Keefe's '09-'10 NBA All-Stars

Last Thursday the starters for next month's NBA All-Star game in Dallas were announced. Thankfully T-Mac was not one of them, but I still did not agree with all 10, specifically Iverson. In the East you have; Dwight Howard (ok), Kevin Garnett (no way), LeBron James (for the next 10 years), Dwyane Wade (ditto, if healthy), and Allen Iverson (terrible).

Western starters: Amare Stoudemire (fine), Tim Duncan (of course), Carmelo Anthony (well deserved), Steve Nash (fair enough), Kobe Bryant (best player in the game).

Based off of that, here is who I believe should be the 7 man bench units, that will be announced on Thursday... only on TNT!

Eastern Conference Subs:

Gerald Wallace, Bobcats (18.5 points 11 rebounds)
Chris Bosh, Raptors (24.2 points 11.1 rebounds)
Joe Johnson, Hawks (21.1 points 4.8 rebounds, 4.9 assists)
Rajon Rondo, Celtics (14.2 points 9.6 assists, 2.5 steals)
David Lee, Knicks (19.2 points, 11.4 rebounds)
Paul Pierce, Celtics (18.9 points, 4.8 rebounds)
Antawn Jamison, Wizards (21.7 points, 8.6 rebounds)

Guys who should be in, in place of Kevin Garnett and Allen Iverson:

Josh Smith, Hawks (15.1 points, 8.3 rebounds, 3.68 stocks)
Brandon Jennings, Bucks (17.9 points, 6.2 assists)

Western Conference Subs:

Zach Randolph, Grizzlies (20.9 points, 11.5 rebounds)
Chris Paul, Hornets (20 points, 11.2 assists, 2.25 steals)
Deron Williams, Jazz (18.9 points, 9.6 assists)
Dirk Nowitzki, Mavericks (25.1 points, 7.9 rebounds)
Kevin Durant, Thunder (29.3 points, 7.3 rebounds)
Brandon Roy, Blazers (23.1 points, 4.6 rebounds, 5 assists)
Chris Kamen, Clippers (20.1 points, 9.1 rebounds)

All of the West starters deserve to be at least on the roster, therefore here are the toughest omissions:

Pau Gasol, Lakers (17.1 points, 10.9 points, 27 games)
Rudy Gay, Grizzlies (20.5 points, 6 rebounds)
Tyreke Evans, Kings (20.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, 4.9 assists)
Aaron Brooks, Rockets (18.7 points, 5 assists)

-Keefe

Who Should Start the 2010 NBA All-Star Game

The starters for the 2010 NBA All-Star game will be announced tonight during the TNT double-header. If you've been paying attention at all to how the fans have been voting, you'll be thrilled to know that Allen Iverson (16 games, 14.8 points, 4.5 assists, 2.3 turnovers) and Tracy McGrady (6 games, 3.2 points, 0.8 rebounds, 1 assist) were at last check in the top 2 for guards in their respective conferences, thus would be starting in the All-Star game next month in Dallas.

I think by now, all level headed sports fans realize it is an absolute joke to allow the fans to have so much pull in an All-Star game. (And if you don't, look at those AI and T-Mac numbers again). Imagine if fans voted for MVP, All-NBA, All-Pro, Hall of Fame?!? But the purpose of this blog post is not to trash the thousands of idiot fans out there, instead I want a chance to say who should start the All-Star game this year.

Eastern Conference:

Guards:

Dwyane Wade, Heat (26.9 points, 4.8 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3+ stocks (if you read Bill Simmons Book of Basketball you'd know stocks are steals + blocks)).

Joe Johnson, Hawks (21.2 points, 4.9 rebounds, 4.9 assists)

Neither guy is a true point guard, but both deserve to be starters in the All-Star Game.

Toughest omission- Rajon Rondo, Celtics

Forwards:

LeBron James, Cavs (29.6 points, 7.2 rebounds, 7.8 assists)

Gerald Wallace, Bobcats (18.6 points, 11.3 rebounds, nearly 3 stocks)

Not only is Wallace putting up sick numbers, but his team is currently in 5th place in the East. Yes the Charlotte Bobcats are in 5th place in the Eastern Conference. Let that sit in.

Toughest omission = turn him into my starting Center

Center:

Chris Bosh, Raptors (24.2 points, 11.2 rebounds, leads league with 31 double-doubles)

I guess he's technically a power forward, but it's the All-Star game, another reason the ballots for the fans shouldn't exist.

Toughest omission- David Lee, Knicks, that's right and not Dwight Howard

East Starters- Wade, Johnson, James, Wallace, Bosh

Western Conference:

Guards:

Kobe Bryant, Lakers (28.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.5 assists)

Chris Paul, Hornets (19.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, 11.3 assists, 2.21 steals)

Toughest omission- Deron Williams, Jazz

Forwards:

Carmelo Anthony, Nuggets (29.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists)

Dirk Nowitzki, Mavericks (25.5 points, 7.9 rebounds, %FG-3-FT = 48-39-88)

Toughest omission- let's make him a Center like in the East

Center:

Zach Randolph, Grizzlies (20.8 points, 11.5 rebounds, 2 assists, 50% FG)

Toughest omission- Tim Duncan, Spurs

West Starters- Bryant, Paul, Anthony, Nowitzki, Randolph

-Keefe

Coming soon: "Keefe's 2010 NBA All-Star Rosters"

Upcoming MMA Events

We are now nearly 3 weeks into 2010, and I can not possibly think of a better time to take a look at some of the major upcoming MMA events and highlight the key fights at each one.

January 30th: Strikeforce

Best fight: Nick Diaz vs. Marius Zaromskis

Worth watching: Robbie Lawler vs. Melvin Manhoef; the MMA debut of Herschel Walker vs. Greg Nagy; Bobby Lashley vs. Yohan Banks; Jay Hieron vs. Joe Riggs

February 6th: UFC 109

Best fight: Nate Marquardt vs. Chael Sonnen

Worth watching: Randy Couture vs. Mark Coleman; Matt Serra vs. Frank Trigg... what year is it? Couture/ Coleman and Serra/ Trigg could have happened 10 years ago... Demian Maia vs. Dan Miller; Paulo Thiago vs. Mike Swick

February 21st: UFC 110

Best fight: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueria vs. Cain Velasquez

Worth watching: Wanderlei Silva vs. Michael Bisping; Keith Jardine vs. Ryan Bader; Mirko Cro Cop vs. Ben Rothwell; Stephen Bonnar vs. Krzysztof Soszynski

March 6th: WEC 47

Some good little guys on this card including Brian Bowles vs. Dominick Cruz for the Bantamweight title; Miguel Torres, Leonard Garcia, and Jens Pulver also expected to be in the cage.

March 21st: UFC on Versus 1 (if you don't have VS you'll be steamin when you see this card)

Best fight: Jon Jones vs. Brandon Vera

Worth watching: Junior Dos Santos vs. Gabriel Gonzaga; Anthony Johnson vs. John "Doomsday" Howard; Cheick Kongo vs. Paul Buentello; James Irvin vs. Alessio Sakara; Eliot Marshall vs. Vladmir "The Janitor" Matyushenko; Brendan Schaub vs. Chase Gormley

March 27th: UFC 111

Best fight: Georges St. Pierre vs. Dan Hardy & Frank Mir vs. Shane Carwin

Worth watching: Jon Fitch vs. Thiago Alves; Martin Kampmann vs. Ben Saunders; Nate Diaz vs. Rory Markham; Jim Miller vs. Mark Bocek

Some good fights coming up, look for an updated MMA Rankings from The Sports Brief in the near future.

Celtics Podcast 2.0

I once again joined Brian Robb from http://www.celticshub.com/ for a Celtics podcast. Check it out below. Topics include the Hawks, Celtics injuries, and Rajon Rondo...

CelticsHub.com Podcast 1-12-09 by BRobb7

-Keefe

Your 2009-10 NCAA Men's Hoops Champion will be...

The Kansas Jayhawks. I know they just lost to Tennessee today, but that game on the road at an arena that's always tough to play at; the Vols are now 9-0 at home this year and were ranked 17th in the country heading in. They're no pushover. But watch this video below. Cole Aldrich and three others sunk four consecutive halfcourt shots. The only type of team that can do that is one that a) knows it's the best team in the country and b) knows they're going to win the title. I wouldn't be surprised if UNC did this last year. They just didn't film it.



-Bess

NFL Thoughts...

Just a couple hours following the Patriots "football game" with the Ravens. (Football game usually implies that 2 teams both try and/or give a crap.) Embarrassing performance by the Pats today, who clearly deserved to lose, and they can now go plan their golf trips and vacations, something they were thinking about before kick-off. No Wes Welker obviously hurts, we can all agree on that, but he isn't asked to tackle Ray Rice. Was anyone asked to tackle Ray Rice today?

-AFC Final 4: Colts, Chargers, Jets, Ravens... yes the Jets have advanced further than the Patriots this year... with a rookie QB and a really fat head coach.

-Cardinals are rolling the Packers right now. Everyone, I mean everyone was on this Packer band wagon. They still have time to comeback, but when will people stop betting against Kurt Warner in the playoffs?

-Cowboys got a dominating win over the Eagles last night... Dallas over Minnesota... I'm thinking so.

-Pre-Season Predictions: (patting myself on the back...) I gave you Percy Harvin as O-Rookie of the Year and Brian Cushing as D-ROY. (my MVP pick, Brees finished 2nd)...

My Super Bowl picks were Chargers over Saints back in August... I'll stick with it, though I would not be surprised if the Saints don't live up to it.

Note: I also picked the Texans, Bills, and Seahawks to make the playoffs... they can't all be winners... did I mention the Offensive and Defensive rookies of the year?

-Chris Johnson became the 6th player in league history to go over 2,000 yards rushing in a single season, also he won Fantasy Football titles in his first 2 seasons in The Gentlemen's Club... unfortunately for me it was/is not a keeper, so despite getting him as a rookie I had to watch as Shark took home the plaque this year.

-What happens to free agent Vince Wilfork next year? Franchise tag?

That's all I got for now... figured I'd write all this out rather than post like 15 messages on Twitter.

-Keefe

Best Movies of the Decade

Here it is, the much anticipated "Best Movies of the Decade," according to Rich Keefe, co-author of The Sports Brief and a huge fan of film. You already saw the Top 10 Comedy Movies as well as Top 10 Horror Movies (scroll down or hit the archives) from the past 10 years. Those films will not be found in this list. So no Old School or Wedding Crashers here. Let the debate begin...

10. District 9 (2009)
This is the only movie from 2009 to make the Top 10 or even Honorable Mention. Sci-fi story involving aliens living in a community, "District 9" in South Africa. It stars no one you've ever heard of but it doesn't matter, you'll be sucked right in.

9. The Prestige (2006)
I had not seen this movie until about a month ago despite the fact it had been out for over 3 years. Like District 9, The Prestige, is the only other film on this list that I have only seen once. So maybe I got caught up in the moment, or maybe it should be even higher? And I mean who doesn't like magic?

8. Kill Bill Vol. 1 (2003)
Admittedly I am a huge Quentin Tarantino fan. I think I own all of his movies. Kill Bill was great, Vol. 1, to me was much better than its sequel. You're trying to figure out what the hell is going on while be treated to a number or memorable fight sequences.

7. Gran Torino (2008)
Clint Eastwood continues to get the job done. There is no way around it. The constant racial and ethnic slurs breaks up the tension throughout the film. If you haven't seen this one yet do yourself a favor.

6. Iron Man (2008)
I like comic book movies. There have been a ton of them, Spiderman, X-Men, Punisher, Ghost Rider, Hulk, Wolverine, Fantastic 4, Batman, and Superman all have been on the big screen at least once. (Iron Man sequel on its way). I would put the first installment up against almost any other, with the combination of Robert Downey Jr's portrayal of Tony Stark/ Iron Man and of course all the special effects that come with these types of movies.

5. No Country for Old Men (2007)
In 2008, No Country took home 4 Oscars including Best Picture, Director, and Supporting Actor. I usually don't look at Oscar winners to determine good movies, but that year they got it right. Great acting, crazy story, and a must see.

4. The Departed (2006)
Another Oscar winner, the year before No Country. You have all seen The Departed by now, just an all-star cast and cool story. I particularly enjoy the roles by Alec Baldwin and Mark Walhberg.

3. The Dark Knight (2008)
I would put Heath Ledger's performance as The Joker up against any other from the past 10 years with the exception of Daniel Day- Lewis in There Will Be Blood. I'm not just saying that because he died before the movie was released. Sure that made it stand out a little bit more than it would have, but even still it was incredible. I never thought they should have even tried to use a Joker because Jack Nicholson's was so good, it would have been insulting. Well, you know what? Heath's was better.

2. Sin City (2005)
Some movies have 1 bad ass character, few have 2, Sin City give you 3 genuine bad asses. Hartigan (Bruce Willis), Dwight (Clive Owen), and Marv (Mickey Rourke) are the 3 guys you follow around Basin City in this graphic novel turned movie. A ridiculous cast you watch as all the characters intertwine. Still waiting on the sequel, that appears less and less likely.

1. Snatch (2000)
My favorite movie of the past 10, 25, 50, 100 years. A lot is going on between a lot of different characters. They talk fast with an English accent or even faster with a Pikie accent (Brad Pitt), but still to this day I have not found a movie that's been more fun to watch. I don't expect you all to agree with me that it's the best movie of the decade, but you have to admit it belongs on the list.

Honorable Mention:
Gladiator (2000), V for Vendetta (2005), Crash (2004), Mystic River (2003), Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005), X2 (2003), Training Day (2001), Inglourious Basterds (2009), Memento (2000), Planet Terror (2007).

-Keefe