NBA Game 3. And Go.

I mostly covered everything that was interesting that happened this week in this post from Friday, so I won't rehash with a Week in Review post.  Instead I'll do sort of a running blog of the NBA game and mention anything from this weekend that pops into my head.  And you're going to sit there and like it.

-  First off I'm going to come right out and admit that today was an awful gambling night, one of the worst I can recall in recent memory.  If I haven't already told you this, my main gambling during baseball season is to spend time analyzing the player props and making the proper picks based on what my math says are the best plays.  So far this season (since a formula tweak in mid-May) the system has been +16.08 units, with only three losing days.  Then this weekend it went -1.31 units, -0.48 units, and today was -3.46 units, easily the worst gambling day of the baseball season.  Doesn't feel good.  With three straight losing days my confidence is shaken right now.  Stay tuned.

-  That being said, I could take today from a disaster to just a bad day by doing well on NBA props.  Here's what I'm going with:  Both teams combined under 14 made 3s, Chandler over 17.5 pts+rebs, Bosh over 8.5 rebs, Nowitzki over 7.5 made FTs, Terry over 1.5 made 3s, and Lebron over 1.5 made 3s.  It's gonna be a bad night either way, but if I can at least hit a majority of these I can mitigate it.  I really don't want to have to deposit again.  Sending a $500 Western Union moneygram to Manuel in the Philippines makes me feel icky.

-  I should also mention I'll just be doing the second half of the NBA game because I missed the first half.  Looking at the box score the Heat are up 5 at half and every single one of my bets is in absolutely terrible shape.  Good.  Great.  Grand.  Wonderful.

-  I guess if I'm going to talk sports I need to start with the Twins since they just swept the royals in a four game series.  I suppose it's tempting to think they may have righted the ship, and with Cleveland getting swept in four by Texas and the second place team barely hovering around .500 that they have a shot, but lets look a little deeper.  The offense in this four-gamer was driven by Revere-Rivera-Tolbert in Game 1, Span-Young-Revere-Hughes-Butera in game 2, Revere-Casilla-Tolbert in Game 3, and Casilla-Repko-Hughes in Game 4.  Do we really think those guys are that good, or was this lightning in a bottle?  And is the pitching, which held the Royals to 6 runs in the four games, suddenly clicking or is KC just that bad?  I hate to say it, but I think this was more the demise of 2011 Kansas City more than the resurgence of the Twins.  Haters gonna hate.

-  I love this Maverick team.  Miami scored 8 straight to open the half and drove their lead to 15.  So the Mavs just said, "ok" and made smart plays, smart passes, and good shots while Miami acted like a bunch of idiots and suddenly the lead is just 7.  Also I hate the Miami Heat and Cameron Diaz.

- Hottest player in ball not named Michael Morse:  Jose Reyes of the Mets.  He's 2-3 with a double with 2 runs and a ribbie tonight, which is his 10th straight game with a hit and his 12th multi-hit game in his last 18.  I'm going to write that again - he's had more than one hit in 12 of his last 18 games.  Before this Royals' series I don't know if the Twins had 12 multi-hit games by a player all year.

-  Yeah here's the problem with my Lebron over 1.5 made three pointers bet.  I forgot that he can't shoot for shit.

-  I really like Tyson Chandler.  I mean, offensively he's a bit retarded, but he just blocked two shots and then saved a ball back to his team by diving out of bounds.  The guy is the perfect kind of building block guy for a team.  Excellent defender, excellent rebounder, doesn't need to score but can put it in the hoop if he's close enough, but doesn't give a crap for scoring.  Not exactly what you'd want out of the #2 pick in the draft but considering Dallas got him basically straight up for Eduardo Najera I'd call that a steal.  Also, Mavs now lead.

-  James for three!!!!  I mean oh crap.  I mean good. I'm so conflicted.

-  Terry for three!!!!! Good!  I mean good!!!

-  By the way, I also have a pretty good chunk of change on both Wade for MVP and Dirk for MVP.  If Lebron wins it I'm probably going to have to sell at least one car.

-  I know what you're thinking:  didn't this used to be a Gopher blog?  And yes, it still is, but I know I haven't done much on the basketball team but really you should just shut up because it's the off-season and also you're being kind of rude.  But, very quickly, here is a very short rundown of the 5 unsigned players for 2012 that Rivals says the Gophers have offered:

• SG Gary Harris (Fishers, Indiana - #6 SG, #26 overall) - Very good player with a lot of quality midwestern offers including Indiana, Michigan State, Purdue, and Louisville.  He's not coming here.
• C A.J. Hammons (Mouth of Wilson, VA - #11 C, #55 overall) - a strong season has teams like Ohio State, Kentucky, and Purdue looking at him.  None of those teams have offered yet, but if he doesn't sign with Minnesota fairly soon it may be too late.
• G Javontae Hawkins (Flint, MI - #18 SG, #92 overall) - he's from Flint but Izzo doesn't want him so that's kind of weird.  He lists Ohio State, Michigan, USC, and West Virginia as the leaders (all have offered) and the Gophers are lumped with about 15 other teams behind them.  Outlook:  not likely.
• SF Demarquise Johnson (Phoenix, AZ - #28 SF, #122 overall) - Tubby is after him very hard, but he sounds like he's looking to stay on the west coast.  This is the guy I really want - he's athletic and can score from in or out.  Like everything I'm hearing about him.
• PF Khaliq Spicer (Dearborn Heights, MI - unranked) - Gophers are competing with a couple of crappy MAC and crappy A-10 teams (like Dayton) for his services, so it's either a diamond-in-the-rough situation or a reminder that the Gophers suck.  Sounds like he's a pretty good athlete, but also pretty raw, who would be that sweet ass rebounder and shot-blocker whose scoring range is "dunk."  I love that kind of guy, as long as he's a complimentary part of the class, not the focal point.

So there you go.  Three guys they won't get, one good one they might, and one they have to beat out Central Michigan for.  Whew, I'm overwhelmed here.  I'm sweating.  Dynasty here we come.

-  Uglier jumper:  Shawn Marion or random WNBAer?  No, you're right that's not fair.  Shawn Marion or random women's high school player?

-  So how about that Blake Lively?

-  I love it when Miami is stupid and leaves Dirk open for three (it's now 70-70 with 10 minutes to go).  On this one Dirk set a pick for J.J. Barea and both Chalmers and Haslem fall all over themselves to chase Barea and Wade doesn't even take a step out of the corner to rotate off of Terry.  Dirk open.  Dirk make.  Game tied.  Except Bosh just dunked on an absolutely gorgeous pass from Lebron.  I really wish he wasn't such a doosh.  Such a great passer.  Fourth best passer ever at that height:  Magic, Bird, Penny.

-  You know what I really hate?  Restaurants that automatically put lemon in your water.  Is this the default now?  Is lemon in water so freaking popular with people that it's just assumed everybody loves it?  Because guess what?  I hate it.  New rule:  from now on every time there's a freaking lemon in my water without my being asked I'm going to pour the damn thing out on the floor.  Join me, won't you?  Like they say in all those commercials with sad music and sad animals and sad babies or whatever, "Together, we can make a difference."  END LEMON WATER NOW!!!!

-  Ha ha go to hell Lebron.

-  Lebron has now been called for both a travel and a double dribble in the last five minutes.  Also if bitching to the refs was an olympic event they'd just skip gold and give him a platinum.  He's like if the Yankees and Kobe Bryant had a kid.  What if this thing was Lakers/Heat?  I'm pretty sure I'd be going Heat because I like Wade but god, talk about Sophie's Choice of douchery.

-  The Mavs have missed about 7 threes in the last 1 minute.  I don't like how this is going.  Heat up 6 with 4 to play.

-  Who the hell is Joel Anthony and why are we pronouncing his name Jo-El?  Is that' Superman's dad?

-  So I watched the original Tron the other day for the first time in at least 20 years.  It was really, really stupid.  Yet we get a long-awaited sequel to that and I"m still sitting here waiting for Jurassic Park 4.  That's really fair.  Although the last rumor I heard for a fourth Jurassic Park was military trained raptors with weapons strapped to their backs (I'm not kidding, that was a legit serious script) so maybe we just hold steady at three, which was actually one too many.  Really?  Raptors, which have been held up as the smartest of all dinosaurs through the entire trilogy, are going to suddenly NOT eat Dr. Grant and that kid because they blow air through a raptor skull?  And do we really need to bring in a bigger badass than the T-Rex?  I think he was doing just fine, thanks.  Go to hell, movie.  Go to hell.  At least we got Pterodactyls. 

-  FACT:  Jason Kidd cannot guard Dwyane Wade.  Also FACT:  Dwyane Wade's mom can't spell for shit.

-  Ha ha Lebron you donkey ass face!!!

-  Jason Terry has now missed 3 three-pointers, anyone of which would win me a bet.  I don't care if I lose all my bets if Dallas wins, but if Miami wins and I get cleaned out I'm going to be VERY unhappy.

-  Well the Heat won and I went 1-5 on my game bets.  Really just a fabulous day.  I'm never posting again.

-  Since I'm quitting blogging this will be the last thing I ever write on here, but I do need give a little shout-out to Mrs. W, who ran an entire half-marathon today, while I'm still tired today from mowing half the lawn yesterday.  Way to go, baby, and I know you are disappointed in 2:28, but I think it's pretty damn amazing, and I love that even after that you can still give me a look like I'm an idiot when I want to take your picture.