Layne Murdoch / Getty Images

My God, it’s great to watch Chris Paul again. The Hornets/Heat game last night might have been my favourite game of the whole season. Dude was the best player on the court for those 48 minutes, and that court had a few pretty amazing players on it.

I’m sure you’re aware the Hornets are 5-0. And it hasn’t been an easy schedule – Milwaukee at home, Denver at home, San Antonio on the road, Houston on the road, and Miami at home. Plenty more impressive than Atlanta going 6-0 against MEM/PHI/WAS/CLE/DET/MIN, right? Or the Lakers beating HOU/PHO/GSW/MEM/SAC/TOR? Yeah. Shoals is right, New Orleans is the biggest story in basketball.

You know who else might be right? Ethan Sherwood Strauss, who picked CP3 to win MVP before the season started. He said, essentially, that CP3 could win because he’s the second best player in the league, he’s going to have an amazing statistical season, and there’s a good chance his team will outperform its modest expectations. The media people who vote on the award will still dislike LeBron and view Dwight Howard as more physically gifted than skilled, KD’s Thunder will underachieve, and Paul will emerge as the guy with the best MVP story. [This is just a stupid summary - pleeeease read the whole thing 'cause Sherwood Strauss is good at writing.]

I loved the post when he wrote it, but still would have picked LeBron James. And now, I think I’d still roll with LeBron, but I’m nervous about the pick. Here’s why: LeBron is the best player in the world, but statistically he might not be THAT much better than Chris Paul. Paul’s started the season putting up impossible-looking numbers, but this isn’t anything new. Last year, before the injury he was producing more than anyone else on the planet. And even though he won’t shoot 50% on threes all season and defense means LeBron will still be the better overall player in my books, there’s a good chance at the end of the season that Paul’s numbers will suggest that the “best player alive” conversation is at least worth having. Couple that with a winning team that no one expected to do anything, and bam. He’ll be MVP, unless the Heat win close to 70.

Everything hinges on the Hornets continuing to win, though, and I’ve got lots of questions that I sort of want to think about and sort of want to push away so I can simply enjoy watching them.

• How can I possibly reconcile my belief that Monty Williams is an excellent young coach absolutely perfect for this team with the fact that he’s playing Marcus Thornton fewer minutes than Willie Green?

• Is Emeka Okafor seriously going to make a leap in his seventh season in the NBA?
• Has Jason Smith’s more-than-solid play been a figment of my imagination?
• Can Trevor Ariza figure out how to score efficiently and become the perfect 3′s and D role player we want him to be?
• Shouldn’t employing D.J. Mbenga and Aaron Gray as your only backup centers disqualify you from winning 50 games?
• Is Chris Paul the best point guard… ever? [And all the other questions Dwyer posed here, really.]

Planning to watch all of the Bucks/Hornets game tonight, with absolutely no idea who to cheer for, so maybe I’ll have more of a handle on New Orleans tomorrow. For now, I’ll just say Chris Paul is brilliant at basketball and you should be obsessively paying attention to his team for the next little while despite its lack of national TV appearances.

Before today’s quotes/tweets feature, a quick programming note: LeBlog James is generally going to run Mon-Fri, but I’ll put something up on the weekends sometimes as well. If I miss a weekday, like I did yesterday, there will pretty much always be a Saturday post to make up for it. ONWARD:

Quoted

“He just absolutely was adamant when we talked about it. He didn’t feel it was correct to be there for a week and get paid for the season.” – Herb Rudoy, Fabricio Oberto’s agent. Oberto suddenly retired on Thursday because of a heart condition. Amazingly, he decided to give ALL of the $854,389 he was set to make this season back to the Blazers. Players who suffer career- or season-ending injuries have no obligation to give back even a penny.

“My phone’s on mute.” – Nate McMillan, asked for a reaction to losing two players in a span of four hours. In addition to the Oberto news, it was announced Thursday that Eliot Williams would have surgery on his dislocated right patella. This will likely mean he’s out for the season.

“SEMIH … YOU … GO!” – Doc Rivers, to Semih Erden, after he missed a defensive rotation. The lovable Turkish rookie apparently is not amazing at English just yet.

“I thought it was a great idea and I think it will really help the team. I won’t have to start the game off and I’m still learning. Coming in off the bench, I can see how aggressive the game is so I can know how aggressive to be and not be. I’ll get the feel of the game a lot better.” – The totally immature, team-killing problem child DeMarcus Cousins, after learning Samuel Dalembert would replace him in the starting lineup. What a jerk. Good thing the Wolves didn’t draft him at #4.

“There’s one thing that I know for sure, and it’s that KG would not offend cancer patients. That makes no sense. It makes no sense on a lot of fronts. Not only is he experiencing it in his own family, but that’s just not something I’ve ever heard — in 30 years — ever say, in trash talking.” – Danny Ainge

“I’d love to see Charlie and KG in the ring. I’d pick Charlie. I’ve seen KG get his ass whupped. … He’s always barking, and when it’s time to get physical, he’s always been a little chihuahua.” – Reggie Evans

“I’m trying to change it now where instead of avoiding the contact and hitting crazy shots, I’m trying to get fouled and go to the free-throw line. It’s kind of weird for me right now getting used to it, but it’s coming along.” – Derrick Rose, making people who care about scoring efficiency extremely happy.

“Against a good defensive team we have trouble a little bit. We don’t have — and this isn’t to put down anybody in our locker room — but we don’t have the great one-on-one players. We don’t have [Dwyane] Wade and [LeBron] James and Paul Pierce and Kobe Bryant.” – Stan Van Gundy, after the loss to the Heat. You better believe this is a challenge to Vince Carter.

“I couldn’t have said this with 100 percent honesty last year: We’re way better than this. We know we are. We’re way, way better than this. It’s heartfelt and upsetting to see where we’re at right now.” – Kevin Love, after the Wolves lost by 42 to Orlando. God, I feel bad for him.

“Obviously, I’ll be Prime Minister one day but I was going to wait until after I finish playing basketball.” – Steve Nash, when asked about this nonsense.

“I just hope I don’t pass the ball to Rondo, and then go set a screen.”- Brian Scalabrine, on his return to Boston as a Bull.

“Scal is the ultimate professional athlete. I have uncanny respect for the guy. He came in here and was a professional every day that he put on the green and white. I respect him more than anything. He’s one of my favorite ex-teammates in my small 15 years [in the NBA].” – Kevin Garnett, on Scalabrine. Wow. And Scal got a hell of a welcome – the crowd gave him a standing ovation and chanted his name when he subbed in, and a tribute video was played for him and Tom Thibodeau on the big screen.

“We have a saying: ‘DTW — Defense Travels Well.’ Your legs and your shots won’t go all the time. Your jump shots may not be there. But if you can lock into your defense — that’s what they’ve done. And that kept us in the game. We weren’t down by 10, 15 points. Our defense kept us close.” – Keith Smart. THE COACH OF THE GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS SAID THIS! Get very excited.

“We are not trying to take so much crazy shots as we did in the last couple of years. We try to more move the ball and get easier shots and get everybody else involved in the offense. So I think that helps, that we don’t take those shots after five or seven seconds on offense, just pulling up.” – Andris Biedrins, who must be unbelievably happy that Don Nelson is no longer the coach of his team.

“This is probably one of the toughest things to do when you leave a year. One of the things about the NBA is out of sight, out of mind. For Denver to give me an opportunity, I want to do well, not only for the opportunity but so they don’t feel they wasted a spot.” – Melvin Ely. I bet you didn’t know he started for the Nuggets last night.

“I’m not here to defend myself. I just want to get on the court and just let my actions, the way that I play (take care of it). That’s all I care about is just getting out on the court and playing at the level that I’m capable of playing at. I don’t really worry what people say about me.” – Baron Davis. Good. I’d love to be wrong about you, Baron. Let’s see it.

“None of your business.” – Gregg Popovich, when asked what drills Richard Jefferson was put through to rejuvenate himself in the summer.

“I don’t even know what you’re talking about. I don’t even have a computer, I barely can answer my cell phone.” – Jerry Sloan, on Twitter.

Tweeted

“I am sorry Indiana. That was not Pacer basketball. What u saw is not acceptable and we r not gonna let this be the norm. We can do better!” – Roy Hibbert, after Indiana lost by 26 in Philly.

“Gotta talk to Leo and figure out how to use Inception.” – Roy Hibbert.

“I would like to apologize 2 the woman who I jumped in2 when I dove for the loose ball out of bounds. I am sorry and I hope I didn’t injure u” – Roy Hibbert, who accidentally kicked a woman in the head last night.

“I’m starting to feel like I did something to the refs in my previous life! I felt like a kid who couldn’t play with his friends!”- Jermaine O’Neal, who is averaging 7.5 fouls per 36 minutes so far this season.

“Big congratulations to JD! He’s worked really hard and is a great teammate. He deserves everything he gets.” – Steve Nash, congratulating former All-OTN Team member Jared Dudley on his contract extension. Who would have thought 3 years ago that the only members of the 2007 draft class to be extended would be Kevin Durant, Al Horford, Joakim Noah, Mike Conley, and Jared Dudley? Very happy for Mr. JMZ.

“Rod Strickland was REAL!!!! I don’t care what nobody say. Top 5 to me, no ASG, no Hype….” – Brandon Jennings, who also studies tapes of Kenny Anderson and watches several NBA games simultaneously.

“I really hope the rockets lets me know something soon…” – Jermaine Taylor, who is the most likely Rocket to be waived in order to facilitate an Erick Dampier signing.

“Beyond frustrated…feels like I’m being lied 2″ – Jermaine Taylor, who might be talking about his situation with Houston or might be talking about something completely different.

Noah Graham / Getty Images

I’m not a basketball lifer, I’m aware of this. I’m a white kid from Toronto. I didn’t see my first basketball game (in person or on TV) until 1995. I didn’t really get into basketball until I was 16. Yet here I am, confounded by the sheer idiocy that’s going on in and around the NBA. I can’t know more about basketball, interpersonal skills and basic math than people paid 6 or 7 figures to know these things right? Right? Well, can someone explain the following to me?

Memphis is paying Allen Iverson not to play. What is this, Groundhog Day? Didn’t they see what happened in Detroit? We all knew the deal, AI would not be a backup. Why were they surprised when he didn’t want to be one for the Grizz? And if AI was getting out of what he described as the worst situation in his career, where he claims he was stabbed in the back by former coach Curry, wouldn’t he have tried to get some assurances from the club that he wouldn’t be back in the same boat?

Byron Scott gets fired after a 3-6 start. He is replaced by his GM. Which would be fine, if the poor start wasn’t more related to the GM mismanaging that roster since the Hornets’ playoff run of 2 years ago than poor coaching. Or if they were replacing the coach with a better coach. Or if they weren’t hiring a lead assistant who they already have fired. Or if they tried to find a wing player who could actually play some ball. As Chris Paul read this, a single tear rolled down his cheek. He knows he doesn’t have the teammates. He knows.

The Knicks suspended Eddy Curry because he wasn’t in shape. Now he’s in shape. The problem: he may have lost 70 pounds but he’s still EDDY MOTHER FUCKING CURRY! How in gods name is he going to run with a D’Antoni system?! The dude might not be a walking balloon boy anymore, but he still won’t suddenly turn into Amar’e Staudemire or something. He isn’t a fast break type player. He’s not. Either you form a system around the players, or get players that fit the system. Eddy Curry doesn’t fit either template for the Knicks. Speaking of the Knicks’ template, the whole run and gun score a lot of points only works if you SCORE A LOT OF POINTS! Not when you give up 108 a freaking game and score about 100. Shockingly, these Knicks are actually WORSE on offense than they are on D! This is not how D’Antoni-ball is supposed to work. But it’s okay, the Knicks play at Madison Square Garden. Of course LeBron wants to play there next season. Duh.

Don Nelson still has a job? I don’t even want to talk about the Warriors. I feel sick.

The Nets are so far down right now that they LITERALLY threw away (1:50 here) their first chance to win a game this season. These people play professional basketball. Help! I don’t care that people are injured. If you can’t inbound a ball even CLOSE to a teammate, there are far bigger issues at play than injuries.

The Blazers have some of the best young offensive talent in the league. So it makes perfect sense that they’re playing at the 3rd slowest pace of any team in the NBA. Yet they’re still 19th in scoring. 28th in pace, 19th in scoring. The team has Brandon Roy and LaMarcus freaking Aldridge! DON’T BE AFRAID TO SHOOT THE FUCKING BALL! YOU HAVE ODEN UNDER THE BASKET FOR GOD’S SAKE! They have a hyper-efficient offense so why not actually use it more?! This team is the jackass who buys a Ferrari, only takes it on cruises around the neighbourhood and won’t change out of 2nd gear. I watch basketball to be entertained. I play fantasy basketball to heighten that entertainment. I love defense, rebounding, hustle, and the down and dirty guys (see my Nuggets piece where I wax poetic about the likes of Birdman and Joey Graham). But I also want to see some end to end action! I want to see the best athletes in the world making the most of their talent and abilities. Moreover, I don’t want to see one more fucking boxscore where Roy, Aldridge and Oden have to get their stats from a total of 90-something points and 40-something rebounds! Let them loose a LITTLE bit. Please! I’m begging you. Last year, they were 30th in pace and 1st in efficiency. This year, they’re 28th in pace and a bit lower in the efficiency (8th). Still good, yes, but is it really going to negatively impact the team too much to maybe bump the offense up to 20th in pace? Really? They’re getting 89.4 possessions in 48 minutes. 2 more possessions a game gets them to 19th. That’s it! Will an extra 2 possessions hurt their efficiency THAT much?! Okay, maybe I’m just angry as a fantasy owner of Roy and Aldridge. And Oden. In fact, I’m pretty sure I just sunk any trade value that Aldridge had. Let’s just move on.

Philadelphia has one really good low post player in Marreese Speights, but can’t play him big minutes because they fear the two vets ahead of him would become malcontents if moved to the bench. This team actually has a quality building block in their frontcourt, and Eddie Jordan must know that the kid is going to start eventually. The Sixers won’t be very good this year – common sense says that counting on Sam Dalembert in the first place destined this team for failure. They need to embrace the fuutre. Obviously, I am not a Dalembert fan. I am not a Brand fan, either. I do however enjoy Brand’s play if for nothing else than to laugh at James, who drafted big Elton right after I took Boozer. Sucker. (Ed.: Ugh, I want to make fun of you for not keeping Marc Gasol, but that Brand thing was too upsetting. You’re mean.)

Chicago brought in John Salmons at the deadline last year, presumably to groom a replacement since they’d already decided they weren’t keeping Gordon (I’d rather have the cap space too). The mistake: not recognizing that Salmons wasn’t a great basketball player and cashing out while he had serious value. Now they can’t do anything with him. Not that it really matters. Even if they had the pieces, they’d still find a way to fuck it up. James thinks I should give VDN credit for fixing the defense… but they replaced a defensive pylon at 2 guard with someone who plays, and Rose and Noah got a year better. VDN just happened to be along for the ride. And he’s supposed to get credit for that? Pfff. Last year, I thought Vinny Del Negro was an inexperienced moron in over his head. Now, I just think he’s dumb.

What’s my problem with Vinny? Well, he doesn’t know his personnel. He makes poor decisions. On the potential game-winning buzzer beating shot that Miller made against Denver the other day, Luol Deng actually said “I thought it was a fact you can’t shoot with 0.3. So that’s why I was kind of like, I mean, if it counted then they’ve got to change a lot of things because I thought it was 0.4.” Really. Wouldn’t you think this MIGHT come up during the timeout that preceded the play? What the hell was Vinny talking about in that timeout? It’s not like he was drawing up some top secret super-duper guaranteed-to-work play. The Outside The NBA team was watching that game from our hub of James’s basement (basking in post podcast glow), and while Julian and I disagreed with James’s assertion the basket should count (Ed.: I said it looked very close on the replay, not that it should definitely count), I think we could all agree that Denver’s curious decision to not bother to cover Brad Miller was far more of a factor in Miller getting that good a look than any genius that Del Negro came up with. Not to mention the fact that VDN STILL hasn’t figured out that for Rose to be effective he needs to be on the floor with someone who can great space for him by making shots. One person. Not 3 people standing 20 feet from the basket jacking contested shots while everyone stands still. When the fucking Toronto Raptors can shut you down in an entire half of basketball, you have problems. I don’t want to hear the “they were tired, they were on a back to back” excuse. That’s horseshit. I understand how the travel and lack of preparation can negatively impact a team, but 28 points in a half against what might be one of the worst defensive teams in NBA history? Just move the ball. Spread the floor. For god’s sake, it’s like a team of Jamario Moons over there.

My final rants and raves: Fans and GM’s. It’s between 7 and 9 games into the season. There are any number of key players on any number of teams missing for reasons varying from steroids to ‘personal reasons’. A bunch of teams are integrating new players. Everyone, myself included, needs to take a deep breath and relax a little bit. Just close your eyes and breathe deep. I’ll wait. Everyone ready? Ok, time to continue ranting with some assorted thoughts on this season thus far:

The Cellar Dwellers

Okay. The Toronto Raptors are playing without their supposed best rebounder. We don’t know if Reggie Evans will make a significant difference to the Raps’ lack of success on the offensive and defensive glass, so let’s at least wait till he gets on the floor before we start freaking out. If after a while the Raps still can’t play defense or at least grab the occasional rebound, then clearly there’s a problem.

The Bucks have lost to Philly, beat Detroit, the Bulls, the Wolves, the Knicks and the Nuggets. Not to take anything away from that Nuggets win, but Denver was on the second day of a back to back. Either way, that’s hardly a murderer’s row of teams the Bucks have beaten. Let’s wait a little longer before we start sucking Skiles off again. (Ed.: You bastard. The Bucks are awesome. If you had said something negative about Jennings here, I would have lost it.)

Sacramento is .500 for the first time in YEARS. Fact: James actually tried to convince me to trade him Casspi. Even offering players AND burgers to be named later. Alas, Sacramento can’t keep this pace up forever but at least we can all enjoy it while it lasts.

The Contenders

The Boston Celtics are off to a fantastic start. They are also the oldest team in the NBA. Thankfully, almost every stadium in North America comes equipped with a defibrillator. Let’s just say I’m glad I’m not on the hook for their insurance premium this season.

Orlando has missed one of their best players, Rashard Lewis, for the entire season thus far. And will for a few more games. Vince Carter, Mickael Pietrus, and Ryan Anderson have missed games, too. Tonight, Brandon Bass isn’t even playing. Dwight Howard has kinda learned to shoot free throws and is becoming good as passing out of double teams. I regret not picking them higher in the predictions piece. Just a scary, scary team.

Denver just got J.R “Don’t call me Earl” Smith back into the lineup. The Nuggets have beaten Utah at home and Portland on the road back-to-back. And since then, they have proceeded to beat Memphis, Indy, the Nets and the Bulls. But don’t forget that they have lost to Miami, Atlanta and Milwaukee. As much as it pains me to say: we can’t really read too much into Denver’s hot start. Should they beat the Lakers tonight though, it’s a whole new ballgame.

Phoenix has only played 2 home games so far. The first loss they had was to Orlando, when Steve Nash seemed tired on a back-to-back (the only game he had less than 8 assists). They got spanked by the Lakers, again in a game where Nash looked tired. So it seems like the Suns will go as far as Nash can take them. Here’s hoping that’s a long way, but I’m not going to get my hopes up just yet.

San Antonio just beat up Dallas while playing without Duncan and Parker. Well then. I don’t even have anything to add. That’s where amazing happens, ladies and gentlemen.

The Cavs have started to put it together, and they’ll get it eventually. Despite Mike Brown’s best efforts, the Cavs will be fine. The east is going to be interesting yet.

Summer 2010

Call it a hunch, but somehow I doubt any of the big name free agents this year will even CONSIDER where to go next year without seeing how competitive their current teams are. It’s not like the more times reporters ask said big name soon to be free agents where they are going, the more likely the players are to answer in anything more than jock-speak and cliches. All these reporters are doing is torturing dozens of already tortured fan bases. Cleveland already has the Monday Night Debacle (you’ll see on the 16th) in its future. They also got to see their 2 former best pitchers face off against each other in a World Series game. Do they really need to be subjected to this crap every game day? It’s bad enough these poor people live in Cleveland. Just leave them alone. I’m begging you. LeBron has finally asked for this.

Fantasy

James is currently beating me in the fantasy league that I blogged about. But I’m beating him in the other fantasy league we’re in. When asked for comment, James couldn’t really garble out a reply. All I could make out was that James doesn’t like the head-to-head format. I guess he believes in keeping that kind of stuff for his personal life since I’m fairly sure his voice was being muffled by Ben Gordon’s dick. (Ed.: Ben Gordon?! WTF? I don’t even have him in the pool. If you’re going to make an absolutely tasteless joke, at least use Gilbert or Dwight or something. I’m disappointed in you. This blog post is over.)

Rocky Widner / Getty Images

In our first podcast, Julian, Eric, and I discuss the Iverson/Memphis debacle, Earl Smith III, Stephen Jackson’s agent vs. Nellie, the ridiculousness of the Raptors, the success of the Suns and Nuggets, the failures of the Cavs and Hornets, and Kobe’s newfound appreciation for the post-up game. Oh, and we play a little game.

We recorded this yesterday, before watching the slew of awesome games covered here and here. So, we didn’t get to talk about Brad Miller’s near-buzzer-beater or Travis Outlaw’s vicious dunk on Rudy Gay. We’ve got you covered on Matt Bonner dunk analysis, though.

Click here to listen to the podcast.

Ahh, G-State. The G-Men. Okay, maybe not the G-Men, though I think they’d trade their issues for one Plaxico bullet wound. Where do I even start with these guys? They have so much talent it’s ridiculous. They play entertaining ball. They have a great crowd. There’s so much to love, yet they continue to self destruct. First, their captain and rock, the ever-sane Stephen Jackson, publically declares he doesn’t like the direction of the team and wants a trade. Gets fined. Now he gets fouled up, T’d up, sent from the bench and suspended for a few days. Also, their next best player, Monta Ellis, has publically questioned whether he and new stud draft pick Stephen Curry can play together. Fans are as thrilled with this as they were when they heard about a potential Monta Ellis salary dump in September.

Speaking of salary dumps, they sold Marco Belinelli to the Raptors for just over $1.5 million in the summer (yes, they got Devean George, but the Raptors gave the Warriors cash to cover his contract this season). Not to say Belinelli’s an all-star or anything, but unless we’re talking soccer the phrase “sold a player” should be reserved for when asking for a loosey. They were rumoured to be interested in Amar’e, until Stephen Curry fell to them at #7 in the draft. Now, they’re being linked with Bosh again, but that’s pure speculation. There’s no way Colangelo is interested in trading Bosh until closer to the deadline at least. And as a Raptors fan, I certainly hope it’s not for a package “centered around Andris Biedrins”. Brandan Wright’s hurt and out for a few months. Sure, they have Anthony Randolph, but Coach Nelson is notorious for sitting young players for… well, no good reason at all. They’ve got Andris Biedrins locked in for four years at $9 million a year (And Raptors fans were complaining about Turkoglu’s contract!), Corey Maggette for four years, increasing every year from almost $9 mil this year to almost $11 million in 2012. Those two, plus Jackson and Ellis take up $40 million of salary space in 2012! They’re already several million over the cap, and, as it stands, do not figure to be a big player in free agency for a while unless they find a way to dump one of their four biggest contracts. So why do I like these guys? Why do I support this Picasso of a mismanaged and chaotic team? As a fan of the Toronto sports teams, I am a card-carrying masochist, which helps, but I can also see talent and charisma. And even with all of their problems, the Warriors just ooze talent.

In addition to Monta and Captain Jack, they have personal favourites Ronny Turiaf (don’t ask) and Corey Maggette (I’m a masochist, remember?). They have summer league sweethearts Anthony Morrow and Anthony Randolph. They have Speedy Claxton and Andris Biedrins (I can like them and hate their contracts), and most importantly, they have Stephen Curry. Ask anyone who watched the NCAA Tournament in 2008 about Stephen Curry and their faces light up. There aren’t many shooters who can throw a team on their back and carry them, yet Stephen Curry almost carried tiny Davidson all the way to the Finals; losing in the elite eight to after upsetting Gonzaga, Georgetown and Wisconsin. The team that beat them: The eventual champion Kansas Jayhawks, who won by 2 points after the potential game winning 3 didn’t drop (Curry dished, he was in double coverage). It was an awe-inspiring run. Just ask LeBron. Generally, there aren’t too many rookies who excite me. Curry, though, is something special. If nothing else, I’d be tuning in to Warriors games JUST for Curry and he doesn’t even have close to the most potential on the team. Anthony Randolph has the tools and potential to be a STUD in this league. Yes, I said it. With his skill set, if he is given a real chance by Don Nelson he could a superstar in the making like Kevin Durant (the last rookie to excite me like Steph does).

What can’t the guy do? He can shoot, he can break men down, he can pass, he can dunk, (oh can he dunk), he can rebound, he runs the floor, and he can block shots. His length and speed are things to marvel at. His nose for the ball is something that can’t be taught. His willingness to get down and dirty and do whatever’s necessary to win is endearing. I don’t even have anything else to say about him, other than if Don Nelson doesn’t let this kid on the floor he should be committed. Or shot. Either way, he shouldn’t be allowed within 500 feet of any school, gym or NBA arena. Same story with Anthony Morrow. He may not have the pure raw talent like Randolph, but he can ball and needs to be given a shot.

What other positive things can I say about the Warriors? Well, as much as it may be to their chagrin, both Captain Jack and Monta are still in the Bay Area. Say what you will about Stephen Jackson, the cat can still play. Someone should tell Nellie that he’s not a point guard or a power forward, but he still is a hell of a player on the wing. And don’t forget that Monta missed training camp and half of last season after a little workout mishap, uhhhh contract violating high speed motorcycle accident, errrr falling off a moped. I still don’t understand how you can shred your ankle on a moped. Anyway, that’s beside the point. I’m not here to talk about the past; Monta’s back, healthy, and he will have a full training camp and hopefully a full season. This can’t be a bad thing.

In fact, the thought of seeing Monta Ellis, Stephen Curry, Stephen Jackson, Anthony Randolph and Andris Biedrins together makes me turn into the Lonely Island guys when I think of it. I dunno if Nellie will let that happen, but hey, a guy can dream. And let’s not forget they still have Acie Law (another personal favourite), Morrow, Claxton, Maggette, Turiaf, and Mikki Moore on the bench. Yowzers. Yes, I said it: Yowzers. By now it should be apparent why I can support this club. They are the Raptors West. They can score 110 points a game, they can give up 110 points a game. The only difference between the two clubs is pure talent. The Raptors have good players, yes, but the talent coming out of Golden State is truly remarkable. There’s a reason I called them a Picasso. A Picasso is a chaotic mess, but it’s a thing of beauty. It’s taking pieces of a puzzle, scattering them in a random order and turning it into art. The Warriors are art on the court, a thing of beauty. As a fan of the game of basketball, I can’t wait to see what they can do this year. They had enough talent to make the playoffs last year, and this year they’ve improved the club. Sure, there’s a few ifs; mostly relating to IF Nelson actually plays the young talent he’s been blessed with, and IF they don’t make some stupid salary dump, but with that kind of talent they can’t lose! Can they? You’ll have to tune in to find out. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed, win or lose.