NBA Pains

The hours around the NBAs trade deadline were none too kind. Tracy McGrady came forth about needing knee surgery, precluding the Rockets from moving him. Amare Stoudamire had his eye nearly poked out, ultimately needing surgery. Kevin Garnett tweaked his knee in a contactless injury. And Manu Ginobli has ANOTHER ankle injury. I don’t know which one hurts worse, but let’s break it down Dr. Jack-style…
T-Mac had only played in 35 games this year, as the Houston Rockets were underachieving – AGAIN. Houston’s front office brought in one of our favorites, Ron Artest, to bolster their lineup. It seems that tandems (IE Jordan/Pippen and Shaq/Kobe) are out and trios are in (IE Kobe/Gasol/LO and Pierce/RayRay/Big Ticket). RonRon was to be the third man along with Tracy and Yao. Things just haven’t worked out for Houston in the Tracy McGrady era and this microfracture surgery is just another in a line of maladies for the franchise, let alone T-Mac. And let’s not forget, this isn’t a young Amare – someone young enough to bounce back from that kind of surgery and go on to a long fruitful (maybe) career. This is more like C-Webb. Good luck with that Rocket fans…
Amare came into this season with an eye and was sporting the recto-specs. (As an aside, whatever happened to the Kurt Rambis glasses? Those were the shit. I think that all basketball players who don’t wear contacts should have to rock them. Granted, that would have made some of my middle years more awkward – wait, impossible…I digress) He stopped wearing them because they weren’t comfortable. It might have required him to get a new nickname. Standing Tall and Bespectacled – STAB. Don’t get too close to Paul Pierce though. Can this guy catch a break? There’s so much to talk about – the numerous high schools, the beef with the Matrix, the knee in 05, the eye in November and now this. I suppose he’ll just bounce back. And let’s consider something else, if the Suns can find themselves in the West’s top-8, they can have Amare back and well rested. I thought this could turn out well if they leaned on Shaq at certain moments and brought in a Dikembe-like big, then I saw Deke on Houston’s bench the other day and knew that it was happening. I don’t think they’ll be able to bounce back from this to even have the chance to blow a first round playoff matchup.
Manu Ginobli has worse ankles than Bill Walton and Arvydas Sabonis. (You have no clue how long I’ve been wanting to work in an Arvydas Sabonis reference.) Dude keeps going down with a bad wheel. He didn’t play until Thanksgiving this season. He hurt himself in the Olympics this summer when it seems NO ONE from that Spurs organization wanted him out there. But how can you argue with him? The Argentinian just goes out and wins (minus last August and every other June). The downside to this is that only 6 games separate them from second place (where they currently sit) and Phoenix (sitting home if the playoffs started today). The upside is that they know how to win. I watched Matt Fucking Bonner light it up the other night. (Really? Is that what’s hot in the streets? Next thing you know, Mike Miller will be on a contender.) So I think the Spurs can weather this as long as they don’t slip to the 4. I don’t think this San Antone team can take on the Lake-Show before the Conf finals and survive.
All of which brings us to the Big Ticket and the Boston Celtics aka the Defending Champs. This is an interesting time for Gang Green. (Fuck you Jets fans. I’m looking at you, Barnes.) They have Leon Powe backing up KG with Brian Scalabrine behind him. Powe proved his mettle last year. Dude can get out there and ball. Granted, he’s no Garnett, but this is the time to see what exactly he’s made of. A Doc Rivers team goes so deep anyways that it’s just a matter of playing a little more and in different spots, but he should be used to getting out there and playing. The true X Factor in all this has got to be Glen Davis. Big Baby has yet to reach the ‘potential’ he ‘displayed’ in ‘college’. (Wait, I don’t mean to imply he wasn’t actually in college. Damn my overzealous affinity for ‘air quotes’.) But GBBD hasn’t done shit yet, even as a 6-9 center you’d think you could get a little more out of him. Well let’s see GBBD slide to the 4 a little bit. Let’s see him line up next to Kendrick Perkins. That would create a whole nother new look for the Cs. They could slide Pierce to the 4 and bring in House or Allen at another guard spot. There appear to be some options here. They also have the ‘easiest’ ‘road’ to the conference finals of the four aforementioned teams. They’re already in 1st in the East and I can’t imagine they’d slide further than 3rd, meaning they still wouldn’t face Cleveland or Orlando until the Conference finals. Though under that scenario they’d then play game 7 on the road – if that’s Cleveland, good night sleep tight.
So there you have it. I think the Cs have the wildest road to hoe with their injury, but I also feel they’re in the best position to survive. Now, Cs fans you’re season ‘potentially’ ‘rests’ on the shoulders of ‘Glen Davis’. (Damnit, he’s not fake…this is getting out of hand.)