The Cavs have made a trade sending J.J. Hickson to the Sacramento Kings for Omri Casspi and a first round lottery protected draft pick (which means if the Kings pick is in the top 14 the Cavs can’t use it). I love this deal for both teams. The Cavs acquire a player to play on the wing, and he gives them a guy who can shoot and can at least put the ball on the floor and be a threat to create his own shot. The draft pick gives them another asset to have in their pocket. The Kings get Hickson, someone to play with DeMarcus Cousins and give him some competition at the power forward spot. Which I think will be good for Cousins, and Hickson, they both will be in a position where they can lose minutes to one another which should breed competition and should make them both better players. Not often do you see trades that look on paper will make both teams better. But this is one that has seemed to do that.
New Cavalier Omri Casspi will join the Cavs J.J. Hickson will be moving west to Sacramento
along with a future 1st round pick Kings to team up with Tyreke Evans
Ron Artest recently filed papers to officially change his name to Metta World Peace and as usual the media has tons to say about it. Some said it was just Ron Ron being Ron; he was doing it as a grab for attention, while others believed he was sincere about in his actions and saw it as a symbolic gesture. My take on it is why should I care. He didn’t change his name to anything offensive like “I’ll Kill You”. I don’t get the big deal and why it’s necessary to take shots at a guy who outside of a couple of years during his career has been pretty much a good dude. Yes the malice at the palace will be something that will always follow him but it should be a chapter of his life, not his whole book. He won the Citizenship Award last season, which should have been proof that Ron isn’t crazy or odd but a guy that had a mistake or two in his past. People have criticized Ron for having a reality show during the off season saying he’s not focused 100% on basketball. Do you lob these same criticisms at Steve Nash or other players who have other interests? Ron gets a bad rap, since people won’t let go of his past they don’t give him a fair shot in the future. While others search for ways to hate on him he’ll be content on meeting a guy named World Peace.
Take a listen as I talk about how LeBron comes up short once again in the playoffs and debut his new theme song.
You know that lion head that’s on LeBron’s shoe…can we petition that we change it to something more along the lines of let’s say a mountain lion. Maybe a mere cat? I mean we don’t have to paint Garfield on his shoes, but we can’t allow him to have a strong symbol of a lion on his shoe when he keeps playing like a house cat in big moments, just saying, think about it.
Dwight Howard please be quiet. Have you learned nothing from LeBron? If you don’t want to stay in Orlando that’s fine, but stop being so wishy washy about it. No one would be mad at you for leaving a team with an ailing Gilbert Arenas, aging Hedo Turkoglu and coach that looks like a porn star. It’s ok. But you can’t keep playing both sides against the middle and if you receive flack for how you leave, it won’t be the media’s fault, not the fans but yours. No one can or should begrudge you for taking advantage of being a free agent but don’t rub the fans faces in it or taunt the media like it’s theirs for pointing out the different scenarios. Just let the management know your intention and say to the media that you’d like to explore your options. Really who could get mad at you? If you are a true Superman don’t go out like he did in the comic book. Don’t let free agency be your doomsday. Realize what your kryptonite is and stop playing this out to the media so much. Just have your fun and let the fans enjoy you while you’re there. Or else people like me will be writing stories similar to Lois Lane.
Congrats to the Dallas Mavericks they took down the big bad wolf in the Miami Heat to win the 2001 NBA title. Dirk who has played like a beast the entire playoffs has finally gotten the credit he deserves and him, Jason Kidd and Jason Terry will all get rings they not deserve but have earned. They swept the Lakers, and then took care of the Thunder who many were trying to crown as the heir to throne of the Western Conference, the Mavericks essentially became the forgotten team even though they were in contention for the #2 seed going into the last week of the season. Even through injuries to Caron Butlers’ knee and then Dirks finger the Mavs persevered and prevailed. Now that the Mavericks have won we can get off of Dirks’ back. Though his game has finesse, he’s not soft. He showed that he alone could carry a team in the stat sheet scoring a total 62 points in all the 4th quarters combined and then in the locker room. He called out Jason Terry which prompted him to call out LeBron, which was the jump start the Mavs needed. Dirk in these playoffs showed that you don’t need a big three after all to win not 4, not 3, not 2 but 1 championship. And since Mark Cuban is looking for ideas on what to buy his team to celebrate their championship, how about going old school WWF Ted DiBiase Mr. Million Dollar Man belt style with diamond encrusted Larry O’Brien trophies. Or Jay-Z, Dame Dash Roca-fella chain style and have the Larry O’Brien trophy pendant on a platinum chain. That would definitely be a new look.
I’ve talked to my crack staff, and I’ve compiled a top 5 list of the baddest black actresses over 40. This list has absolutely nothing to do with acting, completely based on looks. The only criteria was the actress had to be 40 at the time of writing. So before you start emailing about where’s Jada Pinkett and Sanaa Lathan on the list, they don’t turn 40 unitll later in the year. But for the record they Would’ve been in the top ten.
5 Taraji P Henson
The first time I saw Taraji was in Baby Boy and for those that have seen the movie will understand in part why she’s on the list. Though she has made it big she has a low key feel that makes her relatable. Academy Award nominated and hood approved
4 Halle Berry
Halle Berry is a legend as far as looks go. Everybody I asked had her in their top 5. From Strictly Business to Monster’s Ball, she’s always caught the eye of anyone with a pulse. We can excuse the mishaps of B.A.P.S. because she gave us the pleasure of Catwoman.
3 Stacey Dash
Many people credit Clueless with being her big break, but forget that she was in the movie Mo’ Money. Always fly and cute, even check her out in the Kanye West All Falls Down video that kind of reintroduced her to the mainstream.
2 Vanessa Williams
This may be the most argued of the top 5 but she’s been fine since forever. Let’s not forget that she won Miss America in 1984. Even in the movie Soul Food she just has “the look “. She can serenade you while still maintain her sexy. It could be argued that she has gotten better as she’s gotten older. But I’ll argue she belongs here with anyone
Winner the of Caramel Butterscotch Smooth Award
1 Garcelle Beauvais
Fine, dime, bad whatever saying you want to use with Garcelle is cool. Most known for her role as Fancy on the Jamie Foxx show but she’s been in the acting game since 1984. And she’s looked good from the jump and has gotten sexier as she’s gotten older. You can argue anyone else you want, but you’ll lose
The Best of the Rest.
Regina King
Check out Enemy of the State and This Christmas and you may see a side of Regina that you didn’t know was there
Angela Basset
Timeless. Strong and sexy is what keeps guys cutting their eyes her way.
Nia Long
Love Jones, The Best Man, Soul Food and Held Up. All of these roles she plays she’s consistently hot and sexy with class.
LisaRaye
Two Words: Players Club
Pam Grier
Iconic, show me someone that doesn’t like her and I’ll show you a liar.
Ever since LeBron decided to take his talents to Miami there’s been much debate about whose team it was. I debate this with a friend of mine all the time. He says it’s LeBron’s team, he’s too good, too much personality for it not to be his. And I always respond with, Wade has tenure, and leadership that allows him to welcome another superstar onto his team. Well 11 months later I’ve changed my opinion. It’s not Wade’s team. However, that doesn’t mean it is LeBron’s team either. Honestly these playoffs have shown that the team belongs to both of them. Many people have chosen the co-ceo analogy to explain how this partnership would not work. But let’s look at another way. Think about parenting, mom and dad have a child; does anybody ever argue whose child it is? When a couple buys a home does anyone really know whose house it is? No, and outside of those two people it doesn’t really matter what the outside world thinks. LeBron and Wade have figured out a way to share the spotlight, locker room and the basketball and are within 2 games of winning their first finals together. So while we debate and argue whose team it is, they’ll be content winning games while understanding that no one can do it alone.
Mark Jackson was named as the new coach of the Golden State Warriors, leaving his analyst chair to stand for the better part of 48 minutes. Though with no coaching experience I believe Jackson will do ok. Not great, not bad, but well enough to warrant a second chance in the event things don’t work out in Golden State. Jackson will have his work cut out for him though, inheriting a roster with two deadly scorers in Monte Ellis and Stephen Curry and a lot of in between players, I don’t see this team having much success in the west. The biggest challenge for Mark will be getting the team to play defense better than they play it now…which is very bad. However, Jackson will be great for Ellis and Curry. The wisdom he can share from them will be invaluable and will definitely help them in their development. So with taking his catch phrase mama there goes that man, I wonder if he’ll break out the shimmy on the sideline too.
In their last ten games the Indians have only won three games and with their loss on Saturday they have lost the last 2 out of three series. Granted both to good teams the Rays and the Rangers, however there are a few things that are troubling. The Tribe’s offense has gone ghost like Patrick Swayze and the only player providing any real threat has been Asdrubal Cabrera. Now I understand with Travis Hafner out you do lose some of the protection you would have, but the one thing this team has been great at during their winning streaks has been team efforts. And just as equally during this losing patch they have struggled offensively as a team. They’ve only scored 40 runs in their last ten games while giving up 80. That by no means is a formula for success. And in seven of those games they scored 2 runs or less and they lost all seven. We could whine and moan about the pitching not being up to par but when you aren’t putting up any runs you don’t leave yourself with any cushion for error. They now hold only a 3.5 game lead over the Tigers and if they’re not careful they could give the Whitesox some hope that they can make their way back into the divisional race. So what’s my solution; forget that the last ten games even happened. Starting from today is a new streak. If they can get a win against the Rangers they’ll end their current losing streak. Then you have Bradley and Sizemore both in the line and bat Sizemore in the bottom half of the order. Next, move Choo around so he can work out of his slump. Sometimes batting in a different spot gives you a different look and could be the spark that gets him on track. Though I’m playing manager I have total confidence in Many Acta, he’s guided this team this far, so I’m willing to wait and see what he does to bring them out of this rough patch.
Jb Smooth's Spot 