NBA live

The Clippers' Griffin, center, and Paul, right of him, have high expectations suddenly.

There’s been a lot of happenings in the NBA lately, many of which I think are worth discussing. First, Chris Paul to the Clippers. So the Clips are hot and cool now with Paul and Blake Griffin? Okay. I’ll wait to see results. Second—teams like the Lakers, Celtics and Spurs are taking a back seat to those fresh teams like the Clips, Knicks, Thunder, Bulls, etc. Granted, the Thunder and Bulls are legit. And the Lakers, Celts and Spurs are aging. But again, I wait for the results. Right now, the Mavs and Heat are still the teams to beat in my opinion. They may have lost some players to pair with new faces, but I still think they’re top dogs. Meanwhile, the Nets lost Brook Lopez to injury for a while, but got Mehmet Okur and DeShawn Stevenson. Neither are superstars, but both are good role players. I’ll take them for now, but the Nets still need another big-name player. Speaking of big-name players, a bunch of “old” guys are back: Stackhouse, Bonzi Wells, and Ricky Davis and Greg Ostertag (the latter two in the D-League). Are we playing like it’s 2003? Is Latrell Sprewell next? Robert Horry? Speaking of the olden days, Dec. 21 was the 10-year anniversary of my first-ever NBA game. It was the game that propelled me to where I stand today with sports. Big deal in my book. So for that, a shout out is due to my Uncle Jimmy. The other Nets fan in the country!

We’re number one! We’re number one!

Bam.

In the midst of finals, reading and papers craziness, I took five minutes of my time to catch the end of the Indiana-Kentucky game. I watched Kentucky make a free throw to go up by two points. And then, unranked Indiana came running down the court against the No. 1 Wildcats. A Hoosier drove inside and then kicked the ball out to his teammate for the 3. In, and it wins the game by one point. Swish. Hysteria. Yes, in it went. And that is how you win a basketball game. Probably one of the best ways to win one (besides a desperation heave). Props to Indiana for the win. And with that win, and Ohio State’s loss (UK and OSU are the “No 1.” and “No. 2″ teams in the nation to “No. 3″ Syracuse), SU moves in prime position to take over the top spot come Monday’s new rankings. Of course the ‘Cuse won today, to stay undefeated and snatch up our deserved No. 1 ranking. The stars align. Now rankings don’t matter til the end, but it’s a nice ego boost. This ranking won’t be as special as two years ago when Syracuse beat a top-10 Villanova team in front of a record crowd and the top two teams also lost as SU became No. 1 on March 1. But it’s pretty nice to say you go to the best damn basketball school in the country. Pundits aside: Syracuse is No.1. 

Miami heat

All they do is spend.

The Marlins are really starting to annoy me. First, they change their name this offseason from “Florida” to “Miami.” Fine. Then, they re-design their uniforms to look like Miami Vice 1980s style. OK. But the major thing that got me was them stealing (ok, so they didn’t technically steal) Jose Reyes from the Mets. They basically deflated the Mets. And now they’re continuing their “Let’s be like our basketball neighbors” trend of trying to get every star in the universe by offering a giant contract to Albert Pujols. Who do they think they are? And how did they go from barfing up payroll and being penny pinchers to the penthouse? But, I still remind myself that superstars can only get you so far. After that, well, the Miami Marlins might just melt in their new ballpark along with their new manager. The Mets will gladly mop them up. After all, the Amazin’s are used to mopping up messes.

Winners and losers

VICIOUS.

The Giants lost today. The Mets just lost Jose Reyes to the Marlins. But hey, the Nets are going to start playing soon! Fan-freaking-tastic. At least there’s Syracuse basketball…for now. But there’s still hope! The G-Men are just one game out of the division, the Mets still have David Wright, and the Nets are looking good! (Because they haven’t played a game yet). Sports are sports. Unlike LSU football and the Packers, you have to lose at some point. Losing just makes the wins even better. The Giants will absolutely not lose a fifth straight game next weekend. They can’t after the way they played the Packers. The G-Men’s valiant effort against Green Bay today brought me back to their regular-season finale against the then-unbeaten Patriots back in 2007. They lost that game, like today’s, but the Giants went on to win it all, giving the Pats their first loss in the Super Bowl. At 6-6, this year’s crew has a long way to go. But they’re so much better than 6-6. Okay, enough about wins and losses. It’s how you enjoy the game, right? I guess there’s no real answer to that. Sometimes we lean one way and sometimes the other. But a game is always more than just a final score.