Albany Legends: Dominating the IBL

The Albany Legends are currently on a 5-game winning streak and have a total record of 8-1. They are swishin' and dishin' and their team chemistry is off the chain.

Their last 3-game series against the Holland Blast was anything but close. They won all 3 games scoring at least 140 points each game and beating them by at least 18 points each game.

-Their starting point guard, former NBA player Kenny Satterfield (the Allen Iverson of the IBL), currently leads the league in assists per game (9.4 apg).
-DeAndre Thomas, the Shaq of the IBL, is 11th in the league in rebounds per game (9.2 rpg).
-Damone Morris, the Dwayne Wade of IBL, averages 20.6 points per game and is ranked 21th in the league in ppg.
-The team has 8 players who average at least 10 points per game.
-Other strong contributors to the recent sucess of the Legends include Gordon Klaiber, Lloyd Clinton, Scott McRae, Rashaun Freeman, Chris Grant, and Lloyd Johnson.

I guess the Legends are doing just fine without Toby Smith.

NBA: Atlanta Hawks eliminated from playoffs

The Atlanta Hawks had a good season this year. They had 53 wins and 29 losses during the regular season and finished in 3rd place in the Eastern Conference. Jamal Crawford won the Sixth Man of the Year Award, Josh Smith was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team, and Joe Johnson was named to the All-NBA Third Team.

They started the playoffs well, beating the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round, even though it went to Game 7. In the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals, the Orlando Magic dominated them. The Hawks didn't win a game that series and finished with a 2010 Playoff record of 4-7.

Though they did go out fighting. They may have lost Game 4 to the Magic 98-84. They finished the game with a rally. The score was 98-77, but then the Hawks went on a 7-0 run to end the game. It really didn't matter in the end, but it must have cheered up the fans in Atlanta a little bit.

Now the Magic will play the Celtics or the Cavs in the East and the Suns will play either the Lakers or the Jazz.

Do I Agree With the NBA Award Picks?

Some of the awards for the 2009-2010 NBA season were given to the right people. Some of them weren't.

MVP (Actual Winner): LeBron James
MVP (My Pick): LeBron James. He's the best player in the NBA right now. Kobe has lost his throne. Just look at the numbers that LeBron is putting up and how good his team is doing. This pick wasn't hard to make.

Sixth Man of the Year (Actual Winner): Jamal Crawford
Sixth Man of the Year (My Pick): Jamal Crawford. It's as simple as this. He put up great numbers and helped his team while coming off the bench. Plus, Manu Ginobili and Jason Terry have already won the award in the past.

Rookie of the Year (Actual Winner): Tyreke Evans
Rookie of the Year (My Pick): Brandon Jennings. Tyreke may have put up better season averages than Jennings, but did Tyreke ever score 55 points in a game? I think not. Plus, Brandon Jennings helped his team make the playoffs and force the series to Game 7 against the Hawks. Tyreke put up good stats, but didn't seem to help his team much. The Kings didn't even come close to making the playoffs with 25 wins and 57 losses during the regular season.

Defensive Player of the Year (Actual Winner): Dwight Howard
Defensive Player of the Year (My Pick): Gerald Wallace. Wallace was right up there with Howard in rebounds per game and blocks per game. Wallace even beat Howard in steals per game. Plus, Howard won it last year and I'm not a huge fan of players winning the same award over and over again.

What do you think?

Baller Obituary: Eddie Griffin

Eddie Griffin was a baller. A 6'10" power forward who played well on the court, but had a lot of off-court troubles.

Basketball-wise he was good. After one year at Seton Hall earning the Big East Rookie of the Year award, he was drafted into the NBA by the Houston Rockets in 2001. He played 2 solid seasons for the Rockets averaging about 8 points per game.

Then his off-court troubles really started affecting him. Griffin missed the entire 2003-2004 season due to alcohol problems and was released by the Rockets after missing practices and airplane flights. He then signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves and put up 7.5 points per game and 6.5 rebounds per game during the 2004-2005 season. During the next 2 seasons, the last 2 seasons of his NBA career, his stats got noticably worse. In 2006, he crashed his SUV while driving distracted. In 2007, the Timberwolves released him because of his off-court issues.

On August 17, 2007, Griffin crashed his car into a moving train. His body was badly burned and had to be identified with dental records. An autopsy showed that his body had 3 times the alcohol limit in Texas.

In Memory of Eddie Jamaal Griffin (May 30, 1982 - August 17, 2007). You'll always be remembered.

NBA: What's Next for Rafer Alston?

Rafer Alston has played a respectable 11-season NBA career. He's played with the Milwaukee Bucks, Toronto Raptors, Houston Rockets, Orlando Magic, New Jersey Nets, and the Miami Heat. He played in the NBA Finals with the Magic in 2009. Is his NBA career done?

Let's recap the season: He started off the season with the Nets. He played 27 games with the Nets and averaged 9.7 points per game and 3.9 assists per game. He then signed with the Miami Heat halfway through the season. Alston played 25 games with the Heat and averaged 6.6 points per game and 2.9 assists per game. He then dissapeared from the team mysteriously and made little to no contact with the organization. In March, the Miami Heat suspended him for the rest of the season. He's produced no news since then except speculation that he might retire.

Since he's my favorite NBA player, I hope he comes back of course. I think he should sign with the New York Knicks. He's just as good as Chris Duhon, Eddie House, and Toney Douglas. Plus, NYC is where he was born and raised.

Or if no NBA team will take him, he should hook back up with And1 and get the mixtape tour back together. I'd see them play. I also would buy an And1 Mixtape Volume 11.

So Rafer, if your reading this, NBA or And1: choose one!

Washington Wizards: Potential?

I know what your thinking. "The Wizards suck! They had a 26-56 record last season." But I have a strong feeling that their record will improve next season for these reasons:

-Josh Howard suffered a season-ending injury 4 games after being traded from the Mavs, so they were without him. He'll be back next season and if they sign him, he would make a good starting small forward.

-The gun incident got Gilbert Arenas suspended for the rest of the season, so they were without him. Besides being on probation, he'll be available to play with the Wizards if they still want him. He'll be their starting shooting guard.

-If the Wizards can get lucky in the draft lottery and get the number 1 pick, they can get John Wall and he could be their starting point guard.

-Andray Blatche, Mike Miller, and Al Thornton did good last season and will presumably do good next season if they are still with the team.

-After the big trade they did that cleared up a good amount of cap space, they will have a good chance at signing a all-star free agent. Here are some possiblities: Lebron James, Joe Johnson, Amare Stoudemire, Chris Bosh, Dwayne Wade, Jermaine O'Neal, Ray Allen......

-Cedric Jackson: He improved throughout his rookie season. In 5 games with the Cleveland Cavs, he averaged 0.2 points per game. After that he averaged 2.3 points per game in 3 games with the San Antonio Spurs. Lastly, he averaged a season high 3.0 points per game with the Washington Wizards. Next season, he could be a 2nd string, 3rd string, or maybe even the starting point guard.

I think that with a little luck and some good decisions by the team's GM, they can be playoff and possibly championship contenders for the 2010-2011 season and seasons to come. Who's with me?

NBA: Playoff picks not so good

I filled out a playoff bracket before the playoffs started and was confident about my picks, let's see the results:

Eastern Conference
1 Cavs vs. 8 Bulls (I picked Cavs) WIN
2 Magic vs. 7 Bobcats (I picked Bobcats) LOSS
3 Hawks vs. 6 Bucks (like both teams) TIE
4 Celtics vs. 5 Heat (I picked Heat) LOSS

Western Conference
1 Lakers vs. 8 Thunder (like both teams) TIE
2 Mavs vs. 7 Spurs (I picked Mavs) LOSS
3 Suns vs. 6 Blazers (I picked Blazers) LOSS
4 Nuggets vs. Jazz (I picked Nuggets) LOSS

I had 1 good predction, 5 bad ones, and 2 ties. Not so good for a basketball expert like me, but at least my finals match-up is still alive. I have the Cavs beating the Lakers in the 2010 NBA Finals. LeBron deserves a championship, plus Kobe got it last year.

Albany Legends: Toby Smith gone

I live 30 minutes away from the Wasington Avenue Armory, which is where the Albany Legends of the IBL play. I am a die-hard fan and try to go to every game I can. Though, lately the Legends have made bad decisions and lost a game for the first time ever. They started off their inaugural season 3-0. Everything was good. But then they got a new player out of UAlbany and got rid of Toby Smith and Neil Edwards. It's not so much Neil Edwards I care about, but Toby Smith. Smith is so cool. If you saw him, you'd know what I mean. He wasn't the best player on the team or anything, but he was my favorite player on the team. They lost their first game of the season last night and it proved my point. The Legends are 3-0 with Toby Smith and 0-1 without him. Even though my favorite player on the team is gone, I'm still gonna go to every game I possibly can, but I lost a little respect for the Legends. In Albany Legends Memory of Toby Smith: 3 games, 38 points (12.7 points per game), 13 rebounds (4.3 rebounds per game), and 5 assists (1.7 assists per game). Toby Smith, you'll be missed!