Le Basketbawl

New York Vinnie has already told you that he is not expecting much out of His Boys the New York Knicks in the 2009-2010. However a familiar face to NBA fans just may make Madison Square Garden a little more enjoyable  once the NBA season begins. ESPN.com is reporting that the Knicks will be able to negotiate exclusively with former NBA star point guard Jason Williams for a contract that will end his retirement from the league.

White Chocolate retired last September after he had signed a free agent contract with the Los Angeles Clippers. Last Friday the Clippers surrendered their rights to negotiate with J-Will. New York will be able to have the window of exclusivity until August 6.

Williams was part of the 2006 Miami Heat team that won the NBA Championship. The veteran who will turn 34 in November was taken in the first round of the 1998 NBA Draft by the Sacramento Kings. Williams also played with the Memphis Grizzlies during his time in the Association. He had career averages of 11.4 points, 6.3 assists, and 2.4 rebounds, per game.

In New York Vinnie’s eyes it is a nice pickup. Williams will not cost the team any players and will most likely receive the NBA veteran minimum. If his skills are no longer sharp the team will find out during training camp and release him. But Williams could add some excitement to a team that has lacked much for many years!

As the old song goes “You Got To Know When To Hold ‘Em And Know When To Fold ‘Em” and it turned out Lamar Odom was holding the winning hand. The ”Los Angeles Times” has reported that the Los Angeles Lakers have re-signed their veteran forward for a four year deal that could make him up to $33 million dollars.  Odom who was a key member of the NBA Champions this past June had earlier rejected a three year deal and the Lakers pulled it off the table.

The move got Odom a ton of criticism including from your old pal New York Vinnie. But as the saying goes he who laughs last laughs best and Odom is laughing all the way to the Frickin Bank! The Miami Heat were also doing some serious bidding for Odom and Heat All-Star Dwyane Wade flew out to see the forward. But Odom always wanted to stay in Los Angeles and he got the security he wanted with the added year. All and all the Lakers veteran comes up smelling like a rose!  

Odom spoke to the media after the deal was announced and told reporters this was always his goal. He told reporters “I always wanted to come back because we won the championship. I’m playing for the biggest brand in the world. And I’m playing with the most fluid, talented center in the world in Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum’s coming back and of course Kobe Bryant.

But to now get an opportunity to play with Ron Artest, a guy I’ve known 16 years, it means a lot. I told Ron Ron a few weeks ago I couldn’t walk away. I still had to fight. Everytime negotiations didn’t go the way I thought, I just took a step back, like them pulling the offer off the table, I just knew I had to fight.”

Lamar My Man you stuck to what you wanted and you won! It does not get any sweeter than that My Man! You have won New York Vinnie’s respect as you showed the world you had the Frickin Nuts to hold out for what you wanted!  There are not a lot of folks that would take that risk Lamar! You did My Man and you won Congratulations!

New York Vinnie is now officially in his eighth month heading up Le Basketbawl! I got to tell you in a way New York Vinnie is shocked that he has not been kicked out the door yet! There have been lots of people who have been screaming for my scalp! But so far New York Vinnie is still standing and hanging tough! I told you the day that New York Vinnie took over here that there would be days that the people would be out to get me. Because unfortunately most people “Can’t Handle The Truth!” So subsequently some people can not handle New York Vinnie! But you know what the best thing is? They keep coming back!

New York Vinnie can not give a rat’s patootie if you like me or not! It could not Frickin matter to me less! But despite yourself you do keep reading what I have to say! New York Vinnie is like a Frickin Disease he infects your mind! Now I am not out here looking to tick people off just like the Late Great Howard Cosell I am here to “Tell You Like It Is!”

We have received some very negative e-mails recently and we print them all. New York Vinnie responds to each critique. But the funniest thing is nobody ever responds back again! That tells New York Vinnie one of two things. Either I have convinced you my side is right and your side is wrong or what New York Vinnie truly believes that I am dealing with a bunch of  Frickin sissy-boys and wussies! New York Vinnie will take on all comers the only problem is nobody ever is willing to take Vinnie on!

It just amazes New York Vinnie how many Frickin  fake e-mail addresses he receives from the Haters and the Critics! It just goes to show you how much they fear New York Vinnie! What are you afraid Vinnie is going to find out your Frickin street address and come over and kick the spit out of you? Nah not anymore New York Vinnie’s wild and crazy days have long since passed!

New York Vinnie loves to engage in a debate to make you Frickin think! He has no problems with people who disagree even though chances are most likely I am right and you are wrong! But debate has to be a two-sided contest! And so far New York Vinnie has not found anybody with enough nuts to take Vinnie on! So to all you haters and critics keep the Frickin hate pouring right on in! At least that way New York Vinnie knows you are out there! You know you are hooked you may leave for a day or a week but You Will Be Back!

New York Vinnie likes to think of himself as a flexible kind of a guy. In a lot of ways I am a traditionalist but within reason I am willing to try new things! You know you have to Frickin evolve right? Otherwise we would still be using Frickin Sun-Dials and riding around in a horse driven chariot! New York Vinnie understands that is is no longer 1979 when I was just 12 heading to MSG to watch My Boys the Knicks play. Instead of an organ and fans chanting “Lets Go Knicks”  the Frickin music is so loud you can barely hear your  own Frickin voice when you talk to the guy in the next seat over! New York Vinnie does not necessarily approve of these changes but I can live with them if you catch my drift.

However every man has a breaking point and your old pal New York Vinnie has reached his! The “USA Today” has reported that the NBA will now allow ad logos to be put on their practice jerseys. This may be the first step in allowing an ad logo on regular uniforms. New York Vinnie has to be honest with you when I saw this article it made my Frickin Blood boil! Is nothing Frickin sacred anymore? Especially in sports?

Starting this upcoming season your favorite NBA team will be able to sell advertising space on their Frickin practice jerseys. Supposedly this is in the connection with the economic hit the Nation has gone through this past year. However in New York Vinnie’s eyes this is just a Frickin excuse to rationalize this crappola!

Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver told the media that the NBA was just at the beginning of exploring putting ads on NBA Uniforms. Silver said “We are operating a diverse business all around the world. “(Uniform Jerseys with Sponsors logos on them) is a well-established practice in other countries. Ultimately, I think our fans will come to accept it.”

Okay now let me tell you what New York Vinnie’s thoughts are on this issue! First of all I don’t know about you but when ever New York Vinnie hears or reads the term Deputy only one thing comes to mind. You got it Barney Frickin Fife! Why would you allow yourself to be labeled as Deputy anything? It’s not Deputy-President is it? It’s not Deputy-Coach right? So already this Frickin Pud Silver is not not coming off too highly to New York Vinnie.

Now Silver lets get one thing straight right off the top Okay? This is the USA not Europe or Asia. Women not shaving their legs or under their arms is well established practice in other Frickin parts of the world too! In many parts of Europe they don’t wear Frickin Deodorant either! But we don’t put up with that Frickin Crappolla here because this is the Greatest Nation On the Planet the USA! Besides when you were a kid didn’t your mom ask you that question that every Mom in America has asked? If everybody else jumps off the Empire State Building are you going to?

Do not try to justify what we do here with what goes on anywhere else there Barney! And drop this lousy idea about the uniform logos. You already had a problem with that composite ball from a few years back remember? This will be twice as unpopular mark New York Vinnie’s words!

Will Wonders never cease? You could have knocked New York Vinnie over with a Frickin feather earlier today! Were you aware that Portland, Oregon actually has Frickin Internet Access? New York Vinnie has to be honest with you I thought they still relied on the Frickin Pony Express! But Frickin Lo and Behold in my e-mail today was some not so nice e-mails commenting on New York Vinnie’s column Oden Is On His Way To Being A Bust!

Now New York Vinnie realizes that Portland is not a true major league city! They after all only have the NBA team not like real cities like Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston and of course the greatest city ever on the face of the planet NEW YORK CITY! See we have all the Major League Sports in our cities including the NBA, the NHL, MLB and the NFL. But poor little insecure Portland, Oregon got their Frickin noses out of joint because New York Vinnie told the truth! And as Jack Nicholson said “They Can’t Handle The Truth!” 

You see New York Vinnie wrote what nobody in Portland ever wants to read anywhere! That their Frickin resident genius Kevin Frickin Pritchard screwed up with the first pick of the 2007 NBA Draft. That they took a broken down old mule when they thought they were getting a Frickin Triple Crown Winner! But guess what Blazers fan your old nag will be heading to the Frickin Glue Factory in the next few years! Because his brittle Frickin body will not be able to take the wear and tear of an 82 game regular season. Not to mention the Playoffs! This Pud Oden will be on the Injured List every Frickin year and you can take that to the Frickin Bank!

It truly is too bad because Portland has some excellent players! Brandon Roy is a stud and La Marcus Aldridge is the real Frickin deal. New York Vinnie likes the two rookies from this past season Batum and Fernandez. And The Trail Blazers added a key veteran in Andre Miller to go along with the talented Steve Blake at the point. All you need is a consistent man in the middle. However the only consistency you will get from Pops Oden is he will be consistently hurt!

Sorry Blazers fan New York Vinnie does not sugar coat things. Greg Oden may have the skills and he may have the talent but none of that means squat if you are sitting on the Frickin bench. Greg Oden’s lack of durability will keep him from ever being anything great in the NBA!

New York Vinnie has been saying for years what the big problem is in this great Nation of ours! There just is not enough Frickin Common Sense! If people just thought things through we would not have even half of the world’s problems that we have today! That is why from time to time your old pal New York Vinnie likes to give you a little advice. I call it “New York Vinnie’s tips for how to get along better in the World!”

It doesn’t cost you anything extra and this way New York Vinnie gets to give back a little bit to Society. It really is not all that much its just using your melon for something more than to put a cap on! Here is the first one: You should never as a practical joke go up behind a Police Officer and try to remove their weapon from their holster. Makes sense right? Here is another one: If you are standing out of doors and a 40 mph wind is coming at you one should not attempt to relieve themselves. Finally if you are the Frickin Portland Trail Blazers and you have the first pick in the Frickin NBA Draft you don’t draft a Frickin center!

This is going to be season number three for Portland Trail Blazers center Greg Oden although barring injury it will be only the second season he plays. Oden of course was the number one pick in the 2007 NBA Draft as the Blazers thought they had finally found the answer to their dreams in the middle. Well surgery took him out for the season in his first year in the NBA and this past season he played in 61 games but his numbers were anything but impressive. The center averaged 8.9 points and 7 rebounds per game and with those numbers the only way you are getting into the Basketball Hall of Fame is with a Frickin ticket.

Team USA had a camp in Las Vegas over the weekend that Oden played in and once again his numbers were not all that much. Oden scored 7 points, 10 rebounds, 1 assist and he had 1 block. Now if My Man was playing against Dwight Howard New York Vinnie would cut him some slack but he wasn’t. At least in the picture that you see here he is playing against New Jersey Nets center Brook Lopez. In the neighborhood that New York Vinnie grew up in they would call that under achieving.

This is going to be a big year for Oden to see if he can finally shake off the label he has been given at least temporarily as a Major Bust. New York Vinnie saw Oden and the rest of the Trail Blazers play a lot last season on the NBA Package. From what I saw this past season and from what he showed on what they called the “Showcase” game last Saturday New York Vinnie does not see Greg Oden at the end of the Frickin day being worth the first pick in the 2007 NBA Draft.

Alright New York Vinnie is not going to make anyone forget George Clooney anytime soon so how a person looks is not something that I talk about. However and no insult intended but My Man Oden looks Old! I mean My Man is just 21 years old and the dude has wrinkles like Robert Frickin Parish! How can you be so young and have so many wrinkles in your face? It is not like My Man probably had a lot to worry about during his growing up years. Oden must have known for years that he was going to be big in the NBA! He should be happy as a Frickin lark!

But here My Man Oden was at 19 years old and looking like he had the wrinkles of a dude in his fifties! Those Frickin creases are so deep you could hide stuff in there! Now New York Vinnie would have seen My Man when he was playing for Ohio State and said Hold Up! Why does this 19 year old kid have so many wrinkles? To me it looks like it could be the symptoms of a disease like Rickets! Now to be honest with you New York Vinnie has no idea what Frickin Rickets is but doesn’t Oden look like somebody who has them?

New York Vinnie grew up a big fan of the Sweet Science boxing and there is a term for a boxer with a weak jaw. They call it a glass jaw. Well Frickin Pops Oden may have a glass body! Look at how Frickin fragile My Man is! He got hurt in college, he missed his first season in the NBA and lost 21 games to injury last season. My Man is like Samuel L. Jackson in that movie “Unbreakable.” 

Every Frickin time the Trail Blazers take a center near the top of the Draft they crap out! Bill Walton got them their only ring but feet problems kept him on the sidelines for years. Then of course the one and only Sam Bowie who was actually taken ahead of a guy named Michael Jordan. Injuries never allowed him to come close to fulfilling his potential.

And now it appears that Portland will have the Frickin trifecta as Oden will most likely be hampered by injuries through out his career. And unless he picks it up big time he will go down in history as a Huge Frickin Bust!

The Charlotte Bobcats are not going to be any one’s patsie this season that is one thing you can count on! New York Vinnie is telling you the Bobcats will at least contend for an NBA Playoff spot this year. And with the addition of their newest member they just might make it for the first time in team history!

The Charlotte Bobcats announced on their website Tuesday that they have traded big man Emeka Okafor to the New Orleans Hornets for center Tyson Chandler. Chandler is just the kind of guy this team to take it to the next level in the upcoming season. The B-Cats showed a lot of growth last year their first under Larry Brown as they saw a lot of changes in team personnel.

Ty Chandler grew up big time with the Hornets as he spent three years with the club. He went from being just another stiffo from that lousy 2001 NBA Draft to a legitimate force in the league. Chandler  averaged 10.2 and 11.3 boards per game in his time in New Orleans despite by being plagued with injuries this past season.

Okafor was the first pick ever in the NBA Draft for the Bobcats in the 2004  NBA Draft. The former University of Connecticut player averaged 14.0 points and 10.7  rebounds per game during his stint in Charlotte. He was selected behind Dwight Howard in the 2004 draft.

Bobcats General Manager Rod Higgins told reporters this is a key move for his team. Higgins said “We looked at this trade as an opportunity to improve our team. Tyson brings that unique level of athleticism in a 7-footer that puts us in a position to compete night in and night out with the other quality centers in the league. We’d like to thank Emeka for all that he has done for this franchise and for serving as the organization’s ambassador and first-ever draft pick. His hard work and dedication to the Charlotte Bobcats will be missed, and we wish him well with his new team.”