No show today because of the Diamondbacks/Marlins game.  It's a good thing too because I felt terrible today.  I haven't been sick in a long time but woke up this morning with a sore throat.  I would gladly trade a fever, congestion, headache, body ache, upset stomach for not having a sore throat.  Its brutal.

Some Suns Draft Thoughts:

• The Suns are being widely praised for drating the defensive minded Lopez brother, Robin.  I think its a mildly disappointing to bad pick.  If this were 2004 or 2005, it would be a great pick for the Suns.  But they need scoring.  I know thats like saying the Bengals need another criminal on their team or Vince Carter needs another injury but the Suns are going to need scoring next year.  Without Shawn Marion for a full season, that team is going to lack some serious punch.  Who scores for them? Nash? Grant Hill? Shaq? Its pretty much Amare and very little off the bench other than Leandro Barbosa.  Its just too little too late.  And what happens when Shaq's gone after next season or injured this year?  You really think Robin Lopez is going to be able to start for the Suns at Center?  He barely started at Stanford.  The draft was ruined for the Suns when Brandon Rush was traded, though I would've like to have seen them take Mario Chalmers, Chris Douglas Roberts or even Donte Greene.

• I haven't decided which Lopez brother has the more feminine name.  I feel like I'm in a good position to judge this based on the fact that my name is Jody.  Though in all honesty, I think Robin and Brook are more feminine names than Jody.  On one hand, Robin has Batman and Robin to fall back on.  On the other hand, that's not really a trump card, all things considered.  On paper, Brook Lopez looks more feminine but saying Robin Lopez out loud sounds more feminine.  It would be a no brainer if Brook spelled his name with an 'e' on the end or Robin spelled his name with a 'y' instead of an 'i'.  Ultimately, I think Robin Lopez sounds more feminine.  I base this on a babbling brook seems more masculine than an orange chested robin.  There, thats settled.

Quick notes:

• I thought the ESPN crew did a good job of keeping things moving and all seemed refreshed to be there but there was a complete lack of substanative basketball conversation.  I thought Stuart Scott was especially good as host
• I'm sure OJ Mayo was thrilled to be traded from Minnesota, considering going from LA to Minneapolis is kind of a culture shock for anyone much less a high profile basketball player.  Then he found out he was going to Memphis, the armpit of the NBA. 
• Jered Bayless needs to lighten up.  I love his intensity on the court and I think he'll be an excellent NBA player, but I've never seen him smile or joke around.  Even in the locker room after wins this season, he was always brooding or at best mildly content.  Also, the cream colored suit was an interesting choice but an improvement over his suit collection during the season when he was injured when he looked like he snuck something out of his dad's suit closet.
• Michael Beasely will never be a 20 and 10 guy in the NBA.  6'7 and playing PF?  Its all about hustle at that point and I just don't see that coming from him.  He'll be solid but not spectacular.
• I knew Ryan Anderson had to be a first rounder.  He was one of the more underrated players in the draft, in my opinion.
•  Arizona has now had the most draft picks selected in the NBA than any other college since 1989.  Did you see that Brandon Jennings?  You still think Europe will prepare you better for an NBA career?  I wish I could say good luck with that but frankly the whole situation makes it difficult to root for him to succeed, if he does in fact choose Europe.

Have a great weekend, talk to you Monday at 4.

A couple of thoughts for you on this Tuesday afternoon since the Diamondbacks once again are hogging all of the air time this afternoon:

TV/Movie recommendations: I watched Gangs of New York over the weekend, its probably the third time I’ve seen it.  Its further proof that Daniel Day Lewis is probably one of the 5 greatest living actors.  If it was socially acceptable, I’d have a large Daniel Day Lewis poster hanging in my room, which would only be slightly creepier than a potential Hannah Montana poster.  Regardless, it’s a powerful Scorcese movie and for my money better than the Oscar winning The Departed. 

Shaq Rap

• You know it’s the end of June when a ridiculous video of Shaq free styling about Kobe Bryant gets major airtime all over the place.  The worst part of this video is being subjected to a nearly 40 year old Shaquille O’Neal “free styling” and refusing to put to rest his dreams of being a hip hop icon.  I’ve heard better free styling from homeless people on 4^th Avenue wandering aimlessly and playing the ukelele.

•      I just don’t get how this is a story to people.  2 super star players who each believe that they are responsible for a bigger percentage of the Lakers success than the other.  Kobe fgets back by getting Shaq traded to the Heat.  Shaq riles Kobe by winning a championship without him with the Heat.  Kobe has his best chance to win this year without Shaq only to perform miserably.  Add on top of that Kobe exposing Shaq as being unfaithful to his wife and its doesn’t take a bad video to realize these two guys aren’t the best of friends.

•     I at least enjoy the fact that they aren’t afraid of making it public and letting us all enjoy it.  Its not like they’re threatening each other.

•   “Kobe, how’s my a** taste?”  That’s perhaps the worst line I could ever imagine.  That’s like the freestyle lyrical equivalent to Nickelback lyrics.

Suns Draft

Rumors are flying about the Suns possibly making a trade around this year’s draft and I love all of them.  Here’s a quick rundown of the rumors that are out there and what I think of them:

Leandro Barbosa to Portland for Martell Webster and #13 pick – Would be a great trade for the Suns.  They get a young outside shooter who could thrive with the Suns and an additional draft pick to go along with the #16 pick.  With 2 first rounders the Suns could come out with both Brandon Rush and a big man like Kosta Koufos or Anthony Randolph.

Boris Diaw to Toronto for TJ Ford, Rasho Nesterovic and the #17 pick – Not only would they get rid of the consistently disappointing Boris Diaw but they also do so while still being able to get some value.  See above for what the Suns could do with two first’s.  The wild card would be TJ Ford who could provide the Suns Barbosa’s speed but be a better passer and more reliable.

Leandro Barbosa  and the #15 to the Clippers for Corey Maggette and the #7 pick – Another home run deal for the Suns who could use Maggette to replace Shawn Marion’s perimeter defense plus get a high draft pick to use on Russell Westbrook, Brook Lopez or Joe Alexander.

Those are the three most prominent rumors so far.  Frankly, they sound too good to be true. 

I’m firmly in favor of trading both Diaw and Barbosa.  I just don’t think they are the kind of reliable, productive bench players that championship teams need.  Additionally, they could be used to infuse some youth onto the roster, which would serve the team well next season and beyond.

More thoughts on the NBA Draft coming later this week.

With no Happy Hour today, I thought I’d still share some thoughts.  Its not quite as cathartic as speaking loudly in our cramped studios (sponsored by the Sports Zone!) so I usually end up going home and yelling blindly in the garage for about 15 minutes when I don’t have a show. 

US Olympic Roster announced

• Kobe, Lebron, Wade, Carmelo, Kidd, Tayshaun Prince, Boozer, Bosh, Howard, Redd, Paul, Williams fill out the roster. 

•  I think all of us can agree the United States has struggled in International competition in recent years, including an embarrassing bronze in Athens.  The biggest culprit has been, according to most, a lack of cohesion against international teams that play together for years and years; in other words, teamwork.  So, how is this team any different?  You have 3 guys leading this team who go by first name only; Kobe, Lebron, Carmelo.  After Kobe, you have Jason Kidd as your next veteran.  What do both Kobe and Kidd have in common?  A reputation that despite being more talented than just about anyone else to have ever played their position, they aren’t the leaders people expected them to be.

•  In fact, only 2 players from this years team have even won an NBA Championship in their careers.  Compare that to the original Dream Team in 1992 or in 1996 when there were double digit rings between the players and you begin to see why this team has struggled.  In 2000, a team that barely won gold had very little championship material and in 2004, only one player in Tim Duncan.

•  f this were the Olympics of advertising (and its slowly turning into that anyway), the United States would be beating everyone in endorsements like they beat Angola in 1992.

•  Despite all of that, there’s some serious pressure on this team.  The credibility of American basketball and in some respects, the NBA are on the line.  Someone please take Kobe off this roster.

Dbacks vs. Red Sox

•  Beginning today, the Diamondbacks start a 3 game series at Fenway, thus the reason Ill be playing Spider Solitaire all day (not really, but I suppose I could).  Arizona was swept by the Twins, including being baffled by Livian Hernandez on Sunday. 

•  I’m convinced part of the reason Livo signed with the Twins is because they are affectionately known as the Twinkies and he just got confused. 

•  Either way, not a good weekend for the Snakes, especially considering their lead in the NL West is now just 3.5 games over the equally hard-to-figure-out Dodgers. 

• Eric Byrnes returns to the lineup which for now just means more hair in the lineup, not necessarily any more power.

Ill be blogging every day this week as I won’t be back on the air until Thursday. 

When I first heard that Brandon Jennings was potentially considering bypassing his commitment to play at the University of Arizona to instead play in Europe before entering the NBA draft, I dismissed it as a remnant of the wild times in Tucson when rumors were being thrown around more often than beers on 4th avenue.  Either that or Brandon had apparently decided to pursue soccer as his new passion.

Then Andy Katz decided to write about the story, complete with confusing quotes from Brandon Jennings.  Jennings says he feels Europe may actually prepare him better for the NBA than Arizona.  He says he's considering all options and even if he does come to Arizona, it would likely only be for a single season.   Jennings and his family have spent time with an attorney trying to figure out the right course of action should Europe be the best option.

Of course, Jennings could render all of this speculation moot with a passing score on the SAT.  Its really that simple.  Its ridiculous to argue that Europe is a better training ground for the NBA than Arizona.  With the total salaries of Arizona players equally the GDP for some small European countries, there is no contest.  Its likely posturing on Jennings part to innoculate against the backlash from a potentially embarrassing situation.

That being said, it does raise some questions whether Arizona is ready for the Brandon Jennings era.  He's already convinced he only needs 1 year, he has publicly stated Europe would be better for his development than Arizona and only pointed to the return of Chase Budigner as a reason he is excited to come to Arizona.  How does the rest of the team feel about this from their future point guard?

At this point, I'm starting to feel like Arizona might not be ready for Jennings.  Arizona and Coach Olson are like a married couple who separate after 24 years of loving marriage because the husband flirted with someone else and it caused some problems. Only shortly thereafter the couple gets back together to try and recreate the magic from those first 24 years.  Except this time, they decided to hire a gorgeous babysitter that constantly threatens the renewed harmony in their life.  In this long winded analogy, Brandon Jennings would be the baby sitter.

The point is, sometimes when something is in a fragile state of content, harmony, cohesivness etc., the worst thing to do is throw in another strong unknown. 

Ultimately, its a risk the team and its fans would be willing to take.  Later this week we'll find out if Brandon Jennings passed his SAT or instead was spending his time getting his passport.

(To read the Andy Katz article, sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story)

It seems like just about everytime I don't have a show because of the Diamondbacks, some huge news story breaks.  Today, it was the allegations made by Tim Donaghy.  You're probably familiar at this point with some of the allegations; NBA wanted a Game 7 in 2002, they targeted Yao Ming, officials were told not to eject star players, etc. 

Fans of the NFL and MLB accept inconsistent calling because it doesn't constantly plague the biggest moment of every game.  In the NBA, its hard to watch an important game and not see at least 2-3 calls that could have gone the other way.  The NBA, and basketball in general, is incredibly difficult to officiate because officials make hundreds of judgement calls on plays that last a second or two.

There's no easy solution for the NBA, but here are a couple of ideas:

• David Stern clones self and ref's every game - Its getting to a point in the NBA where no theory is too wacky to possibly be true.  You know the rumors about David Stern being connected and his penchant for hoarding power and controlling everything?  This would just be taking it to the next level.  Plus, as an added bonus, we'd be treated to his condescending sarcasm after each game.
• NBA eliminates ref's and players call fouls - If this were to happen, I'd immediately expect Charles Oakley to unretire, return to the NBA and win multiple MVP's until he's physically unable to move.  It would be fun to see which players would intimidate other players and which guys would never call a foul.  Whenever I've played pick up basketball, it takes approximately 1 possession to figure out which dude is calling everything and which dude is just there to play.  In this NBA, Dwight Howard reigns supreme and Tayshaun Prince plummets in value.
• Open gambling to all officials - If this happens, then it just becomes a skill for an official to out manuever the others and have a bigger impact on the outcome of the game.  Again, Charles Oakley would immediately become and official and the 3rd wealthiest man in America.

Other than those ideas, there are a couple that could actually happen.  The NBA is long overdue for a change in leadership and a sweeping overhaul of its officiating.  Its shocking to think, but Bud Selig may actually outlast both David Stern and Paul Tagliabue, yet has overwhelmingly been the worst commissioner.

The Belmont Stakes is this weekend with Big Brown looking to make some horse history.  It’s compelling but it’s definitely not the same as watching history unfold in another sport, you know a sport that doesn’t have a tiny human thrashing a ‘roided up beast around a track.  But because there is that history and tradition, there’s interest.  I would say the interest is and has been waning for several years.

In fact, there’s a trend of similar sporting events that have always been on the periphery of the sports landscape struggling to get the same attention they once held.  It’s like watching the prom queen from high school who always had that one shining moment at the reunion promptly run face first into the wall.

Here’s my crazy theory on why this is happening.  Horse racing, the Indy 500, tennis and a couple of other events are sort of like mom and pop stores.  They provide a quality product but not nearly at the same level as larger stores.  The major sports are basically Wal-Mart.  They’ve moved in, there’s access to them 24/7/365 with dedicated channels, year round network coverage and dedicated sites on the internet.  So the mom and pop stores are dying out because people don’t need them anymore.  There’s no such thing as a gap in the NFL season where a fan is left trying to find something else.  You can get daily coverage to not only the NFL but to your favorite team.  People just don’t have the interest level in these mom and pop events when they can go to Wal-Mart whenever they want and get exactly what they want.

Many people are rushing to judgement that on the other side of the "=" sign will be "new head coach".  The Phoenix Suns have publicly stated that they would like their next head coach to be someone with head coaching experience.  That rules out just about everyone because in the NBA, coaches are recycled like I recycle plastic bottles

So when Flip Saunders was fired as head coach of the Pistons today, he of the nearly 600 career wins and nearly .600 winning percentage, the same coach who has led the Timberwolves and Pistons to conference finals, coached the All Star team and led the Pistons to a franchise record 64 regular season wins, many people assumed he would be a candidate for the Suns job.

There couldn't be a worse hiring out there.  If the Suns just let Amare Stoudamire coach the team they would have just a good of a chance at winning the NBA Title than they would with Flip Saunders.

Saunders represents everything that Mike D'Antoni does, only he's not nearly as charming as Mike and doesn't have the moustache.  Saunders has routinely had big time success in the regular season only to see his teams flame out in the playoffs, several times when they were heavily favored.  Sound familiar?  Thats because that's exactly what the Suns have done the past 4 seasons.

You don't send a message to the team or the fans about winning a championship by hiring a coach who has repeatedly crumbled under that pressure.  Its easier to believe that a coach with experience but not the stain of playoff disappointment, like Terry Porter or Kurt Rambis has a better shot at winning a title.

At least we don't know how they'd respond in the face of championship pressure.  Flip folds.

By the way, can you really imagine an million dollar athletes wanting to go to battle for a guy named Flip?  That may be the most compelling reason for not hiring him.  I just imagine Amare constantly harrassing him to do a flip and ingorning any coaching.

If the Suns want to win a championship, they won't hire Philip Saunders. 

Some thoughts on a bunch of different things before the Memorial Day weekend.  I'll be going to Utah from Friday through Monday for a little getaway.  It seems every time I go away, the weather cools off in Tucson and I don't get to miss the 100+ degree weather.  And yes, I believe weather patterns revolve around my travel schedule.  That's how big Happy Hour has become.

• Arizona hired Reggie Geary as its 3rd and final assistant coach.  It was an inevitable hire for Coach Olson who not only gets a familiar face on his staff but repairs some of the damage caused by the handling of Geary's previous time at Arizona.  That's when he signed on as a coach but was moved to a pencil pusher position.  Geary will handle a bulk of the recruiting, which could be interesting.  He's never done this and I don't believe he can recruit any NBADL players he coached, although they would probably benefit from some more time in college.  Next for Arizona is Nic Wise and Chase Budinger.  We'll have more on those situations next week.
• The Diamondbacks have lost 2 of 3 to the Marlins.  Micah Owings and Brandon Webb both turned in terrific pitching performances but the Dbacks bats continue to fail them.  Another week of this and the conversation will inevitably turn back to "the Diamondbacks don't have a legit cleanup bat" and fans clamoring the team to make a trade. 
• Celtics vs. Pistons series is as tough to watch as advertised.  For me, this series has turned into one of those political pundit shows.  I probably should be watching some but every time I turn it on, I just can't stomach more than about 10 minutes.  This series seems destined for 7 games to the benefit of absolutely no one.
• The Lakers came back from a 20 point 3rd quarter defecit to beat the Spurs in Game 1.  Thats it, the series is over.  The Lakers are not only a better team but they now have a huge momentum advantage.  Other than that, one thing missing from the Lakers conversation is that Pau Gasol is really, really good.  Some people thought he was the European version of Shareef Abur-Rahim, the former Hawks All Star who turned into a terrible player when traded to a successful team but Gasol is anything but.  He is a really talented big man.

Happy Hour will be back live on Tuesday at 4 PM.  Until then, enjoy one of the most underrated holiday weekends of the year, Memorial Day weekend.  Its a guaranteed 3 day weekend, unlike Christmas holiday or 4th of July which can fall on a Tues-Thurs or a Sat-Sun.   I measure holidays not on the significane represented by the day or the magnitude of the events on the day but rather if it conveniently allows a 3 day weekend

Arizona announced this morning that they were granting Emmanuel Negedu his full and unconditional release from his signed letter of intent and this may actually be the best news of the offseason so far.

Yesterday on Happy Hour we discussed, for basically the entire show (I was able to get in a few jabs at the NBA Playoffs), whether Arizona should release him from his letter of intent.  The speculation from Negedu's coach and several other media outlets stated that Arizona was not considering a release at that point.  I strongly felt Arizona should release him, if at the very least, to avoid further public discussion about the reasons for the release.  The discussion also allowed me to introduce the corniest joke ever told on Happy Hour; calling him Emmanuel Nege-don't want to come to Arizona.  It was a joke worthy of being on the worst sitcom which is really any sitcom on ABC.

I think Coach Olson and Jim Livengood's quick decision to grant the release is a good example of what can be avoided with decisive action.  This issue is now resolved and anything that happens will be just a foot note.

Arizona has struggled this offseason to quickly resolve outstanding issues that have adversely effected the program and to an even greater extent, the publc perception of the program.  When issues linger, such as ambiguous reasoning for coaches being let go, a players transfer status, unfilled coaching vacancies, etc., they become explored, discussed, and repeated.

Let's think about the last 24-48 hours for the basketball team. Two highly qualified new assistant coaches introduced to the media where they left a very positive impression, a combo guard from California commits to play next season, and Arizona reaches a quick decision on a tough situation.  Its been the best 2 day stretch for Arizona Basketball since any 2 days Kevin O'Neill didn't cuss a player out.  Actually, that probably never happened, so lets just say its the best 2 day stretch in a long time for Arizona.

Mike D'Antoni had his introductory press conference as the new head coach of the New York Knicks today and already had to deny his first rumor.  No, it wasn't about whether he claims to have the greatest moustache in NBA Coaching history, rather about whether he in fact was already lobbying the team to trade Stephon Marbury.

D'antoni later denied wanting to trade Marbury, which is perhaps the worst denial ever.  When you are just starting as a coach, why would you want to compromise your credibility by basically saying you don't want to trade Marbury.  Sure, you are preventing Marbury from becoming sullen but weigh that against the angry fan base.  D'Antoni should have been the one initiating the rumor instead of denying it because after all, Marbury is terrible.

Mike also had to deal with his new GM Donnie Walsh mispronouncing his last name.  I would think if you are shelling out $24 million for a coach, you would have done enough research to be able to pronounce his name.  Maybe whatever Isiah Thomas has is contagious.

D'Antoni ultimately left Phoenix because he didn't feel supported by GM Steve Kerr and believed they had different basketball philosophies.  He wanted to coach with a completely supportive GM and do things only his way.  This only works if you win titles, not only win in the regular season.  D'Antoni bristled at such suggestions from Kerr that he spend 10-15 minutes practicing defense, decrease Nash's workload and develop his bench.  Apparently, these logical, rational suggestions proved to be far too harsh for D'Antoni.  Getting obvious suggestions from his GM proved to cause a poisonous work environment for D'Antoni.  How's that for thick skin?

And thick skin is exactly what he is going to need to succeed in New York.  With thousands of people believing they are GM's, D'Antoni will at some point long for the days of a suffocating work environment with Steve Kerr looming, demanding such unreasonable adjustments for a team that achieved 4 consecutive playoff failures.