Headshot of the Day

May 8th's Headshot of the Day: Sam Cassell
It wasn't the 19 points, the 7 assists, or the 5 rebounds that Sam I Am notched tonight. It wasn't the clutch baskets he made late in the fourth, erasing a double digit fourth quarter defecit and almost single-handedly evening the Western Conference semi's with Sacto in a much needed win that gave the T Wolves a breath of life either. What gets Sammy the headshot of the day is the mentality that he plays with. He jaws at the refs everytime he gets a bad call. He gets a T early in the game and it doesn't faze him. He keeps jawing at the refs throughout the game, even though most of his complaining was done when the Wolves were enjoying a double digit lead. His attitude is unmatched, it's indescribable until there's less than a minute left in the game. Cassell drives the paint after hitting an absolutely huge three, and gets a floater to bounce, sit on the rim, and roll in. The Minny fans are going apeshit and Sammy defines the attitude when he runs down court with his hands cupped around his groin, shifting his weight from side to side with each step. Balls. While KG is the best player, Spree's got the heart, and Hoiberg is the L's version of Rudy, Sam Cassell's got more balls than anyone on his team, and probably more than anyone in the league. For your Major League 2-inspired dance that showed no tact whatsoever, Sam Cassell is today's headshot of the day.

May 14th's Headshot of the Day: Derek Fisher
As much as I hate to give the Lakers credit, this time it's unavoidable. Anyone who was watching last night knows why. The Spurs had game 5 wrapped up last night. They had done everything right; erased a 16 point 4th quarter defecit; made it throgh the dying minutes with the Lakers and came up with an answer to the most clutch player in the League's previous shot with a Tim Duncan miracle. The Spurs had crushed the Lakers, created mayhem in the SBC centre, and had their fingertips on a 3-2 series lead. All the Lakers were left with was .4 seconds and an inbound play where someone (Kobe Bryant) would throw up a prayer. After a series of fake-plays and time outs, Gary Payton took his 4 and 9/10 seconds to inbound to either Kobe or Shaq, but the Spurs had them blanketed tighter than a headcase in a nuthouse. GP throws a pass to a curling Derek Fisher who catches, turns and releases in one motion. As a Laker hater, I couldn't even get worked up. My exact words: "You've got to be fucking kidding me." Net. Silence at the SBC. 3-2 Lakers lead going back to LA, and it's looking more than ever like there's going to be a parade in LA this June. Seriously, what's going to stop this team now?

May 15th Headshot of the Day: Latrell Sprewell
13-21 from the field, 34 points and the Wolves are one win away from their first ever appearance in the Western Conference Finals. If I weren't so busy earlier this week, KG would have gotten a headshot of the day for his performance on Wednesday night, but you've got to realize that this is why the Wolves are in the position that they're in right now. On a night when Garnett's not his normal superhuman self and only racks up 23 and 12, the T-Wolves of old would have lost, especially to a team like the kings. The Wolves don't have the blatant depth that the Lakers, Kings or Spurs do, but I think that they've got enough in their lineup to win this year. They've got an answer for any big man that comes their way through the rest of the playoffs in KG and Olowakandi. They've got two great defensive backcourt players in Cassell and Sprewell, and there's still Trenton Hassell coming in off the bench. Sure I could have put the Pistons and the Nets up for last night's triple OT treat last night, but you know what? I like Spree. I like the Wolves. And it's my site.

June 25th: What a Wonderful World...
I never thought at any point in the season, save for the 4th quarter of game 5 of the Finals, that I'd be writing about how the Pistons absolutely manhandled the Lakers this season as they won their first championship since 1990 (that was 14 years ago?). Even when the series went 3-1, I kept waiting for the Lakers to mount their comeback. I mean, this is the Lakers, they're not just going to roll over and die, right? This is a team with 4 Hall of Famers, and after Derek Fisher's .04 shot in game 5 of the WCF's, the Lakers were just waiting to have that meeting with Larry O'Brien; the Pistons were supposed to be a formality, the cakewalk at the end of a road that for the Lakers has gotten tougher every year. Aside from the two (out of probably 20) predictions and previews that I read through the last 9 months, no one saw this coming. So what happened? I don't really know. People say it was because the Pistons were a better team, but I don't know if that's the only thing. The Nets were a great team both times they made it to the Finals, but they lost both times. The Pistons were great, and I don't want to take anything away from them, but on some level, this team imploded, in my opinion. I can live with that though.

June 26th: Free agency, potential trades and the NBA Draft
Very quickly, I'll say that the Lakers' situation and how they've handled it has set a precident for every executive in the League going completely apeshit over the idea of trading your franchise player(s) to LA (and now Orlando) for Shaq (or TMac). Over the last week I've read about the following players getting traded: Shaq, TMac, Vince Carter, Paul Pierce, Dirk Nowitzki, Steve Nash, Allen Iverson, Ray Allen, and because I'm pressed for time I'll throw in Zydrunas Ilgauskus at the end. There's more though, but these are the most prominent ones. The draft was pretty much a big letdown as usual. Just once I'd like to see all hell break lose, and have the Garden blowing up like the Dow Jones, with GM's throwing paper in the air, the correspondants struggling to keep up with the movements and blockbuster trades and hopefully some shitty GM's throwing themselves out of a window screaming that it's all over and they'll never build a winner, never!

Attention Franchise Players: Start Earning your money!
We're a week into free agency and we're getting some major movement. Mind you there's only been one free agent signing so far, but there have been deals and deal attempts that have been pretty blockbuster. Steve Nash and his mop have gone to Phoenix to take the Suns from nothing to something. I can't be mad at him though, I mean it is 65 million dollars. What would you do? Re-sign for less and then get dealt to LA and have to put up with KB8 every night? He made the right move.
The Orlando/Houston trade went down and now two malcontents have been dealt for one another. I'd like to see Houston lose alot this year, so TMac's stuck having to get a team out of the gutter. It won't happen though, Houston's looking good with Yao and TMac.
Shaq hasn't moved yet, and he might not at all yet, unless there's a multi-team deal that involves alot of heads and cash. I gotta jet