Loose Balls (Boules L�ches)

*As you probably know, hip-hop legend Guru had a heart attack and fell into a coma last week. Sucks. I went back and listened to a few of my favorite Gang Starr/Guru songs, including Mass Appeal and this duet with Frenchman MC Solaar, Le Bien Le Mal. So good. Solaar kills that track. Just crushes it.

*Speaking of the French, Nic Batum, Ronny Turiaf (AKA Chocolate Moose), Roddy Beaubois and Boris Diaw are all currently starting and doing work for their respective squads. And Tony Parker would be too if he wasn't injured. Even Johan Petro got a start tonight. France is balling. C'mon, Mickael Pietrus! You let Matt Barnes take your spot, man? Sacre bleu!

*When I see Andray Blatche going ballistic for the moribund Wiz, it reminds me of that memorable run that Charlie Villanueva had for the Bucks in 2009. Or Anthony Randolph's brilliant close to last season that had GS fans openly discussing his Hall Of Fame credentials. It's a cliche but it's true: almost anyone in the NBA can put up numbers for a losing team when the games don't matter.

*I've been posting recently on Celtics 17 as well, although they probably hate me already for ripping the Nate and Finley signings. If anyone else is interested, they're still looking for writers/bloggers/contributors here.

Pictured: Guru's classic, Jazzmatazz

Have-Nots Enter Doldrums

This is a special time of year for the good teams. Coaches are shortening rotations, playing to win, getting their playoff mojo ready. Every game matters as the elite squads jostle for home court advantage.

This is also the time of year when dreadful teams start getting mathematically eliminated and GMs ponder colossal tank jobs to land the Next Big Thing (in this instance, John Wall and his idiotic Bowzer dance). It's a depressing phenomenon. Players tune out coaches. Veterans sit out with fabricated illnesses. Fans flee in droves. And guys like Ramon Sessions play well enough for a month of meaningless games to secure ludicrous long term deals elsewhere. It's fucking horrible. Truly.

The situation with Golden State is beyond absurd. Donny Boozeface is closing in on the all-time wins record even though he's alienated the entire team and fanbase. If he breaks that record in Oakland, the fans in attendance might boo him. I know I would.

Poor Kurt Rambis. Man. It's hard to play the Triangle when you don't have anyone that can shoot. Hard to defend when your two best players are unathletic power forwards.

Nothing is overshadowing the Tyreke Evans Show in Sacto (can you imagine him and Wall in a backcourt together? Damn!) but Paul Westphal is providing a bizarre subplot by publicly tormenting young tea-bagger, Spencer Hawes. What's the point? You're 19-39, dude. Play the young guys, collect your check and STFU...

...like Flip's doing in Washington! Perhaps nowhere is the Tankfest more apparent than in the nation's capital. The Andray Blatche Era is upon us, even if only lasts 25 games. Also seeing big minutes are James Singleton, JaVale McGee and Randy Foye. Any day now, Mike Miller shuts it down with some obscure back injury.

Gotta give credit to Indy, NY, Detroit and the Clips, who still appear to be playing to win despite subpar records and little to no chance at the postseason. They're not very good but they don't know that and that's refreshing somehow.

And there's a soft spot in my heart for the Nyets, who are battling every night just so they don't break the all-time loss record. They just beat the Cs in Boston, for fuck's sake. Even taking the Nate Robinson Effect into account (Boston's -36 with him on the floor), that's still impressive.

Pictured: Yi showing much flex...not really