The Mark Jackson rule: ever heard of that?

In today's games between the Celtics and Heat, Rondo was whistled for posting up his opponent near the basket for a few seconds... Mark Jackson himself was commenting the game and referred to it as the Mark Jackson rule, which I never heard of. It goes like this:


"Jackson is also notable for prompting an NBA rule change. In response to Jackson's penchant for backing down opposing point guards in the post for 15 or more seconds at a time, the league instituted the Five-second rule (basketball), sometimes referred to as the "Mark Jackson Rule," prohibiting an offensive player from dribbling with his back to the basket for more than 5 consecutive seconds when below the free throw line."


Sometimes the NBA just goes too far to guarantee systematic fun for the fans. I don't think a few 5+ second post-ups here and there could really harm the flow of the game...

Race to MVP: a no-"Bron"er

It's funny, as much as I don't like LeBron James, it is very obvious and objective to me that he should win a 3rd straight MVP trophy.
NBA.com still ranks Derrick Rose atop their list, but it doesn't make sense:
- LeBron has the best stats of the whole league. He has a better efficiency rating than any of the MVP contenders. Actually, he's 2nd in efficiency rating across all the NBA behind Kevin Love. He's improved his FG %age greatly and is now above his career averages and more generally above all contenders (Durant, Rose, Kobe, Wade...). And of course he's still the best all-around 2-3 player when it comes to assist + rebound total
- his team is now #1 in the East, #2 in the NBA... and I wouldn't be surprised if they catch up on the Spurs.

So you got it: regardless of the fact that Wade plays in the same team, he is the best statistical player in the soon-to-be best team in the league. And even if they finish 2nd to the Spurs, he should get that 3rd MVP trophy in a row - a feat last accomplished by Larry Bird in 84-85-86.

Cavs getting their 1st win in 27 games?

And 2nd win in 37 games?
Can't sleep right now and thought I'd watch some basketball. Was looking for a special matchup, never thought I'd look on the Cavs side, but since the Clipps were playing, I thought what the heck... And Mo Williams prevented the Clipps from winning by tying the game in the last seconds to send the game into OT. In the 26 losses the Cavs have endured, there hasn't been any OT, so maybe this is their chance !
And they're playing at the Q...

Viciously enough though, I'm still hoping the Clipps will prevail. I'd be happy for the Cavs to stop losing, but not against the Clipps.

What still gets me excited in this league: the decennial Spurs-Lakers rivalry!

I grew up supporting Jordan's Bulls in their fights against Barkley's Suns, Ewing's Knicks, and then most of all Shaq's Magic and Malone's Jazz.
In 1999 began a new era in my fondness for the NBA: the Spurs-Lakers derby era.

In 2011, 12 years later, I'm glad to see that era is not yet over! Atop the Western Conference still lie these two teams. And Thursday's Spurs win over the Lakers at the buzzer proved that, comes May, we might face yet another exciting playoffs matchup between the 2 rivals.

Let's head back to 1999 when it all started: Shaq had transferred to the Lakers 3 years before, thus I had consequently became a natural Laker-hater. And I became a Spurs fan when they swept the Lakers in the 1999 playoffs.
In 12 NBA seasons, the Spurs and Lakers have shared 9 NBA titles and have been the Western Conference champion in all seasons but 2006 - when the bloody Mavs eliminated the Spurs in 7 games. It is very likely that one of the two teams will win the West again this year, comes the playoffs.

However, though it had been a rather balanced matchup in the playoffs until 2003 with a tie at 2 series to 2, I was hoping 2004 would give a historical edge for good to the Spurs as they were leading the Western Conference semi-finals 2-0... Then came Derek Fisher's 0.4 second shot that killed the Spurs for good that year.
In 2008, they squared off again in the Conference finals. The Spurs didn't manage to hold on to a strong lead in the 1st game and were generally outplayed by the Lakers the whole series.
In 2009, I was hoping the 3rd-seeded Spurs would play the Lakers again, but an injured Ginobili got them eliminated in the 1st round by the Mavs.
In 2010, after getting their revenge against the Mavs, it seemed clear to me they would get to face the Lakers again in the semi-finals as they just needed to get past the Suns, whom they kicked out of the playoffs 3 times in the recent years. Surprisingly though, they got swept!

So today, the Lakers lead 4 series to 2 over the last 12 years of playoffs. But the 2 teams are again atop the Western Conference, and in the 2011, Kobe might need to go past Tim Duncan again if he wants his 6th ring.

Thursday's game at the Staples Center showed that the 2011 Spurs are not a fluke.
I savored the game from tip-off to buzzer. As the Lakers had, as ever, managed to catch up on the Spurs, get a one-point lead and avoid open baskets by Ginobili and Parker in the last seconds, I thought it was over. The Lakers would get away with yet another come back win. I was stressed and beginning to feel that frustration that has me sick of the NBA some times.
With 4 seconds to play though, when Duncan elevated for a difficult fade-away shot, strongly reminiscent of his 2004 game 5 playoffs shot (the lucky one that preceded Fisher's 0.4 basket), I was hoping a miracle might happen. Then came McDyess's 0.1 second put back. Yes: it did make me think of Fisher's shot 7 years before, though it was a much less important game. And I was pretty darn happy to see the disappointment on Kobe's face.