Ranting With Rizzo Podcast For 8-11-12

"Ranting with Rizzo" was on this past Saturday at noon,
but if you missed it or there's anything you want to
here again, the podcast is here. Enjoy !



Tweet Don't Believe In Plays, Believe In Players - Al Davis

With Howard An L.A. King, I Say Bye Bye Heat

Courtesy NationalTurk

Let me preface the remainder of this thought by
coming right out and saying this; I have a very
small basketball IQ. I like the game, watch the
game, and root for my team as hard as I root for
my team in any other sport. That being said, I
don't now what a weak side rebound is, just how
exactly the pick and roll is supposed to be run,
and am completely oblivious as to the difference
of one elbow from another on the basketball court.
So now you have complete ammunition, as if you
needed it, to completely make light of my initial
statement. Which is "With Dwight Howard An L.A.
King, Goodnight Miami Heat"

It's fair to say that the Miami Heat certainly have
age in their favor, and of course Dwight Howard's
back surgery could ultimately be an issue, but if
we were to simply match up these two squads in what
I believe will be an NBA Finals for the next two
years at least, then Miami is going to be one and
done with their title this year. In my humble yet
low basketball I.Q.'d opinion, I believe that the
Lakers not only hold the edge in talent but in
on the court smarts as well. Dwight Howard coming
to LA only puts them over the edge, but when you
look at what Kobe is capable of, Steve Nash brings
to the table, and that they didn't have to give up
Pau Gasol, it's enough to wanna make Phil Jackson
come out of "retirement".

Now I know that Championships are not won on paper,
and that last year the Philadelphia Eagles were
handed the Lombardi trophy in August only to see
them drop it and have it shatter all over the floor,
but I'll take my chances and crown the Lakers now.

Tweet Don't Believe In Plays, Believe In Players - Al Davis

Orlando Magic's Dwight Howard More Like Joker Than Superman

Courtesy SIKids

Everyone by now has either seen or heard about the video
that made the rounds yesterday when Stan Van Gundy
addressed the media about whether or not it
was true that Dwight Howard told Orlando Magic
management to fire the coach. To me however this
isn't the story, the story is that players like
Howard have been doing this forever, and constantly
get away with it. It's quite annoying. You can go
all the way back to when LA Lakers Magic Johnson
had Paul Westhead fired in favor of Pat Riley, to
when the Bulls Michael Jordan got Doug Collins
fired in Chicago, and those are only NBA examples.

I guess I'm just curious to figure out where did it
all go wrong in Orlando. Before dropping their 5th
straight game last night, the Magic was 32-18, that
doesn't sound like a team in turmoil. Not too long
ago Dwight Howard signed a waiver in his contract
just prior to the trade deadline that ensured he
would be with the Magic until at the very least the
end of next season. He didn't have to do this, he
could have either been traded or left at the end of
this season. They are constantly competing as one
of the better teams in the NBA's East, and went to
the Finals not too long ago with the very same core
group of coach and star. I don't get it, what gives?
Wish I knew, but I will tell you this, and this is
just a got feeling; everyone is waiting for Stan
Van Gundy to get fired, and that may just happen,
but if someone in management did tell the coach that
Howard wanted him fired, then I believe that they are
either playing them against each other and will keep
who they think will serve them best, or they are
siding with the coach, and are just plain tired of
Howard's act and want to expose him to the rest of
the league to show them what a Prima Donna he is.

Like I said it's just a gut feeling, but right about
now this self proclaimed "Superman" is behaving alot
more like a character from Batman named the "Joker",
and ruining a good thing for a team that can actually
compete at a high level. Time to suck it up Cupcake !

Tweet

Don't Believe In Plays, Believe In Players - Al Davis

The NBA Is Making Noise? It's About Time

(AP Photo/Jim Mone)

All the talk lately has been about one guy, and one
team, Jeremy Lin and the NY Knicks, but for the NBA
it's been more than just that. Last year was marked
with all the talk of the Miami "Dream Team" the ugly
break up of LeBron, the Cleveland Cavaliers, their
owner and their fans, certainly not a way you want
your league to be remembered. Though it's often been
said that no publicity is bad publicity, this type of
publicity wasn't always so good.

Enter the 2012 NBA season, wait, what 2012 NBA season?
Lockout, public indifference, bickering among the ranks,
and the owners with a stranglehold around the players
neck. Not a very good start. Fortunately for the
league and it's fans their has been a little bit of a
turnaround even while it struggles to justify why it's
trying to squeeze in 66 games in so few days other than
to admit and be honest about the fact that all they are
really concerned about how much money they can make.
OK, enough negativity. Truth is there are a few nice
things going on in the league right now that are making
it appealing to more people than usual.

Like I said at the start, Jeremy Lin has made quite a
few headlines, and if you're on Twitter the one thing
you notice is that it's not just NBA people. Everyone
from Adam Schefter who covers the NFL for ESPN to fellow
MSG mates on the NY Rangers are constantly Tweeting about
this guy. The nicknames don't stop coming, Lin-derella,
Just Lin Baby, Lin-ing, and yesterdays favorite was
appropriately "Be My Va-LIN-Tine". As long as he and the
Knicks keep winning, don't expect it to stop.

Then of course their are the aforementioned Cleveland
Cavaliers who have found that their is "LAL", or Life
After Lebron. Stinking it up in the 2010/11 season put
them in a position to get a good draft pick and though
that doesn't always pan out (LA Clippers past 20 years),
it has so far for them. They have already won more than
half as many games as they did all of last year, and Kyrie
Irving has been anything but a bust with 18ppg and 5.1ast.
Until he had his concussion it was clear they were doing
much better with him in the lineup, and he returns tonight.
Believe it or not they are only two and a half games out
of the final playoff spot in the east, and there are still
forty games remaining for them. Cleveland can be relevant
again, and you better believe that their owner will try and
lock up this young talent before he hits the free agency in
a few years. And oh yeah, by the way, he's Australian.

How about those Sixers? 20-9 as of this writing and leading
the Atlantic division. David Stern has to be loving that!

The Oklahoma City Thunder leading the West at 22-6 is another
feather in the NBA's cap. Young vibrant starts ready to make
noise, and bring some of middle America into the mix. Gotta
Love it if your ready to negotiate new TV rights for the NBA.

The LA Clippers in 1st in the Pacific division ahead of the
Lakers? That's a double LA TV boom for the Stern. Shhhhhh

So many more stories that are worth mentioning, but I will
leave you with the Minnesota Timberwolves who finally got
their Ricky Rubio, and along with Kevin Love are only two
games out of a playoff spot out West. With Rick Adeleman
at the helm there, it's only a matter of time before they
compete, and make some noise as well as be fun to watch.

And don't forget the trade deadline that is right around the
corner. Will Dwight Howard be traded?, and if so where?
Does he make the Nets respectable? Put the Clippers over the
top? Change places with Amare Stoudimire? So many scenarios,
and so many more headlines for the league to capitalize on.
Difference is, this time they can smile a bit.


Tweet Don't Believe In Plays, Believe In Players - Al Davis

Chris Paul To The Clippers Is News You Can't Buy

AP Photo: Donald Sterling, Owner, Los Angeles Clippers

I remember someone once saying to me that there is
no such thing as bad publicity, and though I don't
necessarily agree with that exact sentiment, I knew
what they meant. The sentiment there is that if you
are in the news, good or bad it's free advertising,
and though we can easily agree that you don't want
to be involved in any super negative scandal, most
other stuff is easy enough to get by.

When was the last time you heard this much about the
LA Clippers that didn't involve their yearly trip to
the NBA lottery drawing event, or wasn't at the end
of a really bad score? Chances are that before Blake
Griffin hit the scene for them, that was there only
chance of making any headlines, otherwise they
literally had to pay for the honor of having they
name spoken this often and it not be involved in a
punchline of any kind.

The on again off again trade for Chris Paul has been
going on for days now, and there is now real reason to
believe that it will definitely get done or not, but
the Clippers have made headlines like never before in
there history, and it has even made them brash enough
to bid in a claim for recently waived Chauncey Billups.
Before you know it, they may even pretend to be serious
suitors for Dwight Howard. Wouldn't that be a kick in
the Laker rear?

Maybe this new CBA has leveled the playing field, or just
maybe longtime owner Donald Sterling is being played with
like a weekend at Bernies skit, but no matter what comes
of this, they can't say it cost them anything.


Tweet Don't Believe In Plays, Believe In Players - Al Davis