Say It Aint So Joe!

"We could care less if [the fans] showed up or not."

Atlanta Hawks Guard-Joe Johnson

Those were the words spoken after a disappointing home loss to the Orlando Magic in Game 3. Superstar guard Joe Johnson struggled mightily during the series vs the Magic shooting 29% and only avg 12 pts a game. He was also booed on Monday night in their season ending game against the Magic. This is my plea to the fans of Atlanta

Dear ATL Fans,

Please swallow your pride and forgive Joe Johnson for his remarks. He is one of the hardest working and most talented players in the league. I know his lack of emotion at times gives off the perception of not trying hard, but everyone is wired differently. Atlanta has the pleasure of being his first choice this summer (unrestricted free agent), but booing the only star player since Dominique Wilkins is not exactly rolling out the red carpet for him to re-sign. Did you see Cleveland booing LeBron when he went 2-11 in a pivotal Game 5 loss? No! Athletes today have the disadvantage of facing the scrutiny of the media immediately after a game. Sometimes players do not express their views in the most politically correct way, but Joe is a good guy. No late night partying, No Arrests, No domestic abuse...all he needs is a fan base that will back him through the good and the bad. The Hawks won 53 games this year, how many do you see them winning with him gone? Winning and losing is a team effort , and although I do understand that the burden usually rests solely on the shoulders of the star, there will be learning curves for every team. Sure the Hawks have been swept out of the semi-finals the last two seasons but they are still a legit center away from being great. Some of the key ingredients may be changed this summer but if the main dish is not served then the entree will not taste right. Think about it.

Peace ,
Agent 34

NBA Playoffs..So Far Part 1.

Guess Who's Back?

As Kanye West said "Hi Haters I'm back off Hiatus." Kanye

Oook, so since I last left you the NBA Playoffs have started and we learned a lot about some teams during that time. Such as the Dallas Mavericks; who spent a lot of money only to lose in the 1st round, no excuses for the Nuggets the Thunder Kids are growing up quicker than expected, and hopefully time will heal all wounds for the Blazers..literally. In the East a young Buck shined bright, while the Bulls took a step back, the Bobcats are still kittens and D-Wade needs help bad.

Here are my Round 2 Predictions:

Suns-Spurs

This series looks like the changing of the guard so far, with Duncan looking like a shell of his former self (before the 29 point game 2) Amare and Nash have a connection that looks to be unstoppable! Jason Richardson is more than a dunker and his hot shooting has helped propel Phoenix to a 3-0 series lead. Now I believe people are starting to understand why Amare and the Suns stayed put at the deadline. This team is dangerous and should handle the aging Spurs in 6 games.









Lakers-Jazz

Laker fans got more than they expected from the youthful Thunder, but it seems to have lit a fire in the Champs. Utah thus far are without supporting stars Okur and Kirelinko (Kobe Stopper?) and are down 0-3 against the Lakers with only 1 more game in Utah. Expect the Jazz to at least get 1 but I don't think they will win any in LA. Bynum and Gasol have dominated the inside, while Kobe and a rejuvenated Artest have been shooting lights out. The Champs are right where they are supposed to be 1 games away from the Western Finals.










Cavs-Celtics

I want to pick the Celtics to beat the Cavs in 6 and this was before the smashing in Game 2. With that being said I almost find it sacrilegious to go against King James. The C's are finally allowing Rondo to shine (the aging big 3 helps) and are reaping the rewards as he has been scorching the Cavs. Ultimately I do believe the Cavs will win the series but it will definitely go 7 games. The NBA wants the Lakers/Cavs in the finals but they forgot to tell Boston. This series will be a close one.








MAGIC-HAWKS

The Magic look like they are on a mission, and getting back to the Eastern Finals will be the easy part. With a 3-0 lead on the Hawks only 1 win separates them from going back to the East Finals. As for the Hawks there is nothing that needs to be said..they are not ready for Prime Time yet. Crawford was a huge pick up but their need for a big man of any kind is holding them back from taking the next step in their team maturation. Hopefully, they will go after a big man this off season to battle Dwight but it may be too little too late.

2010 NBA AllStar Uniforms

Whar do you think about the new uniforms for the All Star Game?  They remind me of the commercial with "All-Day" Adrian Peterson wearing the Nike Armour.  Here aer some pics of both the East and Western Conference Uni's. 

SIXERS-ALLEN IVERSON

MAGIC'S-DWIGHT HOWARD

LAKERS-KOBE BRYANT

NUGGETS-CARMELO ANTHONY











Both jerseys are nice, but I still miss the days when each player wore their own jersey and you couldn't tell who was on what team at times.  Can't wait to see how it goes in Dallas.

Peace,
Agent34

LeBron..Just Dunk Already!

Flashback to a little over one year ago at the NBA All-Star Game in Phoenix, what memory sticks out the most? Was it Kobe and Shaq as Co-MVP's? Nah. What about Nate Robinson dunking over Dwight Howard to win the Slam Dunk Title? Still no. How about THIS, the comments from the King himself as he declared his early candidacy into the 2010 NBA Slam Dunk Competition. I thought you would remember that one. So why wont LeBron Dunk?

He is currently the front runner to win his 2nd MVP.

Arguably the best basketball player on the planet.

The Cavs are on pace to win 60+ games, and have beaten the Lakers twice (convincingly)

Most importantly, LeBron is not hurt..

Still he declined to dunk in this years tournament on Feb 13th. Here is my argument for and against King James joining the dunk contest.

PRO'S

-He's never competed and it would silence all of his critics

-His fans would love to see him enter

-The NBA spotlight would shine on him the brightest for 1 night.

CONS

-What does he have to prove?

-Name another potential 2-Time MVP who competed in the dunk contest

-Why risk the injury

-LeBron wants to be seen as more than a great dunker

-WHAT IF HE LOSES????

The last Con is what I believe has and will forever keep LeBron out of the Dunk Contest. Do you remember the last time he was in a dunk contest? He did not exactly blow the field away when he went up against the likes of Shannon Brown, Von Wafer and JR Giddens. LeBron is an amazing athlete and his leaping ability is legendary, but how many trick dunks have you seen him do? Between the legs, off the backboard, anything else? How about a 360? No. Or better yet a 720? I have always stated that LeBron is a game time dunker. His speed is his greatest weapon not his hops. Once his adrenaline gets going and he gets a running start how do you stop him? You cant, and he attacks the basket as viciously in the air as he does on the ground. He flies through the air like a jet, and nobody wants to get in the way. In my opinion he knows that he has a chance of losing the contest, and that would be an embarrassment. If he were to ever enter, anything short of winning would be a failure, you cant say that about too many other players.

Peace,

Agent34

NBA 2K10 Tournament

Some of my closest friends and I held a NBA 2K10 Basketball Tournament on the Playstation 3 console. I warned them that any such tournament would end with me being victorious. Check out the pictures and see who won.

PLAYERS/TEAMS

1. Sly-Up tempo player that loves to go one-on-one with Carmelo Anthony, loves to block shots with Birdman and will nail the walk up 3 with Billups.

2. Justin (Me) -Run and Gun is the name of my game, I believe in the Suns philosophy of 7 seconds or less. Love the 3 Ball, and will lock up on the wing.

3. Marc -This guy plays just like Tim Duncan! He slows the game down and takes high percentage shots with Duncan, and goes in for dunks with Jefferson.

4. DC-He will either blow you out, or get blown out. The C's will trap you to death and he makes sure to turn those turnovers into points.

5. Mike -Emotional player that relies heavily on Rudy Gay. As Rudy goes so does Mike, which wasn't that far.

6. Ewane-Not the most skilled player but he uses the Hawks well and can get more out of Joe Johnson than Coach Mike Woodson can.

TOURNAMENT RECAP

The tournament consisted of a round robin in which each player played everyone once and then the top 4 seeds were placed into a Final Four...

Marc and Sly competing to get into the Final Four...

Final Four is set

Sly and I duke it out for the Championship...


If there was any doubt about my skills on the sticks, I put them to rest...

The evidence of the Blowout

"If you think you're nice Challenge Him!" -Charlie Murphy (Chappelle Show)

I think he was talking about me. Lol

Peace,

Agent 34

The Future that Never Happened.

Flashback to the 2001 NBA Draft and you will remember that there was quite a buzz in the air surrounding two 7 footers named Eddy Curry and Tyson Chandler.  They both were coming out of high school at the raw age of 18 and were supposed to be the future of the NBA.  The Chicago Bulls were officially in the post Jordan era and needed to do something to stay relevent.   After drafting Eddy Curry with the 4th overall pick they chose to ship 20-10 (avg's) Elton Brand to the lowly Clippers in exchange for the draft rights of Tyson Chandler.  This was it, the recipe for success, draft two high school superstars pair them together and take over the league...but it never happened. 

The Bulls had warning signs, as much as they heard praises they also hear rumblings of Curry being un-motivated and Tyson Chandler having a glass ceiling on his skill level.  But they didn't listen, or rather he (Jerry Krause) didn't listen and stuck by his motto that "organizations (not players) win championships" and selected both high schoolers.  The plan was a good one, dominant post in Curry, and use Chandler as the new KG on the wing.  It wouldn't matter who ran the point, and you could always attract a shooter via free agency.  Good plan, wrong players.  Take a look at what went wrong...

EDDY CURRY

The young Bull was dubbed as the new Shaq and was supposed to take over the Eastern Conference that was void of an established big man.  In his first season Curry saw limited action and you could tell the game was moving too fast for him.  His 2nd year with the team was better with averages of 10 ppg and 6rpg repectivley, but still didn't live up to the hype.  The 04-05 campaign was hit breakout year in whcih he led the team in scoring and to the playoffs, but missed the last 19 games and the post season due to an irregular heartbeat.  Curry was traded to the New York Knicks the following season and has struggled to live up to expectations ever since. 

TYSON CHANDLER

The 7 Foot phenom was dunking and blocking shots so loudly in California that he was ranked the #1 high school player in the nation.  He wa basically traded for Elton Brand on draft night and was viewed as the new KG.  Much like Curry his rookie year was a learning curve in which he only aveeraged 6 points per game.  The 03-04 season Tyson was plauged by back problems and he struggled to stay on the floor due to foul problems.  After Curry was traded he received a contract extension woth about $63 million dollars.  In 2006 Chandler and his huge contract were traded to New Orleans and his career caught daylight after pairing up with Chris Paul.  Sadly, the duo has split up with Chandler now a member of the Charlotte Bobcats. 

These two careers although not over, thus far have not lived up to the hype.  Imagine if Chandler and Curry would have taken over the league like LeBron and Melo then the Bulls would have still been winning Championships and Jerry Krause's famous line might have been true. 

Ooops!!

Ooops!! That is what the Clippers,Grizzlies, Thunder, Kings, T-Wolves (twice), Warriors, Knicks, and the Raptors are all saying behind closed doors as rookie sensation Brandon Jennings continues to dominate the league.

I'm not going to lie, I was conned into joining the Ricky Rubio fan club mid May and thought that he would be doing some of the same things that Jennings is doing now. It was around that same time that the young Buck's guard called out Rubio and dubbed him "overhyped." Although the jury is still out on how good Rubio is (he stayed in Europe instead of joining the NBA) one thing is cleat, B. Jennings is tthe truth.

If you don't believe me check out his young resume...

STATS:
-25.5 Points/5.5/Assists/4.8 Rebounds
-#8 leading scorer in the league
-55 Point Outburst -vs- Golden State
-Youngest to score 50 points in a game
-Leading scorer for the Bucks
-Bucks on pace to make the playoffs at 5-3

I know its early and the bandwagon is circling for this kid, but the sky is the limit for him. He seems to really grasp the game and it looks like the 1 year spent overseas -vs- college is paying off. We will see how he holds up, but solid games against the likes of Chauncey Billups and Jason Kidd give promise that he may be hear to stay. He reminds me of another #3 that took over the league once upon a time, I think his initials are A.I. (We will see)

Peace,
Agent34