet to play the big three teams. Or maybe it's because people are sleeping on the San Antonio Spurs.

The Spurs though, should be the story right now. After ripping off four straight wins, the Spurs 19-3 mark currently stands atop the NBA. There are a lot of reasons to say that it's not a fluke either. For starters, their point differential of 9.6 is tops in the league. The Spurs are third in scoring, and though they are allowing more points than a typical Spurs team, they are still a very respectable 11th in points allowed. But while allowing 97.3 points per game seems like blasphemy for the team that twice in the Popovich reign has allowed less than 85 points per game, the Spurs actually allowed 96.3 points per game last season, so this shouldn't be a huge surprise. No, the surprise is the offense. Last year's Spurs team was the first under Popovich to average more than 100 points per game, as they scored an average of 101.4. But this year's squad is blowing that out of the water, at 107.0, a mark bettered only by the run 'n' gun squads in Phoenix and New York.

Looking at the offense, this also doesn't seem like a fluke. The Spurs have scored 100 or better in 16 of their 22 contests, and there is also no ridiculous game artificially pushing their average up. Their high is 124, but that was in an overtime game. Their regular time high is 122, against the Pacers in their first game of the season. Taking the 16 games in which they've topped 100 points as a whole, they are averaging 111.6 points, and 11 of the 16 games have been within +/- five points of that average, showing just how consistent they have been. And while the schedule hasn't been brutal, it wouldn't offend Gordon Gee either. The Spurs have put up 106 on Orlando, the league's third-best defensive team (in terms of points allowed), and twice have dropped 109 on New Orleans, the league's second-best defensive team. They also dropped 117 in Oklahoma City, and 103 on the Bulls, a team that is currently being celebrated for holding the Lakers to 84.

Have the Spurs had their fair share of cream puffs on the schedule? Absolutely. They have twice beat the Clippers, Timberwolves and Warriors, and have also taken the 76ers and Cavaliers to the woodshed, so this new Spurs offensive juggernaut is far from assured over the course of 82 games. But with Richard Jefferson hooked up to the juvenation machine ($1, Simmons) Tim Duncan has been pushed to an unfathomable fourth in points per game on his own team (he's never finished lower than second). That right there is as good a reason as any to believe this will continue. The Spurs are averaging 107 points per game, and Duncan is only contributing 13.6 a game. This is a team that routinely needed 22 out of Duncan just to get to 95 a game. And while that 107 a game may eventually dip to 105 or 103, this is uncharted, and more importantly, exciting water for the Popovich-Duncan Spurs. So how come nobody is talking about it?

The NBA's Top 100 Players

So during the course of discussing Game 4 of the NBA Finals the other day with a co-worker, the subject of Paul Pierce's place in history came up. I argued, using the Sports Guy's boast that the Finals had bumped Pierce into the top 100 players of all-time, that Pierce was among the greats. My co-worker disagreed. As the day went on and we had more time to think about it, we got curious as to what a list like that would look like. Using the NBA's Top 50 at 50 list as a guide -

http://www.nba.com/history/players/50greatest.html

- I set about on this Father's Day to see who the next 50 on that list would be. My criteria for determining my list was simple. First, a player should have good career bulk. Now, guys like LeBron are on this list, and while they may not end up with it - they could get injured and never be the same - guys like him and Dwayne Wade qualify for being exceptional. If a player isn't exceptional, they need to have put some years together. Second, a player should have exceptional averages in the points, rebounds and assists department. For centers, blocks can come into play, and for guards, steals, but the guy should be exceptional in the three main categories. And third, the softer team leader/clutch/playoffs factors. Guys like Vince Carter need not apply.

Some of the guys in my "next 50" are old-timers that probably just missed the cut in 1996. Some are guys that have just retired or are in their primes now, and their greatness is undeniable. And some are guys who are just blossoming now that should have incredible careers if they can play for a long time.

Here is my "next 50," in alphabetical order by position:

PG:
Chauncey Billups
Sam Cassell
Maurice Cheeks
Baron Davis
Tim Hardaway
Mark Jackson
Dennis Johnson
Jason Kidd
Stephon Marbury
Calvin Murphy
Steve Nash
Norm Nixon
Chris Paul
Gary Payton

SG:
Ray Allen
Kobe Bryant
Joe Dumars
Gail Goodrich
Allen Iverson
Fat Lever
Reggie Miller
David Thompson
Dwayne Wade

SF:
Adrian Dantley
Alex English
Richard Hamilton
Grant Hill
LeBron James
Bernard King
Tracy McGrady
Chris Mullin
Paul Pierce
Dominique Wilkins

PF:
Elton Brand
Tom Chambers
Tim Duncan
Kevin Garnett
Connie Hawkins
Tom Heinsohn
Dan Issel
Dirk Nowitzki
Dennis Rodman
Amare Stoudemire
Chris Webber

C:
Walt Bellamy
Artis Gilmore
Dwight Howard
Bob Lanier
Bob McAdoo
Alonzo Mourning
Dikembe Mutombo

Just Missing:
PF Chris Bosh
C Marcus Camby
PF Shawn Kemp
SF Shawn Marion
C Buck Williams


Pierce actually makes my list fairly easily. While the list was made with no particular order in mind, I would have Pierce in there before guys like Baron Davis, Tim Hardaway, Maurice Cheeks, David Thompson, Joe Dumars, Grant Hill, Elton Brand, Tom Heinsohn, Connie Hawkins and Alonzo Mourning. For his career, Pierce is sixth on the Celtics all-time points scored list, and 77th overall. In terms of points per game, he is 21st all-time at 23.15 and 29th overall in the playoffs at 22.36. He has essentially been the same player in the playoffs as he has in the regular season, and that is a damned good one. He gets to the line, as evidenced by his being 43rd all-time in free throw attempts, and hits threes, as evidenced by his being 23rd all-time in three-pointers made. He is almost always in the lineup, as evidenced by his being 24th all-time in minutes per game at 37.6. He makes his steals, as evidenced by his having the 74th most steals in basketball history. He has been an All-Star six of the past seven years, missing only last season when the Celtics held him out of the lineup in a now famously poor attempt to try and get the number one pick in the draft.

For his career, he has averaged 23.1 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game (along with 1.6 steals). He has shot .442 from the field, .363 from three-point land and .795 from the line. The kicker, to me, is a complicated formula used by basketball-reference.com to predict Hall of Famers. On this list, Pierce is 65th all-time. Here is the link:

http://www.basketball-reference.com/leaders/hof_prob_career.html

You will see Vince Carter on this list as well, proving that computer regressions are not all-knowing, but what is interesting is the characteristics used for the model:

http://www.basketball-reference.com/about/hof_prob.html

Notice that NBA championships is one of the more influential factors. Should Pierce and the Celtics win the NBA championship at some point in the next week, he will climb even further up this list, and really seal his Hall of Fame candidacy and lock him into the 100 best players of all-time. After all, he's The Truth.

NBA Playoff Picks

Two quick hits:

1) 2 in a row for the Rockies, way to go, keep building on this.
2) Credit due to MLB and the Red Sox for their reactions to the faux-incident with Sheffield and the idiot fan last week.

On to the playoff picks:

Western Conference first:

1 Phoenix vs. 8 Memphis - This could be a good matchup, but Memphis didn't exactly sail in on a high note. Phoenix has been on cruise control for awhile, I expect them to turn it up a notch here. Suns in 5

4 Dallas vs. 5 Houston - Tracy McGrady has never won a playoff series, and that will not change this year. Look for the big baby to go down with a bad back after game 3. Mavericks in 5

2 San Antonio vs. 7 Denver - The poor, poor Nuggets. As hot as they were, when they had the chance to move up into the 6 or 5 seed and get a Seattle or Dallas team they would match up good with, they choked it off against Houston and Phoenix in the last week. The prize? The well-rested Spurs. Maybe next year. Spurs in 6

3 Seattle vs. 6 Sacremento - This is a situation ripe for an upset. Seattle has struggled, the Kings have a veteran team that has been there before. Kings in 7

Second Round
1 Phoenix vs. 4 Dallas - Steve Nash will soon regret his decision to snub Cubes and the Mavs. Mavericks in 7

2 San Antonio vs. 6 Sacramento - The Spurs are just too good. Spurs in 6

Conference Finals
2 San Antonio vs. 4 Dallas - This will be a fun contrast in styles. In the end, I think this is Dirk's year. He has willed the team to a great record, and Avery Johnson's first season at the helm will be a success.

Eastern Conference
1 Miami vs. 8 New Jersey - Miami is a 2-man team. One of those men is injured. One on five isn't going to be fun for Dwayne Wade. And now the Nets get back Jefferson? I smell upset. Nets in 7

4 Chicago vs. 5 Washington - Boy, is this gonna be a fun series or what? I'm looking forward to this series. Bulls in 7

2 Detroit vs. 7 Philadelphia - The Sixers didn't want this matchup. Boston or Miami would have been infinitely better. Pistons in 4

3 Boston vs. 6 Indiana - A lot will be made of the Pacers 2-1 season edge, as if 3 games is any kind of sample size. First, all 3 games were before the Antoine trade. Second, the first game was the second game of the season, when Indiana still had Ron Artest. And that's really the bottom line. Who do the Pacers have to stop Paul Pierce? Nobody. Earlier when I made my depth comparison, I said that if Artest is in the lineup then the Pacers are deeper. But Artest is not in the lineup, and that gives the edge to the C's. Celtics in 6

Second Round
4 Chicago vs. 8 New Jersey - There will be a lot of people picking New Jersey here, but the baby Bulls will outrun Jersey's old men. Bulls in 6

2 Detroit vs. 3 Boston - Can you wait for all the old '80's highlights of the Bad Boys vs. Larry's crew? Neither can I. This will be a great series. My gut tells me the Celtics can take them in 7. My head tells me the Pistons will prevail in 7, and I'll be bitching about it all summer. Pistons in 7, with game 7 going into 3 OT's

Conference Finals
2 Detroit vs. 4 Chicago - Rematch of the late '80's and early '90's Bad Boys vs. MJ series. That cycle will start anew, as the Pistons prevail in the East for a 2nd year in a row, but next year, the Baby Bulls could rise up and thwart their foes to the north. Pistons in 5

NBA Finals
Detroit vs. Dallas - Dallas won 58 games, Detroit 54, so Dallas gets home court. It won't matter. In the end, the Pistons will take advantage of the fact that Dallas has no point guard with any significant experience. But this should be a fun series, the kind that makes people remember why the NBA can be great. Lots of great passing, lots of scoring despite Detroit's killer D. Drum roll please......Pistons in 7, MVP Rip Hamilton, who will have to provide the scoring punch the Pistons need to win.

Basketball City

I'd love to say I've been paying attention to the Red Sox spring training. But that would be a blatant lie. Between paying attention to Rockies spring training as I look for reasons to tell season-ticket holders not to cancel their seats, combined with the Celtics revival, and March Madness, I haven't paid much attention to the Sox. Nor will I until Opening Day. In Theo and Ben I trust, and it's their way or bust.

So how 'bout those Catamounts! I feel like a dick for not picking them. I said I would pick them after BU got knocked out of the America East tourney, I said it when they beat NU to win the America East tourney, and then I saw their matchup: Syracuse. I have a hard time picking Syracuse to lose, and I caved to the conventional power pick. I also thought, with much less conviction, about picking Bucknell. I decided more firmly that Kansas had too many seniors who had been there and done that. Surely they would take care of business. Whoops!

Still, after two days my bracket has not been busted. I still have 13 of my Sweet 16 intact, 7 of my Elite 8 intact, and all of my Final Four and Championship game. While that is more than a lot of people can say, I piss myself off with the uncanny ability to miss scoring on some big upsets, instead going for emotional upsets like Penn over BC. Still, if West Virgina knocks off Wake Forest tomorrow I will be in great position. I think it will happen because a) WV shoots the 3 very well, and b) they have a virtual home court advantage. Winston-Salem is 467.71 miles from Cleveland, while Morgantown, WV is a mere 201.60 miles away. That's about a five hour trip, not very much for a college student. West Virgina fans should be all over Cleveland tomorrow, giving their Mountaineers an added boost.

Big win for the Celtics tonight in Houston. For the C's it's 6 in a row and 10 in their last 11. Here's the C's breakdowns by month:

NOV: 5-8
DEC: 8-8
JAN: 8- 8
FEB: 8-4
MAR: 8-1

After holding serve throughout a grueling stretch of two 16 game months, the C's are 16-5 since February. They have 5 more games in March for a total of 14 in March, followed by 11 games in 20 days in April. 16 games left. Tonight's win gave them one more win than they had all of last season. The C's are now officially the 3rd best team in the East, and if they play .500 ball over the last 16 games, will finish at 45-37, which would be a nine game improvement. However, at the rate the C's are going, I don't think 50 wins is insurmountable. Let's run down the last 16 games of the season:

@ NO: Win
@ NY: Win
CHI: Win
@ DET: Loss
DAL: Loss
@ ATL: Win
PHI: Win
@ WAS: Loss
MIL: Win
@ NJ: Win
@ PHI: Loss
@ MIL: Win
MIA: Win
@ TOR: Win
@ CLE: Win
NJ: Win

So that's 12-4 over the last 16 games. 49 wins. Wow. Get ready for banner #17!

Dirty Dancing

Oh yes. It's that time of the year again.

Just to lay it down to give you a little context, here are where my NCAA B-Ball allegiances lie:

Love: Boston University, Holy Cross, UMASS, Syracuse, Michigan
Like: North Carolina, Georgia Tech, Maryland, Manhattan
Eh: University of Denver
Hate: Duke, Kentucky, Michigan State
LOATHE: Boston College, Louisville

So now you know. If you need reasons as to why I like each, let me know, I'm not taking the time right now.

Here's my Sweet 16:

Chicago:
#1 Illinois vs. #13 Penn
#4 Arizona vs. #2 Oklahoma State

Albuquerque:
#1 Washington vs. #5 Georgia Tech
#3 Gonzaga vs. #7 West Virginia

Austin:
#1 Duke vs. #4 Syracuse
#2 Kentucky vs. #3 Oklahoma

Syracuse:
#1 North Carolina vs. #4 Florida
#2 Connecticutt vs. #3 Kansas

On to the Elite 8:
Chicago: #1 Illinois vs. #3 Arizona
Albuq: #5 Georgia Tech vs. #7 West Virginia
Austin: #1 Duke vs. #3 Oklahoma
Syracuse: #1 North Carolina vs. #3 Kansas

Final 4:
Illinois vs. Georgia Tech
North Carolina vs. Duke

CHAMPIONSHIP:
North Carolina 86 - Illinois 79

Roy finally wins it. Dean smiles. Sean is the MOP and a top 5 pick in June.

Other notable upsets:

#13 Penn over #4 BC - BC Sucks. Period.
#12 New Mexico over #5 Villanova
#10 St. Mary's over #7 So. Illinois

#10 Iowa over #7 Cincinnati

#10 NC State over #7 Charlotte

#9 Iowa State over #8 Minnesota

#7 West Virginia over #2 Wake Forest

I really don't see a whole lot of upsets happening this year. In a way, it will be an upset that there aren't a lot of upsets, in a sense. But my one big call is obviously the West Virginia into the Elite 8, knocking off Wake and Gonzaga. If Bill Simmons has taught me anything, it's that if one team is an unseemly favorite, go the other way in your bets. There's a reason Wake dropped to a #2 seed, and it's because they finally were exposed.