Friday Pic O' tha Week

Let me take you to flight school! The 2009 MLB Regular Season starts this Sunday with the defending champs hosting Derek Lowe and the Braves. Then Monday has a full slate of games highlighted by Red Sox/Rays and Angels/A's. The Final Four also starts tonight. Gotta keep pulling for Nova. The Celtics are still battling for the second spot in the East with four of their last six games being at the Gahden. Dwayne Wade became the first player in NBA history to record 2,000 points, 500 assists, 150 steals and 100 blocks in one season. And looking at his team's record down the stretch, he might as well be playing 1 0n 5. But our pic o tha week is dedicated to the whiniest of whiners, the 25 year old man baby and new fav here at SPLP, Jay Cutler. Good luck getting destroyed by Green Bay and Minnesota's defenses buddy. Oh, and extra points for the sick-rad-bro tribal tattoo. The Sunshine state...GORGEOUS!

Matchup Tonight

So naturally, on 311 Day, the Miami Heat are playing the Boston Celtics, and I won't be able to see the game. With the Celtics only dressing ten players and starting a point guard who up until two weeks ago was a punch line to numerous jokes throughout the NBA, some believe it's a foregone conclusion that the Heat will cruise to an easy victory. Yes, Dwyane Wade is the best player in the league right now (all year?) but don't count out the reigning Finals MVP and Jesus Shuttlesworth. It might not be a pretty game, but I really want to see it, if for no other reason, than to see Leon and Udonis Haslem battle it out down low.

He'll be all up in Leon's grill tonight as well.

With tip-off a little over an hour away, I'd like to take a quick look at the two players and how similar their games are, as well as their similar roles on their respective teams. Basically their two of the best "dirty work" guys in the entire league. They don't have the height of most power forwards, but have the strength to body up on guys much taller than them. (Ask Ilgauskas about how fun it is to play against Leon.) Both guys have a knack for grabbing offensive boards. Both guys are soft spoken and prefer their play on the court to so the talking. I'm not forgetting when Haslem got ejected after throwing his mouth piece at a ref once, okay. But other than that transgression, Youuuuu-donis has been well behaved. Leon does get to the line way more often, even with his limited minutes, but Haslem has the better percentage. Both shoot around 50% from the field. I think Udonis has a better outside shot, but Leon is a bit more explosive and is a better finisher, especially on fast breaks.

Now while the Heat and Celtics play each other four times a year, this is the first occasion that Leon will get serious playing time with Haslem in the lineup for Miami. He'll be starting for Doc's squad tonight. I think this will be a true test for Powe to really see him go up against a four spot instead of guys like Yao Ming. Udonis has also been forced to play out of position at certain points in his career, so this could really bring out the best in both players. Flash and The Truth will get most of the attention for sure and looking at the box score tomorrow, you might not be able to tell that Leon and Udonis played great games. But that's the kind of players they are. Michael Lewis of Moneyball fame recently wrote an article about Shane Battier and how a lot of the stuff he does during games is hard to quantify. Leon Powe and Udonis Haslem are pretty much in the same boat in that respect. (Now that I'm thinking about it, if Lewis ever wrote a book about The Show, my head might explode.) But just remember, both the Celtics and Heat won a championship with the aforementioned guys contributing in big ways. Just sayin'.

"There's no break in the rhythm."

Leon Update

We all know the Celtics have hit some rocky waters as of late. They are currently one game behind Cleveland for the top spot in the Eastern Conference and have gone 3 - 3 in their last six (Thanks AdamMan) games with losses to Detroit and the Clippers.

But Leon has certainly done an admirable job filling in for the injured Kevin Garnett. Combine KG's absence with the additions and thus adjustments of Mikki Moore and Starbury, there are certainly questions surrounding the defending champs. The Show has continued to come off the bench with first Scalabrine and now Big Baby starting, but has responded with 9.8 points, 6.2 rebounds, and a 50% FG percentage all in 22 minutes of play-since Feb. 22nd.

"Look how awesome this guy is!"

I've maintained since last season that Leon could put up these kinds of numbers if he only got the playing time. Now granted, the well talked about free throw shooting problems have kept those point totals a little lower than they should be. But it takes KG and Brian Scalabrine's busted noggin' to get Leon some burn. The Celtics have 21 regular season games left to overtake the Cavs and Lakers for home court advantage throughout the playoffs. Some Boston fans that I have talked to don't seem terribly optimistic, but the hope is that Garnett can come back fresh and instill fear into his teammates they way only he can. Leon's minutes will inevitably go back down but hopefully Doc keeps him in mind come playoff time.

Oh, and yeah, Dwyane Wade has been playing out of his freaking mind pretty much all year, but these past couple of weeks have been RIDICULOUS. He's set new career highs in points (50) assists (16) and steals (7) since February 22nd not to mention his 41-9-7-7 game last night against Lebron. Unfortunately, Miami lost three of those games. Just when it seems like the Heat can slip past the Hawks and into the 4th spot in the East, they blow it. But, yeah, totally had to mention Wade.




Don't hate on the band-aid.