4th quarter - Orlando/Detriot

As noted in my previous post, I really, reallly, reallllllllllly, hate detriot. For a number of reasons, which can most aptly be summarized by their eerie similarities to that annoying pickup basketball player. This hatred was only worsened when I came across some of Detriot’s attempt at smack talk.

Bad Blood between Magic and Pistons

(7:13 - OH MY GOODNESS - Huge Follow up dunk by Dwight Howard)

Ratliff said Maxiell didn’t need the assistance.

“There’s no sense in guys coming to my rescue,” Ratliff said Sunday. “I mean, that was Rashard Lewis. He’s a 3 man.”

Ohhh…sh*^….ohhh sh^%….no he didn’t. He called Rashard Lewis a 3 man. His actual basketball position on the court. How demeaning. No you didn’t Ratliff. Ohhh no you didn’t Ratliff. Don’t you be calling a man out on his street cred. (YEEEEEEEEEEEEEES….STREET CRED RETURNS)

What Ratliff said was relayed to Lewis and the small forward fired back.

“You can have a lot of energy in five minutes a game,” Lewis said. “What’s he played? 15 games? Tell him to come out and guard me.”

That’s right Lewis - Ratliff wants to question your street cred, you besta respond. He ain’t gonna get away with that garbage. Not exactly the most intimidating response, I mean, I probably would have said something like this:

That b%@%& wanna talk s$%# about me…well tell him to come inside…ill straight up busta cap in that boys @$$. Maaaaaaaaaaaan….sh*#^(#&$& (sweet = inside joke!)

but…i’ll settle for …”tell him to come out and guard me”

“Dwight is an imposing player, but we’ve played against some of the Hall of Famers so it’s not really something we worry about,” Ratliff said.

Now that’s just dumb. Dwight’s seems to be one of the nicest guys in the league - making him mad doesn’t seem like the greatest idea. And I think I’d bet on Dwight Howard being a hall of famer. And I don’t think I’m going out on a limb when I say that.

“He’s has a very strong upper body,” Maxiell said. “But if you get down low and take his legs out, he’s not that powerful.”

Howard bristled at the suggestion that his lower body is weak.

“That’s not true,” Howard said. “Trust me.”

Errr…that’s kinda weird. Maxiell judging Howard’s lower body…weird…weird.

(Note - We Talkin’ about practice welcomes all readers, and we mean…all readers).

“They’re a finesse team,” Ratliff said. “They’re a 3-point shooting team.”

Like Howard, Orlando point guard Jameer Nelson took exception with Ratliff’s assessment.

“Who? Who?” Nelson asked mockingly when Ratliff’s comments were repeated by reporters. “I’m getting sick and tired of people calling us soft.”

I am starting to get worried = if you’re the magic, you cannot allow someone to call out your street cred. Everyone knows that the way you win basketball games is by street cred. Hustle plays, rebounds, steals = irrelevant. Useless. Now intimidation, trash talking - those are the things that win games. Street Cred matters.

Back to live blog:

3:20 - “Big Shot Billups” manages to gain 2 free throw attempts. Big Shot Billups is really not a moniker (hope I used that correctly) that Chauncey deserves - has he done anything recent to earn that? (Prolly - but don’t answer that).

1:28 - HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE turnover by Rashard Lewis, the guy the Magic overpaid for by about $70 million. Fact. The Sonics offered Rashard Lewis about $60 million. So the Magic, wanting Rashard Lewis, decide to exceed their offer. Reasonable decision, I can understand that. The Magic then promptly offer Rashard Lewis $119 million; towards the later years of his contract, Lewis will make more than Kobe Bryant. ummmmm…great.

1:03 - Great tipup by D-HO; that’s what happens when you question his street cred, man. 22 points and 17 rebs so far. Follows that up with a great block on “Mr. Big Shot.”

48.9 - Wow, Hedo missed that horribly, like I do about 80% of the time in pickup games. Not to worry, “Big Shot Billups” promptly screwed up the next play. Great job, greeeeeaaat job.

11.7 - Meh. Magic blew their opportunity there. Not to worry - the built in excuse for this game is the 3 that “Big Shot Billups” was credited with at the end of the 3rd quarter; the clock hadn’t started but he was still credited with a 3. Damnit…then an offball “foul” = Masked Man (isn’t that weird? Does the dude know that his nose isn’t broken?) tripped, and the zebras rewarded Detroit.

In Conclusion: Garbage.