How rediculous!

(yes, the misspelling is intentional :P)

- So Jeff Van Gundy wants every team to be eligible for the NBA Draft Lottery. I can't say I 100% disagree with Van Gundy's proposal. What I do find laughable, though, is his suggestion that every team should have an equal chance at winning the #1 pick. Why should teams like the Mavs, Suns, and Spurs be given as much of a chance to get a franchise player like Greg Oden as the Hawks, Grizzlies, and Celtics? If the NBA allowed every team to be eligible for the NBA Draft, they should keep the system that is currently in place: the worst teams should have the best chance, percentage-wise, to land the #1 pick.

How about this for an alternate system? Have a lottery for the first three picks for those teams that missed the playoffs. Then, have a lottery for the next few picks or so that encompasses the entire league (minus the three teams that won the top three picks, that is).

By the way, I don't believe tanking--intentionally losing games to get a better chance to win the #1 pick--is as big a problem as people say it is. After all, finishing with the worst record in the league only gives you the best chance (25%) at winning the overall #1 pick. If my math is correct, that means there's a 75% chance that that team won't get the #1 pick. This isn't like the NFL, where the worst team in the league gets the #1 pick automatically.

Hey JVG, why don't we just stick to the system we currently have? It seems to be working quite well...

- What was more ridiculous about the Rasheed Wallace 60-foot prayer last night? The fact that it went in, or the fact that Denver blew an inbounds pass with 1.5 seconds left?!? Up 3, 1.5 seconds left, on the Detroit half of the court...all Denver had to do was get the ball inbounds and make a single free throw to win (heck, they could have bricked both throws and Detroit would still need a desperation 3 to tie)! As fluky as the entire sequence was, plays like this are the reason why Denver is not nearly on par with the West's elite teams.

- A lesbian falsely accused a man of rape in an attempt to win back her former lover. The man was seriously injured from a fall around the time of the accusation, and, evidently, without DNA evidence--he was identified from a photo ID parade!--the man was still charged with rape. While the guy's life was spiraling out of control--his ex-wife denied him seeing his children, he was sent hate mail, and attacked in public--the woman continued the charade, until friends of the accuser began coming forward, exposing the fraud. I cannot believe the woman is only getting 18 months for what she did! The woman needs to spend years in prison, or a mental health facility, at the least. And no, woman, a letter of apology is not going to fix the guy's life that you (pardon the term) screwed up.

- A man was ejected from a Serena Williams tennis match for shouting a racist remark at the tennis star. What the hell was the guy thinking? I'm glad the chair umpire, and the officials at the match, acted as quickly as they did to remove and ban the guy.

- Finally, I must say that Kobe Bryant is the greatest scorer in the history of the NBA. As ridiculous as the notion might be (Wilt? MJ???), I stand firmly by my declaration. Put Kobe's last week into perspective: he scored 50+ four straight games, and had an off-night (where he scored only 43). And it's not like he was shooting 40 shots a game to score those points. In fact, his team needed his scoring to win each of the previous five games! He's shooting at over a 50% clip during the streak as well!

Now I'm not saying that Kobe is the greatest player in the history of the league; that would probably be MJ right now. All I'm saying is that, if I needed one guy to score one basket, I would probably give the ball to #24 at this point.

By the way, did anyone know there's a Women's NCAA Basketball Tournament going on as well?