SSB weekly rant: May 26th-June 1st edition

By Kshell

Happy booze day to all my readers who like liquor! Today of course is the first day in this states history where alcohol can be purchased inside a store such as costco, fred meyers, wal mart, QFC, etc. So now it is much easier to purchase alcohol as you are buying your mix drinks. Not to mention the money now goes towards our state and it actually cheaper despite what many have you to believe. Hopefully those of you out there are taking advantage of this new law as you are reading my blog post. This week I have plenty to rant about as the NBA playoffs are now in the conference finals, while David Stern had yet another fishy NBA lottery, one team in the playoffs is denying tickets to fans who happen to live in 47 states in the United States and the Mariners are bowing down to a legend who is way past his prime.

The big news out of Seattle today is Ichiro is being moved from the 3rd spot in the lineup. That was expected since he is only hitting .271/.305/.367 on the season with just one home run in 223 PA's. He only had 15 extra base hits and when he was given the day off the Mariners erupted for 21 runs against the Texas Rangers. So most people thought the slumping Ichiro would hit at the bottom of the order as the kids develope. Instead Ichiro will bat leadoff in a move that pisses me off. Look I understand batting order doesn't matter and scrubs like Miguel Olivo still play against right handers. The reason this move pisses me off shows that Ichiro still has management by the balls. It shows that Ichiro is still running this franchise that has finished in last place six of the last eight seasons and is currently in last place right now. The Mariners continue to bow down to their legendary right fielder despite the fact he isn't hitting that well the last two years. The last two years Ichiro's production has fallen and with these young kids playing all the time it's time to develope them and worry about Ichiro less.

This week the NBA held their annual draft lottery where they determine who receives the number one pick. This year it matters more so than other years because the player with the number one pick will be Kentucky Wildcats center Anthony Davis. Davis who was the Final Four most outstanding player as he led the Wildcats to their first NCAA championship since 1998. Davis who was the #1 player coming out of high school didn't disappoint as he won the college basketball player of the year award when he averaged 14.2 PPG, 10.4 RPG, 1.4 steals and 4.7 blocks per game while shooting 62.3% from the field. So Davis is the obvious choice what made this lottery so fishy is the fact the New Orleans Hornets won the lottery. Yes the same team that David Stern and the NBA had taken over for over the past year. The same team that nobody wanted to buy then suddenly a month ago New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson bought the team despite not showing any interest in the team before. Look I don't know if Stern rigged the lottery or not but Sonicsgate did show he is a corrupt man. I wouldn't be shocked one bit if he promised Benson the #1 pick if he buys the team from the league. Stern is not someone you can trust as the NBA always has a way of getting the teams they want in the NBA Finals.

For yesterday's game three of the Western Conference Finals the Oklahoma City Zombie Sonics denied all fans who weren't from Oklahoma, Arkansas or Kansas to enter the game. If your billing address wasn't from those states you couldn't buy tickets. So that includes even famous people like rapper Lil' Wayne was denied to go to the game. As Charles Barkley has said in the past Oklahoma City isn't a city for black people and they are holding that statement true by denying a black rapper. This is very North Korea like in an attempt to keep Spurs fans and Sonics fans away. They know most of the NBA is rooting against them as they stole a team from a dedicated fan base like Seattle. Now they are denying people from other states to attend their games. These guys continue to show why they are at the bottom of the NBA when it comes to class. Oklahoma City with the way they still bash Seattle has shown they have no class and they are denying the world from their shithole city because they know the whole world will bash that city. Welcome to Oklahoma City folks where they resemble North Korea more than the United States!

Meanwhile the conference finals are heating up as the home teams have won all five games. The Miami Heat survived game two over the Boston Celtics in overtime 115-111. Ray Allen had hit a three pointer to force the overtime, Rajon Rondo scored 44 points, dished out 10 assists and grabbed eight rebounds as it wasn't enough. Lebron James had a "quiet" 34 points and 13 rebounds while Dwyane Wade was quiet all game until he scored eight in the overtime period to finish with 23 points. The Heat now lead 2-0 heading back to Boston tonight for game three. As for the other series the San Antonio Spurs led by Tony Parker and Tim Duncan led two games to zero winning 20 games in a row before finally losing to the Oklahoma City Zombie Sonics led by Kevin Durant who had been quiet the previous two games in the fourth quarter. That series is now 2-1 in the Spurs favor which should make for a terrific game four which can swing the series. I still like the Heat in five games and I like the Spurs in six games. The Heat-Spurs Finals might be one of the better finals we've seen in years.

Well hope you guys are enjoying your new alcohol freedoms today and watch the Heat-Celtics game. The Mariners are still showing that they will do whatever it takes to bow down to an aging star than worry about the future. Just don't say that to a certain media member on twitter or he'll attack you(and many others) in the process for simply disagreeing with him. Oklahoma City has continued to show they are a classless city, classless fan base and classless organization. For them to deny ticket sales to 94% of the states in this country is straight bullshit! Anyways for the playoffs I'll say this go Heat! Go Spurs! Hopefully when Ichiro retires at 45 years old the Mariners can finally start to win some games because you just know they'll bring his old ass back for another un. Anyways hope you enjoyed my weekly rant and drink safely guys!

Uconn-Butler championship game fitting end to a down college basketball season

By Kshell

As I watched UConn win yet another national championship in a game that put me to sleep I wasn't surprised. The game featured so many bricks you could build a house but that was to be expected as the women's game is pretty boring. Wait, wait this was the mens game?!! Yes it was in a game that set men's college basketball back to the pre-shot clock era. This game was a fitting end to an otherwise terrible display of basketball this year in mens basketball. Sure the NCAA tournament was great because of all the upsets but parity is only good for so long. Sports in general thrives on marquee teams and when you have cinderalla making a run every year that isn't a good thing. In this following post I'll explain why this was the worst year in the NCAA in quite some time. The first problem was the game has changed in the past 30 years especially in the last 10.

The talent pool has shrunk over the years due to players leaving early. In the 1970's and before that freshman weren't allowed to play. While you couldn't get a freshman year out of anyone most coaches often received two to three great years. Take the UCLA Bruins dynasty for an example as John Wooden won five titles with Lew Alcindor(Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) and Bill Walton. Now he didn't get either player for their freshman year but in today's game he would only get the freshman year of both. If players were allowed to leave straight out of high school back then Alcindor in today's game would be the #1 pick straight out of high school. The days of seeing elite players stay more than three years are over. Even as of 20 years ago elite players would stay like Tim Duncan stayed all four years at Wake Forest. Over 20 years ago you saw dynasties which is great for the game because either you love them or hate them. When Duke with Christian Laettner and Bobby Hurley were going for a repeat title everyone had an opinion. Now you don't see that even the team they defeated in 1991 the UNLV runnin rebels doesn't happen today. UNLV had won the title and superstars Larry Johnson and Stacy Augmon came back. UNLV went undefeated in the regular season and were upset to the Duke Blue Devils. Duke in 1992 defeated Michigan's fab five which started five freshman. Now that fab five team like the 2010 Kentucky team all leaves but they chose to come back. That is the problem by the time you learn a kid's name he is gone to the next level.

Now college basketball is being forced to be carried by freshman. Sometimes you get a great class of kids and other times like this year you get nothing. Before the one and done rule was in place you saw Michigan State win the title in 2000 led by Mateen Cleaves who was the best player in college. In 2002 Maryland won the title with such "stars" like Chris Wilcox, Juan Dixon and Steve Blake. The game safe to say was pretty weak back then which saw #1 picks overall be Kenyon Martin and then non college players such as Kwayme Brown and Yao Ming. In 2003 the champion was the Syracuse Orangemen who were led by super freshman Carmello Anthony. Anthony could have gone to the NBA straight out of high school if he wanted too. That final four also featured cinderalla Marquette who was led by Dwyane Wade. Then in 2007 the NBA implemented a rule where high schoolers had to play at least one year in college basketball. That year was a good year for the NCAA as such players who normally would have left straight of highschool had to play college. The players were Greg Oden, Mike Conley, Kevin Durant and Spencer Hawes who were all lotto picks after their one season in college. Since then you have seen guys like Kevin Love, Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook, Michael Beasley, John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins make a huge splash as a one and done player. The problem with that is in a year like this year where there isn't that one and done type talent it kills the product.

In today's college basketball the teams who typically win are the teams without great NBA players. The last team to win a national championship with an elite player was the 2003 Syracuse Orangemen with Carmello Anthony. Ever since then look at the rosters of the winning team they feature good role players in the NBA. The last team to repeat the Florida Gators returned their whole team and only Joakim Noah and Al Horford are making an impact. While you look at a team like the Kentucky Wildcats who next year will have the #1 ranked recruiting class for the third straight season. Now if this was just 20 years ago Kentucky would probably go undefeated next year with a roster of John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Brandon Knight, Terrence Jones, three other first round picks and four McDonalds All-Americans coming in. Instead Kentucky for the third straight year will most likely fall short as they will once again have to rebuild that is the price you pay for being such a great recruiter.

Just look how the NBA landscape is different compared to college basketball. In the 1980's your stars were Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Isiah Thomas and Michael Jordan. Those four players all played for a national championship and in the case of Thomas, Jordan and Magic they won the national championship. Bird played all four years in college, while Jordan played three, Magic and Thomas played just two which was unheard of back then. You compare that to today which saw just one guy in the All-Star game starting lineup win a national championship just shows how different the game is. Of the 10 starters only three played in a final four(Anthony, Wade and Rose) and two of those players played just one year in college. While in that same starting 10 you saw five guys never lace it up in the college game. Of the 10 all-star game starters only Tim Duncan who is from a different era than the other guys played all four years. The game's biggest stars Lebron James and Kobe Bryant never played college basketball. Over 20 years ago Bryant is playing for Duke and becoming the next Grant Hill while James as a senior is playing with freshman Greg Oden making one of the greatest college teams of all-time. Instead we get a year with no stars and no future all-stars in this title game. We saw Butler break WSU's record set in 1941 for worst shooting performance ever. The numbers were just sick 19-55(34.5%) from the field and 1-11(9.1%) from three point range. Those numbers are from the national championship UConn Huskies. Butler shot 12-64(18.8%) and 9-33(27.3%) from three point range and 8-14(57.1%) from the foul line. Butler was so bad they shot just 3-31(9.6%) from two point range. This is what college basketball has come to unfortunately.

All in all, there is nothing college basketball can do to stop this. You can't prevent or blame kids for wanting to make money. The NBA just pays their players too much money for a kid to want to stay in school. If you are a first round pick guaranteed you'd be a fool to stay in school. The fall back to that is you have a title game with an 8th seed who lost three starters from last year and a team who finished 9th in their own conference. This was the first final four with no #1 or #2 seeds and the games were poorly played. Nobody could hit a shot in all three final four games. Expect the NCAA tournament to continue to be wide open which is good for the smaller schools and non traditional powers. The problem is the basketball just won't be the same. You need a face and when your face is Jimmer Fredette who screams NBA bust then you know the game is in trouble. Hopefully next year some super freshman can come in and save the game. That is the problem college basketball is banking on some 18-19 year old kid to save the sport. If the kid is a junior or a senior odds are he won't be an elite NBA player or he would have left by now. This title game was epicly terrible and I don't expect another game quite like this. I also don't expect the game to improve ever again in my lifetime.

My interview with Jeff "the fish" Aaron part III

By Kshell

For the third consecutive week I was interviewed by Jeff "the fish" Aaron in which is becoming a nice trend. At first when I was interviewed it was pretty cool and nerve racking. Now I feel like I am when I'm discussing sports with my friends on the phone. I'll be a weekly guess on Aaron's show if you guys want to check out his page you can right here at gametimenorthwest. His show is an online radio show which is nice because you don't have to be in the Seattle market for an example to listen to the show. Well this week we went over several sports related topics including one where I passionately gave out a stat showing how pathetic Mariners president Chuck Armstrong is. In this following blog post I'll once again link my interview and go over the topics on here.

The first topic in this interview which you can hear by clicking this link was about the NIT and in particular the Washington State Cougars. Jeff had stated that at first he would rather lose in the first round of the NCAA tournament game than win the NIT. He then stated how he changed his mind after watching the Cougars experience a few more home games and get an opportunity to make a trip to the big apple New York City. This is where I disagreed with Jeff saying I still believe that I'd rather lose in the NCAA tournament because ultimately you are judged by what you do in the tournament. I also stated that nobody cares about the NIT(Not In Tournament) but I did play devils advocate saying where I can see why that is a good thing. For an example my brother is in the band at Washington State so he got a free trip to New York City. The talk of the NIT led us into the talk of the Final Four.

In the final four we discussed the two underdogs in particular the Butler Bulldogs. Jeff stated that he was more impressed with Butler than VCU because Butler is doing this for the second straight year. That is when I made the comparison to Boise State football where at first it was thought of as an upset now you realize they are a big time program. I mentioned how it's incredible Butler is doing so well despite a coach who barely looks old enough to legally drink. Jeff asked me who I felt would be the best NCAA final and I said Butler-Kentucky. I said Butler because they are more consistent while VCU is hot or cold so they could be blown out or even blow out the opponent. I said Kentucky because they represent everything that is wrong with college basketball. I went over John Calipari and his problems in the past. Apparently Jeff went to school with Calipari and even he knows that Calipari has a huge ego. I talk about the Terrence Jones fiasco at Washington as well. Then we discussed just how sad it is that most likely both Brad Stevens(Butler) and Shaka Smart(VCU) will probably bolt in the next couple of seasons.

Then the final topic we discussed was the Seattle Mariners who open the season this Friday in Oakland. If you haven't read it by now make sure to check out my 2011 Seattle Mariners preview by clicking this link. I first discussed the positives of the Mariners which is every fifth day we get to experience the best pitcher in the American League in Felix Hernandez. I also discussed the youth movement with Michael Pineda, Justin Smoak and Dustin Ackley. That is where the positives end for the Mariners. After briefly discussing the NFL draft and in particular Jake Locker where I still think he'll go in the first round I went right back to the Mariners. I wasn't done yet as I wanted to take some shots at Chuck Armstrong. Armstrong has ran the franchise into the ground his entire time in Seattle. I mentioned how Armstrong has a losing record yet isn't on the hot seat. How the ownership cares more about selling bobbleheads, creating a family friendly atmosphere and making a profit than putting a good team on the field. Then I ended it by referencing Charlie Sheen saying they don't have the Tiger blood that is for sure.

Overall the interview well pretty well. I feel as if I'm getting more and more comfortable and the subjects are in my wheelhouse. I'm a jack of all trades so I can discuss almost anything but like most people I have some area's I'm strong at. Talking about the local teams I feel like I can put my voice out there better. I'm passionate about who got snubbed in the NCAA tournament but I will get pissed off talking about how crappy the Mariners have been. I'm not afraid to rip our teams when they are playing like crap as I don't make excuses. I felt today's episode represented me very well and I'm looking forward to next week's show. Like I said if you aren't already listening to the show go ahead and listen at www.gametimenorthwest.comwhich will have hall of fame wide receiver Steve Largent on Wednesday's show. Well this show went pretty well and I felt like I blasted Chuck Armstrong pretty good which always feels good.

9th ranked Kentucky Wildcats win grudge match over 11th Washington Huskies 74-67

By Kshell

In game that had an NCAA Tournament feel to it due to the bad blood over the Terrence Jones recruitment saw #9 Kentucky Wildcats(4-0) defeat the #11 Washington Huskies(3-1) 74-67 in a back and forth game. This game was a rough game with plenty of tension on both sides but at the end of the day the Wildcats rebounding was to much for the Huskies out rebounding the Huskies 45-32 including 17 offensive rebounds. The Huskies three point shooting which has been hot all season long was missing today shooting just three for 17(17.6%) on the game. Take away Darnell Gant who had hit just one three pointer in his entire career before today the Huskies were one for 15(6.6%). Freshman Brandon Knight proved to be to much for the Huskies scoring 24 points on 10 for 17 shooting. The Huskies must regroup in time for tomorrow's third place game against #2 Michigan State. The Huskies will be kicking themselves tonight knowing they let a winnable game slip through their hands.

The Huskies ran into a buzz saw right off the bat after being up 6-2 the Wildcats went on a 18-0 run that seemed to last a lifetime. The Wildcats early on were looking like they were going to win in a blowout as they were up 20-6 and with Knight scoring nine points. That is when Lorenzo Romar pulled Matthew Bryan-Amaning for red shirt sophomore transfer Aziz N'Diaye who sparked a run without scoring a single bucket. N'Diaye changed the game by blocking shots in the paint which led to quick Washington scores. N'Diaye was also grabbing rebounds and along with Darnell Gant hitting two three pointers the Huskies had pulled within 23-22. The Huskies in fact led at halftime 35-34 after trailing by 14 points. At halftime Gant who had scored a career high with 10 points was the Huskies leading scorer. Isaiah Thomas was just one for six and Matthew Bryan-Amaning was just two for eight shooting at halftime. The second half would provide the same story as the Wildcats would pull away.

In the second half the Huskies could never find that three point shot. The Huskies would only hit one three pointer in the second half. The Huskies also couldn't get anything from their two best players Isaiah Thomas and Matthew Bryan-Amaning who were combined 7-25(28.0%) from the field, 6-12(50.0%) from free throws while committing seven turnovers in combined 51 minutes of play. The game had some crucial turning points like when the Huskies called timeout down by five then Venoy Overton who is a senior committed a terrible foul against Kentucky. The play was reviewed but the call was correct, Kentucky would hit both free throws and then retain possession so the Huskies would be down by nine. With the game tied at 52-52 Isaiah Thomas was fouled and missed both free throws, a couple of other times Thomas was wide open for three and couldn't knock it down. At the end of the day the Huskies couldn't hit the shots while Kentucky got several second chance points in the 74-67 win.

The Kentucky Wildcats bigs stepped it up inside and that was the difference in the game. Freshman Terrence Jones who I'm sure you have all heard about by now so I won't talk about him anymore had 16 points on 4 for 13 shooting but had 17 rebounds. The other big Josh Harrellson added nine points and 14 rebounds including seven offensive rebounds. Outside of Aziz N'Diaye who collected 10 rebounds and Justin Holiday who grabbed seven rebounds just got no rebounding at all. Starting center Matthew Bryan-Amaning had just two rebounds all game. The Wildcats Brandon Knight score 24 points on 10 for 17 shooting but committed eight turnovers. He still won the battle against Isaiah Thomas who scored just 13 points on 4 for 14 shooting including 5 for 10 at the foul line.

The Washington Huskies had very few players step up today. Aziz N'Diaye was the player of the game with five points, 10 rebounds and five block shots. Darnell Gant who got in foul trouble in the second half hardly played but he provided a spark for the Huskies in the first half with 10 points as well as Justin Holiday who finished with 11 points, seven rebounds, two blocks and two steals. Both Gant and Holiday played good defense holding Terrence Jones to 4 of 13 shooting.

The Huskies won't have much time to lick their wounds. Tomorrow in the third place game at the Maui Invitational the Huskies will face the #2 Michigan State Spartans at 2 p.m. PT on ESPN 2. The Huskies will have another tough test and must prove they can finally win these games. Not since 2005 when the Huskies were a #1 seed have the Huskies proven they can beat a good opponent away from Hec Ed in a non conference showdown. It is one thing to compete but it is another thing to finally close the deal. Win or lose this wasn't going to change the Huskies season come March but it would be nice to finally win against nationally known programs. The Huskies will get a chance tomorrow but must get better play from their top two players to have any chance.

Observations:

- I'll start with the positive which is Aziz N'Diaye. I kept hearing how he was a difference maker on defense but I was resistant. After seeing Aziz I'm confident by the end of the year he will be our best big man and could end up starting over Matthew Bryan-Amaning if he keeps this up. Aziz now has 10 blocks in four games while grabbing 30 rebounds in four games. His scoring will increase as the season continues and when he is in the game nobody drives the paint.

- Yesterday I bragged up the Huskies three point shooting and everyone was off tonight. Thomas was 0-4, Holiday 0-1, Suggs 0-2, Gaddy 0-1, Wilcox 1-2 and Ross didn't attempt a three pointer. The Huskies hopefully tomorrow will shoot better than 3 for 17.

- Matthew Bryan-Amaning was not productive today as he shot 3 for 11 while committing five turnovers and grabbing just two rebounds in two rebounds. This Maui Invitational he has been pretty unproductive. In 22 minutes he personally wasted 13 possessions with missed shots and turnovers. Just because Bryan-Amaning has the ball down low doesn't mean he has to shoot it every single time.

- Venoy Overton still doesn't look 100% yet. He was getting burned often in the first half by Brandon Knight but he did play well in the second half. Overton ended up with eight points and two steals. Overton still had a horrible time to lose his composure, he may have been frustrated but he can't lose his composure like that. Overton plays with a ton of emotion and was getting hit hard most of the game but still has to overcome that.

- Romar has to trust Abdul Gaddy more at the end of games. He played well on defense and was smooth today scoring eight points, four assists to two turnovers and three steals. The team does best when he has the ball there seems to be a calmness about it when he has the ball. With Overton and Thomas it's non stop driving to the hole and expected to be bailed out by calls. With Gaddy there is a smoothness in his game that I'm liking a lot.

- Justin Holiday and Darnell Gant both had great games. Both were asked to guard Terrence Jones who will be a top five pick in next years NBA draft. Gant showed why he is valuable he can play good defense on future lottery picks(James Harden) while continuing to hit the jumper. Holiday has improved a ton where whenever he made a jumper I would jump off my couch now I expect over 10 points a game from him. These two guys are in year four in this program have improved a ton since they day they arrived on campus.

Well the Huskies took a loss today but it's not the end of the world. The Huskies must continue to prove they can play in these games and most importantly win these games. After the Huskies play in this tournament they won't face a teams this good again until the NCAA tournament. If the Huskies wish to get over that sweet 16 hump they must prove to themselves they can win games like tonight. Tomorrow against Michigan State provides another great opportunity for this program to make a statement nationally.