Day Three - 5/6

[11:48] Aaron Rosenberger: somehow, in all of my basketball fandom, i have forgotten how truly awesome melo is
[11:48] Aaron Rosenberger: that motherfucker is cool
[11:48] Aaron Rosenberger: and he's an offensive genius
[11:49] ajrosenberger@gmail.com: dude, its so fascinating how he and Billups are the KEYS to that team but you would have NO IDEA when you watch them play
[11:49] ajrosenberger@gmail.com: and its even more fascinating how they are leaving the team in the hands of JR, KMart and Birdman, and only stepping in when they have to, and those three AREN'T FUCKING THAT UP
[11:49] ajrosenberger@gmail.com: BS: Carmelo is so stealth on this team.
ZC: He really is. Half the time you forget he’s there, then he drops 30 in a quarter
[11:50] ajrosenberger@gmail.com: from shoals liveblog last night
[11:50] ajrosenberger@gmail.com: so true
[11:50] ajrosenberger@gmail.com: and yeah, he's a total offensive genius. he can score in SO MANY WAYS
[11:50] ajrosenberger@gmail.com: the crazy thing is, he's totally the devolutionary Durant (or what durant will be in two years, maybe even next year) and thats totally not a bad thing, its a positive for KD
[11:52] Aaron Rosenberger: right. he's showing the way for durant
[11:52] Aaron Rosenberger: kd needs to absorb all of melo's skills and add his own twist
[11:52] Aaron Rosenberger: it's fucking awesome
[11:53] Aaron Rosenberger: and you're right. my favorite thing about them is how jr is the best player on the floor
[11:53] Aaron Rosenberger: until he's not
[11:53] ajrosenberger@gmail.com: dude exactly. its like he's a little kid. like they just let him do his thing until they see that it may become detrimental to the team, and they take the ball away from him
[11:54] ajrosenberger@gmail.com: "go ahead JR, do your thing, you're the best" "alright, snack time, hand the ball to Chauncey"
[11:54] Aaron Rosenberger: "all done, bad shots"
[11:54] Aaron Rosenberger: go grab some kool aid
[11:54] ajrosenberger@gmail.com: but the biggest key is they somehow corral him before the bad shots start!
[11:54] Aaron Rosenberger: and the cool thing is, jr is completely fine with it
[11:55] Aaron Rosenberger: it's the best use of a crazy wild card since, like, rodman or somethiing
[11:55] ajrosenberger@gmail.com: dude totally. he's completely fine with it because i'm not sure he knows what is going on
[11:56] ajrosenberger@gmail.com: seriously, not nearly enough has been said about how Melo has stepped out of the way and been so self-aware of his skills (or lack of, at times)
[11:57] ajrosenberger@gmail.com: dude was a one-and-done national champ, the second (basically, Darko doesn't count) pick in a loaded draft, he has every right to play the role of selfish, enigmatic, i-get-mine superstar, and yet he hasn't. he's totally grown-ass-man
[11:57] Aaron Rosenberger: totally. did you see the half time interview with him?
[11:57] Aaron Rosenberger: they asked how he felt about the physical play
[11:57] ajrosenberger@gmail.com: damn, i missed that
[11:57] Aaron Rosenberger: he just shrugged and said "it's the playoffs."
[11:58] Aaron Rosenberger: grown-ass man
[11:58] ajrosenberger@gmail.com: dude. that is awesome.
[12:02] ajrosenberger@gmail.com: i mean i watch the Nuggs, and sometimes I think their shots are just falling, and it just happens to be their day, but that has happened SIX OUT OF SEVEN GAMES this playoffs. at some point its just about imposing yourself on the other team
[12:03] ajrosenberger@gmail.com: which is what every winning team has done.
[12:03] Aaron Rosenberger: and the nuggs keep doing it
[12:03] Aaron Rosenberger: they might give the lakers a run
[12:05] ajrosenberger@gmail.com: i know, I mean thats definitely the trendy thing right now, Nuggets-as-Laker-beaters. but I have to keep telling myself that they have only played the Hornets and the Mavs (they still have to go TO dallas), two extremely untalented teams
[12:06] ajrosenberger@gmail.com: and Howard didn't even play last night
[12:06] Aaron Rosenberger: good point
[12:06] Aaron Rosenberger: things might get different real quick when they get to dallas
[12:07] ajrosenberger@gmail.com: totally. but it should be noted that Dirk was NOWHERE to be found in the fourth. and the Mavs needed him, that game wasn't in doubt until there were like 5 minutes left!
[12:07] ajrosenberger@gmail.com: performances like that do not a playoff legend make
[12:08] Aaron Rosenberger: dirk almost makes me sad at this point
[12:08] Aaron Rosenberger: i've never liked him
[12:08] Aaron Rosenberger: but how could a guy that talented be so damn scared all the time?
[12:08] Aaron Rosenberger: it's pathetic
[12:09] ajrosenberger@gmail.com: i know dude. like alright, he was lights out for three quarters, but clearly none of that matters. AT ALL
[12:09] ajrosenberger@gmail.com: it is totally sad dude. realistically, the guy is a scoring savant, seriously, he's more talented than Bird. but for some reason, mentally, he can't close out a game
[12:10] ajrosenberger@gmail.com: he did it ONCE in his career. its the Peyton Manning Corollary
[12:10] Aaron Rosenberger: i think he had problems in his childhood or something
[12:10] Aaron Rosenberger: and he's also afraid of black people
[12:10] ajrosenberger@gmail.com: i mean he must have. this is true, as evidenced by his bromance with Nash
[12:10] ajrosenberger@gmail.com: did they chronicle Dirk in the FD book?
[12:10] ajrosenberger@gmail.com: i forget
[12:10] Aaron Rosenberger: simmons made the point in his column that dirk is scared of thuggish dudes with tattoos (SJax)
[12:10] Aaron Rosenberger: i don't think that they said much about him
[12:11] Aaron Rosenberger: i can't remember for sure
[12:11] ajrosenberger@gmail.com: oh yeah, and that is so true. yeah i don't think so either, i think he was mentioned but he didn't have his own chapter
[12:11] ajrosenberger@gmail.com: did he even have a childhood? wasn't he created in a lab and came out as an 18 year old who could play basketball?
[12:13] Aaron Rosenberger: i think he's the result of a crazy nazi experiment
[12:13] Aaron Rosenberger: and it failed because you gotta have soul to play hoops
[12:13] Aaron Rosenberger: they didn't give him one
[12:15] ajrosenberger@gmail.com: i think you're right. they forgot that in between the Spin-Move and Fadeaway chapter of the hoops bible is the chapter that includes Earl the Pearl, NWA, and Bernard King
[12:15] Aaron Rosenberger: unfortunately for them, NWA lose much of their impact in translation
[12:18] ajrosenberger@gmail.com: exactly. and when he came to that on his own, he got scared and ran
[12:18] ajrosenberger@gmail.com: rather than looking beyond, cranking up the speakers, and waking up to "Today was a Good Day"
[12:19] Aaron Rosenberger: he put on some hasselhoff instead
[12:19] Aaron Rosenberger: bad mov
[12:19] Aaron Rosenberger: e
[12:19] ajrosenberger@gmail.com: oh god. i think we just solved the problem of Dirk Nowitzki
[12:21] ajrosenberger@gmail.com: am I the only one who feels that this round is soul-less, save for the Lakers-Rockets series
[12:21] ajrosenberger@gmail.com: Lakers-Rockets is epic, and has storylines. but even if the Mavs were to come back and make it a series, even if they WON, I still wouldn't care! they are a soulless team
[12:21] ajrosenberger@gmail.com: same for the Magic
[12:21] ajrosenberger@gmail.com: if the Magic win that will be so bad for the NBA its not even funny
[12:21] ajrosenberger@gmail.com: i don't care how banged up they are, the league NEEDS Cavs-Celtics
[12:21] ajrosenberger@gmail.com: pierce-lebron
[12:22] ajrosenberger@gmail.com: Joe Johnson admitted to being tired yesterday. is there even a reason to play that series? that matchup totally sucks
[12:23] Aaron Rosenberger: the hawks are dead to me
[12:23] ajrosenberger@gmail.com: the hawks-celtics series woudl have been awesome, the hawks would have definitely got up for it. and the magic would have provided a worthy tune-up for the Cavs. but we get deprived of that
[12:23] ajrosenberger@gmail.com: i mean can you blame them? is there any thing worth playing for??
[12:23] Aaron Rosenberger: what a disappointment they are
[12:23] ajrosenberger@gmail.com: well yeah, in the first round definitely
[12:23] Aaron Rosenberger: and the magic play in orlando
[12:23] Aaron Rosenberger: nuff said
[12:24] Aaron Rosenberger: orlando might be the number one city in america that needs to be contracted
[12:24] ajrosenberger@gmail.com: dude totally. place serves NO purpose
[12:24] ajrosenberger@gmail.com: if detroit dies and orlando survives that will be the tragedy to end all tragedies
[12:25] ajrosenberger@gmail.com: seriously, Detroit: Marvin Gaye, Temptations, Supremes
[12:25] ajrosenberger@gmail.com: Orlando: NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, Lou Pearlman
[12:25] ajrosenberger@gmail.com: its like the bizarro motown
[12:25] ajrosenberger@gmail.com: the NSYNC as the jackson five and Lou as Joe Jackson
[12:26] Aaron Rosenberger: i don't even know how to respond to that
[12:26] Aaron Rosenberger: totally blowing my mind
[12:27] ajrosenberger@gmail.com: its just making me sad
[12:28] ajrosenberger@gmail.com: i'm definitely sitting out the rest of the Cavs series, and the celts until game seven, if there is one
[12:28] Aaron Rosenberger: agreed. i'll just check lebron's highlights
[12:28] Aaron Rosenberger: i'm riding for the west right now
[12:29] Aaron Rosenberger: which sucks because i'm fucking tired
[12:29] ajrosenberger@gmail.com: dude i know. I'm on the east coast, I didnt go to bed til 2 last night