Is www.TradeDerekFisher.com Taken?

Dear Derek,

Seriously. You go for the fucking steal?!? Going out of bounds? What could you have possibly done with that? Toss it over your head towards the Spurs basket? Then you compound your first mistake, by making an even fucking bigger mistake, fouling Roger Mason. Just stand there and let him shoot. Now, you wanna get into defensive position? Now?!? And do what exactly? Were you gonna block the shot? Fuck no. I was doing the "big balls dance" along with Kobe. Then you had to fuck it up.

And can we just say that even though Bron is the MVP so far this year, that Kobe is the best on the planet. Who else hits that shot in Mason's grill, from almost the same spot he busted in Battier's grill last night. Best. On. The. Planet.

Thanks for listening to my rant. I'm going to go light a kitten on fire.

latuh,

Diallo S. Tyson
President of the Derek Fisher Is Fucking Killing Us Trade Him Foundation

OK, I'm being completely irrational.  It's just...Fuck!  Your job is to help us...not to fuck us up! Read more!

The Curious Case of the Realist

Waldini:

Just read JA Adande's two columns (left hand side). The first column's for Realist, since he's fallen back in love with the NB er I mean Lebron. A breakdown of Kobe's D on Wade. The second column's for Gangsta and the amusement he's sure to have when he reads that Shaq wants his jersey retired at Staples.

Da Realist:

I hadn't read the article just yet, but I did watch that game last night. Kobe did a good job on Wade. But keep these two things in mind...

a) Kobe played great ball-deny defense on Wade. I saw Kobe on several occasions abandon a sound defensive position (which would have enabled him to play help defense) in an attempt to "shadow" Dwyane Wade. A few of those times, DWade dragged Kobe to the corner and allowed his teammates to drive or shoot barely contested shots. One of the reasons why the Heat stayed in the game despite Kobe's "defense" on Wade.

b) He couldn't play that type of defense on Lebron. Too big, too strong. Kobe's length bothered Wade last night. That won't help him against Lebron.

We'll see. I think Lebron's a better player than Kobe and has a team built for the playoffs. I don't think Kobe and the Lakers want to see Lebron in the finals this year. I could be wrong. That's why I got NBA Season Pass so I can better evaluate all the good teams.

We'll see.

Waldini:

you eerily sound like Charlie Rosen...and that's scary :-). All you need to do is add an antedote about a time in your life when you played ball and it's official

Da Realist:

Kobe played the same type of defense on Paul Pierce in the Finals last year. In this clip, look at how far Pierce pulls Kobe out of the play. That's bad defensive positioning. He didn't need to "hug" Paul Pierce while he was stationed near the halfcourt line. It gives Ray Allen the whole court to work with and all he has to do is beat Sasha to get a wide open layup.

Of course, Kobe wasn't the only player playing hugging their assigned player. Bad defense overall by LA in that game but teams do tend to follow their best player. If the best player is defensive minded, the team will follow. If the best player has mental lapses throughout the game, the team will follow. etc.

That shadow defense worked last night because a) Kobe's length bothered DWade, b) Miami doesn't have any other offensive threats and b) DWade doesn't have a post-up game. Waldini:

Does that mean I should expect to see other Celtics get on the ground like a dog since KG did it? Read more!

The Church Of Bron Has Converted Another Non-Believer

Waldini:

Ok I'll admit the NBA's regular season has reverted to old form and producing one boring game after another. Last year was a Cinderella season with a lot of games must see TV. So far this year, it's been 3 teams (I still don't believe in Orlando) and everybody else chasing. So I decided to watch the Cavs-Celtics on Fri, since this was a battle of the top 2 Eastern Conf teams, the King vs the Big 3, the probable East Conf Finals matchup and all that other stuff the media hypes up.

The outcome? I didn't come out of the game going OMG I'm witnessing history. Lebron did put a beating on them boys and his defense is better. But if ESPN keeps showing the same highlight of him stopping The Truth on one play. I'm gonna scream. I will hold judgement on putting on the all defense team until I see him do it in the playoffs consistently.

As for the Cs, fuck 'em :-). The more they lose, the more I enjoy it.

Da Realist:

Lebron's the best player in the league. And he "gets" it this year. He's a factor on both ends of the floor. He's a terror on help defense and he can get to the middle against anyone, anytime he wants. He had the Celtics shook on national tv. Yes, I know the Celtics lost 6 of the previous 8 games. I know they weren't playing well. But they were INTIMIDATED.

It's just one game, but it's really not. No one is stopping him this year. The way he controls the game...I hadn't seen that from a perimeter player since Michael Jordan. And yes I know Kobe is a great player, but he did most of his damage as a premier scorer. I don't care how many defensive awards he got, he was never this much of a factor on both ends of the floor as Lebron is right now. And Kobe was never feared. Kobe beat teams, but he never intimidated them.

Lebron's game makes everyone else on his team better. First of all, he's a better rebounder, passer and defender than Kobe is -- a significantly better help defender. Plus he's more efficient. So there's that... But more importantly, the way he attacks forces teams to pay attention to him at all times. This leaves his teammates open and they're knocking down open shots or barely contested ones. Teams are too afraid to let Lebron get to the hole. Kobe, on the other hand, is mostly a jumpshooter. A spectacular one, but still a jumpshooter. Jumpshooters don't, on the whole, compromise interior defenses. So even though Kobe may score 45+ points, the best defenders are still playing throughout the game. Lebron forces interior defenders into foul trouble, making it easier for the Cavs to score and for his teammates to get more confidence.

Even when the Cavs lose, you can almost see the other team wipe their brow and exhale. Cause they know. I don't care what happens the rest of this regular season. It doesn't even matter who has homecourt advantage. Good luck to any team trying to beat that dude 4 out of 7 games in the playoffs this year.

Waldini:

I thought you didn't watch basketball anymore LOL

Da Realist:

Lebron is changing my mind. ;-) In fact, I just bought NBA League Pass. Read more!

Got Your Game In My Back Pocket

Gangsta D:

I was just talking to a co-worker about my playground basketball abilities. I was telling her that when I'm on, no one can stop me from wetting jumpers. Then I had to clarify that no one on a local level could stop me. Even an absolute dogshit NBA scrub could lock me up. I said, "Even JJ Redick could-" Then I caught myself. Nah, JJ couldn't D me up. Could he? Even though he's an NBA player, and I'm an out of shape nobody, would it be embarrassing if I got locked down by JJ Redick? I'm thinking it would be kind of embarrassing.

Waldini:

I don't know man, you my patna and all but there's a reason they in the NBA :-)

Gangsta D:

I'm not talking about a regular NBA player, I'm talking about JJ "Freaking" Redick. If he locked you up, you wouldn't be embarrassed? Come on! And JJ ain't in the league because of his defensive prowess. Could I stop him? Fuck no. Maybe he can shut me down, but I would be mad pissed. It's JJ "Freaking" Redick for God's sake! Lol

Waldini:

With that compelling argument, how can I ever doubt you :-) Gangsta for Prez in '12. Mark it down....

I'm not saying he's unbeatable b/c some unknown cat beat Jordan in agame of one on one last year. I was just saying the odds. But ur right,his D is suspect. But that Jumper of his...deadly, well at least in college it was.

Gangsta D:

I'm not saying I could beat him one-on-one. I know for a fact I couldn't keep him from scoring. I'm just saying, if we played one-on-one with no make it/take it, and I didn't score a point, I would be mad salty. Mad. Salty. Read more!

New School Music - New Year '09 edition

It's a New Year and I'm hitting you off with New School Music to ring in the Year. The Year must be looking good for me to already have new joints on deck for the masses. I felt it's best to have you readers join me in getting up on these new artists before everyone else does. And has anyone noticed how many times I used the word "new" in this paragraph :-)? Enjoy yourselves....

Charles Hamilton - "Brooklyn Girls"

I had heard a few of Ham's tracks from some of his mixtapes. Needless to say I wasn't impressed. This couldn't have been the same cat that XXL, Vibe, Source and countless internet music sites were touting as the Hip Hop version of Prince (He plays a ton of instruments). Then one day, I'm doing my couch potato routine and this pops up on my TV. Good job of converting me back to the Force young Padawan



Asher Roth - "I Love College"

He was in the same XXL issue as Charles Hamilton aka the 10 artists to watch for in 2009. Initially I was put off by the whole let's compare him to Em because he's white yada yada yada stuff. I got past that and caught this gem online. I think I like him more for the fact that he's not trying to be something he's not and just doing him. Plus I can relate more to this than getting shot a gazillion times or being on the run from the Feds.





Median f 9th Wonder - "Visionary"

I can't even front on taking credit for this. My boy AY put me on to this when I was visiting the Dirty Durham. He's part of the whole Little Brother-Jean Grae clique and he's backed by the infamous 9th Wonder on his album. Nice laid back flow combined with smooth beats equals a Happy Waldini.





Jay Electronica - "Swagger Jack's Revenge"

Dude's flow is simple but you just find yourself mesmerized by what's he saying. Just peep that Cassius line. OH. MY. GOD. Just brilliant. Here's a fact that will mess your mind up. He's representing New Orleans. Yes the same New Orleans that has produced "lyrical geniuses" like Manny Fresh, Master P, Silkk the Shocker, etc. I give props to anyone that rise out of that rubbish to actually spit (For the record, I do think Weezy and Juvy can spit) decent rhymes. Like his other NO brethren, the Knux, another refresher out of the Big Easy.




GUILTY PLEASURE OF THE WEEK

Ludacris f T-Pain - "One More Drink"

Luda pisses me off repeatedly. He is one of the better rappers in hip hop. Yet his albums are always uneven to me. For every song on his album I might like, he has another I hate. Fortunately this song AND video are hilarious.

Read more!