Wait, strike that, reverse it.
• The latest Carnival of the NBA is up at the usually hockey (but I’ve got some time on my hands) Off-Wing Opinion. This is one of the most extensive carnivals to date with links to what NBA bloggers all over the Web are saying about the playoffs, Larry Brown, just how good Ginobli is and a phrenological study.
• This is a must read: One of best discussions of the NBA’s culture clash — between the urban players/fan base and the suburban people and companies expected to shell out money for the expensive seats and luxury boxes — and how that tied into Nash’s MVP win is up over at Knickerblogger.
Undeniably constructed to run fast and jump high (but apparently not shoot straight), the Olympic team’s failure turned what was a simmering cultural conflict into a full-blown cultural crisis over how the game “should†be played.
This kind of work is why Knickerblogger is the gold standard for NBA blogs.
• One of the interesting things about the hit counters for this site is they tell me what Google/Yahoo searches people use that bring them here. I haven’t kept the stats but if I had to guess I’d say the all time leader is some version of people trying to find out about Kobe’s shoes — the Air Zoom Huracahe 2K5. Recently Nike took a few people off its sweatshop Zoom LeBron II manufacturing line and had them make 1,000 pairs of Kobe’s shoes and those are available as of today. There are 500 pairs at Los Angeles area shoe stores or you can buy one of the 500 pairs offered online through the above link. It shows you just how far Kobe’s marketing stock has fallen that they are making and selling just 1,000 of these and doing so when he is not playing.
• I really am not fond of all the bullet point entries on this site recently, it’s not my preferred style. That said, I’m not going to turn this site into a Phil Jackson Where’s Waldo (who is Phil having lunch with today?) and there has been little to analyze. Starting next week, when reports start coming out of the Chicago pre-draft camp, we’ll really start to do draft thoughts.
• This sounds a like a sports talk radio bit, but the on-the-way NBA lockout frustrates me because it’s hard to watch millionaires battle billionaires over how to divide up the money I give them.