Locked Out

The NBA released its 2011-12 schedule today and it made the rounds in the blogosphere multiple times over.  Why?  It wasn't because the schedule held any particular relevance or importance.  Instead, the story carried weight because there hasn't been any meaningful NBA news in nearly three weeks.

With that kind of inactivity in mind, it's time to let this blog rest for a bit.  A summer.  Hopefully not an autumn and a winter, too.  Just a summer.  Keep thinking positive thoughts about this lockout going away.

In the meantime, enjoy Jamaal Wilkes shooting a free throw.  

Amazingly enough, Jamaal finished his career with a .759 FT percentage -- the exact same mark as Isiah Thomas.

NBA Lockout: The Good Ol' Days of Labor Agreements

Aaaah, the good old days of labor relations between NBA players and owners.  No wonder they named a trophy after Larry O'B.

Pay close attention to the text at the top (transcribed below):

For what it's worth: Simon Gourdine (at far right) switched sides.  After being the NBA's Deputy Commish from 1974-1981, he later came back and worked with the National Basketball Players Association, eventually becoming the Executive Director from 1995 to 1996.

NEW YORK (UPI) 04/12/76: The National Basketball Association reached a three-year contract agreement with the Players Association (4/12).  Among other things, it calls for a $10,000 increase in minimum salaries -- from $20,000 to $30,000 per year through the 1978-79 season.  From left, at news conference announcing the agreement are:  Larry Fleisher, N.B.A. players' counsel; Paul Silas of the Boston Celtics, Lawrence F. O'Brien, N.B.A. Commissioner and Simon B. Gourdine, Deputy Commissioner of the N.B.A.

Daniel Tosh Gets It Right on DeShawn; Abe Lincoln Gets a Mugshot

After the Mavericks clinched the title on Sunday, Daniel Tosh tweeted the following:

It may have seemed like a cruel and insensitive tweet until DeShawn backed it up for him.

To be fair, the "over" was the winning bet.

Trying to Make Dwyane Wade One-Dimensional

The Heat have taken a 3-1 lead in their series with Chicago, thanks in large part to Chris Bosh, LeBron James, a stalwart team defense, and an overall scrappy attitude not seen during the regular season.  But the Heat's most reliable scorer this year, Dwayne Wade, has been noticeably quiet on offense -- he's currently shooting a paltry 39% from the field in this series.

Copyright NBAE 2011 (Photo by Issac Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images)

Is it a slump?  Or is it a strategy that have the Bulls employed?  (Answer: it's a little of both.)  So how do you slow down Dwyane Wade?

As it turns out, the Bulls have been making Wade shoot while going to his left.  Granted, this development isn't new and Wade has always taken a high percentage of shots from the left side of the court.  But the difference here is that Chicago is posturing its defenders far over onto Wade's right side, to the point where it looks like Wade could walk directly forward at will.  So the Bulls are using defensive stances that are essentially begging him to go left, while taking his other options -- pull-ups from straightaway, moves into the paint, and points from the right-hand side -- and shelving them.  It's not that he's missing those shots.  The Bulls are overplaying to the point where he can't even take them.

For Coach Tom Thibodeau, it hasn't always worked this way, even recently.  As as assistant coach and defensive specialist for the Celtics last season, he faced Wade and the Heat last season, too, with vastly different results. Wade made 56% of his field goals and sliced the Celtics for over 33 points per game even though, as a member of a less talented Heat squad, he was far and away the focal point of the Celtic defense.  (If you don't believe me, look at Jermaine O'Neal's stats for that series. It's hard to believe the Celtics signed him after witnessing that self-immolation firsthand.)

Take a look at the shot charts for Wade (taken from ESPN's site) for the Bulls-Heat series:

Eddie House Spanks LeBron to the Ground

It was a moment soaked in drama.  The Bulls, trailing 2-1 in the Eastern Conference Finals, switched into desperation mode as they trailed by 6 points in overtime with less than a minute left.  The reigning MVP blew past LeBron and soared to the rim, only to be detonated by Dwyane Wade at the rim.

Expect to see this clip again in all manner of NBA highlight reels and compilation clips.

But there's something else going on here.  What was that going on in front of the Heat bench, shortly after the scramble that netted the Heat possession of the ball?

Eddie House comes over to celebrate with LeBron.  But the play is still live, and James is trying to get set to head back down court.  That's when the fun begins:

Frank Vogel on David Letterman's "Stupid Human Tricks" as an 8th Grader

Frank Vogel can brush his teeth while balancing a balancing a spinning basketball on the toothbrush.

Vogel took over as interim coach of the Indiana Pacers in midseason and helped them negotiate a 20-18 finish to their season, plus the eighth seed in the playoffs from the Eastern Conference. Despite his success and a competitive first-round series against the Chicago Bulls, Vogel hasn't been able to secure the Pacers' gig permanently.

In the meantime, Vogel has interviewed with the Houston Rockets about their coaching vacancy, but is rumored not to be among the three finalists being considered.  According to the Indianapolis Star, other potential candidates include Dwane Casey, Chuck Person, and Mike Brown. 

Below is a clip from a 1986 episode of "Late Night with David Letterman"

Wizards Unleash Fan-Friendly, Phallic Logos

It's long been said that the Washington Monument is the world's largest phallus.  So most would consider it a bit of a surprise then that the Washington Wizards today unveiled their new logos and jerseys, and despite incorporating a new basketball/Monument logo into the design scheme (multiple times, in fact), the Monument logo is not the most phallic representation.  That honor instead goes to a design that harkens back to the Wizards glory days of Unseld and Hayes.

This new logo is phallic in a
first-person point-of-view way, isn't it?