Shaq to be traded to Cavs (what a fatty!)

This is just upsetting to me. Honestly what the heck is going on with these people. they must be like, “We got to make sure Lebron stays happy so he doesn’t leave. So what should we do? I got it, yeah lets bring the Big Diesel to help out! Are you crazy? Shaq is a walking nightmare for any superstar on any squad. Who wants a 7-1 tall Center, who is definitely a “has been”, who still has an enormous ego as if it was 1995? I say Lebron won’t! Shaq cannot help anyone win a ring, anymore. He is fat and washed up. I don’t care what anyone says, this is a bad Idea.

Yes I will admit that the suns have helped him get back into better shape, but Shaq has never had a hard work ethic so I just don’t see him getting better in the twilight of his career. I mean really man just look at his free-throws, if he worked hard he would be able to hit them by now. Shaq has a long history of not even showing up to mandatory team practices! He is the last thing I would bring to a NBA finals contender!  I was reading  my friends site http://americaswhiteboy.blogspot.com and he had a great post, which spurred this entire article. I still cant believe my eyes. This stuff is really happening! Shaq is moving and I just can’t understand what for. This guy is a BUM!

Shaq has won the first Sportsroids.com’s GATBMS Award! (athlete turned bad movie star Award)

After watching Kazaam, I felt that I really had to make some kind of post on his performance. He was once the greatest Center in the NBA, and then he decided to take on more. Shaq is one of the best Athletes of the last 30 years without a doubt. One thing, however, he isn’t is a good actor. Kazaam was an awful movie and I really wish I could get that couple of hours of my life back! Honestly, I would rather have my teeth pulled by Muhammad Ali than watch that film again! SHAQ STOP ACTING, RAPPING and start practicing your Free Throws!!

NBA Fights Video

Come one, come all and see some of the few fights we have from classic NBA matchups. To be honest this video is not just all fights but also includes hard fouls as well. Watch and enjoy as Vince Carter makes a fool of himself at the Olympics while representing America. He must have lost his attitude when he lost his hair, hahaha. Be sure not to miss Ron Artest involving himself in drama on this tape as well. Enjoy! oh yeah Reggie and Kobe go at it! Sweet!

Can the Phoenix Suns make the Playoffs?

Currently, the Phoenix Suns are in ninth place in the Western Conference. If the playoffs were to begin today, the recent perennial show-ups, the Phoenix Suns would be no-shows and watching from home (but most likely traveling over seas and playing golf). But either way, they wouldn’t make the playoffs.

When the Suns decided to drop Mike D’Antoni after his highly successful run which included two Western Conference Finals, they figured to make the playoffs by default, with the real goal in mind to win a championship. Now they are too busy stuck in a seesaw battle with Utah (8), New Orleans (7), and Dallas (6) to barely get into the playoffs, much less be involved in any championship talk.

Steve Nash seems to be relegating more of the offensive load to his teammates. He used to be more aggressive until this year. Even though Shaq is playing at an All-Star level again, it still doesn’t ever seem to be enough for them to get over the contenders or even to consistently win against the other playoff teams. And with recent rumors of exploring ways they could trade away Amare Stoudamire or even The Big Cactus himself, this team is a shade away from being in shambles.

The Suns can still make the playoffs easily. However, fighting for the sixth through eighth seeds means L.A., San Antonio, or Denver in the first round. They might just be able to make it in and out quick enough to catch the rest of the playoffs on TV.

Why has the NBA become so unpopular??

A little bit more than a decade ago Basketball was at it’s peak of popularity.  People questioned how the NBA be so popular and how come football took a backseat to both basketball and baseball.  Critics and fans a like said it was because of the fact that football players wore helmets that masked their faces.  Others said that people wanted to see a skill sport rather than one that required and rewarded strength over talent.

Today the NBA is a shell of what it used to be.  In fact it has been for years.  Since Michael Jordan’s third and final retirement a lot of the luster, excitement, and entertainment has left the industry.  Some may point out that scoring is higher than ever.  Although that may be true, the fact of the matter is that the way that players are scoring points has caused the game to actually slow down dramatically.  Ever since the rule of no hand checking along the perimeter has been in place, faster players like Tony Parker and Rajon Rondo have been abusing the painted area.  Although guard play was what David Stern was hoping to incorporate into the game, it slowed it down due to several of ticky tack fouls being called.

The result was higher scoring, but it was all done at a stand still pace… at the foul line.  Look at Kobe Bryant last night at the Garden for example.  He drops 61 points on the New York Knicks, 20 of which came from the free throw stripe (He went 20/20 at the line).

Another reason comes from over this past summer in which we saw referree Tim Donaghy ruined much of the little credibility the NBA had left.  Do you remember about 5 years ago the Lakers and Spurs were playing in the Western Conference Semi-Finals.  Derek Fisher hit a jumper with 0.3 seconds left on the clock.  From my recollection, they deemed it impossible to even tap a ball in without at least 0.4 seconds remaining on the clock.  Now I’m not a Spurs fan or a Laker hater but anyone who saw that game can see that the clock started late, and they gave Fisher enough time to do a turn-catch-and-shoot.

Parity, it doesn’t exist.  Even today with both conferences looking more and more similar record wise.  The fact of the matter is that only two or three teams from each conference have a legitimate chance in winning the title.  That doesn’t seem so bad right?  Well these are the same teams every year for about a 2 to 3 year period.  San Antonio, Cleveland, Detriot (Not so much this year), and Phoenix (they too have fallen off) prior to last year’s finals were doned to be in the Conference Finals at the minimum.

Rewards for individual achievements for a team based game.  It is a given that you cannot win 1 on 5.  Yet there is the MVP award.  This wouldn’t be so bad except the MVP voting makes no sense.  The Best player on the Best Team?  Then why didn’t KG win it last year like he should have?  Or is it the best overall player, Then why did Dirk Nowitzki win the MVP (I’m a huge Dirk fan)?  The voting system makes no sense and the MVPs each year seem to baffle the true fans.  Nash should have won when Dirk won.  Shaq should have won when Nash won his first MVP.  Kidd should have won, when Duncan won his second MVP.

Empathy.  The fans don’t see themselves in the players.  Most of these players are arrogant and selfish and only desire money.  For the few times a year we get to play ball with our buddies and friends we play with team work, desire to win, and above all else because we love it.  Players these days care only about the dollar in a sport that has lost its ability to create a team first mentality.  Look at Gilbert Arenas he signed for $111 million over six years only to not even step on the court once this year.  He claimed to be a heroic icon by saving his team millions, while in actuality has crippled them financially and doesn’t even play.

Some say there is a race element involved in it as well but I don’t believe it.  Most football players are black(except at quarterback and on the O-line).  Most baseball players are hispanic (at least a majority of the most famous ones).  Yet these sports are the two most watched and profitable in the nation.  The fact of the matter is that basketball has become slow due to rule changes (hand checking on the perimeter, no-charge zone, zone defenses(No more illegal defense)).  People don’t like the players (Kobe – accused of rape, Shaq – adultry, Jamal Tinsley & Ron Artest – do I really have to list this?, the Palace at Auburn Hills, over paid players, focus on race (Yao and Yi to reach to Asian Markets)).  This league has lost its depth, and more importantly it has lost its passion and its beauty.  If you don’t believe me then think back to when the Heat played the Nuggets this past year and the hype was that Dick Vitale was going be commenting the game….Not the game itself.

NBA Quarter-Mark Outlook

So far in the NBA a few teams are back up to their old tricks, a few have been somewhat disappointing, and a good number of upstarts from last year as well as some surprising newcomers have begun to surface.

 

The newcomers that need to be involved in this discussion are as follows; in the east it’s Miami, New York, and New Jersey and in the west all of the other teams with playoff aspirations are of no surprise at this point in the season. Miami, led by top scorer in points per game, Dwyane Wade, are currently 9^th in the eastern conference standings. Last year, everyone remembers how atrocious they were. New York seems to be hitting its stride under the tutelage of former Phoenix head coach, Mike D’Antoni as they are 8-8 and 8^th in the standings. Finally, the previous season’s trade between the Dallas Mavericks and New Jersey Nets has finally begun to payoff, as the Devin Harris led Nets are 8-7, 6-4 in their last ten, and 7^th in the east.

 

The Upstarts from last year that are proving their worth are as follows; in the east it’s the Orlando Magic, the Atlanta Hawks, while in the west we have Portland and Denver. The Magic currently sit at 3^rd and atop the eastern conference standings at 13-4 going 9-1 in their last ten. Dwight Howard, Jameer Nelson, Rashard Lewis, and Hedo Turkoglu and company are really hitting their stride. The continued and improved production of guard/forward Keith Bogans and the extra lift provided by off season veteran pick up Anthony Johnson as point guard have been stalwart.

 

The Hawks slid a bit after starting off 5-0 mainly because of losing Josh Smith for the next few months, but have regained form and are now 10-6 and 5^th in the eastern conference.

 

In the west the Portland Trailblazers, continue to look like a team of the future with stars Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge, and the potential of first-year NBA players like Rudy Fernandez, and Greg Oden. They are now tied with Phoenix, Denver, and Houston at 11-6 while going 7-3 in their last ten games.

 

Denver’s success can be attributed to the trade of Chauncey Billups for Allen Iverson. The Nuggets are 11-6 and 7-3 in their last ten while holding 3^rd place in the west. They have had many impressive victories and performances as they beat Boston in Boston, and took the Lakers to the brink of a loss in L.A.

 

Now come the disappointments. The Detroit Pistons are hovering somewhere between average and above average. Although they are 10-5 and in 4^th place in the east, they are suffering some inexcusable losses, most recently a 10+ point loss to Minnesota, do not yet seem to have their act together with Allen Iverson skipping the thanksgiving day practice (however, I do give huge props to Michael Curry for taking charge by suspending him for one game), and are not nearly as consistent as they were when they had Chauncey Billups in the lineup. 

 

The other eastern disappointments for the eastern conference are the Toronto Raptors, Philadelphia 76ers, and Washington Wizards.

The Raptors just 8-7 and are barely holding a spot in the eastern conference as the 7^th seeded team. With capable point guard Jose Calderon, and former all-start Jermaine O’Neal, they should be doing better.

 

The Sixers were a team last year that without Elton Brand finished 6^th in the east and took Detroit to six games in the playoffs. Now with virtually the same team and Elton Brand, they are struggling to find their rhythm and are 7-9 and 5-5 in their last ten. As for the “Wiz Kids,” although without injured star Gilbert Arenas they may not have been a playoff contender anyway, they are still abysmal with their 2-12 record which is good for worst in the east. Last season they played without Arenas for the most part, but still managed to finish above .500 and make the playoffs. They have now fired their coach Eddie Jordan and are in a state of disarray.

 

The disappointments in the west are the New Orleans Hornets, Dallas Mavericks, and L.A. Clippers. The Hornets finished second last year and were one game away from the western conference finals. They are now 9-6 and 7^th in the standings in the west. The Mavericks are 8-8 and look like they are ready to get their act together one game, and then go back to mediocrity the next. As for the Clippers, you would think they could be more competitive than their 3-13 record would suggest with the pickup of marquee point guard Baron Davis. Oh well.

 

As for the Spurs, I’m sure a lot of people would like to put them in as a disappointment, but they have been playing without Manu Ginobli for the entire season (who is set to return soon), and Tony Parker has just returned from his injury earlier in the season. To further their defense, they are now 9-7 and 7-3 in their last ten while being 8^th in the west.

 

Finally we come to the top dogs in the league.

 

In the east you have the Cleveland Cavaliers with their 14-3 records, 9-1 in the last ten games, and 2^nd place spot in the standings. They have put together a bevy of blowouts on their opponents this season, and the addition of a scoring point guard in Mo Williams has been absolutely huge for them.

 

The second team that has picked up right where they left off from last year is the Lakers. They are 13-1 and making mince meat out of would be superpower teams and have the best record in the NBA.

 

But the pinnacle of all teams continues to be the Boston Celtics. They’re 16-2 and are still dominating defensively and continue to get great production from their supporting cast members. And although the Lakers get much help from their bench and up and coming players, let’s face it… the Celtics are still the champs.

 

The last three teams I must mention are the Houston Rockets, Phoenix Suns, and Utah Jazz. To me, these three teams are in a state of limbo. Houston would look to be an upstart, but they can’t seem to keep their stars, Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming, healthy. The Suns seem like the same team as last year, which wasn’t a contender anyway, and the Jazz keep being a team with potential that can’t seem to build on it.

 

That would about sum up the NBA season at or around its quarter mark. We’ll look to see who shifts from wherever they were in this discussion and who remains where they are in the coming weeks. As for those that I did not include in this article… you really just aren’t worth mentioning (Chicago, Indiana, Milwaukee, Charlotte, Golden State, Minnesota, Sacramento, Memphis and Oklahoma City).

Mark and Mad’Nuff Show

Hello, SportsRoids faithful:

Something new we have here as we continue to improve and add to this wonderful site is the Mark and Mad’Nuff show you can click the link at the bottom or just listen on the side of the page. We will be trying to give you as many shows as possible but feed back is very important. So please listen and give us some, also don’t be scared to offer up topics you the readers and listeners would like to hear. We will also be accepting any and all Fantasy related questions, so that we can help you push your team toward your goal of winning the championships. Click the link below for download or streaming media.

SportsRoids Mark & Mad’Nuff Sports Show Episode #1

Mark and Mad’Nuff Show

Hello, SportsRoids faithful:

Something new we have here as we continue to improve and add to this wonderful site is the Mark and Mad’Nuff show you can click the link at the bottom or just listen on the side of the page. We will be trying to give you as many shows as possible but feed back is very important. So please listen and give us some, also don’t be scared to offer up topics you the readers and listeners would like to hear. We will also be accepting any and all Fantasy related questions, so that we can help you push your team toward your goal of winning the championships. Click the link below for download or streaming media.

SportsRoids Mark & Mad’Nuff Sports Show Episode #1