The Tim Donaghy Mess

If you don't listen to sports talk radio, or you don't care to peruse the blogosphere on an hourly basis, then perhaps you haven't heard about the latest "bombshell" from Tim Donaghy. In public court papers filed Tuesday by his attorney John F. Lauro (and I prefer to believe that the F stands for fuckin'), Donaghy claims that other NBA officials conspired to affect the outcome of two playoff games, one in 2002 and the other in 2005. Based upon the details given in the filings (which don't include team names), it has been widely reported that the 2002 series mentioned refers to the Western Conference finals that year between the Sacramento Kings and the Los Angeles Lakers and, more specifically, game six of that series. The other was the 2005 series between the Dallas Mavericks and the Houston Rockets.

Where's the proof? Where's the evidence that this is anything but a criminal who is now carrying on a personal grudge match with the NBA? Articles across the globe describe Donaghy's allegations similar to the following:

Donaghy also told the FBI that a couple of referees appeared to cook up foul calls in a 2002 NBA playoff game in order to have the series go a seventh game. The only seven-game series in the entire 2002 playoffs was between the Lakers and Kings in the Western Conference finals. The Lakers won Games 6 and 7 to advance to the NBA Finals.

Huh? They "appeared" to screw Sacramento in order to benefit the NBA, because they were "company men" who seemingly decided on their own that the NBA would benefit from a seven-game series?

Lakers coach Phil Jackson was asked about Donaghy's allegations before last night's game three, and he had an interesting response:

"The allegation was that they were extending the series?" said Lakers coach Phil Jackson, answering questions about Donaghy less than two hours before the biggest night of his season. "Was that after the fifth game, after we had the game stolen away from us after a bad call out of bounds and gave the ball back to Sacramento and they made a three-point shot? There's a lot of things going on in these games and they're suspicious, but I don't want to throw it back to there."

Sorry, folks, but I'm calling bullshit on this one. From what I heard on the radio this morning, you would have thought Donaghy had laid out in specific detail exactly which officials were the conspirators, who at the league office told them to fix the game, and exactly how they did it. Instead, we're left with Donaghy's opinion on what happened. Nothing more, nothing less. But, thanks to dandy fops like Mike Greenberg on ESPN's Mike & Mike show, this is being blown completely out of proportion. Greenberg took the time to read the entire complaint letter sent to David Stern by none other than Ralph Nader. Yeah, Nader is exactly who I want to get my basketball knowledge from. Talking heads like Greenburg need to take a long, deep breath, realize the insanity of the situation, and just move on to something else.

Another article quoted the letter as saying "league officials would inform referees that opposing players were getting away with violations," and so then the refs would call the violations on those players. OH NO! That means that the refs were told they had made mistakes and then they rectified them?? Oh, the humanity! They called fouls that were supposed to be fouls? Get 60 Minutes on the phone and tell them we've got a hot one, folks. I can see the headline now: "Sun Rises in East; America Stunned."

Don't believe me, eh? Let's take a look at game six from the 2002 Western Conference finals, shall we? L.A. shot 21-of-27 in that fourth quarter to only 7-of-9 for the Kings. Six of L.A.'s free throws, however, came in the last twenty seconds as Sacramento looked to extend the game by fouling. L.A. was five-of-six in that stretch, so take those free throws out of the equation and you have L.A. going 16-of-21 in the quarter. So, instead of an 18 shot disparity, it's down to 12.

Now, of the remaining free throws shot by L.A., Shaquille O'Neal shot ten of them. The Lakers were focusing on pouring the ball into Shaq almost every time down the court in that fourth quarter, and as a result, Shaq was very active and was able to get to the line. He went 6-of-10 from the line. Plus, Lawrence Funderburke was guarding Shaq for a large portion of the fourth quarter and picked up several fouls; he's not exactly the defensive stalwart, you know? And, don't forget about all the talk back then about how hard it was to officiate the games Shaq played in; from game to game, it seemed to change what was and wasn't a foul just due to O'Neal's sheer size. Add into that Vlade Divac's hall of fame flopping status (video here) and those ten free throws by Shaq look downright normal.

That leaves 11 free throws remaining. Kobe Bryant took three of them, Robert Horry and Devean George each took two apiece and Rick Fox took four. Two of Fox's free throws came after he was fouled making a defensive rebound, and frankly, the nine free throws remaining don't amount to a grand conspiracy to fix a game. The Lakers worked the ball into Shaq early in the quarter and, when he was fouled, those fouls ultimately added up and put Sacramento in the penalty. So, from there on out, any fouls they committed (save offensive) put the Lakers at the line. It didn't work out for them like it didn't work out for many teams in that '00-'02 run for the Lakers: Sacramento simply had no answer for Shaq.

Also, if this was really some sort of conspiracy, why in the world would the refs call a shooting foul on superstar Shaq for fouling Lawrence Freakin' Funderburke with 2:06 left in the game and L.A. only up by one? Or on Derek Fisher with 1:27 to go and the Lakers up three? Or, for pete's sake, Rick Fox with twenty seconds left and L.A. up by three?

There was no conspiracy. I just don't believe it. Tim Donagahy is a criminal. And not just a criminal; he's a degenerate gambler, and frankly, that to me says plenty about his character and his honesty. Gamblers who get in over their head and start perverting the rules and regulations of their jobs to satisfy their gambling debts are garbage and would probably sell their own mother to get out of trouble. This whole sentiment that "oh, he could get in MORE trouble if he doesn't tell the truth" crap is ridiculous. The ONLY reason this has come to light is because the NBA attempted to collect $1M from Donaghy (in a private court filing) to pay for the investigation it had to do into Donaghy. Donaghy's attorney got mad and used the legal system to try to settle a grudge. Donaghy has already told investigators his allegations and they've ostensibly been looked in to. We would have never heard about it had Donaghy's (or his attorney's) pride and arrogance not gotten in the way.

Mr. Donaghy, should you read this, please just do us all a favor and accept your punishment like a man and leave us be.

Chicago Tribune: Ex-ref Tim Donaghy Details NBA Improprieties
ABC News: Shamed Ref: NBA Playoffs Were Rigged

G.O.A.T. (Greatest of All Time) - NBA Playoff Fouls

You’ll quickly be able to tell that I am a child of the 80s when it comes to sports (and everything else I guess). Since I was born in 1976, anything that happened before Magic and Larry got to the NBA isn’t on my radar. With that in mind, and the fact that we have Detroit vs Boston in the East finals (hopefully followed by L.A. vs Boston), I started to reminisce about the "golden years" of the NBA and what a real foul looked like. Nowadays it seems there is a foul called on every possession. The free throws and constant stoppages in play take so much of the flow and fun out of the game. Back in my day a foul was a foul (said in the voice of Grandpa Simpson). And the tradition was passed down like a passing of the torch: Philly vs Boston, Boston vs Detroit, Detroit vs Chicago, Chicago vs New York, New York vs Miami, with the Lakers thrown in along the way to represent the West. Some of the best fouls, and subsequent fights, came from these vicious series. Some examples:

Lakers vs Celtics (the McHale clothesline):



Nowadays, such an infraction will net you an ejection and at least one game off:



Celtics vs Pistons (particularly the third shot with Parrish clubbing Laimbeer over the head):



I think my favorite part of that one is that if you will remember, Parrish wasn’t even called for a foul and actually shot free throws as a result of the play! Makes you wonder how anyone ever won in the Garden...

NBA Sissies Get Tax Break

NBA Commish and resident leprechaun, David Stern, announced yesterday that beginning next season fines will be imposed on players that employ the 'theatrical flop' strategy of defense. They have yet to determine the exact amount of the fines, but NBA Executive VP (and former shitty head coach) Stu Jackson said they will use 'in game arena observers and video reviewers' to do postgame reports on floppers.

Where the hell do I apply for that job?

You mean to tell me they will actually pay people to watch NBA games and tell them when people are flailing around like a pansy-ass pretending to take charges? I think I may have a new dream job. I don't really even like the NBA all that much, but getting paid to watch games and not actually have to prepare any stats or whatever would be fantastic. Just ask Bill Walton.

The great thing about this is the tax benefit of being a flop artist. I'm certainly no IRS guy (that's a whole other class of bastards), but I am pretty sure I read where a percentage of these fines are tax deductible because they are part of 'business expenses' related to their profession. I wonder if the Dockers and Izods that 'Lucky Charms' Stern suggested a couple years ago are deductible too. I'm sure that would make Allen Iverson happy.

As much as I detest these flop-artists, I think it's kinda stupid that you are imposing fines after the fact. Make the refs call the flops. Or, how about this, don't f'en call the foul in the first place. Wow...what a crazy idea.

Anyway, here's to you Bill Laimbeer, Vlade Divac and Raja Bell...but especially you Robert Horry. Your 'craft' has finally resulted in a new rule in the NBA. You won't be in the Hall, but you finally made your mark.

Despite Late Meltdown, Lakers Have Spurs on Brink of Elimination

The Lakers won their Game 4 matchup against the Spurs last night, 93-91, but not without quite a bit of drama. As one viewer put it, the Lakers did their best to "monkey clusterfuck" their way to a loss. Let's review the final 56.5 seconds, shall we?

--Lamar Odom hits two free throws to give the Lakers a 93-86 lead with 56.5 seconds remaining.

--The Spurs run a play for Brent Barry (a good one drawn up by Greg Popovich in the timeout) and he misses a three pointer. On the rebound, Pau Gasol is fouled by Tim Duncan with 50.8 seconds left.

--Gasol misses both free throws.

--The Spurs come down and Ginobli hits a three pointer with 42.1 seconds remaining. Score: Lakers 93, Spurs 89.

--Here's where the monkeyclusterfucking really gets going: the Lakers inbound the ball, and it ends up in Kobe Bryant's hands; instead of dribbling around the court and waiting to get fouled so that he can shoot what will surely be two money free throws, he drives the length of the court, puts up a tough shot from the right block, and misses. This occurs with around 34 seconds on the game clock and 16 seconds left on the shot clock.

--The Spurs quickly push the ball back upcourt, and Lamar Odom's block of Tony Parker's layup is ruled goaltending. Score: Lakers 93, Spurs 91. 28.1 seconds left.

--After a timeout, the Lakers put the ball in Kobe's hands to run down the clock. He is double-teamed and throws to Fisher, who launches an airball that mercifully goes out of bounds off of Robert Horry's leg with 5.6 seconds remaining in the game and only 2 seconds on the shot clock. (Ed. note: Fisher's shot DID hit the rim, but the refs and/or the shot clock operator missed it.)

--After a timeout, the Kobe shoots a fallaway jumper with two hands in his face and misses. Tim Duncan rebounds and the Spurs call timeout with 2.1 seconds left.

--Popovich draws up a play for....you guessed it, Brent Barry! He tries a pump fake that gets Fisher about two inches off of the ground and then flings a shot from about 28 feet that misses. The game ends as Barry pleads for a foul call on Fisher.

That, ladies and gents, is how you go about completely pissing away a game you have completely wrapped up. You don't drive the length of the floor trying to be Superman when all you have to do is get fouled and make your free throws (that goes for you, too, Pau).

And as far as the final "no call" on Fisher when Barry had the ball, both Barry and Popovich said afterwards that it wasn't a foul, which is code for "You're damn right it was a foul! He fouled the everliving dog mess out of him!"

Ultimately, though, the Lakers are now up 3-1 and have a chance to close the series out Thursday night in L.A. BTW, as soon as I have a YouTube video of Tim Duncan's egregious four-step dunk from the first half last night, I'll post it.

Bulls Beware...

The Chicago Bulls may want to do a little more leg work on this draft pick than they did last year when selecting Joakim Noah. Not sure who was in charge of that process, but he's not looking to smart so far. In a SHOCKING development, Noah was arrested for marijuana possession and open container when visiting his old stomping grounds of the University of Florida.

When it was discovered the beverage was Hennessy cognac, Noah was taken to an area police station, where one cannabis cigarette was discovered inside a cigarette package in Noah's pants.

In my opinion this is hardly newsworthy, because I honestly think this is happening every night, where ever Noah is. And I for one am fine with it. Don't you remember what happens if the kid doesn't have his nightly weed and cognac?

Truly horrifying. But this SHOULD however be the latest chapter in a cautionary tale for the Bulls front office, that somehow didn't see any red flags with Noah before taking him in last years draft.

Uh Oh: Big Three's Quest for Immortality Somewhat Derailed

Ok, I know--it's just one game in a seven-game playoff series. I get that.

But did anyone else get sort of a feeling of inevitability watching last night's Pistons-Celtics game? Kind of like how the Pistons "workmanliked" their way into a win on Boston's home floor, something neither the Hawks nor the Cavs were able to do this postseason? That the Hawks and Cavs were merely pretenders and now the Celtics might be in a wee bit of trouble with the Pistons?

Maybe so, but it's not all that bad. The series is still tied 1-1. It's turned into a best-of-five situation, and even though the Celtics have been unable to win a game away from home this postseason, they were never in a position where they had to win those road games. They always took care of business at home, until now. Now, when they have to, they can focus and win one out of three in Detroit, right?

Judging by the postgame quotes, they sure do sound like they've been thrown for a loop. Take Ray Allen, for example, who said last night that "We just put ourselves in a position where we’ve put our backs up against the wall."

Really? Backs against the wall, eh? You aren't down 3-1, Ray. Or 2-1 with Game 4 coming up on the road. Those are "backs against the wall" moments. Not 1-1 in a seven game series. Even Coach Doc Rivers, who is making his case for worst coach of the 2008 playoffs (I mean, Sam Cassell didn't even play last night! You want me to believe that Rajon Rondo, all two years of experience, is somehow a better option than Sam Cassell? In 41 minutes, Rondo shot 2-of-9; he had good assist and rebound numbers, but jeez...doesn't Sam Cassell even get a sniff in the fourth quarter?) got into the act: "There has to be a different sense of urgency now, a desperation." Desperation? Really? I can see now where your focus and attitude might shift a bit, but doesn't it seem like the Celtics are already sounding their own death knell, when all they've done is put themselves at 1-1 in the Eastern Conference finals?

Even Paul Pierce seemed to be having trouble convincing himself that the Celtics were not in a do-or-die situation: "I don’t think it’s really bothering us, like, psychologically."

Like, you think?

I've been saying all along that this Celtics team was not as good as people thought it was (ask Hobson, he'll tell you). I said about three months ago that with their lineup, they darn well better win 60+ games in the Eastern Conference, because the Eastern Conference sucks. It's inferior to the Western Conference, where real basketball is played.

But I digress. The writing, I say, has been and is now once again already on the wall: the Celtics are who I thought they were. They're uncomfortable away from home (good luck winning a championship without winning on the road) and they're already talking like they will fold like a cheap tent should the Pistons win game three in Detroit. The Celtics may prove me wrong and keep Hobson's hope for a Lakers-Celtics old school final alive, but I think that they've already got one foot out the mental door. A loss Saturday in Detroit, and that series is over.

Sayeth Ray Allen: "Urgency and desperation. Those are two good words to use.”

Yahoo Sports: Boston's Big Three Exposed After Home Loss

Kobe Again Tries New Strategy; Again, Lakers Win

Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers erased a 20-point third quarter deficit and came back to beat the San Antonio Spurs last night, 89-85, in the first game of the Western Conference finals. Unlike last week when Kobe decided not to shoot in the fourth quarter of a game against the Jazz, Bryant this time decided not to shoot for essentially the entire first half (he scored a whopping 2 points on three shots). Kobe, however, was calm, cool & collected after the win:

Bryant insisted he was "Just managing the game."

"Defensively is where we slipped. I've had games or halves when I've done that and we had a 15-point lead."

Sounding a little sensitive to how he'll be criticized equally for shooting too much or too little, he said if the Lakers hadn't played better defense to accompany his late scoring burst, "Everybody would be talking about I shot us out of the game. Defense is where it gets down."

Either way, Kobe's Houdini impression in the first half was just plain weird to this Lakers fan. Maybe he has become the penultimate poker player, the NBA's version of a Doyle Brunson, sitting back and determining the suckers at the table (Bruce Bowen, et al), and then unleashing a barrage of offense that he knows they cannot handle.

Of course, the Spurs did sit on the tarmac in New Orleans for something like seven hours after their win over the Hornets on Monday night, so they might have been a tad bit tired and cranky. One would think that a 20 point cushion with a quarter-and-a-half of basketball left would've been enough to insure the win. As Kobe Bryant showed, however, there may be no lead that's safe when he's on the court.

Daily Dime: Lakers Rally Past Spurs

Tim Duncan and the Spurs Live to Fight Another Day

After a ridiculous three day layoff, the San Antonio Spurs did what only the Los Angeles Lakers and the Detroit Pistons were able to do in the conference semifinals of the NBA playoffs: win a game on the road. Their reward: the Lakers in the Western Conference finals.

Tim Duncan scored 16 points on only 5-of-17 shooting, but he was 6-of-6 from the free throw line and pulled down 14 rebounds. Manu Ginobili scored 26 points and had five assists. For the Hornets, Chris Paul scored 18 points, dished out 14 assists and had 8 rebounds in a losing effort.

Despite the home teams' dominance in this round of the playoffs, conventional wisdom was that the experience of the playoff-tested Spurs would eventually come to bear in Game 7, which was actually a close game in the final minutes, unlike the other six games of the series, which were all essentially blowouts.

Tony Parker revealed after the game that the Spurs had their bags packed and would be going straight to Los Angeles to prepare for the first game of their series with the Lakers, which tips off Wednesday night on TNT. I'm picking the Lakers in six. On TNT's postgame show, Charles Barkley said that the current Lakers team is better than any of the Shaq-Kobe championship teams from earlier this decade. So, we know which team Chuck is betting on! (Ed. note: Or, you know, not betting on; see post later today.)

The Wacky NBA Playoff Schedule

Thanks to calculations likely inspired by the hallucinations of wunderkind mathematician John Nash from A Beautiful Mind, the San Antonio Spurs and New Orleans Hornets will play Game 7 of their Western Conference semifinal series tonight after a refreshing three days off. They played game six last Thursday night and, for some reason, the NBA eschewed the natural logic of having Game 7 on Sunday (as part of a doubleheader with Game 7 of the Boston and Cleveland series), or even on Saturday (more on that below).

For the past several years, it seems as if the NBA playoff series have followed sort of natural progression: teams either played on Sunday, Wednesday & Friday or Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday (or even on a Monday-Wednesday-Saturday schedule). Sundays seemed to always be the home of pivotal Game sevens. Even this season, that routine seems to have been followed to some degree; for example, the Lakers-Jazz series started on Sunday, May 4, and Games 2 & 3 were on the successive Wednesday and Friday. Game 4 was on the following Sunday, May 11th, and Games 5 & 6 were on the next Wednesday and Friday.

Except that this year, had the Lakers been unable to close out the Jazz in Game 6 on Friday, they would be playing their Game 7 tonight, instead of Sunday.

Huh? Oh right--TNT. It's not the NBA that's driving the scheduling but the TV contracts with TNT and ESPN/ABC. Since TNT carries the majority of the playoff games leading up to the NBA Finals (and has exclusivity on one conference, usually the Western Conference), a lot of the games simply aren't aired on Saturday or Sunday afternoon because TNT shows most of their games at night. Instead of going up against a strong Sunday evening broadcast lineup, I guess TNT would rather have their games on a weeknight or Saturday night.

On the contrary, over on ESPN/ABC, the Celtics and the Cavs played on the natural schedule: last Monday, Wednesday, Friday AND Sunday. It isn't like these playoff schedules are made on the fly, from game to game, so one has to wonder why there is such a disparity in the scheduling of the games. It would seem that if the NBA was trying to build brand identity, they would always want to showcase some games on the same days of the week. Two Game 7s yesterday would've been very easy to promote and market to the fan base, but due to the wackiness of the TV contracts, the NBA end up in a situation where they must hope that more people will look and find the Spurs/Hornets series on a Monday night rather than a calm, lazy Sunday afternoon.

Another issue is the NBA's insistence on promoting the WNBA. In case you didn't notice, there were no games scheduled at all for this past Saturday. Why? Well, the WNBA had it's season opener that day. Woo-hoo! WNBA basketball: Expect Great.

Right.

David Stern and the other honchos over at the NBA have to realize that no average NBA fan cares anything whatsoever for the WNBA. The fan bases just aren't the same and they never will be. Instead of derailing the momentum created so far by an exciting NBA playoffs, the NBA could have scheduled a doubleheader for Saturday and had the Celtics-Cavs game followed by the WNBA opener. Then they could've promoted the ever-living fool out of the WNBA and might've gotten four or five extra people to watch the game.

Either way, all of this is bad for the game. If David Stern is listening, maybe he ought to consider the marketing of the NBA brand and address these issues soon as the TV contracts for both TNT and ABC/ESPN end this year.

Your All-Nothing NBA Team

Since were in the middle of the NBA playoffs and all of the season-ending awards have been handed out, we would like to do a tribute to those that have already started their summer vacations. We want to honor the guys that keep the local law enforcement busy and their coaches on the brink of unemployment.

We've assembled a team of All-Star caliber (.38, .44, etc.) names that when put together have little to no chance of surviving the season. And we mean that literally: they may not live to see the All-Star break. If they do manage to avoid killing themselves (or too many others) and avoid the pokey, they are the type of team that would likely get beat nightly by any team with any semblance of what the Hubie Browns of the world call “team basketball.”

And now, ladies and gentlemen, put on your bulletproof vests and crash helmets for YOUR Las Vegas Dirtbags:

Point Guard (1)
Starter: Starting at point guard, you have to have Stephon ‘Can I interview the interns?’ Marbury. For his obvious ability to wreck a locker room, stagnate an offense and completely forget the concept of defense…he’s our starter. There’s no one else that’s even close. He “climbs the mountains,” you know.

Backups: For the backup position, our first choice was Steve Francis. However, due to the fact that he’s essentially gone MIA (and may have developed quite the drug habit), we'll go with Smush Parker instead. We’ll put Smush in charge of driving our team to the games because there’s no valet in any city that will try to charge him to park. We’ll need a driver because there isn’t a sane person alive that would get behind the wheel with this team in tow.

Also as a backup, this team wouldn’t be complete without Jamaal Tinsley. Who is going to carry the big bag of guns if we don’t have Jamaal?

Shooting Guard (2)
Starter: At our ‘shooting’ guard (as if those ballhogs at ‘point’ guard ever intended on passing--they may pass a blunt or a bottle of Hennessy but they damn sure aren’t passing the rock), the logical choice is Gilbert Arenas (a.k.a. Agent Zero) simply for the size of his ego and the number of times he and Marbury will get a 10-second call for wrestling over the ball in the back court.

Backups: This was a close call, but I had to make Vince Carter the backup SG. Frankly, though, it’s likely that Arenas and Carter will both be hurt so much that we won’t get too many games out of either one of them anyway. Carter will provide plenty of entertainment during pre-game warmups and blowout losses, but there’s no way he can stop his innate ability to run a team into the ground. This guy is such a cancer, he’s being studied at the CDC. (rimshot)

Our other backup guard is JJ Redick. Not because he’s a cancer or anything, but can you imagine the comedy of having him on this bus? And, he airballed a freakin’ layup this season. (Cadbury did that once too, but he was in 8th grade at the time.)



Small Forward (3)
Starter: Stephen Jackson. Do I have to elaborate? This guy probably has his own personal group of U.S. Marshals with him just in case someone looks at him funny. His former teammate and co-conspirator in most of their criminal cases is Ron Artest, so for disharmony’s sake we’d have to sign Artest as a backup, right? Wrong. Artest plays way too much defense so there’s no way he’ll make this team.

Backup: Carmelo Anthony. He’s a thug, ballhog and a cancer...plus, he’d probably fold like a cheap tent after being forced to play behind Jackson.

Power Forward (4)
Starter: Zach Randolph. He’s been in and out of jail since 1995. His record includes everything from shoplifting to sucker-punching teammates, from driving while drunk and high to being sued for sexual assault. If there’s ever been a cinch for team captain, it’s good old Z-Bo. Plus, he's a Knick!

Backup: This comes down to a battle between Joakim Noah and Kenyon Martin. Noah has some advantages because he’s an obvious misfit and can’t score. He even got suspended by his own teammates this season. Plus, when was the last time he hit a shot outside of three feet?

Kenyon is Kenyon. Again, not much explanation needed. He drives 101 in a 30mph zone, so he has the skills to help Smush make sure we are always on time. He is good for a couple good maniac screams a game too, so that should keep the groupies excited.

Center (5)
Starter: Yi Jianlian. He sucks, he’s overhyped, and it would be funny to have this guy on the team (plus JJ needs a roommate). Vince also needs a prop for his warmup routines.

Backup: None. They’d never make it.

Coach
Finally, we need a coach. There is no debate here. Has there ever been a more qualified applicant for this team than Isiah Thomas?


Yes, I would be ashamed too…

NBA All-Defensive Team Announced

The NBA announced the annual All-Defensive Team today, and it's made up of the usual suspects: Kobe, KG, Marcus Camby, Bruce Bowen, and yes, once again, Tim Duncan. How Duncan continues to earn these kind of accolades, I'll never know. He was once a wonderful champion and player, but he's a shell of his old self and not even the best defender on his own team. These MUST be the same guys who vote in the preseason college football polls, just filling in the same old names. Some of Timmy's exploits over the years:



But that's vs Kobe! Surely he owns smaller, less athletic guys:



At least we can depend on KG, your 2008 Defensive Player of the Year:



I'm kind of surprised we didn't see Michael Jordan or Bill Russell on the team.......

ESPN: NBA All-Defensive Team Announced