Portland are in talks with Sacramento &  Toronto in an attempt to move up in the NBA Draft. Apparently the Blazers have Andre Miller on the table with their 17th pick with the plan to move up and nab UCONN’s Kemba Walker.

While we’re on the draft, we’ll go out on a limb and say Kentucky big Enes Kanter is overrated. He has some serious range for a big guy, but when you’re his size you are going to score points in college. We’re hearing top 3 from some places, but we see him more as just outside the lottery.

We won’t dwell on Game 2 of the Finals too much. There’s PLENTY of good journalism on ESPN and other networks to dig into the results of Dallas’ epic come-from-behind win in Game 2 against Miami. But for us… Shawn Marion. Yep, Dirk was amazing in the fourth quarter. Yes, Tyson Chandler was great. Rick Carlisle did a phenomenal job managing the minutes. Especially for Chandler (38 mins up from a post-season average of 31.5) and Jason Kidd (38 mins up from 34) who both looked fresh everytime they were on the floor. But Marion. Shawn Marion. The guy made a tonne of big plays. There were nine times in the game where Dallas were scoreless for more than a minute. Four of those times, Marion broke the drought. Not to mention, Marion was also guarding Lebron James in the fourth quarter (James shot 0-3 in the finalperiod, missing all three of his jumpshots in the final 3:27). Shawn Marion.

Goodbye Shaq, we’ll miss you.

Gilbert Arenas is back on twitter.

Donnie Walsh is out of NY, is Mike D’Antoni next?

Steve Nash was in the crowd for Game 2 in Miami and mentioned afterwards that it was the first live NBA game he’s attended since he was in College at Santa Clara.

We really thought better of the LA Lakers organisation than to hire a coach without talking to Kobe Bryant. Now, let’s be realistic…the Buss family own that team. They can hire, fire, do whatever they please. Kobe is an employee so they hardly need his approval. BUT, out of respect for the guy you are paying $30m to and helped get you 5 x championships…maybe you should have made a call and say ‘Hey Kobe, you like Mike Brown as a coach?’

If Isiah Thomas ends up back in the Knicks organisation, James Dolan should be taken away by the men in white coats to a ‘special hospital’.

So, who’s going to write a book about the Maloof brothers and this current debacle with moving and not moving the Kings? We’d love to read that.

Dirk deserves a ring. We know, we know…he’s playing for Dallas. They are the official ‘old man brigade’ of the Conference Finals and seeing Mark Cuban on an NBA Championship float through the city of Dallas would be a little weird, if not disturbing. But Dirk…that dude deserves a ring. He’s always done things the right way, he’s a gun (averaging more than 23 a game for the last 10 seasons), has played through many different Dallas teams who were potentially winning Championships but hasn’t gotten there. We’d love to see him win a ring.

Grizzlies v Thunder Game 7…who you got? Is KD going to step up and get it done? Is Z-Bo gonna throw down and put OKC away? Who would have thought at this stage of the season we would have been talking about Memphis and Oklahoma City?

We will miss Phil Jackson, there’s no one like him.

Lebron and Wade both thought about joining the Bulls…who cares! Chicago could never have brought the pair of them into the Windy City (financially) and it’s Derrick Rose’s team anyway.

We are glad Kobe is getting some rest. He and Pau must be exhausted. You can say, ‘no excuses’ you can say that the Champions will get through it. But since the end of the 2007 season, with the 2008 Olympics, regular seasons, playoffs, finals and 2010 basketball championships…Pau & Kobe have played more games & minutes than any other NBA player. No wonder they couldn’t get it done against the Mavs, Three-Peats are hard work!

Carlos Boozer was quoted recently as saying ‘nobody was talking about us at the start of the season’ trying to paint a picture that the Bulls have come outta nowhere and ‘shown them all’. Yeah right, are you kidding? EVERYONE was talking about Chicago ALL SEASON. Pack your ego away, Carlos…you are a nice player, but you are fighting above your weight as it is.

Derrick Rose is leading all scorers in the playoffs with a 28.8 per game average, that’s a little surprising, but somehow not.

OKC’s Serge Ibaka is leading the NBA in blocks per game in the playoffs with a whopping 3.82 swats a game. That’s huge.

We love Greg Monroe.

We love Coach Brett Brown, the Australian Boomers coach who is also assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs.

We love that Shane Battier is relevant again in Memphis.

That is all…

The Knicks got beaten by the Bucks today. The bench for New York shot a combined 5-20 from the field, and the Knicks as a team shot only 38.6% from the field. Not to mention, they committed 26 fouls and gave the Bucks 37 free throw attempts. 37! Melo says it’ll take time.  We’ll see.

The Bulls just signed John Lucas III and Jannero Pargo.

The LA Lakers are old. They really aren’t playing well. They, um, they…. they are 12-1 in their last 13 games and have held teams to 87ppg in those games. That’s what.  Boston currently have the league-best, holding teams to around 91 points an outing. Lakers are playing some amazing defence right now and locking teams down. Great to see in time for playoffs.

Speaking of the Lakers, Jared Dudley is giving away tickets to the Phoenix-Lakers game tomorrow. Get on his twitter page if you’re in the US and get amongst it!

Andrew Bogut refers to his team as the Buckeroos…love it.

Jalen Rose calls black players who went to Duke ‘Uncle Toms’. Grant Hill writes very well crafted response in the New York Times, finishing with ‘I am proud of my family. I am proud of my Duke championships and all my Duke teammates. And, I am proud I never lost a game against the Fab Five.’  So much respect for Grant Hill and then today, Duke knocked out Michigan in the NCAA tournament. You Dukies…your timing is impeccible!

Aaron Brooks…who throws the ball at the ref?  Really…

Samuel Dalembert wound the clock back to 2007 and dominated the T-Wolves with 26 points and 17 rebounds today. The Kings dominated the Wolves 127-95.

The Grizzlies are becoming THAT team. They are barely holding onto 8th place in the west, but keep on getting upset wins. They are THAT team that you don’t want to face at this stage in the season cause they are likely to beat you down and screw your playoff seeding!

Who do you think has more all time rebounds than Patrick Ewing & David Robinson, more blocked shots than Alonzo Mourning, Manute Bol, Elvin Hays & Moses Malone. Oh, and the same guy has made more field goals than George Gervin and Reggie Miller… who you thinking? You’re right if you said the greatest power forward in NBA history, Tim Duncan.

Is it time for teams to start jacking for the draft?

We still don’t like Hedo Jerkoglu.

The LA Lakers are one hell of a team. And that’s how they won game seven against the Boston Celtics….as a TEAM. Early on, it looked grim for the Lakers. The media and every basketball expert had already handed the Lakers the 2009-2010 Championship, even before the ball went in the air for the opening tap. Only 3 teams in 64 years have managed to win a game 7 on the road in an NBA Finals. The Celtics were up against it, but it didn’t look that way early on.

With Kendrick Perkins out of the starting lineup with a season-ending knee injury, Rasheed Wallace stepped in and took it to the Lakers in the first half with a series of post moves that looked like someone had wound the clock back to 2001. Kevin Garnett looked strong, Ray Allen hit threes and Big Baby Davis stepped in and made shots. But for the Lakers, Kobe Bryant shot terribly, Andrew Bynum was playing on one leg and the bench wasn’t contributing on the offensive end. And strangely, the Lakers seemed surprised that the Celtics, after 105 games since they started their 2009-10 campaign…weren’t going to just bend over for the Lakers? Um….what Celtics team do you think you are playing, LA?

The second half started the same and with Rajon Rondo’s lay-up with 8:23 left in the third, Boston were up 49-36. But LA would string together a handful of baskets, with some clutch play by Lamar Odom, the ever-dependable Pau Gasol and even Kobe Bryant would hit only his 3r d& 4^thfield goals of the evening to bring the score to 57-53 at the end of the third. Even though they were still being outlplayed by this tough Celtics squad, the LA crowd were energised enough for the Lakers team to ride that momentum into fourth where it was a completely different game.

The Celtics were scoreless for the first 3 minutes of the fourth quarter and following three free-throws from Kobe and a three-point play from Ron Artest, the Lakers had tied the game up at 61-61 and you could feel the pounding the Lakers were taking had ceased. Ray Allen would hit a series of free throws to push it to 64-61, but then with 6:11 left in the game, Derek Fisher, clutch as always, nailed a high-arcing three-pointer to tie it back up 64-64. The LA crowd went crazy, and the Lakers would go on a 12-6 run courtesy of Bryant and Gasol. Gasol’s layup with 1:30 left gave the Lakers a 76-70 edge and a Boston timeout.

Straight out of the time-out, Rasheed Wallace hit a three. Then at the end of the shot-clock, Artest hit a three for the Lakers. 9 seconds into the next Boston possession, Ray Allen nailed a three-pointer. Two possessions later, Rasheed Wallace would collect his 6^thfoul and send Kobe Bryant to the free throw line where he’d make both and give the Lakers an 81-76 lead.

With 16 second left in the 2009-10 season, Rajon Rondo would get the offensive rebound off a Ray Allen missed three pointer, dribble out to the corner next to the Lakers bench and nail a three to make it a 2 point game, 81-79. Sacha Vujacic would then be sent to the line, and hit possibly the two biggest free throws of his career to seal the 83-79 victory.

The Lakers have won their 16^thNBA Championship of all time, and they did it as a team. Fisher, Odom, Vujacic, Brown, Odom, Gasol, Farmer, Walton, Mbenga, Bynum, Powell and Bryant. All of them at some stage over the last few weeks have stepped up and made a difference. And especially in game 7, where Kobe shot a dismal 6-24 from the field, he needed his team more than ever and they all contributed. Kobe would still finish with 23 points and an impressive 15 rebounds, but Pau Gasol (19 points & 18 rebounds), Ron Artest (20 points) and Derek Fisher (10 points) all featured heavily to help Bryant win his 5^th NBA Championship and coach Phil Jackson’s 11^th coaching championship. For Kobe, this was the toughest of any of the Championships he’s been a part of, and for coach Phil Jackson, this victory will only make his summer even more interesting as he grapples with the option to return to the Lakers.

We are all very lucky…we’ve just witnessed something that has happened now 4 times in 30 years.  And between the two most successful franchises in NBA history, no less.  Congratulations to the LA Lakers, the 2009-10 NBA CHAMPIONS!

You gotta love home court in the NBA Finals. Game 6 saw a return to the west coast and a return to form for the LA Lakers. Away from the Garden in Boston and back in the Staples Center, the Lakers had their crowd behind them and dominated the Celtics from the get-go. Kobe Bryant scored 11 first quarter points on 5/6 from the field. Then as if it wasn’t going to be tough enough for Boston, Celtics centre Kendrick Perkins went down with a knee injury after only 7 minutes of action and would not return. The Lakers Derek Fisher then picked up two quick fouls and the Lakers went to Shannon Brown who chased Rajon Rondo around the court, helping to force him into a series-worst 5-15 from the field. Brown would also feature heavily in the games highlight reels , including an amazing alley-oop dunk that he caught from outside the backboard. Even the Celtics fans around the world oohing & aahing.

Perkins’ injury would force Rasheed Wallace & Glen Davis to play extended minutes, but unlike games 3, 4 & 5 in Boston, Wallace & Davis would not step up. They combined for 0-10 from the field. Boston’s starters also shot poorly with Ray Allen as the sole performer, scoring 19 points on 7/14 shooting.

Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 26 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists and four steals. Pau Gasol would near a triple-double with 17 points, 13 rebounds and 9 assists and Ron Artest hit some big threes in the first half on his way to 15 points.

The Celtics may not be as deep a team as the Lakers, they may not match up with the Lakers talent…but Boston are easily the TOUGHEST team in the NBA. This Boston team may even be one of the toughest teams in NBA history, up there with the ‘Bad Boys’ Detroit Pistons of the 1980s. But by only midway through the first quarter in this one, the C’s were already hanging the hanging their heads and trudging up the court, looking beaten. Lakers were up 51-31 at the half and kept the pressure on for a 89-67 victory to force a final game.

And now…..game 7 is upon us. GAME 7! Do you know how often we get to see an NBA Finals go to seven games? 3 Man Weave does….this is the 5^th time in the past 30 years that the NBA Finals has gone to a seventh game. In fact, since the 1946-47 season, there have been 16 finals series go to seven games. And now, in the 2009-2010 season we have the two most successful franchises in NBA history dueling it out in game seven for the 17^th time.

Thursday night (Friday midday in Australia) will see the Boston Celtics step onto the Lakers home floor and attempt to do what only 3 teams in 64 years have managed to do. Win an NBA Finals in game 7 on their opponents home floor.  Whether you’re a Celtics fan or a Lakers fan…..you could be witnessing one of the greatest games in NBA history.