Me in the Studio

Being a radio DJ is fun.

Peep the new template son, it looks nice.

Late Picks...

Mid-Day nap so refreshing.

Anyway on the radio I picked Philly over Arizona and Pittsburgh over Baltimore. Of course Philly is already losing right now, but that nice statistic that says teams that score for are 2-6 makes me feel better.

Then again, I'm 4-4 with my picks so far going .500 each round. That probably won't change.

In Other News...

The Pistons are terrible since Richard Hamilton came back and they went to small ball. Starting a 4th quarter letting the Thunder score 13 unanswered is kind of bad. Letting the Hornets score 9 straight in the same situation in your next game is just sad. 0-4 since the return of Rip and Small Ball. It obviously works.

I thought Curry was hired because the players respected him. Given the way RaShooting Guard and Rip don't always bring their A games, or his complete unwillingness to make the big decision (Rip or A.I. off the bench) what is that respect really worth? Maybe they have good locker room conversations or something. It's disgusting.

Well There You Have It

Charlotte 80
Detroit 78

There you have it. Do the right thing!

How Could You Be So Heartless?

Michael Curry: Richard Hamilton, Allen Iverson both to start tonight vs. Charlotte Bobcats
by A. Sherrod Blakely
Tuesday January 13, 2009, 12:43 PM

The biggest question facing Detroit Pistons coach Michael Curry has been about how he would handle Richard Hamilton's return to action.

Would Hamilton keep his pre-injury spot in the starting lineup? Or would Allen Iverson keep starting alongside Rodney Stuckey?

Well, contrary to recent speculation, it's going to be both, Curry said at practice today. At least for now.

Hamilton, who has been sidelined for eight games due to a partial groin tear, will finally be back on the floor tonight for the 7:30 p.m. tip against the Charlotte Bobcats, who are led by former Pistons coach Larry Brown.

Because of comments made by Hamilton to the Detroit media that he was unwilling to come off of the bench, many saw the shooting guard's return as a potential land mine for the Pistons and the continuity they achieved during their recently snapped seven-game winning streak.

My fears about the Pistons have been confirmed. Michael Curry is a mediocre coach who is more concerned with keeping his players happy than making the tough decision that puts the Pistons in the best situation to win. They won 7 straight games without Rip in the line-up, I don't think that is a coincidence. It's not that Richard Hamilton is the problem, but small ball just doesn't work for this team. When you think a textbook shooting guard, Rip is one of the guys that comes to mind. He has no business at SF, he will get handled defensively. And Tayshaun as a 4 just takes away the advantage of his length and allows him to become a liability to get posted up against teams with interior scoring.

Rip came out Saturday and said there was no chance that he came off the bench, and I actually agree he shouldn't. The answer should be to try to convince Iverson to come off the bench. Unlike Hamilton, A.I. can actually set players up and can carry a team offensively if they want to run a defensive line-up with guys like Aaron Afflalo in the game. It gives the Pistons a dynamic bench player unmatched by anyone the Celtics, Magic, Cavaliers, or Hawks can trot out. The problem is convincing him to come off the bench. A good coach knows how to balance a 3 guard line-up and still get each around 30 minutes a game. I fear Michael Curry isn't that coach, and that he will ultimately fail like Flip Saunders before him.
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My reaction to the return of small ball and the complete medicrity of my playoff picks can be summed up in one moment with Jake Delhomme:

Back in the USA

I made these picks earlier in the car with a friend who can vouch for me. I may be posting this as the Ravens are at Tennessee's goal line with the game tied 7-7, but I assure you (my make believe readers) that I picked these at a Sunoco gas station.

Divisional Round Picks
Ravens over Titans
Panthers over Cardinals
Giants over Eagles
Steelers over Chargers

Oh, nice job by featuring Matt Millen as an analyst last week NBC. I do remember that he was considered the replacement to John Madden before he butchered the Lions, but O.J. Simpson was considered by some to be the greatest running back then he "allegedly" killed two people. No one wanted anything to do with him after that.

I'm not saying Millen (I can't think of a word that accurately describes killing a franchise over the span of 8 years) is in the same class as a murder, but I am.

Rambling

-Pistons lost today. I think Rip is secretly happy, because they look better without him. Most likely because Mike Curry is forced to use a line-up that doesn't involve Rip or Iverson on the bench.

-I went 2-2 on my playoff picks, sad. I really wanted to act like I knew what I was talking about, but I don't think anyone saw Darren Sproles coming.

-Oklahoma/Florida tonight. I don't like Florida. I think it's the "Tebow is the hardest working player ever" crap you get from ESPN. I know he's supposedly a great kid, but how about the random walk-on who made some major conference team who wasn't born with such physical attributes as Tebow? I'd reckon he had to work harder.

Florida probably will win, I will be sad.

-Ohio State lost another bowl game. They take more L's than I do. Self depreciating humor. Fun.

-It's 5:21am and I have no interest in doing anything right now. I have 5 hour old chicken sitting on my desk though, I might want to throw it away. But I haven't gotten out of this chair in a couple of hours.

-Best cure for insomnia = Youtube. Where else would I go from listening to Shyne to Steve Wonder?

-Attractive women =/= Engineering students at Oakland. Someone please prove me wrong.



-For no particular reason, I'm listening to this song. Reminds me of high school.

-After disgracing my race with that atrocious attempt at a dunk on Youtube, I have discovered if I just run up from the baseline (or wing) I dunk 3x easier. Not really sure why, but I now need to try this out in a pick-up game.

-Andre 3000 is an AMAZING MC. Like, really good. I say that just in case you didn't catch the amazing.

-Nothing more to say.

Transmission over.

New Year, New Name

Larry Hughes' Contract Year is now "The Contract Year". It's a much better name, and it's unfair to single out Larry Hughes. How can we forget such players like:

Mike James
Jerome James
Tim Thomas (about 3 times)
Shaun Alexander
Simeon Rice

I'd have more, but I'm drawing a blank right now. That's unfortunate. But they will not be forgotten or overlooked.

NFL Playoff Picks
Colts over Chargers
Ravens over Dolphins
Vikings over Eagles
Cardinals over Falcons

Blog redesign coming when I decide not to be lazy.