http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4430906

Golden State Warriors forward Stephen Jackson has requested a trade out of California and has stated he’d like to play in Cleveland or a team in Texas as he looks to acquire another championship ring to his resume. At 31, Jackson has been in the league for 9 seasons and stated he has “four or five years left.” He averaged a career high in points last season while playing for the lowly Warriors.

Now the question is, Do you blame him for wanting out? I don’t. Jackson has been a part time headcase in his 9 year tenure but at the same time he has never played a minute in the league that he didnt give 100% effort. The Warriors have no sense of direction, the coach wants to trade players at random (i.e Jamal Crawford), the team has “wasted” talent on the bench, and is headed in the direction the LA Clippers were 15 years ago. Now asking for a trade to a certain team is a little extreme but Jackson’s frustration led him to demand such a thing. Do I think Jackson will be suiting up elsewhere in the 2009-10 season? Yes. Nelson will not putup with it and the Warriors will see that they can score a couple young prospects and a draft pick or too while freeing up some cap space. My prediction is that Jackson either goes back to San Antonio or ends up with Dallas. But my wild card in all of this is the Portland Trail Blazers. They could quietly put together an intriquing package and acquire Jackson who can play 4 positions and fill up the box score. They are one player short of being serious title contenders and Jackson could be the answer. We’ll have to wait and see but one thing is for sure, Jackson will be playing hard wherever he lands.

Darren

Since the Celtics are out….

Big Papi is just now slowly starting to break out of his slump…..

And I could give a sh*t about hockey, it’s time to refocus on the PATS!!!!!

This is one of the funniest sports clips ever (if you find sh*t like this funny)!  Reporter Andrea Kramer stops just short of asking Boy Wonder, Tom Brady, if he wants to make sexy time right there on the field and have Randy Moss work the camera.  Watch Brady give the camera a little side eye action after she turns to speak to Moss.  He’s like “This b*tch is crazy!”

One.

Such is the nature of the NBA’s two conferences that every game between now and the end of the regular season are filled with potential consequences for the teams involved. Wins can mean an important jump up the playoff standings or perhaps the appeasement of the front office and fans with a more respectable finishing record. They also mean progressively less chance of obtaining the #1 pick come the lottery.

On the flip side, a loss in any of the games before April 15^th can mean a dramatic slide down the rankings or perhaps the loss of home court in the playoffs. A loss for certain teams could result in that extra 0.5% chance of draft success.

Barring the fact that no teams in their respective conferences will want to hold the 8^th seed for the Big Dance due to the teams they will have to meet in the first round, jostling for position is increasingly becoming chess like. Who matches up with whom better? And who do teams really want to avoid?

The importance of not finishing 8^th in the East and West cannot be overstated. Every team will be trying their utmost to avoid the fate of facing Kobe or LeBron. Regardless of Rasheed Wallace’s statement that they truly believe they have a shot at the title, a meeting with Cleveland, who have held a vice like grip over the top spot in the East, must surely be viewed as nothing more than a formality. As for the Mavericks, nobody in Dallas, save for an ill advised rookie, believe that they have any shot at all at forcing the Los Angeles Lakers into a stumble.

In the East, perhaps the most important seedings of all are the 4 and 5. The team that occupy these positions know that they avoid the ‘Big Three’ of Cleveland, Boston and Orlando, giving them a real chance of progressing to the conference semi-finals, subsequently building some momentum with which to bring into a match up against the East’s top 3. Currently the 4/5 appears as if it will be fought between Miami and Atlanta, potentially the most exciting first round duel.

Whichever team can hold onto the 4^th seed and secure home court for the first round will clearly have the advantage, although nothing is assured, especially when the opposition possess one of the best closers in the League in Dwayne Wade.

The Eastern semi-finals appear to be pretty sewn up with 3 of the 4 apparently already chosen. Unless Chicago, Philadelphia or Detroit can pull of a remarkable upset, the Cavaliers, Celtics and Magic will progress with the 4^th spot being decided between the Heat and the Hawks. Nothing is so predictable out West, where seeds 2-8 are separated by very little.

The Lakers will likely face Dallas in the first round although the Mavericks are only 1 game back on 7^th seed Utah who as things stand will face the Manu-less Spurs in round 1. The fact that San Antonio are missing one of their three major players must appeal to all the other teams in contention. An aging Spurs who are over-reliant on Tim Duncan and Tony Parker do not match up well with a healthy Jazz who could realistically overpower San Antonio inside with Boozer, Okur, Kirilenko and Milsap all fit and productive.

Houston, with a healthy Yao Ming, are a difficult match for anyone in the Western playoff picture. Nobody, not even Superman, can deal with him. If the likes of Von Wafer can provide scoring off of the bench and Aaron Brooks can maintain his composure, the Rockets could have a deep post season run.

The real wild cards out West are the Portland Trailblazers. The combination of youth and potential make them a difficult prospect for a first round match up. They have power and length inside in the shape of Greg Oden who is beginning to fulfil some of his promise as he stays healthy, and LaMarcus Aldridge who is flat out scary some nights. Combine this with the leadership and scoring of Brandon Roy and the versatility of the likes of Rudy Fernandez and Nicolas Batum and Portland are a tough team.

Which leaves New Orleans. Having the best point guard in the League can only be a good thing and as long as CP3 stays healthy the Hornets have always got a chance. The fact that they are as banged up a team as there is in the playoffs is some what misleading as a full strength Orleans is capable of going deep into the latter stages of the playoffs. To have a real chance they need everyone back to compliment Chris Paul, especially the inside presence of Tyson Chandler.

The West is wide open and the East is far from decided. Drama is assured, but it is hard to look past a Cleveland Lakers final.

So, in order to take a little break from potty training, we took Chloe to the HS invitational basketball tournament at BJ last night to watch our Wood County guys play.  They were awesome!  The score was almost silly – something like 65 to 28 or something. . . .they were all happy to see that, and Chloe just had a blast playing with Mr. John and Dave!  Here’s a few pics from the night!   (We’re going back tonight, so I’ll make sure we have some better pictures of all our Wood County friends.)

Oh – and Happy 30th Birthday, Tim, and Happy 17th Birthday Julie! 

NBA Star of the Week – Kobe Bryant

Kobe and the Lakers are on a roll

Kobe Bryant – Remember those trade demands from the offseason? Kobe isn’t demanding a trade to the Bulls now, thats for sure. The Lakers have won 10 of their last 11 and have climbed to only 1/2 game behind Dallas and Phoenix for best record in the Western Conference. They won all 4 games this past week as Kobe averaged 29.5 points, 6 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 3.5 steals.

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NBA Goat of the Week – Joakim Noah

Even his own teammates hate Joakim Noah

Joakim Noah – Noah was suspended for one game for an outburst aimed at Bulls’ assistant Ron Adams. Then, in an unprecedented move, the other Bulls players voted unanimously to extend the suspension another game. So the players went out of their way to tell interim head coach Jim Boylan that one game was not enough. Wow! How much of an A-hole do you have to be to have that happen to you?! According to Boylan, Noah has also been involved in “a couple of situations where he’s been late or not doing what the Chicago Bulls do.” When I decided to do a Goat of the Week post this season, nonsense like this from chumps like Joakim Noah was exactly what I had in mind.

Gilbert Arenas Underwent Knee Surgery and Will be Out for 3 Months

Links from around the NBA…

• On his Agent Zero Blog, Arenas talks about his injury, his recent breakup with his girlfriend, GilTV, his group of women stalkers and more.
• Bill Simmons’ Revised NBA Preview: Western Conference
• Could it get any worse in New York? From this article, “They looked like they didn’t want to compete,” Detroit guard Flip Murray said. “They were just out there.”
• ESPN’s Top 100 NBA prospects for the 2008 draft (ESPN Insider required)
• Kevin Durant needs a nickname. I kinda like ‘Big Slim’.
• FanHouse Choose Your Own Adventure: Stephon Marbury. Outstanding!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving! This year I want to give thanks to Vince Carter… for this: