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Winning an NBA championship is kind of like graduation. You work all year to accumulate points and once it's done, you get to enjoy a big celebration in June.
On June 14, 2009, Kobe Bryant graduated from all-star to uber star. He scored an A-plus on his NBA report card and finally completed this master's degree in leadership.
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Something is definitely wrong with the Boston Celtics.
Though the defending NBA champs are still a major driving force in the East, the Celtics' high-powered engine is beginning to leak and their once tireless energy on defense is showing some wear-and-tear. Coach Doc Rivers also hinted the team is severely missing two key cogs from last season's championship run: James Posey and P.J. Brown.
Both were outstanding bench players during the 2008 NBA playoffs, and their absence has exposed the Boston bench and forced Rivers to rely more on Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett, who is beginning to show signs of fatigue.
Garnett may not admit it, but he's not the same player. The effort and the intensity is still there but KG's offense has fallen dramatically and his rebounding has become just average. KG still wants to push forward, but his gas tank is running close to empty.
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Lamar Odom’s game is as volatile as the New York Stock Market. Sometimes it is way up, and sometimes it is way down.
When the Los Angeles Lakers season tipped off, the Odom Meter was running low as all eyes were on Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum. The casual fan and longtime basketball experts were curious to know whether the two 7-footers can co-exist when paired in the post in Phil Jackson’s triangle offense. That meant Odom was relegated to the bench, a move he openly accepted but with some reluctance. Trade rumors started flying around Staples Center.
Because of Odom’s massive contract, most in the organization and the basketball community anticipated that the Lakers were not about to keep a double-digit salary player, with reduced minutes, stay on the roster the whole season. That may have been the prevailing thought until….
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Ben Roethlisberger's legend just keeps growing. Peter King of SI.com recently reported that Big Ben played the Super Bowl with a broken rib. Just another chapter in the legend of the 26-year-old quarterback who now has more Super Bowl rings than three-time NFL MVP Peyton Manning and Brett Favre and two-time MVP Kurt Warner.
When the Pittsburgh Steelers lost to the Philadelphia Eagles earlier this season, I threw my hands up and cursed the day the Steelers made Roethlisberger their franchise quarterback.
That was in October.
Fast forward to December when the Steelers traveled to Baltimore with the AFC North Division and a first-round bye on the line. All Roethlisberger did was drive the Steelers 90 yards and culminated the game-winning drive by being...well...Ben Roethlisberger when he scrambled left and right, found Santonio Holmes for a touchdown. Game over! I'm sold. That was the night Big Ben showed me HE IS the franchise quarterback and HE IS capable of leading the Steelers to the Super Bowl.
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All eyes will be on the matchup between Kurt Warner and the high-powered Arizona Cardinals offense against the top-ranked Pittsburgh Steelers defense. It's the classic offense vs. defense showdown. The Cardinals have the second-best pass offense while the Steelers have the stingiest pass defense. Something has to give, right?
Though the highly anticipated matchup chess match between Cardinals offensive coordinator Todd Haley, who will relay plays into the ear of Warner, and Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau, who will relay his signals to linebacker James Farrior, is the sexy choice, I don't consider it as the determining factor in the game. I see this matchup as a wash. Both units will have their moments and will pretty much cancel each other. It's a 50-50 action.
The game will come down to this one question: Can Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers offense score enough points to put pressure on the Cardinals?
Continue reading "STEELERS' OFFENSE WILL DECIDE SUPER BOWL XLIII"
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It's Super Bowl or bust. All that stuff about being ranked No. 1 in scoring defense, pass defense and total defense during the regular season will be all for nothing if the Pittsburgh Steelers do not win the Super Bowl. To a man, the Steelers know that in order for them to be considered the best defense in NFL history, they need to win the Super Bowl.
To be considered one of the all-time greats, the Steelers need to dominate in the playoffs. The way the Steel Curtain did in the 1970s, the way the Chicago Bears did in 1986, the way the New York Giants did in 1987 and 1991, and the way the Baltimore Ravens did in 2001.
The 1991 Philadelphia Eagles, headed by Hall of Famer Reggie White, Clyde Simmons, Seth Joyner and Eric Allen, were rated No. 1 all across the board (rush, pass and total defense), but did not win a championship so only the hardcore football fan remembers them.
Continue reading "WINNING SUPER BOWL SHOULD BE ONLY THING ON STEELERS' MINDS"
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I have to give where credit is due. I have made no secret about my unyielding criticism of Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger. I have pointed out time and time again, Roethlisberger is not playing "up to snuff" this season and has not earned his $100 million paycheck. I've called him out more than a few occasions and even labeled him "Big Bend" for his propensity to hold onto the ball too long and expose himself to countless sacks.
Well, last Sunday night before the largest crowd to ever witness a football game at Baltimore, Roethlisberger earned his cash during money time. From here on out, I'm calling him the "Notorious B.E.N."
With the Steelers down 9-6 in a typical AFC North bloodbath, Roethlisberger manned up and drove the Steelers' offense 92 yards for the winning score. And yes, it was a winning score. Santonio Holmes had possession, both feet in and the ball broke the goal line. End of story, Ravens!
Continue reading "BIG BEN LEADS NOTORIOUS STEELERS COMEBACK"
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I really despise two teams in the NFL: New England and Baltimore.
I don't like the Patriots for obvious reasons. I think Tom Brady is on the juice, the whole team plays dirty and Coach Bill Belichick is a first-class cheater and arrogant SOB.
I don't like the Ravens because they are the Steelers' true archrivals in the NFL. It's not the new Browns. It's not the Bengals. It's the Ravens because they are the old Cleveland Browns. Ever since the Ravens allegedly pissed on Three Rivers Stadium in 2000, I have despised the Ravens. I hated them even more when they won the Super Bowl.
I don't like Ray Lewis, but I respect him. I don't like Ed Reed, but I would love to have him. I never liked Brian Billick, but I miss him because he would add fuel to an already burning rivalry.
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Kobe Bryant is not the Lakers' most valuable player this season. What? Yup, sounds utterly ridiculous but it's true. Bryant may be the best player on earth, but the title of Lakers MVP belongs to Pau Gasol. As good as Kobe Bryant is (and he's very, very good), the game is still played inside-out. NBA championships are won with the big guys in the paint, not with the guys who make the "pretty" plays.
Since coming to L.A. in a trade from Memphis that still has the entire Western Conference fuming, Gasol has helped the Lakers win 42 of their last 52 games, a number that would have been higher had the 28-year-old Spaniard not sprained his ankle last March. The Lakers went 13-2 during Gasol's first month in purple and gold. After struggling to a 9-6 mark in March partly because Gasol was on the injured list for nine games, the Lakers posted a 7-1 record in April and are 13-1 in October and November. Simply put, the arrival of Gasol has calmed Bryant, made Phil Jackson's beloved triangle offense potent again and turned Mitch Kupchak into a genius executive overnight.
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For Superman, it was Kryptonite. For the Pittsburgh Steelers, it's the New England Patriots.
For whatever reason, the Patriots and Coach Bill Belichick has the Steelers' number. Since 2001, the Steelers are 1-5 against the Patriots and two of those losses came in the playoffs at Heinz Field.
The first happened in the 2002 AFC championship game. The Patriots came into Heinz Field as heavy underdogs behind second-year QB Tom Brady. Brady got hurt in the first half, but backup Drew Bledsoe came off the bench to lead an improbable victory. The defining moments of the game were both turned in by Troy Brown. Brown returned a punt for a touchdown and returned a blocked field-goal attempt for another score to cap off a 24-17 Patriots victory and a trip to the Super Bowl.
It was de ja vu in the 2005 AFC championship game. Earlier in the season, the Steelers routed the Patriots behind rookie QB Ben Roethlisberger. In that game, the Steelers jumped all over the Patriots, 21-3, in the first half and ended New England's two-year winning streak with a 34-20 win. So, entering the AFC title game, the 15-1 Steelers were the No. 1 seed in the AFC and were again favored to defeat New England. However, Brady hit Deion Branch on a long TD early and Roethlisberger was picked off by safety Rodney Harrison right before halftime and he returned it for a TD to give New England a 24-3 lead. Pittsburgh mounted a short comeback in the second half but Branch sealed the Pats' third Super Bowl trip in four years when he scored on a reverse to make it 41-27. The loss was extra painful for the Steelers because the team entered the postseason on a 14-game winning streak and Jerome Bettis had intended to retire after the season.
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maniLA ice
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