Jackson & The NBA Draft

King of Pop
First, we delve into hero worship gone overboard – again.

An alleged pedophile kicks the bucket and the world comes to a complete stop. It’s wall to wall coverage on every network. I can’t get away from it and it’s driving me nuts.

Am I the only one who thinks this is just another sign of our society collapsing in front of our eyes?

Yea, I know Michael Jackson was the King of Pop. He was also a 50 year old man whose hero was Peter Pan.

He was an adult who had an amusement park in his backyard so he could lure eight-year olds over for a ride on the merry-go-round and perhaps a sleep over complete with silk sheets and wine.

The dude allegedly paid millions to make lawsuits involving inappropriate behavior with children go away.

This leads to the obvious question of what moron parent would ever let their kid near this guy?’

But that’s for another day.

I haven’t even covered the fact that he turned himself into “half man-half freak." I mean, I can’t think of another human being on this planet that looks likes Michael Jackson. He was a walking wax figure of himself.

With all this and much more revolving around this circus act, we now have adults around the globe mourning his death as if he had Mother Theresa’s impact.

No, in this case, the good does not outweigh the bad! The freak didn’t hurt just himself with self-destructive behavior, he molested children (allegedly) for Christ’s sake!

If he were a semi-normal person, he would have done serious jail time and his photo would need to be plastered on every palm tree near Southern California middle schools.

Instead, we have the networks giving him more air time than if a president had passed on. I’m especially disappointed in Fox News – who usually has the right read on the day’s events in terms of appropriate coverage. I couldn’t even get away from the Jackson coverage when I tuned that network in last night. And I tried 3x.

I don’t know what’s worse – adults gathering outside a hospital holding candlelight vigils or the fact that they had their children with them.

Check that – dragging the kids along is worse. Imagine what those parents could possibly be saying to their kids right now?

“Johnny – a great man just passed away. He was a musical genius unlike no other. Forget the fact that he liked to play – ‘Touch Jacko’s salami and win a ride on the ferris wheel.' That’s not important son. Besides, nothing was ever proven."

Right. And O.J. was innocent.

Thankfully, some of this will soon pass and the media, and the morons who live vicariosuly through people they have never met, will be on to the next reality television train wreck.

However, when historians write about our culture’s demise hundreds of years from now – like they have done with every dominant culture (Greeks, Romans, etc…) – America's hero worship culture will certainly demand a lengthy chapter.

By the way, I can see the cable networks now – planning their next fifty shows around Jackson’s toxicology reports and possible criminal indictments against some poor doctor who wrote this freak’s meds prescriptions so he could function well enough to always carry an umbrella with him outside on sunny 90 degree California days.

It’s always somebody else’s fault. Right.

NBA Draft
Those who read my pre-draft analysis know that I had little to say about the comings and goings of draft day since I did not see enough of these guys play to form real opinions on what they will do at the next level.

My college basketball viewing in 2008-09 involved mostly watching a couple Duke –North Carolina battles and the Final Four.

However, there are some post-draft observations that I need to air.

First, what the hell were the ESPN experts thinking when Minnesota drafted THREE point-guards and not one individual on the live panel at the time criticized the move?

One member of the panel (Jeff Van Gundy) did questioned if they could play two point guards at the same time.

Hey genius – Why not go farther and question the wisdom of actually drafting two players in the top six that play the exact same position?

Even Mark Jackson, usually a calm and appropriate voice when it comes to NBA analysis, didn’t raise any alarms. More on Jackson later.

When you need everything, the last thing you want to do is take three quarterbacks. That’s essentially what the Timberwolves did – NBA style.

Yea, I know they are trading one of them. But unless you have two deals ready to go when you make the picks, it makes absolutely no sense to me.

The last time I checked, you can only play one point guard at a time – especially when one is 5-11 and the other is 19 years old with spaghetti arms.

Back to Mark Jackson. He actually said the Cavaliers did not improve themselves by adding 17 points and eight boards a night (The Big Aristotle).

Right Mark.

Do the Cavaliers still need a perimeter player who can defend tall, athletic bigs? Of course. His name is Shane Battier and we wanted Cleveland to acquire this underrated player two years ago.

Regardless, the Cavaliers ARE better than they were 48 hours ago. They added a post big that still draws double teams, who can still defend the goal and who is still a physical freak – even at age 38.

Is Shack as good as he was five years ago? Of course not. But if he’s healthy come playoff time, he makes them (Cleveland) a better team because, for 28-30 minutes a night, he will be able to match up against any and all comers, including the Howards, Garnetts, Gasols, etc…

He simply gives them a much better chance of not being dominated inside - something we pointed out days after witnessing the Lakers dismantle the Cavs’ big men in Cleveland back in December.

To put it simply – you STILL have to account for Shack when he’s on the floor. Secondly, he has something to prove – being the first to five rings. And third, he takes some of the workload off LeBron James.

On occasion, when the Cavs are in the half-court set next year, LJ and company will be able to throw it into the “Big Fella” and watch as he dunks on someone.

That’s the equivalent of not asking your quarterback to sit in the shotgun and make all the plays, allowing him to hand off on occasion so he rest on occasion and let someone else do the work.

Remember – the Cavs have NOT had a post player who can consistently score with his back to the basket in SEVERAL years. Not since Z turned into a face-up 15-17 footer shooter – albeit a good one.

This move makes teams have to prepare for a post game when they play the Cavs. That’s a good thing.

And imagine James, when he's at his best, going to the hole, and Shack cleaning up his miss because the defense rotated over to help on 23? That’s also a good thing.

Now on to acquiring Shane Battier – or a facsimile there of.

Sideline Reporter
I continue to marvel at the stupidity of networks using “babes” to interview athletes during games and special events.

Instead of asking Shack what his thoughts were on potentially facing Dwight Howard in the post-season next spring on Draft Night, or inquiring how the Cavaliers now match up with the Kobe-led defending champion Lakers – this woman asks Shack if he would come off the bench next year in Cleveland?

Great f%$#@g question!

The Cavaliers added a future first ballot Hall of Famer, with four rings, who put up better numbers than anyone on the team’s front court in 2008-09, just to be part of their bench rotation.

Right.

No. We didn’t want to hear how he would have played Dwight “the impostor” Howard – as Shack calls him – had Cleveland plucked him up before the trading deadline?

No. We don’t want Shack to comment on trying to one-up Kobe in terms of rings, now that he’s on a team coming off 66 wins.

I don’t know if this is about political correctness or these networks actually believe these women know sports. All I know is 90% of the questions usually asked by these dolls are useless.

Something tells me most of these NBA sideline gals – with the exception of Cheryl Miller – wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between a man or zone. Ditto for those sideline bunnies if you asked them to explain what “dime coverage” looks like during college football Saturdays or NFL Sundays.

By the way, most male sideline reporters only have a 20% success rate in asking questions in my book – especially the ones who care more about their wardrobe than asking probing questions.

Bottom line – when they go down to the sideline reporter for comment or questions between quarters or at halftime, that’s my cue to take a leak.

Vince Carter & Richard Jefferson
Orlando did not get better if they added Vince Carter and they lose Hedo T. to free agency. Carter does not make his teammates better. Hedo does – at least he did against the Cavs.

I consider it a wash at best.

I’m also not a Richard Jefferson fan, but he does give San Antonio more athleticism on the wing. It makes them better, but this group is aging, and will need to keep their key parts completely healthy to challenge come playoff time.

It's interesting how some teams (i.e. Cleveland & San Antonia) are being built specifically for April through June and the match-ups they will likely face.

It's almost as if the regular will be simply an extension of training camp with the main goal being to stay healthy. Look for the O'Neal's and Duncans to get plenty of bench time during the 82 game exhibition campaign.