D Rose who had injuries all season finally got the last one yesterday that put him out the rest of the year. Unfortunately he will also miss part of next season and may likely never be the same again. As a victim of a torn ACL, I cringe every time I see it happen to someone else. This is why I have such a big problem with the bounty stuff and anyone who roots for knee injuries to people even just joking.
Hopefully, D Rose will talk to Kobe and Dirk and maybe read this article http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7796225/kobe-bryant-dr-chris-renna-regenokine-knee-treatment
With that injury, the entire NBA playoffs change shape. Shumpert for the Knicks has also torn an ACL and they were already short Jeremy Lin. The road to the finals seems clear for the Heat except for the fact that the Celtics OWN them and Lebron. As a Laker fan, I HATE the Celtics (Sucktics/Tics) but I must admit they have a good shot at making the finals this year now.
Durrant made the last shot and showed yesterday why they will beat the Heat in the finals if they make it. I still don't think they will get past the defending champ, Mavs and the Grizz will beat the Spurs again, paving the way for a Lakers/Celtics final!! No matter who makes it in the West, the Celtics are NO MATCH so we won't have to worry about #18 being raised for the Tics.
Craig Robinson and I agree!
D Rose's injury does help the Celtics out. They weren't going to beat the Bulls with him out there but no they got a great chance if they get there. And it is true that we own Miami. A better way of saying it is Rondo owns Miami! But I take nothing for granted. Atlanta is even going to be a dog fight.
ReplyDeleteThe Western conference is definatly more interesting at this point. I could see any of the top four seeds in the finals. As evidenced by your predictions, LA wants nothing to do with the Spurs, I can tell you that much!
Spurs over Miami is my prediction.
Did you check out TSG's take on Artest? It varies somewhat from yours.
16. Ronmetta Artestpeace
Sorry, I can't call someone "World Peace" after he concusses James Harden and his beard with a deliberate/intentional/vicious elbow. You could tell the difference between "people who have never played basketball" and "people who actually play basketball" by the way they reacted to this story — if your argument was, "He didn't see Harden, he didn't realize what happened," then you've never played basketball. There are no accidents on a basketball court, save for two guys colliding because they were looking up at a rebound or something. It's not hockey. You know where you are and what you're doing pretty much all the time. If a normal person accidentally ripped an elbow into someone's head and knocked him out on a basketball court, he would immediately stop running, feel horrified, hope the injured guy got up, then crouch over him to make sure he was OK. This would happen every time — repeat: every time — unless either (a) the guy totally meant to throw that elbow, and (b) the guy was a full-fledged fucking lunatic. In that case, the guy would glance at the victim's fallen body in disdain and keep running the other way, then raise his hands to fight whoever came charging at him. That's exactly what Ronmetta did. Which means he should have been suspended for 15 games, not seven.
And before you throw the whole "of course you're saying that, you hate the Lakers" line at me, please understand, I'm delighted that Ronmetta came back early. Here's the thing about Ronmetta: He's only good when he's playing physical, hard-nosed, passionate, occasionally insane basketball. He struggled early this season (and all of last season) because he was playing, for lack of a better word, soft. Kobe kept working on him and working on him, and finally, the old Artest came back during a game in Boston. Gradually, he played himself into shape and found the right physical/passionate/crazy balance; by April, he had evolved into a genuine asset. But that's the thing … he only got there by unleashing Artest and turning his back on World Peace, which is what eventually led to the indefensible Harden elbow (and his even more indefensible reaction afterward).
You know what it reminds me of, actually? Mike Tyson. Iron Mike needed to embrace his inner crazy to succeed at boxing. That inner crazy eventually led to jail time and part of Evander Holyfield's ear being bitten off, followed by Tyson overmedicating himself with pills and pot just to feel like a decent human being again. Even if it murdered his boxing career, he didn't care. He didn't want to see Iron Mike unleashed any more. My prediction is that the Harden elbow pushed Ronmetta to the same point. If he comes back in these playoffs, he's going to play soft and end up being more of a liability than anything — that's worse for the Lakers than suspending him for an extra eight games. If anyone can play them out of a Finals spot, it's an overly tentative Ronmetta Artestpeace.
I didn't ask for a Laker hater's opinion. How can anyone tell MWP what HE was thinking.
ReplyDeleteTell this to the Laker hater bandwagon leader:
ReplyDeleteThis was a mistake. Basketball is an extremely physical and emotional sport. Altercations will happen and people will get hurt, its inevitable! The attempts to ostracize the man who's been such an ambassador for mental health awareness are just ignorant and mean spirited. He was removed from the game, he's been suspended, now leave him be. Stop allowing your Laker-hate to cloud your better judgment.
And THEN tell him to hug Rondo while he sits out game 2.