If you have seen the movie Ice Age and the sequels Ice Age II and III, then you know there is a squirrel in the movie that really has nothing to do with the movie, but is obsessed with a giant acorn. Each movie shows clip after clip of the squirrel named Scrat chasing after this giant acorn.

Dwight Howard feels he is Scrat and the NBA Title is his giant acorn and he is obsessed with getting the acorn.

Another not so gentle giant named Shrek or would that be Shaq, has recently moved to Cleveland in search of another NBA Title for himself and a good friend named LeBron.

Will Shaq slow down Dwight Howard?

Now all the talk is on what will happen when the two giants face off against each other. Shaq has prepped the way with some not so kind words degrading Dwight Howard and his offensive moves.

“I haven’t spoken with him,” Howard said. “I’ve seen a lot of the comments that he has said on TV and read a lot of the comments that he’s made. I would say it hurt my feelings, a little bit, just to hear him say some of the things he said.”

Looking back on last season’s Eastern Conference finals, it’s easy to understand why Cleveland wanted O’Neal so badly to counter Howard. The Cavs had no defensive answer for the Magic’s All-Star center, so they took a gamble that O’Neal is still enough of a force at age 37 to stand up to him.

“Everybody has said, ‘Cleveland got Shaq for you. Cleveland got Shaq to win a championship,’ ” Howard said.

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Everyone seems to think it is a foregone conclusion that Shaq can handle Dwight Howard enough for LeBron James to deliver Cleveland to the finals, but your intrepid author has watched age sneak up on Shaq and he may find the fast improving Superman is a lot more than he bargained for.

The bigger worry might be how the Magic maintain their team chemistry without Hedo Turkoglu and with the addition of Vince Carter. Those team changes will more likely determine the fate of the Magic.

And if the Magic don’t make it, you can always go watch Ice Age III. It was a great movie!

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Why do you doubt this guy year after year, thinking he can’t coach his way out of a paper box unless he has a superstar box cutter on his team. That is the excuse you have used for years. Oh, Phil, he has that superstar player, that is why he wins.

The only problem with that argument is the other coach, the one coaching the team Phil is beating, also has a superstar player on his team and he is losing. Meanwhile, Phil just keeps on winning and it looks like the Lakers led by a superstar named Kobe Bryant, will win the NBA title for Phil.

Kobe Bryant believes in Phil Jackson

So can Phil coach? You bet he can.

When Orlando’s Dwight Howard missed his two free throws near the end of regulation, Jackson, his Lakers down by three points, chose to inbound the ball and have the Lakers go the length of the court. He figured that an inbounds pass at midcourt would likely have drawn an immediate foul.

Going all the way down the court, the Lakers were able to get the ball in to Bryant, then to Ariza and then to Fisher.

“I do think some of it the credit does belong outside of myself, to my teammates, to Phil,” Fisher said. “Just the way that he’s willing to stick with certain people that he believes can help get the job done. It’s not always about statistically what is this guy going to bring to the table.

“A lot of coaches won’t have that kind of faith, confidence, that kind of perseverance to figure he’ll be rewarded in the end. Phil doesn’t have to say anything to me. We’ve been together a long time, been through a lot of games. We understand.”

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Allen Iverson getting some love from Coach Michael Curry

So it seems funny that so many fans are suddenly all over Joe Dumars case about the Allen Iverson trade. It is actually pretty rare in sports for both teams to get quality star players in any trade.

In this case Joe D gets a trading A+.

How can this be, you ask? Haven’t they lost a ton of games since AI rode into town, you ask?

Well, it can be and yes they have lost more than they usually seem to lose.

But consider the benefits of this trade.

The transition Dumars so boldly made in dumping Billups and his $36.3 million stretching out through 2010-11 was as shrewd and forward-thinking as it gets in this what-have-you-done-for-me-yesterday league. Clearing cap space by acquiring a huge expiring contract — in Iverson’s case, $21.9 million — is a tried-and-true rebuilding tactic. When the expiring contract is attached to Theo Ratliff, Joe Smith or some other fading veteran, the case can easily be made to fans reaching deep into their pockets that it’s the right move for the future.

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Now did you really think Detroit was going to win it all this year with an aging Billups? Haven’t you noticed how he failed to produce big in the last two playoffs? No knock on Chauncey, but his better days have come and gone. Denver gets a nice boost from Chauncey, because he settles them down and calmly spreads the ball around. That was not going to help the aging Piston starters.

By the way, have you seen AI play with the Piston backups? Amir, Maxiell, Afflalo, and new starter Stuckey, can fly up the floor and blend in better with the attacking Iverson.

Hey, if the experiment fails, AI and Rasheed Wallace will be sent packing and two new young stars will be in their place.

Trading A+.

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Rodney Stuckey can fly past you, but is he ready to pilot the Pistons to victory?

Chauncey Billups was traded for Allen Iverson. Chauncey was on the decline. He no longer dominated in the playoffs and often left the team stagnant. Don’t get me wrong, he was a Piston warrior, but they were not going to win it all with Billups.

AI will share time with Stuckey and bring more speed and penetration to the offense. This will allow more players to play, like Afflalo, Amir, and Maxiell with an up tempo style.

Is AI the answer? Probably not, but change was needed and Chauncey was from Denver. Joe D cut a deal that seems to benefit both teams.

he’s the guy who has averaged more than 40 minutes a game during his NBA career.

And he says he’s ready if the Pistons want him to revert to his old playing style.

“Yeah, that’s just the competitive nature that I have,” said Iverson, 33. “That’s just inside me. I want to be the guy with the ball. I want to be the guy making the decision. But that’s just not the case anymore, and I have to adjust.

“I don’t have a problem with it. I think the bigger picture is winning a championship.”

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Philly is involved in that transition from making the playoffs to being consistently good and challenging to go farther in the playoffs.

EB is not the answer for the 76er’s but he is an important piece to the puzzle.

Philadelphia is still searching for that leader on the court and depending on leadership from the coach. Someone has to rise up and lead with their play. That was the importance of Billups to the Pistons. The 76ers need to find their Billups.

Detroit now belongs to Tayshaun and Stuckey. This will be an experiment due to the fact that neither player has an outgoing personality, a personality to get the team to follow them. This could be where the relentless play of Allen Iverson will fill that void until those players can take over.
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Ever see a trade in the NBA that benefits both teams?

Hmm, Iverson for Billups!

Denver is better with Chauncey controlling the pace, reducing turnovers and making clutch shots and free throws.

Detroit finally has found the explosiveness to go along with their great defense and half court consistency.

This has moved Detroit up to slot 5 in the ESPN power rankings from slot 9.

We figure Detroit can live with its 3-3 start to the Iverson era after going to L.A. and knocking the Lakers from the ranks of the unbeaten. But check back after this week’s back-to-back games against Cleveland and Boston.
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Denver has moved to slot 6 from last week’s slot 12.

Victory in Boston, a 5-1 start to the Billups era and now a move into the top 10, blemished only by a loss to the hottest team in the league at Cleveland? Sounds like the Nuggets are your U.S. Army Team of the Week.

stay tuned to see if these two teams can hold it together.

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The last time the Lakers went 7 – 0 to start the season it was 2001 and they finished the season with the NBA Title.

The Lakers are not playing like a championship team, but they are winning like a Championship team and for this time of the season that is good enough.

So what is their formula for success?

Hang in there and let Kobe takeover in the end.

The success formula allows them to win for now, but they have to develop into more of a team if they want to seriously make a title run.

We do have some very good stretches,” Fisher said. “It’s something we can build on. We know we have a long way to go. We’re only in November. We want to keep winning. (But) I think we’re relying on Kobe’s ability to make plays too much in the fourth quarter. … So, that’s something we’re going to have to correct.

“Teams know the ball is going to be in his hands down the stretch. We have to be able to do things so that there are other options. We have too many other guys who can make plays. It doesn’t always have to be Kobe.”

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Allen Iverson is a Piston

Years ago the Pistons tried to trade for Allen Iverson when he played for the Philadelphia 76ers.

Now finally they got it done trading Chauncey Billups for Allen Iverson.

Nuggets executive Mark Warkentien also spoke with the AP about the trade: “Two teams had one common problem, or challenge. I think the Pistons looked at (Rodney) Stuckey and saw him as the point guard of tomorrow, and you have an All-Star in Chauncey who was in his way. We’re just thrilled with the way J.R. (Smith) is progressing, and he had a Hall of Famer in front of him. You understand the motivation of both teams.”

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That is the obvious stuff, but why did these teams make this trade?

Some say that the Joe Dumars experiment of having no superstars ultimately failed.

What the Pistons were attempting was nothing less than a paradigm shift in the NBA, like taking a NASCAR track in a Prius.

Joe Dumars built his roster by seeing value where others saw risk. The core players consisted of a point guard who had already been with four other teams (Chauncey Billups), a guy seen as unfit to play alongside Michael Jordan in Washington (Richard Hamilton), a very limited offensive player on his third team (Ben Wallace), a late first-round draft pick (Tayshaun Prince) and a volatile, technical-happy head case (Rasheed Wallace).

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Nonsense. All those conference finals were just illusion? The NBA Title was just make believe? Come on. The experiment worked and worked beyond all of our expectations.

No, it seems more likely that both teams are seeking to retool. There was no room for both a Carmelo Anthony and an Allen Iverson on the same court at the same time. That is way too much offense and way too little defense to win any NBA Titles.

For the Pistons, they get to pick up some instant offense on a team that often went stagnant the last couple of years and if it does not work out the Pistons can just let Iverson go, because he is in the last year of his contract. Remember Rasheed Wallace is also in the last year of his contract.

For the Allen Iverson skeptics out there, it all goes back to a theory of mine. When players get up in sports years the desire to win exceeds the desire to pile up stats. Allen is finally on a team that is favored to win.
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Andrew Bynum is ready and running

Andrew Bynum has been working out and his knee is fine.

This is a big year for Bynum. A contract year.

“I can’t wait, man,” Bynum said. “I think I’m the only guy who wants the season to start, like, tomorrow, you know what I mean? But I just can’t wait to play with the fellows. I haven’t done it in (nine) months, so I’m excited.”

Bynum is eligible for a contract extension that could pay him up to $80 million for five seasons, but he said he’s not thinking about anything but a successful return to the court.

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How is it the Lakers can go to the NBA finals and then get back a 7 foot center.

Like me, have you been trying to figure out how good this team can be with both Gasol and Bynum up front and Kobe Bryant in the backcourt?

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Kevin Garnett – anything is possible

Image details: NBA Finals Game 6: Los Angeles Lakers v Boston Celtics served by picapp.com

It seems like yesterday that my Piston won the world title, the Larry something trophy, in the NBA.

My friends were on a high that lasted a week.

Boston fans feel like that right now. You could sell little kid sippy cups with Boston Celtic logos on them and the fans would scoop them up by the hundreds.

They sound just like we did. Our team is great. We will win next year and maybe the year after that! Forgetting, of course, that they barely got past the Atlanta Hawks. Yeah, the Atlanta Hawks.

Maybe it was better expressed by Kevin Garnett. He was on such a high that he could hardly speak, screaming “anything is possible, anything is posssssiiiibbblllee!” Man, you have to love Garnett, for it was a long wait. Nobody wants to be the next Charles Barkley and go out with no title.

Paul Pierce had a great playoffs and towards the end there was no stopping him. It was fun to watch. The Celtics Danny Ainge brought back the old stars and solid defense and taught us all what Joe Dumars has been telling us. These old guys know how to win and how to play D. Hats off to Ainge and crew.

Doc Rivers, truly a nice guy, proved us all wrong. He really is a great coach, not just because he won, but because he made a lot of subtle adjustments throughout the playoffs and they all seemed to work.

When the Boston Celtics built a new practice facility, they surrounded the court with their 16 NBA championship banners and left a blank space for No. 17.

The message was a bit too subtle for Doc Rivers.

The Celtics coach turned a spotlight on the empty spot on the wall at the beginning of this season so there would be no doubt about the team’s goal.

“They can turn that thing off now,” guard Ray Allen said early Wednesday morning, his left eye still red from the first-half face-raking and the postgame champagne spraying that accompanied Boston’s title-clinching, 131-92 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.

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With the core group of Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Kendrick Perkins, and Rajon Rondo, anything is possible and you have to think that next year could be another Lakers with Kobe Bryant and Boston Celtics with the Boston three party back at the NBA title game.

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Kobe Bryant is ready, but is Pau Gasol ready?

Image details: NBA Finals Game 4: Boston Celtics v Los Angeles Lakers served by picapp.com

The Lakers blew it in game 4. A 24 point lead and still they did not win. The Celtics stepped up the defense and Paul Pierce went crazy on offense and that was it.

The Lakers have to face game 5 as a game to get respect.

Let me lay it out for you.

First off your leader has to be cool. Kobe Bryant is the ultimate cool right now.

Bryant insists the Lakers have moved on since their Game 4 collapse. There’s no time to dwell on what happened, all that counts now is what happens next.

“We’ve got to take care of business on Sunday,” said Bryant, who spent much of the past two days relaxing at home with his family. “So what are we going to do? How am I going to get my teammates in the right frame of mind, make sure they’re energetic, and that’s what it’s been all about.”

Bryant said he spent much of the past two days reading a Harry Potter book to his daughters.

“It was awesome,” he said. “He had more problems dealing with Voldemort than what we have dealing with the media and the Celtics.”

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Lord Voldemort? Hmm, that would be interesting.

Garnett goes up for a rebound and what is this? Lord Voldemort has pulled out his wand and, oh my gosh, the ball just exploded. Did you see that? Kevin Garnett is just lying on the floor in a crumpled heap.

Anyway, secondly you cannot think beyond this next game.

The finals are in a 2 – 3 – 2 format. The Lakers almost came from 20 down to win game 2, but did not. The Celtics came from behind to win game 4. That made the series 3 -1. Hopeless is the major feeling right now. No NBA team has come back from 3 -1.

Even if the Lakers can get up for game 5 after the major disappointment of game 4, they would still face game 6 and 7 in the house of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen. Not to mention the ghosts of Celtics past like Red Auerbach and Larry Bird. It is human nature to just not believe you can win all three games in a row, but you can always convince yourself to win the next game, the one right in front of you.

Third the Lakers have to play a complete game with enthusiasm. Derek Fisher is a veteran and understands the playoffs, but does Pau Gasol or is he and his other teammates just happy to be there?

Fourth, Kobe Bryant has to get hot. He cannot just dribble into the paint and dish off. If he is the best player in the league and Phil Jackson is such a good coach, then a new strategy has to be devised to make Boston unable to stop Kobe. Right now Boston is over playing one side of the court and it is working. LA has to find a way to get down low or get open shots on the weak side.

Back to game 5. The Lakers need this game for respect, and then if they lose in Boston, they lose in Boston and that is that.

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