Links: NBA Friday
My genius has come alive, like toys when you turn your back.
Fri-Day! Yes! And I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to sleeping late tomorrow. Too many late nights, early mornings and airplanes of late have conspired to make the interior of my head feel like there’s too many parts and not enough space, which is fun. Meanwhile, I’m 5-for-5 on teams that have advanced to the next round. And I’m still sticking with Boston, Cleveland and Utah to advance, also, which would make me 8-for-8. To borrow a line from Tracy Jordan on 30 Rock, “My genius has come alive, like toys when you turn your back.”
Let’s get to The Links, shall we?
• They don’t have a coach right now in Dallas, but according to my main man Mike Fisher down in Dallas, the short list is Jeff Van Gundy, Rick Carlisle and Mike D’Antoni. The first two seem good options if you want a coach who’s proven he can get a team to tune him out in two years or less. And D’Antoni seems perfect if you want Dallas to play even less defense than they did before.
• How about the NBA suspending Darius Songaila for, according to the press release I received from the NBA, “striking Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James in the face with his hand.” OK, but by those standards, didn’t Ilgauskas strike Songaila in the face with his hand on that fast break late in the game? And didn’t KG strike Zaza Pachulia in the throat? Did Zaza strike Kevin Garnett in the head with his head? The NBA can be really confusing sometimes.
• Linkstigator Justin writes in to point out that Stephon Marbury fatheads have been reduced from $100 to the low, low price of only $10. Justin recommended I buy one immediately. I would, but I think it might clash with the other seven Stephon Marbury fatheads I already have displayed in my apartment.
• Last week, when I was scrounging around for head shots of NBA players for this post, I stumbled over this page on the Miami Heat website, featuring various members of their 2003-04 team, which was pretty startling. If they hadn’t moved the world to get Shaq, who aged his way off the team, and instead they let these guys mature and added players through the Draft, they could right now have a lineup with at least Rafer Alston, Dwyane Wade, Caron Butler, Lamar Odom and Udonis Haslem. And in the East, that might be a Conference winner. Is winning that one title worth it? Should Boston fans be paying attention right now?
• Linkstigator Dean may have found a woman for Mr. Ping Ping. Talk about an intriguing lede: “She’s about the size of a cat.” Meow!
• Alright, let’s get to NBA Friday, our weekly visit from the official illustrator of The Links, Joel Kimmel. This week’s team is the Orlando Magic, and this week’s player is Dwight Howard.
“I knew I wanted to go with the Superman direction so that gave me a lot of ideas,” says Joel. “I came up with a couple that I didn’t end up doing but hopefully I’ll get a chance to do sometime in the future. I went with the classic Superman pose, with Dwight tearing off his suit, hat and glasses and revealing his Orlando Magic uniform. The top of the Daily Planet is in the background, modified to include Dwight’s name and the grooves of a basketball.”
Good stuff, Joel. Next week’s team is the Phoenix Suns. Leave your suggestions for Joel below. See you guys late tonight after the games…
43 Responses to “Links: NBA Friday”
May.2 at 3:44 pm
namik says:
Great work as always Joel. The Suns are easy- Nash, D’Antoni, Shaq and Hill going up in flames. LeBron is the new DWade.
May.2 at 3:44 pm
RM # 0 says:
first!!
May.2 at 3:45 pm
RM # 0 says:
damn second……
anyway, nice work Joel
May.2 at 3:54 pm
Donn says:
Yes…winning one title was worth it..
May.2 at 4:01 pm
albie1kenobi says:
wow, that 2004 Heat roster is solid. i wonder how Eboy’s feeling being reminded of that?
May.2 at 4:02 pm
albie1kenobi says:
sadly, it’s possible for them to win multiple titles if they’ve sticked with this roster instead, but i suppose 1 bird in hand is better than 2 in view?
May.2 at 4:11 pm
Josh says:
Love that sky. Nice one Joel.
May.2 at 4:17 pm
Jack says:
he looks like The Rock
May.2 at 4:36 pm
Shaq says:
This is a travesty. Four titles, most dominant eva, I’m Superman. Dwight is good, I’ll give him that, I still haven’t retired the crown. Can you dig it? Young fella has to wait. Stop drawing this pictures lying to yourselves. I don’t approve. The Diesel
May.2 at 5:02 pm
Eboy says:
albie, I’d rather have a ring, than a possible contender for 3 or 4 years that can’t finish the deal(see: Suns, Phoenix, Mavericks, Dallas)
May.2 at 5:29 pm
Slobodan Chutzpah says:
Look, I really don’t mean any offense here, but I suspect that one title might not seem like much of a consolation as you’re watching your team trudge through a 25-win season two short years later. Of course, I don’t really know that from experience. Plus, there certainly is nothing more frustrating than always coming up short.
May.2 at 5:32 pm
Slobodan Chutzpah says:
The Celtics situation is a bit different in that they probably have two or three more years to do it. After that though, they’re admittedly screwed.
May.2 at 5:39 pm
Tariq says:
Even though this illustration incorporates the well-trodden Superman theme, I still think it’s original because it highlights the Clark Kent angle. I’m Tariq, and I state the f*cking obvious. Good job.
May.2 at 5:45 pm
Z says:
@Eboy : totally agree. thats why i thought that chicago should have rolled the dices with kob’. isnt the point of this thing to win a ’ship?
May.2 at 5:46 pm
Z says:
with that said, if you can win it all and still be good year in, year out a la spurs thats the best of both worlds. (although they did luck out on drob and td)
May.2 at 5:47 pm
Z says:
Im not sure if the celts are that screwed. guys will be coming off the cap.
May.2 at 5:49 pm
Bryant Reeves says:
you know your career is dunzo when Barry Zito’s fathead costs 4 times more than yours, even when they’re both on sale!
May.2 at 5:52 pm
Bryant Reeves says:
Also, the fathead NBA mascots cost twice as much as Starbury
May.2 at 6:44 pm
Slobodan Chutzpah says:
Z: Sure, they’ll have lots of cap space, but all of their stars will have retired, leaving a gutted roster. And as we have seen in past years, cap space alone doesn’t guarantee you much in the NBA. So, basically it will be post-Walker Celtics all over again, ie. screwed at least for a time.
May.2 at 9:09 pm
RV says:
i’m surprised the mavs would consider JVG, i thought Dirk said they wanted a coach who wouldn’t be too controlling and would let them do their thing for the most part
May.2 at 9:44 pm
Matt says:
Great work Joel. Your style is evolving… looking great! For Phoenix, can you put Steve Nash in a commercial for shampoo? I’ve thought he would be a great spokeperson for shampoo. Or maybe tie in him and Naismith being Canadian.
May.2 at 10:01 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
The Celtics didn’t trade away talent like Lamar and Caron. Al Jefferson aside, I’m not sure if they would have ever been contenders with a core of guys like Sebastian Telfair, Ryan Gomes, and Gerald and Jeff Green. And I feel like Ray and KG, due to their respective conditioning obsessions, have way more left in the tank than Shaq did.
May.2 at 10:02 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
Also, Jeff Van Gundy should be constitutionally banned from leaving the broadcast booth. He’s the best analyst ever.
May.2 at 10:49 pm
albie1kenobi says:
wow. cool joe drilled an amazing 3.
May.2 at 10:52 pm
calphxfan says:
ya, thanks a lot for that wonderful timing on it being the suns week to be illustrated. we are going to see a lot of sadness in that image.
May.2 at 10:54 pm
albie1kenobi says:
and amen to Russ.
JVG. i’m gonna start to wear a tshirt with his face plaster on it and only drink diet coke.
May.2 at 10:59 pm
albie1kenobi says:
SEVEN!!!
May.2 at 11:00 pm
Bro D. says:
What? No Benny the Bull fathead? Benny’s loading his t-shirt cannon. Nice win Hawks.
May.2 at 11:08 pm
Vortex Knight says:
Ugh, Celtics choke again. If they can’t deal with Joe Johnson, how they gonna handle Lebron?
May.2 at 11:11 pm
FLUXLAND says:
the karma police is collecting KG! PAY UP! All that barking and acting tough…with a full diaper in the 4th. All flare no substance!
May.2 at 11:16 pm
Joel O's says:
SEVEN indeed. Huge three from JJ, and Ray Allen must’ve missed like 5 or so shots in the last minute of play. I was watching this with my dad too, and actually thought the Celts were gonna clinically finish it once they wasted no time in getting KG the ball for the point-blank lay in. I have no idea why they kept going to Allen for the three, when they coulda tied the game on a much easier shot and sent it to overtime. Choke-tastic.
May.2 at 11:18 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
Not a smart play by Rondo at the end.
May.2 at 11:26 pm
detroit says:
WOW!!! The Hawks forced a game seven? The Atlanta crowd must be scary to play in front of when they show up. But seriously Lang did you sell your soul to the devil or something because GSW/DAL made sense this does not.
May.2 at 11:36 pm
albie1kenobi says:
the hawks players apparently forgot that they aren’t playing in the NCAA anymore, they are still thinking about being the cinderella in the nba’s big dance.
May.2 at 11:37 pm
albie1kenobi says:
also it was as much celtics choking as hawks dominate down the stretch.
Myung and Co Co are going nuts too.
May.2 at 11:40 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
Who took that first deep three on the sequence that led to the Perkins FTs? Posey? KG’s definitely a little too much like Dirk on the offensive end—in crunch time he needs to post up and demand the ball.
May.3 at 12:05 am
Bob says:
Classic Rant by SAS. NBA - where being yelled at during halftime happens.
May.3 at 7:25 am
Hursty says:
wtf is with Loren Woods head!lol. Jerome beasley! I heart Wang zhi zhi. (not really) Beasley played in aus and didnt do sh!t, what a shame
May.3 at 7:25 am
Hursty says:
Wade and his head is all fu(ked up lol.
May.3 at 9:19 am
will says:
best one yet, nice work
May.3 at 12:28 pm
Gerard Himself says:
Dwight should see this drawing. Good job Joel!
May.4 at 1:02 am
niQ says:
Steve Nash!
May.5 at 12:19 am
David says:
An idea for the Suns pic: Amare in front of all the oldies.