There’s no Raptors stuff going on so lets look elsewhere for infotainment. Starting off with the classic video game Mortal Kombat. Shao Kahn and his coarse soul-sucking voice always echoed in the arenas as the likes of Sub Zero, Scorpion and Liu Kang fought to their ultimate death in a tournament that yielded two Hollywood movies (both mediocre). Today we find out that that Shao Kahn had a distinctly different side which never made it to the gaming consoles, a side that might surprise you, shock you and just may cost you your faith that Mortal Kombat is the greatest video game of all time. See for yourself.
On to the association, somebody remind me just exactly what Ben Gordon is good at. I remember he turned down a multi-year deal last summer only to post a sub-par season on a Bulls team that severely underachieved. One of the signs of the apocalypse (I believe its Genesis 2:34) was undersized shooting guards turning down contracts and struggling to gain form the following year and then getting stuck in two minds whether to take the qualifying offer or a deal at a lower yearly rate. Either way, Ben Gordon is no good.
The Lakers are one of the first teams to start differentiating their regular season games by charging more for “premium games”. I don’t have a problem with this at all as long as they reduce the prices for the “shit games”, you know the ones where you see the Bobcats on a rainy Wednesday night to a tune of 7,000 people. That would even things out.
Quality posting at HoopsHype where the author points out that there’s a good chance that Zach Randolph will start the season as a member of the Knicks thus nixing the idea that they’ll be a different team this year. There’s no doubting that the Knicks roster is oozing with enough slime to pollute an ocean but Zach Randolph is a little different. He’s the one dysfunctional Knick whose talent can be brought out to good potential if a coach is able to harness his emotion and gangsta attitude by channeling his anger properly. The identity of the Knicks has always been that of a strong no-nonsense defensive team that hustles and that’s exactly what’s been lacking in New York since before van Gundy left. Defense brings discipline and D’Antoni hardly addresses that problem so it becomes inevitable that the undisciplined Knicks will continue to struggle.
Darius Miles will be looking to fill the role of James Posey on the Celtics. It’ll never happen. Maybe Miles can bring the same defensive values to the team (athleticism, length) but his jump shot is brutal and he has trouble getting motivated. My money’s on Bill Walker producing more. Actually, my money’s on Willie Solomon or Hassan Adams doing more for us than what Miles will do for Boston. Here’s a fact: we improved more than the Celtics this off-season. That should make you feel better.
Bosh-hater Charley Rosen’s talking about how old timers still have a valuable place in the NBA. He’s right, one can’t expect to win playoff series with young guns alone. On a similar note, this Raptors team right here could use some hard-nosed NBA veterans that can get in teammates’ ears and opponents’ faces when things hit a rough patch. I know I sound nostalgic when I say this but I miss Charles Oakley, hell I even miss Antonio Davis. When was the last time a Raptors team stepped on the floor and you felt like we were the tougher, meaner team?
The Wizards are looking for an inconsistent utility tweener so its natural they turn their attention to Juan Dixon. Good luck to Juan, he could’ve done more in Toronto but was a victim of Mitchell’s poor substitution patterns. On that note, remember when we acquired Primoz Brezec and he started off with a great game against the Knicks and we all momentarily thought that Colangelo had swung a deal that could’ve actually helped us down the stretch and heading into the playoffs. How wrong we all were……
