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

Rumors, Trades, Transactions And Trends

Another shrewd move by Blazers GM Kevin Pritchard, obtaining Cotton Camby from the Clips for Steve Blake and Travis (Don't Call Me Bo) Outlaw. Next year, this gives the Blazers insurance in case Oden or Prezbo don't fully recover. This season, it makes them a potentially tough playoff matchup (assuming Roy's healthy by then). Kudos.

Heartfelt boos all the way around for sad sack Ernie Grunfeld, who's basically giving his players away. Butler AND Haywood for Josh Howard? And now he's contemplating Jamison for an assortment of the Cavs benchwarming scrubs. If David Stern penalizes teams for tanking to get into the lottery, why doesn't he punish them for tanking to save payroll? That team's a fucking disgrace.

Same goes for the Clips. No surprise there, really. Although I will give them credit for issuing Ricky Buckets his marching orders. I was astonished when they signed him in the first place. He hasn't been an NBA-quality player in three years.

Rumor monger Marc J Spears (who's right about .008% of the time) is putting word out that Boston is taking a hard look at Nate Robinson. First Marbury, now this. Ainge is turning back into a pumpkin, folks. At this rate, would anyone be surprised if Boston was a 20 win team again in three years?

Will Ferrell: "You gotta win to get love!"