I Could Listen To Shaq Talk Forever

On Winning

“I’ve won at every level, except college and pro.”

“I’ve succeeded at every level, except high school and college.”

After winning the state high school basketball championship:

REPORTER: Shaquille, what do you attribute your team’s success to?

SHAQ: I attribute it to me.

SHAQ: Everybody always talks about winning.  Phil took us to the Finals four out of five years.  We won three years out of five.  To my math, that’s 60% of the time.

CEDRIC THE ENTERTAINER: You can count?

“Phil took us to the finals three out of the five years and you want to fire him and want to bring in Mike Krzyzewski? Come on, man. That’s like being married to J-Lo, then dropping J-Lo for a girl that’s 5-10, 480 (pounds).”

(After Game 3 of the 2004 NBA Finals, when the Lakers lost to the Pistons 88-68)

REPORTER: There was a certain part of the game when you were getting the ball down low and you were scoring every time, and then it seemed like you guys went away from that.

SHAQ: Yeah. The story of my life, buddy.

For more quotes follow this link:

www.shaqquotes.com

The Internet Is A Funny Place

NBA Finals Move to Boston

The NBA Finals will shift to the East Coast after the Boston Celtics managed a split of the first two games in Los Angeles against the Lakers eliminating home-court advantage for now. Kobe Bryant and the Lakers were effective in front of their fans in Games 1 earning a rather comfortable 102-89 victory. However guards Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo took control on Game 2 as the Celtics dominated the first half and pulled away late after the Lakers rallied. The first half was punctuated by Allen who hit the first 7 3-pointers he attempted (tying an NBA record for 3’s in a finals game, in the first game, and broke the record with his 8^th early in the 3^rd) and scored 27 first half points. Rondo posted his 5^th career playoff triple-double and scored some huge buckets late to put the game out of reach.

As they series moves to Boston I think Lakers fans should be very worried. While they have gotten solid play out of Bryant and their other stars (most notably Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum) they have not yet seen the Celtics at their best. Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce were nowhere to be seen in Game 2 as the former battled serious foul-trouble (forcing coach Doc Rivers to play C Sheldon Williams far more than he would have wished) while Pierce struggled from the field early and focused more on getting the ball to Allen and Rondo as the game progressed. Garnett and Pierce were both tremendous on defense which generally doesn’t show up in the Box Score and I’m sure they’ll be energized offensively in the first Finals’ game in front of their home fans.

This is what makes the Celtics so good, two of their top players can be complete non-factors offensively and yet they still have enough weapons to out-gun Kobe Bryant and Company. I still stand firmly behind my belief that Paul Pierce will decide this series, probably even more so now. If Pierce can find that fire that fueled the Celtics to the title two years ago then this series could be over before it ever makes it back to LA. As I said before Pierce tends to save his best for the most important games of a series and if he can turn it on the C’s can seriously cripple the Lakers’ title hopes in Boston with the way the rest of the team has played. Needless to say this series has already proven to be very entertaining and I don’t think the Lakers will go quietly either.

Game 3 tips at 9 PM Eastern on ABC

The Advantage of Citi Field

Several weeks ago the Philadelphia Phillies and manager Charlie Manuel were under serious scrutiny for sign stealing after a video-camera was spotted in the Phillies bullpen aimed toward the field. This being the second time in as many years that his team was accused of cheating, the skipper tried to deflect the accusations by pointing out that the New York Mets were sporting the best home record in the National League while at the same time having one of the worst road records and that they had to be cheating.

Not much has changed since then as the Mets lead the Majors with 22 home wins including 18 of the last 22 and currently boast 8 consecutive wins at home after sweeping the Florida Marlins this past weekend. Unfortunately the Amazin’s are still only 8-18 on the road and just can’t seem to figure it out. This fact certainly lends credence to Manuel’s soundbyte but I believe the answer is much simpler. The vast dimensions of Citi Field are finally paying dividends.

Last season many Mets fans, myself included, bemoaned the cavernous dimensions of Citi Field that seemed to take away homeruns left and right (the fact that Daniel Murphy lead the team with a whopping 12 HRs last year should say enough) and really hurt the team offensively. This year the Mets’ homerun totals have certainly improved but what has been more important to the team’s success has been the adaptation of the pitchers to their surroundings.

Mets’ starters have a combined home ERA that is nearly two full runs lower than their combined road ERA. It is difficult to underestimate how effective a pitcher can be when they simply work quickly and throw strikes with such a large park behind them, this is evident in the surprising success of fill-in-turned-full-time starters R.A. Dickey and Hisanori Takahashi who haven’t had to dance around hitters because they don’t have ideal stuff (as a comparison see Oliver Perez, nuff said).

Mix effective pitching with some hot hitting (3B David Wright is 13-25 in his last 7 games while RF Jeff Francoeur is 18-36 during his current 10-game hit streak after a mighty 6-week slump) and the emergence of SP Mike Pelfrey as one of the premier starters in the game (8-1, 2.39 ERA, 1.24 WHIP entering Tuesday) as a compliment to 2-time Cy Young winner Johan Santana and the Mets have a recipe to stay relevant in the playoff race until the end. If the team can figure out how to get it done on the road like they are at home so far this year it could be an exciting summer. For now though it is one game at a time as they host a tough San Diego Padres team this week that boasts an NL West leading 34-23 record.

The One Player Who Will Decide The NBA Finals

One of the best postseason rivalries in the history of sports will be renewed tomorrow night as the Boston Celtics face the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA finals for the 2nd time in 3 years. Two years ago the Celtics handled Kobe Bryant and the Lakers in 6 games lead by their Big 3 of Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. Many analysts feel this series will play out differently than 2 years ago considering the presence of C Andrew Bynum for the Lakers and the emergence of PG Rajon Rondo as one of the best ball-handlers in the game. The rationale behind this thinking is that the stars of two years ago have aged and it will be the supporting players like Bynum and Rondo as well as guys like Tony Allen and Kendrick Perkins for the C’s and Lamar Odom and Jordan Farmar for the Lakers who will decide this series by putting their stars in position to win it at the end.

I think these teams match up well together and both play great defense which is vital to winning in the playoffs. Both teams have uniquely talented athletes with great length (Pau Gasol and Kevin Garnett) as well as veteran shooters with license to let it rip (Derek Fisher and Ray Allen) but I think this series comes down to one man and that man is NOT Kobe Bryant. Bryant is one of the best scorers in league history and will do everything in his power to put the team on his shoulders in his quest for a second consecutive championship but in my mind he might not be the best player on the court. That honor belongs to Celtics forward Paul Pierce if he wants it.

Pierce has been the true heart-and-soul of the Celtics for his entire career and didn’t earn the nickname “The Truth” for nothing. While he has drawn criticism for being absent on the court at times and has had trouble communicating with his teammates (Rondo in particular) he has at times been unstoppable. With a unique combination of size, finesse and jump-shooting Pierce can be impossible to defend if he’s on his game and out of foul trouble. His toughness has been questioned after his wheel-chair stunt from two years ago but people that this is the same man who was stabbed 11 times in a Boston nightclub while allegedly trying to break up a fight. In the finals two years ago it was Pierce’s terrific play that outshined Bryant and he was almost single-handedly responsible for swinging the series in Boston’s favor.

In researching for this post I came across how Pierce earned his nickname. It was from Shaquille O’Neal and I think nobody can sum up how good Paul Pierce can be than the Big Aristotle

“My name is Shaquille O'Neal and Paul Pierce is the [expletive] truth. Quote me on that and don't take nothing out. I knew he could play, but I didn't know he could play like this. Paul Pierce is the truth”

Stanley Cup Finals: Down 0-2 Flyers Look For Major Comeback... Again...

 

After the first two games of the Stanley Cup finals the Chicago Blackhawks hold a 2-0 series lead over the Philadelphia Flyers after notching a pair of 1-goal victories at home before the series moves to Philadelphia. The Flyers have been in this position before having surrendered a 3-0 series lead to the Boston Bruins in the second round of the playoffs before staging an historic comeback that included coming back from a 3-0 1st period deficit in game 7. While the Blackhawks hold a commanding lead in the series the games have been hotly contested ending in scores of 6-5 and 2-1 respectively. As expected both offenses have risen to the challenged as evidenced by the 11-goal, back-and-forth barrage in game one. Game 2 played much more like a finals contest with both goaltenders bringing their A-game. The Blackhawks' net-minder Annti-Niemi was able to edge out Flyers goalie Michael Leighton by stopping 32/33 shots he faced (nearly half of which were taken in a furious 3rd period by the Flyers' attack) allowing only a seeing-eye puck to bounce over his shoulder through a screen. Prior to the postseason Niemi had been considered the Blackhawks' weak-link by analysts who didn't believe they had the goaltending to win it all. Niemi is quickley proving just about everyone wrong. 

 

For the Flyers they will need to feed off the energy of the home crowd as the series moves to Philadelphia in a pivotal game 3. Coming back from a 3-0 series deficit once is an historic acheivement and it's far too much to ask them to do it again. The Bruins were suffering from too many injuries that crippled their ability (pun very much intended) to close out the series. Chicago is an entirely different animal. After taking a surprise 2-0 lead over the top-seeded San Jose Sharks in the Western Conference finals on the road they had no trouble shutting the door and completing the 4-game sweep at home. Considering all that tonight's game 3 really is a must-win game for the Flyers, a franchise that has lost their last 6 games in the Stanley Cup Finals (not that anyone on the team had anything to do with 1997 team but still...).

 

In both games 1 and 2 the first period was indicative of the how the rest of the game will play out. In game 1 the 1st period saw 5 goals and the rest of the contest was no differet. Game 2 was a tough, physical battle, literally from the opening faceoff as the Flyers looked to step up their intensity after being criticized for playing two soft in the previous game. Game two remained a scoreless tie after period 1 and it was a see-saw of big hits and terrific goaltending the rest of the way. The Wachovia Center in downtown Philly will be covered in orange and absolutely rocking well before the puck drops tonight at 8 PM. The Flyers have to use that energy to jump on the Blackhawks and Niemi early to take them out of the game before they can get settled. That's a tall order given Chicago's level of talent but if Philadelphia doesn't play their best hockey tonight in every facet of the game than this series could for intents and purposes be over. Regardless this game promises to be exciting no matter what the outcome.

Ubaldo Jimenez is the Truth

Rockies SP Ubaldo Jimenez may be running away with the NL Cy Young race this year, even though it is barely June. In a Memorial Day matchup against his toughest competition, two-time defending Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum of the San Francisco Giants, Jimenez casually hurled 9 shutout innings complete with 9 K’s to secure a 4-0 victory. Entering yesterday Jimenez was one of only 3 MLB pitchers in history to notch 9 wins and have an ERA under 1.00 in their first 10 starts. After yesterday Jimenez earned his 10^th win of the season in 11 starts and lowered his already stellar, league-leading ERA to 0.78 (the record for a season is 1.12 set by Bob Gibson in 1968) and his league-leading WHIP to 0.90. He also leads the Majors is opponent’s batting average limiting opposing hitter to a paltry .178 and has given up a total of 7 runs in more than 80 innings (his 70 K’s to 26 BBs over that span ain’t too shabby either) not to mention the No-Hitter he threw in April against the NL East-leading Atlanta Braves. What makes Jimenez’s stat-sheet all the more impressive is that he has been pitching Coors Field, widely regarded as the most hitter-friendly ballpark in Major League Baseball.

Watching the 6’4” righty pitch yesterday was like watching a master artist compose. Jimenez has a 5-pitch repertoire that is highlighted by a 4-seam fastball  that pushes into the upper 90s. He also has a deadly, hard slider and a change-up that can make a hitter look foolish if he catches him looking for the heater. His 4-seam is complimented by a mid-90s two-seamer and a splitter he uses to change the pace. Jimenez works fast, changes speeds, moves all over the plate and throws strikes. He is at very top of his game and while it’s unfeasible to extrapolate the success he has had over the first two months of the season I have a hard time imagining any pitcher can overtake him for the Cy Young in the National League (unless Roy Halladay of the Philadelphia Phillies can pull another perfect game out of his hat, which I wouldn’t put past him). If you have to opportunity to catch an Ubaldo Jimenez start I suggest you take it, right now he embodies pitching at its finest.