OT: Obama calls Kanye West a Jackass

Nearly four years after saying that George W. Bush doesn't care about black people, President Obama calls Kanye West a "jackass" for West's conduct at the VMAs. Obama's comments were supposed to be kept off record until Terry Moran of ABC News tweeted about; the tweet from Moran's twitter account has now been removed.



It would be funny if the Republicans began to reach out to Kanye West. But I don't think West's outburst was that bad and it wouldn't surprised me if it was staged by MTV.

The Washington Wizards' Players Predictions Before the Season

Arenas, Butler, and Jamison have different approaches

as the 2009-10 season begins

Here is what Gilbert Arenas, Caron Butler, and Antawn Jamison have to say about the upcoming 2009-10 Washington Wizards season before it opens and each have different levels of optimism before the season starts.

Gilbert Arenas has been known to make bold predictions in the past; he predicted big things for the Wizards in the 2007-08 season before re-injuring his knee. Now Gilbert Arenas understands that his team needs to prove it on the court before they get any accolades.

Arenas in a Washington Times article says this:
"Where did we finish in the East last year?" [Arenas] asked. "Last. Then until we prove ourselves, that's what we are. You can't predict. Anyone can guess where we're gonna be at. But until the ball goes up in the air, we're last in the East. We took some steps in the right direction this summer, but at the end of the day, it doesn't matter what I saw. If you wanna say stuff, it's just for conversation, just for the chat rooms. And it's all great and wonderful, but it doesn't mean anything."


Caron Butler is a little bit more bold in a Washington Wizards Interview citing that this team: he believes the Wizards are ready to compete this season.

Now that [Arenas] has the confidence, I think the sky is the limit. You can expect big things out of Agent Zero. We definitely need him because we are ready to win this season.

Surprisingly, the most bold teammate is none other than the veteran leader and captain Antawn Jamison. Here's what he has to say in Wizards Insider.

"I've been around here for six years and championship talk wasn't a norm around our locker room. That's all we're talking about now," Jamsion said, with less than two weeks remaining before training camp. "If we stay healthy, I think we can compete with the upper echelon of the NBA."

And don't try to tell him that he is raising the bar too high.

"I don't care," Jamison said. "What you mean raising the bar too high? We won 19 games last year and I'll be honest with you, we didn't have a lot of our horses. But I don't have anything else to play for. I'm not going to sit here and sugar coat things because it's not the right thing to say. I believe it.

"I believe playing the game the right way and staying healthy, we can compete with Boston, we can compete with Cleveland and Orlando and if you can compete with those teams, you can put yourself in that category as far as teams that can contend for a championship," he said.

While it's technically true that all team's are championship contenders from the first game of the season, they are realistically 5-6 teams that are truly considered contenders given the lack of parity in basketball. At this point, the Wizards are not among them: the short list among most experts includes:

1. The LA Lakers
2. Boston Celtics
3. Denver Nugggets
4. Orlando Magic
5. Cleveland Cavaliers
6. San Antonio Spurs

Still, nothing is to say the Wizards cannot move up in that list, especially if Gilbert Arenas is back close to 100% as noted by LeBron James, Andre Iguodala via twitter, and Wizards' coach Flip Saunders. Upsets can happen; for instance, few predicted that Orlando would make it to the NBA finals at the beginning of the 2008-09 season.

It may be surprising that Jamison is the one who makes the more assertive predictions. However, he is already 34 years old and even if his game relies on his craftiness as opposed to his athleticism, he relizes that he only has a few years left in his prime to compete for a championship.

Footage of Gilbert Arenas Playing in DC

It looks like Gilbert Arenas is healthy- skip to 5:38 to see Arenas doing a monster slam in pickup game Goodman Summer League in Barry Farms, Washington DC.

New Jersey Nets Brilliant Marketing Strategy

The New Jersey Nets obviously do not think much of their team as indicated by their new season tickets promotion. They are offering 5 reversible jerseys- one side is a Nets jersey, the other is a team they will be playing in those games. Devin Harris turns into Dwyane Wade, Courtney Lee into Kobe Bryant, Brook Lopez into Dwight Howard, etc. If the Nets are getting blown out, fans can simply switch sides.



The "come and see the other team strategy" will most likely offend the die hard Nets fan. The marketing scheme is also ruining expectations of an average Nets fan; who would only want to show up if their team is winning. Even if you are a fair-weather fan, why would you ruin a Kobe or Wade jersey with a New Jersey trademarks.

Pistons Hire Kuester as their Head Coach!?

The Detroit Pistons: Where Mediocrity Happens

The Detroit Pistons just hired John Kuester as their head coach. Kuester is the same guy who led George Washington University to a 1-27 record, one of the worst ever in NCAA history.

One has to wonder what the Detroit Pistons are doing, they have had their share of dubious moves in the past. Like firing Flip Saunders and replacing him Curry, or trading Chauncey Billups to the Denver Nuggets for Allen Iverson. Detroit had made it to the conference finals the past 5 years but this past season failed to record a playoff victory in their first round matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Ben Gordon signing for $55 million is also a questionable move. Gordon is bit redundant on a roster that already has Richard Hamilton. Sure Gordon is a few years younger than Hamilton, but he's also smaller and less of a defender. Also factor in that the Pistons had given Hamilton an extension last season. The Charlie Villanueva deal could work out in their favor, he had a solid year for the Bucks, although at this point in career he doesn't play much defense.

The Pistons figure to be nothing more than a mediocre team. In fact, they could be on the outside looking in when the playoffs roll around.

Hedo Turkoglu: from Orlando to Portland to Toronto: Part 2

Hedo attempts to play solid defense

2. Portland Trailblazers

Yes, Portland almost signed Turkoglu because they believed that he could lead the Blazers deeper into the playoffs. The Blazers lost a 5 game series to the Houston Rockets; although the Blazers may be better than the Rockets by the fault with Yao Ming potentially being injured for the nextseason and Ron Artest leaving for the Lakers.

I still don't know whether sigining Turkoglu would have lead for a legitamate chance for a ring. After all, Portland already has incredible depth in the small forward position with guys like Rudy Fernandez, Travis Outlaw, Nicolas Batum, and Martell Webster who are all several years younger than Turkoglu.

You may remember Rudy Fernandez playing ion Spain's Basketball team and posterizing Dwight Howard. Fernandez is also an exceptional 3 point shooter. If the Turkoglu deal was to be consumated, reports were that he was "unhappy" and could have pushed for a trade out of Portland. Such a trade probably would have had Portland not receiving fair value to Fernandez who the Trail Blazers value quite highly.

Rudy Fernandez: the Spaniard Who can Dunk

Still, Portland already has a lot of young talent with players like Roy, Aldridge, Oden, Fernandez, Batum, Bayless, Outlaw, and Webster. It may have been wise for them to have a quality veteran on the team like Turkoglu. A deep run in the playoffs for these young guys would be indispensiable for them moving forward.

3. The Toronto Raptors

Chris Bosh's respone to Turkoglu signing via twitter

@chrisbosh: IF IT'S TRUE..Let's get it cracking H Turk!!

Brian Colangelo also overpaid to get 30+ year old international player in Steve Nash when he was the GM of the Suns. They already have a franchise caliber big man in Chris Bosh and a reliable point guard in Jose Calderon. They drafted DeMar DeRoazan out of USC, who instrumental in the Trojans sucess of winning the Pac 10 tournament and been compared to a much rawer version of Vince Carter,. And let's not forget about Andrea Bargnani, the number 1 pick of the 2006 NBA draft, who is playing in a contract year. It looks like Toronto have the pieces to be competitive for a playoff spot.

It is possible that Chris Bosh bolts to another team and the Raptors would be stuck rebuilding around a 30+ year old swingman. Toronto best case scenario is probably the 2nd round of the playoffs since the Eastern Conference is top heavy with the Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Orlando Magic.

Hedo Turkoglu: from Orlando to Portland to Toronto: Part 1

Turkoglu Laying Out Kobe

After giving a verbal commitment to the Portland Trail Blazers, Hedo Turkoglu changed his mind to sign with the Toronto Raptors . Turkoglu is scheduled to make $53 million over 4 years, and only $3 more million over the life of his deal in Toronto; and it's questionable whether Turkoglu will acutually receive more money since tax rates may be higher in Canada.

Turkoglu, a native of Turkey, is believed to have signed with like Toronto because it has a diverse internation community, including a Turkish contingent. Signing with the Raptors also allows him to stay in the Eastern Conference, where he's more familiar with his opponents especially since he's spent the past 5 years in Orlando.

Let's see how this signing determines the following teams that Turkoglu has affected;

Too bad Orlando doesn't have an anti-aging machine to get this Vince Carter

1. Orlando Magic

Turkoglu was key in Orlando's run to the finals especially in running the team's offense with Jameer Nelson injured for most of the postseason. Yes the Magic did acquire perennial all star Vince Carter who overall is a better player than Turkoglu. However, it remains to be seen if Carter can be an equal facilitator and have similar chemistry like Turkoglu had with his teammates.

Even if Carter is an adequate replacement for Turkoglu, there is a chance that they will not be as deep as they were last season since they had to give up pieces to get Carter. They traded Courtney Lee, Rafer Alston, and Tony Battie for Carter and Ryan Anderson. The Magic may also risk losing Marcin Gortat, a quality big man who was offered more than $30 million over five years. So in recap, the Magic have acquired Carter and Ryan Anderson but will lose 3 starters from the team that made their run to the Finals in Turkoglu, Lee, and Alston and could lose up to 2 quality backup bigs in Gortat and Battie.

Orlando's sucess this year will hinge upon

1. How Vince Carter will mesh with his teammates.

2. If Jameer Nelson can recover from shoulder surgery; Nelson made the all star team prior to his injury

3. Role players develop like Pietrus and Anderson into bigger roles

4. If Dwight Howard develops his inside game; remember he's only 23

5. Whether Orlando can acquire a solid piece in free agency like Rasheed Wallace or Shawn Marion

6. Whether Orlando can resign Gortat.