So, as I understand it, this is the 51st Carnival of the NBA. But, for me, it's the first one. Because usually I keep to my little corner of the interwebs and try not to make waves, but now I'm hosting a carnival. Yikes.
After I agreed to host, I had the uncomfortable realization that I would need a theme. I mean, I can't very well just put up a list of links to basketball blogosphere posts. After all, that's what Henry calls Friday. Recent carnival themes have included a delicious buffet, Japan and late night info-mercials; mine would have to be at least as compelling.
And then last week I went to a concert. I don't go to a lot of concerts these days and I realized that it was a sign. It was a sign, that the theme of the 51st Carnival of the NBA should be They Might Be Giants, my favorite band and the only one that could lure me and the ClipperWife to a club after 40 (or after 10 PM for that matter). I mean, come on. "They Might Be Giants?" Hello? Basketball players tend to be really tall. Also They Might Be Giants according to an entry on Wikipedia, are icons of Geek rock, and blogging is pretty geeky. And I'm a Clipper Blogger, and Frankie Muniz is a huge Clipper fan, and TMBG wrote Boss of Me for 'Malcolm in the Middle'.
Is it all just a coincidence? Even if it is, it's my Carnival, and I can make the theme my favorite band if I want to! I should be allowed to think!
So without further ado, here it is...
Carnival of the NBA #51 - It Might Be a Carnival!
The NBA pre-season is underway, and for the second straight year four teams are spending part of their October in Europe. The NBA has visited a veritable Alphabet of Nations these last two seasons.
In the first game of the NBA pre-season, KG played his first game in a Celtics uniform (albeit a modified one) against Toronto in Rome - David Friedman recapped the game at 20 Second Timeout.
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With three all stars, the Celtics are a lock to win the Boston Hoop-It-Up tournament. But they still play 5-on-5 in the NBA, and the question remains, who's going to play the other two positions? FLCeltsFan at LOY's Place (which is apparently not dedicated to Clipper legend Loy Vaught) looks at the point guard situation, and KG for one says I'm impressed with Rajon Rondo.
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In Istanbul (not Constantinople) the T-Wolves got their first taste of the post KG era versus Efes Pilsen.
BallinEurope is wondering if new Efes coach David Blatt, fresh from a huge EuroBasket championship with the Russian team, can work his magic in the EuroLeague again.
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The Celts and Wolves then met in front of a big crowd in London (a TMBG song I can't find a video for, too bad), and several fans unaccustomed to an NBA atmosphere thought "Man, it's so loud in here".
Green Bandwagon recapped the mismatch.
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As for the T-Wolves, is it possible that Kevin McHale is thinking to himself, "no one knows my plan?"
At T-Wolves Blog, they did some analysis of trades involving superstars, and it looks like McHale should plan on 20 wins.
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In LA, Phil Jackson is thinking don't let's start Luke Walton, preferring to slide Lamar Odom into his natural small forward position and start Ronny Turiaf at the power forward.
Forum Blue and Gold chimes in on this idea.
The good news for the Lakers is that Kobe is in camp and ready to play for them this season, despite his pronouncements to the contrary over the summer. "Hey Kobe, who was that who was saying all that stuff back in May?" Kobe: "My Evil Twin." Maybe he should just feign amnesia.
The bad news is that team owner Jerry Buss brought all the controversy back to the front burner by saying that Kobe is NOT untouchable (a double-negative, I guess it means we can touch him, though I'll pass). With Malice is wondering what Buss could possibly have been thinking.
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In Indiana, there's some indication that the Pacers are concerned that your racist friend might be less inclined to support the team this season...
...but Tom at IndyCornrows wants to debunk that theory.
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They say that everyone is your friend in New York City, but Isiah Thomas has found at least one woman who is not.
The KnickerBlogger had a three part reaction to the verdict.
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The Sun is a mass of incandescent gas. And the Suns are a professional basketball team.
A member of the Bright Side of the Sun community got to play a game of horse with Steve Nash this summer, and shares his story. Meanwhile, MC Bias imagines what it might be like to be Shawn Marion.
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The Bobcats (one of four NBA teams named for a mammal) re-signed Matt Carroll for $27M this off-season...
...and Sweinman at Bobcats Planet is wondering where he fits.
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Carroll's teammate Sean May became the latest young big man to undergo microfracture surgery. Doctor Dribbles at We Rite Goode compares the state of MF surgery today to the work that was being done on ACL's in the early 90s. By the way, Doctor Dribbles is not related to Doctor Worm (or even Doctor Evil for that matter).
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Sam Cassell, soon to be 38, scored 17 points in the first quarter of his first pre-season game. Sure he's getting older, but is it possible he's getting better?
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The Golden State of Mind guys went to Warriors media day with their digital recorders like a bunch of hotel detectives...
...and posted interviews with Baron Davis and Andris Biedrins.
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Sacramento was once famously described as a Cowtown by Phil Jackson.
Seems like Spencer Hawes isn't doing much to change their image, based on what Tom Ziller posted at Sactown Royalty.
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Gilbert Arenas is one of the NBA's characters right now, and it can certainly grate on opposing fans. Clearly, what those fans need is a really good T-Shirt.
To that end, Red's Army has organized a contest to come up with the best Anti-Agent Zero T-shirt for their match-up in Boston's home opener. (I wonder, is Agent Zero the criminal government agent who oppresses Celtics fans?)
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When you look at the centers on an NBA roster, it certainly seems possible that they might be giants.
Recently, Win or Go Home previewed Utah's stable of big men.
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While not exactly an experimental film...
...Ryan McNeil at HoopsAddict had a chance to review a powerful basketball-related documentary, 4 Chosen.
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Finally, in the world of fake believe...
...Patrick at Give Me the Rock reviews multiple fantasy basketball web sites - he wastes his time looking at all of them, so you won't have to.
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Update [2007-10-15 14:21:7 by ClipperSteve]: A late carnival entry, PradaMaster at BulletsForever apparently gets a little confused by things like 'calendars' and 'dates' but because he asked nice, and because he now owes me a favor, I've decided to bend the rules. I'm having a little trouble with my TMBG reference on this one. I considered Sapphire Bullets of Love but it's hard to work that into a sentence. James K. Polk is a great song, but although he lived in Washington, the fact that he predates James A. Naismith makes a basketball reference a bit of a stretch. I'm going to cheat, and propose Particle Man as yet another Gilbert Arenas nickname (if WizzNutzz can do it, why not me?), mainly just to get another Tiny Toons cartoon up.
Oh yeah, here's the BulletsForever interview with Darvin from WizzNutzz.
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And there you have it. It Might have been a Carnival. I hope you enjoyed it. It certainly was fun (for me at least).
Click here for upcoming TMBG concert dates in case you too need some inspiration.