Whether it's strictly followed or not, the rule you often hear umpires espouse: "curse the call all you want, but if you curse me, you're out of here" has always seemed like a good rule. "That was a f*ckin' bad call!" "That call was pure s*it!." Fine. "That was a bad call, motherf*cker!" showers.

Seems like that should apply in the NBA too.

in addition to not having one ounce of athletic ability, being white, and having no vertical, and only being able to dribble right handed, I couldn’t play in the NBA

It worked for this guy!

It worked for this guy!

Unfair. He could never dribble.

Edit: I will say, though, that he was strong as an ox and could box out O.K. and fill his lane. Sixth option on offense, though.

It worked for this guy!

I remember when Michael Jordan once said that he would only refer to him as "Will Vanderbilt" because he wasn't good enough to be named after a Big 10 school.

MJ was harsh. Supposedly he said about Bill Cartwright, "You have to throw it right at his head or right at his dick or he won't catch it."

Ewe blabs and blabs and blabs...about having the dreaded Dinwiddie Disease and other things.

Impressive, Repoz. Bill Dinwiddie.

BTW, this a phenomenal treatise on hoops trashtalking by Schilling.

Schill shows some naivete here, though:

Last night KG goes to the line, Lamar Odom (who I became a fan of last night) is saying “Hey KG why don’t you help on the ball down here?” Pointing to the paint, and I am guess referencing the fact that KG wasn’t down in the paint mixing it up. He says it again, loudly, KG doesn’t even acknowledge him, and sinks both. Impressive, total focus.

If you can get distracted at the line with trash talk, you'll never even make it to the NBA.

Kobe. This one stunned me a little bit. Who doesn’t know Kobe Bryant right? I only know what I have heard, starting awhile back with the entire Shaq debacle. I don’t really have an opinion one way or the other on or about him other than to know that people feel he might be one of the 4-5 greatest players to ever lace it up.

Not.

From the first tip until about 4 minutes left in the game I saw and heard this guy ##### at his teammates. Every TO he came to the bench pissed, and a few of them he went to other guys and yelled about something they weren’t doing, or something they did wrong. No dialog about “hey let’s go, let’s get after it” or whatever. He spent the better part of 3.5 quarters pissed off and ranting at the non-execution or lack of, of his team.

Pwned. I love it how Kobe has been sying lately how he regards his teammates as brothers and all that BS. He wouldn't teamwork if it bit him in the ass.

The contrast though, for me anyway, was watching KG and Allen, Pierce, as the game went on. I was literally ON the Laker bench so I could only watch the celts on the floor, and it was just different. it was all about who has whom, who goes where, what’s up next. That could have been a direct result of the officiating and flow of the game though, more than anything.

Damn straight. The calls go to the more aggressive team.

Pwned. I love it how Kobe has been sying lately how he regards his teammates as brothers and all that BS. He wouldn't teamwork if it bit him in the ass.

It is possible to be a teammate in the cage and a royal jerk outside of it. Not that MJ ever mastered that one.

If you can get distracted at the line with trash talk, you'll never even make it to the NBA.

If it didn't sometimes work, they wouldn't try it.

It is possible to be a teammate in the cage and a royal jerk outside of it.

It is. But it's equally true that Kobe hasn't figured out how to separate his personal and professional life yet.

If it didn't sometimes work, they wouldn't try it.

Sure. But all players are immune to it most of the time. And most players are immune to it all the time. Schilling seemed like he was surprised at how focused Garnett was to ignore it. By the time you get to the NBA, you've already heard it all. You've already learned how to tune it out.

Impressive, Repoz. Bill Dinwiddie.

Before I go hit Google, I'm going to say this was some big white stiff from the Alcindor-era Bucks? Now I'll go check ...

OK. I am now officially scared of myself.

(It helps that I was a big fan of that Bucks team. Pretty much the only non-ABA squad I ever had any use for as a kid, & of course the only ones I ever had any use for after that were the 4 old ABA franchises & certain ABA-flavored NBA teams, like the Sixers with Doc, Caldwell Jones, Bobby Jones, Moses, etc.)

He was also once traded for Bob Cousy, Goose...7 years after Cousy retired.

He was also once traded for Bob Cousy, Goose...7 years after Cousy retired.

WTF? Now, that I'll have to look up ...

Before I go hit Google, I'm going to say this was some big white stiff from the Alcindor-era Bucks? Now I'll go check ...

He was actually a 6:6 black guy who could jump to the moon but had a short career because he had leg problems and very little skill.

Cousy was coaching the Cincinnati Royals when he decided it would be a good idea if he played point guard instead of Oscar Robertson. So, since the Celtics still held his rights, Auerbach demanded a player in return, which turned out to be Dinwiddie.

Nearly every Auerbach-as-GM story makes me smile.

He was actually a 6:6 black guy who could jump to the moon but had a short career because he had leg problems and very little skill.

Huh. Wonder what big white stiff on that team I was thinking of? Probably Dick Cunningham from the previous season. (I see John Block was big, & I'm pretty sure he was white, but I recall him as being, if not exactly another Nureyev, at least functionally mobile.)

Maybe it's just me, but a black guy named "Dinwiddie" has a pretty clear path to the Reggie Cleveland Hall of Fame.

Till I checked the Web, I absolutely didn't recall that Wally Jones -- one of my very favorite NBA players of the era -- was a '71-'72 Buck.

Wally Jones

I liked when he went Nation he changed his name--to Wali Jones.

(I see John Block was big, & I'm pretty sure he was white, but I recall him as being, if not exactly another Nureyev, at least functionally mobile.)

Block was white. He was your basic big white guy who could rebound a little and make a basket if he wasn't defended too tightly. A complete stiff on defense, though.

I remember Block mainly from the San Diego Rockets. That, of course, means that I'm getting pretty darned old.

Do you what Blocks' main claim to fame is, goose? Maybe this will help:

The Worst Team in NBA History

I was gonna say he played on the worst team in NBA history, but I now see that's sort of self-evident from the link.

Ummm ... he played on the worst team in NBA history with the man whose name just may be the most unfortunate complete sentence in the annals of sports -- Manny Leaks? (Who I hadn't realized ever played in the NBA -- I knew him as an ABA guy, I think from the Chapparals.)

Anyway, interesting roster. One of those guys was another NBA favorite of mine as a kid, Leroy Ellis, who I think might've be an original Trailblazer. Another, Bob Rule, scored like a madman for the Sonics his (& the franchise's?) first year or two in the league but then went totally south, though whether it was from injuries or drugs or whatever, I have no idea.

Too, I'm thinking John Q Trapp might've been an original Rocket, & Donnie May might've been a charter member of the Buffalo Braves. Dale Schleuter might've been a first-generation Blazer as well. Dennis Awtrey & Mel Counts were, ummm, big & white. Kevin Loughrey turned into a pretty good ABA (& maybe NBA?) coach. Can't remember if Bill Bridges made the HOF, but he was a pretty able rebounder, & started out in the ABL. Tom Van Arsdale wasn't Dick Van Arsdale, but he looked & played like him.

And of course Mad Dog Carter was a pretty darned good ballplayer. Hal Greer had been, but I'm sure he was verrrrry close to retirement at that point. (Didn't he hold the record for consecutive games played, or something?) Fred Boyd wasn't bad.

He was the lone "all-star", goose. In those days, every team had to have an AS.

goodness.

if the C's had Pedroia they'd have won 4 games already!

He was the lone "all-star", goose. In those days, every team had to have an AS.

I'll be -- obviously, I had no idea. I'd've guessed Fred Carter.

When did the NBA do away with the at-least-one player-per-team requirement? After the merger, maybe?

Aren't there more teams in the NBA now than there are players in the All-Star game? It would be comical if that rule still existed.

Another, Bob Rule, scored like a madman for the Sonics his (& the franchise's?) first year or two in the league but then went totally south, though whether it was from injuries or drugs or whatever, I have no idea.

He tore an achilles tendon, and never really recovered from the injury. Rule's rookie season was the SuperSonics' first season.

When did the NBA do away with the at-least-one player-per-team requirement? After the merger, maybe?

In the eighties sometime, I think. Maybe after the merger. That makes sense.

Rule had a devastating hook shot but played no defense at all and was a brutally bad rebounder for a center.

First time I've read Schillings blog, not trying to be a jerk but his formating and writing style make it hard to understand and a chore to read. If he spend 10 minutes editing it, I'd come out a lot better, especially since it appears he does have some interesting things to say (as well as a lot of fluff).

My favorite Basketball Player is Baskerville Holmes.

I'll see your Baskerville Holmes & raise you Harthorne Nathaniel Wingo.

Anyway, speaking of the NBA, I see that Tim Donaghy's attorneys have apparently filed paperwork supposedly detailing a conspiracy by a couple of officials back in '02-'03 (I think it was) to extend the Kings-Laker series to 7 games via various non-calls & phantom calls, at the behest of league higher-ups.

Wouldn't surprise me in the least if it's true -- basically, almost anyone who's ever watched NBA refs ignore flagrant fouls & any number of other violations by superstars, ignore game clocks, etc. has probably at least entertained the suspicion that the league is as crooked as a dog's hind leg. Sad to say, I started regarding the sport as little more valid than wrestling, boxing or even pro football years & years ago.