Roundball Roundtable of... Roundness - Part 2

You liked Part 1 of Scribe's first Roundball Rountable of... Roundness? Of course, you did. Here's Part Deux. Once again, the previous questions and bios for those who've come upon this post first.

Everybody JUMP!

Roundball Roundtable of... Roundness - Part 1

Something different for Scribe:

A month from now, the NBA playoffs will take off, getting people into far more heated debates about who’s better than who, which injury hurts more and where will members of the Free Agent Class of 2010 head after the final shot of the season is taken.

So, mark today as special as it’s the first of what will be many roundtables to come. Of course, this isn’t just any blogging roundtable, but one with some twists.

I’ve reached out to three NBA pundits, fans and chatterboxes who can provide different perspectives than what you’ve heard in recent weeks. The questions asked are not going to be “LeBron or Kobe?” and “what’s wrong with _____?”. The responses were quite interesting, to say the least.

Let this roundtable begin with some brief bios on each contributor:

• Stephon Johnson is a name you’ve seen on here before. Beyond having known half my life, he’s a staff writer for the famed New York Amsterdam News, covering a range of news stories as well as hoops for the history African-American weekly paper. In addition, he is also a contributing writer for The Perpetual Post and has done a multitude of music reviews for other websites. Check out his Tumblr and follow on Twitter (Warning: he’s not as good looking as me).
• Rey Moralde is the founder of the very fantastic and popular Los Angeles-based NBA blog, The No Look Pass. Along with great analysis of all four Californian squads (writers for the NorCal teams), if you still think the very existence of Clippers fans is an urban legend or that there’s no such thing as a true Lakers fan, let this site dispel those myths. For further witty banter and superb in-game comedy, you can follow Rey and TNLP on Facebook and Twitter.
• Finally, rounding out this triumvirate is aspiring scribe Kyle Hoffman. A cool cat like Heathcliff (that’s a reference to a Sean Price freestyle), Hoffman is a die-hard Sacramento Kings fan… from Allentown, Pennsylvania? Yes, you read that correctly. A true hoops head, he certainly holds down the fort for other teams as well, as you will read in moments. Follow Monsieur Hoffman on Twitter.

And now, your questions, after the jump...

Noise

From watching what had been a pretty physical Game 5 in Atlanta between the hometown Hawks and the visiting Miami Heat, the most intriguing facet of the game was not necessarily how should-be-but-won't-be-MVP Dwayne Wade tried to pull himself from back spasms, but how much the crowd reactions had or had not affected the game.

In the first half, Wade collided with Joe Johnson Josh Smith when going for a loose ball. With the Heat star writhing on the ground, the Hawks faithful took no issue with booing. Mike Fratello, the former coach and TNT color commentator, questioned the crowd’s motive behind letting their feelings be known at that instant.

On a fast break in the early part of the second quarter, a trailing Wade tried to block the ball from Atlanta’s Maurice Evans as he rose for a fast break dunk. With both players having fallen to the floor – Evans hitting his head on Wade’s right knee en route to the floor – the crowd lustily booed again. Fratello reiterated his apparent frustration with the crowd reaction, but in this instance, he mentioned that the fans may have believed that they could influence the officials into calling a flagrant foul on Wade (which they did moments later).

I mention these two scenarios because while the Hawks took their South Florida rivals to the woodshed nearly from the outset, it appeared that maybe, just maybe, the crowd set the tone for how the game would be played and officiated. Yet, I wonder what you all think. Have all the hollering, booing and thundersticking ever had an affect on the games you attended in person?

Say What?!?!: By the way, if you're on Facebook and you have yet to do so, join the network.

Idea (II)

As you were invited to over the weekend, here are a few of the moments that stuck out to me this year in sports. Of course, there were a good bit that I was fortunate to have attended, whether it was related to the Beacon, SNYS or as a fan. Yet, there will be other posts about that throughout the holidays.

All credit to the original uploaders.

• Beyond being there and meeting Joe Frazier (though I should have finished the article... oops), this was such a thorough and unexpected domination by Bernard Hopkins, even the most avid Kelly Pavlik supporters had to stand in awe and respect.

• After two barbeques in South Jersey and actually getting some sleep, this epic match was the cherry on top of a great Fourth of July weekend.

• Sure, there are a lot of you who are Boston Celtics fans now, but your hearts were in your laps because of a team no one expected to win more than a game in the first round... let alone three. Welcome back to the NBA, Atlanta. We've missed you and your ridiculous pyrotechnics!

• Who would have thought that the NHL would have given us the first treat of a phenomenal 2008? Oh, that's right, the people that watched this game on New Year's Day. If you were subjected to the anti-climatic bowl games later that evening, I hope you at least enjoyed this earlier that afternoon. (By the way, I recognize how much many puckheads dislike Sidney Crosby or at least the hype around him. However, you had to have appreciated this moment.)

• Sorry, Patriots fans. (Note: If anyone has a video with Marv Albert's radio call, please send the link. If you can't recall, let's just say that I'm not a fan of FOX.)

• Finally, since there isn't a great video from YouTube and MLB does not allow embedding, search "All Star Home Run Derby 2008" in its video site.
  For those who followed me one the journey to Dallas back in July, I was able to add photos and videos from the last game before the All-Star break (revisit, if you will). Instead of covering the All-Star Game festivities myself, I was at a hotel in suburban Dallas with a face stuffed full of pepperoni, sausage & Sprite, excitedly jumping up and down like a stressed-out nicotine fiend without smokes.
  To say that what Josh Hamilton did the following night at Yankee Stadium defied our wildest imaginations is an understatement. However, it was great to see a football-crazed state hold off all the talk about the Cowboys, the Texas Longhorns and the Oklahoma Sooners, if only for a little while. There's a bonafide superstar in the making in Arlington and the Rangers need to do everything possible to build around him.

So, share you favorite moments, no matter where they may come from.

Quick

It's still very early in the NBA season, but a few quick observations:

• This bullet is New York-focused and for good reason: most of the good vibes going towards the Knicks these days has automatically been correlated to head coach Mike D'Antoni. His "seven seconds or less" offense is still a work in progress and the schedule has been favorable because of short-handed teams, but the Knicks have something else thast has carried them over: small forward Wilson Chandler.
  It has been quite a while since the Knicks have had the sort of athleticism at the three-spot on both ends of the floor; arguably since Bernard King was dropping 800 points on those sorry New Jersey Nets squads in the early eighties. This is not to say that Chandler will suddenly have his name in the Hall of Fame or even the MSG rafters, but he's been the young, dynamic two-way player that the Knicks have needed for years. He played well late last season, but it is this season in which the NBA fans will get to know what he's all about. Fourteen points a game, just under 6 rebounds and a block in 28 minutes may not sound like much, but Chandler has a solid repetoire to work with: spin moves to the basket, very good size to defend shooting guards and small forwards, plays the mid-range game and he does not turn the ball over much when he's on the court.
  A friend said he could be an All-Star in this league. Let's start with  early candidacy for Most Improved Player of the Year honors.
  
  
• Someone seriously needs to sit Daniel Gibson down and talk with him about his hair.
  
  
• That Atlanta Hawks - Boston Celtics game Wednesday night was as good as it gets. It was the highest rated game in the history of the Boston area Comcast SportsNet affiliate. As commented here in Fang's Bites, I wonder if this was because Celtics fans were expecting fireworks because of that epic first-round playoff series last year or because the Hawks are the point of intrigue.
  
  
• Something that may have slipped under the radar: is the Ginobili rule taking effect as players and referees are mindful to not flop or are the officials just letting these guys play through?
  
  
• Eleven and a half years ago, the Washington Bullets renamed themselves into the Wizards because owner Abe Pollin wanted to shed a name with violent connotations, considering the rising homocide rate in DC. While this idea may not stem from a similar civic duty, can we have a new campaign for the Oklahoma City Thunder? Well, maybe it's not the name, but the kalediscope of colors make themselves look more like the junior Knicks than their own team.
  There should also be a contest for the Charlotte Bobcats, but that's for another day.
  

Any quick observations from you, leave them here.