Posted by Peter Mertens on May. 26, 2011 at 1:02 AM
I've always fought against him. The long hair, the fall-away one-footed jumper, the scowl. Dirk Nowitzki has never given me a reason to like him. Despite the fact that he has been dominant in the league since he stepped on the court, has never run into any trouble off the...
Continue reading "Dirk's Paid His Dues, Give Him a Ring" »
Posted by Peter Mertens on May. 24, 2011 at 10:24 PM
The first step to the eventual NBA lockout occurred today when the NBA players' union filed an unfair labor practices complaint with the National Labor Relations Board. Basically the complain alleges that the owners are attempting to create an unfair work situation for the players with the demands that the...
Continue reading "Let the Bloodbath Commence" »
Posted by Peter Mertens on May. 23, 2011 at 9:09 PM
The team went through this song and dance last summer. Only this time they didn't even make it past draft day before they fired the GM. Rich Cho, less than one year from accepting the general manager position for the Portland Trail Blazers, was shown the Rose Garden exit in...
Continue reading "Blazers GM Rich Cho Fired" »
Posted by Peter Mertens on May. 22, 2011 at 8:06 PM
In a one-on-one interview recently, Ray Lewis stated his belief that if the NFL season locks out for the entire year, crime will rise in cities across the United States. "There's too many people that live through us, people live through us," he said. "Yeah, walk in the streets, the...
Continue reading "A Football and Crime Correlation?" »
Posted by Peter Mertens on May. 20, 2011 at 9:30 PM
The Dallas Mavericks will win this series and make it to the NBA finals. I am positive. Yes, the series is tied 1-1. Yes, they are going back to Oklahoma City for the next two games, one of the hardest places to play in the NBA. But they are quickly...
Continue reading "The Oklahoma City Disconnect" »
Posted by Peter Mertens on May. 16, 2011 at 5:04 PM
Alright, I'll admit it: I sold the Bulls short before the series even started. I watched them struggle with both Indiana and Atlanta, producing performances that were not exactly terrifying for the number one overall seed. Meanwhile, Miami just manhandled a (now exposed) Boston team that many thought, including myself,...
Continue reading "One Will Always Beat Three" »
Posted by Peter Mertens on Apr. 28, 2011 at 6:27 PM
Portland squares off with Dallas tonight in a potentially series-deciding game six. Fortunately, the Blazers play in the raucous Rose Garden where they took games three and four from the Mavericks. And although the Blazers are one of the best home teams in the league, feeding off the energy of...
Continue reading "Do or Die Time" »
Posted by Peter Mertens on Apr. 26, 2011 at 11:27 AM
Last night we saw a couple of pivotal games in the NBA playoffs and tonight has a couple of key games to examine. Dallas absolutely beasted Portland last night. Do not let the final score let you believe that this game was close at all. The Mavericks manhandled the Blazers...
Continue reading "NBA Playoff Notes" »
Posted by Peter Mertens on Apr. 24, 2011 at 8:17 PM
The Boston Celtics completed a sweep of the New York Knicks, dominating the undermanned Knicks in games three and four in New York. It was a little surprising to witness the effort that the Knicks played with in games one and two, in an especially tough Boston arena, and then...
Continue reading "Celtics Sweep Knicks, Heat Not Far Behind" »
Posted by Peter Mertens on Apr. 22, 2011 at 1:34 PM
Alright, I am sure that people will read this and think, "did he really feel the need to write a column on this issue?" And frankly, as I sit here and write it, I am thinking the same thing to myself. But I just cannot take it anymore. I cannot...
Continue reading "Enough Pump Faking and Jumping into the Defender" »
Posted by Peter Mertens on Apr. 20, 2011 at 10:34 PM
First off, let me just say that the Blazers did not play like they wanted to win that game last night. There was a distinct difference between their effort on Saturday and yesterday. Saturday can be chalked up to questionable officiating, but that's to should be expected; Dirk frequently gets...
Continue reading "Game 2: Blazers vs. Mavericks" »
Posted by Peter Mertens on Apr. 19, 2011 at 6:35 PM
The NBA playoffs have treated fans to an incredible opening weekend. Without a doubt, this was some of the best and most interesting basketball I have watched in a while. L.A. and San Antonio stumbled out west to the David West-less Hornets and Rudy Gay-less Grizzlies respectively. Rough way to...
Continue reading "The NBA Playoffs: Where Amazing Really Does Happen" »
Posted by Peter Mertens on Apr. 15, 2011 at 10:50 AM
As excited as I am for the NBA playoffs, Phil Jackson and the Lakers' recent $75,000 dollar fines are a painful reminder that this is the last basketball that I will get to watch for a while. Sure, nothing is etched in stone...yet. But the writing is on the wall...
Continue reading "The Beginning of the End: The NBA Playoffs" »
Posted by Peter Mertens on Apr. 12, 2011 at 1:07 PM
I don't really like to offer up advice to NBA players on how they should act. I wouldn't want some random person telling me how to do my job or what I needed to change to improve either. But maybe someone should tell Charlie Villanueva that there is a pretty...
Continue reading "Villanueva Needs to Grow Up" »
Posted by Peter Mertens on Apr. 8, 2011 at 10:50 AM
Last night, the top two seeds in the East faced off, the Chicago Bulls and the Boston Celtics. As the Celtics find themselves jockeying for the second seed with Miami, Chicago has established themselves firmly as the number one seed and, in my opinion, the favorites for the NBA championship....
Continue reading "A Battle For East Supremacy" »
