The Morning Of

Today I have a couple of interviews. It's funny to me, particularly because to a non-law person this either sounds like, a) it's not a big deal, or b) I'm a job-less loser. So I should take a second to explain. In the legal community, getting a first year internship is huge and I can see why. Someone likened it to me like this, "you know just enough to be dangerous, but not enough to do much." First year is cluttered with doctrinal courses and it lays the foundation for becoming a lawyer. But in all reality being a lawyer requires constant education. And in all reality I know jack. So instead, firms will look at you in the fall of your second year. It's kind of like the minor league for athletics. "Hey kid, you've got some potential, so next year, why don't you come see us next summer. You can work for us, and we'll see if you fit our team's needs. If that works out, maybe we'll make you an offer."

What sounds like maybe just an interview is really setting the course for my future. A firm that I interview with today may be a firm that I might work for next summer, which in turn might be a firm I work with once I graduate. Scary stuff. Now these are the first of (hopefully) what ends up being many, many, more interviews. But, as we all know, tomorrow is never promised. So I have to make the best of what I have.

Sitting at the dining room table, eating eggs and oatmeal, enjoying a bottle of water and coffee, I ponder this. And as my heart races, I realize it's 8:05. I should finish eating and get showered. Naturally I slept poorly last night. Anticipation, anticipation, anticipation. Plus I was nervous I would sleep through my alarm, so of course I woke up at 4AM, and it took me a while to fall back asleep. Then 7AM hit, and so did my alarm. Wish me well.

Houston is About to Get That Much Better

...mostly for Brooke and other northeast transplants.

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/2008/08/04/daily38.html

That's right, Dunkin Donuts is opening 107 new stores in Houston. Insanity. Brooke will hopefully be able to find her fix a little more conveniently. 10 will open in 2009 and another 6 in 2010. So I guess we'll see how that goes and where they end up opening at. But I've got a feeling there should be a few within the downtown area and the med center.

AND I'll get my hashbrown fix. Those things are so tasty.

AND it's incentive for the Nerd Queen to come visit! It could be like old times!!!

What a Downer....

Zero.

That's the number of nationally televised games the Kings get this year.

Article

I cannot say how disappointed I am. Although, I guess it makes sense. They're not exactly the hottest team on the block.

I think we only play the Rocket's 4 times this year......hooray.

Guess it's time to get an NBA package. Oh wait, I forgot, I don't have that one thing.....what's it called? Money?

More Hype

It's another dope video with some pretty decent interviews and some fun moments.

All this being said, I know I'm not drinking the Kool Aid when it comes to this team. There are some legitimate problems. I've watched two of the tune up games, but since Silverman moved and took his TV AND they're broadcast on local China time, I've missed the Russia game, as well as the too-close-for-comfort-Australia game. In no particular order:
The team defense can swarm the ball handler as he drives the lane. The problem is the internation game focuses on the outside in game. This means that when the ball handler drives the lane shooters are positioned on the perimeter. The ball handlers know to pass out for the open shot. This creates a TON of 3 point opportunities. Coupled with the fact that the 3-point line is shorter, the game can shift momentum in but a few possessions. Aside from the Australia game, none of USA's performances have highlighted this problem because the opposing teams have not been knocking down their shots. This will likely change in Olympic play.
The team likes to run isos. Two years ago when I watched the FIBA games (where we finished 2nd or 3rd, I don't recall specifically) the team was highly focused on Isolations. This means one guy dribbles the ball for an absurd lenght of time and tries to drive the lane or forces a contested jumper. Needless to say, these types of plays have a high result of missed shots. The international game focuses on jumpshooting and ball movement which leads to open jumpers. Forcing iso plays is a quick way for the US to lose. Those guilty thus far: Lebron and Kobe
We lack depth down low. Now a lot of people have highlighted this problem. But it's far more concerning than even all the attention indicates. NBA big men don't really have to deal with high-post centers. This style of play is much more European-esque. So guys like Zydrunis Ilgalskus, Yao Ming (sometimes), Mehemet Okur, and Brad Miller are really the very few that play at the high post position (I'm probably forgetting a few others). Thus, centers rarely get too far away from the hoop and are taught to protect the rim and not drift away. In the international game, however, big men drift from the hoop and can knock down an 18-20 foot jumper with ease. In addition, rebounding has been a problem. The bigs for USA? Carlos Boozer, Chris Bosh, and Dwight Howard. Howard is the only true center. Whereas Bosh and Booze are true power forwards. Rebounding will be a problem. Why we left Tyson Chandler at home is still a mystery to me.
International rules are different. The court is shorter in both length and width. The free throw lane is more of a trapezoid than a rectangle. This means that on free throws the players have to move much faster to box out opponents for rebounds. It also changes how you have to move around to avoid a "3 in the key" violation. You can also touch the ball while it's still on the rim. In the NBA this is goaltending. In the international game, this is a no-call everytime. The 3-point lane, as previously stated, is also significantly shorter. While all of this might not seem like such a big deal, we're dealing with players who have grown up playing the NBA version of basketball. So changing life-long instincts isn't always something that's easy to do.
The Zone. The international game is all about zone defense and not man to man. Again, this highlights the necessity of ball movement. I've faced a zone a few times and it is incredibly harder to play against if your opponent is running it. Quck ball movement around the perimeter is a must and penetration by a ball handler is insanely hard since the defense collapses on you so quickly. If I recall, the zone was not run in the league for many years because of the illegal defense rules. More importantly NBA teams don't run it quite as much as they run man-to-man defense. Passing and three point shooting is key. Problem? We don't have a lot of shooters on the team. Kobe, Carmello, and Michael Redd are the only guys who can knock down the 3-pointer with any type of consistency. Thus far, Deron Williams (who has improved his shooting) has been horrific. Chris Paul is alright sometimes....Everyone else is far less reliable. If Redd's shot isn't falling, we might be in trouble.

These are just the major problems with the team. I am hopeful, albeit skeptical. Come on GOLD MEDAL. And come on passing. And come on defense, and come on rebounding......

Team USA, Nike, Marvin Gaye: GET HYPED

Dope editing. TIME TO GET HYPED. Opening Ceremonies tomorrow and Team USA tips off on Sunday at 9:15 AM. Set your DVRS!

Full schedule here

Jockin Jay-Z

BLUEPRINT 3 from kwest on Vimeo.

At Rock the Bells, Kanye premiered a new beat. And then out comes Jay-Z.

Also, hints at Blueprint 3.

The beat is actually pretty dope, albeit stripped down, and really minimal. But Kanye keeps making hits. I think it's been about 6 or 7 years since College Dropout dropped.....and he has yet to really disappoint.

We'll keep an eye out.

Yes, This is Our President

Crappy quality? Yes. Funny? DEFINITELY. Bush singing at the Gridiron Club is not to be missed.

Although his speeches generally suck, his song is pretty freakin funny. So whoever writes this song, might want to be considered for a speech-writing position. And also, this shows that Bush isn't all bad. See Jayson, I'm not a full bore kool-aid drinker.

Thanks to my roommate James T. Barnish for some solid, non-complaining, non-sports related blog material.

The Future Looks Bright

Sactownroyalty posted this excellent Kevin Martin mix video. In the 3 months without having Kings basketball it's easy to forget what a treasure Kevin Martin has turned out to be. He's developed into a guy who can give the opponent BUCKETS. and that's never a bad thing. The video also shows that Brad Miller is an amazing passer with excellent court vision for a big man.

There are a few Kevin Martin passes which shows that he can pass well. And he can also get to the hoop with the quickness.

With the youth movement beginning, let's hope everyone can take a tip from Martin's work ethic.

Here's to the Kings!

Thoughts, In Two Parts

This story popped up tonight.

And it was all over ESPN's baseball tonight which I watched while at the gym (hooray for cardio).

Okay, so Prince Fielder and Manny Para exchanged words during the game which resulted in a shoving match and Fielder looking like he was about 2 milliseconds away from going BALLISTIC. In the end, I didn't really think it was a big deal. And neither did their manager. His response: we're a family eight months a year. There's going to be fights. It's like when your neighbors fight. You don't go over and ask them what they were fighting about. So stop asking what it was about.

Yeah, I totally agree. And my agreement is free of sarcasm. These players spend the majority of their lives together. Practice, workouts, training camp, regular season, etc. All in a very competitive atmosphere. And they're not always going to get along together. Especially when things aren't going well (they're in the middle of a losing streak). Who cares?

My second thought is that it's interesting when grown men fight or argue with one another and even lay hands on the other....and it's supposed to be brushed off. I agree.

But lay hands on your manager or another non-player and kiss your tenure with that team goodbye (see Latrell Spreewell, Shawn Chacon). Interesting. What's the lesson? Respect the chain of command, but fighting with your teammates is okay. Interesting (which is coincidentally a word that has been invading my blog posts).

Fantasy Football

If you know me, you know I have only moderate interest in football. But I know a lot of people that are die-hard, gridiron fans. And I also know a lot of people that play fantasy football. Football was the last of all sports I ever gained interest in (aside from golf, which yes, is a sport). And in the end, it's always been hard to dedicate Sundays to keeping up with everything going on in the league. When I get into something, I like to go full-bore, which I've never been able to do with football. Especially since I loved to nap after church when I was back home and these days there are a million things I need to do post-church.

But nevertheless, I let Paul talk me into playing in his fantasy league. And then I slept through the draft this morning. The draft that was early by west coast standards...while I'm 2 hours ahead in the midwest. Pretty lame Dave. But thankfully auto-draft kicked in, so I have a team. And a pretty decent team. At least I think. Here's the breakdown.

Two QB's I absolutely despise. Yup. Dream Boat Tom Brady, who I will now be forced to root for in the spirit of wanting to win. Matt Hasselback (barf on my shoes, I can't stand him), and Carson Palmer, who I think is actually a great QB on a dysfunctional team. But I will definitely get major points off Brady, and he's not very turnover prone, so that's a plus.

At the Running back spot: Ryan Grant (who is in the middle of a contract dispute, and who I don't totally trust to be good this year), Marshawn Lynch, who I know very little about since he's in small market Buffalo (although I do recall seeing his name a lot on the ticker). Maurice Jones Drew is a good pickup, although I'm considering getting Fred Jones, but I don't want two backs from the same team....especially one that runs a two-back system. Injury-prone Ronnie Brown and K. Smith and K. Jones (neither of which I know anything about) round out the rest. Sucks, seeing as I have TWO running backs from Detroit. I might have to make a move with those two. That can not be a good situation. The brightspot is I also have Stay-Puff, aka Lendale White. So hopefully he has a good season.

Receivers are a bright spot. Heinz Ward, Plaxico Burress, Tony Gonzales (TE, but same difference), Roy Williams, Heath Miller, Chris Chambers, D. Bowe (who?!) all complete the receiving core. Definitely some bright spots there.

Indy for defense (yes! even if they aren't that great, it's still the closest thing I have to a team I root for, so I'm stoked).

And finally S. Graham (who!?) for my kicker.

We'll see how this season goes. If nothing, it will be a learning experience. Or a complete waste of time. hahahhaha. Can basketball start up again already!?