Le Basketbawl

Earlier this season the Cleveland Cavaliers triumphed over adversity as they were without a “true point guard” after losing Mo Williams and Delonte West to injuries. The Cavaliers not only persevered they actually prospered as they would arrive at the the All-Star Break with a 13 game winning streak. Well they will once again have the chance to show that they can deal with a tough starting Monday night as the “Cleveland Plain Dealer” has reported that the Cavaliers will be without starting center Shaquille O’Neal for 8 weeks after having surgery performed Monday on his right thumb.

Shaq was injured Thursday night as Cleveland defeated the Boston Celtics. Sunday he was examined at the National Hand Center in Baltimore and the surgery was performed there Monday morning. The surgery was deemed successful however the veteran will miss the rest of the regular season and most likely the first round of the NBA Playoffs.

The Cavaliers do not have a “true center” right now on their roster.  Last month the club traded veteran Zydrunas Ilgauskas to the Washington Wizards in the trade that landed them Antawn Jamison. Ilgauskas has been waved by the Wizards but can not re-sign with Cleveland until March 21, due to NBA rules.

Cavaliers General Manager Danny Ferry released a statement after the surgery was announced. Ferry said “Our guys have done a very good job of stepping up this season. We are confident they will do the same in this situation … We are fortunate to have some depth in our front court that can keep us moving forward while Shaq recovers and returns to play for the post season.”

In New York Vinnie’s opinion maybe the toughest task a man ever has to go through is to make an apology. No matter how old New York Vinnie gets that is one thing that has always stayed the same. New York Vinnie does not like to admit when I am wrong and to have apologize when I have messed up. But what is 50 times more difficult than that is when you have to apologize when you did not do anything that merits it.

To make an apology when you know the other party is in the wrong just to resolve the situation truly means you have to be the bigger man. New York Vinnie has a tough enough time doing that with New York Vinnie’s Doll; however any man who is in a committed relationship with a woman has had to do it at some point. That is just a Frickin part of life. But to have to do it involving another guy; especially if he is a peer just to keep the peace is asking  a heck of a lot from any man.

According to the “Associated Press” Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard is a big enough man to have done exactly that. Last Thursday after the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Magic to keep their winning streak alive at 13 games heading into the All-Star break. Cavaliers veteran center Shaquille O’Neal reportedly made disparaging remarks about Howard to the media after the game. O’Neal reportedly is not pleased that Howard is identified by the media as “Superman“  as he feels that the nickname should be his.

The Eastern Conference Team’s All-Star starting center was interviewed by “TNT” on O’Neal’s remarks and to his  credit Howard took the high road. The Magic center said “It didn’t sit well with me personally. I’m a young player trying to get to where he’s at. I felt it would be better if he tried to help me instead of trying to put me down. The whole Superman thing, there’s no battle of nicknames. I mean, if he wants to be Superman, he can be Superman. But I never tried to steal that title from him or take away anything that he’s done for the game of basketball. I would like, instead of people fighting over a nickname, for us to be able to talk about what it’s like to win a championship. Just little things that him being who he is can help me. But I never tried to do anything to be like him. I’m my own person. I just love to have fun, and I have a lot of respect for him and what he’s brought to the game of basketball, and I would just ask that somebody like Shaquille O’Neal to help me become a better basketball player and a better person.”

In New York Vinnie’s opinion that not only took courage that took class to make that statement. Rather than Frickin escalating the situation like happens so many times in Pro Sports; Howard defused it! Even though he was not in the wrong he held out the Frickin Olive Branch. That takes guts in New York Vinnie’s eyes.

Shaq most likely will now issue an apology as he did after his “Free-Stylin’ Rap” on Kobe in 2008. But Howard will have been the one who set it in motion over the way he responded. During a season when we almost had a shoot out in a locker room it is reassuring to know that players like Dwight Howard still do exist!

No one in this world has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people.

H.L. Mencken

There’s a Sucker Born Every Minute

David Hannum

We live in the Greatest nation on the Planet and supposedly we are the most Frickin Sophisticated people of all Frickin time. Well if that is the Frickin case then can somebody please tell New York Vinnie why it seems that we have a Country filled with Dim-Wits, Morons and Imbeciles? People fall for the stupidest Frickin things and the worst part about is nine out of ten times it is the fault of the Frickin Media!

Back a few years ago we had what they called “Journalistic Standards” in our society. But here in the last month of 2009 ”Journalistic Standards” are a thing of the past. It no longer is about getting it Right; it has become  about getting it First. So we end up being glued to our Frickin TV sets worrying about “Balloon Boy“; or some PUD like Stephen A Smith  can write a story about Allen Iverson retiring from the NBA. And we the Frickin American Public just sit there with our Frickin mouths shut.

There was a rumor going around all day on Friday that Cleveland Cavaliers center and future Basketball Hall Of Fame Inductee was about to announce his retirement. Friday afternoon  the “Cleveland Plain Dealer” reported that the rumors were false. They had in fact been spread by some College-Boy PUDS over the Internet  Thursday night.

New York Vinnie is not going to give these Frickin Scumbagos the Free Publicity they seek by printing their website in this article. If you want to find the site there plenty of other media outlets that will tell you their name. However New York Vinnie will tell you this; I went over to their site and these Frickin Nerds make the guys on the Frickin TV show “The Big Bang Theory” look like the Frickin Fonz! 

Here is something else that New York Vinnie will share with you. This is not the last of these Frickin incidents and they will not end as long as some Frickin moron at some media outlet keeps spreading these Frickin rumors. One of the Greatest Freedoms we have in the Nation is Freedom Of The Press. But with that Freedom comes responsibility; get the Frickin story right!

Could you imagine Walter Cronkite covering “Balloon Boy“? Or Curt Gowdy reporting that Iverson or Shaq was retiring if they were not? Of course not because those guys were Class and they had Standards. We need a whole lot more of those kinds  of Standards in 2009 as far as New York Vinnie is concerned.

It looked like it was going to happen earlier this week however the “Cleveland Plain Dealer” reported Wednesday that Cleveland Cavaliers veteran center Shaquille O’Neal would still be in street clothes Wednesday night when the Cavaliers are in Motown to play the Detroit Pistons.  O’ Neal has missed five straight games with a strained shoulder. Cleveland head coach Mike Brown decided to keep the “Big Pick-Up” inactive for one more game for precautionary reasons. If there are no setbacks according to the report O’Neal will most likely play Friday when the team takes on the Charlotte Bobcats.

New York Vinnie agrees with the way Brown is handling this; better to wait one game too long than rush him back one game too soon. Besides Cleveland should have no problem with Zydrunas Ilgauskas matching up against Ben “Mr. Geritol” Wallace or the Giant PUD himself the biggest bust of the NBA draft this decade Kwame Brown. Detroit will be without Tayshaun Prince and Richard Hamilton due to injury.

The Associated Press reported that Cleveland Cavaliers center Shaquille O’Neal practiced with the team on Monday and hopes to be back on the hardwood Wednesday night as the Cavaliers head to Motown to face the Detroit Pistons. ” The Big Pick-Up” has been out for the last ten days after straining his shoulder against the Miami Heat on November 12. O’Neal hurt himself attempting to block a shot by Miami second year forward Michael Beasley; it is believed he injured his right shoulder but he would not confirm that with reporters. Cleveland did well without their big man as they have a 4-1 record in the five games Shaq has missed.

O’Neal told reporters that he was very impressed with the fact that the team would not allow him to take a shot of cortisone and play through the injury. The veteran said “You can tell it’s a great organization. “I was cursing and screaming and trying to make them shoot me up, but they wouldn’t do it. My hat goes off to them for being above board.I’m from the old school. If it ain’t broke, let’s just keep going, shoot it up with whatever is legal. But they refused me many times.”

New York Vinnie agrees with the Future Hall Of  Fame player 100% that how Cleveland handled the injury speaks volumes about the kind of organization they are. They are concerned with their player’s long term well being not doing some Frickin Mickey Mouse patch job like other teams would and do participate in. It is things like that that will keep LeBron James in Cavaliers uniform next season.

Cleveland coach Mike Brown said the team was thinking long term not short term in the situation. The Cavaliers head coach told reporters “It’s early in the season, but even if it’s late, we don’t want to rush anybody back. We understand this is a business for them. They have families to take care of. There’s no need to rush anyone out there without them being right.”

If you do things the proper way you never have to be concerned about the outcome. You take short cuts or the easy way out it bites you in the end every time. The Cavaliers are one of the better teams  in the NBA for a reason; it is the way that they are run from the top down.

Allen Iverson seems to be running out of options as the New York Knicks have now broken off talks with him according to “ESPN.com.”  New York Team President Donnie Walsh told reporters that the club reached the decision late Thursday night not to pursue the free agent guard. Iverson was waived earlier this week by the Memphis Grizzlies after the player and the team could not see eye to eye on whether the All-Star would be a starter or come off the bench. The veteran signed a one year deal with Memphis just before Training Camp for a reported $3.5 million.

Walsh did say that the team was intrigued with going after the Free Agent but decided he was not a good fit for the squad. The Team President said “It did get interesting for a while because Allen’s a great player and has always been a great player. You’re 1-9 and you’re thinking, ‘We’ve got to get some help in here.’ But when we rethought it and I talked to Mike and he talked to me, we feel that could hurt our development of the future, and so we want to go the way we’re going. There will be other things we can do during the year that will be more in line with what our philosophy has been entering into this. And I want to really make it clear that this has nothing to do with Iverson. He’s a great player, I’ve always admired him. I think he’d be a great addition for a team that is in a different position than we’re in, and I hope he gets picked up.”

 So is this the end for Allen Iverson in the NBA? Is this the way his career ends with a whimper not a bang? A former NBA MVP unwanted by any team? Or is there a solution a realtionship that could benefit both A.I. and the team? Your Old Pal New York Vinnie has been mulling this over since the news broke that the Knicks were not interested and if Iverson has truly learned a lesson and can be a team player I think I have the perfect solution.

One would hope that the last few months have humbled Iverson but it was apparent during his short stay in Memphis that was not the case. However now after being let go by a team as bad as Memphis and bypassed by “MY BOYS” the Knicks maybe just maybe the veteran has started to smell the coffee. If that is the case then he could be just the right man to take one team to their first NBA Championship; the Cleveland Cavaliers.

 Okay now that you have picked your Frickin jaw off the floor New York Vinnie will tell you why this makes sense. First and foremost there is a need; the two-guard position in the Cavaliers starting lineup right now is that team’s weak link. Last year’s starter Delonte West has been hard by his emotional disorder and one does not know how long it will take for him to recover from what he is going through. Plus West has legal problems due to his arrest this summer on weapons charges.

Anthony Parker is a great back-up for an Elite NBA team but he is not a starter. When Iverson is focused and happy he can still give you 20 points a game. Add that to a lineup of Mo Williams, a healthy Shaq, Varejao or Hickson at the power forward spot and the reigning NBA MVP LeBron James and New York Vinnie could see that team going very far in the Post Season.

Here is another reason why New York Vinnie thinks that this could work; Romeo Travis. Who is Romeo Travis you ask? If you read the book that LBJ put out this summer “Shooting Stars” you would be well aware that Travis was one of the Cavaliers star’s teammates in high school. LBJ had started high school with three childhood friends; Sian Cotton, Dru Joyce III and Willie McGee and they called themselves the “Fab Four.” At the beginning of their sophomore year Rome Travis transferred to their school. Travis could play but he was an outsider he never got close to the group.

That is until their senior year when the four childhood friends knowing how badly they needed Travis to be on the same page as them invited hin into their group. They became the “Fab Five” and won the National Championship that year; a small school from Akron, Ohio with a huge desire to win.

If the teams leaders; LBJ, Mo Williams and O’Neal could convince Iverson that he is what they need to get that ring then LeBron could have another “Fab Five” on his hands. There is no doubt whether the talent is still there with Iverson; it is. However is the desire to do what ever it takes to get that ring there? If it is then Iverson would be a perfect fit for Cleveland.

The Associated Press is reporting that Cleveland Cavaliers center Shaquille O’Neal is looking to become a  Deputy Sheriffin Cuyahoga County, Ohio.  A spokesman for the county’s sheriff department confirmed that the NBA veteran did apply to become a deputy. If O’Neal is accepted he would have the right to carry a weapon and make arrests however he would not receive a salary.

O’Neal has been interested in law enforcement for many years now. He has previously held positions with law enforcement departments in Arizona, Florida and Virginia. A spokesman for the State Attorney General’s office said that Shaq would be required to take 36 hours of training before he would become certified. One thing for sure he will be a lot Frickin tougher than Barney Fife or Deputy Dawg!