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Some of you may have read the news a week or two ago, where Chuck Liddell had less than flattering remarks about Kimbo Slice. UFC president Dana White echoed Liddell’s comments last week, and also claimed Kimbo Slice was knocked out by Forrest Griffin during sparring.

Kimbo responded to both comments in the video below, as well as telling Liddell to come fight him bare knuckle in the streets.

[shout out to bloody elbow for the vid]

Stank-0 has written about the other two matchups, here and here, however, this matchup has it all.  STAR POWER.  HISTORY.  STYLE CONTRAST.  Next up,

(3) San Antonio (56-26) Games remaining: 0 (0 Home, 0 Away) vs. +.500: 0     vs. Div: 0

(6) Phoenix (55-27) Games remaining: 0 (0 Home, 0 Away) vs. +.500: 0     vs. Div: 0

The Suns have prevailed in the season series…

REGULAR SEASON SERIES
Suns lead 3-1
Dec. 17: Suns 100 at Spurs 95
Jan. 31: Spurs 84 at Suns 81
Mar. 9: at Suns 94, Spurs 87
Apr. 9: Suns 96 at Spurs 79

…but Stank-0 has a few caveats.  The series changed dramatically when the Suns dealt for Big Aristotle.  Shaq arrived around the beginning of February, missing the first two games.  So pre-Shaq, the Suns are 1-1, post-Shaq the Suns are 2-0.  That’s a big big deal.

The Spurs are the Spurs, battle tested, veteran heavy, etc. etc.  As usual their focus starts with Tim Duncan.  Stank-0’s opinion of TD goes one of two ways. 1.  His is reachin the peak of his game or 2. He has already peaked and this is the slow downside.  The Spurs don’t need TD’s offense they need his defense.  They can score with Manu Ginobili, an All Star 6th man and Tony Parker, the quicksilver Frenchmen.  Their bench is deep with:  Brent Barry,  Bruce Bowen, Michael Finley, Big Shot Robert Horry (brief aside on him later), Damon “Mighty Mouse” Stoudamire, Kurt Thomas, and Jacque Vaughn.  These guys have been tested in crunch time. 

The Spurs can’t seem to win a chip in an even year, though.  Not sure if that’s relevant but no Spurs ring has ended with 0,2,4, 6, or 8 on it. 

Stank-0 loves Horry’s killer instinct and flair for knockin down the nail-in-the-coffin trey, but how clutch is he really?  Houston had shooters around the Dream so Horry was what 3rd or 4th option?  Lakers situation, very similar, 2 alphas and shooters around them.  Spurs, 3 alphas, and players around them.  His longevity gets madd respect, but this jock riding needs to fall back.  Movin on….

Read the rest of this entry »

Having finished the LEastern conference its time to go back back to Cali Cali. 

(1) Los Angeles (57-25) Games remaining: 0 (0 Home, 0 Away) vs. +.500: 0     vs. Div: 0

(8) Denver (50-32) Games remaining: 0 (0 Home, 0 Away) vs. +.500: 0     vs. Div: 0

The Lakers have pwnd controlled the Nuggets. 

REGULAR SEASON SERIES
Lakers lead 3-0
Nov. 29: at Lakers 127, Nuggets 99
Dec. 5: Lakers 111 at Nuggets 107
Jan. 21: at Lakers 116, Nuggets 99

The Lakers have been playing a different type of ball this season.  Kobe Bryant neé Black Mamba has gotten a second All Star in Pau Gasol.  Derek Fisher and Lamar Odom also have significant playoff experience.  They also have quite a collection of young talent including the likes of:  Luke Walton, Jordan Farmar, Andrew Bynum, and Chris Mihm. 

The Nuggets have an extremely talented duo in AI and Melo.  Throw in Kenyon Martin and Marcus Camby.  That’s quite a foursome.  They aren’t terribly deep though, but they have a great reserve in JR Smith.  Other noteables are: Eduardo Najera, Nené, Linas Kleiza, and Chucky Atkins. 

In ordinary NBA math, the team with four vs the team with two the four would win 8 times out of 10.  Ordinary math is out the window when one of those two is Kobe Bryant, the most driven player in the L, offensively and defensively.  This kid lives for the big moments, the clutch times in the ballgame when one play can make or break a team…a series…a season.  He wants the ball in those situations.  EVER. SINGLE. TIME. 

The Nuggets do not have an answer for the Black Mamba.  That alone will decide this series, but the Lakers have taken huge strides this season.  The Lake Show advances. 

Is it just Stank-0 or have the Nuggets been consistently underwhelming?   

Don’t forget to shoot over to Stank-0’s site to catch the next part of the Western Conference. 

Lot’s of people are asking for this one…. Daniel Akinyemi slammed Derek Strong so hard that it knocked him out cold. It was even more impressive because Strong had Akinyemi locked in am armbar the entire time.

It appears Akinyemi broke his arm during the move, but viewers were left in the dark ( until next weeks episode)

(rss subscribers may have to click over to see the video below)

(3) Orlando (51-30) Games remaining: 1 (1 Home, 0 Away) vs. +.500: 1 vs. Div: 1

(6) Toronto (41-40) Games remaining: 1 (0 Home, 1 Away) vs. +.500: 0 vs. Div: 0

The Magic hold the season series edge.

REGULAR SEASON SERIES
Magic lead 2-1
Nov. 7: Magic 105 at Raptors 96
Feb. 20: at Raptors 127, Magic 110
Mar. 4: at Magic 102, Raptors 87

The Magic have a solid core, but the focal point of the offense is Superman. No, not Christopher Reeves, but Dwight Howard. Early on Howard was garnering heavy MVP consideration. Around him are Jameer Nelson, Hedo Turkoglu, and Rashard Lewis. Things have come together for the Magic of late. Their core is young featuring players such as Kenyon Dooling, Keith Bogans, Tony Battie, and Carlos Arroyo.

On the other side is the Raptors, featuring Chris Bosh, forgotten man in the NBA draft that included Dwayne Wade and LeBron James. Jose Calderon put up All Star numbers this season. Jamario Moon was also making waves this season, however Andrea Bargnani took a huge step backwards in his development.

In the end, the Raptors do not have an answer for Howard and the depth of the reserves will put Orlando over the top.

#1 Boston vs. #8 Atlanta here
#2 Detroit vs. #7 Philadelphia here