C's toast, and I like Rodney Stuckey

Well, the Celtics finally lost a home game, which probably bodes really poorly for their chances to win this series. First of all, I'd like to thank the Pistons for finally clearing up that whole "experience matters in the playoffs" thing. I've been laboring under the idea that the "experience" cliche was something people said when they didn't know anything else insightful to say about a game/series that was about to take place. Watching the Pistons last night, though, I was strangely mesmerized by the way they played in an incredibly hostile environment, facing a superior Celtics team who kept coming and coming. They answered big baskets with big baskets. They withstood runs. They just made plays when it counted (ugh, gosh damn cliche right there, sonofabitch-motherfucker...anyway). That was experience working it's magic/rearing it's ugly head (depending on which team you pull for). So things definitely look bleak right now for the C's. I think KG summed it up best during the post game interview when he said and I quote "we just have to figure out a way to win on the road..." followed by a moment of introspection (kinda weird at that), and a dejected "damn." If you just clipped that single "damn" soundbyte and played it for me, I would have guessed that KG had just missed a big NFL parlay because of a missed 28 yard Field Goal on the Sunday Night game. It had that air of finality, as though he was coming to grips with the fact that losing that home game meant there was absolutely zero chance that they could win this series (and thereby denying KG the title that he came to Boston to win). And you can't blame him for feeling that way. If the Celtics couldn't win a first round game in Atlanta, they definitely won't be heavy favorites to win a game in the Palace in the Eastern Conference Finals. Wow. On to other things.
The Pistons might have made the biggest draft blunder since the Sam Bowie debacle when they took Darko Milicic over Melo (and everyone else in that draft class for that matter). Well they went a long way toward making that up to their fans when they took Rodney Stuckey last year. Talk about hitting a home run. It has always been my opinion that when you are looking at drafting different players, you can't just look at college stats or physical attributes. I mean, you get a great athlete either way, but a lot of what goes into being a good/great pro is ability to stay healthy and psychological makeup. A guy like Stuckey, although a great scorer in college, could have been easily overlooked since he was coming out of a smaller school (Eastern Washington). But look at what they Pistons got. His intangibles were on display during Game 2 last night. Every time Stuckey was in the game, he was taking the rock straight to the rack or making a big jumper. The guy had 13 points in 17 minutes, and drew a couple of fouls on Ray Allen, which were big because Allen was actually having a good game. After the game, Stuckey told the media that he is "never scared, never nervous." And you could tell by his actions on the court, as well as his demeanor, that he's not just some rookie talking shit. And that's what I mean by a guy's psychological makeup. He has "icewater in his veins" if you want to use that cliche. He wants the ball, wants to challenge guys. He will make the clutch shot, not because he's a great shooter, but because he's got the balls to step up in those situations. I like this guy. Mark my words, within five years Rodney Stuckey will be an All-NBA performer. Lindsey Hunter, a fifteen year veteran, said that Stuckey would be up there with CP3 and Deron Williams as the League's best point guards. I agree. Of course, Chauncey Billups still has some miles left on him, and Rip Hamilton is still in his prime, so a move into the starting lineup is unlikely in the next couple of years. But what a great dilemma for the Pistons to have. On a side note, you ever notice that Stuckey looks kinda like 50 Cent? If I were him, I would be contacting Vivica, you know, trying to see what's up.
Quick flight school update...I took my Engines and Systems exam this morning, got a 96. So far I have made a 98 on Aero I, a 100 on Weather, a 96 on Aero II, and now a 96 on Eng/Sys. So I'm maintaing a pretty damn good average on Academics, although I don't think it will be high enough for Distinguished Graduate. I did pretty well on the PT test, the run part anyways (got a 10:03 on the chip-trail run). The swim part wasn't so bad--I passed the tower jump/15 yard underwater swim after about 10 tries. The rest of the stuff was pretty easy, although swimming the mile wore me out pretty good. So API is going great for me. I have a Nav test next week, and then Flight Rules and Regulations after that, and that's pretty much it for academics. More to come as time goes by.

Kobe brilliant, Lakers looking strong

Let me be the first to say that after I spent all that time writing about how Lebron needed to step up in the clutch, he finally did. You're welcome, Cavs fans. Seriously though, that Game 7 performance was not just Jordan-esque, in some ways it wrote it's own Lebron-esque chapter into NBA playoffs history. I also loved the Paul Pierce explosion by the way, and even though I was pulling for Cleveland, I am retroactively happy that the C's won the series. The big picture is more important I suppose, that being the Finals matchup. And we all know that we want to see the Lakers and Celtics go seven in June, for old time's sake. Maybe EA Sports will call NBA Live 09 Lakers vs. Celtics like it did in the seminal years of the franchise.
Anyhow, what a performance by the Lakers last night. Specifically Kobe Bryant. Popovich summed it up best when he told Craig Sager that Kobe was just scoping the game out and waiting to take over after Kobe only scored one bucket in the first quarter. The Lakers rally from 20 down was a great sign of things to come in this series. For me, the exclamation point wasn't the basket that gave them the lead, it was Kobe's behind the back juke-dribble, then ridiculous pump-fake that got Ginobili (or was it Oberto?) in the air, after which Kobe banked home the leaner. No sweeter move was there in this game, although Gasol blowing by Kurt Thomas on the baseline spin move was a close second. As masterful as Kobe's second half was, I thought Tony Parker was equally good in the first half. The Lakers had no answer for his slashing drives and mid-range game. Really it was poetry. When he is playing his aggressive style, I don't think there's any better point guard in the NBA (until next season when I say the same about Chris Paul and Deron Williams). The only knock I have on the Lakers though is that they continue to give Vujacic big minutes. I know they like to lean on their bench guys a lot, but seriously, Vujacic is a walking time bomb strapped to the Lakers title hopes. It's only going to take one game where he tries to be the man one too many times and the Lakers do something disastrous like, say, losing at home. Although he did make a couple of big threes last night, there were times when, even with Kobe on the floor in the middle of his second half tear, you could see Vujacic just aching to take the shots. That's not going to cut it. You didn't see Craig Hodges launching shots when Jordan was on a tear did you?

Lebron is great, but still leaves something to be desired

Let me start by saying that I like Lebron James. He's my favorite player. I consider him second only to Kobe as the best scorer in the League. He handles himself with such class, and such grace, that you would think he's much older than he is. When the man wants to go to the rack, he's going to the rack, period. So you can say I like the guy, both as a player and a person. But watching this second round series against the Celtics, I have had to face a hard reality...Lebron has some shortcomings in the clutch.
Cleveland had a slim lead, five I think, and they were working it down court, trying to eat up some clock. Of course, at this point, everything was running through Lebron. Delonte West was bringing the ball up court, but as soon as he passed the time line, it went straight to Lebron. What he did next left me slightly puzzled and slightly queasy. He drove right, encountered resistance, and launched an off balance 18 footer as he was falling out of bounds at an angle that placed him almost behind the backboard...What? That would suck in the second quarter of a game in December, but you'd easily let it ride. But in the fourth quarter of an elimination game? With the Celtics knocking on the door yet again? Lebron?
After my initial "wtf?" reaction, I started to think back to Michael Jordan's days. What would MJ have done right there? I mean, Lebron is kind of carrying the torch into the next generation, so I think it's a fair comparison. And you know what MJ would have done...He would have gone straight to the rack and drawn the foul, maybe the "and one." Or he would have lost his man and drilled a clean look from inside 15 feet. But he definitely wouldn't have pulled that stunt. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I've seen Lebron doing this crap before. In fact, this entire series he has been less than stellar, except for tonight incidentally. What kind of sign is this?
I know Lebron has it in him to step it up in the clutch. Last season, for instance, when they went to the Finals with what I think was an inferior team to this year's team. I know that would have never happened in a million years without Lebron. But if Lebron is really going to be "King James," I need to see him consistently dragging teams, not coming up with these duds. Maybe he'll come out with some kind of cold blooded, 40-15 game on Sunday in Game 7, complete with an 18 point fourth quarter in which he blocks a potential game tying shot and wins a bare knuckles fight with Paul Pierce. Oh goodness I'm all worked up just thinking about it. But in the meantime, I've got the Lakers on right now, and Kobe just abused half the Jazz with a double-clutch floater in traffic. Even if I can't stomach Kobe as a person, I have to admit, he's the guy you absolutely don't want to have to guard in the fourth quarter. If only he would stop with the happy faces and great teammate act. It's creeping me out.
Another thing that has been bothering me throughtout the playoffs is the awkwardness of the sideline reporters. Seriously. First of all, I haven't heard one thoughtful question asked yet. Why do I need Lisa Salters to ask Popovich if the plan for the second quarter is to get the ball to Tim Duncan? To paraphrase Pop, that's the freaking plan EVERY QUARTER!! Of EVERY GAME!! And then Pop shook his head and walked away. Also, is it just me or are all the guys always giving Pam Oliver that look like they can't wait to run into her in the hotel bar later on. Finally, and I know this is a dead horse, but can someone please tell Craig Sager that he either needs to get a retarded amount of gold jewelry and a pimp cup, or a new tailor. It's one or the other Craig. You can't go around being a middle aged white guy wearing suits that look like a cross between Don "Majic" Juan and Jim Carrey in Dumb and Dumber. It's too distracting. I need to focus all my attention on Phil Jackson's answer when you ask him if he needs a big game from Kobe for the Lakers to win tonight.

Postscript-I just saw that Lebron is averaging 29.3 a game in the last three games of the Boston series. That's cool. Just don't forget that he only averaged 18.8 a game in the first three. C'mon Lebron, take it to the next level.