The Shaquile O'Neal Trade: A truck in a playpen with sport cars

The Big Cactus!!!

I must admit that just like most Shaquille O'Neal fans out there, I too get entertained and genuinely love it when "The Big Aristotle" creates a new moniker for himself. I wonder how many monikers he has given himself after 17 years (and counting) in the Association. Quite a few! In all honesty, I don't really care about the exact total. I am more concerned about the new one that he will be labeled with if the Phoenix Suns don't win the championship this year and if he keeps looking and playing like a shell of his former self.

The Suns have played five games with the future hall of famer, and have a record of 2 wins and 3 losses to show for it. I wouldn't say that it's time to press the panic button just yet because they(Suns) still have another 24 games to play before the playoffs start. There is enough time to get it together and go on a 8-10 game winning streak just to show the the NBA world that they actually knew what they were doing when they traded the Matrix for Superman 1 (say it ain't so Dwight "Superman 2" Howard). Could this just be an adjustment period that will last a little longer than expected?

If you ask for my non-expertise opinion. The answer will be a resounding NO!

Last night, the New Orleans Hornets showed the league (ahem...by the league I actually mean all the western conference teams that will be making the playoffs) that the kryptonite recipe for beating Phoenix is speed. Isn't that ironic though. The team that once pride itself on out-shooting and out-running their opponents should find themselves victims of their own ideology.

The day the trade was finalized, my first thought was that it was a stupid trade. Reason? I figured that Shaq and his hip would not be able to fit with the team. He would simply slow them down and alter the way they run their offence.

A couple of hours after that initial thought, I re-thought. A complete 180. I analyzed and came to a conclusion that Tim Duncan was the reason why the Suns traded for "the Diesel". After all, teams slow down their offence in the playoffs and coaches tend to call more plays. It would definitely make it hard for Timmy-D to exploit and abuse the Suns big men (Yeah that includes you to Amare). I figured they would play him about 15 to 20 minutes per game until he got in "Phoenix Suns" shape. Ease him into it and gradually increase his minutes to around 25 to 30ish by game seventy five of the regular season.

Well, after loosing by an average of 18 points in their 3 losses(out of their last 5 games), I re-re-thought!

This time I am sticking with it. It's not going to work. Not for the reason he was brought there for, which is to win more games than whomever their opponent is in the NBA finals. I don't even think they will make it that far. I predict a second round loss. I also predict that "Shaq-Fu" will make a cocky prediction (much like the gesture of pointing to his championship ring when he attended his first game as a Phoenix Sun). He will belittle and make fun of someone he's playing against. He will give himself a brand new moniker. He will then guarantee victory in their next game because they just lost a game to make the series 3-2 for their opponent. They will lose game six. The series will be very entertaining. The league and its fans will love and enjoy every minute of it.

The only sad ones will be the Suns and the city of Phoenix.

They will be disappointed because the "Big Mouth" did not deliver on his word.

Sportacularly yours,

The Vicarious Athlete

The NBA Supertar Pedigree: Born, Made or Nurtured

There's no league like the NBA........and it's love of promoting it's stars.

Don't get me wrong, I know and understand that it's all part of what is simply "sports marketing 101". It's a very simple concept people. You choose a select but small group of individuals to champion, wear, carry or represent a product. As opposed to promoting the product on it's own; as a whole. It's the type of marketing that you can find being used by various companies. I am pretty sure that the Cologne/Perfume industry would have suffered if it didn't rely heavily on a small group of celebrities in their ads.

I am not bashing or condemning the idea of marketing the few to sell to many. The truth is that it works. It just point blank works! The reason I am writing this blog is that I wonder if this will eventually come back to bite the league in it's lucrative backside. What if a team like the Sacramento Kings play inspired team ball and come out of the west to play a team like the Indiana Pacers. Wait, wait. Hold your mental tongue there for a second. I know the west is stacked and it would be a definite miracle if the Kings............correct that, way more than a miracle if the Kings were to make the finals. But humor me for half a second here. Whom would the league use in their finals marketing spree. Lets just forget about using Ron Artest. Way too much chemical imbalance in his brain to be chosen. Translation: He's too unpredictable!
Further translation: He's crazy!

I guess a good marketer can market anything, so lets say the league uses Brad Miller and Kevin Martin. Two clean cut and marketable players. I know, I know. Brad Miller is no Tim Duncan or Amare Stoudamire and Kevin Martin is no Manu Ginobili or Steve Nash. In my opinion, Miller is a hands down a better shooter and arguably a better passer than the the other two forward/centers in comparison. The question here is if Miller would play at a level worthy of being called a star.

The leagues marketing eye was on Duncan and Stoudamire from the moment their names were called by David Stern on their respective draft nights. In my opinion, I think that this type of attention added to the confidence and maybe the work ethic of both Duncan and Stoudamire. I know most athletes want to be great and work towards the goal of getting both personal and team success. What if the lack of attention made a certain athlete like........lets say Brad Miller, do 10 wind sprints but "might" have pushed himself to do 5 more if he was getting some marketing love from the league.

I know there is no way to actually measure such an effect. I liken it to a raising children. Lets say you pay more attention to one child and tell him or her that the future is bright and stardom awaits. The other child? You tell him or her that the reason he or she did not get "the call from the referee is because: you are not a star in this league. That's a call that stars like Lebron James and Dwayne Wade get". Get the point!!! Complacency sets in. In this case, Brad Miller is that child that the league did not promote. He is a stand in for all the good that could have been better, or maybe even great players in the league. Past and present.

Lebron James. Dwayne Wade. Carmelo Anthony! Add Dwight Howard to that list. He solidified his place amongst the leagues brightest stars at the All star festivities this past weekend. Only thing I ask of him is to never talk about the Superman song by Soulja Boy. I know he likes the damn song but it's just not a good match to his image or the one the league marketers would like to promote since the name of the song is "Crank that Ho". Wait till David Stern listens to the lyrics.

I better get back on track here before I over-rant on another topic.

My "Sportacular" friends. I did not write this to complain or condemn the league and it's ways. Nor am I saying that Duncan and Stoudamire are not worthy of all the attention they get. I love the game and the players. I truly do love watching the "stars" rise up to the occasion and do "Sportacular" things, but I also love watching the good and so called average players do their thing. The up and coming but neglected players. I won't give you a run down of all the ones that are not getting their just recognition but I will give you five that are improving and should be looked at as part of the leagues future superstars.

Chris Kaman - Quiet and weird (less weird after cutting his shaggy hair) . A source of double doubles and 2+ blocks for many years to come. You don't have to be photogenic to be a superstar do you?

Kevin Martin - Also quiet. Very quick in the open floor. Unorthodox shooting form but it works. He goes to the charity line 8 times a game and it's not because he's a star. I can only imagine the free throw attempt totals if he ever gets tagged as one.

David Lee - Either he leaves the New York Knicks or they build around him and Jamal Crawford. Get rid of everybody else and their mama. Yes! That includes Isaiah. Lee is surprisingly a very athletic power forward/center. Should be a starter and is a good source of double doubles for many years to come.

Deron Williams - It's almost impossible to mention his name without talking about Chris Paul. Bottom line is that they are both scary good. So how come Paul is the one being labeled as an up and coming superstar. DWill's overall package mirrors that of Paul's. Both can shoot, pass and lead a team.

Josh Smith - In my opinion he has the brightest statistical future out of the bunch. Also in my opinion, the best player on the Atlanta Hawks. Especially now that he is improving on his outside touch (all the way to the 3 point line). He is rounding out to be a very complete basketball player. I predict that he will one day average 25ppg, 11rpg, 6apg and 3bpg. He'll also have percentages of 46% on field goals and 83% on free throws. Now, those are superstar numbers to me. I have not even mentioned his athleticism and jaw dropping dunks.

My point is that the league has a bright future and should include more players like the ones I mentioned above in their superstar labeling agenda. If you won't market them as superstars, at least pay more marketing attention to them. You never know how many more wind sprints you might make them do.

Don't stop marketing the superstars you have now. Just broaden the list a little.

Sportacularly yours,

The Vicarious Athlete