Suns and Spurs

No shocks here. Suns and Spurs finish off the ill deserving Nuggs and Lackeys. Kobe's a punk. Nash is a gamer, the true MVP. Spurs Suns is about to be an excellent series. Tomorrow night, Bay Area get ready...

George Karl: Douchebag

I have a soft spot in my heart for Karl, because he did take the Cavs to the playoffs in the '84-85 season. That feat puts him in a pretty exclusive club; the Cavs have only seen the postseason 14 times in 37 seasons (We went out in the first round in 10 of those 14 seasons). His colleagues in Cavs coaching legend are also an impressive bunch, other than Karl, the only Cavs coaches to take us into the post season are Bill Fitch, Lenny Wilkens, Mike Fratello and Mike Brown. So, with that little piece of history behind us, let me continue; Karl's a jackass. The bottom line is similar to Artest: these guys will never change. That's all there is to it. Karl, Artest, Terrell Owens, these guys can have a hundred life changing epiphanies in a thousand ashrams in India and it will never cure their dysfunction. They crave it. I once dated a girl like that. If I was nice to her and we didn't argue, she inevitably became, how shall I put this... "itchy." After a short honeymoon phase, she would pick a fight just so we'd have the excitement of fighting. I miss her... Which may explain why Karl, Artest and Owens continually get new chances, we miss the Artest who could be MVP, the Karl who could challenge the mighty ('96)Bulls for the trophy and the TO that can shut the F up and catch touchdowns. But the problem is, for every flash of potential they show, we're that much closer to another meltdown and another media whorefest. Karl's most recent one is calling out 'Melo as a straight up chump, and laying the Nuggets woes squarely at his feet. I watched the Nuggs play the other night and the problem is not 'Melo, per se. Yeah, he's selfish, one dimensional and not great on defense. The league is littered with dudes who don't do it on both ends. 'Melo is simply the best offensive player in the league. He can hit from anywhere on the court and has an unmatched inside/outside game. He can get to the stripe at will and, like his friend DWade, can actually hit his foul shots. He has much to work on; a big ego, an ugly mustache and he hits like a chick, but he's not "the reason" that the Nuggets suck. If you're looking for enlightenment on that one, question why a team with absolutely no need for Allen Iverson would sacrifice Andre Miller, a dude who was integral to their limited success, and salary cap freedom to get him? If anyone's to blame on this team it's Karl and Issel for their boneheaded construction. The way 'Melo, Camby and Nene are playing, if this team still had Miller, Karl would have nothing to bitch about. But he's got to deflect criticism from himself, and the only way this dysfunctional brat knows how, is to call his players out in the media. Regardless of how his words to 'Melo may have gone in one ear and out the other before, he knows from experience with Payton, Allen and Cassell, that calling your dudes out in the media is just gonna make things worse.

CHauncey Heading West?

Everybody seems to agree that Chauncey has no choice but to leave Detroit. I'm not sure I understand why; I thought the whole point of letting Big Ben walk last off season was so they could afford to pay Billups this off season.

From Mark Kiszla at the Denver Post:
Billups would be receptive to the idea of a sign-and-trade deal that could land him with the Nuggets, according to agent Andy Miller, who represents the 10th-year veteran.

That I have no doubt about. If Billups flourished with Rip and Tayshaun, imagine what he'd do with AI and 'Melo. That would be an absolutely absurd starting line.

Also from Kiszla:
The raise sought by Billups, an NBA bargain at $6.36 million in the final year of his contract of Detroit, would almost certainly force Denver to trade center Marcus Camby or forward Nene to acquire the all-star guard.

If Denver can get Chauncey for Marcus Camby, Joe Dumars should fire himself. Why would Detroit, who passed on paying money to an aging Wallace for Chauncey, be interested in dealing for the even more aging Camby? That's just stupid. The deal would have to involve Nene, and that's just for starters, because of the obscene 60 million dollar deal Hilario signed, the Nuggs would have to throw in some serious prospects to Detroit to sweeten the pot. The deal would have to be something along the lines of Detroit signing Chauncey to 4 years at 13 mil/year, and trading him to Denver along with Nazr Mohammed(4 remaining at 5mil) for Nene (5 remaining at 10mil), Diawara (1 remaining at 800k), Kleiza (1 remaining at 845k), Blake (expiring at 1.4) and maybe some sort draft picks arrangement.