Throwback Posterization: Shaq Throws Down Oop on Hakeem

For this week's Throwback Posterization, I'm going with a classic alley oop by Shaq over Hakeem from the 1995 NBA Finals. I chose this particular posterization by Shaq because recently a typed letter has surfaced on the internet that Shaq left with Olajuwon after the Rockets swept the Magic in the Finals. In the letter, Shaq challenges Hakeem to one-on-one, which many are speculating was the launching pad for their classic Taco Bell Ads. I really hope that that's true, but regardless, it's a pretty amusing letter.

As I'm sure most of you have heard, this letter isn't the only reason that Shaq has been in the news. After courting team after team (San Antonio, Miami, Atlanta) to try to come to terms on a contract, the Boston Celtics have signed Shaq to a one-year deal for the veteran's minimum. This proves yet again that Danny Ainge isn't afraid to take risks with potential locker room cancers, as he signed Stephon Marbury and Rasheed Wallace in the past two seasons respectively. Shaq will join fellow washed-up-center-with-an-Irish-sounding-name Jermaine O'Neal, as the two provide an insurance policy for the injured Kendrick Perkins. We'll see how that works out.

Now, finally, onto the dunk. Shaq gets good position on Hakeem under the rim, and does his patent "black tornado" to free himself from Olajuwon. The ball handler on the perimeter (I can't figure out who it is) takes notice of Shaq getting open and tosses a perfect lob to O'Neal. Shaq finishes the oop strong, throwing it down right in Hakeem's face. Olajuwon tries to contest the dunk, but it's just too late by the time he goes up. It was a small victory for Shaq in a series that saw Olajuwon score over 30 points in all four games.

Real Free Agent Splash? The Bucks.

Lost amid all this big three talk in the NBA free agency period is the toiling of one executive, John Hammond of the Milwaukee Bucks. Most of the teams in that sweepstakes will come away empty-handed anyway. Hammond, a former assistant GM under Joe "build without superstars" Dumars with the Detroit Pistons, has made several heady moves this off-season that put the Bucks in good position to make the playoffs again in his second year on the job.

When John Salmons opted out of his contract, I thought the Bucks were done. With Salmons they went 22-8 last year and moved up down the stretch to sure up the 6th seed in the east. But today Hammond was able to re-sign John Salmons to a 5 year, $39 million deal. Along with his other low cost, low profile moves, Hammond will give the Bucks a balanced roster, albeit short on star power, much like his former boss Dumars did in Detroit. I like the Corey Maggette trade because it gives them another proven wing scorer who will take pressure off of Salmons and Brandon Jennings. Drew Gooden gives them a solid rebounding presence and he is a decent defender, which I know from his days with the Cavs.

I would imagine their starting five will be Jennings at the point, Maggette and Salmons on the wings, Gooden at power forward, and Andrew Bogut at center. The Bucks were a pretty good defensive team under coach Scott Skiles last year, but they lacked scoring punch. Adding Maggette and a solid rebounder in Gooden should help. John Hammond has done a great job developing a team that is very complimentary with the cast-offs of other teams. I think Joe Dumars would be proud. Dumars made similar acquisitions of journeymen players, Chaucey Billups and Rasheed Wallace. He turned them into a well balanced team that contended for years, and they actually won the title in 2004.

It's hard to say how good the Bucks can be this year, especially considering that the Eastern Conference is so up in the air with the big three still out there unsigned. I think I can comfortably predict that they will again make the Playoffs, which I honestly didn't feel good about before the re-signing of Salmons. In fact, despite the "star power" of the Joe Johnson signing, I think they could conceivably leapfrog the Hawks next year in the standings.

Classical Finale

Let me go on record as saying Mike Brown should be fired. I had a little Lebron fatigue this week because of all the coverage. Only World Wide Wes could really have any insight, but, like Gnarls Barkley, who cares? It's a lot of talk for a team that lost three straight--reminds me of Bill Belicheck last year talking about the Patriots.

It looks like another Celtics v Lakers final, which is really what the NBA conspiracy theorists should worry about. I mean seriously, only Nike wants Lebron v Kobe, not David Stern. The team everyone should be talking about is the Celtics. I know the Lakers are the defending champs, but the Celtics were sans KG last year. Last I remember the Celtics with KG, they ripped the Lakers in the Finals and everyone was questioning Pau Gasol's toughness.

Both teams are a little older; I wonder which one has the toughness to win. This is what the Lakers got Ron Artest for. Ron could be the defensive leader they lacked in 2008. I think people sometimes forget that Ron led the Rockets last year, the only team in the Playoffs to take the Lakers to 7 games. But Rasheed Wallace gives the Celtics even more toughness as well. It should be a great series, but here I go talking like the match up is already set. Damn, is Dank Game becoming the George Noory of the NBA blogosphere?

Ferry Lands Jamison

Danny Ferry you sly dog, making us all think Amare Stoudemire was your target, then swooping in on Antawn Jamison. I can't believe he got Jamison without giving up Hickson. Make no mistake, Jamison will make the Cavs a better team. The Cavs biggest weakness before the trade was the fact that their only consistent scorer was Lebron. Shaq could only give you half a game (by the way, Jamison averages 38.9 MPG) and no one else created their own shot. I thought that was their biggest problem in the playoffs last year, Lebron just couldn't be the only scorer.

Jamison is a legit NBA scorer, shooting 45% and getting to the line 5.3 times per game. He can do some heavy lifting on offense and he gets 8.8 rebounds per game too. He is not a great defender, it's true. The Cavs have a plethora of good defensive forwards, especially with Leon Powe coming back. And it's not like Amare Stoudemire would be much different from a defensive standpoint; he'd still be a liability.

It will be interesting to see how Jamison will integrate once they get on the court. Hopefully it will go something like the 03-04 Pistons after they acquired another former UNC Tar Heel, Rasheed Wallace, right before the trade deadline and went on to win the title against the Lakers.

Mr. Big Shot

Chauncey Billups is a dog, man. He hit 9 of 13 three pointers on his way to 39 points as the Nuggets trumped the Lakers 126-113 last night. I think Chauncey is one guy who Phil Jackson does not want to see again in the playoffs. Chauncey learned from the best, Larry Brown. The 2004 NBA Champion Pistons beat arguably the most stacked Lakers team, with Shaq, Kobe, Gary Payton, and Karl Malone. No one gave the Pistons a chance, yet Larry Brown got the best out of Chauncey and Rasheed Wallace. That series was where he earned his nickname, Mr. Big Shot, as he won the Finals MVP. I'd love to see another Lakers-Nuggets Western Conference finals. It would be an old rematch of sorts for Kenyon Martin too; he was on the Nets team that lost to the Lakers in 2002. I'm interested to see if George Karl could get them to the finals. I mean he couldn't do it last year, but I think Chauncey is figuring out how to lead this team better. A lot of people have been saying that the Nuggets are the team with the best chance to beat the Lakers. I'm not so sure about that though because of the beast in the east, Lebron James--You got to know I'm a say that.

Is there anyone in the NBA crazier than Artest?

As I read Teenage Mustache's most recent post mulling over potential NFL lunatics to replace the recently more sane Ochocinco, I began to wonder if I would have to find a replacement for Artest. Artest did mysteriously suffer a concussion after the Christmas day loss to Cleveland, and the story remains unclear. At first it was reported he tripped over a box and fell down some stairs, then instead of tripping over a box he was holding one, and then Artest claimed stairs had nothing to do with it and that it was "really the concrete." My guess is "the concrete" was an open hand slap from his wife. Apparently Artest said "I can't remember" fifteen times during a 10-minute halftime press conference regarding the concussion, so we'll probably never know what really went down. Other than this, Artest has been relatively subdued as of late. So I started to wonder who Artest's replacement might be if he continued to keep his nose clean throughout the season.

The first player that came to mind was Stephen Jackson AKA Captain Jack. Jackson was one of Artest's fellow Indiana Pacer teammates that joined him in the stands during the infamous brawl at the Palace of Auburn Hills, so he seemed a worthy candidate. In October of 2006, he continued to show signs of insanity as he fired several gunshots outside of a strip club in Indianapolis after having been punched and hit by a car.

Despite these promising signs of lunacy, Jackson hasn't made much noise since then. He did get this amazing tattoo of a pair of hands simultaneously praying and holding a handgun, which is pretty sweet. However, the meaning of the tattoo is that he prays his faith will keep him from ever having to fire a gun again... or something like that. So that doesn't really help me in finding a replacement for Artest.

This November, Jackson was traded to the Charlotte Bobcats where he seems to have found a new home. The Bobcats have been one of the better teams in 2010 with Jackson and first-time Charlotte Bobcat All-Star Gerald Wallace leading the team into the Eastern Conference playoff picture. Long story short, Jackson just isn't quite crazy enough... at least not anymore. Despite his controversy in the past, he also has a reputation around the league as an extremely genuine person and great teammate. This also doesn't help my cause.

Rasheed Wallace was another that came to mind, but he plays for the Celtics now so I can't even fuck with that.

Just when I thought I may have run out of maniacs to cover in the NBA, I decided to give Artest another chance and checked his Twitter account. Although I was hoping for something a bit more insane, it seems that Artest has continued to indulge in his fetish of organizing photo shoots with scantily clad women. His most recent photo shoot is with model Kim Lee, who I believe is the asian one on the far right. So I guess I'm sticking with Artest. He's bound to do something crazy again, right? If only Dennis Rodman would come out of retirement.