Rondo to Kings….C’s Need to Pull Trigger Now!

If the Boston Celtics can move Rajon Rondo to the Sacramento Kings for either or both starting guards, Isaiah Thomas or Ben McLemore, I say they had better pull the trigger faster than Quick Draw McGraw ever did.

First and foremost, Rondo can’t shoot a lick from outside of 15 feet and that, in my estimation, will always be a major hindrance to whichever team does acquire the defensive-minded former all-star.

However, if Boston can get either of Sacramento’s gifted backcourt players, they should not hesitate to pull the trigger on this hypothetical trade. In the case of Thomas, sure, he may be small, but he’s as explosive as it gets offensively and he’s really starting to come into his own even more this season after not having much consistency, minutes-wise from former head coach Paul Westphal.

Now, I’m absolutely shocked that the Kings would even consider trading the clearly talented McLemore, seeing as how the rookie shooting guard was one of the most prized picks in last year’s NBA Draft and has an upside as high as any young guard’s in the league.

The Celtics have been on the better end of many, many trades, but this one is a whopper that make even the most dedicated McDonald’s fan switch to Burger King.

Miami’s Missing Ingredient is…?

Not only did the Miami Heat lose to the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday night, but it’ how they lost that’s most disconcerting (if you’re a Heat fan that is).

As both, the Pacers and Spurs showed in last season’s playoffs, the way to beat Miami is by attacking the major weakness – their glaring lack of competent big men. The closest thing Miami has to a talented big man is Chris Andersen and he’s more of a defender and rebounder. The Heat don’t have players tall enough to contend with teams that are huge across the front line  and they can’t score from the low post, unless it’s LeBron James or D-Wade backing their respective defender down.

Miami may have escaped two playoff series a year ago, but their lack of a solid front court is going to cost them this season – unless you believe oft-injured center Greg Oden is going to come from out of nowhere to miraculously cure all of Miami’s interior problems.

George, Pacers, Take Round One Against LeBron, Heat!

Paul George and the Indiana Pacers took round one of what is expected to be a season-long race for first place in the Eastern Conference.

More importantly, the Pacers put the defensive clamps on James, forcing the reigning MVP into a dismal 6-for-16 shooting performance. Even more telling is they way Miami’s lack of interior size is now starting to hurt them in a big way.

Pacers’ underrated center Roy Hibbert managed to score a game-high 24 points against Miami while making an efficient 10-for-15 from the field by dominating Miami’s uninspiring – and mostly short – front line.

Indiana moved to a perfect 10-0 with the victory and delivered a message to Miami that, come playoff time, they are going to be far more prepared than they were in last     season’s Eastern Conference Finals. 

Say it ain’t so Ray!

Many Celtics fans view Ray Allen as a
traitor for signing with the Miami Heat.

Is it me Eye On Sports NBA fans, but are you just a tad upset that Ray Allen took half of the money he could have gotten from Boston in order to join the Celtics’ biggest and most bitter rivals, the front-running Miami Heat?

I know Allen mot likely left because he got his little feelings hurt with last season’s news that Boston tried to trade him to Memphis for O.J. Mayo before it was rescinded, but I’m still in shock that a player would join any team that he’s been trying like hell to beat for the last five years.

I know I’m a bit old school, but to me, it just won’t seem right seeing Ray Allen in a Miami Heat jersey, routinely going up against his former Celtics’ teammates. However, I will say that Allen’s move does add some serious drama to what was already a tension-filled battle between two ballclubs that really don’t like each other at all.

Still, I see Allen’s move to Miami as a sad, soul-selling attempt to ride the coattails of Miami’s Big Three and win another championship or two before he rides off into the sunset as the NBA’s most prolific three-point shooter ever.

Even sadder is the fact that Allen must believe that winning another title or two before he’s done is somehow going to add to his reputation as a winner, when in reality, all Allen did was lose a small measure of respect from a nation full of Celtics fans – and Miami Heat haters. 

Giving Bron-Bron a break!

Even LeBron James deserves
a break every now and then!

Okay Eye On Sports followers, I’m generally the first person to rip LeBron James for his often head-scratching behavior, both on the court and off, but I’ve got to take a stand this morning and back James for passing up a potentially game-winning shot to beat Utah with a last-second basket two Friday night’s back in favor of passing the ball to a wide open Udonis Haslem.

The fact of the matter people is that James made the correct play in passing up what surely would have been a very contested shot in order to give up the rock to a veteran teammate that is more than capable of knocking down the 16-footer he missed last night.

Say what you like about James and his late-game struggles to score the ball, but I can’t, in good conscious, rake James over the coals this morning for passing the ball to Haslem when he made the right decision.

Hell, if anyone should take the blame for Miami’s loss to the Jazz, it’s Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra, who should have run an isolation play for James, who had been on fire before passing up the game’s final shot.

ESPN’s Stephen Smith puts the ‘A’ in ass!

Stephen A. Smith voices his
opinion, but some say, too much.

I’ve never been the type of person – or writer – to hold back exactly how I feel on any particular subject and Lord knows I’ve got some absolutely unadulterated thoughts floating around in the old noggin’ this morning.

Let me start by saying that ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith is a s**t-talking, know-it-all jackass of epic proportions (even more than me).

While I do like Smith’s tell-it-like-it-is style, I often get tired of hearing the loudmouth’s often ‘holier than thou’ tones cascading down on whomever he puts in his crosshairs on any given day.

In the case of Jeremy Lin, Smith actually seemed to take some enjoyment out of the fact that the rookie struggled mightily in going 1-for-11 from the field against LeBron James and the Heat last week.

Smith’s often overly aggressive style is grating on the ears and generally makes him come off like know-it-all jackass! Then again, maybe I shouldn’t be ripping on my media colleague so hard, but hearing him defend a jerk like Allen Iverson for years – while quickly ripping on the young Lin just weeks into his new role as a starting NBA point guard, just makes me sick to my stomach.


What are your thoughts on Smith and his outspoken style? Sound off in the comments section.

Lin learns lesson

Knicks point guard
Jeremy Lin has a very bright future.

You know, I suspected a lot of haters (like the idiotic Stephen A. Smith) would come out and ‘hate’ on New York Knicks young point guard Jeremy Lin after his 1-for-11, eight-point, eight-turnover performance against the Miami Heat last Thursday, but the fact of the matter is that Lin has already established himself as one of the best young floor leaders in the game today – and one that many teams now wish they had as their own floor leader.

Yes, Lin got embarrassed on several occasions, but nevertheless, he can clearly play the game and has as bright a future as any young point guard in the game today. Just think about it … how many teams have starting point guards that you’d replace with Lin.

What are your thoughts on Jeremy Lin? Vote on how many teams Lin could start for right now. Sound off in the comments section and have a great sports-filled day!

Um ….. Okay LeBron!

LeBron James has more daily
drama than a soap opera these days.

LeBron James seems to think that Larry Bird said he’d rather have Kobe Bryant as a team than himself because Kobe has five NBA titles and he has none.

"It's simple, (Kobe) has five rings and I have none so it's easy to say that," James said. "If I had five rings and Kobe had none, it'd probably be the other way around” he said about Bird’s selection.

Larry Legend's Bird’s Eye View!

Boston Celtics legend Larry Bird
says  he'd rather play with
Kobe Bryant than LeBron James.

Anyone that knows me, knows I worship the ground that former Boston Celtics superstar Larry Bird walks on.

Having said that, I can’t begin to express how happy I am that Bird pretty much told basketball fans everywhere what knowledgeable NBA followers already knew – that LeBron James is a lot of fun, but if you want to win championships, Kobe Bryant is the far better choice to get the job done.

Bird did an interview with sports writer Bill Simmons a couple of days ago, and Simmons asked ‘Larry Legend’ to weigh in on the Kobe vs. LeBron talk and which player would he prefer to team up with.

While Bird’s answers on the subject probably aren’t much of a shock to those that really know the game, hearing the words from such a respected legend really hit home – and made James look like … well …  like LeBron James.

Polarizing Miami Heat superstar
LeBron James has plenty of detractors these  days.

"Well, probably Kobe, because of the fact that ... well, of course he wouldn't have been shooting as much as he does now ... but his desire to win, his dedication, to always get better, uh, and he's just, he's just tough," Bird said. "He's just a tough cat.

"But, if you want to have fun, like I did with Bill Walton, play with LeBron. It would have probably been more fun to play with LeBron, but if you want to win and win and win, it's Kobe. Not that LeBron's not a winner, just that [Kobe's] mindset is to go into every practice, every game, to get better."

While Bird tried to clean up his words an not offend James, the point that James is not a leader – or winner – was emphatically driven home by the widely-beloved Bird.

Blame it On LeBron!

LeBron James needs to keep his
mouth shut and just play basketball!

Jeez, Eye On Sports NBA lovers …. talk about a guy with a personality complex these days – and you must be talking about LeBron James!

The latest from the self-anointed ‘King James’ (how laughable is that) is that he’s not apologizing to Oklahoma Thunder center Kendrick Perkins for his Twitter post praising Los Angeles Clippers’ forward, Blake Griffin’s highlight reel dunk over the defensive-minded big man.

Not only that, but James, who is looking for love in all the wrong places these days, apparently thinks everyone’s out to blame the world’s problems on him.

"I'm an easy target; if someone wants to get a point across -- just throw LeBron's name in there," James said. "You could be watching cartoons with your kids and you don't like it, you say, 'Blame it on LeBron.' If you go to the grocery store and they don't have the milk that you like, you just say, 'It's LeBron's fault.' "

I'm thinking I'd like to see
Perkins (R) punch LeBron James' lights out!

Yeah LeBron, my kids are starving and it’s your fault. My car is acting up and it’s your fault. I’ve got a head cold, my back hurts and my wife is nagging me (again) and it’s all your fault LeBron!

Seriously?

Who makes this kind of stuff up?

I hate to say it, because I think he’s mostly a law-abiding, fine young man off the court, but LeBron James has all the mental toughness of a three-year-old toddler!

LeBron Tells Perkins 'Don’t Hold Your Breath' Pal!

LeBron James says he's not apologizing
to Kendrick Perkins - or anyone else for that matter!

If Oklahoma Thunder center Kendrick Perkins is waiting for an apology from LeBron James for his over-the-top Twitter post centered on Blake Griffin’s poster jam over the defensive-minded big man, then he had better not be holding his breath.

Why?

Because, according to James, Perkins is never getting an apology!

"I would never apologize about anything like that when I'm connecting to my fans," James  told Yahoo! Sports on Thursday.

"Dunk of the Year! @blakegriffin just dunked on Kendrick Perkins so hard!!! Wow! I guess I'm No. 2 now. Move over #6," James tweeted on Jan. 30 shortly after Griffin's soaring jam.

For his part, James said he didn’t disrespect the former Celtics ‘glue guy’.

"Did I call him out? I mean, did you read the tweet? Did I call him out? I can see why he felt embarrassed. I don't think I was the only one to react to the unbelievable play by Blake and that's what it was all about," James said after the Miami Heat's 102-89 loss to the Orlando Magic on Wednesday night.

Oklahoma City Thunder center Kendrick
Perkins isn't a fan of Miami's LeBron James.

"Now, if Kendrick Perkins dunked on somebody like that on the other end, I would have done the same thing," James said. "If Perkins dunked on Blake Griffin or DeAndre Jordan or whatever the case may be, it would be the same thing. That's just my love for the game and connecting with my fans."

Maybe LeBron didn’t mean anything by the Tweet he posted, but I’m saying the young man needs to realize that everything he does these days is being blown out of proportion in a big way – and his actions need to change accordingly.

However, it’s kind of hard to grow up overnight when you’re still very young mentally.

Lookin’ For Love in All the Wrong Places!

LeBron James is looking for love,
but Blake Griffin say get that outta' here!

I was looking for love in all the wrong places
Looking for love in too many faces
Searching your eyes, looking for traces
Of what.. I'm dreaming of...
Hopin' to find a friend and a lover
God bless the day I discover
Another heart, lookin' for love

 - Waylon Jennings

Okay, I’ve read into LeBron James’ Twitter post just after Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin posterized Oklahoma Thunder City center Kendrick Perkins and here’s what I believe.

James is still clearly looking for love these days NBA fans. He’s looking for the love he lost on a global scale when he dissed the Cleveland Cavaliers on national TV, without so much as a warning, in order to take ‘his talents to South Beach’.

With a fictional dunk of the
year title on his mind, clearly
LeBron James is still immature.

"Dunk of the Year! @blakegriffin just dunked on Kendrick Perkins so hard!!! Wow! I guess I'm No. 2 now. Move over #6," James tweeted, clearly making a reference to his own highlight reel dunk over Chicago Bulls point guard John Lucas III the day before.

With comments like “Wow! I guess I'm No. 2 now. Move over #6," James will never, ever endear himself to any hoops fan outside of his beloved South Beach.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again … LeBron James ruined his legacy not by leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers, but by how he did it.

Then, to add to his misfortune, James checked out mentally like never before in quitting against Boston in his final playoff appearance for the Cavaliers – before doing so in even more stunning fashion in last season’s NBA Finals collapse against Dallas.

Oh yeah roundball lovers, LeBron James is looking for love – but unfortunately, James is looking for love in all the wrong places!

Perkins is Pissed – and Rightfully So!

Kendrick Perkins says LeBron James
needs to grow up - and Eye On Sports agrees!

Love him or loathe him, if nothing else, LeBron James provides sports bloggers everywhere, a fun-filled day of writing!

James put himself in his critics’ crosshairs again by pissing off Oklahoma City Thunder center Kendrick Perkins for his foolish Twitter postings after Perkins got dunked on by Blake Griffin about a week ago.

James, like a legion of NBA fans across the globe, shared his thoughts on Griffin’s dunk, almost immediately afterward, via the ever-growing Internet and Twitter.

"Dunk of the Year! @blakegriffin just dunked on Kendrick Perkins so hard!!! Wow! I guess I'm No. 2 now. Move over #6," James tweeted, clearly making reference to his own dunk over Chicago Bulls point guard John Lucas III just one day prior.

Now, maybe it’s the ‘old-school’ kind of guy that I am, but I agree wholeheartedly with Perkins when he said "You don't see Kobe (Bryant) tweeting … you don't see Michael Jordan tweeting. If you're an elite player, plays like that don't excite you.”

If you read into James’ words, you can get a lot of insight into his thought process – and he will likely never reach the superstar status that he so desperately craves.

First if all, James is clearly implying that his dunk over Lucas III the previous night was the ‘dun of the year’ in the league so far. While that may or may not have been the case, the fact that James is even concerned with the trivialities of a fictional ‘dunk of the year’ title, tells me he’s as immature and unfocused on the real task at hand as he was when he first came into the league.

In the grand scheme of the grueling trek that is an NBA regular season, what does one mostly meaningless regular season play mean?

If James is thinking about anything other than winning an NBA title these days, which he clearly is, he’s only setting himself up for more failure in the future, that likely comes in the postseason in crunch time no less.

Fading in the Fourth – Again!

LeBron James put on a jaw-dropping performance in scoring a whopping 24 points in just the first quarter against the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday night, en route to a stellar 40-point performance for the night.

Unfortunately, James continued his career-long act of disappearing in the fourth quarter and shot just 5 for 12 in the second half as the Bucks mounted a fast and furious comeback, thanks to the heroics of point guard Brandon ‘Young Money’ Jennings who scored a team-high 31 points while draining seven damaging three-pointers along the way.

If James doesn’t somehow manage to overcome his proclivity for ‘fading in the fourth’ the Miami Heat may never get the 5, 6, 7 championship they were ‘supposed’ to bring to South Beach!

LeBron's Right on Ray Allen Thoughts!

Very rarely will I ever agree with anything that cry-baby superstar LeBron James says, but I have to give credit where credit is due – and James was spot on correct when talking about Boston Celtics veteran shooting guard Ray Allen recently.

James said Allen "can play until he's just tired of playing basketball," which, appearing from Allen’s play the last two seasons, is not even a question anyone needs to ask.

‘Ray-Ray’ is a 10-time NBA All-Star, the league’s all-time leader in three-pointers made (2,634) and a sure-fire future Hall of Fame inductee. But not only that, he’s clearly looking like best player of Boston’s quickly-aging ‘Big Three’.

Simply put, even at his advanced age, how many shooting guards in the NBA would you take over Allen today?

Exactly, you can count them on one hand!

Allen will be a free agent next summer – and I’m going on record right now to say that if Boston doesn’t resign him – then they’ll be making a mistake of epic proportions – and one that could haunt them for a couple of seasons as well.

The sweet-shooting star of ‘He Got Game’ is looking for a two-year deal worth somewhere in the neighborhood of the current two-year, $20 million contract he’s finishing up this season – and again – I say he’s well worth it and then some!

Miami Vice .. Cole is Steal of the 2011 NBA Draft!

God, I hate the thought of even having to write the words, since I dislike the Miami Heat so much, but as usual, I’ve got to keep it real for my Eye On Sports faithful followers  by saying that Miami got the steal of the 2011 NBA Draft when they acquired 6-2 combo guard Norris Cole out of Cleveland State through a series of draft night deals.

Cole was drafted by the Chicago Bulls in the first round with the 28th overall pick out of but his rights were eventually traded to the MinnesotaTimberwolves, who then turned around and foolishly dealt him to the Heat (stupid).

Not only is Cole the first player in Horizon League basketball history to be named Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year in the same season, but the multi-faceted floor leader also was an AP All-America Honorable Mention this past season and a finalist for both, the Wooden Award and Bob Cousy Award.

Cole, who averaged 21.7 points per game as a senior, can do it all from putting the ball in the hole to dishing it out like a veteran point guard.

The clearly gifted and mature-beyond-his-years combo guard is fourth on the team in scoring by averaging an eye-opening 12.0 points per game while dishing out 3.6 assists per contest and shooting a blistering 50.0 percent from the field.

In Miami’s home opener against the BostonCeltics, Cole ‘went off’ in the game’s final period after Boston put on a furious comeback. The seriously underrated (not anymore) Cole torched the veteran, defensive-minded Celtics by scoring 14 points in the fourth quarter to finish with 20 points, four assists, four rebounds, and three steals.

Durant, LeBron ... Tale of Two Leaders

Maybe it’s me, but at this point of their respective careers, it’s easy to see that high-scoring Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant is a far better leader than LeBron James has ever been – or worse – will ever become.

That’s right Eye On Sports followers, I’ve said it – and I fully believe it too.

While James has ‘quit’ on his team on more than one occasion in his career while not showing up for the fourth quarters in several other career-defining moments, Durant quietly goes about his business of leading the Thunder to wins.

However, anyone that thought Durant wasn’t vocal enough – or that his leadership was in question – simply need to take a look at the recent flare-up between the thin-framed small forward and teammate Russell Westbrook.

Durant, who’s not one to ‘pop his collar’ in look-at-me fashion basically told Westbrook to get his head in the game when the talented floor leader ‘lost it’ momentarily in a hard-fought contest against the Memphis Grizzlies just about a week ago.

After the two teammates began yelling at each other openly, Durnat handled the situation by patting Westbrook on the head as they returned to the court following a timeout.

To really show how much of a leader he is though, Durant spoke to the media afterward in eloquent fashion even though Westbrook ‘jetted’ from the stadium without speaking to reporters.

"We're going to disagree sometimes, like I've always been saying," Durant said that night. "But I'm behind him 110 percent, and he's the same way with me. And you seen when we came on the floor we clicked and everything started to work from there."

Again, maybe it’s me, but the difference in the leadership of Durnat and James isn’t even close.

One guy had to leave his hometown original franchise in order to get the support of two other superstars while the Other signed a long-term deal to stay in the Midwest and lead his team no matter how many other all-stars are on the Thunder’s roster or not.

Sure, it’s quite possible that James will get the championship ring first that both players covet so much, but I guarantee, his legacy will never be a widely respected as Kevin Durant’s! 

Heat Focused, Still Front-Runners?

The focused Miami Heat may be 3-0 at the time of this writing, but they’ve also looked like they still have trouble keeping a league, leading me to believe they could very well, still be the front-running bunch of pansies they were last season.

Dumb Ass Alert!

Okay NBA fans, we all know LeBron James is a dumb ass of the highest degree and that the widely-respected Dwyane joined him in ‘acting a fool’ on more than one occasion as well last season.

Now, add Chris Bosh to the trio of idiotic Miami Heat ballers. Bosh had a major ‘dumb ass’ moment on Friday when he told a group of reporters that seeing the Dallas Mavericks raise the championship banner they won last season is “going to suck.”

"I'm not going to like it, but things happen and I think things happen for a reason, Bosh added.

Maybe it’s me NBA followers, but as an old-school kind of guy, I’m thinking that maybe Bosh should be thinking about actually learning from last season’s experience, rather than complaining about seeing the victors hoist their well-deserved championship banner.

In addition to being a little cry-baby that cried on national television following last season’s Game 6 NBA Finals loss, Bosh is also a hater that likes to live in the past and doesn’t have enough heart to return to his hometown of Dallas after losing to the Mavs in the finals, choosing instead to spend his offseason in the relative quiet surroundings of South Beach.

"I didn't want to hear all the fans," Bosh said in jest (yeah, right). "But it's funny because there wasn't a lot of Mavericks fans when I was a kid. But now all of a sudden, everybody's a Mavericks fan."

Maybe it’s me, but I’m thinking Chris Bosh is, not only a ‘dumb ass’ like James and Wade, but also a little b**ch that needs to go see the Wizard and get a heart!