Memphis vs. Kansas

If my boys from UNC had beat Kansas on Saturday, I would have little trouble finding a reason for them to beat Memphis. However, the Tar Heels decided to sleep-walk for 15 minutes, and instead we got the Jayhawks battling the Tigers. Here are a few thoughts I have on this game...

1) What's the big deal about Derrick Rose? Yes, he's a great player...easily one of the top freshmen in the country. But all of a sudden, ESPN is making it seem as if it's Derrick Rose vs. Kansas. All of a sudden, he is the greatest freshmen ever. All of a sudden, he is the #1 pick. All of a sudden, Mike Beasley never existed. Don't get me wrong, I think Rose is a hell of a talent. He's HUGE for a PG (even though I don't really think he's a natural PG), quick, fast, strong....just a beast athletically. This video should prove how explosive the kid is. And yes, he can score, pass, and defend. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. He's not the best player on his team - that honor goes to the VERY VERY VERY overlooked Chris-Douglas Roberts. Everyone who saw the game against UCLA knows that CDR is the main reason the Tigers won, not Rose. All I'm trying to say is that we should chill with the Rose hype - yes, he's good, but there's other players (on his own team!) that deserve equal praise. And although he's have an exceptional tourney, let's not pretend we missed Beasley's INCREDIBLE regular season...

2) Will Darrell Arthur show up? To me, he is the X-factor in this game. When he is focused, motivated, and on, he is the most unstoppable player on Kansas' roster. Yes, Rush is their go-to. However, Rush does not create the nightmares that Arthur can. If he is on, there is nobody on Memphis' roster who can stop the kid. Let's see how ready he is too play...

3) Which Joey Dorsey will show up? The beast? Or the bitch? Not much to say about this other than a focused Dorsey is the only way Memphis can stop Kansas' inside game...

Enough chop...time for my prediction. As much as I hate to say it, I see Memphis winning this game. I thought they were overrated all season, but I can't deny the run they've had this tourney (although I think Pitt could have beat them!). Kansas will put up a fight, but at the end of the day, Memphis has too much firepower and is too athletic to be stopped! Honestly, I'll be rooting for Kansas though...

Random Thoughts...

Hell of a start to the Tourney eh? Lots of upsets, solid amount of buzzer-beaters...and, of course, plenty of bracket busting! I dunno about ya'll, but my bracket is lookin pretty bad right now. I'ma need Louisville to beat Tennessee and Texas to beat Memphis to have any shot at winning my pool! Regardless of what happens, as long as UNC stays winnin I don't give a shit about my bracket...

On another note - music! I haven't really peeped anything new...anybody got any ideas? I been wanting to peep the new Erykah Badu and Pete Rock, but haven't gotten around to either yet...ya'll got any other shit to peep out when I hit up Amoeba this week?

Anyways, I also wanted to share some terrible news...I missed a Blu and Elzhi concert at my school. A free one. Apparently nobody really heard about it, and there was only a tiny lil ad in the back of the school newspaper that nobody reads. When I found out I missed Blu, I was SOOOOOOOOOO mad!

But, like they say, there's always a silver lining in the clouds. In this case, it was the introduction to Elzhi. Before the concert, I had heard A LOT about dude, especially on those OKayPlayer forums. I had also heard a few verses from feature, but to be honest, I knew nothing about him. After missing the concert, my boy was telling me how pissed he was cuz he missed Elzhi more than Blu, so that made me HAVE to peep the dude. Boy am I happy I did. Elzhi is a fuckin beast. If ya'll dunno about him, google him or something. He's a monster. One of the purchases I AM making at Amoeba is some Slum Village joints that I don't got. For ya'll who ain't down w/ Blu and Elzhi, two of the nicest MC's in the game right now, all I could say is stop sleeping....and to the one's who are familiar, lets hope they come out with more material to feed us some of that real raw hip hop!

Enjoy your Easter ya'll!

Peace!

The Tourney vs. the Playoffs

On my ride back home from school for spring break today, a few of my buddies and I had an interesting conversation...that coincidentally was the same topic of the Scoop Jackson article I opened on ESPN.com about an hour later. Scoop argues that, because of the competitiveness of the West, the NBA Playoffs will be much, much better this year than the NCAA Tournament. Although I agree that the West will be fun to watch, there are a number of reasons why the Playoffs can NEVER match the drama and excitement of the Big Dance!

1) Time:
Scoop claims the Playoffs will be great because they last 2 months. Being forced to watch Pacers-Celtics games every other day for 2 weeks is not a good thing. Two months of bad matchups is not my cup of tea (btw, Scoop didn't even bother to mention that he completely ignores HALF the Playoffs...something you can't do with the Tourney b/c the first weekend is just as entertaining as the Final Four). On the ohter hand, the one-and-done reality in the college game creates a much more intense game. Although the Tourney does not last half the year, the unparalleled intensity of each game due to the time-constraints (no series) makes it much better than the monotony of countless 7 game series' that the NBA offers.

2) Legacy:
Like Scoop said, there is nothing like Duke-UNC. Ya, there used to be Boston-LA, but that rivalry has been dormant for 20 years. It MAY return, but don't expect it to last. Because of this lack of legacy, the NBA lacks CONSISTENT match-ups that viewers want to look out for. Nobody wants to check out the Pistons-Spurs...it's boring and there is no bad blood. Everybody wants to watch UNC-Duke, Kansas-Kentucky, USC-UCLA...etc etc etc. The hatred between the schools in the tournament makes it that much better than the indifferent matchups we see every day in the League.

3) Atmosphere:
As a result of the one-and-done format and rivalries, the atmosphere in college is much more intense. Fans hate each other, creating a frantic arena setting. For the most part, other than in Golden State, NBA fans are apathetic and create a boring atmosphere.

4) Integrity:
This, to me, is the most significant difference between the NBA and college. The NBA is, from the top down, a business. Stern looks for ways to expand his markets, TNT finds ways to take $$ from him, GM's try to create revenue in their city, players try to get the highest possible contract. The focal point of the NBA is not basketball - it is money. And it shows. The game has been diluted. Stern ruined it with his countless rules and shit. The players don't play hard - in fact, its not even worth bringing effort up when talking about the League. The only time they show much of an effort is to boost their stats. Thus, we see a coaching style that relies on iso's (and no defense!). The game is no longer team-oriented, intense, or interesting.
On the other hand, the college game continues to thrive, despite the threat of 1-and-gone players. Because of the atmosphere, because of the rivalries, and because college players simply have a love for the game - the game is better. Players NEVER take a play off, on either side of the court. They play not for the name on the back of the jersey, but for the institution on the front. They play for the die-hard fans, the hate of their opponents, the glory of victory. I dunno about you, but I'd rather watch decent players play their hearts out and play selflessly than watch superstars take plays off and then decide to turn it up just to carve out a heftier contract for next season.

At the end of the day, it's clear that the NBA game cannot compare to college. The Tournament puts all the factors above into an even higher, more ultra competitive level.
The intense rivalries, the win-or-go-home mentality, the atmosphere both in the stands and on the floor, creates a tourney that delivers (every year!) at a level the Playoffs could only dream of. To another epic tournament.....

Peace!

Lowkey back...

Aight...so I haven't been around for a really really long time. I had a tough quarter at school that has been beating my ass, so to be honest I haven't even thought about this blog. As I was reading a Scoop Jackson article on ESPN.com today, however, it occurred to me that I should find a way to get my thoughts out about basketball. I've always lowkey wanted to be a journalist, but to keep to 100, I never had the balls to write for a school newspaper. Then the lightbulb popped up - why not continue my blog!?
So...simple as that...I'm back! Just so ya'll know...and I'm sure that as of now "ya'll" is nobody but w/e hopefully SOMEBODY is watching...I've decided to switch up my flow a lil bit and not write strictly about hip-hop. I think that's one of the reasons I stopped writing...I felt as if everything I had to say has been said a lot. So from now on, this blog is just a blog about my thoughts on a lot of things...mostly sports and music though. I'll prolly never really stray away from that, actually...but as of now, this will just be my lil hip-hop/b-ball blog! I'll be writing much more the next few weeks and hopefully ya'll will stoppin by more frequently!

Peace!