Basketball Fiend

Posts Tagged ‘vote’

1. Debate over: Steve Nash is the toughest player in the NBA (sorry, Kobe). If you thought Nash playing with his eye swollen shut in Game 4 of the Western Conference Semifinals was badass, check out this video of him resetting a broken nose after taking an elbow to the face from Derek Fisher. (How intense is that?) This guy takes more shots to the face than Benjamin Linus, yet he keeps playing (and plays well). No matter the outcome of the Lakers-Suns series, you have to admire his toughness.

2. Speaking of toughness, Dwight Howard finally showed some Monday night, going ape on the Celtics to the tune of 32 points, 16 rebounds and 4 blocks. After pulling a disappearing act in Game 3 (and looking about as dejected as a man can in the press conference that followed), Dwight reportedly found motivation in a phone call from Hakeem Olajuwon. Why The Dream would call Dwight is beyond me. But whatever he said, it worked. Superman is back! (For now anyway.)

3. Red’s Army credits the incomparable Adrian Wojnarowski with a scathing critique of Vince Carter’s Game 4 performance (3 points, 3 turnovers), but when I clicked the link to visit said critique nothing happened. This means either a) Woj took heat for the column and Yahoo! took it down, or b) he never wrote it. I’m going with the former. Hopefully someone can get to the bottom of this. I’m interested to hear what happened.

4. Forwarded to me last night by my buddy Mike Green with the title “Tall Motherf*ckers”: a story about Sim and Tanveer Bhullar, 7-foot brothers from India who are taking over the high school basketball scene. 17-year-old Sim is 7-foot-4, 285 pounds and averages 16 points, 14 rebounds and 8 blocks per game. Tanveer is 15 years old; clocks in at 7-foot-2, 260 pounds; and averages 12 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks. Kentucky, Texas and Stanford are all reportedly in hot pursuit of Sim. I like these guys already. They even have a cool, alliterative nickname: the Brothers Bhullar.

5. Vote now for the next generation NBA Jam catchphrase. My personal favorite: “Objection sustained!” (for a blocked shot)–seems tailor made for Dwight Howard.

(Photo credit: Los Angeles Times)

In my opinion, the NBA has the best sports bloggers on the Internet. (I know, I know. I’m biased.) Now that 2009 is coming to a close, I think it’s time we recognize the best of the best.

Below I’ve nominated what I consider to be the five best written, most interesting NBA blog articles of 2009.  Each one is a work of genius, making it difficult to decide which article is the best. So I’m leaving it up to you, NBA readers, to decide which one gets the “Fiendy”: the award for elite status.

The process is easy. Read and review the nominees below. When you’re done, vote for your favorite in the poll at the end.

The blog with the most votes by 7:00 pm PT on Thurs, Dec. 31 wins the “Fiendy”.

(In the event of a tie, I’ll cast the deciding vote.)

The NBA’s Chex Mix Renaissance - Jared Wade, Both Teams Played Hard

How do you capture the distinction between team chemistry and self-centeredness in the NBA without sounding cliché or preachy? Simple. Use a Chex Mix analogy. Jared Wade wrote this article post-Lakers championship, using the snack mix analogy as both a praise of the Magic and an indictment of talented, “me first” teams like the Clippers. As soon as I read the following paragraph I knew Wade had struck gold. This is blogging at its best; a thought-provoking idea executed with the greatest of skill. Well done, sir.

Sample quote:

If we’re going to compare players to chips (and don’t worry, folks, we are about to) Baron Davis is the Dorito. Both are universally beloved and both have inimitable flavor, but, deep down, you know neither is good for you. Marcus Camby is the pretzel: simple, reliable and underrated. Zach Randolph is the Cheeto; like the chip’s cheese, Zebo’s 20/10 is clearly artificial… Al Thornton is the Sun Chip: solid, yet ultimately nondescript and bland.

Just like Frito’s failed attempt at a party mix (I hope the irony of the name “Munchies” isn’t lost on anyone), these guys do not fit together. They’re just a mismatched group of guys with individual strengths.

If You Must Rage, Rage Consistently - Josh Tucker, Hardwood Paroxysm

Tucker wrote this article in Jan. 2009, using it to admonish Lakers haters for being inconsistent in their coverage of his beloved team. The idea? Essentially, the Lakers get called out by the blogosphere during times of fortune, yet go largely uncovered when they get screwed themselves. Typical Lakers whining, right? Unfortunately, no. You can’t pass off something this well-written and clear-minded as the usual b.s. I’m as anti-Lakers as it gets, but Tucker’s manifesto makes sense. It’s a well-argued point with plenty of specific examples. And the title kicks ass. As much as I wanted to brush it off, I couldn’t.

Sample quote:

Time and time again, bloggers have insisted that at the end of games — especially important games — the officials should “let them play,” even in many cases where there is a legitimate foul, for fear of the referees deciding the game. In fact, barely a month earlier, the internet had erupted in outrage over just such a situation. But this time, the popular opinion was that the foul should not have been called, because of the context.

How quickly things change when the Lakers are involved.

David Kahn Gets Hired, Ditch Gets Deeper - Zach Harper, Talk Hoops

Favorite teams are like WAGs: when things are going well, there’s nowhere in the world you’d rather be. But when things aren’t going so hot, it’s easy to get out-of-your-mind frustrated. For celebrities, this manifests itself in crazy meltdowns and public embarrassment. For bloggers, it’s the catalyst for terrific writing. We’re like song writers that way. Misery brings out the best in us. For Zach Harper, a Timberwolves fan, the best was a thousand-word rant sparked by the incoherent regime of T-Wolves owner Glen Taylor. Written on May 21, 2009 (shortly after David Kahn was hired as general manager), this “Almost Famous”-inspired tongue lashing represents the sentiments of not just Timberwolves fans, but frustrated fans everywhere. Be sure to read all the way to end. The final line is terrific.

Sample quote:

They couldn’t get anyone because Glen Taylor doesn’t know how to own a successful basketball franchise. We watched for a decade while he kept Kevin McHale around instead of finding someone who could figure out how to put winning talent around one of the most talented big men to ever grace the court. We watched while KG’s prime was wasted because he had to drag guys like Dean Garrett and Trenton Hassell (no offense, Trenton. I did like you but c’mon, you know what you are) around while trying to wade through the busted draft picks of Paul Grant, William Avery, and Ndubi Ebi who happened to break up the years of not having a draft pick at all due to an illegal deal under the table with Joe Freaking Smith.  And how are we repaid for this loyalty?

With David Kahn.

Got to Get Off This Never-Ending Combine - Rough Justice, Free Darko

To say there is a lot of mind-blowing content produced on Free Darko throughout the year is an understatement. Nobody mines the finer points of basketball better than Bethlehem Shoals’ crew. But this article stood out as being particularly insightful. Published on Christmas day, Rough Justice’s indictment of the term “athleticism” is both thought-provoking and immaculately written. RJ, one half of the dynamic duo at There Are No Fours, debuts a number of intriguing ideas (among them: the idea that body control is just as important as speed and hops; the concept of the “player narrative” and its affect on judgments of athleticism; and the misuse of the term “freak”) while simultaneously expanding the reader’s vocabulary. It’s an impressive read.

Sample quote:

It’s evident and impressive when someone makes a play up in the air. Similarly, we can all tell when someone turns on the jets to get ahead on the break for an easy basket. It’s right there to see, it’s effective, so it gets noticed. A lot of the elements of this physiological cloud are subtler. Who has the best body control in the NBA? Nobody knows. You can tell if someone is on one extreme or the other if you watch them a lot, but no one could begin to rank everyone in the league. Who has the best hand-eye coordination? These aren’t the things that are or even necessarily could get tested at combines, but they are things that partially determine how effective someone is on the court.

Is LeBron the New Kobe? - Denny Mayo, Waiting for Next Year

2009 was a wild year for LeBron James. He won his first MVP award, momentarily wrestled the “Best Player in the NBA” title away from Kobe Bryant, led the Cavaliers to their best regular season record in team history, hit the best game-winner of his career, swept through the early stages of the playoffs only to watch his teammates self-destruct in the Eastern Conference Finals, and inspired more controversy than anyone in the league with missteps like the non-handshake and DunkGate. Along the way, the public perception of LBJ changed. A lot. Nobody captured that change better than Denny Mayo. Comparing LeBron to Kobe hardly qualifies as an original idea, but Mayo put a new spin on the idea: staging the comparison off the court. It’s an inspired piece; one that I think rings truer by the day.

Sample quote:

In the past months, we’ve seen LeBron not shake hands and get torn up for it.  We’ve seen him not apologize and explain that he’s a “winner” – and get torn up for it… Most recently, we’ve (not) seen him get dunked on – and been torn up for it… The scrutiny surrounding him is reaching a fever pitch.  Everyone’s got an opinion, and wants to be heard about it.  #freejordancrawford is all the rage with the Twitter these days.  The bottom line is LeBron is becoming as divisive as Kobe.

Runner ups: You’ve Got the Look! (Bethlehem Shoals, Free Darko); Tribute to Paul Gasol, NBA Champion (Josh Tucker, Silver Screen and Roll); Hope for the Worst NBA Teams (Tom Ziller, NBA Fanhouse)

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(Photo credit: USA Today)

In my opinion, the NBA has the best sports bloggers on the Internet. (I know, I know. I’m biased. Get over it.) Now that 2009 is coming to a close, I think it’s time we recognize the best of the best.

Below I’ve nominated what I consider to be the five best general NBA blogs on the Internet. Just to clarify: these are blogs that focus on the league as a whole, not one individual team. Each of these blogs is great. It’s difficult to decide which is the best, so I’m leaving it up to you, NBA readers, to decide which one gets the “Fiendy”: the award for elite status.

The process is easy. Read and review the nominees below. When you’re done, vote for your favorite in the poll at the end.

The blog with the most votes by 7:00 pm PT on Wednesday, Dec. 23 wins the “Fiendy”.

(In the event of a tie, I’ll cast the deciding vote.)

Ball Don’t Lie

A witty, all-encompassing NBA blog that kicks so much ass that Chuck Norris is threatening copyright infringement, BDL sets the bar high for the rest of us. Edited by J.E. Skeets and populated with talented NBA writers like Kelly Dwyer, Trey Kirby and frequent guest Rod Benson, BDL is just irreverent enough to be cool, just analytical enough to be relevent. The 10-man rotation is a big inspiration for this blog. I wish I had the energy to pull off Behind the Box Score on a daily basis, but even if I did, I don’t think I could match wits with Dwyer. He’s a true guru.

True Hoop

Henry Abbott is the Godfather of NBA Blogging. He’s been running True Hoop since 2005 (admittedly not that long), but he has been writing about basketball much longer than that. Earlier this year Abbott utilized ESPN’s vast resources to form the True Hoop Network, a comprehensive collection of individual team and general NBA blogs that showcases some of the best blogging talent on the Internet. Even without the network, True Hoop would be a nominee though. Abbott and Co. are constantly doling out knowledge and perspective. A very insightful NBA blog.

The Baseline

Bethlehem Shoals’ unique, mind-bendingly genius NBA analysis is the highlight of this Sporting News blog. Shoals, the creator of Free Darko and author of the Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac, is a standout; his basketball observations are winding, twisting trails to the Fort Knox of basketball knowledge. The Baseline staff extends well beyond Shoals though. Benson Taylor, Chris Littman, and Sean Deveney are good writers who are quick on the trigger when it comes to the latest basketball-related reports and thorough when it comes to interviews. A well-rounded blog.

NBA Fanhouse

Fanhouse houses some of the best talent in the galaxy. Its NBA stable is no exception. Matt Moore, Tom Ziller, Brett Pollakoff, Matt Steinmetz, and Tim Povtak are as formidable an armada of sportswriters as there is on the high seas of the Internet. This is a website full of sharp and insightful commentary. Not to mention Fanhouse’s kick ass new format. Well done, sirs.

SLAM

Lang Whitaker is second-to-none when it comes to mixing the worlds of basketball and hip-hop. That’s apparent not just in the content of SLAM Magazine, but also SLAM Online. The vast expanse of the basketball universe covered by SLAM Online is daunting. It starts with Marcel Mutoni’s rapid fire reports, continues with Holly MacKenzie’s Post Up columns, and winds in a seemingly endless coil of writers in between as Ryne Nelson conducts the whole virtuoso choir with seemless ease. With a style and breadth unique among its competitors, SLAM is a juggernaut. Especially when it comes to overseas coverage, which Lang and Co. does better than anyone else.

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In my opinion, the NBA has the best sports bloggers on the Internet. (I know, I know. I’m biased. Get over it.) Now that 2009 is coming to a close, I think it’s time we recognize the best of the best.

Below I’ve nominated what I consider to be the five best individual team blogs in the NBA blogosphere. Each one is great. It’s difficult to decide which is the best, so I’m leaving it up to you, NBA readers, to decide which one gets the “Fiendy”: the award for elite status.

The process is easy. Read and review the nominees below. When you’re done, vote for your favorite in the poll at the end.

The blog with the most votes by 7:00 pm PT on Wednesday, Dec. 23 wins the “Fiendy”.

(In the event of a tie, I’ll cast the deciding vote.)

Sactown Royalty

Led by the indomitable Tom Ziller, StR is the pre-eminent Kings blog on the Internet. Ziller and frequent contributor Section 214 always manage to keep things interesting, despite the frequent ups and downs of the Kings’ play over the years. Ziller’s charts are particularly insightful and fun. As the title claims, Sactown Royalty is indeed the best community of Sacramento Kings fans in the universe.

Blazersedge

Blazersedge is a juggernaut. The community here is unmatched in terms of size and participation. Just an incredible collection of Blazers fans, and general NBA enthusiasts. Dave’s patented thousand-word recaps are priceless, and Ben’s Dontonio Wingcast podcasts break down the Blazers with the enthusiasm and insight you’d expect from a site “by Blazers fans, for Blazers fans”. Added bonus: the FanShots section here is better than any other I’ve come across in the SB Nation universe.

Truth About It

Truth About It may be the most comprehensive individual team blog in the NBA universe. Kyle Weidie does everything from in-person gameday reports to frame-by-frame breakdowns of crucial plays to big picture analysis, all with an intelligence and sense of humor that is perfectly matched to the Wizards’ recent turbulence. How Kyle has the time and energy to pull off such a terrific blog by himself is beyond me. He does an excellent job as part of ESPN’s True Hoop network.

Red’s Army

There are a number of good Celtics blogs to choose from, but Red’s Army is the best. John Karalis and BigMck are always on their grind. They post Celtics-related content with alarming frequency. From the latest Celtics articles and videos to the KG Face of the Day to the Morning Dump, they’ve got it covered. My Google Reader is constantly full thanks to these two.

Golden State of Mind

Like Blazersedge and Sactown Royalty, GSoM is a SB Nation blog with a terrific community of fans. Loyal to the end and armed with teeth as sharp as a Dirk Nowitzki elbow, GSoMers protect their own with the ferocity of a Grizzly defending her cubs. Whether you’re with them or against them (as I often am), it’s fantastic to see such loyalty. Plus Tony.psd lays down the coolest basketball illustrations on the planet. I’ve got love for GSoM.

Runner-ups: Cowbell Kingdom, Nets are Scorching, RaptorBlog

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After 5,600 words and a near transformation into Axl Rose circa 2006, the 2009 version of NBA Hell is done. Many teams were considered for the position, but ultimately I chose the Memphis Grizzlies as the worst NBA Hell team (a.k.a. the team that brings the most pain and suffering to its fans).

It is a choice that went over in Memphis about as well as Elvis’ death.

Which goes to show you that A) there are Grizzlies fans in Memphis after all (who knew?), and B) writing a 5,600 article about the worst teams in the league isn’t going to win you any popularity contests (not that I care).

In the end, though, Basketball Fiend is a blog of the people, for the people, by the…well, me (hold on a second, I’m getting away from my point) and I think you, the readers, should have a chance to decide who represents you as the ultimate NBA Hell Team.

So I’ve set up this poll.

It’s a nine-team poll that will run until Sunday night. You can vote as many times as WordPress allows you to and, at the end of the weekend, we’ll see which team is the NBA Hell Team of the People. (After all, I’m nothing if not democratic.)

Just so you know, your vote won’t change my mind. Personally, I’m entrenched. But it may shed some light on the subject for other fans who are more likely to be swayed.

Grizzlies fans, start your engines.

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