For the most part, NBA logos are pretty generic. And we’re at the point in our countdown where that’s about all you can say about some of these. I mean, the Bobcats’ logo isn’t as ridiculous as some, but it certainly isn’t all that special either. Hell, this could just as easily belong to an arena football team except that they don’t spell “Bobcats” with a “Z.”
But if you ever wondered what Garfield would be like on meth, look no further. You think you hate Mondays? This dude tears Mondays a new asshole. And then he crashes on your couch for three days, pissing himself and moaning about how the Russians stole his 10-speed. And you keep asking him to tell funny stories about how he’s a cat but he LOVES lasagna, only all he does is threaten you with a Rambo knife that he keeps in his boot. And the only “Jons” that come around aren’t some lovable, goofy owner so much as scary guys with too many piercings who really like the feel of a cat’s tongue on places no cat’s tongue should ever go. And after that, he always disappears for days at a time until the cops find him punching your car because “it was mocking him.” Then you have to bail him out of jail or risk having your house burnt down again.
Oh, that crazy cat.
So, anyway, like I said, it’s a pretty generic logo.
Morgan O’Rourke is an editor and writer whose love of basketball is directly proportional to the success of the Knicks. As a result, he misses Latrell Sprewell a little more than he should.
Of course, we shouldn’t overplay two random January games: The Hornets are the second best team in the West, Chris Paul was/is sensational (32 points and 15 assists last night with 0 turnovers) and David West went off in the fourth quarter (he scored 15 of his 40 points in the final period). And while the Celtics have now lost five of their last seven, the team’s 27-2 start didn’t just happen on it’s own. Then again, when you start off 27-2 and, less than two weeks later, you’re not even in first place anymore, there is certainly some reason for concern — particularly when your most even-keeled veteran is giving other teams “The Blueprint” on how to beat you.
I mean, the Lakers and Celtics are still clearly two of the three best teams in the League (along with Cleveland). That’s still a certainty.
But the stratospheric gap between those top three and the next five is starting to look a lot slimmer than it did before Santa showed up. And based on Upset Sunday (three days ago when New York beat Boston, Washington beat Cleveland, Toronto beat Orlando, and Memphis beat Dallas), even some of the bottom feeders are reaffirming the fact that no team is Teflon.
So without trying to overstate this into one of the eleventy billion “What’s wrong with the Celtics?” stories that will undoubtedly be published today, it is notable that there are five pretty good teams in the East (Boston, Cleveland, Orlando, Detroit and Atlanta — and maybe six depending on the progression in Miami) and that the Celtics are going to have to beat at least two of them in the Playoffs to give us the seemingly-inevitable-two-weeks-ago Finals rematch with L.A.
I'll be impressed if you can name three of these guys. (Photo by Kent Smith/NBAE via Getty Images)
I generally like Darren Rovell over at CNBC’s SportsBiz and today he has some thoughts on why the triumvirate of steam-rolling destruction that is the Cs, Lakers and Cavs is not gonna be a good thing for overall League-wide revenue. (via Fang’s Bites)
The dominance of these teams is actually the worst thing the league could have wished for. Why? Because the more teams you have at the .500 mark or better, the better off the league is in terms of convincing people to come out and watch a game or view it on television.
And as any with good argument in the Power Point world in which we live, he has a chart to prove it:
YEAR WINNING PCT OF ABOVE .500 TEAMS
2008-09 .662
2007-08 .632
2006-07 .604
2005-06 .639
2004-05 .604
2003-04 .598
2002-03 .598
2001-02 .595
2000-01 .606
Okay. That might not prove anything, but the logic makes since that very few people are gonna give a shit in March about a Bucks/Kings game. Of course, no one would have cared about that game anyway, but I think the point is that because so few teams have any shot to dethrone the Big Three, no one is going to care about a Bulls/Heat game either — at least not enough to show up and drop forty bucks on a ticket.
Or, in his own words:
I didn’t go back any further [than 2000-01 in that chart], but there’s a chance that, through the first quarter of the season, we’ve never had this type of disparity ever before. In this economy, I don’t think that’s a good thing.
And if you subscribe to downtrodden themes of last night’s 60 Minutes report that the mortgage crisis is only really about half over and the United States is in for a solid three- to four-year economic slowdown, Rovell’s views are certainly troublesome for those small market teams that are struggling this season.
So Kings, Pacers and Bobcats, we’re looking directly at you.
Dude. Calm down. You’re not the healthiest guy in the world and you have kids and a family to think about. It’s only a game — there’s really no reason to get this carried away. Control yourself. On the other hand, this off-the-handle rant will at least make for a good Coors Light commercial. (via NESW Sports)
Congratulations, Bobcat Fans. You can now sleep soundly with knowledge of the fact that the guy who drafted Kwame first overall, Adam Morrison third overall and DJ Augustin ninth overall is ready to step up and purchase the whole franchise if BET owner Robert Johnson ever decides to sell the team.
“When Bob wants to step aside, I have no problem stepping in and saying, ‘Hey, look, I’d love to take control of this franchise,’ ” Jordan said in a story on the newspaper’s web site. “But Bob, he’s not at that point now.”
The fifth-year franchise has never made the playoffs and Johnson has acknowledged losing millions on the team, which has struggled to draw fans. Jordan bought a minority stake in the Bobcats in 2006 and Johnson gave him total control over the team’s basketball operations.
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