The Durantula drops that thun-thun-Thun der in OKC, Rob City in Memphis, and Playoff drama unfolds
And just like that, all complaints about a lock-out affected season went out the window...



The Playoffs are here y'all! Only the first weekend of the opening round games and already the drama has begun to unfold.  Kobe may have conceded it to him, but Kevin Durant proved why he was able to take yet ANOTHER scoring title this regular season, sinking his 2nd game winning dagger of the year on the Mavericks in epic dramatic fashion. More impressive than the actual one handed step-back shot was the Maverick's defense on the shot over some really good on ball defense.  The Mavericks are really hurting without Tyson Chandler anchoring the D this year, but I don't think his presence would have made a difference that night; just another case of good D, better O. speaking of Oh, and in case you turned the game off prematurely, or was just under a rock last night.


Biggest question for the Clips this season was the experience factor.  Would they be able to muster the composure and poise it takes to take down a legit playoff contender down the stretch? Is this their most epic comeback of the year? Memphis was fresh off a 12 game home winning streak and came out ON FIRE only to have their hearts ripped out in the 4th quarter.  I watched the recap of the 4th quarter, and have never seen a more systematic meltdown in my life.  It must be code blue over in Memphis right now because they were literally 8 minutes away form one of the biggest playoff victories in their franchise history, and they have effectively negated their home court advantage.

Have we just watched the Clippers grow up before our eyes in 48 minutes of game time? The whole dynamic of this series has definitely shifted in our favor.  No, its not Lob City...today it's ROB CITY, BITCHES! Let's GO and bring home another W before coming back to LA!

Why I Hate the Lakers

Just let me start this by saying I am from LA, but my father raised me as a Celtic fan. Pat Riley was the devil, and Larry Bird was Jesus in my house, so my allegiances are somewhat hereditary. But, that was just the beginning of my die hard hate for the Lakers. What continues to make them easy to hate for me are 3 things:
(1) Kobe's general douche'like demeanor, and sore loser mentality of his team (this blog may be named PoorSports, but believe it or not a bitch made 7 ft center taking a cheap shot on a 5 ft point gaurd is actually looked down upon)

(2) the common Laker fan's fair weatheredness/ignorance about basketball/general shittiness as a sports fan (yes, words absolutely had to be made up to describe this), and
(3) The Lakers fans' incessant use of "haters gon' hate".

To elaborate on 3...Far and away, this is the most abused phrase used by a Lakers fan. To a Lakers fan there are only two types of people in the world: Lakers fans and haters. It drives me nuts because they indiscriminately insert the phrase everywhere; it's their end all be all response to anything. For instance, Fat Tsai may ask, "How you gonna complain about teams making trades Laker fans? You got Pau Gasol for Kwame Brown!" Or, "Why is it wrong for everyone in the NBA to flop besides Derek Fisher?"

"Hater's gon' hate" follows this question almost immediately every time. If you're going to use the term, at least know what hating is! Hating is being so critical of someone that you defy rationality in your assessments. A good example of being a hater is the one saying this:

"Man, LeBron James sucks at basketball 'cause he hasn't got a ring. Even if he does get one it's not going to count since he left Cleveland to get it."

Really? Back-to-back MVP's, 2x All Star Game MVP, '04 RotY, '08 Scoring Champion, 7 time NBA All Star. Really guys you need to get off the hate train 'cause it's taking you nowhere but Clown Town, USA. And not acknowledging a Championship because someone teams up with another good player to get it? How many Chips would Kobe have if he didn't have Shaq's coat tails to ride on? The answer is none. Where were the Lakers after Kobe forced them to trade away Shaq? The answer is the Lottery.

So back to my point about hating. I would be a hater if I said Kobe is not a great basketball player. He truly is one of the best SG's to ever lace 'em up in the NBA. But it's not hating to say that after he cried for the most dominant franchise center to be traded away, he then whined about having no help and asked to be traded himself. Additionally, a guy you may know as a pretty decent coach, Phil Jackson, was so repulsed by Kobe's douchery that he retired just to write a book about it. It wasn't until Jerry West infiltrated the Grizzlies and traded franchise PF Pau Gasol for "starting" C Kwame Brown that Phil was able to orchestrate another back-to-back run. This isn't hating, it's the truth.

So when I watched the Lakers' first preseason game this past Monday vs. the Clippers, I knew a "hater's gon' hate" moment was imminent. The Clippers had routed the Lakers in a flurry of dunks, 3-pointers, and blocks which eventually led to Kobe injuring his right wrist. The new-look Clippers are the headline of this hectic and short preseason, and the buzz has turned to full blown mania. People everywhere are joining the ranks of Lob City. A real fan of basketball and LA would be thrilled to see this happening because this is great for both basketball and Los Angeles. Wait, we have TWO strong teams repping LA now?! The Clippers for once aren't just part of the running joke that is Donald Sterling? If there was ever healthy competition, this would be it right?



Wrong. Instead of paying respect to the team that flat-out outplayed them, and looking within themselves for legitimate ways to improve as a team, they bitch and moan like a couple of bitter basketball wives who's husbands left them for greener pastures. Overly critical? check. Completely irrational explainations? double check. You can find the article here from ESPN Los Angeles that Matt Barnes, who made his career off of getting underneath his opponents' skin is saying "all the celebration after dunks and all that kind of stuff, I mean, I just kind of think it looks amazing and it makes 'SportsCenter,' but I mean, let's just play basketball." Oh, you mean like this Matthew?


Staying true to the Lakers way of poor sportsmanship, a heated Barnes committed a flagrant 1 halfway through the 3rd. A day later, and he still has failed to shake the hate bug, complaining that Griffin's a flopper. Lakers fans take notes, cause when I say no to the mustard on my hotdog it is in fact not hating, and thus the "haters gon' hate response" is not appropriate. Matt Barnes complaining about all the celebrating, and then saying "[The Clippers] are excited about their season which they should be. They got a very talented team but uh let's jus' play basketball" is a 'haters gon' hate' moment.

Off Season Shenanigans

My cousin shared this trailer of Peyton & Eli's latest endeavor in entertainment, leading me to think:
A) Football is not coming back anytime soon
B) The Manning bros. are both talented and funny as hell
C) Did I mention, football is not coming back anytime soon?! WTF am I supposed to write about here the US Open?! BOOO

"Criticizing" The King

First I would like to give a shout out to the two other contributors to this post, Fat Tsai and Kyu Hwan. Two funny guys, great writers and very knowledgeable about their sports. All three of us come from different areas (especially me), have different teams and players that we all root for and root against. Sometimes well all agree, often times we wont. It will be a fun ride to see how our blog grows and to get the opinions of three sports fanatics with very different views...

I start with this...

LeBron James. The NBAs most watched and criticized player, maybe ever. A guy who seems to be damed if he does and damned if he doesn't. He is this generations NBA athlete to watch. To label this guy as a player who can not close games, is far fetched. He put his team on his back countless years in Cleveland, got them to the NBA finals and was able to get to the playoffs every single year. All doing so with Mo Williams as his "all-star" sidekick. The guy cant close because of why?...He didn't beat a Spurs team in the NBA Finals that had a more complete team? Because he was able to close out a Pistons team that had been to the Eastern Conference Finals 4 straight seasons the year before Bron's Cavs played them? Because he was finally able to close out the Celtics this year in the playoffs and then the team with the MVP and best record in the league, Chicago Bulls? Does it ultimately come down to him not winning a championship? Well to win a championship you need a team, and LeBron has never had a complete team around him. He has never had a sidekick to rely on, just in case he is having an off game (it happens they are human). This isn't and individual sport, and yes teams go as their best players go, but on some nights guys just dont have it. So now that he is in Miami, people say he is deferring to Wade in the finals...Instead what LeBron is doing is what any other player would do, expose your biggest mismatch. His presence on the floor causes mismatches by itself and he is able to do everything else besides just scoring to be effective. He is a guy who can score, is willing to pass, rebound and guard the best guy on the floor at any given time...only a few guys in the NBA can do all that and still be the best player on the court. By the way how did all those "he cant close games" talks start up again right after he closed out the Celtics and the Bulls? If he wanted to try to win games all by himself and be the guy to take the last second shot every single time, he would've stayed in Cleveland. He is smarter than that and wants to win, so thats why he "teamed" up with Wade and Bosh. All the greats had a second go to guy, Jordan and Pippen, Shaq and Kobe, Magic and Kareem, Bird and Parish/McHale, the Celtics Big 3, and on and on...So the question is what if LeBron would have had Bosh and Wade come over in a trade to the Cavs? Would people still be criticizing the big 3 because they were teamed up together? Some of the greats were more fortunate than others and their teams made the right moves. In sports, your years are precious and if critics are going to ultimately judge your career based on how many championships you win, you better go to the team that will give you the best possible chance. In professional sports there is no such thing as true loyalty, because a team will cut a player or trade them without hesitation, so lets not bring loyalty into this. Like everyone says, its a business, and in a business you do what is best for you. Yes we all know the decision was a bad move, but lets face it everyone wanted to know and this past off-season was all about where he was going to go. He gave into the hype and although it was a bad decision, it is what it is. That doesn't make him a bad person or a villan. LeBron seems to be a guy who is portrayed by a lot of NBA fans incorrectly. He isn't a guy who gets into trouble in the off season, he is not a guy who is cursing out refs so clearly that everyone can see (that is my Kobe burn), he is not a guy who taunts fans or gets into other guys faces...he is a player who seems to be loving what he does and just wants to win...lets stop the LeBron hate, and start to enjoy this man who in the end could possibly be known as the greatest. It's a stretch, but to say that he doesn't have the tools to get there is a lie.

Worst TV commercials during the Game

Watching this is almost as much torture hearing Christina Aguilera sing our anthem or seeing the pounds of cake frosting Cameron Diaz puts on her face. Here's what I would have done if I was the coach at each level.

NBA - This doesn't ever happen in the pros. Nor will it ever.

COLLEGE - Alex "I touched it, it's their ball coach."
Coach Kyu Hwan "You trying to throw this game Alex? Some gambler pay you off? Sit your ass on the bench, I'm going to report you to the NCAA and tell the university to revoke your scholarship. Expect a one way trip back to the PJs"

HIGH SCHOOL - Alex "I touched it, it's their ball coach."
Coach Kyu Hwan "I didn't see you touch the ball"
Alex "But I did coach"
Coach Kyu Hwan "You calling me a liar in front of the whole team Alex? Sit your ass on the bench. Carlos, you're going in for Alex."

MIDDLE SCHOOL - I would not be caught dead coaching middle school unless my nephews were on the team. Coaching middle school is for Catholic priests and pedophiles only.

ELEMENTARY - The one level where I would let this act of douchebaggery slide. Children are so honest and pure, it's probably the only situation where I would laugh and smile at Alex and reward everyone with pizza and ice cream after the game.

LESSON LEARNED You don't out courtesy your opponents you out hustle them. You don't borrow bags in baseball, you steal them. True Sportsmanship is playing hard and not trying to hurt your opponent on purpose. Kids need to learn that just like family, your team should come first.

My roast on the snowflake formerly known as Ice Cube.

I know this is not sports related but it's definitely played during ball games. Seeing this 30 second spot was truly a good day because now everyone knows what I knew all along. Ice Cube is a sellout bitch. Trying to act hard in a beer commercial like trash talking in badminton, fist pounding your chest while wearing a number 5 Boston Celtics jersey or making a movie about a family vacation gone wrong. Best part about this spot is he doesn't even know he's set up as a sausage loving catcher by saying "Did you just snow on me?" Are you serious Ice Cube? Did you just ask Iceman if he just climaxed on you? Because you have white stuff all over your face. While you might look angry getting jizzed on, you sure weren't doing anything about it. Why is Ice Cube so fat now? Trying to change his name like all the other whack rappers. Changing his name to Ice Block and praying for a Boyz in da Hood sequel as Dough Boy? 'Dre obviously doesn't invite you to the gym because he doesn't want to kick it with you. Obviously life's not fair because God took Easy and not you. Leave the product pimping to not as annoying Snoop and swagger cameos to Dre because you should just stick to "Are We There Yet" sequels when Tyler Perry can't think of anything to produce. It's almost Summer Time and I think your cube just melted.

Fat, JJ and me will be serving them fresh daily so check up on us when you're bored at work, #2 on your smartphone or at jury duty. Where ever it might be, we'll be here to entertain you. If you like what you read please share us with your friends that are random strangers to us. Thanks! GO LIONS! GO SPURS GO!

DeShawn Stevenson, you're an idiot

DeShawn Stevenson calls LBJ and Wade 'great actors'

Complaining about calls after a game where all the calls went your own teams way? DeShawn have you forgot what happend to you in Washington after you called Lebron "overrated"?
Some stats for yo ass, Stevenson.

Points in the Paint: MIA - 40, DAL - 22
Fouls: MIA 27, DAL 14
FTM-A: MIA 12-15, DAL 22-27

Do the math, DeShawn. Miami doubled your team's points in the paint, while drawing HALF of the totals in fouls and free throws. And, THEY'RE the actors?

If you wanna talk about being overrated, here's some more numbers for you to crunch, Deshawn.
Game 3, Starting SG DeShawn Stevenson:
Minutes played: 14
FGM-A: 1-1, 3PM-A 1-1
Gay ass 3 point celebration after your lone shot M-A: 1-1
1 reb, 1 ast

Starting shooting gaurd getting 14 minutes of run in a 48minute game, boasting a quadruple-single stat line (pts, reb, ast, gay ass 3 point celebrations)?

Yeah, Lebron's way overrated, DeShawn. I'm done here.


 

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