True and False

First off, I would like to apologize to all of our three readers for not writing an article for an entire week. There really isn't any excuse for this and I promise we will be much better the rest of the summer. I hope we didn't lose any of you because the popularity of this blog is equivalent to the amount of total friends Brian Scalabrine and Chris Mihm had in high school. So anyway on to the post...


True: We are entering game 4 of the NBA finals. A series where Phil Jackson has lost respect from every Celtic fan after whining about the Refs after game 2. Subsequently, and very predictably, every time Kobe drove the lane the refs acted as if he was being punched in the balls by numerous people. Kobe finished with 18 free throws.

False: There is nothing wrong with the refs whistles. Am I the only one who noticed when Kobe got every call not just one ref blew the whistle but there was actual multiple whistles being blown. Beyond that, they blew them like it was a technical foul and had five or six going at once. The Lakers fans were probably close to deaf by the end of the game. In fact, Im sure they would say they were to make up for that pathetic performance...

True: The Lakers fans submitted the worst effort in finals history. Seriously, I felt like there were 19,000 Terry Schiavo's watching this game until about six minutes left in the 4th. How can you call yourself actual fans? I know some of the people who are there are millionaires who really don't care at all. But there are 19,000 seats in that building! There has to be some actual fans there from the regular season.

False: Sam Cassell runs a camp in the offseason called 'Sam Cassell and the art of taking smart shots in the NBA playoffs.'

True: Although this was stated by Mark Jackson during game 3, I also saw this and started laughing. The Boston Herald did a piece on each matchup in the playoffs and who it favored. The covered the point guard, shooting guard etc. Finally when it came to the coach they said that the Doc Rivers vs. Phil Jackson matchup was EVEN. This would be like if someone said Mike Staropoli was the equivalent to Tom Brady in getting girls. It just really isn't even close.

False: Phil Jackson has coached well in this series. Yes, after all that I am going to say that Jackson has done a poor job in this series. Kobe is the most dominant player on the court at all times, yet, there are plenty of possessions where he doesn't even touch the ball. Jackson needs to abandon his triangle offense and get Kobe more looks. When Rondo is covering Kobe, get Kobe in the post. When Allen is covering Kobe, send him off screens. Allen was horrendous trying to cover Rip Hamilton off of all the screens they had him go off last series. When Pierce/Posey is on Kobe, let him go 1 on 1. The Lakers don't have enough scoring after Kobe and Pau to win three more games in this series unless Kobe averages 40 a game. The third head of their big three is totally useless..

True: Sorry Phil but Lamar Odom seems a little more than confused. Odom looks like Andy Dufresne the day after he got raped in the ass. Stone cold and eyes wide open. Only Odom looks like that every second hes on the court. Seriously, where has this guy been? In game 3 I can remember three different times where he just put his head down and drove to the basket at full speed with no regard for anyone else. Twice he slammed the ball off the backboard for a horrific looking miss, and the third he picked up a charge. He's been nothing short of non-existent in this series.

False: Tim Donaghy will not be killed in 10-25 years by the mob.

True: Tim Donaghy's allegations about the fixing of playoff games is more startling than the first time I saw a woman's breast on a computer screen. Just read this statement submitted by Donaghy's attorney:

"Referees A, F and G were officiating a playoff series between Teams 5 and 6 in May of 2002. It was the sixth game of a seven-game series, and a Team 5 victory that night would have ended the series. However, Tim learned from Referee A that Referees A and F wanted to extend the series to seven games. Tim knew referees A and F to be 'company men,' always acting in the interest of the NBA, and that night, it was in the NBA's interest to add another game to the series. Referees A and F heavily favored Team 6. Personal fouls [resulting in obviously injured players] were ignored even when they occurred in full view of the referees. Conversely, the referees called made-up fouls on Team 5 in order to give additional free throw opportunities for Team 6. Their foul-calling also led to the ejection of two Team 5 players. The referees' favoring of Team 6 led to that team's victory that night, and Team 6 came back from behind to win that series."

That game was the Lakers-Kings game from 2002 in which the Laker's got every call and forced a game 7. A game in which they eventually won. Listen, the only reason why I believe this is because Donaghy is accusing these refs of doing something totally different than what he did. He's not saying they fixed game for money, he's saying they fixed games for the NBA. If someone can tell me which is worse I'd love to hear your reason. The league's integrity is now being questioned more than ever. If this is true that means David Stern is behind all of this. Its always been about the money since Stern took control of the NBA, and now he has gone a step too far. Stern should either be fired or resign. People are angry at Donaghy for releasing this during the NBA finals. We should all remember hes not only a convict but a doushebag. Yet, his allegations are insanely eye-opening.

The NBA, where timing happens.

Bet of the day: Germany (-170) moneyline vs Croatia. Croatia's dreadful performance against Austria warrants this one. Germany is too powerful.

Fantasy Player of the day: Magglio Ordonez. Facing Mark Buehrle, Ordonez is 15/25 off Buehrle in his career, a .600 BA. He also has 2 hr's and 5 rbis against him.