I’ve learned in the world of college recruiting that where there is smoke there is usually fire and there is smoke in MEMPHIS…lots of it.

The NCAA is investigating Memphis for major violations within the program. The allegations ‘reportedly’ stem from Derrick Rose and his 1 year at the program. Apparently someone may have taken the SAT test for Derrick to ensure that he passed the test and would be eligible to play at Memphis. Everyone is basically being quiet but does this come as a shock to anyone?

Derrick Rose was an amazing high school player, college player and now as a pro. He was coveted by many schools and rumors have been out there for a while that something happened to get him to Memphis. Those are always taken with a grain of salt because they are usually started by rival programs upset that they weren’t chosen. That could very well be the case, but the NCAA is now involved and nothing would do my heart more good than to see Coach Cal get his, if he indeed was involved.

I’ll get called a hater and I’m ok with that. I’m not approving of schools who cheat to get kids or cheat to win. I’m not in favor of athletes using steroids to gain a competitive edge and then saying ‘that’s just the times we live in’. Life is about choices and our choices show our level of integrity. When nobody was watching Alex Rodriguez took steroids and did it with the intent that he hoped nobody would find out. We all do those things in areas of our life myself included. We found out about Alex. Are we finding out what Memphis and Coach Cal arranged and hoped nobody would ever know? If so, what’s going to happen to him? Does that leave a stain on the man or do we shake it off to “that’s just how things are done now?” I hope not. I hope we haven’t come to that.

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This has been an incredible playoff season for the NBA. I can’t believe how good the games have been without many blowouts along the way. The Magic came back and beat the Celtics and are now a win away from putting the Cavaliers back on the ropes. The Nuggets get Chauncey Billups and become the most energetic and athletic team in the West and they are showing it now.

I looked over last nights stats and saw the Nuggets outrebounded the Lakers by nearly 20 boards. The teams energy was off the charts early on and it never waivered. The Lakers tried to come back in the 4th quarter but they just didn’t have anything left in the tank. Phil Jackson should’ve taken that time to just rest Kobe and Pau but instead he kept them out there trying and burning energy for a useless cause. What is game 5 going to be like? What Laker team is going to show up? These Lakers seem to coast at times and it costs them. When they could really put a hurt on people is when they tend to let up and let teams back in. These Nuggets just might be good enough to take game 5 in LA and then have a shot to win out at home and wouldn’t that be something.

Meanwhile on the Carmelo front all is quiet still which shocks me. He’s forcing his shot a lot and without much success lately but he’s still maintaining a positive attitude for his team and that surprises me. Chauncey is clearly the man for this team and Carmelo seems ok with it. I just hope that he can maintain this attitude and come out and get 30-40 points in Los Angeles.

I know the league wants a Cleveland vs Los Angeles series but that may not happen. The Nuggets and Magic have a lot to say about that and as Stan Van Gundy said yesterday “this isn’t the BCS”.

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People are watching this series and playing it off like it is Carmelo vs Kobe but that isn’t the case. For the 2nd game in a row if Carmelo wants a shot in the last few minutes he needs to get a rebound and that happened again yesterday. Carmelo got himself another 34 points yesterday with 2 coming in the last 3 minutes. On the last few possessions it became a battle of Kobe versus Chauncey for the win and the Nuggets got the bounces to go their way.

As I watched the game I came away with a respect for the Nuggets even more than I had before. They are right there with the Lakers even without JR smith having a good game yet. Linus Kleiza stepped up big in the game and hit 4 3’s. The Lakers are a great team and will win the whole thing if they make it, but the Nuggets are just as good and now have the home court edge.

Who is the Nuggets main player? Each team has a go to guy that they rely on to get them their points down the stretch and while Carmelo is the teams’ most talented player he isn’t the man come crunch time. The Lakers get Kobe the ball at the top of the key and let him create. The Nuggets get the ball to Chauncey to let him create as well. The Nuggets are clearly Chauncey’s team and if they want to win this then Carmelo needs to be ok with not getting the ball in the last 3 minutes of the game. I am openly questioning his maturity to do so.

Carmelo is showing he is talented and can score with anyone in the game. He’s showing so far that he can handle Chauncey being the go to guy but when people start writing about him noticeably being left out of the offense it will get to him. Stars are made in the playoffs, legends are created. Chauncey got his nickname of “Mr Big Shot” from his playoff successes. What will Carmelo earn for himself if doesn’t get the opportunity?

If George Karl can keep him happy in this role then the Nuggets will win this thing and Karl should get coach of the year and I’ll write a public apology to Melo.

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Kobe Bryant is clearly the best killer in basketball. He took that game last night and made all the plays for his team. While Carmelo had 39 points and an outstanding night, he was nowhere to be found near the end of the game. Earlier in the week I compared the two but there is no comparision really when it comes down to it. Kobe Bryant is just that much better than Carmelo.

I knew this was true with a few minutes to go. Anthony Carter bricked a shot, like normal, with Carmelo getting the offensive rebound and putback. He then proceeded to flex his muscles and do some strange yell. Kobe doesn’t have to do those things, it was as if Carmelo was dying to be noticed in that situation but he didn’t need to act that way.

Carmelo’s last bucket came with 3:26 seconds left in the game and he didn’t even get the ball much after that. He had a charge called on him for running over Gasol but that was it. Meanwhile, Kobe took the game over for the Lakers. Down 4, Kobe hit a tough jumper and then hit Fisher in the corner for a 3 when the whole defense collapsed on him. For the Nuggets the tough shots were all taken and made by Chauncey Billups not Carmelo Anthony.

My point is that I compared that two just by looking at the stats, but watching the game I learned that there is no comparison at all. My apologies Kobe.

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This is going to be a great series. In fact, I am looking forward to both series going on right now. We have Lebron and the Cavs who have slept through 2 rounds so far and had a week off already going up against the tested Magic who just beat Boston at home by 20 to close them out. Amazing.

I thought the Magic would win but not by 20 points in Boston. Dwight Howard played great and Hedo Turkoglu continues to amaze me with his play. I never thought that guy would be this good at all but he is really a great player and a tough matchup. However, Lebron will matchup with Hedo and he can actually play with the guy but he won’t be able to freelance on defense as much as normal. He’ll have to lock on Hedo which works to Orlando’s favor. Orlando spaces the floor so that Howard can work inside and kick it out on double teams to shooters. If Howard can score consistently on Big Z and Varajao then the Cavs will have to double down and force a kickout. When that happens the ball will swing around to Lewis, Turkoglu, Lee or Alston who won’t hesitate to launch 3’s and make 3’s. I know the Magic beat the Cavs a couple times this season and I expect this to be a 7 game series as well with the Cavs pulling it out.

How can the Magic guard Lebron when he really wants to score and take over the game? They can’t. Lebron is the x factor in the series because he’s just that good. If you look at rosters you’d think the Magic had the overall better team but the Cavs have the best player on the court and that makes up for a lot. I expect the Magic to run double teams at Lebron all game long and force other players to beat them. Look for Mo Williams to attempt 15-20 shots each game and if he isn’t near 50% then the Magic will take this series. The Cavs won’t sleep through this one and the Magic have a chance to steal game 1 due to the rust that is on the Cavs. IF the Magic win game 1 we will have a crazy series that will be remembered for a long time. That’s a big if I know but this series gets me pumped.

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For those of us who had the opportunity to watch Wayman Tisdale play this is a very sad day and an even sadder day for those that truly knew him and loved his as a person. My apologies go out to the family on this terrible day for them.

What I remember from Wayman Tisdale was his smile and passion for the game. I first got to watch him while he was at Oklahoma in the early 80 to mid 80’s and I was a blossoming basketball fan. He actually seemed liked he loved the game and playing in it. I remember that smile. I remember he was the first freshman to be voted in as an All American and was an All American 3 times during his tenure at Oklahoma. I remember him being on the 1984 olympic team and winning that with Coach Bobby Knight. He was a great collegiate player and man did he have an electric smile.

When Wayman got to the pros it was a little different for him. He was caught in that tweener stage of having the real height of a small forward but he really had limited skills facing the basket. He had a successful career however and played for 12 seasons. One season he averaged over 22 points a game and if you can say you did that in the NBA then you were pretty good. My favorite pro team memory of Wayman was when he played for the KINGS with Mitch Richmond because those two were fun to watch at the time.

Once he retired I didn’t hear from Wayman much until I read that he had a portion of his right leg amputated and I started to get into his life more. I listened to his music that i never knew he made and it was pretty good stuff. The man was ultra talented. How many people can play professional sports at a high level and be professional musicians at the same time? Not many.

Until today I thought that the cancer was gone but I guess it wasn’t and it doesn’t feel so good. It makes me feel mortal in a way that I don’t like. Wayman Tisdale was only 44 years old but lived a full active life. He was one of my favorite college players of all time and it feels like a part of my childhood took a hit today. Again, I apologize to his family and pray they can get through this time.

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People I need some talk coming in here. I think the Lakers are going to get run over by the Nuggets because they can match their athletes man for man and they can match them offensively. Here’s what I’m talking about:

Chauncey vs Fisher: Chauncey is the leader of the Nuggets but not the man for the Nuggets. Fish is almost done and has had a great career. Chauncey has the edge in this spot because he’s a proven winner and he has this team believing.

Kobe vs Carmelo: Honestly very comparable in the playoffs. Both are scoring well, shooting well and rebounding well. Both are hitting tough shots when they have to. Carmelo may be playing a little better than Kobe right now but will Carmelo be able to do it with pressure he hasn’t faced since the final 4 with Syracuse. I think so. Head to head Kobe will be guarded by Dante Jones but we know that won’t work out so well for Denver. We’ll see though.

Kenyon vs Lamar: Great matchup here. Lamar will try to pull Kenyon away from the basket and it will work some, but Kenyon is an athletic freak who loves to rebound and cause havoc inside.

NENE vs Pau: Both are gifted players but Pau is better and more seasoned. He’ll cause problems for Nene and might not even guard him straight up as Bynum might play well here. Pau is bigger than Kenyon Martin and will score on him but Kenyon is much to athletic for Pau to match defensively.

The bench features Birdman and JR Smith who have been great so far in the playoffs while the Lakers come with Luke Walton, Farmar, Sasha and others.

Nuggets win in 6 games

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The Ncaa has 2 new proposed rules up for discussion this year. One of them involved foul shooting and the other involves the charge call under the basket.

The foul shooting proposal involves the situation where a player is fouled but injured and has to come out of the game. Currently the team with the injured player can select any player off their bench to go in the game and shoot the foul shots for the injured player. The proposed rule change would allow the team with the injured player to select someone who is already playing in the game. Several examples were sited where a player who was a 60% shooter gets fouled and is injured and then has to come out and be replaced by someone who might be shooting 85% from the line. This gives the team who was injured a distinct advantage according to the committee. What about the alternative now? The same 60% shooter gets fouled and is hurt. Now an 85% foul shooter who is already in the game gets to shoot the ball. I’d much rather have a guy come in off the bench to take those shots if i’m the opposing team. I don’t want a warm body going up to the line. Give me some kid off the bench who is a good shooter and let him try his luck as compared to the best foul shooter not fouled stepping up to the line who is already in the flow of the game. I see their point but it ain’t broken.

The 2nd proposed change involves the charge call taking place from the front of the rim to front of the backboard. It’s the collegiate version of the arc in the NBA and I love this proposed change. No charge call should ever be called when the defender is underneath the basket. A player drives in for a layup and the defender camps out under the hoop only to get knocked down after the ball is through the hoop. It has driven me crazy for years and apparently the coaches as well. This will eventually lead to an arc for college hoops and I don’t want the college game to evolve into the pro game but this is a good rule designed to protect players and allow the game to be played the way it was meant to.

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As I grew up I watched the NBA transform from a game of skilled legends to something completely different. Now days the players are bigger, faster and stronger and less skilled. Something happened on the way to Michael Jordan being the greatest player ever and it was the Detroit Pistons. I know that the Celtics and Lakers had their skirmishes years earlier but the Bad Boys of Detroit changed basketball into a game that is less finesse and more brutes in the key hammering people.

We’ve lost personalities like George Gervin, World B Free, Dr J, Adrian Dantley and Dominique. That’s just to name a few. Now if Gervin were to drive to the hoop today he’d get laid out and we’d never have his finger roll. DR J would go in for his patented dunk and be put to the ground by some scrub or enforcer that each team has. Some guy with 6 fouls to give. Adrian Dantley used to live at the foul line but now he’d have to file a police report to get calls.

The part I don’t understand is that a ref will call a hand check 30 feet away from the basket but not call a foul when a player drives and gets mugged near the basket. Kobe elbows a player in the throat and the other guy gets called for the foul. It’s just a different game. When I grew up the cheap shots were subtle but their is no point in hiding it now as the game evolves into a form of professional wrestling.

I know it isn’t that bad truly but everything evolves and I’m not enjoying what playoff NBA basketball is evolving into.

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NOBODY. NOBODY wants to play Denver in the playoffs this year and that’s a shock. Usually teams would line up to play the Nuggets because of how mentally weak they were. Honestly, the leader of this team isn’t Carmelo it is clearly Chauncey Billups and he’s made all the difference.

As I watched the Nuggets play last night I was extremely surprised at how athletic they are. They have players that get out and run and defend when they have to. With ‘BirdMan’ on the court they can really mess with teams defensively because of how athletic he is. He was guarding Nowitzki when he was out there and making it very difficult for him. Then they come off the bench with JR Smith who can score points in bunches and this team is a nightmare to play in a 7 game series.

I look for the Nuggets to beat the Mavs in 5-6 games and then move on to the Western conference finals. After watching this team beat the Hornets by 60 points earlier in the playoffs and watching them outwork Dallas has opened my eyes to how scary this team is as they are peaking at just the right time. Great GM move by bringing in Chauncey to lead this crew.

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