Watching ESPN's broadcast of the McDonald's All-American Game last night, I witnessed what you'd expect from a high school all star contest: not a lot of "D", a ton of lobs and ridiculous bangs, and one-on-one battles that make these games more of the glorified pick-up variety. But a cultural phenomenon occurs last night far greater than anything you'll find in the box score or game summary: it was the official return of the box fade! Arizona recruit & super PG Brandon Jennings broke it out last night like he was Marcus Liberty, Kendall Gill, or 'Nique. I really thought it was 1988 all over again; he even repped a rock solid part on the left side! Please let this be become the official death of cornrows as we know it, and the rebirth of something special. Brandon, if you can break this style out by the fall, you will quickly become my favorite player on the planet (btw, his game is equally on par with his cut-up, thus don't be surprised if Jerrod Bayless' impending departure could be quickly forgotten in the desert).
With NBA commish David Stern and his cronies getting shown the red carpet by Clay Bennett & Oklahoma City's finest, things are getting worse for the Sonics longevity in Seattle. Not only does it look like a foregone conclusion that the owners will back Bennett's relocation plan, Stern also makes a point that if the NBA is to come back to the Emerald City, a refurbished Key Arena is not gonna cut it. Funny, because two years ago it seemed like a feasible solution to the NBA's czar...has the landscape changed that much, or is he now full of Clay's poo-poo?
Anyhow, just thought it would be as good a time as any to share the shirts I and the rest of the fans got during the pre-season and the regular season opener at the Key. Pretty sure the Marketing/PR team won't be recycling these for the '08-'09 opener...
Is it just me, or does it seem like it's been ages since Adam Morrison & JJ Redick were endlessly hyped against each other? Weird to think that both their college careers ended in tears JUST 2 YEARS AGO!!! Sure haven't heard much from either since...surely, we need the Ron Jeremy mustache to return strong from the knee injury, I miss moments like these:
Just some quick thoughts on the Tourney, version .08:
"Best Impersonation of the 1990 UNLV Runnin' Rebels" goes to: North Carolina. Gotta be UNC, right? Ty Lawson looks back to full strength, Hansbrough brought it both games, and Ellington and the rest of the supporting cast was more than up to the task in hammering Mt. St. Mary's and Arkansas by a combined 70 points. Interested to see if Wazzu can make the Tar Heels play at their pace in the Sweet 16...I doubt it.
"The 1996 UCLA Bruin Yak Job" goes to: Duke. You'll find the most depressed fans in America 8 miles from Chapel Hill, where the Cameron Crazies we wishing for any type of post presence this weekend. Anyone. Anybody. This guy. Or this guy. How about him? Or him? Just not this clown.
Belmont put the fear of God into Blue Devil nation Thursday night-if not for Gerald Henderson's late game heroics-but the show ended with Bob Huggins' squad completely exposing the one-dimensional Dookies with an inside-out game that should serve the Mountaineers well against Xavier. Good luck in the Olympics, Coach K: don't let Angola sneak up on ya. "The Donald Williams Next-Level Performance" goes to: Stephen Curry, Davidson - 40 pts (8-10 from 3) vs. Gonzaga, 30 pts & 5 asst vs Georgetown. Crazy spot ups, step backs, penetrating finishes: he was bananas.
"The Dirk Nowitzki Vanishing Act" goes to: Eric Gordon, Indiana - 8 pts (3-15 fg, 2-6 ft) in loss vs. Arkansas (averaged 21 ppg during season).
South Regional Memphis 68, Michigan St. 62 Stanford 78, Texas 77
Stanford 86, Memphis 83 (OT)
West Regional UCLA 74, Western Kentucky 64 West Virginia 83, Xavier 76
UCLA 62, West Virginia 54
My Tourney Bracket: 24 of 32 first round picks correct, 12 of 16 second round, 7 of 8 Elite Eight teams still in play, and my Final Four is still intact. That's current good for 3rd place out of 23 in the "Justin Dentmon Fan Club" group, and puts me in the 98.4 percentile nationally on ESPN.com. If Kevin Love & Co. can pick it up offensively and maintain the crazy "d", I'll be cutting down the virtual net in around two weeks time. BTW, just in case you weren't watching two years ago around this time...
