-I have never in my life re-watched a game in which a team that i root for lost (aside from the week 17 loss the Giants had to the Patriots last season- and only because it came with my Giants Championship DVD set). Yet, as I type this, I am watching the MSG replay of tonight’s Knicks-Lakers game. Not only am I watching it again, and not only was I rooting for Kobe the 1st time around, but I find myself rooting for him again in the replay. And I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one. 42.2 seconds left in the 1st half- the MSG crowd is chanting “MVP” as Kobe stands on the line (seriously??). I believe my Kobe-love has been well documented before on this board, but allow me to reiterate. The guy is downright filthy. Even though certain people are clamoring for a Knicks playoff run (myself included), I can’t help but enjoy watching the man do amazing things, even if they come at the expense of the Knickerbockers.  61!?  That is a ton of fuckin points.  And 20-20 from the line is also kinda silly.  Let’s see if Lebron can drop 70 on Wednesday…

- I know Derek touched on this earlier today, but I’d like to take a different stance on the whole Michael Phelps smokin’ dope scandal.  As Jim Rome would say: Pha-nominal. Hy-sterical. My first thought… i bet that dude could take it down.  The lung capacity must be out of control, and he could probably smoke any one of us under the table.  My second thought… at least he was smokin a bong (and a Roor no less) and not some pansy-ass little pipe.  If you’re gonna go down, might as well do it in style.  My third thought… haha what an idiot.  Oh well, I could think of plenty worse things he could have done.

-  So, I guessed the right score for the Super Bowl.  I just had the teams flip-flopped.  I’m still impressed with myself.  And i better not hear Santonio’s catch from last night compared to Tyree’s catch ever again.  It was a nice catch, but come on…

- I clearly spoke too soon on the Oliver Perez situation.  Nice job, Omar.  Now let’s go get Manny.

- Did i mention Kobe Bryant is really really really good?  By the way, you heard it first here, at The Shockey Brigade.  Look out for that Kobe fellow… you’ll see…

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The part of the NBA season I look forward to more than anything aside from the draft lottery is the actual draft itself. For a fan of a perpetual lottery team, this is a time of excitement. Hope springs eternal, and teams are one Dwayne Wade or Dirk Nowitzki away from being a contender. What I’m going to do here is break down the NBA Draft (just the 1st 10 picks, because after that it’s really a crap shoot). Ill take a look at what Chad Ford has in his MOCK DRAFT 6.0!!! and throw in my own $.02 no doubt.

1. Chicago Bulls. Ford’s Pick: Derrick Rose. My Pick: Derrick Rose

This one should be a no-brainer. Anyone who watched the NCAA tournament this year, or any Memphis games during the year for that matter, knows that this guy deserves to be the #1 pick. The guy does it all, and he does it all well. He can take over a game with his scoring, passing, and defense… and has got to be the pick here. Plus, Hinrich could probably fetch them something pretty nice in a trade, making this Bulls team potentially quite dangerous.

2. Miami Heat. Ford’s Pick: Michael Beasley. My Pick: Michael Beasley

Again, this one seems to be pretty much a slam-dunk. Adding the most prolific scorer in the draft makes the Heat another contender to be pretty scary in years to come. Next year’s nucleus would feature Wade, Marion, and Beasley, which aint too bad. In the next two years they will have oodles of cash to spend too, and if they play their cards right, they shouldn’t spend too much time in the lottery.

3. Minnesota Timberwolves. Ford’s Pick: O.J. Mayo. My Pick: Jerryd Bayless

This is some personal bias coming through for sure. The thing is, I just don’t know what to make of O.J. I watched him in several games this year. Sometimes he looked very good, and other times he kind of just disappeared. Bayless just looks legit to me. Plus, practically every highly touted guard from Arizona in recent memory has turned out to be darned good- Arenas, Bibby, Jason Terry, Damon Stoudamire, Richard Jefferson, Sean Elliot, and Steve Kerr… So I’ll take my chances with Bayless.

4. Seattle (OK City??) Supersonics. Ford’s Pick: Russell Westbrook. My Pick: Eric Gordon

I really like Westbrook, the thing is I like Gordon more. Earlier in the college season I had a little bit of a Man-chubby for Gordon, but once all the turmoil hit at Indiana, he fell off a bit. Regardless, the guy can downright light it up. Pairing him with Durant for the next 10-12 years is a scary, scary proposition, and I don’t see how they could pass that up.

5. Memphis Grizzlies. Ford’s Pick: Eric Gordon. My Pick: Kevin Love.

I think Russell Westbrook would be the best available player here, but while the Grizzlies need to sure up just about every single position, PG is one where they should be ok- with Mike Conley, Javaris Crittenton, and Kyle Lowry already on the roster. So, by default, I think Kevin Love is the pick here. He is a solid player, with “good fundamentals”, but I wonder if he’ll ever be a star. I do, however, think you can pencil him in for 14 points, 12 boards a game… which aint too shabby.

6. New York Knickerbockers. Ford’s Pick: Danilo Gallinari. My Pick: Russell Westbrook

OK. I admit it. Seeing this prediction from Ford, is the sole reason I am writing this preview right now. I will be happy if the Knicks pick ANYONE BUT GALLINARI. ANYONE. Hell, they can pick Channing Frye again, and I’d be alright with it. There are so many reasons why i hope he is not the pick. Forget the fact that he’s white (which is an automatic minus 5 on a 10 point scale), but he’s foreign. The last foreign player the Knicks selected with their first round pick? Frederick Weiss. Enough said. And the bottom line is, in NY, the fans will not like this pick. At all. They will eat him alive. If the NY fans don’t like you from the get-go… there’s a darned good chance you will not succeed. Imagine starting your Knicks career with the entire Madison Square Garden crowd booing you. Welcome to America, Welcome to NY… bad choice. Secondly, just from a basketball standpoint, this makes no sense. This guy is a SF. The entire Knicks roster, for better or for worse, is made of 3’s. Their last 3 picks have been 3’s - Balkman, Lee, and Wilson Chandler (even though Lee is more of a 4, he gets some time at 3). Q plays the 3, Malik Rose can play the 3, even Jamal Crawford plays some 3 when they go small with little Nate, and Steph in the backcourt. Now, not to say the Knicks shouldn’t take good players wherever they can get them, but SF is the position they need least. Then factor in that the guy is a complete ? from Italy, and 19 years old, I say please no. I would love Bayless here. If not him, Westbrook, or Gordon- gotta figure one of those guys will be available. ANYONE BUT GALLINARI.

7. L.A. Clippers. Ford’s Pick: Jerryd Bayless. My Pick: O.J. Mayo.

This seems like a good fit for O.J. He’ll get to stay in L.A., which is nice, they need a PG, with Livingston’s status up in the air, and this could be a homerun for them. Look at it this way, if he pans out he’ll be huge in L.A. If not, he’s just another 1st round disappointment for the Clips. O.J. could very well be a star, I just don’t know if he’ll go the Stephon Marbury route- great stats, but every team he’s on wins as soon as he gets traded. We shall see. That being said, he’ll almost certainly be taken earlier than this.

8. Milwaukee Bucks. Ford’s Pick: Joe Alexander. My Pick: Joe Alexander.

I saw Alexander play twice in person this year and he’s impressive. I think he’d be a good fit on a team that could use some defense. The guy can put the ball in the hole too. Plus, while they have a lot of big men, they don’t have too many swing men, aside from Desmond Mason. Seems like a logical choice.

9. Charlotte Bobcats. Ford’s Pick: Kevin Love. My Pick: Brook Lopez.

Brook seems like a very Bobcatty pick. They seem to love to take low-risk, low-reward type guys, and Brooky fits that mold quite well. Like Love, I don’t really see him being a star, but I do think he will be productive in the NBA. Probably a threat for a double- double every night, and will be solid on the defensive end. With him and Okefor, the Bobcats would have a very nice defensive frontcourt.

10. New Brooklyn Nets. Ford’s Pick: Brook Lopez. My Pick: D.J. Augustine

I’m not sure which way I would go here if I were Jay-Z. I would probably lean towards Augustine because I think he’s going to surprise a lot of people and be a pretty solid NBA guard. However, it all depends on how they feel about Devin Harris. They also just drafted Marcus Williams two years ago, so if they do go with Augustine, it’s a clear sign that they are done with one, if not both of those players. Anthony Randolph could also be a choice here- giving them a couple of raw, athletic big men (with Sean Williams) to reek havoc in the paint.

… All this being said, I’m sure the Knicks will take Danilo Gallinari, and I will go to sleep crying on Thursday night. Either that, or they’ll trade Marcus Camby, and their pick for Antonio McDyess… oh wait… has that happened already??

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Today I’d like to introduce all of you to a feature I’d like to do a few times a month - my fantasy team in review. For now, an introduction:

I care a lot about fantasy baseball, probably because baseball is #1a on my list of favorite sports (football/futbol/soccer being #1b). Also, it’s freakin’ silly how good I am at fantasy baseball. Yahoo gives me an 88% game performance percentage for fantasy baseball. I don’t know what that means, but I know Jose has a 64% game performance percentage. ¡Comaselo, amigo!

My fellow Shockey Brigaders and I are in two leagues together this year. The league we care about is a head-to-head full keeper league with a minor league system and a salary cap, in it’s first season.

My usual strategy is to spend the bulk of my salary (or the early picks of my draft) on good-hitting infielders and top starting pitchers, and try to put together an outfield that can get hits here and there. This usually results in me finishing top 3 in pitching categories and mid-to-low in hitting categories. Week-to-week, head-to-head I usually lead in most pitching categories, but I only win outright when my outfielders do better than expected.

Here’s a rundown of my team:

Russell Martin, c - Good, expensive catcher.
Adrian Gonzalez, 1b - 15 home runs and 44 RBIs are both 2nd among first basemen, good for a 14th round pick.
Rickie Weeks, 2b - His 7 home runs help at second base, but with a .202 average I doubt he’ll end up being worth $8.
David Wright, 3b - My #1 pick. Not wowed by the season he’s having but certainly nothing to complain about.
Miguel Tejada, ss - Pleasantly surprised. Will probably do worse in the second half.
Manny Ramirez, of - Rough May, but how many of your fantasy players caught a ball and high-fived a fan while smoking a joint and eating a hot dog, and still doubled the guy off first?
Andre Ethier, of - .309/.374/.451 for a $1 player I got after the draft, but certainly not the best 2nd outfielder in our league.
Justin Upton, of - Another Free Agent pickup. Pretty bad all month (.311 slugging %), but I was wooed by PECOTA.
Adam Jones, of - Hasn’t done much so far. Again, PECOTA got me overexcited. But he’s 22 with a lot of potential, so why not.
Carlos Pena, 1b - Hey ‘Los. You hit, like, 75 home runs last year, right? Fine, 4 home runs, 15 RBIs and a .260 batting average in May is probably all I should hope for. But .231/.338/.430 is really bothering me for a guy who costs $22.
Jeremy Hermida, of - Eh.
Brad Hawpe, of - YIKES! .231/.349/.357. Had hopes he’d compliment Manny in the outfield.

Brandon Webb, sp - Worth the $33.
Scott Kazmir, sp - I forgot to start him this week (oops), but I’m happy after 5 starts.
Ben Sheets, sp - An early BABIP around .230 probably wasn’t going to hold up. He’s been regressing to the mean with 36 hits in his last 28.1 innings, but he’s still done pretty well his last couple starts.
Johnny Cueto, sp - I was man-crushing hard on this guy before the season. He’s been, well, not so good. But I won’t give up on him until Dusty Baker goes Prior and Wood on him and Volquez.
Ian Kennedy, sp - UUUUGGGGH! That’s the fantasy owner in me. The Yankees fan has faith he’ll be a good pitcher. But it’s been miserable to watch so far.
Joba Chamberlain, sp/rp - Can’t wait for next week, but one heartbreak is enough for me. If his June looks like Cueto’s April I’ll cry like a little girl.
Mariano Rivera, rp - What’s not to love?
Joakim Soria, rp - 11 saves, 0.56 WHIP… I’ll take it!
Huston Street, rp - I needed some saves. He’s technically my worst closer, but I’m 5th in total saves and fine with that.

So there it is. I’m 82-60-10 - good for 2nd place but just $5 under the salary cap. My pitching is where I want it to be but I’m overachieving a bit offensively (worse total numbers than head-to-head numbers). We’ll see if the offensive downturn continues - and frankly, I expect it to - but if things get really bad through June I’m fine with trying to re-tool for next year.

Most of our readers are probably in one of several leagues I’m in, but what do the rest of you think? Is my pitching good enough to carry me through the season? If my offensive struggles get worse, is it worth it to bail and try to build around the younger outfielders? And how bad is my outfield, anyway???

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