“If I Had My Way….”

“Big Belt Buckle” Bobby Valentino (as a friend of mine refers to him as) is on quite the comeback trail. The weird part is, what exactly is he coming back from? His last full-length, Special Occasion, was quite superior, one of the best R&B albums of last year. Sure he didn’t have anything quite as big as “Slow Down,” but “Anonymous” was quite the hit. And “Rearview” probably ranks as the best single he’s ever dropped (unfortunately Def Jam didn’t agree, as they cut the promotion budget from the album).

But he’s ridin shotgun with Lil Wayne on the super-smash “Mrs. Officer,” and has his own single makin noise right now with Yung Joc, “Beep Beep.” He started off with a very Tim & Bob-influenced style. Both of his first two singles, “Slow Down” and “Tell Me” were both produced by Tim & Bob. And while his first album was pretty good, it was just a hint of things to come. The ballads and the mid-tempos both take a huge step forward on Special Occasion. But it’s on the Come With Me EP where he feels most comfortable. While not quite as good as his sophmore triumph, it is more pure as he wrote, produced and sang all of the songs. And it contains “What’s Goin On,” which is not a cover of the Marvin Gaye but is in the same context, his biggest triumph as an artist to date. Or at least since his “Blackberry Molasses” days as the lead singer of Mista.

Now that he’s shed the DTP moniker and is on his own, he no longer sits in Luda’s shadow. Being part of that fam was both a gift and a curse for Bobby. It’s doubtful that without Luda’s promotional team “Slow Down” would’ve been as successful as it was. But it also looked like being part of Team Luda slowed down the second album, as the Luda collabo “Rearview” might’ve been better served as an album track. “If I Had My Way” felt like a murderous single.

But we’ll see how he does. Bobby’s a dope singer, one of the better in this Ne-Yo/Chris Brown era. He sounds an awful lot like Babyface too (he even covered ‘Face’s “Soon As I Get Home” on Special Occasion). But hopefully he gets his way back to the top.

“Last Night Changed it all…”

Last night was an evening of some unbelievable individual performances. Let’s start with the plus/minus guys. Typically the role players who come in and immediately make an impact on the game, it can also be stars who single-handedly dominate a game.
Last night’s top +/- guys:

1. Yakhouba Diawara, MIA (+26): Despite playing only 26 minutes, Diawara managed to make an impact on the game. Is it possible that Miami’s found their perfect 3, and it was probably the guy they least expected?

2. Trevor Ariza, LAL (+25): It’s hard to describe exactly what Ariza does for the Lakers. He did have 10 points, 6 boards, an assist, and two steals. Solid, but unspectacular. But he dives for loose balls, plays good defense, is athletic enough to make plays, and makes smart plays on both ends of the floor.

3. Brandon Wright, GSW (+24): B-Wright had a breakout game for the Dubs with 18 points and 13 rebounds. With Harrington both demanding a trade and being in Nellie’s doghouse simultaneously, this is Wright’s chance.

4. Lebron James, CLE (+22): More on LeBron’s big game in a minute.

5. Kelanna Azubuike, GSW (+21): I like to call the Dubs, “the little team that could,” and Azubuike is the embodiment of that statement. An undrafted, former NBDL star who has made a major difference in the past two years since joining the Warriors before their playoff run in 07.

6. Lamar Odom, LAL (+21): Think this Odom off the bench thing is working? Odom completely owns second teams. If he can stay happy in this role, it may be the best thing for his career. He also dumped in a quiet 15 and 9.

7. David West, NOH (+20): Despite losing to the Hawks in a battle of unbeatens, D-West was the brightest spot in the game for either team. The box score just shows 16 points, 3 assists, and 3 rebounds, but West played hard and played with wreckless abandon. Too bad the rest of the Hornets forgot to show up.

8. Paul Pierce, BOS (+20): 20 points, 9 boards, 5 assists. Nothing too flashy from the Truth, but another dubbya on the season for the C’s.

9. CJ Watson, GSW (+20): Three Dubs in the top 10??! Insane! And three un-heralded Dubs at that. Yes we know that Captain Jack had the team high 28, but these three lesser-names were the ones who really drove the team to victory.

10. Dwayne Wade, MIA (+19): What? Did you expect Gumby?

The other side of the coin: Last night’s worst +/- guys:

10. Derrick Rose, CHI (-18): 20 points, 7 dimes look nice – until you compare it with the 3 Turnovers and horrible defense that allowed both of Cleveland’s god-awful guards to end up in double figures. Delonte West, in particular, completely scorched him. Delonte West! And this kid is the future of the NBA? We’ll see how this works itself out. Keep an eye on Derrick Rose’s defense.

9. Brandan Rush, IND (-19): Those are growing pains Brandan. You will go through them. The rest of your rookie class is too (ie Rosse above), just play better D and your offense will come to you.

8. Linas Kleiza, DEN (-20): Ok, we know he’s no defensive wiz, but he was getting owned by Brandan Wright and Kelanna Azubuike. I’m sure a 2-for-7 night didn’t help matters either.

7. Drew Gooden, CHI (-20): And this is just stats, not accounting for shit talkin Lebron. Gooden finished with 11 points and 9 boards. But the two guys he was mostly pitted against – Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Ben Wallace – ended with 10 & 14 boards in significantly less minutes.

6. Antawn Jamison, WAS (-20): The Gilbert-less Wiz are in some trouble. Jamison finished with 19 points and 10 boards, which is fine until you realize he shot 6-19 and gave up a 17 point night to Luc Mbah A Moute.

5. Caron Butler, WAS (-20): Tough Juice’s night was even weirder. He scored 27 points and grabbed 7 boards, but also had five turnovers, five fouls, and was lit up for 32 by Richard Jefferson.

4. Willie Green, PHI (-22): Willie Green has some terrible luck. He plays only 15 minutes, goes 1-4 from the field, ends up with 2 points, 2 boards, a foul, and a turnover, and has to guard Dwayne Wade while he’s in there. Of course Wade’s game was pretty good, Green’s wasn’t.

3. Chris Kaman, LAC (-22): The caveman has seen better days. He finishes with 6 points and 11 boards. But as many fouls as points, and three turnovers. Yikes!

2. DeShawn Stevenson, WAS (-22): Though normally extremely streaky, last night he was just terrible on offense. Six points, four boards, and three dimes went with being the main defender on Jefferson, who lit up everyone.

1. Thaddeus Young, PHI (-23): 19 points, four boards and 3 steals look nice. But the five turnovers and being lit up by Wade doesn’t.

Nineteen players dropped at least 25 points, led by Tony Parker’s double nickel. Mr. Longoria also dropped 10 dimes and pulled down 7 boards. Rediculous! Amare almost topped him with 49 points, 11 boards, 6 assists, 5 steals, and 2 blocks! Of course LeBron dropped 41, 11 boards, 6 dimes, & 4 steals. K-Mart also threw in 33 points, while RJ threw in 32 and 9 dimes. BGordan had 31, Tim Duncan had 30 and 16 boards, and Al Jefferson had 30 and 14 boards.