And I'm Back

For those few of you who have taken the time to read my 1 and only blog I appreciate your support and patience as I am back for another.  What a crazy 9 months it has been since my last post.  It is now Spring and I find myself unemployed and desperately trying to get someone to interview me.  It's quite ironic how things can change so suddenly.  I have always paid attention from a safe distance to the challenges many people have faced over the past few years of our country's difficult recession.  Like most people I never thought for 1 minute that I could ever lose my job nor that it would be difficult to get a new job if faced with that scenario.  Well I was wrong on both accounts!  So with that being said I have turned my attention to once again talking about basketball, life and everything in between!  Let's recap the state of NBA basketball while I was out:  The Miami Heat destroy all teams on their way to a title!  Wait they didn't win the title you say!  Oh that's right the Dallas Mavericks showed everyone what a team looks like and what rising to the challenge on the biggest stage means!  Before continuing on let me just say that Lebron James and Dwayne Wade are 2 of the most dynamic, physically gifted athletes of our generation.  Lebron has the pathway to become the greatest individual player that the NBA has ever seen and may ever see for years to come.  Dwayne Wade has the killer instinct that Lebron lacks and therefore makes them the perfect combination.  Or does it?  I couldn't help noticing that during the 2011 Finals both of them seemed confused during crunch time when the games were up for grabs.  As if they didn't know how or where they could attack the Mavericks.  Yes Dallas and specifically Rick Carlisle were masterful with their team defense as well as their team execution.  But let's not kid ourselves the athletic abilitites and skill sure seemed to favor the Heat.  In the end Dallas won out with an incredible will to win!  Remember that phrase "will to win"!  Magic Johnson has spoken about a will to win on numerous occasions.  Michael Jordan embodied a will to win, heck even Phil Jackson just did a commercial about his Airness's will to win!  I'm just not sure that Lebron nor Dwayne will ever reach that will to win no matter the circumstances or how high the stakes are!  Moving on after the finals was a fantastic off season of, thinking.......  Oh yeah that's right millionaires, and multi millionaires and even billionaires fighting through a lockout over what amounts to 6% of the now famous BRI!  Aren't we all smarter fans now that we understand the complex world of BRI and how teams and players get to split all of the millions of dollars that we as fans give to them!  I would love to give you reasons why the 5 and 1/2 months of the lockout was actually good for the game and good for the long term solvency of the league, but I just don't got none!  Here is what I have taken from the lockout now that we are roughly 17 games away from the 2012 NBA Playoffs!  The same good teams are still good, the same bad teams are still bad, the same superstars are still demanding trades to big market cities, and the same small market teams are still dumping salaries through trades that make no sense for the on the floor product.  This is why I would never make it as a General Manager, because you have to be a salary cap expert and a contractual wizard.  How many of the 30 NBA teams do you think employ decision makers in the GM or President of Basketball Operations capacity that are actual basketball people?  Guys that can look at a product on the court and say to themselves we need better spacing, more dynamic post play, better shooters, better rebounding from our 4 man, or a more cohesive team game plan?  Thinking.......  Maybe a handful at best.  See the NBA is a business that is in the business of making a million dollars out of a dime!  I love the movie Hoosiers and believe it is one of greatest films of all time and has many hidden messages that all of us should pay deep attention to.  Gene Hackman's character is as complicated as any you will find on the big screen, and yet he is also one of the most simplest.  You see he believes his guys can do the unthinkable together with everyone playing a role in the success.  He believes in them so much that he invests in them personally for the greater good of the team.  At one point in the locker room before a big game he is giving his speech and pauses for great cinematic effect to proclaim to the quiet room "I love you guys"!  Enough said!  You want to know what NBA needs, passion, belief in one anther, loyalty and of course a little Norman Dale!  Whether you like it or hate it I would love any response!  Thanks for reading!