BLEACHERS BREW EST. MAY 2006

Someone asked me how my blog and newspaper column came to be titled "Bleachers Brew". It's like this, it's an amalgam of sorts of two things: The bleachers area in the stadium/arena where I used to sit when I would watch baseball, football, and basketball games and Miles Davis' great jazz album Bitches Brew. That's how it got culled together. I originally planned on calling it "The View from the Big Chair" that is a nod to Tears For Fear's second album, Songs from the Big Chair. So there.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Thoughts on some NBA teams at this stage

Like a Phoenix from the ashes… the Suns will run and gun playing Gentryball. The experiment with Shaq didn’t go too well. But do I honestly think that these sons will go deep in the playoffs? They keep looking at the D’Antoni model but they never went anywhere. I’d rather that Steve Kerr assemble a team that looks like those 90’s Phoenix teams with Thunder Dan, KJ, the Round Mound of Rebound, Tom Chambers, the Big O, and Danny Ainge. That team was complete. They could run, pound the ball inside, and hit the three-ball like no one’s business. Plus they had size. These current Suns can run but that’s about it. You’d think after playing everyone like this in the past several years they would have gotten over the hump? Nope. They may play well in the regular season but come win-or-go-home time… will Grant Hill and Steve Nash still have the legs for it? Phoenix could get burned once more.

The Los Angeles Lakers seem real good right now. They’ve been flushing foes by more than 15 points per game. But that figures bloated because they’ve been thumping some bad teams. What makes them frightening is their smart play. How many players do they have with a great basketball IQ? For the answer all you have to do is look at Phil Jax who likes to assemble squads that have smart players. There’s Mamba, Gazza, Fish, Lamar, and Luke. Oh, should we count Ron Artest? Yep. His first ring.

The Boston Celtics have the talent and firepower to match up with the Lakers. They’d be more frightening if Rasheed Wallace played like Rasheed Wallace. Instead, he’s become Antoine Walker --- jacking up ICBMs like there’s no tomorrow. When you already have Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Marquis Daniels, and Eddie House, who’ve got excellent range, it’s like shock and awe. But what this team needs is to pound the rock inside to the Kid, Big Baby, and Kendrick Perkins. I thought that this team would have pushed pedal to the metal had they gotten Allen Iverson. If anyone could reign him in – it would be KG and the Captain (but then Philly offered him a one-year contract). But I still believe that Doc Rivers should play his bench coz Daniels might waste away much like Mikki Moore did last year.

Cleveland Cavaliers. Michael Jordan took the Chicago Bulls to the playoffs every year he played. It took him seven years for him to get his first championship ring. LeBron James went to the NBA Finals in is fifth year where the Cavs got dusted off by a superior team. Emphasis on team. I don’t see how this team is any better than the one that went to the Finals two years ago. However, in reality, a team with Bron, Mo, and Shaq Daddy should be ripe for a finals challenge. 

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