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Will The Diesel be a good fit in Phoenix?

This is a question that will be answered in the next few upcoming months. In my experience, this was one of the more interesting trades i've seen seen go down. Shaquille O'Neal is still a dominant force in the Nba, but is clearly on the decline. Shaq's style of play doesn't exactly fit Phoenix's run and gun style, but Steve Nash has a way of adjusting and making everyone around him better. Shaq has the potential to either slow the Suns down or be the key missing ingredient that this team has been searching for the last 5 years. The fact that many analyst and talk show host have been bashing O'Neal saying his career is over and what not, has been motivating to Shaq who stated, " When im mad i've been known to do things like win championships." The audience laughed. In order for Phoenix to get over the hump, their going to have to be able to sustain a half court offense that gets Shaq and Amare Stoudamire touches in the inside. They have been known by their fast breaks and alley oop dunks the past few years, but a lot of that will be gone with the departure of Shawn Marion to Miami. They need to establish a strong identity that puts them over the top and the Suns feel that Shaq will contribute to that. The Diesel practiced with the Suns for the first time on Monday and is aiming for a return next Wednesday against who else, The Los Angeles Lakers. If Shaq can stay healthy this will be a very interesting 2nd half of the season in the stacked Western Conference. If he struggles to stay healthy, this might be a disappointing trade for the suns that sets them back.

Super Bowl XLII Evaluation

"On any given night anyone can win, except in 1972." Those were the words of Former Miami Dolphins running back and member of the undefeated 72' Dolphins team, Mercury Morris after the New England Patriots and New York Giants played in the Forty-Second Super Bowl tonight. If you watched the game, you were a witness of history. This will be a game that will be talked about for decades and decades. The Giants were able to accomplish the unthinkable. They defeated the only 18 and 0 team in NFL history. The Giants were able to impose their will from the start of the game to the finish. Since Tom Brady stepped onto the scene back in 2000, I have never seen him show the facial expressions he showed during this game. In my opinion, it was evident that he had never experienced pressure like this in his career. The Giants defense played fearless and demolished the statistically speaking best offense in the history of the league, but it wasn't just the defense that played fearless. Eli Manning evolved from a mediocre Quarterback to a superstar tonight. To be honest, I had my doubts about him as a quarterback entering the 08' playoffs and I didn't believe he would be able to live up to the hype of being a top draft pick and a Manning for that matter. He proved me wrong, his leadership and play was outstanding and throughout his whole career he has not changed his demeanor one bit. This win gets everyone off his back, because he is now a super bowl champion. This team truly played every game with a chip on their shoulder and seeing Plaxico Burress shed tears after the game really let us know why these guys play the game. On the other side of the equation, the New England Patriots are associated with what might be the biggest let down in sports history. To get all the way to the big game unblemished, but not being able to finish the job. That is something that will be difficult to swallow for those guys. You have to tip your caps to the Patriots regardless of the outcome of the Super Bowl, because they still did some special things this year and will be remembered for them.

Current Events- Lakers-Grizzlies

Im Nero Threet III and a college student at Santa Monica College in Los Angeles, California and this is my first Post. Im hoping I can stay active on this website and continue to bring the heat, because this is what I love to do.    

Ok, so the Los Angeles Lakers finally went out and made a deal that will make Kobe happy in acquiring F/C Pau Gasol along with a second round draft pick in the 2008 draft from the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday. The deal was highway robbery in my opinion due to the fact that all the Lakers had to give up was Kwame Brown....,Jarvaris Crittenton an unproven rookie, and two first round picks which will most likely be at the end of the first round. Kobe, who is without a doubt the leader of this team will no longer have an excuse for not getting it done. With the upcoming return of Andrew Bynum the second week of March from a dislocated knee cap, the Lakers can potentially be the Best in the West. My projected lineup would be, PG- Derek Fisher, SG- Kobe Bryant, SF- Lamar Odom, PF- Pau Gasol, C- Andrew Bynum. On paper from top to bottom I don't believe there is a better lineup in the Western Conference, but whether or not the Lake show will be able to translate that into wins is to be seen. Now, from the Grizzlies perspective this trade has had to be an all time low for this relatively young franchise. They traded there franchise player and really didn't receive much in return at all. I don't expect Kwame brown to be even one-third of the player Gasol was for the Grizzlies and Jarvaris Crittenton is unproven, granted he just turned 20 on the 31st od December. It almost feels like the Grizzlies have just given up. Hopefully thats not the case and they can pull this thing together and get the ball rolling once again.