Mike D'Antoni, You Are Insane

This gem is from the New York Post today.

http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/knicks/hinrich_maneuver_EYxQj5hD0CoYEBmMNnic3M#ixzz0rsqbQ7gg

"This sets the course of the franchise for the next 10 years," D'Antoni said.The Bulls have a stronger cast in star point guard Derrick Rose, two young big men Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson, and scoring forward Luol Deng.The Knicks' lone hope in landing James was having him come aboard with either Bosh or Stoudemire to join their young corps of Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, Toney Douglas and Bill Walker."Our core young players can be put up against anybody," D'Antoni said. "You might smirk, but we have some pieces that are very interesting. I'm confident because we have a great product. We're selling the best place in the world to live and play."

Okay, let's see: Derrick Rose vs. Toney Douglas. ROSE

Luol Deng vs. Bill Walker. DENG

Danilo Galinari vs. Taj Gibson. GIBSON (close, but he did average a double-double most of the season!)

Joakim Noah vs. Wilson Chandler. NOAH

I'm smirking, Mikey, I'm smirking. It's okay though, Joe Johnson is a good fit in your system! And he will enjoy the hell out of that max contract.

I Know, I Know, Lakers vs. Celtics, But...

Props to Send Lebron to Chicago for this.



At this point, let's do the math. Nets, Knicks, Heat, Bulls, Clippers. I pretty much think that's it.

The Nets have a core of Devin Harris, Brook Lopez, and the #3 pick. They are also coming off just a godawful season.

The Knicks are terrible.

The Heat would give Bron a great sidekick in D-Wade, but not a whole lot else.

The Clippers' have a nice supporting cast, not too bad -- Kaman, an aging but still effective Baron Davis, Eric Gordon.

And then we have the Bulls. As this video points out, LeBron James and Derrick Rose may be the two most athletic stars in the game today. Rose is only 21. James still has, what, eight good years left (if we use the Garnett model for high school sustainability)?

Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson, Kirk Hinrich, and Luol Deng are rock solid in their roles. This is a team that could become a dynasty with one simple move. No reaching for Bosh or Joe Johnson, or Amare. No complications.

Call it 'Just Add LeBron,' because unlike every other suitor, that is all the Bulls have to do to become instant championship favorites. Of course, we knew this already. But hey, cool video right?

Bloomington: Nocturnal Adventures

I did something cool tonight, everybody. And no, that's not me.

Let me start at the beginning. About three weeks ago, I bought (with some timely assistance from a microfinancier in Evanston, IL), a brand spankin' new mountain bike. For those of you that are interested in that sort of thing, it's a Specialized Hardrock, a fairly starter-ish bike, but nonetheless very high quality. So far I have nothing but good things to say about it. Here it is, in all its bikey glory:

Anyway, I've been taking it out for random late-night spins whenever I get the jones to after work. I usually get off around 1 in the summertime (that's one AM for all you desk jockeys), by which time Bloomington, especially up around where I live, is basically quiet and deserted. All the kids have gone home to Indy and Chicago.

So I have the entire Indiana athletic complex to myself at night. In the past, this has led to wanderings around the football stadium, racing circles around Assembly Hall, and I definitely got a cool view of the new Cook Hall tonight from the outside.

IU Basketball's new facility is really pretty - I can't wait to see how they do it up for game days, but it already looks like a great addition to go with the North End Zone. Believe me, it looks much better up close at night with the lights on than it does in a simulation video. If I ever get a digital camera, I'll get some pics.

Rick Greenspan is really putting together something special. But I digress.

Tonight I did something a little different. I headed up to the Little 500 track, which, this being Bloomington, was sitting wide open and unlocked. Without any No Trespassing signs (in case anybody was worried.)

So I rode straight onto the cinderblock track and did five laps. In the pitch darkness. On a mountain bike.

It was awesome.
I have watched almost every Little 500 since being at Indiana, and always wondered what it would feel like to race that track. I think, looking at that picture, Barack probably felt the same way. Granted, doing it in the dark, without a crowd, not on the proper bike, and without 31 other riders trying to kill me makes for a somewhat different experience.

But I think I got the basic idea. And man was it cool.

Anyway, just thought I'd share. Bloomington at night is a pretty sweet place.

On to some side notes.

The IU Men's basketball team, per idsnews.com, got a 3.14 in spring semester. All you die hards looking to go back to the glory days, let's give credit where credit is due. Tom Crean and the boys are doing it "the right way."

Me, I'll take a 2.5 and an NCAA Tourney appearance... but whatever. Way to go, guys.

Also, Joe Posnanski at SI.com is very quickly becoming one of my go-to guys for online sportswriting. Natural voice, good analysis, just an ideal blend of everything you want in good writing as a whole, not just for sports. Here are a couple of his recent articles.

Royals aren't winning, but is that really Trey Hillman's fault?

Griffey's skills are long gone -- but it was fun while it lasted

And his NFL Draft article, which I thought was dead on: It gets more hype than ever, but NFL draft is still crapshoot

One more. I'd just like to remind you all that when you get sick of Peter King, there is a solution. Kissing Suzy Kolber does a detailed rebuttal of each and every column by The Big Latte. Here's the most recent.

Hey-a! It's-a the Euroleague! I Want A Pizza!

... from our overseas correspondent Alec Kinczewski, an exciting slice o' Euroleague basketball action. Bonus points if you can identify two American expats and where they went to school.