Hm. Slow news week. Michael Jordan at the Ryder Cup, the Sonics buying new uniforms for Cleveland High School in Seattle (a story that reminded me of the boxer discussion in Naked Gun 2), Speedy Claxton breaking his hand—and that wasn’t even this week, actually. And it’s another week or so before the Christies’ reality show starts, which should be REALLY fun.
So what to talk about? No clue. Shawn Kemp’s comeback attempt? Tried with the Bulls but missed a day, was considered by the Sonics (oh please oh please oh please) but that doesn’t seem like it’s going to happen either. Hopefully the brotha can land on his feet somewhere and at least get a cameo appearance in the L this season (and hold off on smoking another L until he’s back retired for real).
What I should have written about earlier (and I guess it’s not too late) was Chris Mannix’s column on SI.com where he picked the Bulls to win it all this season. I mean, I’m as big a Bulls fan as there is, and even I think he was smoking something when he wrote that. I ain’t mad at the current squad—and I love love LOVE the fact that they swiped Ben Wallace from the Pistons, even if they had to slide him some extra cheddar—but I don’t see them as a championship team quite yet.
Look, I don’t think the Bulls have been through the fire enough yet to win a chip. Sure, they gave the Heat a little bit of a scare last year, but that was only the first round. You just don’t go from a first-round loss to a championship in a single season. Even MJ’s teams needed more time than that. I’m not saying that this Bulls team won’t win a championship eventually, but it just ain’t happening this year. They need to get to the Conference Finals first.
Which of course begs the question, who do I think WILL win it all this year? And now that I’ve painted myself into a corner, I guess I have to answer it. If I had to pick right now, I’m rolling with the Mavs. They did the trial-by-fire bit, and all of their key guys are still in their prime, or are just getting there. They suffered no major off-season losses, and most of the other contenders—Miami, Detroit, San Antonio—have either suffered personnel losses or just plain gotten older (Shaq’s gonna fall off HARD soon). It’s Dallas’s time.
Now, if we can just get Cubes to stop wearing those damn jerseys.
