Grey Matter

Time to put the brakes on Bynum's bandwagon

2007-12-28T11:46:00.000-05:00

If we’re not careful we might have a serious tragedy on our hands. The Andrew Bynum bandwagon has reached standing room only status and is going full speed, positively careening out of control. Just about everyone in Laker-land, and even some bandwagon hoppers in other cities around the league, have jumped on the broad shoulders of the Lakers’ 7 foot tall, 275 pound phenomenon and is enjoying the

The Lakers may be in need of lineup changes

2007-12-18T13:23:00.000-05:00

Derek Fisher, Kobe Bryant, Luke Walton, Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum may be more talented overall, but they aren’t as good together as Jordan Farmar, Sasha Vujacic, Trevor Ariza, Vladimir Radmanovic and Chris Mihm, or at least according to Lakers coach Phil Jackson. After the Lakers beat up on the short-handed Clippers team at Staples on Sunday, Jackson had the following to say to reporters at the

Are the Boston Celtics really THAT good?

2007-12-13T10:49:00.001-05:00

Believe it or not, as good as the Celtics have played, that’s a tough question to answer.Sure, on the surface the Celtics look absolutely unbeatable and have folks in “beantown” dreaming of a title trifecta (with the Cs in basketball potentially joining the New England Patriots in football and Boston Red Sox in baseball as World Champions). Led by the new “big three”, Pierce, Allen and Garnett,

Old school baller of the week: Sam Jones

2007-12-12T12:49:00.000-05:00

Our “old school baller” for this week is former Boston Celtics great Sam Jones. The original “Mr. Clutch”, before Lakers great Jerry West was dubbed as such, Jones won an amazing 10 championships during his 12 seasons with the Celtics – a feat that will likely never be repeated again. So, while Sam Jones barely missed our list of the top 10 Celtics of all-time, let’s take a look at why he is

Atlanta Hawks need to deal to stay relevant

2007-12-11T15:48:00.000-05:00

The Atlanta Hawks are 10 up and 10 down, at .500 in mid-December for the first time in a long time, after taking out the big, bad Orlando Magic last night by a score of 98-87. The roster is peppered with talented and promising young players like Josh Smith, Joe Johnson, Josh Childress and rookies Al Horford and Acie Law. In general, there is much rejoicing in Atlanta, as the lowly Hawks,

The greatest Lakers and Celtics of all-time

2007-12-10T12:44:00.001-05:00

If only the Los Angeles Lakers could hold up their end of the bargain, one of the greatest rivalries in all of sports would once again be rekindled. While Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen are leading the Boston Celtics reclamation project, Kobe Bryant and his emergent teammates are trudging along on the road to respectability in Los Angeles.But, this blog post isn’t about the future, or

Jason Kidd a no-show at Nets game; trade winds swirl

2007-12-06T09:29:00.000-05:00

The “pay me or trade” me waltz that New Jersey Nets President Rod Thorn and star point guard Jason Kidd have been performing for more than a year now may be reaching the grand finale. Kidd, who was reportedly unhappy about not receiving an extension to his current contract, called in sick yesterday complaining of a migraine headache. Kidd called coach Lawrence Frank in the afternoon yesterday

On the block: Pau Gasol and Andre Miller

2007-12-03T17:21:00.000-05:00

It’s the first week of December and the NBA trade deadline is still a distant two and a half months away. But the faint whispers of trade rumors are already starting to reverberate throughout the L, from the lips of fans and sportswriters to GMs and owners. Some of it is wishful thinking and some have a twinge of truth tied to them, but most are juicy and most certainly worth discussing on any

Old school baller of the week: Mark Aguirre

2007-12-02T22:16:00.000-05:00

Name: Mark AguirrePosition: Small ForwardHeight/Weight: 6’6”/232 poundsTeams: Dallas Mavericks, Detroit PistonsWhat made him so special?Mark Aguirre took his college team, DePaul, to the Final Four during his freshman season. He won multiple college “player of the year” awards. He was the 1st overall pick in the 1981 NBA draft, going ahead of players like Isiah Thomas, Buck Williams, Tom Chambers

Will Phil's new deal keep Kobe in LA?

2007-11-30T11:17:00.000-05:00

Phil Jackson loves LA. He loves the short commute from his Playa Del Ray home to the Lakers practice facility in El Segundo. He presumably loves born and bred Los Angelian and owner’s daughter Jeanie Buss. He certainly loves the laid back California vibe. And now, he also apparently really loves the 2 year $24 million contract extension he got from the team.But, while we’re happy for Phil and his

The NBA becomes upside down; We become scared

2007-11-27T14:09:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to double-check, but did the space-time continuum spontaneously reverse itself on Monday night? Are we now living in a parallel universe? Is this what the Wachowski Brothers were going for with The Matrix? Seriously, what else could explain what happened last night in the NBA?The underdog became king, as just about every league powerhouse lost, and some in blowouts, to the season’s

Old School Baller of the Week: Bobby Jones

2007-11-26T11:13:00.000-05:00

Mr. Peabody and Sherman are nowhere to be found, but the Wayback Machine is in full effect on the "Fans' Voice" NBA blog. Starting now, every week during the NBA season we'll take a trip back in time and profile one old school NBA baller. Generally, the NBA ol' timers profiled here won't be your household stars with names like Chamberlain and West, but rather the forgotten stars that had a

Arenas injury spells d-o-o-m for Wizards' playoff hopes

2007-11-22T14:38:00.000-05:00

The Eastern Conference's "other big 3" will be down to a mere 2 for quite some time. News came yesterday that Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas will be out of commission for 3 months, leaving Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison to carry the Wiz in the nation's capital. Arenas suffered torn cartiledge in his knee (ouch!), which he admitted on his NBA.com blog could be a result of pushing himself

The future in focus: Chris Paul vs. Deron Williams

2007-11-21T13:40:00.000-05:00

Conventional wisdom when drafting in the NBA is “when in doubt go big”. Historically NBA GMs have played it safe and followed that mantra to a tee, even when the results were embarrassing and career jeopardizing – the classic example against this rule of thumb of course is when Portland took Sam Bowie out of Kentucky ahead of some guy named Jordan.Still, that thinking continues to persist among

Lakers trade Brian Cook and Maurice Evans for Orlando's Trevor Ariza

2007-11-20T23:06:00.000-05:00

Not sure if this is what Kobe Bryant meant when he demanded new running mates, but the Lakers acquired 6' 8" swingman Trevor Ariza from the Orlando Magic on Tuesday for forward Brian Cook and guard Maurice Evans. While Ariza isn't quite Jermaine O'Neal, he is an upgrade over Cook and Evans. He adds athleticism and lock-down defensive skills to the Lakers small forward spot, elements that were

Where "really great basketball" happens!

2007-11-19T15:53:00.000-05:00

The NBA marketing heads got it right, “amazing” really does happen in the L – or at least, it has so far this season. Seasons of recent memory barely register when taking into account what’s been happening so far in 2007. It seems that just about every team has players that we’re excited about watching, and several top ones that have talent that we’d easily pay good money to see. The rookies,

McLaren's complaints should fall on deaf ears

2007-11-16T11:11:00.000-05:00

They’re the European version of the Hatfields and McCoys. Instead of overalls and shotguns though, you’ll get three-piece Yves Saint Laurent suits and 750 horsepower racing machines. Still, the concept is the same when it comes to the animosity between Ferrari and McLaren within the Formula One arena. Jean Todt, current head of Gestione Sportiva, the formal name of the Ferrari F1 team, doesn’t

Real estate brokers rejoice, a few millionaires may soon be house-hunting

2007-11-16T00:18:00.000-05:00

You would assume that making millions of dollars and playing a game for a living would be more than enough to keep a man happy, but you’d of course be wrong. When we go to sleep later tonight, our dreams will be the life that NBA players live on a daily basis. Still, it’s not enough for them to remain content. For whatever reason – be it lack of success, perceived disrespect, communication

Clock ticking on Stephon Marbury's tenure with the Knicks

2007-11-13T17:15:00.000-05:00

Mark it down; this New York Daily News story is the beginning of the end for Marbury and his time with the hometown Knicks. Apparently, Coach Isiah Thomas and owner James Dolan met in private after the Knicks most recent loss and discussed “options” for dealing with the “Marbury problem,” from reducing his role on the team to releasing him outright. And, reacting to the news, Marbury decided to

Whatever happend with our NFL pre-season predictions? We review

2007-11-13T16:14:00.000-05:00

When we actually venture to make predictions on an upcoming season or game we stand by our picks, darn it. We plan to make it a habit, from time to time, to give a look back at our season predictions and take our picks to task. Yes, we’re self-critical like that. And, we also take some solace in knowing that we don’t just make predictions and forget about them. If we’re wrong, we’ll own up. But,

A Rose by any other name...

2007-11-07T00:17:00.000-05:00

In case you missed our NCAA hoops preview, remember the name Derrick Rose. He is the all-world freshman point guard for the Memphis Grizzlies and he is about to blow up. Remember it now, before his name starts appearing on lists with others like Durant, LeBron, Oden and Wade. Before Dick Vitale suffers a near seizure while singing the praises of this diaper dandy. Before he schools every point

Steve Nash is over-rated

2007-11-05T16:57:00.000-05:00

Like fine wine, Steve Nash has only gotten better with age, seriously better. It doesn’t seem possible now, what with Nash becoming intimately familiar with the NBA MVP award in recent years, but his first four seasons out of Santa Clara University were pretty pathetic. In fact, take a close look at his career numbers, Nash was nowhere near MVP-caliber until he came back for his second run in

Patriots so-called confidence is starting to wear thin

2007-11-05T14:14:00.000-05:00

The New England Patriots are treading carelessly close to that thin line between confidence and arrogance. All season opposing fans and neutral bystanders alike have questioned whether the Pats and Head Coach Bill Belichick were purposefully running up the score. Now the Patriots themselves are whining about possible rules infractions by conference rivals the Indianapolis Colts.After his team

Defensive Hornets developing into Western powerhouse

2007-11-05T11:57:00.000-05:00

The young New Orleans Hornets seem to have learned their lesson. The team, which hadn’t made the playoffs since the 2003-2004 season, is finally buying into the age old mantra that defense wins championships."Our training camp was all about improving our defense," said team leader and all-world point guard Chris Paul, following a 93-88 win over the generally high-scoring Denver Nuggets. "Our

Will history repeat itself during latest Colts-Patriots showdown?

2007-11-03T12:52:00.000-04:00

The 8-0 undefeated New England Patriots play the 7-0 undefeated Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, in what will be the highest profile regular season game of the current 2007-2008 season. The general consensus, from the talking heads on sports talk radio to the fan on the street, is that the Patriots high-powered offense will prove to be too much for the Colts, leading to yet another New England