- OCD Hoops -

27.5 ppg    Dale Ellis .   After some introspective thinking and some follow up research to conclude my gut feeling about how solid and consistent the wiry and clutch 6'7" Ellis truly became an elite Shooting Guard in Seattle and he's rarely mentioned with the greats. Athleticism wasn't his strong suit but he became a solid team defender and smart overall player and scorer. We've all heard about the old timers and history books. In New age hoops there are rare times where they simply don't discuss certain players or teams as much as others. Back before social media it was up to ESPN and the newspaper sports section.  But when someone asks"rank your top 5 or 10 shooting guards ever" or just "top SG NBA players over the years. While he's not Michael Jordan he definitely should be discussed more as a player of history. Dale Ellis was drafted to the Mavericks abd spent his first 3 years as a 6th man type of role producing some points off the benc...

Alright, I haven't been writing or blogging much about the NBA much in the past year... well I'm back, stronger than ever and with a mission!  Anyhow, this 2015 off-season has been quite unpredictable to some degree, and with all the great player movement this summer it seems as if the upcoming season might be one of the most competitive ones in years, possibly ever. Aside from the Philadelphia 76'ers (whom have a bright future), I can't say there is any other team that is a standout "awful 20 win max team".  League parity, as Adam Silver and the Collective Bargaining Agreement signed to end the strike a few years back has now been fully implemented, and it appears to be working flawlessly.  No longer do the big markets own free agency like they once did, no longer do owners have teams in small markets with tiny caps (actually they have to have 85% of the cap on players otherwise they will be in trouble after one season). This has all resulted in a cou...

Buy One Month, Get One FREE! I keep getting brand new games, I love it so far, as you can rent Xbox One and PS4 games as well as 360 and PS3, Wii and WiiU, and now they also do BLU-RAYS and DVD rentals.  Having a 1 game package is where to start, but if you like to game and try different games (rather than risk buying a bad game) Gamefly is a great company, and with 2 discs out at a time I always have a game (or Blu Ray, though I stick with One games so far mostly).   I had Sleeping Dogs in my Game Q on the site and happened to start my account the day it came out for sale.  I had it the next day from Gamefly in the mail, and could "Keep" it for $50 bucks ($60 most brand new games), which is a nice way to get your new games cheaper.  You also earn points and status with Gamefly the longer you are with them as well as the points accumulated from either "Keeping" rented games or "Buying" games from them at a 10%+ discount always.   I've had...

The title of the post is something one could never of typed or said for maybe the entire history of the NBA. Even in their past down years they were always being overrated and talked about like they were a top contender. Sure, they still are the Lakers and are still always a subject that matters, just like the Celtics, but this recent Clipper climb has taken LA by storm, and in the past 3 years the amount of fake Laker fans becoming Clipper fans is impossible to count. The Clippers deserve credit, trading for coach Doc Rivers, one of a few coaches that commands his team and get's respect (he's right behind Poppovich with coaches like Thibs or Vogul). After a frustrating 2013-2014 season, one in which we saw Kobe play 6 total games only to go back to surgery and rehabbing his body for this upcoming season and the last 2 years of his new contract (and possibly last 2 years of his career). With Steve Nash also hurt most all the season and not playing at any level near the Nas...

During the start of the second round of this past years NBA Draft, I kept hoping the Lakers would buy a draft pick in that 40-50 range quite badly because of how truly deep and talented this draft class was projected to be. Last year I believe I turned off the draft after the end of the 20th pick as a result of such a poor draft class.  The only rookies worth mentioning are Michael Carter Williams, Victor Oladipo, Trey Burke and Kelly Ollnyk, and none of them were extremely special last year. I'm not trying to hate, I do think MCW and Oladipo have great potential, and other guys like Tim Hardaway Jr and KC Pope are solid role players with potential, but they were to far and in between. MCW's Rookie of the Year stat line was also quite inflated and not a true representation of how good he really is, as we can take Evan Turner for example who was 18ppg, 7rpg, 4apg, 1spg, 47%FG with the Sixers for 50+games looking like an All-Star on the highest paced team in the NBA; then he wa...

Sure, most of the current NBA focus is on the NBA's conference finals currently going on.  But after tonight, it appears I am looking smart as the Heat  went up 3 games to 1 on the Pacers, while the Spurs should be in the NBA Finals like I predicted, OKC does have Ibaka back and finally won a game to make that series 2-1 in favor of the Spurs. Predicting the OKC/SAS Western Final and the IND/MIA Eastern Final matchup makes me proud too, though I did think for an article or so the Wizards would take out the Pacers....  The Indiana Pacers are definitely a top 5 NBA team, maybe better, maybe worse.  Roy Hibbert's inconsistencies have really caused them issues, while they also are lacking with George Hill as their starting Point Guard.  He's a nice all around player combo guard, but in my opinion is best served as the 6th man role, like he was on the Spurs.  But the Pacers are built strong with depth and great defense (well, in the regular season), and...

Shaun Livingston isn't a household name by any stretch of the imagination.  Some NBA fans may of never heard of him until this season, or better yet till this Nets and Heat series that has Shaun in the Nets starting line-up.  He's truly resurrected his career with the Nets, being able to play PG, SG, and SF with his 6'7'' wiry frame, and an ability to create for himself or others. If you are newer to the NBA as a whole you might not know what or who he really is. If you are a big-time fan for me I think it's time we start to give this guy a ton of credit and respect. For those that stumbled upon this, it's simply a feel good story of great work ethic and not letting rejection or failure stand in your way. Shaun Livingston has been a man determined since he was born. Man of Steel, I think that's his new nickname... or Sneaky Shaun Shakin.... hah.... In the playoffs the Nets beat the Heat in Game 3 of the series, giving them a real fighters chance to...

I'm not sure any mother of any player in the NBA feels as appreciated as Kevin Durant's, after he basically broke down crying dedicating his NBA MVP Award and trophy to his mother during the ceremony and speech.  Yes, she was crying as well.  What a humble, great kid Durant is, a true role model in the NBA who is the exact opposite of almost everything Mr. Lebron James stands for ("I want to be the first billionaire basketball player") . Kevin Durant seems like he almost took away attention from himself in this years playoffs so far by deferring to his mom in the speech.  He's easily been the best NBA player in the playoffs as well, being up 2-1 to the Clippers in round 2 of the playoffs.  He's been putting up great numbers and is shooting the ball like the stud he is, yet there hasn't been enough media and discussion about it.  Maybe it's because he does have a very humble, shy personality, one in which will never "test" Lebron James a...

There are 8 NBA teams and 4 semi-final playoff series at this point.  With so many series going 7 games in the opening round (*record setting amount of first round game 7's), there was little to no rest for every single team (Heat had a week off, Wizards too). The NBA Playoffs can be so exciting yet quite interesting too... often giving us insight into the future's of each team, good or bad.  Look at the difference between the imploding number 1 seed Pacers barely beating a mediocre Atlanta team in 7 games and the under-appreciated Wizards healthy with Nene grooving and dominating the Bulls.  It's pretty telling of what's to come in their series. Anyway, let's take a look at each matchup and see what's likely to happen.... EASTERN CONFERENCE: #2 Miami Heat vs #5 Brooklyn Nets While the Miami Heat had a nice week off and easy 4 game series, the rest of the NBA teams in the playoffs were battling it out every other day, including the New Jersey Nets. Thi...

I just wanted to make a quick post, regarding the infamous San Antonio Spurs.  Each and ever year, since 2007, it seems that we overlook them and use the "age" thing as an excuse for them to fall. While none of us can predict the future or how a star will age, it seems we've always been somewhat skeptical and negative to the Spurs.  Especially to Tim Duncan. Timmy has had an amazing season, playing just around 30 minutes a night and filling it up as if he's gotten better somehow.  To think he would somehow fall off the basketball planet at the age of 32 (back when we all felt they were done) shows how much of the NBA fan base is from bigger markets.  Tim Duncan is a first ballot Hall of Famer.  He came into the NBA as an All-Star caliber player, able to put up 20 points, 10 rebounds, and block tons of shots.  He's done so for well over a decade, and this season at 16 points, 10 rebounds, 2 blocks a game he is still as efficient and effective as ever.  ...