The NBA National TV Preview: 12-14 Edition

Alright so its been a few days since I had the motivation to post something. Probably attributable to rain-induced laziness plus my 2-day addiction to the short lived tv show Journeyman that I watched on Hulu over the weekend.

Anyways, it's another week in which to excel and with that, my take on this week's nationally televised NBA Games.

6- Wizards vs. Warriors Friday ESPN

The idea of putting the Wizards on National TV several times this year does not look to be panning out very well. Sure Gilbert Arenas is an interesting player (when hes not injured) but this team is just not that good. Sure, they are a game and a half out of the last spot (in the East).

On the other end is a Warriors team that is interesting in all the wrong ways. Dysfunctional coach ? Check Team Going Absolutely Nowhere? Check Team that considers defense optional? Check..with the Kings improving this year the Warriors have proudly representing as the biggest train wreck of a team in Nor Cal.

5- Magic vs. Heat Thursday TNT

A less than exciting battle of Florida. The Magic are battling for Eastern Conference Supremacy. The only difference between the Heat and the Wizards is Dwayne Wade is at least able to push the Heat into playoff contention. Sad But True: The Heat are .500 (11-11) but in the East thats good for battling the Bucks for the 5-spot in the East.

4- Mavericks vs. Thunder Wednesday ESPN

The Mavericks are off to a strong start and look headed to playoffs, nothing to see here for the next 58 games. For the Thunder, they get another chance to capitalize on their resurgent season. Any time Kevin Durant is involved, it's worth at least checking out the game. Fun Fact: If the Thunder played in the East they would be a 5 seed right now. However, they play in the West and are thus 1/2 game out of the last spot.

3- Suns vs. Blazers Thursday TNT

Toss-up between the game above but this wins the tie-breaker with Steve Nash on my fantasy team. In the real world, the Suns seem to be coming down to earth after a scorching hot start it will be interesting to see if they stay amongst the elite or if they are in danger of missing the playoffs for a second straight year.

The Blazers, coming off a couple tough losses to the Cavs and Bucks and are nobly trying to compete with about half of their roster injured. How well the Blazers hold up being this short-handed will go a long way to see if the Blazers are going to be a legit playoff team.

2- Wizards vs. Kings Wednesday ESPN

When I started doing this NBA preview, I mentioned that I was ranking them based on how interesting I found the game which is NOT always correlated to how good the teams are. This week is definitely an example of this. As I mentioned earlier, I could care less about the Wizards, the only thing separating them from the bottom of the east are the 76ers and Nets.

The only reason I care about the game is I find the Kings to be one of more interesting teams this year. Sure they may be 10-12, but compared to what they were last year, it is a night and day improvement. Living in the Sacramento area (Davis) last year, I got plenty of opportunities to see the Kings on TV (and a couple chances to see them in person.....the last game of the Reggie Theus area and a loss to the Bucks, ironically a team that they ended up going on similar paths.)

But thats besides the point, this will be the first Kings National TV appearance of the Tyreke Evans era. The Kings seemed to have shed aside the Theus/Natt era is just a bad dream and look ready to contend for a playoff spot. If that wasn't enough, Arco Arena is doing a $1-beer night to get more fans into the stands (a high priority since as recent as last year you could walk up and buy tickets half an hour before the game....also this opens up the possibility of fans having a few too many of those dollar beers and seeing how that works out)

1-Bucks vs. Cavaliers Friday ESPN

Less to say about this one, but since the Bucks are involved the interest level over-rides the Kings. This team is pretty much Sacramento East. A moribund team seemingly going nowhere makes good use of their first-round pick (Jennings), an injury to their leading scorer from last year (Martin/Redd) and just enough from the rest of their teams to stick around .500.

The Bucks playing the Cavaliers means a dose of LeBron (always fun to watch) plus a lumbering Shaq who has definitely lost a step (or twelve). The way you hear the media talk, this has got to be one of the worst teams ever......to start 17-7.....their "struggles", definitely overblown. Shaq was never known for his quick starts and they shouldn't be worried unless they're still in chaos in March/April.

Sports/Music Crossover: Foo Fighters

So...I was channel surfing last night before I went to bed and VH1 was doing a story-tellers episode with the Foo Fighters involved.......y'all know what this means........time to cross-pollinate sports and music based on some Foo Fighters songs

"Exhausted"--Media Coverage of Tim Tebow

Ok I get it, Tim Tebow is the greatest college football player....he's won Heismans.......national championships (possibly another in the pipelines)......and apparently he's a decent human being (as far as we know).......its just the media's love affair with this guy is something that's gotten beyond even the John Madden/Brett Favre zone........well he's graduating to the NFL so this over saturation either move up another level if he makes it in the NFL or transfers on a yet to be determined freshman in 2010.

"No Way Back"- Steve Kragthorpe

It's official, Steve Kragthorpe is not being retained as the coach at Louisville. Kragthorpe's time at Louisville ranks a 12 on the epic fail scale. He inherited a Louisville team that had legit elite status/national title hopes when he arrived in '07....he failed to even place them in a bowl game....they've become doormats in the Big East and their window for greatness was slammed shut in 3 short years. Honestly I don't see him head coaching for a BCS conference team for a long time (if ever).

"The Pretender"-Oklahoma State/ Georgia Tech

Both teams had chances at a BCS berth coming into today and could help themselves a lot by pulling wins over bitter rivals in down seasons. Instead, both teams failed to step up in their big rivalry games and showed themselves as elite pretenders.

"Low"--Rice

The performance of their defense. Granted Rice dropped to 2-10 this year and were playing a Houston squad that has been putting up video game statistics against their Conference USA opposition. With that being said, giving up 59 in one half is so bad that most teams couldn't give up that many even if they tried. It's insane to think about....Houston scored 8 touchdowns in the first half....one touchdown every 3:45.........not the best way to finish out the season.

"Long Road To Ruin"-- Whoever takes the Notre Dame Job

Are you a successful college coach in high demand? Are you tired of winning all those games.....well we got the job for you. In 4-6 years you can go on your Long Road To Ruin by coaching a Notre Dame team that won't win more than 7 of these new fangled games a year. Also, your epic fail has its own tv contract with NBC........I can't wait for their TV contract to not get renewed

"Up In Arms"--The BCS establishment to anyone suggesting they go to a playoff system

Not sure which is more absurd.......that College Football is the ONLY organized sport at any level without a playoff......or the BCS has gotten so self-conscious about the venom spewed towards them for the ineptness of their system....that they set up a Twitter account to spread the propaganda about how complicated a playoff would be

"Home"--Tiger Woods

How much trouble and controversy can surround a person who has an incident outside their home...say hitting the fire hydrant outside their home....and what if said person was the most dominant player in a fringe sport such as golf.....well we've definitely got the answer to this in the last couple days.

It's been bizarre seeing this story go from Tiger Woods was in a car accident to the soap opera of his wife busting out the windows to let Woods out to the couple both declining to talk to the cops to this becoming a TMZ hot topic.

In two short days this story has gone to the Twilight Zone (not the TV show......this refers to stories that are beaten into the ground that are unavoidable)......in other words expect this to be the first and last time I reference this event.

"Breakout"--Oklahoma City Thunder

If last night is any indication, 09-10 looks to be a breakout season for the team formerly known as the Sonics. The Thunder have been improving exponentially since they fired P. J. Carlesimo.....its not like any of his player tried to choke him (again)....its just that this team was a joke until they cleaned house, fired Carlesimo and he had to go back to covering games for TNT.

The Thunder look to be in the playoff hunt this year. They probably won't win it all this year but they will get some playoff experience under their belt. With Kevin Durant to build around, a solid young core, several draft picks and lots of cap room....If they play it smart they could have a Portland-esque nucleus with the sky as the limit.

"Next Year"-- Auburn

Close but no cigar....Next Year is how long Auburn will need to wait for another chance to take down Alabama and to spoil a prospective championship bid.

Bucks/Thunder Running Post: Second Half

7:54 Second half is about to start in the next few minutes.......the Bucks have stayed in it by shooting well from beyond the arc and getting large contributions off the bench....so they've stayed close despite only 2 points from Jennings.....the announcing team gives us the second of 100 reminders that Jennings didn't score in the 1st quarter of the game where he dropped 55

7:57 Considering these teams have changed a lot in the last couple years i'm not sure much can be drawn from this but.....OKC hasn't beaten the Bucks since '07

7:58 Durant nails a 3 with the shot clock running down......ouch

7:59 Bucks have come out of the gate looking turrible

8:00 Off to commercials and one of those Dos Equis commercials with the most interesting man in the world.......these commercials are definitely one of my pet peeves....especially the one where they state that he had an awkward moment just to see what it feels like....coming from someone whose life is a compilation of awkward moments....can't help but take some offense to it.

8:02 Durant Comparison Tally: Gervin 3 Malone 2......i'll move it up to 3.5 since the latest Gervin comparison came with a video montage.

8:03 Thunder on an 18-4 run....nothings going right currently

8:04 Seriously why do they let Gadzuric shoot the ball? 3 times a game is too much

8:05 Can't help but think there is some Ewing theory potential in Redd. The Bucks were rolling when Redd was injured and look to be headed to 0-3 with him back....

8:08 The Bucks are playing so bad right now.....I doubt they could beat a D-League team right now

8:10 Is it too much to ask that the BUCKS MAKE A SINGLE BASKET....... apparently it is

8:13 Discussion quickly turns to the Nets-Kings game and talking about how the Kings game was the Nets best chance for a win considering they play the Lakers on Sunday....selling the Kings short.....the Kings have bounced back.....sure they are 6-8 but they are showing signs of life and are anything but an easy out

8:15 Congratulations Bucks....it took you 6+ minutes to make a basket.....and then another one a minute later....now the broadcasters can stop talking about all time offensive futility records....however, there is still the issue of being down 14 points

8:16 Bucks are 2 for 17 in the third quarter.....even David Eckstein thinks that is terrible

8:18 Well, we know what it takes for Redd to make a shot in this game....questionable goaltending calls against Kevin Durant

8:21 Only the 3rd quarter and the they're out of the game but hey they are on the way up conversations are beginning.....

8:24 Jennings has only amassed 3 points so far....it's easy to see that Durant has clearly outplayed Jennings tonight

8:25 Thankfully, the third quarter is over.....there is absolutely nothing good to say about the last 12 minutes of this game....78-63 Thunder

8:29 The 4th quarter is about to start and with that a cliche-ridden interview with Thunder coach Scott Brooks

8:30 Even when the Bucks do something right....they do something wrong. Hakim Warrick gets the dunk but hangs on the rim too much and picks up a technical.

8:31 The conversation of the broadcast has shifted to what the Thunder will do next summer and even led to the suggestion of moving their draft picks for a free agent......

8:35 Jennings drills a 3 the Bucks have it down to 10....he's starting to get into a rhythm...but is it too little too late?

8:36 They just showed a commercial for the new Twilight commercial...grrrhhhh.....IS IT TOO MUCH TO ASK TO GO MORE THAN 5 MINUTES WITHOUT TWILIGHT BEING REFERENCED.......even if you want to avoid it you can't.....

8:40 ESPN just showed a graphic showing free throws in the second half....20 for the Thunder...6 for the Bucks....haven't seen a discrepancy that large since the Los Angeles Donahys played the Kings in the 2002 Western Conference Finals

8:41 Let the past-player comparisons continue: Jennings name is used in the same sentence as Nick Van Exel and Tiny Archibald....within seconds of each other

8:43 Bucks struggling to get a defensive stop and struggling to get the deficit into single figures..

8:45 Durant grabs offensive board out of nowhere dunks it .....Thunder up by 17......

8:48 The Bucks look like they've given up while the Thunder are still playing like the game is on the line....i'm pretty sure this isn't sitting well with Scott Skiles

8:49 Harden drills a 3 and the Thunder get the lead over 20 for the first time and follow it up with a Westbrook dunk

8:53 Now if only Andrew Bogut could go more than a game without getting injured....maybe the Bucks could have made this a game

8:55 ESPN cuts to a sign from one of fans....Bucks get struck on ESPN.......Sad But True

8:58 Ahh....Garbage Time...at this point just running out the string until the clock runs out

Well...this game came to an end (finally) with the Thunder coming away with an 108-90 win. This drops the Bucks to 8-6. Even though its been a rough week for the Bucks....I still feel good about them long term. Sure, Jennings has struggled the last few days but he's still young....hes showing plenty of promise in his first 14 games. Still gotta keep things in perspective and realize that even with the losing streak....the Bucks are still much better off than they have been for the last couple decades.

Bucks/Thunder Running Post: First Half

Well, the timing for me + games on TV on this weekend is opportunistically slanted towards the running diary format of blogging. Tonight's occasion. ESPN airing the Bucks-Thunder game on ESPN. Looking forward to it for a few reasons. Obviously the Bucks being involved is one. Second, this is my first chance to watch a complete game where Brandon Jennings plays. Since i'm not a big enough of an NBA fan to get any league package (baseball is the only sport i'll do that for).....the only stuff i've seen from him is through highlight clips/sportscenter, etc.

Also, playing against the team Kevin Durant plays for is another interesting sub-plot. I'm not crazy enough to believe that these are the two best teams in the league.....but they definitely qualify as two of the most interesting (and up and coming teams).........

6:15 And the countdown begins....25 minutes to tip off.....ESPN celebrates it by showing a clip of Kevin Durant reading a piece of paper.......somehow I find this more interesting than the Wizards-Heat game that is still going on.......unless Earl Boykins scores a bunch of points the next five minutes..this game will do little to affect the evening.

6:17 Earl Boykins...hero of the short (by NBA standard) people......according to ESPN...Boykins is the shortest player to score 30 in a game......if he wants to make a name for himself further he should enter the slam dunk competition and become the shortest player to do that....take that Spud Webb

6:18 I'm still stoked that ESPN thought enough about the tonight's game to pre-empt another game (Phoenix-Minnesota) in order to show the Bucks. Usually when the Bucks are involved in something like this...they are the team not being shown

6:21 ESPN shows first footage of the teams shooting around.....shows Jennings and Durant......for now back to Miami and Washington going through the motions.

6:22 Fun Fact: The UFL season is over and some team from Vegas won the championship......This poses the question of if you were the best team in a league that only shows games on Versus....did it actually happen?

6:27 It looks like Chris Kaman's breakout season was not meant to be. The 23-10 machine seems to be regressing to his career norms as his fg% for the year has dipped below his career numbers.....that 23-10 has regressed to 19-8 and Griffin's comeback is on the horizon.......this information (courtesy of Clips Nation) puts his spot on my fantasy team in a little bit of jeopardy.

6:32 ESPN may not solve the pressing problems that may save the world.........but they'll settle for speculating on why Earl Boykins plays for a different team every year.

6:34 Wizards 94 Heat 84...time for some inane studio chatter

6:36 Jennings getting some press for starting in the All-Star Game......They even went to the point of mentioning a player that's not named Jennings or Durant (as they talked about Jeff Green for about 2.5 seconds)

6:38 Say what you will about the circumstances that led to Oklahoma City getting a team (I say Clay Bennett is not a great person) but its good to see that Oklahoma City is coming out to support their team....they showed a shot at the crowd and there's not an empty seat to be found.....so we at least know we're not watching an Los Angeles Dodgers game.

6:40 Right when I slam the Dodgers, the arena plays the song (don't know the name of it) but I know its the same one played at Dodger stadium after the Dodgers hit a home run.

6:42 Durant gets first blood starts game off with dunk.....countered by Carlos Delfino..yes the Bucks have players other than Brandon Jennings...they're just not as good.

6:43 Delfino is en-fuego....for about 10 seconds he was single handedly outscoring the Thunder.

6:44 Gadzuric is getting schooled on the boards.....in other news all days end in Y and the sky is still blue

6:46 Ilyasoya has been having a nice year but physically.....no match for Kevin Durant

6:47 Jennings on the bench....Ridnour in the game.. 14-9 Thunder

6:48 Gadzuric attempted to make a shot....this never ends well...well at least Gadzuric is going to the bench for awhile as well

6:50 Hakim Warrick botches a dunk attempt in an awesomely horribly way...epic fail

6:51 First TV Timeout 16-9 Thunder....hopefully the Bucks can bounce back from a rough start

6:53 Durant draws comparison to George Gervin by the ESPN team....considering i'm too young to ever watch him play...not sure if that's a good thing or just a backhanded compliment

6:55 Delfino busts out another three..singlehandedly keeping them in it....Ridnour 3 tie game

6:56 Delfino actually misses a shot......Durant gets another comparison to another player from the 80s (Moses Malone)

6:57 Good thing i'm not involved in a drinking game where I have to take a drink every time Durant is compared to a player who was in the NBA before he was even born.....anyone doing this will probably be passed out by half time

7:02 Delfino has now scored 13 of 22 Milwaukee Points......Durant has now been compared to Moses Malone and George Gervin twice each.

7:04 Jennings gets on the scoreboard for first time.

7:07 I wonder if the Thunder will get another big name player to complement Durant in the summer of '10. The Thunder are on the way up have a solid core and the cap room to bring in a star. Also, first quarter draws to an end 31-26 Thunder.

7:11 Ahh the mandatory interview with the Head Coach...why do they even bother?

7:13 Jennings just draws the first of 200 mandatory comparisions to A.I.

7:15 Ilyasoya looking strong getting offensive boards....has gotten a couple second chance buckets...timeout...35-32 Thunder

7:18 ESPN shows clip of Michigan State losing to Florida in basketball and calling Florida's win as an upset.....while Florida was unranked and Michigan State is #2, tough to see Florida as the David pulling an upset when they've won national titles this decade.

7:21 Despite a slow start by Jennings game is tied thanks to strong starts by Delfino, Ilyasoya and Ridnour......Jennings ain't gonna be quiet all game so it's good to see the Bucks stay competitive even with not all going as planned

7:23 Ilyasoya steals ball takes it distance for dunk.....

7:23 Bucks running on all cylinders right now...Jennings sinks a jumper 46-40 Bucks.

7:25 Candidate of the day to get their coaching reputation tarnished in 4-6 short years......Er I mean take that prestigious job at Notre Dame....Brian Billick

7:30 Durant connects on back end of alley-oop to fire up crowd...Bucks counter with bucket 48-44 Bucks

7: 36 Harden knocks down a trey....the Thunder take the lead back and the Bucks go on to turn the ball over.....no bueno

7:38 First half ends with Durant not getting a shot off before the buzzer 51-50 Thunder

Game has been as good as advertised for the first half.....i'll have the second half running post up after the game