January 14, 2009 9:21 am  |  46 Comments

Line Of The Night — LeBron

Now and forever. Or at least the next 10 years.

Line Of The Night:

LeBron James — 30 points, 11 boards, 10 assists, 3 steals, 1 block

Is it all over? Do we call the next 6-10 years, with a retirement sprinkled in here or there, and hand the title to LeBron and [fill in whatever team he is on]? Are the days of legitimately not Above the shouldersreally knowing who is going to win the title when we get to the Playoffs over? Are we back on the Jordan/Hakeem/Shobe time line?

Contraction Club Of The Night:

Detroit Pistons — 78 points vs. Charlotte Bobcats

‘Sheed Wallace is called for a faker-than-Rick Ross offensive foul. He amazingly avoids the assumed tech, but the Bobcats get the ball with the score tied, nonetheless. Raymond Felton gets the rock, preparing for the final shot with his signature herky-jerk, bow-legged gate. Swop. Game. Felton runs down the court, screaming indignantly, daringly, to anyone that will listen… Trade ME!??!?!?! TRAAAAADE ME!!!!

But in all honestly, reports are that defensive performance came as a result of Larry Brown, in practice, shouting, with an autotuner: “Find your man and rotate, find your man and rotate/’Cause the vagabond is back, I said the vagabond is back”.

NBA-Tinged Lyric Of The Night:

“I’m next on the table, who want whut?/I am champ-i-on, at beer pong/Allen I-ver-soon, Hakeem O-la-ju-won,” Asher Roth, “College

A whiteboy rapping about college over a guitar-based based? Sounds like a recipe for disaster… until you throw in Iverson and Olajuwon references. Asher Roth pulls it off, and the catchiness is undeniable. It will be literally impossible to spend any time in a college frat house this semester and not here this song. Now, trust, A.I. and the Dream will be there too. If it really makes you feel better, throw the Jones version on, instead. Hmmm, maybe we didn’t help ourselves with that last suggestion.

Back In The Day Of The Night:

Darius Miles — 13 points, 1 head bump

Offense, and only offense, but he managed a dunk that led to the infamous head tap! D-Miles? Q-Rich? L-Eezy? It was all good just a week ago. And Portland — THERE’S ONLY 1 GAME LEFT!!!

Shaqism Of The Night:

Shaq has blessed us with his latest nickname: now calls himself Shaq-ovic “because if you go Shaq-o-vicaround the League anybody with the last name ‘vic’ is a great shooter.”

This was after he claimed to finally find the cure to his free throw ills (he went 12-12 over the course of two games). Of course last night, he came back to America (from Eastern Europe) a little with a 6-11 performance from the stripe. No complaints here though. Whatever keeps you happy and talking, big fella. Our favorite Shaq story of the year though, is Steve Kerr’s account that the Diesel often goes to Wal-Mart following home games, picks up some items… and anyone else’s bill that happens to be standing in line! Awesome. We don’t support Wal-Mart, but that’s still great.

Studio Show Of The Night:

Put it on the board. With the Chuckster out for awhile following his most recent run-in with another personal vice, it’s NBA GameNight time. CWebb and Gary Payton are everything Kenny and Chuck USED to be. They completely wile out. They are still connected enough with current players that they really have some inside ish and relationships, so when CWebb throws somebody under the bus–we’re looking at you, Coach O’Brien–it rings true. And did we mention they really just wile out? Gary Payton on the fake cover of Cat Lovers magazine? Love it. And yeah, Ahmad gets zero credit.

Eddy Curry. We only PRAY that he hadn’t put on all this new weight at the time he was running around naked. But really not a pretty sight, either way… Because the superthug is back. IS BACK. The superthug is back… Minnesota finally loses, but Randy Foye stayed hot, dropping 29/8 asts./5 rebs./1 stl. The awakening… And that was the only coaching change that did anything, right? The Kings’ certainly did not work, unless they were looking to give up 139 points, including 23-37 3-point shooting! That’s a record, Orlando…

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  • Justin Walsh Posted: Jan.14 at 9:23 am
    i know L.O.N is an NBA thing. but Jodie Meeks my man. Jodie Meeks. 54 points, 10 3’s (10/15), 14/14 FT’s, 15/22 FG, 8 rebounds 4 assists 1 steal

  • Ryan Jones Posted: Jan.14 at 9:29 am
    I know how I feel about LeBron. I’m not sure how I should feel about this Asher Roth fellow…

  • Ken Posted: Jan.14 at 9:31 am
    Dirk’s 44/14 wasn’t bad either, but I’d also give it to LBJ.

  • Ryan Jones Posted: Jan.14 at 9:33 am
    Oh, and great autotuner reference, SB. Here’s my one good idea for the month: We need a contest to determine the NBA equivalent of the autotuner — ie, which player is everywhere, mysteriously popular, crazy annoying and due to disappear completely within the next few months?

  • matt the jazz fan Posted: Jan.14 at 10:31 am
    @ Ryan: Methinks D Miles qualifies based on your set of criteria.

  • Ryan Jones Posted: Jan.14 at 10:40 am
    DMiles has been in the League way too long to qualify for autotuner status.

  • underdog Posted: Jan.14 at 11:24 am
    The Birdman stole the show.

  • Khalid Salaam Posted: Jan.14 at 11:42 am
    Shaq is making a case for the Most Improved Player Award. I know, under the usual criteria he doesn’t qualify, but think about it. Last year people were saying he’s done. Now he back to bustin’ people ass on the court. Because of his play the Suns might actually be a factor come playoff time. How come people aren’t talking about this more?….Regarding Lebron’s championship run–Can we just let him WIN ONE first before we go there??? I mean, seriously.

  • AlbertBarr Posted: Jan.14 at 11:46 am
    Co-sign underdog - the birdman takes it.

  • AlbertBarr Posted: Jan.14 at 11:47 am
    Dirk’s 44/14 resulted in an L.

  • Ryan Jones Posted: Jan.14 at 12:01 pm
    “How come people aren’t talking about this more?”
    Because it’s crazy. Shaq should only quality for the Most Improved Player award if, first, you retroactively give him the Player Who Fell The F*ck Off The Most award for the past 2-3 years. C’mon man…

  • Khalid Salaam Posted: Jan.14 at 12:14 pm
    Ryan, You’re thinking about it using standard logic. So of course it doesn’t make sense when considered in that way. But think about it in a actual difference-making context….. Think of a player from last year who when they were on the court either hurt their teams chances to win because of stylistic differences, played decently but not well enough to make a difference in the teams success potential or contributed so little on offense or defense that they were taking up minutes that could have been more productively used for someone else. …And now that same person is not only just a valuable part of the rotation but a welcomed part. And instead of hurting the team makes them legitimately and considerably better, so much so that people no longer discuss said player’s shortcoming from the previous year. Isn’t that what the MIP award is suppossed to be for? So i’ll throw out some names–jameer nelson, chris duhon, danny granger and shaq. how is this crazy?

  • TADOne Posted: Jan.14 at 12:21 pm
    Can we add Rodney Stuckey in there, Kha? Yeah, i’m a homer.

  • Ryan Jones Posted: Jan.14 at 12:23 pm
    “…Isn’t that what the MIP award is suppossed to be for?”
    No.
    The ENTIRE point of the MIP award is to reward a guy whose level of play has reached new heights. Shaq hasn’t even reached his OLD heights; he’s just a little closer to his previous heights than he had been the past couple years. By giving Shaq the MIP, you would (essentially) be indirectly rewarding him for underachieving the last few years.
    That’s how that’s crazy.

  • Ryan Jones Posted: Jan.14 at 12:24 pm
    Or put it this way: Shaq has INCREASED his contributions. He hasn’t IMPROVED his game.

  • Tom Posted: Jan.14 at 12:25 pm
    I don’t even think shaq would accept MIP if you gave it to him. I don’t think in his mind he ever fell off.

  • Khalid Salaam Posted: Jan.14 at 12:27 pm
    Stukey is a good one too…Well then they need to change the name to the “Breakthrough Player Of The Year” in order to make sense under those parameters. That way it can go to the guy who goes to the next level not the most improved player from the previous season.

  • Anton Posted: Jan.14 at 12:34 pm
    haha Shaqovic.
    The Birdman for MVP. Melo who?

  • Darksaber Posted: Jan.14 at 12:38 pm
    umm, scuse me here? Even for fear of annoying the grown ups ( ahem, Kha), zee german had a 44&14 go to waste against the most resurgent frontcourt of this young season. Not even a mention, Booher? 37 attempted 3’s. Amazing.

  • Darksaber Posted: Jan.14 at 12:39 pm
    Shobe. Loved that.

  • Ben Osborne Posted: Jan.14 at 12:50 pm
    Unfortunately I had Shaq on my fantasy team LAST YEAR. Shannon is the man.

  • Frank Posted: Jan.14 at 12:52 pm
    Asher Roth BLOWS

  • Ryan Jones Posted: Jan.14 at 1:06 pm
    Breakthrough Player of the Year sounds like a category at the People’s Choice Awards.

  • TADOne Posted: Jan.14 at 1:11 pm
    Totally random: I laughed my a$$ off at the first night of the new American Idol last night.

  • Eboy Posted: Jan.14 at 1:25 pm
    TAD, you’re watching American Idol? For real? Must be the new female, yes? Although the bikini girl was pretty right.

  • Darksaber Posted: Jan.14 at 1:25 pm
    TAD. Just saw idol reruns from yesterday. Shocked at the amount of talent in arizona. Poor cat with a deeper baritone than barry white. Oh, btw? Go Katrina!!! Aka bikinigirl. Dayummm(y)

  • Darksaber Posted: Jan.14 at 1:26 pm
    yeahhh E. Thats wassup

  • TADOne Posted: Jan.14 at 2:18 pm
    E: actually, you got that spot on. I was watching the Pistons game, but she wanted to see Idol. Some of them people need a reality check.

  • Shannon Booher Posted: Jan.14 at 2:20 pm
    Definitely right, Khalid, on holding off on LeBron… but damn, it feels imminent. And “Breakout Player” or something does seem more appropriate, as the winner is often someone who simply started receiving more minutes. At that point it’s hard to know if they actually “improved” or just produced inline with their minutes.

  • [...] As seen on SLAMONline: [...]

  • Eboy Posted: Jan.14 at 2:25 pm
    I figured, TAD.

  • SLAM ONLINE | Posted: Jan.14 at 5:50 pm
    [...] Line of the Night [...]

  • Moose Posted: Jan.14 at 7:12 pm
    Shaquille O’Neal is my father.

  • Dacre Posted: Jan.14 at 7:22 pm
    @RYAN: I would say that if Shaqovic can shoot 75% free throws for the rest of the season that gets most improved for me.

  • Dacre Posted: Jan.14 at 7:23 pm
    lol @ moose. we must be brother and sister…

  • Teddy-the-Bear Posted: Jan.14 at 8:28 pm
    I appreciated that “faker-than-Rick Ross” line.

  • Teddy-the-Bear Posted: Jan.14 at 8:30 pm
    Ahmad or Ernie?

  • Moose Posted: Jan.14 at 8:53 pm
    Thanks, Dacre. Must be from that accident during that Team USA trip to Sydney . . .

  • ab_40 Posted: Jan.14 at 10:28 pm
    the Diesel often goes to Wal-Mart following home games, picks up some items… and anyone else’s bill that happens to be standing in line! Awesome nuff said for the day haha. I just don’t feel the cwebb gp combination on my screen. it’s a spin off. a rip off? maybe. can’t wait for chuck to get back

  • Hursty Posted: Jan.14 at 10:41 pm
    LOL Moose/Dacre.

  • tealish Posted: Jan.14 at 11:46 pm
    Speaking of Line of the Night, that Chris Paul wasn’t all bad tonight. Dude’s gonna get a quad-dub before the season is over. Mark it down.

  • tealish Posted: Jan.14 at 11:46 pm
    He *might* take issue with the title and headline of this article.

  • rikson Posted: Jan.15 at 8:13 am
    NBA-Tinged Lyric Of The Night: unless hes talking about a new mutation of table-tennis -> i guess he ment a “beer bong”…
    “and not here this son” -> lot of spelling errors -> do you get paid for this?

  • Z Posted: Jan.15 at 8:52 am
    My only problem with the MIP is that he doesn’t reward players that were already good - all stars, evem - that went to the proverbial next level. Kinda like CP3 last year. Oh, and I’m with Ryan on this one, you don’t get an award because you decided to stay in shape for the whole season.

  • [...] – Biedrins misses two free throws, which is to be expected—His last name doesn’t end in “vich.” [...]

  • [...] – Biedrins misses two free throws, which is to be expected—His last name doesn’t end in “vich.” [...]

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