Some basketball and other notes for a rainy Friday

- First off, I heart wine. It's tasty. It's light. You can drink it when you're hungover. Goes good with food. Doesn't fill you up. And gives me a great buzz

- Don Imus got fired.... HA! Serves the fucker right. They needed to make an example of someone

_ Looking at Oden and Durant, they both need to come out. For the most part I'm a proponent of kids staying in college (they get an education, they better their game, and it keeps the quality of both the NBA and college basketball at a higher level.) But neither Oden nor Durant have any competition in college basketball. Did you see Oden in the championship game? He utterly dominated Noah, Horford, and Richard, all three of whom will play in the NBA (Noah and Horford will likely be lottery picks.) And his block on Brewer, where he basically snatched the ball out of Corey's hands in mid-air, was completely ridiculous. I distinctly remember yelling at the TV as I saw the play. Is Oden ready to dominate the NBA like he did the college game? No. But the dude is good. And he might not even be done growing. And best of all, he can defend. It's always easier to teach offense than defense. And the only way his game is going to progress is by competing against the best.
Durant has already declared himself eligible with the draft, and it's the right move. He was already named the NCAA player of the year and there was really nothing else he could accomplish at the college level. He is head-and-shoulders above any competition he would face in college. Yeah, he needs to add some upper body mass, but with his array of moves and range, he should be able to average 20 starting off in the NBA. The thing is, I don't know if we've ever seen anything like Kevin Durant before. He's Tracy McGrady in KG's body (and Durant's not done growing yet either!) His shot may not be as nice as Dirk's (and really, whos' is?), but his post-up game is probably already better than Dirk's and Durant has that instinct where he knows when to take over a game (something that took until Nash left the Mavs for Dirk to learn). Both of them will be good, if not excellent, NBA players and made the right choice to leave their respective colleges. Then again, I also thought both Reddick and Morrison would be averaging over 15 a game this year, so what the hell do i know...

- The Carolina guys made the right decision to stay in school. Ellington is still to inconsistent to play in the NBA. Lawson is going to be good, but point guards need time to develop an gain as much experience as they can get. Point guard's just too hard of a position. Look at Shaun Livingston and Sebastian Telfair. Both entered the NBA striaght out of high school,and to say they have struggled is an understatement. While you could claim injuries as an excuse for Livingston failing to realize his expectations, Telfair has nothing. Was he overhyped? Yeah, probably. But playing point guard in the NBA is similar to playing quarterback ithe NFL. It's too important and difficult of a position to have a rookie playing it. The best point guards got that way through experience. Nash and Kidd didn't get real good till they were in he league for a few years. Deron Williams and Chris Paul are both real good, but both also spent at least a few years honing their skills at the college level. Lawson will be good, but he needs at least one more year, if not more. Tyler Hanborough is also returning to UNC. This is a good move. Look, he plays hard and all, but I'm just not the biggest Hanborough fan. How many good big, white basketball players are there in the NBA? There's Brad Miller... and then who? Robert Swift?? I see Hanborough as a rich man's Mark Madsen. I hope he succeeds though. Prove me wrong Tyler, prove me wrong. The last big Tar Heel player is Brandon Wright, who probably will go to the NBA after only one season at UNC. He has size and long arms, so he'll be drafted on potential. Super. Love those 'potential' draft picks. Go back to school dude, the NBA will wait for you

- It seems that Josh McRoberts, though, is entering the draft. And most mock drafts have the Sixer drafting him and a big, white freshman center from Washington named Spencer Hawes. Seriously, this is what we're getting for trading AI? This is bullshit. If we draft either of these guys I'm hunting down Billy King. If we draft both, I think I might just break down in tears and cry. We need a power forward, but neither will be the answer. Haven't we learned from the Shawn Bradley debacle yet?

- Watch out for the Spurs in the playoffs. With all the talk of the Mavs and Suns, and Dirk and Nash, people seem to have forgotten about Tim Duncan and the Spurs. Bad idea. They're deep, they're playoff tested, they're cool under pressure, and they're extremely well-coached. The Mav are still my pick, but keep an eye on San Antonio.

- On a non-basketball note, Dice K thus far seems as good as advertised. But what about Felix Rodriguez? He manhandled an extremely potent Red Sox lineup. He made both Manny and Big Papi look ridiculous. Impressive. Very impressive

- I had high hopes for the Phillies this year, and thus far they are sucking. The offense hasn't fully clicked yet and the bullpen has been atrocious. I'm not worried about the offense. With Howard, Utley and Rollins, they will eventually get in a groove. But the bullpen worries me. And the Phils are just playing stupid right now. Good teams CANNOT play stupid. Charlie Manuel better get on this in a hurry.

That's it for now. I'd comment on the NHL playoffs, but I have no idea how to find a game on the TV