Eight-Second Violation: Friday, December 12, 2008

Written by Zach Harper | 12 December 2008

Cuttino Mobley has to retire due to heart condition
By Zach Harper

There have been plenty of high profile and professional athletes that have suffered from heart conditions. It took the lives of Hank Gathers and Reggie Lewis. It threatened the careers of Etan Thomas and Ronny Turiaf. And it kept guys like Tim Thomas, Eddy Curry, and possibly Rudy Gay from realizing their potential (but that has to do with another context for the word heart). And now it has taken the career of another player - Cuttino Mobley. Mobley was never an All-Star player. But he did average 16 points over his 11-year career and make 1085 threes. Other than his short stint with Orlando, Mobley seemed to be one of the fan favorites in whichever city he played for and had the height of his popularity with the Sacramento Kings from the better part of 2005.

Cuttino Mobley also gave the world two very great things. 1) His nickname was the Cat and the phrase, "Cat Don't Care" became synonymous with quite a few people when a "heat-check" or hasty three-pointer was hoisted with way too much time left on the shot clock. It's still a regular saying at the Talkhoops.net HQ when we're playing any version of NBA 2K. 2) He partnered (literally) with Steve Francis to form the most platonically awkward "friendship" of all time. It was perfectly chronicled in an ESPN the Magazine article years ago by Rachel Nichols.

For those two reasons alone, I will miss Mobley. It's a shame that he is retiring on terms other than his own or Steve Francis'.

How about all of them?
By Zach Harper

With just three games on the schedule, I thought I'd give a brief synopsis of all three. Surprisingly enough, the best game didn't come from the TNT broadcasts. It's needless to say that TNT Thursdays are no longer interesting to watch and are getting abused by the Tuesday night's on NBA TV. And the first game on TNT Thursday's are always blowouts. It's very frustrating now.

Celtics 122, Wizards 88- This game was over last off-season. The Celtics put up a championship effort fight and I'm not sure that the Wizards had enough effort or talent to beat my rec league team. Watching this game gave you examples on how to be a title contending team and how not to be a title contending team. Just ask Ed Tapscott to clarifiy which team did each one. Now at 21-2, the Celtics are off to their best start in franchise history.

Mavericks 95, Bobcats 90- Amazingly, this was the best game of the night. The Bobcats without Jason Richardson, Boris Diaw, Raja Bell, and the much-wanted Sean Singletary put up an excellent fight behind Emeka Okafor's effort. He scored 17 points and had 11 rebounds in the first half but the Bobs couldn't overcome Jason Terry's 26 points from the pine. I project and proclaim that the Bobcats won't be able to average over 85 points per game over the rest of the season (currently at 89.9). Well, it's Bobs 1, me 0 after last night's game but I suspect that was just a fluke. The Mavericks have never lost to the Bobcats since their ~~failed abortion~~ inception into the league 5 years ago. They have run their record against the felines to 10-0.

Jazz 97, Blazers 88- This should have been the game of the night but the Portland bench was terrible and their was simply too much Mehmet Okur in the first half of the game. The Blazers made their runs throughout the game to make it close at times and keep it within striking difference but the Jazz never truly were threatened. Deron Williams shooting woes continue with a 5-16 performance but he did keep the Jazz offense flowing and ended up with 11 assists.

New Orleans Hornets (12-6) at Boston Celtics (21-2) 5:00pm PST ESPN
By Brandon Gallawa

So I took the easy way out and actually picked what would appear to be the actual best game of the night. Normally I welcome the challenge of previewing a game that doesn't seem like the best of the night, but this one is shouting out to be previewed. This (along with Monday's game against Utah) is the best chance we'll have to see Boston lose this month before the Christmas game against the Lakers. New Orleans needs to win against a top team, and this would serve as a huge statement. Let's break down the combatants.

The Hornets are in the midst of a three-game winning streak and have won seven of their last eight since the embarrassing loss to Sacramento in mid-November. They have a new focus and players besides Chris Paul are actually contributing on a nightly basis. David West and Peja Stojakovic are finally playing like the supposed All-Stars they are. Peja is averaging 20 PPG on 54% from the field and has made 15 of 22 three-pointers in the month of December. It's refreshing that we are actually seeing Peja Heads again when they were few and far between in the early season. Oh and Chris Paul is still pretty good. I'm also making a referendum to his earlier nickname CP3 is so uninspired. Let's start calling him Christ Paul.

As for the Celtics, they just continue to win games and play staggering defense. They've ripped off 13 in a row and show no signs of slowing down. Ray Allen is looking like Ray Allen from 3 years ago. He is averaging 26.5 PPG this month and has hit two-thirds as many threes in the first 5 games of the month as he had hit in the previous 18 games. Kevin Garnett continues to be himself getting in guys heads and screaming his lungs out every night. Paul Pierce has fallen into the background as of late, and the Celtics continue to win because players like Rajon Rondo, Tony Allen and Kendrick Perkins have filled the void.

One other storyline to keep an eye on is the return of James Posey and how fans and ex-teammates react. I'm sure Posey will be presented his championship ring tonight since he is in town, and the fans should give him an ovation for the contributions to last year's championship team. But I can guarantee that some out-of-touch Celtics' fan(s) will be booing him for taking more money in another town.

Key Match-Up: Peja Stojakovic versus Ray Allen
I'm going to be watching this game for many reasons including but not limited to the intensity of KG and Christ Paul, Andy's Paul Pierce impersonations, Perkins' lack of an upper lip, the Hornets with a bearded Oprah Winfrey on their roster, how Antonio Daniels will fit into the Hornets' rotation, if KG can drive Tyson Chandler to tears, and many other storylines. The real reason I'm interested in this game is the match-up of two of the best pure shooters of the past 10 years. Whichever player hits more threes may very well determine which team wins. In fact that is how it played out last week when the Cynic and I matched up with these two teams, and Peja was just way too much for him.
Prediction: Andy isn't controlling them, so the Celtics win it.

How about you get caught up in some Great Podcasts?
By Zach Harper

There were three insanely brilliant podcasts that I have listened to this week that really make you enjoy where new media is going and the avenues for conversation and information that have opened up. Many people like Buzz Bissinger will continue to hate that new-fangled media and never understand what these kids on the internets are up to. However, for the rest of us with an open mind and a sense of security with our place in this digital world, it's easy to listen to these podcasts, take them for what they're worth and give you inspiration on where to take your own recorded efforts.

BS Report - from 12/10, Bill Simmons interviews NBA Commissioner David Stern
Say what you want about Bill Simmons, his voice, and his homerism with how he covers sports but the guy is an enjoyable interviewer to listen to. He time and again makes an interview with an interesting media/sports figure or even his friends from college into a casual conversation that is not only insightful but also extremely entertaining. In this podcast with David Stern, Bill asks the commish (not Michael Chiklis) about his 25th anniversary as the NBA commissioner, the debacle in Seattle, and his favorite and least favorite owners/teams/moments in his time with the NBA. While it was a great interview and definitely an enticing hour, I am disappointed that Simmons rolled over when discussing the Seattle situation. Stern gives a very strong argument and reason for why the outcome ended up the way it did, but for someone like Bill to hammer home this issue and be such a outspoken (out-typed?) voice against the team being taken from Seattle to OKC, it's discouraging that he could just give up the fight when he has a chance to really take it to the commissioner here. Still definitely worth your time and hearing.

The Blowtorch Presents - from 12/11, Goathair and Kelly Dwyer join forces
Even though Kelly Dwyer doesn't take Power Rankings seriously, which angers fans to no end, he still is one of the more educated and interesting basketball opinionists that is currently ruling the internets. He's decided to be the cohost for an undetermined period of time with the man I like to call "Goat" to discuss every single British musical artist of all-time and mix in some NBA talk whenever they forget where the conversation is going. It's too very entertaining basketball pundits that deserve your attention for 45 minutes.

On the DL - from 12/07, Dan Levy talks to Chuck Norris
Dan Levy was first brought to my attention when he had J.E. Skeets from TBJ and BDL and some other combination of consonants fame. It was a truly great interview that felt like you were sitting down with two friends, talking about life. Then he was kind enough to find out what I was thankful for as he went around the blogosphere and discussed Thanksgiving with much more prominent media figures than myself. If Bill Simmons is the best podcast interviewer in the podcasting world, then Dan Levy is a close second. Well, it all came to a zenith this week when he interview THE Chuck Norris. It's a quick 20-minute interview but it's action packed with great political speak and a lot of choke hold references by the great Delta Force. Definitely give it a listen and subscribe to all of these podcasts on iTunes.

And in case you missed it from Tuesday -- J.E. Skeets talks to a Shark about basketball.

"You saw the best team in the league. And in case you weren't watching, it wasn't us. It was them." -- Ed Tapscott after the Wizards lost to the Celtics by 34.

I'm glad that Taps clarified that the Wizards were not the best team in the league and the Celtics are. Sometimes you can look at a 4-16 record that has a 3-9 record at home, a 1-7 record on the road and is giving up 103.5 points per game and start to see everything coming together. Sometimes you can see that it would take a month of near perfect ball just to get a team to .500 and think that said team is right where they want to be. But then again, not everybody has the insight and the expertise of Ed Tapscott.

By Zach Harper

Top 3 of the Night
1. Mehmet Okur - 27 pts, 10 rebs, 3 asts
Okur dominated the frontcourt of the Portland Trailblazers and scored 21 of his 27 points in the first half to give the Jazz a double digit lead. He exposed the Blazers frontcourt and their inability to guard the perimeter.
2. Brandon Roy - 33 pts, 8 rebs, 12-22 fg
Brandon Roy is becoming the best pure scorer in the game. He finds easy ways to score. He makes tough shots. He creates great positions for himself to get scores. I'm developing quite the fan-crush on Roy.
3. Paul Pierce - 22 pts, 8 asts, 6 rebs, 12-12 ft
I can't figure out why he played as many as 35 minutes. This game was well in hand for the Celtics just before the opening tip. But he flat out produced numbers and even added a block and two steals to give him a great fantasy basketball night.

Bottom 3 of the Night
1. Washington Wizards- 88 pts, 22 tos, 26 rebs
This is absolutely the second worst team in the NBA. Last season, they gave the Celtics fits. This season, they layed down instantly in the first quarter and embarrassed their organization. But I'm sure when Gilbert Arenas and his dead leg come back the situation will be fixed.
2. D.J. Augustin - 9 pts, 10 asts, 3-16 fg
The rookie did a nice job of distributing with his shot being off but he couldn't get into a rhythm offensively and his bad shooting helped bury this team in a close game. If he had a decent night of shooting, they upset the Mavericks.
3. Travis Outlaw - 0 pts, 0-4 fg, 0-3 3fg, 14 mins
If you're a legit NBA player, you should never go scoreless in 14 minutes of play, especially when you're a solid scoring option for your bench. Outlaw needs to be better than that and find a way to help his team.