B. Long's Weekly Review

In this new weekly column, I will reflect on all things basketball and pretty much anything else I damn well please. It's a celebration bitches, enjoy yourselves!


In the historic first posting of B. Long's Weekly Review, I decided to reflect on more than this last week, but on this entire ground breaking fall. I was watching some old Chappelle Show DVDs last weekend and it made me realize how much I miss Dave's genius. Could you imagine the skits he could've put out over the shit that has gone down over the past few years, not to mention election season? Damn, the laughs we could've had. But watching those skits also made me realize how far we've grown as a nation. Just as recent as a few years back Dave Chappelle, a man who made racial comedy and conversation socially acceptable to a lot of America and had a bigger impact on our generation's acceptance of each other than he'll ever get credit for, did several politically charged skits like Black Bush(One of the all time greats) and What if the President was Black during Armageddon. You could almost be certain from the vibe of the skits Dave would've never imagined we'd be putting a black man in the White House in 2008, much less during his lifetime and I think that would go for most of America. I guess the old saying "Whatever doesn't kill you, makes you stronger." is true because after what most of America has had to go through the past eight years during the reign of Dubya, we seem to have finally put our petty differences aside and decided to do what's best for our country. Not because of race but because of what was right. That being said, now the real work begins.

Just like the Bulls have put the hope of their franchise's future into a uber-talented Windy City hometown kid with little experience but limitless potential our nation also puts its fate into the hands of a Chicago native with little time spent in the Senate but who has the passion and vision to inspire an entire generation. It would be about as unrealistic to expect for our nations most important issues to be solved during our President Elect's first year in office as it would to expect the Bulls to bring home lucky number seven this season. They may not even be solved during his first term in office, but be patient and open minded. Derrick Rose is doing a better job than almost anyone expected this early in his career( Hey Jukai, how does my prediction taste?) and judging from the work he is putting into putting the right people around him in the White House I don't expect anything less from President Obama's efforts in Washington. As the homies at SLAM would say, Derrick Rose is Barrack Obama, Barrack Obama is Derrick Rose. Change has officially arrived.


Now that the political stuff is out of the way, lets get down to basketball. The Celtics are picking up where they left off last year with only a couple of hiccups here and there, they look like the same dominate force that stormed through the regular season in the East last year although we'll probably have to wait until the playoffs get started to see how much the loss of James Posey is really going to cost them. That being said, I really like the work that Tony Allen has been putting in for them. His interviews with the SLAM crew during the Finals last year were legendary. I would say I expected a little more from Big Baby at this point but I don't want to hurt his feelings. Leon Powe is still a beast off the bench and Scalabrine could still pull this costume off better than this guy can.




The Cavs have finally decided that if they want a shot in hell at keeping the King in their castle they better start competing for championships pronto and so far they seem like real contenders. Mo Williams is the legit number two scorer that the Cavs have been missing and Delonte West, Wally Sexyback, and even Big Ben seem to have stepped their game up so far this season. If they can keep this up heading into the playoffs expect the Cavs to knock off at least one of the beasts of the East, Detroit or Boston, on their way to the ECFs. Speaking of Mo-Town I can't figure out what to make of this A.I. led Pistons team. They definitely got better offensively and they're one of the only squads who has been able to down the Lakers this year but they've also lost to the Knicks and Bobcats. Chauncey has been tearing it up in Denver but I'm gonna withhold judgment on who got the better of this trade until the All-Star break, which is also when we should go ahead and award Derrick Rose his R.O.Y. trophy. Unless O.J. can somehow drag the Grizz into the playoff picture(imfuckinpossible) it wouldn't be premature.



In the Western Conference all I can really do is get my Dennis Green on and say they are who I thought they were. The Lakers are shooting for that 72 win Chicago Bull record(ask Randy Brown). Phoenix, Dallas, and the Spurs have all regressed. The Spurs more due to injury than anything else and it will be interesting to see if they have enough left in the tank to turn around this season now that everyone is healthy again. The Nuggets look like their finally gonna make the jump from first round annual shit-ons to a second or third seed in the West. CP3 is balling but not getting much help in Nawlins...yes, I'm talking to you Tyson Chandler. Houston still seems to be the injury house of horrors that it has been through out the past few years but if they can get healthy before the break they'll have a shot at possibly breaking that TMac first round drought this year. Besides the Iverson for Chauncey trade and a couple of scuffles here and there, it has been a relatively quite beginning to the season. Keep an eye on the Hawks now that Smoove is healthy and watch my dark horse team ,the Nets, squeak into to the playoffs just like I predicted. What do you think Cubes regrets the most, his horrible reality show, Mama.com, or the J-Kidd for Devin Harris trade?