The Sports Bizzo Podcast \”The Lost Episode\”

So, maybe it wasn’t lost, but due to birthdays and vacations it didn’t get up. Speaking of vacations, we apologize for the lack of posts (Rule #2 of blogging, never apologize for lack of posts). A few of us are still on vacation. We’re also getting ready to take football season by storm. As soon as we figure out how to do it.

Here you go, guys… Episode 5.

By the way… we make no apologies for this episode

By Jon…

Ok, so I was completely wrong on my Finals prediction on two accounts. You guys, of course only know about one of them, so I’ll explain:

1. Here at the Bizzo, I submitted my picks to Co-Bizzo-in-Chief, Toph Miller, going with the Lakers in 5. He, I assume for variety, or merely a misprint, set my pick as a Lakers sweep. Either way, I was totally wrong, and I knew it after the first two games of the series. Whatever. That’s the brilliant thing about sports opinions and predictions. You can say whatever you want, as vehemently as you like, and when you’re wrong, you just change your opinion the following week. Most of the people you read who do this actually have credentials or at least a mediocre playing career under their collective belt. Me, I hold a degree in theatre from a small, unheard of little university in Fort Worth. And yet, my opinion is just as valid as any of those guys. I mean, for Christ’s sake, the only Bizzo staffer who’s come close on their Finals prediction is Ted, and he watches Sex and the City.

2. I chose the Lakers because I was poised to win some money if they lost to the Pistons in the Finals. Of course, Boston finally mustered up some balls, and took over a series, and shattered my hopes of winning $140 in a friendly Finals bracket with some buddies. So, the Lakers were a spite choice. Can you blame me?

Now, onto my actual thoughts on the series. I’m going to go ahead and stick with the list format here:

1. Kobe hasn’t been spectacular. Of course, the series is still going, so I may eat my words here in the next couple of days, but on the whole, he hasn’t that one, big, memorable game yet. Granted, it’s not entirely his fault, for two reasons:

a) the Celtics defense. I’m still not a fan of the Celtics, but they deserve some credit here. They’ve thrown a lot of people at him. Irritating people, like James Posey. I still hate James Posey for his role on the Heat team that beat the Mavs in the 2006 Finals, but he’s had a a good series. He’s a hustle guy who doesn’t get enough publicity. I’m not saying he deserves the publicity, but he should get some recognition. KG gets all the attention for his “balls to the wall” attitude, but he shrinks in big moments. Posey, though not being asked to carry or lead the team, has been pretty clutch all series. From covering Kobe to chasing down loose balls, he may be the most consistent performer the C’s have had in the series.

b) Kobe hasn’t had consistent help. The Lakers are falling victim to, what I like to call, Mavs syndrome. The Mavs syndome is when a team has one transcendent talent, like Dirk or Kobe, and then a bunch of second fiddles. The upside is you have a bunch of different guys you can rely on night in and night out. The downside is that you never know who it’s going to be, which is fine in the regular season, but not in the playoffs. Furthermore, it’s easy to game plan against a team with Mavs syndrome. You gear your entire defense at the best player and you make the other guys beat you. The Warriors threw a ton of different looks at Dirk, never allowing him to settle into any kind of rhythm. They forced the other Mavs to shoulder the load, and they couldn’t do it. Same with Kobe and the Lakers. The Celtics have devoted all their attention to keeping Kobe out of the lane, and it’s worked. If Kobe doesn’t get into the lane, Gasol and Odom don’t get the wide open looks in the paint. They actually have to go in and work for their points, and we’ve seen how well that’s turned out.

2. In a clash of Western Medicine versus Eastern Medicine, the Doc is actually beating the Zen Master. Who would’ve thought? In my Finals prediction, I had Phil Jackson force choking Doc Rivers across the Staples Center. But it’s Phil Jackson whose actually done the choking. He just doesn’t seem like he’s into it anymore. He’s won the title 9 times already. I don’t even think it excites him anymore.

Doc, on the other hand, is kind of like the Eli Manning of the NBA. He’s good at his job, but he makes questionable decisions. Now that Eli’s won the Super Bowl, no one cares that he makes questionable decisions, because he put it all together at the right time.

Once.

That’s all Doc has to do. One title will wash away all the bad seasons and poor decisions he made before. I bet Bill Simmons would give him a free pass for a year if he just brought home this one title.

3. Random thought: How is it that the Celtics have had a tougher time with the Hawks and Cavs than they’ve had with the Pistons and Lakers? If the Celtics were in the Western Conference, they wouldn’t have made it out of the first round. Ok, maybe the first round, but definitely not the second round. That’s a strange thing to say about a team that’s one win from the title, but I have my reasons.

The Celtics would’ve drawn the Nuggets in the first round. The Nuggets are like a more battled tested, dysfunctional version of the Hawks. That series could’ve gone either way. Either the Nuggets would’ve caught fire offensively and taken advantage of the Celtics inability to finish games, or they would’ve completely imploded like they usually do in the playoffs. I think the latter is probably more correct. But in the second round they would’ve drawn the Jazz. With as poorly as the Celtics were playing in the first two rounds, the Jazz would’ve dismantled them. Dismantled may be a little strong, but I think they would’ve won the series in 6.

4. I’m just going to put this out there. I had a vision of the final game of the series ending with someone hitting a buzzer beater to win it. It didn’t specify which team did it.

Final note: I checked out on this year’s playoffs several weeks ago. I’m just looking forward to the draft. I’m hoping to hell the Mavs do something to get a pick in this year’s draft. They need some new blood or something.

Man, I can’t wait till football season starts.

The Sports Bizzo Podcast 06.09.08

Randall Simon Sausage Gate

Email us at TheSportsBizzo@gmail.com

By Ted…

Leon Powe wrote the story for the Boston Celtics in game two against LA. I’m not going to go into the overwhelming adversity Powe has overcome in his life; you can get that on Lifetime. What I will say is that he had a career-defining game in what may have otherwise been an only passable Celtics victory. The man had 21 points for only 15 minutes of game play; he was a master of drawing the foul and an excellent performer offensively, simply by being where the Lakers weren’t. (It didn’t hurt that the officials hate Kobe)

Ultimately Powe’s performance was precisely the kind of awakening the bench required for this team to win; Pierce has started these games off right, but it’s the bench that kept things rolling and kept the Lakers stunted. Posey played a similar role, though less dramatically, in their game one win, and of course he played a nice part with a final stretch in their lead just before the end of game two. There is far too much promise and experience sitting on the Boston bench for them to play like they have been this off-season. Prior to this match-up anyone would have cited the bench as a Lakers bonus, or at best a wash. Now we can see how a big game from the Celtics’ bench can mean the difference between winning and losing.

Anyone watching the third quarter and most of the fourth thought this was headed toward an embarrassing conclusion. The city of Boston is not unaccustomed to seeing teams humiliated, but usually the team lives there. Once you saw that the Lakers had trimmed a twenty+ deficit down to two, the last 38 seconds of the game were as exciting as they were confusing. But it was the one-two punch of Pierce and the bench (represented by Posey) that finished off the game.

Bottom line, Kobe never gave up on this game, and he will not give up on this series (Who knew he could score 30 points and still lose? Well besides me?). Anything could happen when this series moves to LA. Will the Celtics on-going struggle on the road follow them out West, or have the Lakers just begun to collapse? All I know is I would feel like a real douche-bag right now if I had counted out Boston and called this series for LA in 4.

Toph Miller

(In 5)

There’s no way Boston has a chance against Kobe and the Lakers. Sorry, just not possible. Kobe is not going to let anyone stand in his way this year. Plus, there’s no way the Celtics can play with the Lakers. Top to bottom, the Lakers are better. Plus, come on, Phil against Doc? Really? This is what everyone is so excited about?

Jon Mendoza

(In 4)

Christian Camerota

(In 6)

Kobe speaks Italian and I like that. Pau Gasol is cool because he just took an American name, dropped an “l” off the end, and called himself Spanish. Oh, and now all of a sudden everyone seems to be running over to hop on the Laker bandwagon…and I certainly am not going to be the last one to jump on that train.

Ted Meredith

(In 6)

There’s still reason to believe that Boston can play these games to win and maybe pull it off. The Lakers have been playing the Spurs whose game play couldn’t be more different than Boston’s; the Lakers are going to need time to adjust (time they don’t have) and Rivers is going to send as many looks at them as he can. The Celtic’s have proven two things in the series against the Pistons. One we already knew, they suck on the road. Two, they can win on the road when the fates align. The Boston Celtics will win the NBA finals in six games, case closed.

By Toph…

I have to clear something up real quick. It’s not that I became a huge Pistons – Spurs fan. Despite what I wrote (Boring Could Be Better), I’m not kidding myself that Lakers – Celtics is the dream NBA Finals match up. I know that there’s apparently “history” between the two teams. They’ve only faced each other, what, 10 times in the NBA Finals? Plus, everyone is going to watch, which is good for the league. My point in the whole “I-want-Spurs-Pistons” was that if the Mavs, who I’ll support till it kills me, needed the Spurs and/or the Pistons to make it the Finals. This way they’re new style of ball, half-court offense/hard-nose defense made sense to continue. But, I can still accept it, because the Spurs did knock out both the Suns and Hornets. And, if you think the Spurs facing the Suns, Hornets and Lakers consecutively didn’t have a major effect on them, then you’re kidding yourself. Also, I have other, more personal, reasons for rooting for the Pistons. My boss hails from Motor City, and when the Pistons, Red Wings or Lions lose, I lose (he’s an A’s fan oddly enough, so the Tigers are exempt).

But, enough of my incessant complaining. No one is more excited than me to see the Lakers go head to head against the Celtics. Why? Because I can’t wait to see another Boston team lose on the most important stage.

P.S. I hate Boston. I do, I hate everything about them. OK, so it’s not the city’s fault that their fans are about as ridiculous as it gets. Actually, I apologize to their fans, because technically I’m not sure I’ve ever met a real one. And, the one who might be the greatest Boston sports fan, Bill Simmons, I admire in sexy/manly way. The Boston fans I hate are the ones who have popped up all around me. I have a hard believing that there are this many people from Boston living in San Francisco and Dallas. I do, because I know for a fact that it isn’t true.

I, also, have a sad confession to make. Maybe this will give you a little bit more background into why I am so bitter, or why I am so shallow. I don’t know, but here it goes. My wife is a Boston fan. More a fan of the Red Sox, which I hate will all my being, but still a Boston fan. Why? Well, I give her some credit, because she’s actually been to Boston, and a handful of games, as well as having family there. So, she at least has some right to be a Boston fan. She even came this close to moving there. But, all these random, no ties to the teams, Patriots, Red Sox and Celtics fans can suck it. Hey, where are all the Bruin fans? Oh, that’s right, they’re not winning. Why would anyone root for them? Unless of course you’re actually from Boston, but, again, I’ve never met anyone who is.

That is why I’m excited for a Boston – LA finals. Because I’ll be shocked if this year’s Finals goes 5 games. The Lakers will own the Celtics; Kobe will own the Celtics. Look, the Lakers are just better than the Celtics. Rondo won’t stand a chance against Fisher and Farmar, and Sasha and Jesus Shuttlesworth are about even. Plus, you have Lamar Odem and Vladimir, who the Celtics can’t match up with. But, most importantly, Paul Pierce can’t hold Kobe, and KG can’t hold Gasol. It’s not possible.

We all KG isn’t what he’s billed to be. In the biggest game of the year, a closeout game on the other team’s home court he scored 16 and pulled down 6 rebounds. This was a guy who was considered an MVP hopeful? Granted, Gasol only had 10 in their final game, but he pulled 16 rebounds (not to mention the 5 assists and 4 blocks). This is against Tim Duncan, arguably the greatest center to ever play the game.

I just can’t see how the Celtics can take the series. Then again, I just love it when Boston teams fail. I could be biased.

The Sports Bizzo Podcast 05.25.08

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Vince Young VS Matt Leinart

Young…

Leinart…

NBA All Toke Team

1st Team

PG – Steve Nash

SG – Tracy McGrady

SF – Josh Howard

PF – Joakim Noah

C – Chris “Birdman” Anderson

2nd Team

PG – Stephon Marbury, Baron Davis, Damon Stoudamire

SG – Stephen Jackson (Playing 2 guard for Tokesakes)

SF – Carmelo Anthony

PF – Rasheed Wallace, Darius Miles, Calvin Booth

C – Francisco Elson, Marcus Camby

Honorable Mention – Onterrio Smith

By Ted…

My fellow Bizzoist may be entirely against me on this one, and not without reason, but let’s face it even after the Celtics’ inevitably abysmal performance in Detroit this will be a Lakers – Celtics final. Why? Because history demands it, and because NBA Commish David Stern will do anything short of playing the games himself to ensure it. And what’s more you will watch this series, even if only (as GQ magazine suggests) to avoid seeing Sex and The City the movie (a film whose ranking amongst working-class white males is almost as nightmarish as Barack Obama’s).

As much as I love the Mavs, their chance to win was two years ago against Miami. I remember screaming at them in the final games of the series, “if you a-holes don’t win now, don’t expect to be back next year!” I hate myself for being right, but they are a quickly aging team. Even more so now that phenomenal, if not somewhat geriatric, Jason Kidd is back on the team. Don’t get me wrong I want them to be the best, but I’ve been hurt too many times to believe.

Furthermore, I see no validation in having the Spurs show up in the finals. Being from Texas does not make us pals Tim Duncan, so stop calling me! San Antonio is the taint of Texas whose biggest draw is an open sewage line crowded with the kinds of restaurants catering to people more interested in buying t-shirts than cuisine, and an historical landmark commemorating a sobering defeat… to Mexico. Remember the Alamo? Yeah, we lost, get over it. So maybe I’m a little bitter. (My apologies to anyone with the unfortunate burden of loving San Antonio).

Are the Spurs and Pistons generally underappreciated teams? Sure, but they’ve been to the playoffs plenty in recent years and a rematch would prove nothing to me. Would they be good games? Yes. Would they play really hard and show lot’s of team spirit? Yes, Disney could easily make a movie about either one of these big-hearted underdogs. Are their teams built from good draft picks and unlikely pick-ups instead of shady trades? Absolutely, Kevin McHale couldn’t wait to give Boston a chance with KG and the Lakers got Gasol for a pair of Hannah Montana tickets and a gift card to Chili’s. Is any of this going to stop the march of history? Unlikely, and besides if the teams that deserve to go went every year, then Miami would be banished from the game and we’d be talking about the New York Knickerbockers dynasty.
But more to the point, you have the chance to see Kobe Bryant, a man who at the start of the season wanted to be traded so badly he was doing the paperwork himself, play against Kevin Garnett who’s been dying to play for a real NBA team his entire career. Plus you get all that bonus footage of Magic and Larry Byrd eating nachos and hitting on cheerleaders.

So open a beer and tell your grankle-pappy that you’re going to see the biggest rivalry of the NBA played out in this year’s final. But remember history is just as much about the tragedies as it is the victories.

By Jon…

The Tea Party is over, Boston. Now we can all move on to the other famous event that befell your fair city: The Boston Massacre.

Through the first two rounds of the playoffs the Celtics have done an admirable job of defending their home court, going 9-0 against the Hawks, Cavs and Pistons. But the streak was broken last night, when the Pistons showed the Celtics how a real playoff team plays when it matters.

Outside of Beantown, the Celtics have been downright abysmal, losing every road game they’ve played in the postseason. Fortunately, for them, they earned the number one seed in the regular season, and thus, have been able to eek out the first two series.

But the Pistons nabbing Game 2 on the road may have baked Boston’s beans for good. Now the Celtics have to go into, and I hate this phrase by the way, a “hostile environment”, and try to steal one back from a team that’s been to the Eastern Conference Finals six years in a row. (Actually, the Palace at Auburn Hills may be the only arena you could call a hostile environment, see: Melee at the Palace).

You see, Boston, the Pistons have got it right, rather than talking about winning all the time, they actually win, consistently, and with a coach who maybe just as inept as Doc Rivers.

The Celtics should remember that history has a tendency to repeat itself. The Boston Massacre wasn’t as much a massacre as it was a catalyst for change, galvanizing the revolutionaries in their collective effort to liberate the colonies from England’s control.

The Celtics losing at home will serve as a catalyst as well, though it will merely liberate them from the shackles of postseason basketball for the rest of the summer.

The Sports Bizzo Podcast 05.18.08

Some Links from the Podcast…

Toph’s Bay to Breakers Photos

Rad-on-DVD.com