“Gangsta Daz and Kurupt let loose…”

Smoking Section’s 98 Week had me reminiscin’.  But it kinda left me thinkin, “What about ‘99?  They gonna do a ‘99 Week next year?  That was the resurrection of LA!”  This of course got me bustin out an old cd.  That which i consider the essential L.A. “Gangsta Rap” CD.  No it’s not by Dre or Tupac or even Snoop.  It’s by Snoop’s lil homie.

To Me, Kurupt’s music always reminds me of L.A., and vice versa.  I think the first time I ever went down there, “We Can Freak It” was hot and it kinda set the mood for the laid back (except for the traffic) weekend i was about to endure.  Sure there’s other songs that remind me of SoCal, WC’s “The Streets,” Snoop’s “Bitch Please,” even Kausion’s “What U Wanna Do?,” but no rapper ever quite defined the L.A. sound, in my opinion, quite like Tha DPG’s biggest secret.

And yes, he had other classic songs.  Many with Daz.  But his second joint, not the first Dogg Pound album, was his pinnacle.  Yes we all miss the original Dogg Pound, just like we all miss Death Row.  But that’s not the point…..exactly.  Well it sort of is.

When Kurupt left Death Row in early ‘98, along with Dre, Snoop, Rage, and everyone, Daz stayed.  He made a criminally overlooed album of his own, and had the triumphant first single, “In California.”  He even kept some old Kurupt vocals and some old 2Pac vocals, and made the song “Initiated.” Kurupt put out a double album later in the year, and pushed it with a massive radio smash (at least west of the Mississippi), “We Can Freak It.”  But the album itself was very hit-or-miss.  The “West Coast CD” was altogether solid, but the East Coast Disc was lacking.

But Daz eventually got his mind right and left Death Row to do the bulk of the production on Kurupt’s second joint, Tha Streetz Iz A Mutha. Released along with, and cross-promoted with two bigger albums by bigger names, Warren G’s I Want It All and Dr. Dre’s Chronic 2001, it may have been easy to miss Kurupt’s joint.  But Warren’s effort was only so-so, and as great as Dre’s second album was – I still prefer Kurupt’s shit anyday of the week.

Another thing that should be mentioned since it was addressed on the album.  1998’s Kuruption found Kurupt reaching for the NY-audience.  Partly with his relationship with Foxy brown, partly because the West as a whole had never been respected out there, and partly because of Kurupt’s rep as the best MC in California, Kurupt sort of stepped out of his own body for a minute.  But with his breakup with Fox, we found Kurupt at his rawest and truest.

Coming across as some sort of hybrid between Snoop and Pac, but my handy with the wordplay than either of them, and coming hungry off an album full Battlecat-attempts-to-sound-like-Daz tracks, Kurupt-dogg slays the 5 Daz tracks and 4 Soopafly tracks.  Daz appears on 7 of the 18 tracks, Soopafly 4 times, Xzibit 3 times, and Snoop and Nate twice each, giving the album more of a DPG-feel.  But make no mistake, no one outshines Kurupt.  Not on the west coast.  Even Crooked I, who pops up twice, can’t dim Kurupt’s shine.

The album kicks off with the Organized Noize-produced “I Call Shots,” which sort of triumphs his path to the top.  He ain’t in Snoop’s shadow no more.  He’s lookin for his props.  And he actually brings along his lil bro Roscoe, to play his old role to Snoop.  The Fred Wreck-produced “Who Ride Wit Us” was another radio hit for the DPG’s as Kurupt and Daz go back and forth proclaiming their honor to the crew.  Bink Dogg’s “Trylogy” was off the chain with the classical sample.  Kurupt just murders the track and can be seen c-walkin in the video.  Bink Dogg’s other track on this album, the Nate Dogg-assisted “Girls All Pause,” was the biggest radio hit from the set.  It also laid the groundwork for Kurupt and Nate to be on every LA radio song for the next 3 years.  Dre stops by to offer an altered version of “Ho’s A Housewife” from the version on Dre’s album.  Despite the bad feedback sounding like the track wasn’t finished being mixed, the song still bangs as hard as anything on this album.  “I Ain’t Shit Without My Homeboys” was almost a Tupac-esque ode to the crew with Kurupt, Daz. Crooked I, Soopafly, and Baby S all reppin hard.  “Live On The Mic” had Kurupt trading bars with the Blastmaster KRS One, and proved his skill to the doubting NY-heads.  “Calling Out Names” was of course, his diss record to DMX and anyone close to him for his allegedly bangin Fox while she was still with Kurupt.

But the title track is the centerpiece.  It’s an epic trip through the streets with Daz as the co-pilot and Big Pimpin Detemond was resurrected to be the narrator.  It’s not your typical gangsta rap cliche either.  It’s a feeling of despair and hopelessness that runs through the track.

As a whole, Tha Streets Iz A Mutha is a tribute record.  It’s a tribute to LA hip hop, the DPG-crew, the streets, and the two bigger names who inspired Kurupt – Pac and Snoop.  And it is, front to back, the best album of its’ genre.

“I Might Be Wrong, But I Doubt It”

Dwayne Wade is pretty good

You might not agree with what I am going to say here.  Especially since the general consensus is that LeBron and Kobe are the best players in the NBA, with some help from T-D and KG.  But before I say it, I’d like to explain myself.

Let me preface this by saying the D-Wade we’ve seen for the past year and-a-half in the NBA hasn’t been the D-Wade that I am going to be talking about.  The D-Wade I’m talking about was the D-Wade that’s on the current Olympic team, and reigned in the NBA from 2004-05 through the first half of 2006-07.

Statistically, LeBron’s season last year trumps any of Wade’s seasons, even his ring-year in 2005-06.  And Kobe’s 2005-06 trumps all of Wade’s seasons except his year-after-the-ring.  Oh by the way, in those three seasons, Wade went to the Eastern Conference Finals, won a title, and separated his shoulder which led to a first round outage for the Heat.  Kobe, since 2004-05 has made it out of the first round once.  LeBron has won and lost a Conference Final.  Neither has been able to get that ring.

What stats don’t show you is how much Wade raised his game in the playoffs in 2005-06 (well, really it started in the playoffs back in his rookie year), and continued into the next season as the game’s best player.  When he separated his shoulder towards the end of that season, he never quite recovered.

My opinion?  He wasn’t hungry anymore.

He had his ring, his Gatorade, T-Mobile, and Coverse endorsements.  And he had become rediculously rich.  And to top it off, he’d won more titles than his buddies LeBron and Carmelo – combined.

But watching this team USA, you can see he’s hungry again.  His reputation took a beating this off-season.  When I saw him on TNT with Charles and Kenny during the playoffs, it wasn’t the same D-Wade.  The formerly quietly confidant/borderline cockiness just wasn’t there.  But now, it looks like it’s there.  Maybe shaving his head did the trick.  Maybe it was everyone forgetting about him in the Kobe/LeBron arguments.  Maybe it was the injection of energy that Mario Chalmers and Michael Beasley bring.  Maybe it was just taking him off the ball.  Whatever it was, it’s back.

And the rest of the league better take notice because, when fully healthy……

Dwayne Wade is the Best Player In The NBA.  Period.

“Read between the lines”

While everyone else is focused on Team USA, I was keeping an eye on Argentina and Spain

While everyone i know is watching Men’s Basketball in the Olympics just to follow the States, It’s the other match-ups that may determine just how far Team USA goes.

Let’s start at the bottom:

12. Iran (FIBA rank: 33) – They got here by winning the Tournament of Asia’s, mainly because China didn’t have to compete  – they already qualify for the Olympics as the host nation.  There’s no question that Yao and co. would have eliminated them quickly.  And a 22-point drubbing at the hands of Russia didn’t help their outlook.  Let’s file them under “just happy to be here.”  They get Lithuania tonight, but they don’t look like they’ll give Sarunas & co. much of a fight.

11. Angola (FIBA Rank: 14) – FIBA has them ranked pretty high, but despite Eduardo Mingas’ brilliance, I don’t think there’s anyone in their Group they can beat.  And getting slaughtered by a so-so German team, 95-66, doesn’t help their outlook.  Things don’t look any brighter, as they get the Americans tomorrow night.

10. Australia (FIBA Rank: 9) – Despite their tough game against the Americans, Andrew Bogut and co. were severely over-matched against a so-so Croatia club.  They do go 8 or 9- deep, but they need a lot more than 10 points and one rebound out of Bogut to stand a chance.  At this point, they look extremely overrated by FIBA.  Things don’t get easier as they get an Argentina team trying to bounce back from their upset loss.

9. Croatia (FIBA Rank: 20) – Beating Australia is a little surprising, but being that they don’t look very good at all, it doesn’t get you too many points.  But the offense looks great, putting 5 players in double figures.  But, as with Greece, there are no real go-to stars on this team.  The whole is going to have to be better than the sum.  They get a pretty good test tonight against Russia, so we oughta see just how good they are.  Right now they look like a wild card.

8. China (FIBA Rank: 11) – Unfortunately, China is in the deeper group, and don’t look like a favorite to advance.  It looks like they will have to beat out Germany or Greece for the final spot,  but both of those teams are deeper, and have better ball-handling guards.  Losing by 31 to the U.S. doesn’t really tell us much about this team, and they get Spain next.  They should lose pretty handily there too.  Then they get their group’s push-over in Angola on Thursday.  But Saturday’s matchup with Germany should tell us just how serious the Chinese are about advancing.  They’re probably going to have to beat the Germans to get to the next round.

7. Greece (FIBA Rank: 6) – Being beat by 15 by Spain is no particular crime, but one can’t help but wonder if Greece is better than Germany or Russia this time around.  I don’t think so.  Those two teams are led by two stars each.  Greece is going to have trouble with the Germans in the post and the Russians in transition.  So now that Greece doesn’t have as big of a size advantage, they are probably falling down the ranks, as I see it.  We’ll see how that actually pans out as they get Germany tomorrow.

6. Russia (FIBA Rank: 16) – Beating Iran is not particularly impressive, even if it was by 22.  Even beating Croatia today wouldn’t really tell us much.  Russia opens with two cupcakes before a showdown with Lithuania on Thursday that will tell us a lot about each team.  AK-47 and JR Holden lead a team with all the talent, but haven’t quite been able to put it all together.  We’ll see if this is the year on Thursday.

5. Germany (FIBA Rank: 9) – Probably one of the more underrated teams in this tournament.  No one could really predict what impact Chris Kaman would have on this team.  But now the team sports a world class front-court, teaming Kaman’s low post game with Dirk Nowitzki’s high post/jump shooting game.  This team is, to me, the biggest wild card.  They are a team that barely got into competition before annhilating  Angola.  I expect them to upset (in some people’s minds) Greece on Tuesday, but we’ll see how good they look in doing so.  I expect Kaman to dominate the post.  Then they get Spain in a “measuring-stick” game, before a showdown with an upstart Chinese team.

4. Lithuania (FIBA Rank: 5) – Sarunas Jasikevicius is back to torment the world.  This time he’s brought super-sixth-man Linas Kleiza along to ride shotgun.  Kleiza’s elite shooting skills are good enough to potentially take over the tournament were he to catch fire.  But even with him play average to his skills, they should be very good.  Upsetting Argentina might have opened a lot of people’s eyes, but the two are not that far away in quality.  Lithuania is the forgotten 4th highest ranked country team in the world.  But cats been sleepin on them.

3. Argentina (FIBA Rank: 2) – I slip them a spot behind Spain because they lost their opener, whereas Spain looked pretty impressive.  Argentina looks like they are only going to be 6-deep, which is a potential weakness that other teams can exploit.  But their top 6 are very, very good.  Only the U.S. has a top 6 that can match up with Argentina: Manu Ginobili, Luis Scola, Andres Nocioni, Fabricio Oberto, Spanish League MVP Pablo Prigioni, and Carlos Delfino.  Simply put, I don’t see the Argentinians losing again for a good while.  There are no other teams in their group even close, and they figure to finish with  a top 3 seed.

2. Spain (FIBA Rank: 3) – Spain opened by beating Greece by 15.  An impressive third quarter put the game away.  Spain is the deepest team in the world outside of the U.S. They go a legit 11-deep, including 6 players who were either in the NBA last year, or will be this year.   Of course they are led by the Pau Gasol/Jose Calderon/Rudy Fernandez trio.  Three potential NBA All-Stars.  And they have been playing together for 12 years.  And they, unlike the Americans, have an established line of power, starting with Pau and working its’ way down.  They look like the top competition for…

1. U.S. (FIBA Rank: 1) – Now the Americans are the overwhelming favorites.  but circle Saturday’s showdown with Spain.  That’s the game that should tell us how serious Kobe, D-Wade, Lebron, Carmelo, Superman and company are about taking this Gold medal home.

10 beats that made the Neptunes

This is a difficult one.  As arguably the most famous producers of the current times, the narrowing down the ‘Tunes top tunes to just 10 is difficult, but here’s my go:

10. “Spazz”-N.E.R.D. (2008)

This one makes the cut because it is both the most recent and the only N.E.R.D. cut on the list.  Let’s just say this beat is so dope that a damn Zume commercial tried to kill it for me, but I still can’t get enough of it.  It was definitely one of the stand-outs on N.E.R.D.’s superb third album.  “Anti-Matter” and “Time For Some Action” warrant some mention as well.

9. “Superthug”-Noreaga (1997)

“You found Manuel Norieaga?  In the Phillippines?!” I think that’s almost as memorable on the intro as the song itself.  Off of an album that many of my friends remember more for the “Animal Thug” skit than for any of the actual songs, Nore “ran laps around the English channel” and made no sense whatsoever in any of his rhymes.  But that’s ok.  With the exception of a couple CNN tracks, Nore only sounded good on Neptunes beats.  This one beats “Grimey” and “Nothin” out barely.

8. “Like I Love You”-Justin Timberlake feat. The Clipse (2002)

I give this one the edge over Britney’s “I’m A Slave 4 U,” because I could actually stand this one.  J.T. did the damn thing and the Clipse (who were on fire at the time) was just the icing on the cake. This was one of the better songs on a surprisingly decent pop album.
7. “Frontin’”-Pharrell feat. Jay-Z (2003)

This had to make it since it was the biggest single of the Neptunes as artists.  It spent a good time as the #1 song on the R&B charts and was among the biggest songs of that summer.  Plus it’s still addictive to this day.  It’s one of those pop songs that you can’t really hate on, because you know when it comes on you still bump it too.

6. “Lookin’ At Me”-Mase (1997)

This was really their first super smash.  Ma$e was completely on fire at the time, on his way to four million sold in the U.S. alone.  And to be honest, that was one of the better pop-rap albums ever released.  And I can only say that now – in retrospect. This was the best of the singles.

5. “Beautiful”-Snoop Dogg feat. Pharrell and Charlie Wilson (2002)

I very well could’ve used “Drop It Like It’s Hot” here instead, but I went with the bigger pop hit because it seemed the ‘Tunes had moved to Snoop Dogg as their go-to artist when Jay was slowing down.  And they needed to stay relevant in the hip hop game to keep their stake in the pop game.  Plus the video for this was too memorable with all those Brazillian models.

4. “Southern Hospitality”-Ludacris (2000)

“What’s Your Fantasy” was a minor urban hit.  But the second single was the monster that threw a afro-wearing Luda into the mainstream.  With a Busta Rhymes-almost-cartoon-like video and a huge afro, Luda became a superstar seemingly overnight.  This song had white people asking what “‘bow’s” were for months.

3. “Got Your Money”-Ol’ Dirty Bastard feat. Kelis (1999)

Was it a blessing to give ODB his signature song?  Or a curse?  Honestly this was just some random-ass shit that sounded good together.  But damn did it sound good together…..

2. “I Just Wanna Love U”-Jay-Z (2000)

If we were talking about what song was the biggest hit for the Neptunes, this would definitely be #1.  In fact, it was probably Hova’s biggest hit as well.  The video was even memorable with John Witherspoon et al.  But this has become one of those club staples, that still gets the party knockin.  It was so big, the ‘Tunes rode Jay-Z for another 4 years.

1. “Grindin’”-The Clipse (2002)

This is the essential Neptunes beat.  Period.  Probably their most timeless, and it gave the Clipse a following that stayed loyal even when the commercial heads didn’t, as their mixtapes and critical acclaim racked up.  In retrospect, maybe the Clipse were a little to artsy for the mainstream crowd.  But this and “When’s The Last Time” from their debut, were just too dope to ignore.

The Wizard of Oz

When you choke, Oz lets you kno

Ok, to be real for a minute: Ozzie Guillen is my favorite MLB manager.  He has the balls to say stuff your favorite team’s manager thinks, but is scared to say.  A couple years ago, people complained that he’d picked too many of his own guys on the All-Star team.  “Oh yeah?” he said, “you don’t like me?  Then beat me.  Then I won’t be choosing guys.”  True statement, and in successive years, PC-managers Jim Leyland and Terry Francona notably snubbed two of their own guys.  Think Gary Sheffield and Jim Lester wish they had Oz managing them so they could get their all-star bonuses?  My opinion is that Oz is a lot smarter than the media and fans tend to think.  He uses the media to get his players rallied up.  And might I add, he has the ring to prove that it works.

So he admitted to plunking Miguel Olivio in retaliation for the Royals’ plunking Nick Swisher.  So what?  Pardon me while I yawn.  If anyone says they care, they’ll be the first one.  Because anyone who believes that players don’t throw at other players for retaliation, is living right next to Peter Pan in Never Never Land.  Ozzie might be looking at a suspension.  It appears to me that the Griffey trade was an admission that the Nick Swisher signing didn’t quite provide the offense they were looking for.

But I would expect the media tirade that will come from this interview to result in a 10 game winning streak.  You can say whatever you want about Ozzie’s out-bursts, but his team sure does get them wins.

10 Beats that made Pete Rock

The Soulbrotha #1 is often cited as the best producer ever.

10.  “The Mecca And The Soul Brother”-Pete Rock & CL Smooth (1991)

This was really the song that started it all for Pete Rock.  Without this, they probably don’t make a Mecca & The Soul Brother album, no “T.R.O.Y.,” no guest production.  And he probably becomes just another cat in the early 90’s who put out an album.  But in support of this lead single from the duo’s debut EP, the label gave the two a full deal.  And Pete never looked back.

9. “Appreciate”-Pete Rock feat. CL Smooth (2004)

The duo’s triumphant reunion for Pete Rock’s second “solo” album brought Pete’s career full circle.  Pete’s ego had been in the way of a lot of the duo’s work after they broke up, but he never quite had the solo career that he expected.  And they were always best as a team anyway.

8. “Tru Master”-Pete Rock feat. Inspectah Deck & Kurupt (1998)

Pete brought the east and west’s favorite mixtape assassins together on his first solo single.  Kanye called himself “the new version of Pete Rock” in 2004, but it’s Alchemist who probably bares the most resemblance.  Like Al today, Pete liked to rap on his own star-studded “solo” records.  Neither is particularly good, but neither is horrible.  In this one, Kurupt steals the show.

7. “Down With The King”-Run DMC feat. Pete Rock & CL Smooth (1993)

This represented how far the duo had come in such a short time.  Two years after their classic debut EP, Pete was producing and co-starring with his partner on the most historic rap group ever’s comeback record.  And it was one of Pete’s best productions ever, with Pete and CL paying homage to the legandary group in their verses.

6. “Be Easy”-Ghostface (2006)

This was Pete’s comeback.  After being out of the mainstream spotlight, he returned on Ghost’s gold 2006 record, producing the buzz-single here.  “Be Easy” wasn’t just a typical Pete Rock beat, it was as triumphant as anything the Rza had ever done, and yet as musical as a J Dilla record.  It’s like he had saved this beat for his next chance to be big again.

5. “Reminisce (Remix)”-Mary J. Blige feat. CL Smooth (1992)

With the country still hot for “TROY,” Pete added a lot of “TROY”’s flavor to Mary J’s classic third single.  A remix so great, he destroyed the OG.  CL even added his buttery flow to the end of the track, but that was just icing on the cake.  This still remains one of the best R&B remixes ever created, and Pete had himself another classic.

4. “The World Is Yours”-Nas (1994)

Generally, if someone does a beat for the best album ever, it makes their top 10 all-time list.  In this case, he not only did a beat, he did the beat.  Though this was the only Nas track he ever produced, it was the biggest hit single from Nas’ genre-defining debut epic.  Unfortunately for us, they had quite the falling out after this.  Pete sent all sorts of disses towards Nas on his 1998 “solo” debut, and Nas vowed to never work with him again.

3. “Shut ‘Em Down (Remix)”-Public Enemy (1992)

Make no mistake about it, 1992 was Pete Rock’s year. But this was a highlight.  This is the remix to define all remixes.  A hotter beat with a verse from him at the end are all that was really added.  But while the OG flopped, the remix is hip hop history.  Considering PE had quite a great production squad behind them at the time, Pete really was “shuttin em down.”

2. “Got Me Waiting”-Heavy D & The Boyz (1994)

Many people don’t realize that Hev and Pete are cousins.  They probably also don’t realize that Pete’d been doin beats for Hev since 1991’s Peaceful Journey LP.  This was the highest charting single that Pete ever produced.  And when Hev needed to get back to the mainstream after following-up his platinum Journey LP with a more undergound one, he went to his cousin.  Pete gave him the most R&B-ish beat he’d ever made.  And Hev had another smash hit.

1. “They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)”-Pete Rock & CL Smooth (1992)

There were really only 2 songs you had to remember from 1992: Das Efx’s “They Want Efx” and “T.R.O.Y.”  This is the essential Pete Rock song.  The back story is that between their debut EP and their first LP, “Trouble” T.Roy Dixon passed. T.Roy was a member of Hev’s group and a close personal friend of both Pete’s and CL’s.  While CL mentions him in the verses, he also reminisces on other things.  But musically, Pete created a tribute to T.Roy.  It wasn’t corny like all the Biggie tributes, but it was musical.  And it really did make you want to reminisce.  It is generally considered one of the greatest songs ever created, and is both Pete’s and CL’s masterpiece.

When they reminisce over you…..

So it has been brought to my attention that Nuggets fans are criticizing the trade for Renaldo Balkman. It strikes me as odd that people still haven’t figured out that this guy can play. To prove my point, I think it’s time to revisit the Lottery of the 2006 NBA Draft. If it were to be re-done, how would it go?

1. Toronto picks Brandon Roy, G (Washington) [actual selection: 6, Portland]

Think the Raptors wouldn’t like to have Roy now?  Now that the swingman position is their weakest link as a team?  Sure Bargnani is a nice option to have as a sixth man, but a first overall pick?  Roy is the only all-star from this draft class thus far.  Though two or three of the other guys could end up being there.  But Roy is hands down the first pick overall if we were to re-tool this draft knowing what we know now.

2. Portland picks LaMarcus Aldridge, PF/C (Texas) [actual selection: 2, Chicago - but dealt to Portland immediately]

That Portland ended up with the two best players from this draft is not particularly surprising, knowing what we now know about their GM.  Neither is the fact that Aldridge, who was picked second, is the second best player of his class today.  What is surprising is how much better he’s been than the man he was traded for – fourth pick Tyus Thomas.

3. Charlotte picks Rudy Gay, SG/SF (UConn) [actual selection: 8, Memphis]

Everything Charlotte was looking for out of their three position – a young player with huge upside who can score in bucketloads – ended up being taken 5 spots lower.  Gay still has the most pure talent out of this draft class, and it’s still mind-boggling how he fell to eight.  We knew how talented he was then! Of course the guy that Michael Jordan actually did select is probably going to be out of the league this offseason.

4. Chicago picks Rajon Rondo, PG (Kentucky) [actual selection: 21, Boston]

At the time the draft was done, I personally considered Rondo and Marcus Williams the two best points in the draft by far.  It absolutely shocked me how far both of them fell.  Especially considering how high the previous class’ points were taken.  So it doesn’t surprise me in the least that Rondo is the first one in this class to get a ring (there have been only two titles since this draft – and San Antonio, who won the other, didn’t have a first round pick).  He is the ultimate team-first point guard.  His main concern was that he couldn’t shoot.  Well, he still can’t.  But he sure can bling!

5. Atlanta picks Daniel Gibson, PG (Texas) [actual selection: 42, Cleveland]

This is probably the best draft pick that Cleveland’s made since LeBron.  Plucking Boobie Gibson out of the second round was a perfect set-up.  He is an almost-perfect role player alongside LeBron.  Sure he’s not going to wow anyone on either side of the ball.  But boy can he shoot.  And in a weak class, he’s probably the fifth best player.  Especially for an Atlanta team that he would fit perfectly on next to Joe Johnson, who is sort of a poor-man’s Lebron.

6. Portland picks Randy Foye, PG (Villanova) [actual selection, 7, Minnesota]

Foye is one of the few solid starters in this draft.   He gets the nod over Brewer here because Portland – while they have a lot of points, none are established – has three established players on the wings.  Even without Roy (who in this case would be in Toronto), the wing isn’t really a need.  Point guard, however, is really their only hole.  But this draft was secretly about how loaded Portland was beginnig to become.

7. Minnesota picks Ronnie Brewer, SG (Arkansas) [actual selection, 14, Utah]

Brewer is a perfect fit in Utah, and he would answer one of Minnesota’s many holes.  Actually, I put him here because he’s the best player available and Minnesota has holes everywhere but the post.  Brewer, very much in the Rondo-mold, does not shoot well but does just about everything else very well.

8. Memphis picks Leon Powe, PF (Cal) [actual selection, 49, Boston]

Everyone remembers Portland’s draft, but Boston had a quietly significant draft as well.  Powe and Rondo turned out to be key components on last year’s title team.  Powe was, essentially, the team’s first big man off the bench.  With Posey gone, he will probably become a more pure sixth man.  To be honest, the team’s most effective offensive lineup is sliding KG to center, and throwing Powe in at the four.  He is, very quietly, one of the most efficient bigs in the league.

9. Golden State picks Paul Millsap, PF (Lou. Tech) [actual selection: 47, Utah]

See how Golden State actually picked Patrick O’Bryant in this spot?  See how he did absolutely nothing?  Now imagine Millsap here.  They’d probably be in the playoffs last season.

10. Seattle picks Renaldo Balkman, PF (South Carolina) [actual selection: 20]

While everyone hated on it at the time, Isiah actually made a very good pick.  In this scenario, knowing that they’d get Kevin Durant, Jeff Green, and Westbrook down the road, Balkman is a very good hustle-guy compliment to form a very good nucleus.  Here, your 1-4’s are set for the next 10 years (barring injury).  So do i think the Nuggets could use him.  He’s sort of like a more athletic Najera.  And in this poor of a draft, he is one of the 10 best players.

11. Orlando picks Andrea Bargnani, F (Italy) [actual selection: 1, Toronto]

This feels like the right spot for Bargnani.  He is a very good player at times.  But he’s inconsistent and probably a bottom-rotation guy at best right now.  He still does have some upside, but he hasn’t shown why we should believe he’ll ever quite get there.  In this case, he backs up Rashard Lewis, and he doesn’t need to bring it every night.

12. New Orleans picks Jordan Farmar, G (UCLA) [actual selection: 26]

Sure they’d just picked a PG the year before, but they’re quite loaded anyway, and this is a horrible draft.  Farmar is by far the next best player on the board.  He probably backs up both guard positions and allows them to let Pargo leave this current offseason.

In retrospect, the complete flops:

3. Adam Morrison to Charlotte (Gonzaga) – Though he still seems to have a following, he sucks.  If he’d shown any flashes at all his rookie season, J-Rich would probably still be a Warrior.

4. Tyus Thomas to Portland (then traded to Chicago)(LSU) – It’s funny how Thomas is a second banana to Big Baby on a Final Four run, but Thomas gets all the draft-hype and gets picked #4 while Davis goes in the second round the next year.  Then Big Baby ends up the better pro.  But there’s home for Tyus, he’s still very young and raw.  But he seems to have fallen out of favor in Chicago and it might be time to send him packing.

5. Sheldon Williams to Atlanta (now with Sacramento)(Duke) – It’s funny that the bottom three of the top 5 all ended up sucking.  And the top pick wasn’t particularly impressive either.  now that’s a shitty draft.

9. Patrick O’Bryant to Golden State (now with Boston)(Bradley) – You’ve gotta be pretty bad for a team as big-man-starved as the Warriors to completely give up on you

I’m reserving judgement on the last 3 lottery picks of that year (Saer Sene, JJ Reddick, and Hilton Armstrong) just because for one reason or another (injuries for Sene, being behind all-stars for Reddick and Armstrong), they’ve had the deck stacked ahead of them.  So it’s not really fair to judge what they can/can’t do just yet.  But if I was a betting man, I’d think all of them turn out to be journeymen, with Sene probably out of the league quite soon.

“It Was All A Dream…..”

Baron and Jack on that memorable run in '07

Yes there’s a lot of other stuff to talk about. Manny’s a Dodger. Favre might stay retired. Whatever. What I want to talk about is that magical Warriors team a couple of years ago. Yes I am a Kings fan. Hardcore. But even I couldn’t help but jump on the bandwagon a lil’ bit. And apparently, Snoop and Jessica Alba couldn’t have agreed more. I actually attended every one of the Warriors home playoff games that year……which of course means that I have attended every Warriors home playoff game since in 13 years.

I really think that now, in retrospect, the J-Rich trade was the end of that team. When you trade your team’s second best player, the man who’s been the face of the franchise for most of the current decade; it’s a major move.

But for now, let’s remember Baron, J-Rich, a re-newed Jack, an Al Harrington before he lost all confidence, breakout seasons for Monta and Bieds, Matt Barnes playing way over his head, and Air France gettin’ in where he fit in.

….Oh and That Dunk!!