The U.S. men's Olympic basketball team will be announced on Monday...Duke head basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski will be the Olympic coach....if I had to assemble the U.S. team, I would not load it with NBA All-Stars and egos...the international game is quite different than the NBA because it relies on outside shooting....here is who I would want....
Starting Five
Forward - LeBron James - James (photo) is the best player in the game...he is a must...he has an open invitation for the Olympic team for the rest of his career...
Forward - Carmelo Anthony - Anthony has played exceptionally well in international competition...he may be the best player on the team....
Center - Dwight Howard - big men do not have a major impact in the international game but every team needs at least one stud in the middle....Howard is the best young big man in the game....
Point guard - Jason Kidd - Kidd has never lost a game in international play....he is a bigger point guard who can rebound too.
...Kidd does not have to score....he understands his role....
Shooting guard - Kobe Bryant - Kobe (photo) is the second best player in the game....
Bench
Forward - Shane Battier - Battier is a defensive stopper who has the ability to hit the 3 ball...plus he played for Coach K at Duke and undestands his system....
Forward - Richard Hamilton - Rip is one of the NBA's better 3-point shooters....he is another outside threat....give me shooters!!!!....
Point guard - Deron Williams - Williams is a true point guard who is big enough not to get muscled....
Shooting guard - Dwayne Wade - he is the 6th man on this team...his role is to be like Vinnie Johnson was with the Pistons - the Microwave....he needs to heat it up when he comes in....
Shooting guard - Michael Redd - the U.S. can always use another outside shooter and Redd fits that bill....
Final Two
These final two spots are my luxury spots....
Point guard - Chris Paul - I would feel better with 3 quality true point guards on this team....with Kidd in his mid-30s, he is prone to injury....point guard play is important in the Olympics....
Center/forward - Kevin Garnett - Garnett can play either the 3, 4, or 5 spot....he is the NBA Defensive Player of the Year who can also score if needed....his versatility makes him a must...
BRING IT ON WORLD!!!!
Today starts a new feature on Stiles Points called "Which Logo Do You Like"...over the years sports franchises have changed their logos for various reasons: to market new items or just to make a change...now you, the reader, can select which logo you like the best...
Today we start with the Cleveland Cavaliers...the Cavs have had four logos...their colors started with wine and gold, then moved to blue and orange, then to black and powder blue, now back to wine, gold, and blue....here are your choices...
Logo 1 - 1971-83
This was the logo during the Miracle at Richfield era when the Cavs sported the names of Chones, Bingo, Cleamons, Campy, Nate, etc.
Logo 2 - 1984 - 94When this logo came out, the lowly Cavs just made the playoffs and almost beat the Larry Bird Boston Celtics...the Cavs were led by World B. Free, Edgar Jones, and Roy Hinson....a few years later the Cavs were for real with Price, Daugherty, Ehlo, Nance, and Hot Rod....
Logo 3 - 1995 - 03
This logo was designed by a marketing firm in order to boost sales at the new Gund Arena...the Cavs struggled while wearing this....the names of Shawn Kemp and Andre Miller were probably the best players under this regime..
Logo 4 - 2004 - present
The Cavs changed their entire image once they got LeBron...much of their fan base wanted the old wine and gold as the primary colors....management settled on this...My thoughts - I am old-school all the way...I would go with the original Cavs logo...their current logo and uniforms are okay, but I would go back to the true wine and gold unis from the 1970s...those were sweet!!!!....I also liked the orange and blue logo and unis....maybe because the Cavs were a solid "team" back then instead of having one mega-superstar and a bunch of lugnuts for teammates like they do now....Logo 3 sucks!!!....when management starts asking marketing "experts" to design a logo and uniform, that is when you know they are out of touch with their fans....So my pick is Logo 1.....your thoughts???Note - I will be in Cincinnati the next two days -- the blog will resume of Friday...
Sticking with the Law and Order theme, is Diane Neal hot?...Neal replaced Stephanie March as District Attorney on the show...
Casey Novak
Neal was born in November 1976 making her 32-years-old...she has kind of a strange background...she was born in Virginia then moved to Colorado when she was young...she went into pre-med only to drop that and become a model...she then dumped that career and studied archaeology in Israel...then she got into figure skating...
To top that off, she got engaged after dating someone for just two weeks...after seven years of engagement, they did finally get married...
In 2003 Neal got her break on Law and Order SVU as District Attorney Casey Novak...interestingly, Neal appeared, as another character, on 1 Law and Order SVU episode in 2001 as a female rapi
st...
After six years on SVU, Neal decided to leave the show after the 2008 season...maybe she was wanting to rekindle that figure skating career?... (as a side note, the show's braintrust is not bringing Stephanie March back as D.A. Alex Cabot)...
My thoughts - Honestly, I am surprised that she is only 32-years-old...she looks older on SVU...I thought she was about 38 or 39...she looks good in some episodes while on others she looks haggard...she does have nice legs...but overall, I would not rate her as hot...however, if I saw her in a bar, I would buy her a drink and let the chips fall where they fall...so this leads to the questions:
Do you think Diane Neal is hot?
If so, why doesn't she get the publicity?
Am I missing something?
Leave your comments
Tim Russert
Mark Leibovich of The New York Times writes about the impact within the Beltway of Tim Russert's death... "News of the “Meet the Press” host’s death moved entirely too fast, in that unnerving way that these things do in the viral media world, but especially here — the cycle of rumor to “did you hear?” to confirmation (“it’s online”) to disbelief lasted a matter of minutes. Riders on the D.C. Metro stared into their BlackBerrys, and every politician with access to e-mail was issuing statements, from the president on down." ... Mark LeibovichA team of reporters from the Buffalo News write about native son Tim Russert... "Yet those who knew him will remember Russert differently, as a man who not only remade the art of the television interview, but who lived every day in the spirit of kindness that he found in the city and the church he loved so much." ... Buffalo NewsKatie Couric of CBS News writes a special column in the New York Daily News about former colleague Tim Russert... "He never forgot where he came from. In his heart, he was a kid from Buffalo who made it to the big time - but never got "too big for his britches," as my mother would say. I think he used his Dad, Big Russ, to take the temperature of the country. And I remember how he used to call him to ask questions and get feedback." ... Katie CouricCeltics-Lakers
Maria Cramer of the Boston Globe writes how the Boston police are readying themselves for a Celtics championship... "For police, these victories have not meant throwing back pints of beer with friends, but suiting up in riot gear, grabbing a baton, and praying the city stays quiet. Tonight, as the Celtics try to become the next New England team to win a championship, many in the Boston Police Department are watching yet again with an anguishing mixture of excitement and dread. They don't want the Celtics to lose, but they're not sure they want them to win either." ... Maria CramerBill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times writes how the Lakers don't have a home court advantage because of too many celebrities who know nothing about the game... "But during a postseason when home-court advantage reached historic levels, it's important to note that Boston has it in shamrocks, and the Lakers only barely." ... Bill PlaschkeOther news
Emilie Deutsch of The New York Times writes about the day the late-Jim McKay interviewed Fidel Castro... "The two sat and faced each other, Castro’s interpreter sitting just off-camera. It was a striking tableau — two men in their 60s, one a sports journalist in coat and tie, the other a Communist dictator in uniform, raised in different cultures but both educated by Jesuits and able to find a common ground in sport." ... Emilie DeutschThe Associated Press story reports on the death of former NBC sports announcer Charlie Jones... "Jones started at ABC in 1960, the year the AFL made its debut. He moved to NBC in 1965, remaining with that network until 1997." ... Associated PressJay Mariotti of the Chicago Sun-Times writes about Tiger Woods incredible finish during the third round of the U.S. Open... "When all of us wondered if the leg might collapse and the ambulance would whisk him away to DQ land -- and I don't mean Dairy Queen -- he simply ignored the pain. And resumed being Tiger, the greatest and gutsiest of them all." ... Jay MariottiMary Kay Cabot of The Plain Dealer writes about Browns head coach Romeo Crennel - the father... "Fortunately for Crennel, he inherited not only his dad's regimented, military side, but his mom's sweet, nurturing side. His late father Joseph, affectionately known as Sarge to his five children and the rest of the kids in their neighborhood, retired as a first sergeant after 26 years of service. His late mother, Mary, was a devoted homemaker who ruled with a big heart while Joe was overseas." ... Mary Kay CabotHarvey Araton of The New York Times writes how winning the Super Bowl has not changed Eli Manning... "“I tried not to do anything too different in the off-season,” Manning said. “Just because you win the Super Bowl doesn’t mean you do more stuff. I tried to do the same charity events and work with the people I have sponsorships with. I might have been in the newspapers more, but it was about the same. I really didn’t do anything unusual.” ... Harvey AratonMark Snyder of the Detroit Free-Press writes how the Michigan quarterback competition is heating up... "(Steven Threet) The thing that stands out to me the most is how comfortable everybody's getting. There's not as much confusion with what route we're supposed to run or always lining up in the right formation. It's starting to click a little bit better." ... Mark SnyderJames Walker of ESPN.com writes how the NFL now has its rookies learn about the history of the game... "This offseason, the NFL is sending every incoming player for a special tour of the Hall of Fame. Former Dallas Cowboys receiver and 2007 Hall of Fame inductee Michael Irvin came up with the idea last summer to increase rookies' awareness and help them recognize the value of their opportunity." ..."James WalkerFinally, I want to wish all dads a HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!
The U.S. men's Olympic basketball team will be announced on Monday...Duke head basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski will be the Olympic coach....if I had to assemble the U.S. team, I would not load it with NBA All-Stars and egos...the international game is quite different than the NBA because it relies on outside shooting....here is who I would want....
...Kidd does not have to score....he understands his role....
