- "Abracadabra, razzamatazz, slam dunk sesame." Surely this is the theme song of a roller derby team that happens to be called the Orlando Magic? Not to be outdone, there is apparently also a roller derby team called the Denver Nuggets, and this is their theme song. ("Ooh ... scorin' with the Nuggets tonight!")
- Ian O'Connor's great book about Sebastian Telfair, called "The Jump," has some great insight into a teenaged Dwight Howard, who lost at the Prime Time Shootout to Telfair's team. A young Howard had three life goals, and I'd wager he might fall short on all of them: "Howard had established goals of becoming the first black president of the United States, of convincing the NBA to make the crucifix part of its league logo, and of becoming a better player than LeBron James. 'I think I can surpass him,' Howard said."
- Every team left in the playoffs has players from all over the country and the world, working together toward a common goal. A little ditty for them. (Thanks Kalyan.)
- Gravity and Levity blogger Brian talks about the price of anarchy -- a dynamic whereby more resources can lead to less production, thanks to the decisions they can inspire. For instance, closing major thoroughfares can, in some cases, inspire improved traffic flows. Read the post for the whole breakdown. But of course, like everything, it can be related to basketball. Brian e-mails: "I know exactly where this idea should be applied: the 'Ewing Theory.' The idea that a team can get better when one of its best players goes down is completely analogous to traffic improving when a major road is closed. When people study traffic they call this Braess's Paradox. In basketball, Bill Simmons named it the Ewing Theory. It should be the same science at work."
- Great George Karl line from a J.A. Adande article about J.R. Smith: "'Keep his confidence up?' Nuggets coach George Karl said incredulously when asked how he maintains Smith's spirits. 'How about my confidence? How about driving me crazy?'"
- John Krolik of Cavs the Blog has a post Cavs fans have to read, and it ends like this: "You know what my friend's girlfriend did to occupy her mind tonight during the game? She quilted. Equally silly, much less emotional pain. Go quilt. That's as close I can come to giving comforting words."
- Remember when the Tyson Chandler trade was rescinded, and Chandler was incredulous that anyone would be concerned about his toe of all things (especially when he had ongoing ankle issues)? The toe, he says, has been healed for a long time. Chandler just had surgery. Want to guess what the operation was on: His ankle or his toe? Both.
- NetsDaily has insight into what all the Nets are doing this off-season. Sean Williams' summer would make the best movie: "Working out with personal trainer, undergoing anger management counseling, pursuing his degree at Boston College and working with disadvantaged youth."
- Funny sign.
- Joey from Straight Bangin' is rooting againt the Cavaliers: "... the Cavaliers were not just some team that wanted it more. Instead, to their credit, the Cavs deployed a kind of ferocious basketball intelligence that seemed to consciously target the lethargy countenanced by other squads. More than any team I can remember, Cleveland was one which generated its own momentum, often through excelling, if that's the right word, at seemingly innocuous NBA mechanics. Slapping at loose balls; getting hands in as men drove by; dramatically throwing up their arms to sway referee impressions about loose balls--on most nights, Cleveland was this boiling stew of total basketball focus which most teams couldn't match. The Cavaliers took such tremendous pride in doing small things so attentively and in such animated fashion that it suggested a few things: they felt the need to be smarter than the other team in order to win; they derived purpose from being constructively irritating; they didn't feel that the normal tactics and rhythms of NBA basketball were terms under which the could win, so they fashioned a somewhat radical approach in demeanor and concentration. That's being an underdog. What I've described sounds admirable, perhaps even romantic, doesn't it? Who couldn't love this team which has innovated at the margins? It might even be genius, of sorts: dispensing with the flashy but ultimately fruitless total assaults on basketball convention, Cleveland has still subtly played by new rules. This is a team of high-achieving underdogs who have taken that desperate style and made it a goliath game; their aspirational, dire effort is that expected of overmatched opponents. It has stylized a collection of minute changes to create a distinct basketball method. That should be cool, right? Yes, it should. But somehow, with these players, it isn't."
- Mike Moreau on the Lakers: "They are in a fight, and even though the rounds may be even on the scorecard, they are taking many more punches than they are giving. When bodies collided in Game 4, it was a Laker that usually ended up on the floor. L.A. must come out more physical and aggressive in Game 5. This means banging bodies, jamming cutters and winning the physical confrontations in defensive and rebounding situations. Everything else in Game 5 for them is secondary."
- Nobody has a bigger microphone than Brian Windhorst.
- Thought about LeBron James: You know how basketball players goof around at the end of practice launching obscenely long shots? For James, that's crucially important practice for playoff crunch time.
- Brian Grant talks at length about Parkinson's.
- UPDATE: Dwight Howard's taunting vs. Michael Jordan's.
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