Link

Jake Appleman and Russ Bengtson delivered a nice must-read about the historic game.

The Mavs shot 17 of 19 in the second quarter, scoring 49 points. The Nets outscored them in the other three. Sometimes talent just laughs in the face of effort. No really, ask Tim Thomas. He was there.

 

or

The offensive and defensive notes appear to have been written by different people—the defense is in cursive, the offense in print. The final admonition is this: "*** THIS IS ABOUT ONE GAME. -PROCESS OF IMPROVING. -EXECUTION. -TRANSITION. -DECISIONS." There’s no mention of how embarassing it would be to lose to an 0-17 team.

Some more gems after the 'ump.

 

Now, Josh Howard is on my fantasy team, but he’s also been injured and thus unproductive. My squad, as currently constructed, will play three fewer games than my opponent this week. Naturally, it’s crossed my mind to go all out for the win and drop Josh or injured Latvian ostrich Andris Biedrins. Wanting to get the scoop from the man himself, I ask J-5 when he’s actually coming back, as he looked pretty good running through drills before the game. He says next week and a long discussion ensues about why I probably shouldn’t drop him.

Josh is appreciative of my support, but I’m suddenly wracked with guilt. It’s as if an imaginary combination of Gordon Gekko and The Talented Mr. Roto pressured me to commit an insider trading crime against fantasy sports. This is funny because you could argue that fantasy sports are an insider trading crime against real sports.

Seeking to rectify the situation, I give Josh a copy of the new SLAM, which I paid five bucks for at a newsstand. I explain that by transferring something of monetary value in exchange for the information, I feel more like the guy that paid a broker for advice than somebody who stole information out of privilege.

[...]

Josh and I move on to talking about his Winston Salem charity work with CP3. Shawn Marion, having given up on understanding the transaction we just made, snatches the new SLAM from Josh and flips through it eagerly.

or

Dirk’s passing is just…is just…it just shouldn’t be that good. I asked him after the game about his pinpoint precision. His response: "When I first got into the league, I wasn’t much of a passer, that’s for sure, but I’ve been in this system for a long time. I just know where my guys are, know who’s cutting, know when Jet’s open and needs to get the ball. I’m comfortable out there. I’ve been in this league for 12 years, so it’s been a long time."

 

 

aswell as

The Mavs go on a 9-0 run after Devin Harris misses the free throw on a four point play opportunity. That about sums up the Nets’ season.

The Mavericks won’t miss. I’m half expecting Mike Iuzzolino and Derek Harper to show up along with and the original NBA Jam announcer because there’s a whole lot of vintage "he’s on fire" going on right now.

Brad Davis’s mustache has 13 points on five-of-eight from the floor. Also, some guy proposes to his girlfriend during a time out. Perhaps this is because he’s shy, and doesn’t want to do it in front of a crowd.

YES!

 

Rick Carlisle treads as carefully as anyone: "You’re playing the opponent, but you’re also going up against the expectations for yourself." And, even more carefully. "The guys that they have are playing hard, and that’s a tribute to Lawrence [Frank] and Tommy. They’re gonna keep battling." ("Also, we shot 90 F*CKING PERCENT IN THE SECOND QUARTER!!!!," he fails to gleefully add.)

And for good measure....

Got a chance to catch up with Drew Gooden, one of my favorite NBA personalities. Drew was talking with Beaubois and James Singleton about Europe. I asked what his favorite European city was.

"Holland," he replied.

 

just go over and read it, will'ya!?

Ps.:

Did he wrote anything about me? - Errr...how shall i say, Devin...