Phil Jackson Wants Ariza's Return to Motivate Radmanovic

"We'll just see what he can do. Vlade's not played well in the last two games," Phil Jackson said, referring to Vladimir Radmanovic, the Lakers' starting small forward. "[Ariza] plays that position. We'll see if Vlade can't right his game here.”’

Knowing Phil Jackson and his mind games, letting Ariza practice really might be his way of motivating Radmanovic, rather than really expecting Ariza to play after 3 months out. We all know that Vlade is a feast or famine three point shooter, but late in the season he has showed flashes of great passing and defensive energy. With any momentum Luke Walton had literally being blocked by backup Jazz point guard, Ronnie Price near the end of game 4, Dr. Phil needed another player to push the effort level of Radmanovic.

Ariza, the best perimeter defender other than Kobe on the Lakers, could be helpful in the upcoming rounds if he is able to return. If the Lakers do win the series versus the Jazz they will face either Spurs or Hornets in the next round which will mean either Tony Parker-Longoria or CP3. While Fisher has done a great job defending Deron Williams, Fisher plays better against bigger guards than the lightning quick guards they may face next round. Ariza just may be the factor that puts the Lakers into the finals. If nothing else, he may just push Vlade to be the player we need to win upcoming games.

Ariza Cleared for Takeoff

After many months of recovery the Los Angeles Times is reporting that Trevor Ariza has been cleared to return and practice without any restrictions. Timing is everything. Just when you thought Kobe was a bit banged up the Lakers get the good word that Ariza is ready to roll. Let's give another shout out for Mitch Kupchak pulling this trade off back in Novemeber. When we heard it from Steve Hartman's mouth on the radio that great day, we would soon begin to find out why this UCLA star wanted to come back to L.A. so badly. He was an immediate impact on the team injecting some much needed juice and energy to the line up. When the "Space Cadet" also known as Vlad Radmonivic went to sleep Trevor was there. When Luke Walton was injured, Trevor was there. So from all of us here at the SportsToilet, we welcome you back. Now start turning that Jazz team out of tune. Check out his dunk over a fellow NBA'er...

English Arch Rivals Battle for Champions League

Next Wednesday, May 21st is the day Chelsea and Manchester United meet at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow to see who will be this year’s European Champion. Chelsea has some of the biggest names in the planet on their roster thanks to Russian billionaire owner Roman Abramovich. He spares no expense when it comes to acquiring his coveted players. However the recent injuries of Captain John Terry and striker Didier Drogba have Chelsea fans worried about their top players’ status for the big game. The coaching staff seems to think the players will be there. But the shoulder injury sustained by Terry seemed very serious and I for one don’t see it fully healing by game time. Manchester United has its share of great players and they will be overly energized given their achievement of this year’s Premiere League Championship. Lets not forget that the Manchester side also has Sir Alex Ferguson; one of the greatest coaches ever.
Questions still remain: will Abramovich’s status in Russia cause some unfair leverage in favor of his Chelsea team? (I’ve witnessed shadier things happen)Will a 50 year anniversary of the Munich Crash which took the lives of eight Manchester players be a strong incentive for the United side to come out even more motivated? (Highly doubtful) Will Manchester United be able to repeat what they did in 1999 when they won the Premiere League and Champions League in the same year? Only time will tell, however my pick is for Manchester United to come out victorious. I think Ryan Giggs nearing the end of his career, knowing he was only able to reach this title once; must be able to motivate his side to do it for him. That and having Cristiano Ronaldo, the leading scorer so far in this Champions League, should be enough for Manchester United to come out victorious in the first all English Final of the Champions League.

Should we “Rush” George St. Pierre to fight Anderson Silva?

As you know, we talk about all sorts of shit, here at sportstoilet. In today’s topic, I am wondering if a George St. Pierre vs. Anderson Silva bout could be the greatest combat fight in the history of sports. When people think of classic fights, they think of Leonard vs. Hearns, or Ali vs Frazier, or maybe even Rocky Balboa vs. Ivan Drago. But I daresay a catchweight non-title match between Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre (16-2) and Middleweight champion Anderson Silva (21-4) would be the most spectacular match of all time.

St Pierre just defeated Matt Serra to regain his title, and in his career he has beaten hall of famer Matt Hughes twice, current Lightweight champion “The Prodigy” BJ Penn, as well as Ex-champions Sean Sherk, and Karo Parisian. Anderson “The Spider” Silva is currently on a 7 fight win streak in the UFC that includes victories over Dan Henderson and Rich "Ace" Franklin, and has recently been courted by Roy Jones Jr. to fight in a boxing match. Silva is a Muay Thai fighter with a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. If Jones believes that Silva’s boxing is worthy of a pure boxing match, then you start to get an idea of how well rounded this guy is.

While neither fighter is as world renowned as a Oscar De la Hoya, this fight could be just what Mixed Martial Arts needs to get their product out to an even larger audience. With Elite XC, a minor league company, signing with CBS, the casual fan will start to think backyard brawler and Elite XC poster child Kimbo Slice is MMA, and not realize how technically sound and well rounded some of the athletes are. I personally believe that St. Pierre vs Anderson Silva would be the greatest match in the history of combat, my apologies to Mankind and Terry Funk.

Knicks Just Do It (Without Thinking)

With the signing of Mike D’Antoni to coach the New York Nickerbockers, Gotham’s team has just gone from low scoring losers, to high scoring, well, losers. D’Antoni is an offensive mastermind. However, lets not forget that a few years back D’Antoni traded, current Knicks point guard Stephon Marbury to the Knicks for Antonio McDyess, Howard Eisley, Charlie Ward, Maciej Lampe, the rights to Milos Vujanic, two first-round draft picks and cash. So basically, Marbury for expiring contracts, a European prospect, and two first round picks. A lot like this years Pau Gasol trade.

That being said, D’Antoni does not think Marbury can run the point in his system. Leaving as his options being the selfish Jamal Crawford (who actually would make a decent scoring guard like Leandro Barbosa), or the diminutive Nate Robinson, who is also really more of a scoring guard. Yikes. Unless David Stern promised to “get them” Derrick Rose in the lottery, they might be in trouble at that position

Moving past the point, D’Antoni does have the perimeter shooting we associate with the Suns of the last few years. He has ex-Suns player Q-Rich, the aforementioned Crawford, and actually Wilson Chandler, last years first round pick will have a chance to shine. That being said, unless Renaldo Balkman suddenly becomes the Matrix, or (the natural distasters) Zach Randolph and/or Eddy Curry decide to lose 100 lbs, they are too slow up front to run the D’Antoni seven seconds or less system. It will be like the Shaq Suns, you know, the team that D’Antoni just decided to leave.

Even if this team does figure out how to score, as D’Antoni has proved he has been able to in the past, its prospects of playing good enough defense to make the playoffs, let alone do some damage is looking pretty bleak, no matter how scary a Nate Robinson/Zach Randolph pick and roll looks on paper. (please sense the sarcasm) I don’t doubt this Knicks squad could put up 105 points a game, I’m just afraid they will give up 115 a night. The Knicks should have hired an Avery Johnson type, a no-nonesense guy who would not accept the laissez faire, no fight, attitude of the Knicks players, and a guy who would play David Lee and the young Knicks who actually want to win.

4th Quarter Horry

Hold on to the edge of your toilet seat, “Big Shot Rob” is about to break Kareem’s record for most career playoff games played. Everywhere the man goes, he produces:

1) During his initial four year in the NBA he helped the Rockets win the NBA championship in 1994 and 1995 , all the while setting individual NBA Finals records with seven steals in one game and five 3-pointers in a quarter. He also hit the game-winning jumper of Game 1 of the Rockets 1995 Western Conference Finals series vs. the San Antonio Spurs.
2) Horry was an integral part of the Los Angeles Lakers three-peat (2000-2002.) Starting with his game-winning three pointers in the 2001 Finals; he continued to make at least one game-winning three pointer in the following three series. None bigger in my mind than game 4 in 2002 vs. the Sacramento Kings. Man, I will never forget that shot.



3) In game 5 of the 2005 NBA Finals “fourth quarter” Horry held true to his nickname and scored 21 of the teams final 35 points. Sealing a one point victory and putting his Spurs into a 3 – 2 series lead.
4) Big Shot Rob holds the record for most three pointers ever in the NBA finals with 57.
5) Coming into this years playoffs, the NBA’s list for active playoff leaders has Horry listed as follows:. Ninth for points (1,916), fourth for rebounds (1,329), seventh for assists (567), fifth for blocks (220), and second in minutes played (6,669.)
6) The man has, with his last two championships with the Spurs, amassed more championships (7) than Michael Jordan (6.)
7) No player has been able to reach the amount of NBA championships that Horry has accumulated in his NBA career since eight other players from the Boston Celtics glory days in the 60’s. (Bill Russel, Sam Jones, Tom Heinsohn, KC Jones, Tom Sanders, John Havlicek, Jim Loscutoff, and Frank Ramsey)
8) Last but not least, during the span of his sixteen year career Horry has never missed the playoffs nor has he lost a first round series.

I personally remember running into Robert Horry in Los Angeles numerous times during his stint on the Lakers. He was always kind and humble in spite of his greatness. So, dear fourth quarter if this is your last year in the NBA we at sportstoilet.com would like to congratulate you on a hall of fame career.

Spygatewatch!!!!

Day 132

Spygate, the most important story in the history of modern time, made a huge leap in public appeal on Monday. It is stated that a meeting between Roger Goodell and Bill Belichick and Matt Walsh and President George W. Bush and God will take place Tuesday, to discuss a way to segway this story off the airwaves and restore order, making the Patriots once again America's Team. The brass at every single major sports network (ESPN), realized that no one really cares about this story and since 9/11, the Pats have really boosted this country's moral. Like all stories where the public can shed light on the reality of people in power,we were once again denied access to the In Crowd. Too bad, we almost found out that athletes and coaches cheat to win. Hopefully this is a quick sweep under the rug for the people involved in this one, it almost got really bad.

ESPN Inks 6 Year Deal to Host US Open of Tennis

Sweet...

The Future of Floyd

I know the OJ Mayo scandal probably isn't your fault, but you are an easy patsy and everyone needs a scapegoat. Sorry Timmy, See you in Glendale, CA, you better brush up on your Armenian.

David Stern should be blamed for putting too much Mayo on the hotdog, not Tim Floyd

How is this even an issue? Why has college sports not reached the 21st century? How antiquated is the rule that college athletes cannot be compensated for playing sports when they make their universities millions of dollars in revenue. I thought slavery was abolished in the Eighteen Hundreds. OJ Mayo, came to USC as the most hyped high school basketball player since Lebron James. Could USC, or any other school for that matter have stopped agents, managers, shoe companies, and about a million other people from trying to get their hands on this guy. I mean why do you think he came to LA in the first place? For exposure.

OJ Mayo not only filled the Gaylen Center but he got a dormant USC basketball program off its feet. Not only were alumni and fans excited, but other NBA level prospects such as Davon Jefferson and Demar Derozan were following Mayo to USC. USC literally will make millions of dollars off this kid’s contributions to the program. So the important question to ask ourselves is, why can’t he get paid? Especially now that the NBA would not let Mayo straight from high school into the league, Mayo had no choice but to go to college. He didn’t want to be a student, he just did what David Stern mandated, and decided to take what he could get in the meantime.

If USC loses scholarships or has to fire its coach, Tim Floyd, because people outside the university were giving Mayo money in hopes of signing him up when he eventually did go pro, I think it is an absolute travesty. The kid who takes money gets off scot free and gets paid next year in the NBA, and the university he leaves behind gets to take the fall? What is the message we are sending here exactly? And why would future talents such as Mayo, not just do the same thing that he did. They don’t care about losing their eligibility to play in college, they never wanted to be there in the first place. If colleges make this much revenue off of their players there must be a more equitable situation put in place, if future stars such as Mayo have any incentive to not take money from people outside of the organization.

I think the main point here is that what was Floyd supposed to do if he even did know that Mayo was receiving money. Cut him from the team? The top few players in each class must end up going to college somewhere, and it is ridiculous for schools to be punished by the players decisions. I understand if the school pays the player out of its own funds how it could be unfair, but I think we can all agree that Mayo would have received this money wherever he had decided to go for his 1 year as a “student-athlete”