South Bracket

Survivor: Kentucky

Sleeper: UCONN

Show Stopper: Anthony Davis

Upset Alert: Xavier over Notre Dame

I’m not sure how the NCAA Tournament selection committee does this, but somehow Kentucky seems to be in the 2nd toughest bracket. They have a potential second round match up vs. #9 seed UCONN and I think UCONN is one of the teams in the country that can match Kentucky when it comes to athleticism. With that said, Kentucky is the toughest team in the tournament. Anthony Davis is the best shot blocker I’ve seen since Marcus Camby played for Coach John Calipari at UMASS. The #2 seed Duke is at the bottom of this bracket as well and you can never disregard them, but to me they haven’t seemed as strong this year, case in point, their loss to Florida State in the ACC Semifinals.  Baylor is athletic enough to advance and knock off Duke. I still think Kentucky survives.

West Bracket

Survivor: Missouri

Sleeper: Louisville

Show Stopper: Darius Johnson-Odom

Upset Alert: Louisville over Michigan State

I haven’t seen Missouri enough to really say I trust my pick here. But all the experts seem to rave about Missouri.  The Tigers put five guys in double figures per game led by the 3rd leading scorer in the conference in Marcus Denmon.  They led the Big 12 Conference in scoring, scoring margin, free throw percentage, field goal percentage, assists, assists-turnover ratio, turnover ratio and steals.  So for all you non-basketball fans that means they can score, they press and they run.   The problem for Missouri is, this is the toughest bracket.  Louisville won the Big East Tournament and with their uptempo, pressing style they can beat anyone in the country.  Marquette is a tough team with great guards, including First-Team All-Big East Player Darius Johnson-Odom.  They also have a beast down low in Big East Player of the year Jae Crowder.   Michigan State is the #1 Seed and Coach Tom Izzo seems to thrive in March.  I think they lose and Missouri survives.  For some reason I can’t seem to pick against a team that dominates their conference in so many categories.

Midwest Bracket

Survivor: North Carolina

Sleeper: Georgetown

Show Stopper: Kendall Marshall

Upset Alert: None

This is the weakest bracket of the tournament.  I think North Carolina has a  clear path right to the final four.  The one question will be the health of one of their best players in John Henson.  Their loss in the ACC tournament to Florida State I believe will help them refocus.  Kendall Marshall is the best point guard in the country.  He is averaging 9.7 assists per game.  Harrison Barnes has never really lived up to the hype he came out of high school with, but he still averages 17.4 points per game and shoots 37% from the 3-pt line.  This means at anytime he can explode.  Georgetown is in this bracket and they can frustrate anybody with their deliberate and efficient Georgetown offense.  Jason Clark is a solid guard and Henry Simms is a much improved big man who can pass for the Hoyas.  But for some reason they always freighten me in the tournament.  I think they are a weak #3 seed that still can do some damage.  I know doesn’t make much sense, but neither does the tournament. Kansas is the #2 seed and they are known for breaking brackets to pieces.  I wouldn’t ride with the Jayhawks, just because of their history in the Dance.  The #5 seed Temple can score the basketball and has some good guards that could possibly take them to the Sweet 16 in Ramon Moore, Kalif Wyatt and Juan Fernandez, but they have to get back to defending and didn’t look impressive down the stretch of the regular season or in Atlantic 10 tournament.   All in all, UNC survives on their talent, history and their coaching strength.

East Bracket

Survivor: Syracuse

Sleeper: Cincinnati

Show Stopper: Dion Waiters

Upset Alert: Harvard over Vanderbilt

Don’t believe the hype!!! Everyone who has Syracuse dead in the water because of the loss of their center and Big East Defensive Player of the Year Fab Melo, I would say not so fast.   Of course, I am no fool and Fab Melo’s presence in the middle of that zone is a huge benefit.  But with that said, I think everyone makes too much of the middle of that 2-3 zone.  It’s a great defense, but Syracuse gets it’s steals on the perimeter and in the corner.  Also, everyone fails to realize that Syracuse can score!!!  They always have been able to run with teams and will destroy you in transition.  They were 2nd in the Big East in scoring.  The Orange will now press more and will be quicker.  Dion Waiters is an unstoppable scorer, who could easily go off for 30 points.  They are long and athletic, even without Melo.  I still have them in my Final Four.   Ohio State is a tough team at the bottom of the bracket, but Florida State is hot and just in case you didn’t see the ACC Tournament, they beat North Carolina and Duke.  How many teams have ever done that in one year?  Watch that Harvard vs. Vanderbilt game.  Even though President Obama didn’t go with his Alma Mater, I think they could possibly upset Vandy.  They are big and more athletic than a normal Ivy League team  Cincy is also a dangerous draw.  Yancy Gates is a skilled big man inside and the Cincy guards can hold their own while shooting lots of threes.  In the end, through all the distractions of the year from the Bernie Fine fiasco, to the positive drug tests, to the Fab Melo suspension, I think Syracuse rises up, comes together and advances.

In my Final Four I have Kentucky vs. Missouri and Syracuse vs UNC.  I think Kentucky and Syracuse advance, giving the country the match up we all were waiting for.  I think Kentucky prevails only because of the loss of Fab Melo for the Orange.  But in the end, honestly, nobody ever knows.  The Madness can not be predicted, which is why it is great.  Which is why we have named it so.  Even when your bracket is being blown to smithereens.  Even when your team that you had in the Final Four gets knocked out of the tournament, you just shake your head and you keep watching.  Why? Because you don’t want to miss that upset, that big shot that one day you’ll be watching on television 20 years from now.  You’ll be able to say, I saw that game live!!  I remember when he hit that shot.  It is always an honor to be a part of the Madness.

John Celestand on the 76ers Post Game Live Show

Check out my interview about Life After Basketball below.

John Celestand on The Post Game Plan

For I didn’t know anyone personally that perished in the towers.  But so many others did.  So many of my friends had aunts, uncles, cousins, close friends who would never make it out.  I remember thinking years after 9/11 that I wouldn’t revisit this feeling every year.  My heart, my soul and my mind couldn’t take it.  But I would be wrong.  And on this day before the ten year anniversary, my heart is probably heaviest.

For we all remember where we were when the news hit.  It’s almost a cliche now ten years removed.  And  as I type, I feel my eyes watering, my hands shaking, a lump growing in my throat.   People around our age hear about those tragedies that our parents went through.  The Civil Rights movement.  Or when Martin Luther King was assassinated.  The day when Malcolm X was shot in cold blood in Harlem.  The death of John F. Kennedy.  Did our generation ever think we’d be a part of history in this way?  Did we ever think that we’d live through our own personal horror story?  We had the LA Riots, the O.J. Simpson Case, the Oklahoma City bombings.  All no match for what we witnessed on Sept. 11th, 2001.

I was in a hotel in North Jersey accompanying a friend at a business conference on the morning of Sept. 11.  I remember turning on the television in the hotel room and immediately seeing the news report that a plane had struck one of the World Trade Center Towers.  Like everyone, I thought it was simply a horrible accident.  In no way shape or form did my mind even venture to the fact this could be a terrorist threat.  To be honest, I had never really grasped the definition of what a terrorist really was.

I remember getting a call from my close friend Delvon McMillan that morning.  We sat on the phone in disbelief as the second plane hit the tower.  Smoke engulfed both towers making it hard to see them clearly.  As we sat on the phone discussing what this meant for our country, I remember how vunerable I felt.  As a professional basketball player playing in Europe, I wondered what this would mean for my career?  Would I ever want to travel to Europe as an American again?  I remembered having conversations with Africans, Europeans and many others across seas and some of them telling me how they disliked America.  It had become evident to me now that the dislike was real and not just simple opinion or conversation.

And then I remember looking up at the television, smoke, dust everywhere.  I said to my friend Delvon, “Yo man, I don’t see one of the towers.”

He replied, “Nah man, it’s just the smoke man, you just can’t see it right now.”

“Nah man, it ain’t there bro.  I think it just collapsed.” I replied.

I remember we were both silent for a minute.  You could feel the intense fear over the phone.  The horror, the disbelief.  Neither one of us said it, but we knew our lives would never be the same.   In my own head, I was trying to literally count, “How many people could’ve been in that building?”  As I looked where the plane hit the 2nd tower, I kept thinking silently, “How are they going to get those people down to safety?”  We would learn later, they wouldn’t.

“Yo man, I gotta get outta here.  I’ll talk to you later.  Be safe.” I told him.

I hung up the phone.  Wondering what this all meant.  Wondering if I’d talk to my boy ever again.  He lived in South Jersey.  Was Philadelphia next?  LA? Chicago? Jersey?  Were we all going to die?  Just then, my friend burst into the room in tears.  She was let out early from her business conference amongst all the commotion.  Her uncle worked in the towers, she couldn’t contact him.  She was inconsolable.

As we walked into the lobby to check out I saw tons of people sobbing.  I remember staring in disbelief at complete strangers crying their eyes out wondering about loved ones.  I couldn’t help but think that some of them would never hear from them again.  I remember walking to the car and being scared to get in.  Not knowing if there were car bombs or maybe more planes looking to do damage.  I remember not wanting to drive past Newark.  I didn’t want to be anywhere near skyscrapers.

In complete astonishment, I hit the NJ Turnpike South to head back to my house.   You could see the smoke in the distance.  It was pandemonium on the highway.  Everyone had looks of terror in their eyes as we all sped well past the speed limit.  Americans in a mad dash to get home to what we used to call “safety” to check on loved ones.  I remember stopping at the grocery store.  Water was gone, shelves were empty, we as a country were preparing for the end.

And yet, the most troubling part for me was that this act of terror was performed by Islamic extremist who called themselves ”muslim.”  It embarrassed me.  It would put a black eye on the religion.  I was raised a muslim.  My mother and father converted to Islam back in the early 80′s.  I attended Sister Clara Muhammad Elementary School in New Orleans, LA from 1st grade to 4th grade.  This act of terror was not Islam.  No matter what the newspapers, the media or anyone said I would not accept this as an act of Islam.  I knew hundreds of Muslims in New Orleans, Chicago, Newark, Atlanta.  None of them even slightly agreed with any of this.  Islam is a religion of peace.  But yet, I knew what the repercussions of this act would be.  It forever changed my personal view on all organized religion. I began to think about how many wars, how many people had died over religion.  I knew how the world would now view every Muslim.  The hatred would be overwhelming.  It is something that still troubles me today.  What type of world do we live in?

And as this all unfolded right before our eyes as Americans, I couldn’t help but think this was just a bad dream.  That I would wake up in the morning and everything would be back to normal.  That this was simply a horror film that was not real like Freddy Kreuger from Nightmare on Elm Street or Jason from those Friday the 13th movies.  I would be jolted into reality a few days later.

Although I don’t remember the exact day, I do remember days after Sept. 11th when the tunnels and bridges opened back up, I took a trip to Brooklyn to see a friend.  I was looking for some normalcy.  Looking to try and find some type of solace.   It would be my first trip into New York City since the terror attacks.  I remember wondering what it would feel like to look over to Manhattan and not see the Twin Towers?  I had always been an admirer of skylines.  To this day, you can show me a picture of any skyline of a major city in America and I can tell you in 5 seconds what city it is.  As I paid the toll to enter the Verrazano Bridge into Brooklyn, it was as if I just knew they would still be there.  I would look over and I would see those beautiful towers that represented NYC, that represented our financial power, that had become the opening scene in so many movies set in New York.  I felt my hands shaking on the steering wheel uncontrollably.  I felt as if I was losing control of the car.  I looked over to Manhattan and for the first time it truly hit me.  You could see the smoke rising into the sky from the fires still burning.  You could smell the smoke in the air.  It was real.  The World Trade Center was gone!!!  I started to sweat uncontrollably, I couldn’t control my breathing.  I was having my first of many panic attacks that I still have to this day.  As I looked at the huge gaping hole in Manhattan’s skyline, I didn’t think I would make it over the bridge.  I kept waiting to hear the explosion of a car bomb, or a missile that would collapse the Verrazano Bridge sending me to my death.  Fortunately, nothing happened.

As I made it over the bridge I got onto the Belt Parkway and got off at the first available exit.  I pulled the car over.  I still couldn’t breathe.  I thought I was going to die.  At that exact moment, for the first time in my life, I completely understood the definition of the word “Terrorist.”

Yes, it begins tonight. The 2011 NBA Finals will be intriguing, as will be the characters which make the Finals what they are. For all the hate and the negativity that the Miami Heat received all year, you have to think that behind closed doors they’re snickering at many. For all those who thought it wouldn’t work, for those who thought there was no way three great players of that magnitude could come together and play as a team, I hope you all are now seeing the error in your ways. And for those who did think it could work, but still hated on the way Lebron left Cleveland, his “Decision” fiasco and the Miami pre-season pep rally, it’s time to get over it. The numbers, production and achievement for many, are the proof in the pudding. Miami, for now, has seemed to make fools of all the non-believers. I wouldn’t be surprised if they printed NBA Championship T-Shirts with the phrase “I TOLD YOU SO” on the back. If you ask me, it would be fitting.

When speaking of the Dallas Mavericks, one  must admit, this is a dangerous team.  The key catalyst may be the the revenge factor?  The question becomes, how much energy can this revenge thing supply?  These Mavericks had a championship ring snatched right from under their nose back in 2006.  Now they have a chance to make it right. Mark Cuban maybe one of the most beloved and hated owners in sports. You have to love his passion, you have to love his hands on approach in how he works and travels with the team. But don’t you hate his arrogance?  His almost “I’m smarter and richer than you” attitude which gives him the appearaance that he is entitled to success.  Then you have Pat Riley with the quiet confidence of 5 championship rings as a coach, one as an owner, and the slick back hair to seal the deal.  But this is all simply the buildup.  Let’s get to the real meat of the situation.  Let’s break it all down.

STAR POWER……This one is easy. You have to give this one to the Miami Heat. Once Lebron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh joined forces to become Voltron, I penciled them in for the NBA Finals. I don’t want to hear this baloney about they aren’t a team and there aren’t enough basketballs to go around. It’s crap. Give me three superstar players any day in the NBA over a great team. With that said, nobody in the playoffs is playing better than Dirk Nowitzski. All the years of being labeled soft, all the years of being unable to get his team over the hump can all be erased if he can get past Miami and hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy this year. With that said, it’s going to take much more than Dirk to get it done.

GUARD PLAY….Calling who gets the edge here is a little more tricky. When you talk about the perimeter obviously for Miami D-Wade comes to mind. Right now he’s a little banged up and hasn’t had a great playoff run. But everyone knows that D-Wade maybe the best slasher in the game and can explode any given day.  Sometimes Lebron abandons the small forward position and plays the point so I guess we can say he’s a guard too. On the other side for the Mavs, I just don’t know how Jason Kidd is still doing it. He’s a veteran and is now shooting the ball at about 35% clip from downtown, a dramatic improvement from his early years in the league.  Jason “The Jet” Terry is as an explosive scorer off the bench than you can get in this league. J.J. Barea maybe the key. He is listed at 6-0, which is highly unlikely, but he is fearless taking the ball to the rim and nobody on the Miami Heat can guard him.  The Mavs’ Deshwan Stevenson also does a great job guarding Dwayne Wade. Dallas gets the edge here.

IN THE PAINT…..This has been the weak spot all year for Miami.  But with Udonis Haslem now being back the gap is a little smaller here in the matchup with Dallas.  Obviously you have Lebron and Bosh on the frontline but Haslem brings the toughness that was missed much of the season.  He is a banger that gets the dirty work done and you need a guy like that in the NBA Finals.  But Dallas with Dirk and his unconventional style of play for a seven footer, Shawn Marion aka “The Matrix” and the ultra athletic Tyson Chandler has the edge in my opinion.  They can run the floor which will be important vs. the Heat and they don’t back down.

BENCH…..No contest on this one.  Miami’s bench is nothing to write home about.  They only play three guys in Haslem, Mike Miller and Mario Chalmers.  Not much production coming here.  For Dallas, Jason Terry is a killer off the bench averageing 17.3 ppg in the playoffs while shooting 46% from 3 pt line.  Barea, as stated before, is scary off the dribble.  Don’t forget about the veteran Peja Stojakovic who at anytime is a threat from downtown.

CELEVISION’S PREDICTION

So if the Mavs have the better guard play, the better bigs and the better bench it should be a no-brainer right?  Mavs are NBA champs.  Not so fast.  I am a firm beleiver that stars win in the NBA.  And that’s why “Star Power” to me is worth so much more.  Stars make the big shots in the big moments.  Stars get the calls from the referees.  Stars rise to the occasion when it matters.  So yes, I am going with the Miami Heat although all the numbers and the stats say otherwise.  But like my father always told me “Stats are for suckers.”

CELEVISION TOP FIVE NBA PLAYERS OF ALL TIME

So Scottie Pippen said that Lebron James is overall a better player than Michael Jordan.  I think we better get Scottie to a doctor right away.  Although I respect King James and do agree he has the potential to be a top 5 player one day, he’s not in the conversation as of yet.  Too many great players over the years.  Here are my top five of all time, no need for much explanation.

Magic Johnson…. A point guard who played center in Game 7 of 1980 NBA Finals.  The No-Look Pass was invented.  5 rings.

Wilt Chamberlin…..He scored 100 pts in a game!!!   He led the league in assists from the center position.  And told the media he was gonna do it!  All while doing lots of extra-curricular activity off the court!

Oscar Robertson…..Averaged a triple double for the season!!!  Did you hear what I just said?

Kareem Abdul-Jabaar…….The sky hook!  I never saw it blocked.  All-time leading scorer in NBA history.  He should be the logo

Michael Jordan …..The tongue, the baggy shorts, the wristband, the shot on Ehloooooooooo!

May 27, 2011 on 3:12 pm | In Piscataway Hoops, New Brunswick Hoops |

Old Rivals Come Together To Help Central Jersey Youngsters Become All-State Basketball Players

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ–Earlier this week, GMC Hoops was contacted by former St. Peter’s standout, Mars Mellish, who is joining forces with former Piscataway standout, and NBA player, John Celestand in a new endeavor to help boys and girls across Central Jersey reach the high levels of success in high school basketball that they both had back in the 1990s.

Celestand and Mellish were key fixtures in Middlesex County basketball during the mid 1990s. While at Piscataway, Celestand, who now works as a basketball analyst for ESPN and Comcast, became the school’s all time leading scorer, and along with the likes of Justin Bailey, Dewey Ferguson, Sean Shumate, and others led a Paul Schoeb coached team to heights of New Jersey basketball never seen since by any public school in the Greater Middlesex Conference. Not only did they win the 1994 GMCT as the number two seed, but they also knocked off a top flight program in Shawnee from South Jersey with the likes of Penn State bound, Danny Earl, in the state semifinal before defeating Teaneck for the Group IV state championship. Then, in the Tournament of Champions, the Chiefs had to contain the likes of Florida State bound, Lamarr Greer to advance in the Tournament of Champions quarterfinals before losing to Tim Thomas and Paterson Catholic in the semis.

Meanwhile, Mellish, who now works in the Elizabeth public school system as an accountant, came up with Perth Amboy native Tony Lee as freshman at St. Peter’s in the 1993-94 season. Despite losing to P-Way in the 1993 GMCT Elite Eight as the number two seed, and the fact that the Chiefs only had one loss coming into the final, the undefeated Cards were the favorite in the 1994 GMCT Championship. In the title game, Piscataway defeated a St. Peter’s squad that also included the likes of Dave Capers, who went on to St. Bonaventure in the Atlantic 10, Marcus Wilson, and Kenya Merritt. The following year, the Chiefs and Cardinals would square off again in the 1995 GMCT Semifinals, and early on, it looked like Piscataway would roll to an easy victory by scoring the game’s first 19 points, and taking a 25-3 lead, but behind Mellish, St. Peter’s stormed back, and ended up only losing by four points.

With Mellish and Lee leading the way, the Cardinals appeared in four straight GMCT Final Fours. In addition to losing to Piscataway in the 1994 final and the 1995 semis, the Cardinals fell to eventual 1996 champion, East Brunswick led by the Bears all time leading scorer, Matt Van Leeuwen. Then, in 1997, despite adding sophomore transfer and future NBA player Rodney White to the roster, the Cards fell to eventual GMCT champ, and White Division rival, North Brunswick in the semis. Those Cardinal teams had a tendency to play with fire, but almost always found a way to come out on top. Coached by Bob Greene, St. Peter’s had some memorable escapes in GMCT play. During the 1995 Final Four run, the Cardinals played South Plainfield in the Round of 16.

The first half saw plenty of scoring with 20th seeded South Plainfield, coming off a preliminary round win over Jason Womble, and 13th seeded South Brunswick, giving the Cards all they could handle only trailing by a 37-30 margin at the half. However, fourth seeded St. Peter’s put together a key 10-0 run to open the third quarter to take a 47-30 lead, and then held off several rallies by the Tigers that closed the gap to four and six points before Joey Cesaro hit a three from the top of the key as the buzzer sounded to finish off a 80-79 Cardinal victory at the Red Tile Palace. The following year, St. Peter’s encountered a similar struggle with Blue Division squad, Monroe. The Falcons, which made their best tournament run in school history until the recent successes under former coach, Bob Turco, had the lead against St. Peter’s late, but the Cards used their pressure to come up with a comeback win in the GMCT Quarterfinals at Middlesex County College.

Piscataway, which has enjoyed great success in both the Middlesex County Tournament, and GMC Tournament over the years including the past five seasons, never had the success they accumulated during the mid-1990s. In the 1994-95 season, the Chiefs followed up their state title run with another GMCT championship over Red Division rival East Brunswick, and a Central Jersey Group IV sectional championship with the likes of Celestand, Bailey, Anson Ferguson, Delvon McMillan, Derek Clapps, Rocco Matrisciano, and Eddie Simmons. The 1994-95 Chiefs also defeated up and coming national power St. Patrick’s of Elizabeth led by Seton Hall bound Shaheen Holloway in front of a packed house at Piscataway High. However, their run ended with a loss to Malik Allen and Shawnee in the Group IV state semis in Atlantic City.

In recent years, there have been some teams in this area that have come close to reaching those heights reached by the Chiefs in the mid 1990s. Tim Ortelli had some Bridgewater-Raritan teams that made solid post-season runs, Immaculata had back to back Tournament of Champions appearances in 2008 and 2009, and GMC teams such as South Brunswick (2007), P-Way (2008), and Cardinal McCarrick (2003, 2005, and 2011) managed to get to the state finals, but never won. However, sectional titles and state titles for Central Jersey teams, especially those in the GMC have been hard to come by. The talent rich public schools in Union County and Essex County, especially those in the former Watchung Conference have dominated in recent years with the likes of Linden, Plainfield, Newark Science, Newark Central, Newark University, and Shabazz along with the usual non-public school powers such as St. Anthony’s, St. Patrick’s, Seton Hall Prep, CBA, and Trenton Catholic.

If there are any teams and players from Central Jersey that have done really well, they are those in the Shore Conference. Always underrated and underestimated, the teams from the Shore, especially Monmouth County are well coached and play solid basketball. Individually, the talent in New Jersey has mostly been found in Northern and Southern Jersey with Central Jersey being looked over. As a promoter of the Greater Middlesex Conference, I have seen many of the elite teams in the GMC compete better with some of the state’s elite. They have bridged the gap. However, when you go to events such as the GMCBCA Senior All-Star Game, you often hear people saying how the players aren’t as good as they used to be. I have some hopes for this current junior class, which could be even better than the 2005-06 class. So, I’m looking forward to the 2011-12 season.

With that said, I have a great deal of pride in the basketball played in Middlesex County. There has been a great deal of history and tradition represented by the schools that compete in the GMC. Going back to the days when I was a kid, and even early on in college, I always looked forward to the GMCT Tournament, and either taking a trip to the RAC for the finals, or listening to it on WCTC. That is why I’m always very hard on GMC teams when it comes to non-conference, and state tournament play. Players in this area have to strive even harder to compete with the state’s top talent. I take it very hard when people make posts in forums saying that the GMC is weak. Celestand and Mellish have this in mind with All-State Basketball.

The concept of All-State Basketball is simple. Cultivate young basketball talent from around the Central Jersey area from the ground up. The organization is creating clinics, camps, and one on one training with a stress on fundamentals to help each basketball player become one of the best in the Garden State. In addition, they are looking to develop other elements such as character while instilling the importance of teamwork, discipline, dedication, and sportsmanship. The work begins for both Celestand and Mellish on July 30th and 31st at New Brunswick Middle School when they plan to run a clinic for players ages 10 to 14 from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM. Cost is $95.00, but if you register by June 15th, you’ll get a $15 discount. For more details, check the events page at http://all-statebasketball.com.

By Greg Machos

www.gmchoops.com

PASS THE TORCH

THE MIAMI HATE
No, I am not dyslexic. No, that’s not a typo. The hate for the Miami Heat was big at the beginning of the year. I understand why. As great as Lebron James is, he tarnished his image with “The Decision” show that he did on ESPN. I personally saw nothing wrong with it. But of course, many don’t want to see a young athlete began to make his own decisions. With that said, it was trendy to pick against the Heat. It became somewhat of a cliche to say it wouldn’t work. There was no possible way that three superstars could play together. I beg to differ. At the beginning of the year I predicted the Heat would be in the finals. Why couldn’t three great players play together?  Magic, Kareem and Worthy did back for the “Showtime” Lakers. The Celtics did it with Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett. Now all of sudden it doesn’t work for the Heat? I saw it as simply THE MIAMI HATE. When fans are infected with THE MIAMI HATE they don’t think rationally because they are so upset or incensed at the way the Big Three were formed,  What they fail to realize is that this is a great team. In this league you need two superstars if you want to compete for a championship. But when you have three, you go off the charts. The Celtics are in a huge whole being down 3-1 going back to Miami. Doc Rivers, in my opinion is the best in the game with X’s and O’s while drawing up plays in key moments of basketball games. But not even his magical clipboard can save the Celtics now.  Last night, they opened their own caskets.  They should all wear black suits to Miami.

YOUNG GUNS
I would have challenged any of you to name the starting lineup for the Memphis Grizzlies or the Oklahoma Thunder before the playoffs. This series is symbolic of what my blog and the NBA Playoffs are all about. Young legs are starting to become more important than the mind of a veteran. Memphis and Oklahoma City were the two youngest teams at the start of the NBA season. You see a triple overtime game last night. For OKC you have youngsters like Westbrook, Durant, Harden. For the Griz you have Marc Gasol, Conley, Mayo, Sam Young. Zach Randolph has come into his own, in a lost last night he goes for 34 pts and 10 reb. These are definitely not the biggest media markets for NBA teams.  Best believe David Stern and the people in the league offices may not be able to sleep at night, but lets face it, it’s how the NBA has always been.  The game stops for no man. Not Michael Jordan, not Kobe Bryant, not Tim Duncan. Soon we’ll be adding a few more names to this list. Everyone slows down, some become sitting ducks. Target practice for the young guns.

ATLANTA HYPE
I never understood why everyone loves the city of Atlanta. I’ve been there a few times and although there are some good things about the city, I never quite get it. It seems to be a city of transplants, people from the northeast who have all moved south with their rude attitudes and northeast accents. It seems that it lacks some of the southern charm in my opinion that some of the other cities like Charlotte, Dallas or Houston seem to have. With that said, I have always said the same thing about the Atlanta Hawks. I don’t get the hype. The Hawks are very talented. Joe Johnson is a superstar, or sometimes not. Josh Smith had 23 pts, 16 rebounds and 8 assists last game in a Hawks win over Chicago. He shows up sometimes and sometimes he won’t. Al Horford is talented. Or is he? Jamal Crawford is devastating off the dribble, but sometimes he can throw the ball right in the stands. Not sure what it is, but this team seems to lack something. It may be character. The same with the city of Atlanta, in my opinion. No real character.   Look no further than their jerseys which read A-T-L.  Like their jerseys, I think they will end with an L.  The Bulls have Derrick Rose, but to me the Hawks are much more talented offensively.  Then again, what the hell is talent anyway? There is a piece of a quote from Calvin Coolidge that I always remember, “Nothing is more common, than unsuccessful people with talent.” That’s why, like them cats in Spain, I’m running with the Bulls.

NO NO LAKE SHOW….Being a former Laker I was going to try to give the Lakers some mercy.  But with the urging of a close writing friend he said it wouldn’t be just.  Is there anybody in America who thought the Lakers would go out like this?  Is there anyone who would of thought that Phil Jackson would walk off into the sunset this way?  The Lakers got smashed.  And in the process they proceeded to play “hood” basketball at the end.  I am the first one that always jumps on people when they call basketball players thugs.  But the terrible display of sportsmanship by Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum was downright embarrassing.  Bynum’s move was cowardly.  He may get away with that with J.J. Barea.  But all I kept thinking was if this was one of those pro-am summer leagues in the hood of New Jersey, Chicago, Philly or Baltimore the goons would’ve been waiting for Bynum at his car after a foul like that.   And whatever was going on with Paul Gasol off the court and in the locker room doesn’t matter.  Good teams get through it.  I wouldn’t have guessed in a million years that the Lakers would get manhandled like that and then not take the loss like the men I thought they were.  SMH.

JUST DON’T DO IT!

The problem with sports fans and humans in general is that we always need something to compare something to.  We always need a reference point.   What does it taste like?  What is that city like?  She looks like Halle Berry.  She has a voice like Whitney Houston.  I think its time to stop with the Mike and Kobe comparisons.  I played with Kobe.  He is one of the greatest players ever.  But he is not the greatest.  That belongs to His Airness.  And it should never ever be argued or even brought up anymore until someone can come along and dominate in a fashion that Wilt Chamberlin did.  After seeing Kobe and the Lakers get swept, I realized that Kobe has been beaten up a few times in the prime of his career.  Although MJ was swept twice early in his career by Boston, once he started to win he never let up.    MJ played in 6 finals and won 6 championships along with 6 MVP’s.  None of them ever went to a Game 7.  Which means the outcome was never even in doubt.  Jordan hit game winners, had remarkable moves, the crossover, the push off, the shot on Ehloooo, the six three-point shots in the 1st half vs. Portland in 1992, all with no center.  Oh yeah and he averaged 41 ppg in 1993 NBA finals series over Charles Barkley and the Phoenix Suns.  No more talking.  Nike would say “JUST DON’T DO IT.”

Exposure……I’m not sure right now if I am liking this experiment.  Looks like we are all going to have to get used to it because Turner Sports has this on lock for the next 14 years. Let me first say, I love Charles Barkley, Kenny “The Jet” Smith and Ernie Grunfield on TNT covering NBA games. I love Greg Gumbell, Greg Anthony and Seth Davis on CBS doing college. Combining the two, in my opinion has been a disaster so far.  The straight laced Greg Anthony seems to be trying to see where he fits in with the comical Kenny and Charles. Obviously Kenny and Charles don’t know enough about college basketball as their comments make them both look like “Captain Obvious” when breaking down the games. It’s a contrast of styles. CBS is a real buttoned up professional type of style, while TNT is looser with lots more personality. You put them together and everyone looks out of their element. In my opinion, Charles and Kenny should have been doing some more college basketball during the year, so come tournament time, they knew the players, styles and coaches.  Right now, Kenny and Charles are just winging it. Greg Anthony is doing his normal thing. Might I say, Chuck and “The Jet” have been exposed.

WHO IS THE REAL UNCLE TOM?

So I had to touch on this again as this made huge noise last weekend. And yes, my opinion has changed. For those who live under a rock, Jalen Rose said during his documentary about The Fab Five, that when he was growing up he thought Duke only recruited blacks that he felt were “Uncle Toms.” Jalen felt like kids from the inner city or from impoverished backgrounds weren’t welcomed at Duke. I must admit, growing up I felt the same thing.  But as I watched Duke play Michigan this weekend, I starting to think more on this, realizing why I was wrong. No, I will never like Thomas Hill.  I just can’t stomach the dude because of this clip when he cries.  But I can’t label him an Uncle Tom because of it or because of the letters on his jersey.  Now I realized why Grant Hill felt he had to write what he wrote. I now realize why so many of us in the black community need to alter our thinking. Our current way of thought only further separates us in the long run. I understand that Jalen was only saying what he felt when he was 17 years old. I truly do. I know Jalen Rose doesn’t feel that way now. But let’s break down a few things.

Not just for Jalen, but it’s so wrong for many of us to judge with no true perspective, no matter what age.  Case in point, I think its fair to say we label “Uncle Toms” in the black community as someone who turns their back on the black race.  In some instances I think we believe it also to be someone who doesn’t seem to be comfortable being “black” and tends to gravitate towards the white race i.e. “talking white” dating “white women or men” not being comfortable with or accepting inner city life or poverty. Many of us feel or felt like the black men from Duke seem to fit this stigma. It could not be farther from the truth.  I’ve played with or against many players that went to Duke. Elton Brand, William Avery, Chris Carrawell, Ricky Price, Dahntay Jones, Roshown McCloud, just to name a few. Chris Carrawell was from a tough neighborhood in St. Louis, Missouri.  Ricky Price was from Gardena, California, not very far from South Central, Los Angeles.  I witnessed my AAU teammate in NJ, Roshown McCloud being dropped off in one of the most impoverished areas in Jersey City, NJ. I saw Dahntay Jones all the time at black hip- hop clubs in New Jersey trying to talk to the same black girls that I was interested in and never once did I question his “blackness”.  When thinking about this, I realized that many of our perceptions were wrong. We formed our perception on those Duke teams back in ’91′ and ’92′ who had a few white starters that beat UNLV and Michigan’s Fab Five both who had all black starters. By the way, Bobby Hurley was  from Jersey City and I distinctly remember him being the only white starter on his high school team. He and his brother Danny were the only whites on an predominately black St. Anthony High School team. No silver spoon in their mouth.

And maybe we should question this. Why do so many of us in the black community only seem to identify with a Michael Vick, an Allen Iverson, or a Jalen Rose, all of whom I love myself? Even, some of us who never grew up impoverished or in the hood?  I’m talking about the blacks who grew up with two car garages and in neighborhoods that don’t remotely resemble the inner city, but still we identify with blacks from those tough neighborhoods.  Why is that the only way we can accept each other is if we came up tough, poor and without resources? Is Grant Hill less black because his father worked hard to give him a better life? Is Donovan McNabb not black enough? Will Jalen Rose or Michael Jordan’s kids now be Uncle Toms because they didn’t dodge bullets in the hood?  I think we must alter our thinking. Must we talk with slang, and embrace poverty to prove that we are black?

Hey, I have many family members and friends from tough areas in inner city neighborhoods. But is that the only way to prove you’re black enough?  Do we want our kids to grow up, talk slang, sag their pants and move to the roughest neighborhoods in America for our black approval?  Are Jay-Z, Iverson or Diddy any more black than Grant Hill, Bill Cosby, Bob Johnson or President Obama?

By the way, I admit, I felt the same way Jalen Rose felt when I was 17.  But damn, Grant Hill married R&B singer Tamia Shouldn’t we have given him a pass just for that?

Lastly, please think about this. When blacks were slaves, we were kept uneducated, unable to read and poor as a way of keeping us subservient to the slave master.  Now here we are judging ourselves on who comes from the toughest neighborhood or who talks the “blackest” or who grew up the poorest while using all of this as a badge of honor.  I can’t help but pause and reflect while thinking, “Who is the real Uncle Tom?”